Web Multimedia Blog

Important Magento Resources - links

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:24:00 GMT

Here is a collection of important links for Magento that I personally use as my bookmarks/favorites. They are meant more for designers and developers and are a handy bunch of resources:

Web Design
- Magento
  - Important Note: I've been using Business Catalyst for longer than I've been using Magento. The main reason I started using Magento is because I took on a client who was using Magento and I was able to customize it for him based on my knowledge of PHP. Business Catalyst has proven to be much more easily designable than Magento but I have found various situations where a client will want some deep customization that can't be done in BizCat and that's where Magento can come in. So each has its place. :) Also eCommerce for Wordpress can be nice for some simpler store setups (more later)
  - Make Magento Theme from Scratch - this is probably the best written guide to getting started with designing in Magento
  - Customer Groups Extention for Magento - this unlocks a lot of Magento's potential by allowing access to only certain user groups (like Wholesalers vs. General Public)
  - Importing Newsletter Subscribers - points out that this is just like importing Customers, which is different from previous versions of Magento
  - Intro to Magento Development - a good start
  - Creating Custom Fields - without any development, you can add new Fields to products in Magento, this is a nice feature that makes a difference over other eCommerce systems.
  - Moving the Site (Test to Live) - please note, this didn't work very well. I find it hard to move the site in Magento which is a detractor. It would be better to create a test site and a production site and modularly move components over and then move over data... this is my point in bringing this link up for now, hopefully better info/methods will come along.
  - Magento: How to show products on Home page - it is not the default so knowing how to do this is good. Fairly easy.
  - Move Magento to another Server - using SSH, not just a lite move. This is the better way to try to move Magento, but still wasn't adaptable to moving it from one directory to another. Still working on that.
  - Affordable Magento Hosting with an Upgrade Path - looks to be a good way to go (Please note: I have not worked with this company at this point and do not vouch for them - it just seems like a logical type of host for Magento)
  - Magento Cloud Hosting - add cloud flexibility to the equation. Also have not tried but looks good.
  - Another Magento Host - read the subtext: Magento should probably not be run on a shared hosting type account, its too memory/processor intensive! Unless its just a casual store, get a good host! (VPS/VDS or DS or cloud?)
  - Display Category/Subcategory List - I used this as a basis for starting to build a cool, unique navigation structure on a site. You'd think this stuff would be more natural for a system but its not with Magento. Not to be down on it, just giving you a realistic impression on what you have to look forward to on Magento. :)
  - Max File Upload Size - one really nice thing on Magento is you can have File Uploads on products sold. So, for example, someone could send a picture with their purchase and that could be printed on a mug, etc. I haven't seen this as a standard thing for other eCommerce systems (I haven't tried them all of course). This link will talk about how to limit the size of the uploads to avoid someone trying to crash the server, etc. Wow, there's a can of worms.

DSLR vs. Camcorder for Video

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:50:00 GMT

Comparing HD Video of DSLR to Camcorders

Being a big DSLR user myself, I see the marketing hype towards using Digital SLRs for HD Video. It is true, they do provide many benefits, but the excitement surrounding this may make you miss the fact that today’s HD Camcorders have a contrasting set of features that may better serve your needs (or not). I hope to address the strengths of each in this article so you can decide what is best for you (or use both in the right applications).

In the past few years there have been many HD Camcorders from entry-level to mid-prosumer that have sullied the name of the quality of HD. This has definitely fueled the push towards DSLRs being looked upon as the go-to for semi-affordable quality HD Video. Issues such as abysmal low-light performance and noise in the video quality have made people think of HD Camcorders as poor substitutes for strength of DSLR’s video.

But in the last year or so, some new Camcorders (in the entry to mid level) have arrived that are leveling the playing field for these issues. So now the real comparison can begin! How does the core aspect of using a DSLR for video compare to using a Camcorder for video?

Using a DSLR for video is more comparable to the experience a film maker would have. It has a more cinematic feel and quality. Depth of Field is more controllable and you are still more likely to be able to have the best low-light performance due to larger sensors. However, you may be stuck with manual focus. A Camcorder will definitely handle better for action, less pre-planned shots, much easier auto-focusing, walking around without bumps (with the right Image Stabilization), easier to zoom in while shooting, and a ton of other convenient features.

[Side Topic: Yah, well doesn’t the Sony A55, A65, and A77 solve those DSLR issues?!?]

Here is a more in depth comparison chart on the pros and cons of each and what scenarios each could be best for:　

Topic	DSLR	HD Camcorder
Controllable Focus, Depth of Field (useful in Cinematic presentation)	A clear winner in this category. Deferent lenses can further enhance this	Not as good. Some have focus rings but not any entry level. Plus smaller sensor size makes the shallowest depth of field impossible. On the flip side, if you like everything in focus then this is the way to go.
Low Light Performance	Used to be the only way to go but now Camcorders are much better and may have even caught up	This used to be a deal breaker but now depending on the unit, many have exceptional low-light
Noise	Still a winner, but even some earlier DSLRs with Video have bad/moderate noise.	Much better than ever for Camcorders. Depends on model. Smaller sensor size can cause issue but many models have totally fixed this
Auto Focus	Really bad. You just need to use Manual, except on Sony’s dSLTs but even those have a slight issue. For DSLRs with some Auto Focus in Video - they use Contrast Based Auto Focus which hunts a bit and would be unusable for real video (more below)	Very Good. Even though some use contrast based detection, with the smaller sensor size the focusing can happen quickly and accurately. Many camcorders also have an autofocus sensor by the lens which works great.
Zoom During Video	Depends on your lens. A Quality lens will give a nice smooth zoom ring but a cheap one can have a sticky, plastic feel that makes smooth zooms impossible. Other issue: Focusing while zooming can be a problem, whereas many Camcorders can handle this	Most have a comfortable lever switch. The level of resistance varies and good ones have a slow zoom and fast zoom depending on how far you make the lever go. Also, settings can adjust the speed of the zoom.
Image Stabilization	You may think if your lens has Image Stabilization you’ll be ok for video but Lens Based Image Stabilization wasn’t meant for video, it was meant for making one photo at a time better able to account for hand shake. So if you are walking around doing video and expect it to be free of bumps, you will be disappointed. Sony’s dSLTs are better for this because the I.S. is in the camera but it still is built around being a photo camera. Best get a rigging system or steady cam ($$$)	The best kind of Image Stabilization for Video is built into Camcorders. It can make a video where you are walking around carefully free of bumps. Add a little rigging and it can be extremely smooth.
Motion	There can be issues with motion in panning and other fast moving objects, called the Jello Effect, which I won’t get into here.	Sharp, super smooth motion - but some are better than others.
Lens Consideration	DSLRs give you access to a range of lenses that give you flexibility and will help convince you to part with your money J	You better be happy with the lens in your camcorder ‘cause you won’t get another. A major thing to look for is how wide-angle the lens goes (usually quoted in 35mm terms). A 28mm Wide Angle lens in a Camcorder is about as wide as it will go. Many more like 43mm which may not get everything into the picture without excessive panning. One nice advantage of many camcorder lenses is that they have a F1.8 aperture (the lower the larger the hole to let light in). It would be ridiculously expensive to get a DSLR lens with F1.8 and 20 times optical zoom, but affordable in a Camcorder.
Best Uses	-Photos in Motion -Cinematic Clips where shallow depth of field is a priority	-Action Video -Everyday Video (don’t miss your kids first…) -Sharp, Crispy Videos where everything’s in focus

More about Auto Focus - Why can’t DSLRs just autofocus? Its because they use the mirror inside to focus using Phase Detection for photos. When they shoot video, the mirror locks up to constantly let the sensor “see things“, so the regular autofocus can’t work. Newer models use the sensor and contrast based auto-detection, but I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work very well. So why don’t they fix that? My idea is they should add a sensor like camcorders have for autofocus as a plug-in attachment to sit on the end of the lens for Canon or Nikon DSLRs (or make Translucent Mirror cameras like Sony).
Another point - I’ve heard the argument that: Just use Manual Focus like they do in the movies… Ok, in the movies they have a guy called a Focus Puller and all he does is focus on the subject and they usually preplan all shots taking measurements for reference. Does that sound realistic for everyday shots? Years ago Nikon lost the format war to Canon when Canon introduced quality AutoFocus lenses and Nikon sat back for some years. This is video, not photo, but its possible something like this could happen with Sony now. We will see. Using Sony’s Digital SLT cameras, the auto focus is very good, the only issue is that the focus happens so quickly that it is quite an abrupt change in video to see focus shift from one subject to another this way (kind of jerky).

Contrastingly, Camcorders have nice, fast auto focus built in and it is very easy to use. Some high-end models have a focus ring which allows some creative techniques that may give their videos a cinematic quality. Even more have touch screens that allow you to touch what you want to be in focus - which may be a better option still.

In Summary: for most Video purposes, HD Camcorders seem to be the winner. New improvements in the technology in the past year have made the old objections to Camcorders a thing of the past. However, DSLRs can be better for cinematic work, artistic work, and photos in motion. The best option is to have one of each to cover all applications, but HD Camcorders can cover the bulk of your video needs.

[ There are definitely still a lot of bad camcorders out there. I’m not saying they’re all good. Find out the few, the proud that changed the game in my opinion HERE]

Web Activity Cycle

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 06:43:00 GMT

If you want to have traffic and results online you need Web Activity. An active site, not a dead one. It can be hard to know exactly what to do and have reminders to actually do it. I've thought about this a lot and studied many resources to come up with the "Web Activity Cycle".

It is a resource of knowledge and advice, and its also a mousepad that I designed for keeping these important tasks top-of-mind. Check it out in my Online Store.

I've put together easy reminders for 10 Weekly and 10 Monthly activities that if done right will grow your online presence. Some of the suggestions are more standard and others are more advanced and specialized. In the picture of the product I've blanked out the advice squares so people can't just print it out. Besides, it works better as a mousepad because its more permanent and is on your desk where you need it.

My advice to you is to order one of these mousepads if you want to keep your existing website or blog getting great traffic. If you allow it to be a coaching device you can make progress online.

Search Engine Optimization in a Nutshell

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:28:00 GMT

Search Engine Optimization goes hand in hand with good web design. In a nutshell: its how you get found online (Aside from having to pay for it with costly online advertisement). If done right it can be one of the best, low cost "advertising" methods out there. Its important to first have a great web design, but then you want people to find your great company online.

Contact me to learn more about getting more business from you online investment.

-Joel Reinke
Mountain Multimedia
"Your local connection to the world via the Web"

Logo Design

Mon, 23 May 2011 23:17:00 GMT

In my continuing series on "How to Plan for Web Design" I will now expand upon step 4: Logos.

Logo Design for the Web and Print

Some companies will hire a design firm just to design their logo. This can be a great process and can also help you to look at important brand identity topics that help your business in a big way. If you can afford to hire someone for this and still have enough budget left for your web design, great, take the time and break these important steps out so they each get the attention they deserve. Mountain Multimedia can also help you to design a great logo for your company as part of the web design, we just won't make as big a process out of it as if you were hiring a design firm for just logo development. We offer an affordable package for combining web design with logo design. Or if you like, you can hire us to just design a logo and we can focus more on that process. Or both, each with full emphasis.

...The point is, logo design is typically separate from web design, logo is designed first. It doesn't have to be, but its good to spend enough time with each. So plan for it.

When fully designing a company logo, often this is the stage where the colors for the company design are defined. You may have 1, 2, 3, or 4 core colors for your design that will be consistently used throughout all your corporate documents, designs, products, and marketing. This is defined because printing dictates costs for physical medium. Less colors, lower cost for many real world items. Online you can scale this up to a full-color design because monitors don't charge extra for extra colors. :) If, for example, your real logo for print has 3 colors, you might also want to have a Black&White version and a Full Color Version. You may also want to match the colors to Pantone codes, CMYK (not RGB), and maybe even match to Paint Colors if you think you could paint a building or room to match your company colors.

Two prevalent types of logos are: Text Only Logos, and Graphic Logos.
Text Only Logos: These are popular today. Its just the company name in some stylized font or even the text turned into a graphic version of the text. These logos can be nice if you just want to focus on the company name or its hard to determine a graphic that pairs well with your name.
Graphic Logos: Can be a symbol for your company. Can be a graphic of some sort either paired with the name of the company or not. Usually its best if the graphics of the logo are clear and somewhat simple so they can be printed easily as well as look good online.
Some ideas for how to make a logo:

A. Take the first letter of your company name and stylize it into a graphical version of the letter that ties into your company theme or product. Then either continue the name or just use that one 'letter'
B. Make a Script Style Logo with the First letter or initials of the company.
C. Standardize a Corporate Font that matches your Logo
D. If you have a symbol or mascot in mind, find some reference images of it that you like how its positioned so you can provide some tangible starting point for the designer.
You can sketch out the logo to give your logo designer a head start, but you probably should have a professional make the final graphic design

That's a great start, this should help start the process.

Common Web Design Layouts

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:28:00 GMT

From my last Blog Post, How to Make a Website: Planning Stage, there are 10 parts. I will now go into more detail on step 2 by giving more examples for types of common webdesign layouts...

Please note, as I am building a lot of materials for Edmonds Web Design, for any Edmonds Website, there should be at least 1 ferry boat in your design somewhere! :) (Ok, sorry, It's an Edmonds Kind of Joke)

From last episode:

2. Sketch Homepage

Don't worry: No artistic skill required, just draw boxes on paper and label them.
(GLOSSARY OF TERMS at bottom of article)

Take a sheet of blank paper.
Think up an ideal layout that matches the image of your business (see below for examples)
The Homepage sometimes has a more graphic layout than the rest of the pages, but it can be the same format as the rest of the pages too. Some standard layouts for web pages are:
- Header with Left Sidebar,
- Header with Right Sidebar (common for blogs),
- Left Sidebar Navigation,
- Header + 3 columns.
- Option for all of these: have a footer or not
Some other, less standard formats are:
- Fixed Footer Navigation,
- 3D Layout,
- Flexible Size Format

As a better reference for this important step, I put together small images for each of these layout types to help give you a better idea of what are standard web site layouts:

Header with Left Sidebar

A common layout. The left Sidebar is often for Navigation, but it can also be for other things and sometimes the navigation is in the Header. The Header often contains the Logo, tagline of the company, sign-in area, search bar, and important Links. Often there is a Footer but its optional. The content section changes for each page but the other elements of the page stay the same for most of the website.

Header with Right Sidebar (common for blogs)

Just like above but the Sidebar is to the right. Because the emphasis is not as strong with the sidebar on the right, the CORE navigation isn't usually in the Right Sidebar but blogs use it for things like Archives, Tag Clouds and more. It puts more emphasis on the Content which can be good.

Left Sidebar Navigation

No Header! You have navigation in the left sidebar and a logo above it. Content start at the top of the page. Again, footer is optional.

Header with 3 columns (Left and Right Sidebars)

Like some of the others but the content is between a left and right sidebar. Usually for web sites with a lot going on and many different categories of content.

Fixed Footer Navigation

The Footer on this one is the key. Not as common of a layout, but useful for multiple reasons. The Footer is locked to the bottom of the webpage and never moves. It should always be visable. The navigation is all in the Footer. It's kind-of like the layout on an operating system like Windows. Another advantage is the Content comes first. Disadvantage is it might throw visitors off.

Header + Content

Super basic but common layout: Just a Header then Content below. Can be a great layout, just didn't need a picture to explain that one.

3D Layout

A fun creative layout that uses 3D to create a new, unique browsing Experience. Unlimited possibilities but you have to be careful to not throw off your visitors. Too many possibilities to go into here.

If you have other layouts you know are very common that I missed, please comment to let me know of those other types and I'll add them.

Glossary of Terms

Header - Top section of each page on a website that can include: logo, tagline, links, navigation, etc. Not absolutely needed for a web page but very common
Footer - Bottom section of each page on a website that can include: links, copyright info, address, map link, widgets, or anything you like
Left and Right Sidebar - Verticle section of webpage that is next to the Content that includes links, graphics, tools, widgets, content summaries, or just about anything. Usually repeats on all web pages on a web site.
Content - Section of the web page that holds the important info for that page. It usually changes for each page on a site, whereas the other elements stay the same (like the header, sidebars, and footer).
Website - All your web pages for your site, as in everything at www.your-domain.com
Webpage - One, individual page on your site that has content plus a header(optional), footer(optional), sidebars(optional), etc.

How to make a website - Step 1

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:27:00 GMT

Web Design Step 1: Planning Stage

Intended Audience: Anyone looking for advice on setting up a website, with basic internet skills

This is a very broad topic, but I will focus on helping you get things ready to build a successful website from the ground up. This blog post will be about the planning stage, future posts will continue to the next steps.

Requirements: For this post to be of value, I will focus on writing to people with a basic internet skill set. No super technical skills are required, but you should have familiarity with using email, uploading picture files to the web, using facebook or other social networks (not absolutely required), and using a digital camera device of any sort (cellphone camera, point and shoot, or anything that takes pictures) (taking photos will be in a later step)

We'll start with a checklist of logical items to get you from idea to online:

Come up with a web address and some alternatives in case it is taken
Sketch out a very rough sketch of what you want your home page to look like
Maybe the rest of your pages are layed out like your home page or maybe they have a different design, if different, sketch this out too
Do you already have a logo or a "text-logo"? If so, get the graphic file accessible and ready to use. If not, design one or hire someone to design one
Decide on which pages you want to have on your web site. Examples: Home Page, Blog, About Us, Products, Services, etc. Do you want an online store? Do you want to start your own Social Network? etc...
Build a team of people in your company, organization, group, or hire a team, for dealing with the many parts of keeping your website updated
Decide on what important images you want on your website. Will you photograph these things or hire out? Do you have a style you want to go for?
Also, if you want video clips, animation, audio, or other media: Define what you want
Start thinking about how people will find you on the internet. What search phrases would you want to come up for?
Define a budget for the project.

That's enough for now. Let's focus on these 10 items to planning a successful web design. (If this sounds too complicated to manage, Contact Us to hire us for this planning stage)

1. Web Address

Wouldn't it be nice if your company name + .com was always available? Unfortunitely, many good web addresses have been parked on or sat on because of the low cost to set these up and potential high selling cost. If you can get your name.com, that would be the best, otherwise: time to get creative. Try to stick to .com and play around with different options for phrasing the shortest permutation of your name or an industry category representation of what you do. Real Important Advice: If you find your name is available, don't wait and come back to it later. Buy it now! I found a good name once, took a break, came back, and someone parked on it! So sad. Once you start shopping, be ready to buy. Cause the internet is smart enough to figure out what people are looking for, especially for web addresses. Some nice web sites to buy domains at are www.bluehost.com and www.godaddy.com - It's usually about $10 per year for each web address (though this could change at any time)

One other Search Engine Optimization aware type tip: You should probably buy your company name + .com if available, but also consider this: if you know your keywords or search phrase you should probably buy a domain name made up of the keywords or phrase separated by hyphens. Like: www.seattle-mice-experts.com if that's what you do. Your search results LONG RUN will thank you for it!

2. Sketch Homepage

You don't have to have any artistic skill to do this! You'll mainly be drawing boxes and labeling them. Take a sheet of blank paper. Think up a fun layout that matches the image of your business. The Homepage sometimes has a more graphic layout than the rest of the pages, but it can be the same format as the rest of the pages too. Some standard layouts for web pages are: Header with Left Sidebar, Header with Right Sidebar (common for blogs), Left Sidebar Navigation, Header + 3 columns. All of these usually have a footer as well.
Some other, less standard formats are: Fixed Footer Navigation, 3D Layout, Flexible Size Format, and many more. Don't feel limited by any of this, just come up with a layout you are happy with. View my blog on Common Web Site Layouts for more info on this.

3. Other web pages

Like step 2 above. Just determine if you'd rather have a standard format across all pages, or if you'd like your home page to be different, or if you'd like every page to have its own style. You should have standard elements across all pages even if you want every page to have a unique style.

4. Logo

If you have a logo already, but its optimized for print (like 1,2,3, or 4 color design), you may want to make it full color for the web. It just might look plain on the web if its not. If you're starting from scratch you may want to work with a company to develop this professionally for you. Two prevalent types of logos are: Text Only Logos, and Graphic Logos.
Text Only Logos: These are popular today. Its just the company name in some stylized font or even the text turned into a graphic version of the text. These logos can be nice if you just want to focus on the company name or its hard to determine a graphic that pairs well with your name.
Graphic Logos: Can be a symbol for your company. Can be a graphic of some sort either paired with the name of the company or not. Usually its best if the graphics of the logo are clear and somewhat simple so they can be printed easily as well as look good online.
Some ideas for how to make a logo:

A. Take the first letter of your company name and stylize it into a graphical version of the letter that ties into your company theme or product. Then either continue the name or just use that one 'letter'
B. Make a Script Style Logo with the First letter or initials of the company.
C. Standardize a Corporate Font that matches your Logo
You can sketch out the logo to give your logo designer a head start, but you probably should have a professional make the final graphic design

5. Web Pages and Functionality

To save time when you are in the actual building stage of the web design, it is imperative to have clearly defined web pages, including what functionality the system should have such as online stores, social networks, forms for customer input, etc. Use a separate piece of paper for each page to jot down your table of contents for your web site.

6. Build a Team

If you are a small company with multiple employees start surveying them for technical skills. Maybe you'll find one really likes photography. Maybe you have an author in the making ready to be your blogger. Delegation of these and other duties is an honor and may add plenty of job satisfaction to the right employee.

7. Images and Photos

This topic will be a whole separate blog post, but for now... How important are the photographic images to your site? To present your company in the best light, do your product images, store images, staff images, or service images need to be absolutely perfect? If so, you should hire someone to do your photography. If not, and your images are only small samples for reference, you could possibly do it yourself. I hope to publish a blog: photography guide for small businesses, time allowing. Check back later.

8. Media

Make another 'table of contents' list of what media you want on your site or on YouTube. This includes Video, Audio, Animation, Specialized Graphics, and Interactive Demonstrations or Interactive Content.

9. Search Phrases

The first goal in Internet presence is to have something worth searching for. The second goal in Internet presence is to provide search engines a spoon-fed way of finding you. Think about what your company has to offer, then break it down into short phrases that you believe people on the internet will actually be typing into Google. Write down a page of these short search phrases on a sheet of paper. At this point, don't worry about checking to see if these are the actual things people are searching for: we'll talk about that more in later stages. Again, this will be the source of many more blog posts for me, but right now, this is a good start for you.

10. Define Budget

How much can you spend on a web design project? Maybe it is $0 and you'll have to be a Do It Yourself-er. In that case, good luck, there are a lot of online resources that can help. In my experience, a lot of my clients started out trying to Do It Yourself and ended up unhappy with the results: So they hired someone. There are just so many things to know that it's nice to have some help. There is a long, steep learning curve for the skills required for anything more than utilizing a template and adding your own text. Adding graphics to a template web design can be moderately easy, but you have to have a good graphics editting program to get the graphics to exactly the right size (in pixels wide by pixels high) and optimized for web (just saving as a JPG can result in a file that's 10 times larger than an optimized image and will slow down load time significantly). Another factor is: How much is your time worth? How many hours are you willing to spend trying to design the perfect website? Would you make more profits if you spent that time doing what you do best, and hiring someone who already knows the ways of the web to make your design?

I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm just hoping to educate, and present a realistic picture of the basics of what is required. If you are a wizard with the computer but not into web design yet, you could probably manage, just contact me if you run into problems. I'd be happy to answer some basic questions at no cost or hire out if its more complex.

I've seen many web design firms that their minimum cost for a custom design is $3000 so that's scared off a lot of potential clients and has made people assume that they can't get a custom design for less. I offer many designs for well under that cost (and not just a template based design) and can even help if you're designing and run into specific problems.

Thanks for reading, I hope to provide many more useful blogs on related topics in the future, so please subscribe to my blog via RSS.

-Joel Reinke

Local Businesses Save Monthly Costs while upgrading their Online Features

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 09:10:00 GMT

Intended Audience: Small Business Owners

Many small to medium sized businesses utilize a similar set of online tools to acheive their hosting and marketing needs. Here is a breakdown of common tools I see many companies using:

Domain Name
Hosting Company
Constant Contact or similar alternative for Mass Email Marketing
A Blog platform
Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks
An Online Store
A CMS: Content Management System
A CMS: Client Management System

Not all of these systems are necessarily separate, but they often are. I will show you some examples of these costs, how an alternative will save you money and give you more features to attract web site visitors, and make your job easier.

The Domain Name (registry) is a necessity that there isn't a way to save much money on, so I will only touch briefly on that. Three options I've worked with for this are Bluehost, Justhost, and GoDaddy. They seem to all be comparable, but GoDaddy seems to be more expensive right now, unless you use one of the less popular .com alternatives. $10 per year seems like an average for this.

The Hosting is a separate service: where your web site files will actually be served up to the public. The three companies above do have many differences in costs for hosting. An average per year for this is around $60 - $120 if you don't choose the cheapest option (which I do not ever recommend). I've also seen hosting companies charging $30-$50 per month just for the hosting with no special features or options. Based on your CMS needs, one of these main-stream options may work for you. However, if your needs are more complex, I have an alternative solution that will provide you with turn-key operation of all of your online business needs, and does away with this 'hosting' cost.

The average costs for the domain name and hosting up until this point are normal and fairly par for the course. It is when you begin adding services such as Mass E-mail Marketing Programs and Online Stores that the cost really begin to add up.

Mass E-mail Marketing Programs are online services such as Constant Contact that allow you to e-mail to multiple people without being potentially blacklisted and can cost you between $15 to $75 per month.
(If you don't know about why you need a Mass Email Marketing program, and why you can't just email to tons of people: I'd have to write a whole other article about it: long story short: big bunch of email out at one time = blacklist/spam/etc.)

Maybe you are also running an Online Store or wish to, and also have one or more systems needed for updating your web site. OR, maybe you don't have an easy to use program for quickly updating your web site. When you start combining all of these separate systems you might be paying $75 to $150 per month after adding together the monthly costs, annual costs, and cost for purchasing software.

Please! Can't I just have one easy to use, affordable system?

It does exist. It's a very easy to use system that brings together an Online Store, Mass Email Marketing, Content Management Systems (blogs, forums, custom data, ++), Client Management System, Secure Web Zones, and much more. On top of all this, it is hosted - so that, plus everything else, can save you a lot of monthly costs. I would like to emphasize two of the most popular system options. The first is an intro option that's only $14.95 per month (it does not provide an online store but allows for 1000 'mass marketing emails' per month) which is perfect for some small businesses, The second option is $39 per month and covers the online store and allows 10,000 mass marketing emails per month. This is a hosted option run as part of the Adobe corporation's business solutions so its not just some small server sitting out there somewhere.

Altogether, if you choose the higher level option and add the $39 per month plus the $10 per year for the Domain Name, this equals around $40 per month VS. the $75 to $150 you might pay for all the other services combined. Buying all of these systems individually won't necessarily be that much for everybody, but some of those Mass Email Marketing programs keep adding new things to pay for, so the fees could get worse. On the other hand, even if you were paying the same as $40 or less per month (which would be tough to do with hosting, Email Marketing, and an Online store), you would still find a wealth of value by utilizing this system with all of these features under one roof. You'd start saving so much time in one month that it would more than pay for itself many times over. Please Note: for the online store there can be other costs, depending on which online payment service you choose to use. There are some services that have no monthly costs, and others that do.

If you check out my portfolio, you can see that I don't recommend this platform as the only solution to my clients. If you just want to blog, I can put together a nice custom Wordpress site for you. A simple web site? No problem. Your own custom social network? I make those too. But if you want an online store or email marketing or both (especially for both): this could be the thing for you.

Changing over to this system can save you money and give you features you didn't have before. There is no "set-up cost" for the system itself, but depending on how happy you are with your current web site, and what features you want to set up with the new system, we would set up a project cost based on the complexity of the transition. If you are totally unhappy with your current web design anyway, this can be an excellent opportunity to redesign or start fresh with a certified web developer.

There are also many alternatives to this option for eCommerce, but none that I've found that can offer such tight integration between these systems. Contact Joel Reinke to learn more about this excellent system.

Thanks for your time,

-Joel Reinke
Web Designer++

Please Note: These prices are accurate at the time of this posting but may change at any time in the future.

The Energy of Christmas: Photo Gallery

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:04:00 GMT

Merry Christmas from Mountain MultiMedia

Please enjoy this Gallery, an Artist/Photographer's attempt to capture the Energy of Christmas from the light. Light Painting using Christmas Lights, impressionist perspective, expressed with a buzzing sensation.

"Music's in the Air"

From Leavenworth, WA + a few others. (c)2010 Do not copy illegally

Pom, Bianca - caught off guard

Snow Angels

New 3D Web Page: My Portfolio

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:46:00 GMT

A new portfolio page has now been launched. The Mountain MultiMedia portfolio page was in need of an update since the new web page design was launched. I really wanted to keep working with the 3D Flash package that I used for Carousel: Papervision3D. This was a great opportunity to utilize it.

I've seen many basic 3D portfolios using a rotating carousel (way more basic than the Carousel web site), and many fading slideshows. I wanted to try something new and exciting, and I came up with the 'Floating Cloud Portfolio'.

Check it out at: http://www.mountainmultimedia.biz/portfolio

What inspired this? I love landscape photography and landscape painting. This is kind of the Multimedia equivalent of the two. The web design is similar to the other new web pages, with the mountain locked to the bottom of the browser and it resizes to fit any screen. Overlaid on top of that is the clouds and portfolio pictures that move as the mouse moves. Its like a constantly evolving painting!

It utilizes the particle system to keep the massive number of floating objects efficient. Clicking on the pictures expands them and gives a description of the design work I did for them.

It is also easy to update as it uses XML to handle the data. This program is very easily adaptable for many styles.

If you are interested in using this for your own website, let me know and I'll put something together for you.

Wordpress as C.M.S. (Content Management System) - Pros and Cons

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:36:00 GMT

Blog Popularity has led to an evolution for Wordpress:

If you don't know about Blogging: Wordpress has taken a lead in creating an easy to use platform for serving-up content. So much so that their easy to use Dashboard/Control Panel can also be used as a way to keep the rest of your website up to date. In addition, there is a simple way to adjust Wordpress so that the blog page doesn't come up first: your 'Home Page' does. You can make a menu system so the whole blog-run website looks and feels like a website with a blog, not just a blog with some extra pages tacked on.

This means Wordpress can be your complete, C.M.S. (Content Management System)
(Not Client Management System - at one point this got me too)
If CMS still means nothing to you, this is a simple way to think of it: you can edit your own webpage easily with no coding needed (at least after it's initially set up)

Now I'm not going to go into how to set that up, there are many other blogs online about how that works. What this blog will focus on is how I've implemented this for some of my clients and the PROs and CONs of using Wordpress as your CMS.

What are you looking for in a web authoring platform? AND How tech savvy are you?

First obvious thing: You want a Blog. If you don't, there are some better options out there for CMS's

These questions can be a good start for helping determine if Wordpress will work for your website. For example, there are a lot of free templates out there for Wordpress. I think these would work fine for a casual blog but a blog for a serious business would want to customize the template (or theme) or start from scratch and build a completely new theme. Skills required: CSS, php, graphic Design, etc.

Another positive: many hosting companies are offering Wordpress as an easy to install addition to your website. So you don't need to worry about a complicated installation. If your host does not provide this easy option, we can evaluate what it would take to install it on your host.

The next important thing is the content you plan to put into Blog Posts and Web Pages. Aside from the nicely formatted header, footer, and (optional) sidebar, and cool backgrounds and designs that will be on your page: There is that content section of each page. Like for this post, it is just the text and images for this 'article'. Not the graphics up at the top for the menu, etc. For just the posts or pages, will you need any special formatting? If so, maybe Wordpress isn't right for you. Most of the special formatting can be designed for the rest of the page, but the content section should be kept simple - text, images, movies, and whatever else you can add in - in a straight forward layout.

WHY? If you put special formatting into the Wordpress page using their editor, sometimes it can strip it out and you're left with a broken design until you fix it. It especially can have problems with CSS added in (div's especially). If you code in HTML directly you can avoid this, but if you switch back over to the graphic editor it often strips it out.

But, you really shouldn't need special formatting in your post or page. Design or hire someone to design the wordpress theme so it looks great with simple posts/pages and then when you're writing your posts you can go quickly and not worry about special formatting, just content.

A bit more on 'How tech savvy are you?' - If you can use email and have ever uploaded a photo onto anything online, you can use Wordpress. The only exceptions are if you want to customize the look and feel of your blog, you need skills in HTML, CSS, PHP, and graphic design skills or ready to use graphics. Contact Us if you need assistance here.

There are exceptions to the 'rule' mentioned above about special formatting on pages. See www.bodyspaonline.com for examples. If you notice the background changes for each section and there are other formatting changes as well. All of this was done with specialized design with PHP and CSS but the client doesn't need to worry about that. She just makes changes or additions to pages - doesn't mess with any special formatting - and the formatting is handled behind the scenes. The only thing that can throw a monkey wrench into it is if <div>'s get added in and/or tags don't get closed. The point is: use the theme/design to do special formatting.

There is a lot more to it, but in summary:

Pros:

Free
Has a WYSIWYG editor (What You See Is What You Get) = easy to use tool for anyone to edit web pages
Some hosting services provide easy install
Many Free Themes/Templates that can be a good starting point (Hire us to customize them or from scratch)
Can easily insert images, movies, links, and much more

Cons:

Customization requires technical skills
Special Formatting in content section can cause problems
Won't do everything for you (Online Store, E-mail Marketing, Social Networking, :) cook for you)

Thanks for checking in. In a future post I'll talk more about other C.M.S. options that can provide some of the things Wordpress is limited on.

Still, Wordpress is great! It's doing way more than it was originally intended for.

Contact Mountain Multimedia if you need a custom designed Wordpress Theme or Plug-in.

3D Web Design

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:53:00 GMT

Just launched our first 3D Web Design
www.carouselcafeandicecream.com

It was a very in-depth process but was a lot of fun. I hope to do many more designs in 3D. I think making a game is in order, though I don't know if I'll have the time to do it. At the very least I will revamp my own web design to incorporate 3D in the coming month or so.

I don't want to go into the technicals on it but just wanted to mention that I learned 3D modeling in the process. I almost was able to design the whole thing without it, utilizing the base functions of flash Papervision3D, but the client requested horses be added to the carousel - which made perfect sense. This was a great opportunity to dive into 3D modeling and I feel confident I could now model all sorts of animals, creatures, buildings, and more. To keep the load time of the horses managable, I kept the design of the horse to a low polygon count. I look forward to posting a more elaborate horse model in its own flash page where there are not so many other items eating up processing.

UPDATE, October 27: I went back in to try and develop the horse 3D model more elaborately. I found that because of some of the efficiency choices I made to make it load faster, it was hard to get that back to where I needed it to be for efficient modeling. Part of that was, like many have mentioned, because when you get out of quads into triangles, it becomes a workflow issue. Now, seeing that play out, I couldn't agree more. Triangle dominant models are tough to work with, however, to keep a model managable for 3D Web site design, you need to creatively break it down into a triangle-based model. Why? Because every quad requires 2 triangles in Papervision3D. And just to put it in context, you only get about 3000 triangles in Papervision before performance suffers. If this seems low its because internet browsers only give a smaller portion of memory to Flash processing and some other issues. Anyway, I digress:

The point I was trying to make is I've ditched the idea of continuing work on the horse model in favor of making a 3D Dragon! I've always loved dragon art and have had difficulty painting one. So I'm 3D modeling one and so far its looking quite good. It's going to be a pretty high-polygon count model so it may not be able to display online in flash, but we'll see. I will at least post some high res renders of it from Blender, etc.
-----END UPDATE-------

(BTW: If you'd like a more in-depth guide to 3D Web Design let me know)

So please go and check out Carousel, they have great ice cream, donuts, sandwiches, and more!

If you're considering a 3D web design, I'd highly encourage it for the right creative application/presentation.

Thanks,

-Joel Reinke

Art, Plein Air, and Cameras

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:06:00 GMT

So I went out and did some Plein Air painting about a week ago and realized some things.
(Plein Air is painting outside in a rather quick manner to capture the light as it is)

I was at Green Lake (Seattle) and had a great time - though I got a bit sunburnt. It was a nice day.
NOTE: Painted in Acrylic on Watercolor Paper.

It is nice to get out there and paint rather than working from a photo because the photo has limits. You can't turn your head a bit and see what's going on around you in a photo. With plein air you can really pull in the whole environment and work in things that wouldn't fit into a photo and it doesn't look all warped.

Next, you can be selective, in fact you have to. Some of the crud that ruins a photo you can just leave out. This will focus the painting on what you want and creates a great final scene. Now I'm also getting really into photography so I also really like to work on framing up a shot just right, but that's a different story.

Plein Air is also nice because you can loosen up a bit and go free on the canvas. More impressionistic. Relax. :)

OK, so the point that ties into photography is this:

If you are an artist and want to take photos to paint from you need to do this:
Get an ultra-wide lens.
This is a multimedia lesson, coming from someone who is exploring a range of different mediums.
Why do you want an ultra-wide lens?
Because one of the biggest take aways I had from doing Plein Air is that a big benefit is having the ability to look around and see the big picture.

If you don't have the luxury of doing this, then an ultrawide lens is a must. It is a lens for an SLR or digital SLR camera that allows you to "zoom way out" and take in everything around you. Then you can use this as reference for your painting. I still recommend just going outside and doing Plein Air. It will probably be less expensive and its a different experience. But working with an Ultra-Wide lens, compared to other lenses (like a telephoto) feels very artistic because you really want to work to find a nice spot where everything is just right and then work with the manual settings to get different effects. Also, an ultra-wide is great for creating photos with interest because you can create a scene with a striking foreground subject, a mid-ground, and a sprawlingly broad background - all in one photo!

Summary:
-Get outside to live art
-Utilize Ultra-wide Lenses for great photos

-Joel Reinke

Welcome to the Web Multimedia Blog

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:30:00 GMT

Hello,

Welcome to Mountain MultiMedia Web Design's new blog! We offer complete online solutions with online business functionality. Its not just online Store software, its a complete package to help you build online success.

Located in Edmonds Web Design this blog is a resource for you for many needs: advice on web design, entertainment and photographs, news about new offerings from us, and other educational resources related to online design.

Explore the rest of this website to learn about the features of this platform. Here, I wanted to point out were some great ideas about uses for online businesses:

Turn your idea into a business: One of the solutions offered by Mountain Multimedia Web Design is a great Online Store Platform and it is really for anyone who has an idea, hobby, full business,or passion that has marketable potential. You could take this and have a real money stream on your hands. Whether this is a full time job for you or something you want to run on the side, Mountain Multimedia's Joel Reinke can consult with you to make your idea hammer out into a real business.
You can sell e-products with this (online products with no shipping like files and programs)! You could make your own iTunes for example. or maybe sell photos, software (shareware), etc.
Make your own subscription based service - like a monthly fee for stock photography.

I hope I've given you some food for thought.

Thanks, Until Next time.

-Joel Reinke
Certified Web Developer