CMS Websites: What is CMS?
Several Great CMS Options
We are frequently asked “what is CMS?“ Simply put, a content management system (CMS) website enables anyone to become a webmaster, no programming knowledge necessary! A CMS website allows you to modify text, images, video and more instantaneously at any time, from anywhere.
Using a CMS website eliminates the need for your employees to learn complicated coding or how to use software such as Adobe Dreamweaver, enabling them to focus on what your core business is. It also eliminates much of the need for costly outsourcing. Any time it is necessary to change or update content a CMS allows for quick and easy edits.
A good example of a highly functional CMS is Facebook. With Facebook you can edit your home page and profile as well as communicate with other people without the knowledge of the complex (in this case very complex) coding behind it. Simply put, Facebook would not work if every time you wanted to do something you had to edit code.
Another great feature of a CMS website is that, you have 24/7 access to web changes without a monthly maintenance fee! A few of the award winning CMS solutions include; WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, or CK Editor CMS platforms.
Contact DK for any additional questions about “What is CMS”.
Top 5 Worst Websites of 2009
By TJ Warren
Our mission at DK is to rid the world of boring websites. To end the year of 2009 we decided to look at some of the worst websites of the year. While not all of the websites we have chosen are boring, actually, some are rather entertaining, they do make up the Top 5 Worst Websites of 2009.
Grab a couple cups of coffee if you're going to fill out this form
#5 – Your New Dot Com (US)- If you want your website to look as boring and from the 90’s as this Kansas City web designer’s website does, then take the 3 hours to fill in their brief 64 question contact form to request a quote from them. Web designers are often noted as working harder on their clients websites than they’re own, but this is an extreme. http://yournew.com/
#4 – Who Represents (US) - This website contains a listing of agents who represent various celebrities. Great data, however, they might have been able to choose a better domain name, than http://whorepresents.com. If one were to read the url the wrong way, they may think this is a site that helps complete your X-mas shopping with those hard to find presents. This illustrates the importance of choosing your url carefully to make sure your website purpose isn’t misconstrued. A close runner up to this one was Experts Exchange (http://expertsexchange.com).
Beware - Browsing may cause seizure
#3 – Miauk (UK) - Beware building a website that may give viewers a seizure. This actually does happen. Well, not really, but the site is still painful to look at. If you can bare the view and feel like finding the proverbial Waldo, try to find the link to their “Kala” page. http://miauk.com/
#2 – Bella de Soto (US) - Have you ever wanted to take a large website with over 100 pages of content and cram it into one single home page? Well, Bella did too. She also adds a soundtrack which isn’t too bad until the shrieking and other sound effects begin about 10 seconds in. And if you’re tired of the crossword puzzle or can’t muster another Sudoku, really challenge yourself by trying to figure out what this page is about. This forces us to wonder on what planet was this website a good idea. http://belladesoto.us/
Do you like animated gifs or other quick website gimmicks? Well look no further than lingscars.com!
#1 – Lings Car Leasing (UK) – Gizmos and crap galore on this site. It is so bad its actually funny. Her site has been on so many “Worst Websites” lists that this website is actually ranked as the 155,000th most tracked website today which may actually drive sales to the site. Like they say, “Bad publicity is better than no publicity.”
What is really great is that Ms. Ling actually has advice about creating great websites. One of her website design keys is to “Make stuff colourful and flashing!” http://lingscars.com/
A Breakthrough in 3D Production: Making Avatar
Attention to detail includes detailing faces on a pore by pore level.
By TJ Warren
The recent blockbuster Avatar not only blew away previous record blockbusters but brought significant change to the 3D industry. James Cameron created a breakthrough methodology in 3D movies by using stereoscopic cameras viewed through stereoscopic lenses. However, the sheer amount of rendering that went into this movie, as well as the detail of the 3D rendering is of particular interest to us at DK.
Before the making of Avatar, Cameron did not like how emotion was displayed in previous 3D rendered characters. Previous technology allowed tracking of facial expressions by placing sensors on major muscles of the face. To Cameron this was not enough as it resulted in relatively emotionless characters. The human brain is capable of deciphering and remembering a huge array of facial expressions to highly exacting detail. To accommodate this, Cameron rendered his characters on an amazing pore by pore level. This degree of detail, along with the sheer amount of back grounds used in the movie, took an incredible amount of processing power.
One of the most time consuming parts of 3D animation is making the image into a format that can be used on normal TV, computer, and movie screens. The Avatar render farm comprised of 40,000 processors was needed to run 24 hours a day for over a month to render the entire film. Additionally, with the sheer amount of 3D animation used in this movie, Cameron needed a way to synchronize the 3D animations with the actual actors being filmed. To do this he developed a special camera which has an LCD screen showing the animated background in the shot.
The popularity of Avatar, along with the beautiful quality of the work of the designers, has brought tremendous attention to the 3D animation industry and shows what can be done with 3D technology.
Relevant links and references:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4339455.html
http://www.clickthecity.com/movies/?p=5496
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2009/12/11/innovative-new-d-tech-james-camerons-avatar/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8421468.stm
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/12/22/the-data-crunching-powerhouse-behind-avatar/
Which shopping cart is best for me?
Which cart will bring Money?
There is a huge variety of shopping cart programs to choose from for your website. If you type e-commerce shopping cart into your search engine of choice a daunting array of options will appear. This makes choosing the right cart a very difficult task. However, there are a few basic rules you can use to pick the right one. The first understands the distinction between a hosted shopping cart and an integrated shopping cart.
A hosted shopping cart will redirect your customers to another site. It manages the process of keeping track of items actually in the cart and then initiates the checkout process. Two examples of this type of shopping cart are Google Checkout and Paypal. The problem with hosted shopping carts is that it is really a one size fits all solution. Sometimes there are difficulties with them as well. However, there are advantages associated with them as well. You do not have to go through with the hassle of installing the shopping cart on your own server. If you do a small amount of business online a hosted cart may be more cost effective as well.
Integrated shopping carts on the other hand allow you to actually manage your online store. This is done by keeping a database of products, discounts, and customers. If you do a lot of business online, this type of cart will be much more cost effective as well as being more manageable.
In general, the decision is largely a function of how much business you do online. However, there are more features to think about before your decision. It is important to get a shopping cart from a reputable provider. If your shopping cart provider goes out of business you may be left without technical support. Even worse, you may lose whatever sales you had processing at the time. Another key feature is how search engine friendly a shopping cart is. If your products can be found by major search engines, you have a huge advantage over competition. A useful tool for making this decision is making a spreadsheet of features found commonly in different shopping carts. Find several carts you are interested in and rank how well they perform in all of your categories.
DK can help you select the optimal shopping cart for your business. Please contact the DK team and please read our other posts on similar topics.
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