Portfolio
Fuse Open Source Community
Company: Progress Software formerly IONA Technologies
IONA (Now Progress Software, NYSE: PROG) contracted us for a new design and integration with their Ruby on Rails-based content management system, RadiantCMS. We designed, from scratch, a brand new community and open source software website. We additionally developed customized themes for their Atlassian Confluence wiki and Jive Software Forums.
Results
Collaborating with Chariot Solutions on the back-end development, and providing the lead on the front end development, we successfully created a user friendly standards based website. A focus on shallow link paths and crisp clear copy has increased the download and registration conversion rates by 10%-20% across the board. A lower bounce rate, increased downloads, increased user registration, and decreased page view time mean that Fuse's potential customers are understanding the value of the site easier and accessing their products faster.
Chariot Solutions had this to say about marginLeft in their May 2008 press release
...we worked closely with MarginLeft, an up-and-coming web design and development firm that deeply understands the community and what a website needs to do to be successful.
read the full press release
Following the launch of their re-designed home page we continued our collaboration with IONA until they were Acquired by Progress Software. Following their acquisition we have continued to assist them in adding new features to the Fuse community website.
- What We Did
- Original Design and Standards based code, Radiant CMS integration, custom Atlassian Confluence wiki and Jive Software Forum Templates
- How We Did It
- Photoshop, XHTML, CSS, Javascript, Ruby on Rails
Portfolio
Last Ditch Racing
Company: Triple Caution Inc.
LDR came to us in desperate need of a method of updating content, and providing their fans with media. We completely overhauled their site and integrated their new design into the popular blogging engine Movable Type. To help build their community, we helped them develop pages on social networking and media sites.
- What we did
- New Design, Movable Type blog tempting, set up hosting, community involvement, podcasting and customized RSS distribution.
- How we did it
- Photoshop, XHTML, CSS, SEO, social networking, Flickr and Viddler integration
Portfolio
University of Maine Information Technologies
Company: University of Maine System
Complete overhaul of the UMaine IT website. We built the interface with custom javascript, and developed a rich administrative interface and a custom PHP back-end.
- What we did
- New Design, New front and back end code, accessibility studies, usability studies, authored content, and managed the universities web development team.
- How we did it
- Photoshop, XHTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, Usability Studies, Icon art
Portfolio
University of Maine English Department
Company: University of Maine System
The English department approached us after their site was slammed in a department review. We worked closely with them to create a new design and to integrate the Radiant CMS. We created a fresh design, and wrote from scratch XHTML and CSS for it. We also heavily customized the Radiant CMS, adding a more comprehensive user system that includes permissions and hierarchies.
- What we did
- Designed the website, coded the interface, customized Radiant, helped develop content, and served as effective web-masters during their long-term transition.
- How we did it
- Photoshop, XHTML, CSS, web standards, Ruby on Rails, Radiant CMS
Portfolio
Center for Research on Sustainable Forests
Company: University of Maine System
Crsf.umaine.edu is the portal website for the Center for Research on Sustainable Forests at the University of Maine. They came to us looking for a fresh, original website. As they were a new department they had no previous web presence, and this was a big step for them. They wanted both an attractive website that maintained some themes from the university, as well as a customized content management system. As with all university websites, their site had to be 508 compliant.
- What we did
- Designed proofs. Developed the HXMTL template and the CSS. Integrated the site into a customized version of the Radiant CMS, and taught them how to use textile and to upload content.
- How we did it
- Photoshop,XHTML, CSS, Ruby on Rails, Radiant, SIFR
Portfolio
INBRE
Company: National Institutes of Health
The Maine Idea Network Of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE). After the original designer quit, James stepped in to create a very nice looking site, and completely authored both the graphics and the code.
- What we did
- Original design, graphics, front end interface.
- How we did it
- Photoshop, XHTML, CSS/Table Hybrid, Dreamweaver Templates
Portfolio
Katahdin Rock & Gem
Mom and Pop Jewelry store looking to branch out and establish an online presence. We helped them develop a visually pleasing web presence that emphasized the quality of their unique Maine gemstones.
Portfolio
Traditional Turkish Carpets
A complete re-design for a Turkish carpet store looking to boost their online image.
Portfolio
Word Without Voices
Company: Atlantis Found Publishing, Inc.
This website was the brainchild of an artist looking to create and online art competition. We developed sever iterative designs and developed a standards based front end. Finally, we coded a ruby on rails back-end that allowed for account management, picture uploading and conversion, and integration with PayPal.
- What we did
- Original designed and instructional graphics, Ruby on Rails back-end,
- How we did it
- Photoshop, XHTML & CSS, Ruby on Rails, ImageMagick, and usability studies
Portfolio
CenTRO
Company: UMaine Systems
Centro is the Center for tourism in Maine. James did this site while working separately for the University of Maine system. It incorporates an original design, standards based XHTML, and full accessibility compliance.
- What we did
- New Design and new user interface.
- How we did it
- Photoshop, XHTML, CSS, Flash
Portfolio
Optitoti
We created this website for an entrepreneurial college student looking to move away from eBay. While the website was never completely finished, we did create an original and attractive design, a standards based XHTML template, and the beginnings of a php and AJAX based store.
