Make the right decisions and good things happen. That’s the philosophy of DesignKarma, where we believe a great web design is the result of lots of little decisions. Find out more…
News has been a little patchy of late, but that’s not to say it’s been quiet around here—far from it. We’ve got a number of exciting projects hatching this summer, all powered by shiny new technologies like EE2.1, HTML5 and CSS3.
Yesterday EllisLab released ExpressionEngine 2.1, marking the end of the public beta period. The new version boasts improved performance, some exciting new file management features, and a sexy new control panel. DesignKarma is thrilled to be able to start releasing EE2-powered websites this summer, starting with a major website for Northern Ireland football. The DesignKarma website will also be redeveloped soon in EE2 (if/when I get the time!). Watch this space!
A couple of DesignKarma websites have popped up on Show-EE.com, a new website dedicated to showcasing good ExpressionEngine websites from around the world. Both Riviera Travel and The Kirsty Club have been listed so far, and hopefully lots more in the future.
One shortcoming in ExpressionEngine 1.6.x was the fact you couldn’t do recurring Paypal payments (using the Simple Commerce Module). However, the new 2.0 release supports Paypal subscriptions and recurring payments. Using recurring payments, you can offer your users automatically recurring subscriptions. For purchases managed through the module, you can specify emails to be sent upon a recurring purchase, emails to be sent when a recurring payment is canceled, and alter a member’s group assignment based on their subscription status. This is a small and overlooked—but potentially significant—enhancement of the module.
The DesignKarma redesign of http://www.rivieratravel.co.uk is having a significant impact, already showing a 280% increase in visitors on last month. Bounce rates are down and average visit time is up. At the heart of the redesign was putting a major focus on clean “web standards” code, simple user interface, and page performance.
Following the successful Riviera Travel redesign-redevlopment, DesignKarma is thrilled to announce the launch of a sister website—Riviera Tours—for the US market. The new website offers a slightly different set of Worldwide and European getaways, aimed specifically at an American audience. Both websites are receiving excellent feedback from the design and ExpressionEngine communities.
DesignKarma is thrilled to announce the launch of the new Riviera Travel website today. Through partnerships with national and regional newspapers and publications, Riviera Travel offer escorted tours and river cruises all over the World. This is DesignKarma’s first major high-traffic website, complete with online tour availability checking and booking, and complex source tracking features.
Christmas comes early today with the much-anticipated public release of ExpressionEngine 2.0. The new release is built on top of CodeIgniter, EllisLab’s open-source PHP framework. The two communities combine to supercharge an already hot app. DesignKarma has been involved in beta testing the new version, and had an extensive preview recently at EECI2009 in Holland. Very impressive it is too. Clients will love the new improved control panel and more sophisticated publish screens. The existing 1.6.x tree will continue to be used and supported by the EE community whilst 2.0 beds in, but DesignKarma will be developing a new 2.0-powered website in the New Year. Watch this space.
Well, back on British soil after an eventful few days in Leiden. It seems the first ever EECI conference was a resounding success, with a good mix of learning, networking and erm… drinking. The cream of the EE community descended on Leiden for 3 days and it was good to finally meet some folks in the flesh, as well as make new contacts.
One more quick report before the afternoon session. WiFi is patchy here, so got to be brief. Big news out of the way first: ExpressionEngine 2.0 is set for launch 1st December. Already been playing with the beta release and very impressive it is too. Derek Allard took us through the new File Management suite yesterday, and this will make image management in particular much easier for DK clients. Overall, the sessions so far have been very enjoyable, and validated much of my existing working methods. Good to meet and “nerd-out” with others in the EE community also. Full report when I get back to the UK.
You are a bloody genius!
AXA, BBC, Cisco, David Lloyd Leisure, Etisalat, Fujifilm, GPJ Australia, Intel, Kirsty's Appeal, Medics Away, NHS, Riviera Travel, Ryvita, STA Travel, Yahoo!