Independent Sports Supply is a Wholesale Distributor in the Shooting and Hunting Industry based in Cedar Rapids, Ia.

This was a newly formed company so our website design strategy wasn’t based on upgrading an existing site. The focus was creating a members only website to help a distributor communicate private wholesale price lists to their dealers.

The next priority was maintaining a public website to attract more business and be a source for dealers nation wide.

We started with the iThemes Patriot Theme as it was very “American” and “Red-White-Blue.” One of our designers Chris created an awesome logo with gun site and more! He then faded the US flag, US Constitution and American Eagle into the header image. The home page rotating images were focused towards the shooting and hunting industry.

Next we had to lock down the blog so the owner could post updates to his dealer network. We’ve used WishList Member and s2Member on many WordPress membership sites but this client had a different request. He wanted to manually approve all members AND because of that we needed to collect more information on dealer registration.

On our registration page we needed name, address, phone so the owner could call and verify the dealers who were applying.

Wishlist Member only collects First-Last Name and email but does allow manual approval. Problem was he needed the phone number to call.

s2Member wouldn’t allow for manual approval but we could have set up a free registration then after the owner called to verify he could move them to a “Dealer” level created in s2Member. Problem here was it allow people to become a “subscriber” so if they were denied he would have to delete them.

So we settled on WP-Members (not to be confused with WP Members no hyphen) as it gave us the ability to collect name, address, phone, email and hold approval till the owner called to verify the dealer. Upon approval the owner simply uncheck a box and the dealer is sent an approval email with a login name/password.

I highly suggest this plugin for manual approval sites and Chad Butler was awesome to work with. We didn’t need to collect payment via Pay Pal or anything like that but I know Chad is working on a new release.

We opted to use MailPress for email subscription management for news and updates. This allows for HTML or text emails to be sent to all members and MailPress syncs with WP users. So when the owner approves the dealer a user account is created in WordPress and automatically added to MailPress for email updates when anything is posted to the blog.

In summary we have a website open to the public for the owner to advertise his business and locate more dealers across the country he can work with.

Next if a dealer applies to be a member the owner calls and verifies the dealer and approves them. Automatically a WP account is created and they are added to the MailPress email database.

Now as the owner updates the blog with the most current price list, products, specials, his dealers ONLY see this information. If anyone not logged in tries to access this information they are blocked.

Finally we added BackupBuddy from iThemes for schedule DB and Full Theme and file backups!

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2. Website Launch: Lutheran Church of the Resurrection
3. Website Launch: DanceArtsIowa.com

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

LinnCountyTrails.org is a group of motivated, creative volunteers combining vision, partnerships, and stewardship of resources to make trails happen in and around Linn County, Iowa.

We upgraded their previous website from a static/flat HTML site to a CMS based WordPress site with maps, dynamic content and social media integration.

We started with the iThemes Builder – Slate Child Theme. This allowed us to create a number of page layouts specific to the home page, inner pages, trail pages, document pages etc.

Dynamic Content Gallery

We used Dynamic Content Gallery on the home page to feature specific trail pages. Each trail has it’s own page with maps, images, description so we used the sliding images to connect to the specific pages.

This allows the client to update the image and description at any time or add a new trail and have the home page images update automatically and link to the specific trail page.

Google KML Map Integration

Obviously the primary focus of the website is the trails. We worked with the client who created custom KML maps for each trail as well as an overlay map and amenities. The maps are zoomable and dynamic.

Each trail page has an individual map for that specific trail.

Support for mobile devices

iThemes makes a great plugin for mobile devices simply called Mobile.

This was important for this site as many people on the trails are either walking or biking so mobile phone access is required.

Auto Generated Featured Image Page Links

The Find a Trail page is an auto generated page from the sub pages and their associated Featured Image which is part of WordPress 3.0.

Basically each trail page is a sub page of Find a Trail page. Each page is assigned a featured image and the link/image is auto generated on this page. The client can add a page and the page is updated automatically.

Photo Galleries

Each trail has it’s own photo gallery which was too much for the default WordPress Media Library. Instead we used NextGen Gallery and created a specific gallery for each trail. We also created a gallery to hold the home page Dynamic Content Gallery images.

Individual Trail pages

As mentioned above each trail has it’s own page, specific KML Google map, description and NextGen Image Gallery slideshow.

The right column links to all trail pages automatically.

If the client adds a new trail page the simply follow the template created and the home page images are generated with title and description and more!

Events Calendar Pro

We chose Events Calendar Pro for this project as it creates a custom post type and in turn a custom menu item in the dashboard. This makes it easier for clients to add events as it’s custom post type aka a blog post with a title “Events”

The WordPress Dashboard was customized for the client to remove items that were confusing.

PDF documents are manage by WP Download Monitor. Although we don’t need to monitor the number of downloads, this is a great way to add a PDF to a document library when editing a post or page. The file is added to the page/post but dynamically is added to the overall site library. Click here to see an example.

We also setup social networking integration and automation so any time the blog is updated their followers are notified on Facebook and Twitter.

Summary

There are so many other features and too many to list here. Take some time to review the site and post your feedback and questions below.

Related posts:

1. Website Launch: LinnAreaPhotoClub.org
2. Website Launch: DanceArtsIowa.com
3. Website Launch: BurgerHomesDevelopment.com

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

http://BurgerHomesDevelopment.com

Burger Homes Development is a residential and commercial builder. They build stunning homes and commercial properties with every attention to detail.

Bob Burger has been building for over 33 years and his wife Deb is a Realtor with Skogman Realty in Marion.

Burger Homes is thoroughly committed to building Energy Efficient homes in order to sustain low-cost and low-maintenance houses. Our experience and understanding allows us to use methods and materials economically with less of an impact on the environment.

Burger Homes and Development wanted a website that was easy to update, with integrated real estate features and of course connections to their social networks, email and the ability to host photo galleries online.

Website Development Overview

We started the WordPress development with the iRealEstate Theme from iThemes as it was developed with real estate in mind.

Next was features and plugins. We wanted to find a way for the Burgers to display the homes and properties currently under construction. When we build website for Realtors we primarily use IDX integration. This allows the Realtors listings and other listings in the area to be displayed on their website without the need to manually enter each listing.

Great Real Estate Plugin

Author: Roger Theriault

Great Real Estate was developed to enable real estate agents, brokers, and REALTORS to display and manage information about their listings in WordPress pages. The plugin creates custom pages for your listings AND pulls together additional existing plugins.

What we liked was the fact that the Great Real Estate Plugin also used NextGen Gallery plugin so the client only had to learn one way to upload photos! They are able to create a gallery in NextGen, then create a photo page in their website AND use these photos in the Great Real Estate Plugin.

The Great Real Estate Plugin also integrated Google Maps, WordTub for videos, FPP-Pano for Panoramas, WP-Downloadmanager for easy file upload/download management (property fyers, blue-prints, etc.) and finally Feed Wrangler for managing the RSS Feeds.

Although this solution requires the client manually create a page for each property, upload photos, pano, videos etc. It does a very nice job pulling the information together!

Featured Listings allows the client to show the current featured properties they are building on the home page. They can also change the listings to “under contract” and “sold.”

For a Realtor I’d still suggest using IDX integration for WordPress but for a small Realtor, builder, property manager the Great Real Estate Plugin cannot be beat!

Other plugins:

To connect to social networking sites we enabled FindMeOn, WPFollowME and other social networking plugins.

We added SEO and Google Sitemaps for search engine optimization

We also added database optimizer, caching engine and of course BackupBuddy to consistently get backups of the database AND content in case something would happen!

Closing

If your group or organization is looking for an affordable website solution we can help. We create the site to fit your needs then you can maintain page updates and changes. Contact us as needed to add more functionality and features!

We can host your WordPress website and we offer plugin, database and SEO maintenance for WordPress.

Contact us today for more information on how we can help with your web development, design integrated with social networking and web hosting!

Of course to learn more about http://BurgerHomesDevelopment.com just visit their website!

Related posts:

1. Website Launch: LinnAreaPhotoClub.org
2. Our website development focus
3. Solutions for Realtors

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

http://LinnAreaPhotoClub.org

Linn Area Photography Club is a non-profit organization helping photographers gain more knowledge and experience as well as an inspiration or ideas to get out take more photos! They have members who are beginners up to semi-pros!

The group has over 80 members in the Linn County Iowa area and struggled with communications as a huge email list was their only means of communication. As people joined the club or changed email they struggled with keeping a single list. No one was sure all the time who had the most recent list of emails and every time they sent an email, they got returns and errors.

They had a website but it was old and very static. They also needed a better way to manage newsletters monthly, display images and have a calendar of events not only for upcoming meetings but upcoming photo shoots, contests and more!

Website Development Overview

So we started the website development with the Flexx Theme from iThemes.com as it gave us the flexibility to add a number of widgets on the main page. We have complete control over the background, colors, pages, widgets, layout etc..

As you might suspect they wanted rotating images on the main page of the website. We used the ever popular NextGen Gallery and Smooth Slide show plugin to display the member photos on the main page.

They also use the photo gallery for monthly contest winners and other events throughout the year. They post to the blog and include a link to the particular gallery so images are embedded into the blog posts!

This is small organization with a very specific focus “photography.” Photography is a very broad topic but when visitors come to their website we wanted to cut as many clicks to the information as possible.

The top row of navigational buttons or links are the “pages” in WordPress that we transferred and edited for the new site. The information is fairly static and only changes about once a year. We added a contact form and the ability to download the very simple application for membership in PDF format. Future plans are to make this into an online registration form with ability to pay via PayPal.

The second row of navigational buttons are actually links to blog categories. The navigational buttons are created dynamically as new categories are created. Don’t worry new categories need to be enabled in the theme settings to be visible. This is a great feature in case a user creates a new category incorrectly or by mistake.

Social Network Integration

We also create a Facebook fan page and Twitter account to allow people to follow the groups news and updates. We connected the blog to the Facebook fan page via notes. Then with Twitter Tools we linked directly to the  Twitter account so updates to the blog get posted to both social media sites.

We also add WP Follow Me to add the Twitter icon on the right side of the page. We also added Sociable plugin and the FindMeOn plugins for tighter social networking integration. Visitors can find the site via social networking then post interesting content from the website out to the social networks!

Widgets

The left and right columns were perfect to add widgets to show upcoming events, recent posts, links (blogroll) and links to member sites. Many of the members have their own websites and we want to highlight them here.

We added sponsor logos  to the footer area and the order rotates every time the page updates. This gives each vendor top listings every time the footer loads.

Calendar

Event Calendar 3 was our plugin of choice for this website. Of course there is a widget showing upcoming events but this plugin creates calendar events by creating a post. You use the post editor as you would write a blog post but at the bottom choose your starting and ending date/time. When you submit a calendar event the post is assigned to a specific category in your blog. IF you have setup RSS to email via Subscribe2 or aWeber or others, then your calendar event you just posted is emailed to your email subscribers as well as your RSS subscribers.

For this website we did not enable the Subscribe2 widget as they prefer to only have paid club members on the email list.

Newsletters

The photography club publishes a monthly newsletter saved as a PDF document. They post each newsletter announcement to the blog and PDF files are managed by WP-Download Manager. As stated above when they post a  newsletter their email list of subscribers gets an email notice where they can download the latest copy.

Backend Plugins

Once completed we added SEO, Backup, Optimizer, Google Sitemaps. The site is submitted to major search engines setup for regular backups and optimizes automatically!

Future Plans

We are also planning to create a membership site or a “members only” site. The club wants to allow people to post photos for review and ONLY allow other members from the club to see and give feedback on the images. There are amazing sites around the Internet that allow this but many feel uncomfortable doing this. They fear their photos being criticized by people they don’t know or someone may steal their photo. We will overcome this by keep the group local to the local members.

We plan to use WPWishlist and will post an update when the next phase is completed.

Closing

If your group or organization is looking for an affordable website solution we can help. We create the site to fit your needs then you can maintain page updates and changes. Contact us as needed to add more functionality and features!

We can host your WordPress website and we offer plugin, database and SEO maintenance for WordPress.

Contact us today for more information on how we can help with your web development, design integrated with social networking and web hosting!

Of course to learn more about http://LinnAreaPhotoClub.org just visit their website!

Related posts:

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2. Website Launch: DanceArtsIowa.com
3. Rubicon Photo website is live

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

http://LCRMarion.org

I really enjoyed developing this website solution for a local church in Marion, IA. If there was ever a perfect fit for WordPress, a church comes very close. You have diverse congregation of people, the church staff and volunteer committees and groups inside the church. All of them share the need to communicate to the congregation on a regular and timely basis.

To date, most churches have used the traditional print newsletter on a monthly basis, weekly printed bulletins at the weekend services (for those members who attend) and more recently churches are using email, some too much!

The Details of the website

We developed a WordPress website using the bSocial Theme from iThemes.com and transferred their existing web pages to the new site. We then trained the staff on how to login and update and change the pages when they want to. We learned many of the pages hadn’t been updated for over a year and there were pages they wanted to add!

Next we added an online calendar and again trained the staff to add events based on a number of categories. They have started with simply the weekly services but soon plan to add all upcoming events around the church and groups/committees!

Next we connected their photos page to their SmugMug photo hosting site. The church has a photography club and all members who take photos upload to the SmugMug professional hosting site in high resolution. Now members of the church can order photos, posters, canvas prints and more!

The website pulls the most recent photos from the SmugMug website via the WP-SmugMug Plugin. As new photos are added the website is updated automatically!

Finally we setup the pastors and church leaders with the concept of blogging and the ability to send updates to the congregation when they publish a blog post. They can now post weekly sermon notes and other news/events without waiting for the weekly bulletin or monthly newsletter. This will allow more timely communications.

We added a video box for the church to include recent videos of events or videos pertaining to the holidays or sermon series!

Email, Facebook, Twitter integration with WordPress

We installed the Subscribe2 plugin to allow people visiting the website to sign up for email news and updates. Any blog post will be sent to their email automatically. This is similar to aWeber or Constant Contact but for free! It also allows the church to upload their existing email list of church members and manually add new members when they like. This is a powerful way to communicate but wait…

Next we add the blog RSS feed to the notes page of the Facebook fan page for the church. Now anytime the church posts to the blog it updates Facebook automatically! But wait…

Using the Twitter Tools plugin we also connected blog posts to Twitter updates. Again any blog post updates the churches Twitter account!

So ANY BLOG POST to the website is automatically sent to the email subscribers, updates Facebook and updates Twitter! Very powerful!

Christian Plugins

We did a search for terms like bible or church and Christian and came up with some very nice plugins!

Bible Reading Plan allowed us to put a widget on the main page with daily Bible Reading plans based on the bible used by LCRMarion.org! It supports many versions of the bible so this could be used for many denominations!

The Holy Scripturizer plugin is a really cool plugin. The plugin searches the pages and blog posts for any reference to a bible verse and automatically links them to the bible verse online AND displays a popup. The church can also choose their bible of preference!

Sermon Browser is an amazing plugin! The church is going to implement this next year but the site is setup and we have tested the plugin. Basically the plugin allows the church to upload audio/video copies of sermons and library sort them by date, pastor, series, keywords and more! Notes can be connected to a sermon and linked to iTunes for Podcasting support!

Additional Plugins

WP FollowMe was added to put a floating icon on the right side of the website to allow people to easily follow LCRMarion.org on Twitter.com

We also added the TweetMe – Retweet plugin so visitors can re-tweet any content or post they like. Sociable was added to extend this functionality to Facebook, LinkedIn and more!

There are many other backend plugins for backup and database management, SEO, XML sitemaps, Google Analytics and more!

In Closing

Churches today are looking for ways to reach out using technology to their current congregation and to find new ways to attract members to their church. Churches are also aging and looking for ways to bring younger people and families to their congregation. Collaborative WordPress sites that implement Web 2.0 technologies like Facebook, Twitter but more importantly have the ability to blog post their updates when they happen vs waiting till the the next weekend service or monthly newsletter!

We have started working on a new website for the LCR Youth. The goal of the separate site is to connect to youth from 6th grade to high school seniors but more importantly to stay connected to the youth through college and into the future!

More updates coming soon!

If you are looking for a solution for your church contact us today to get a quote and learn more about our services!

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2. Website Launch: CRAnimeals.com
3. Rubicon Photo website is live

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

http://CRAnimeals.com

Mission Statement:

Cedar Rapids AniMeals, a volunteer based nonprofit organization, provides food and spay/neuter assistance for pets of the elderly, disabled and families in need, helping them keep their companion, which greatly improves the quality of life for both.

Our History:

Cedar Rapids AniMeals has been in operation since 2000 and currently serves more than 350 human clients and over 700 pets of all types (dogs, cats, birds, fish, hamsters, etc).  In addition to providing food for these pets, we provide approximately 100 subsidized spay/neuter procedures and vaccinations each year.  We operate entirely on donations and the work of a dedicated group of volunteers who manage the client list and delivery schedules; collect donations; and sort, package, and deliver food.

Cedar Rapids AniMeals is an all-volunteer organization that provides food for the pets of Cedar Rapids-area elderly, disabled, and others in need – a “Meals on Wheels” program for pets.  For many elderly and shut-ins, pets can be sole companions and best friends and are critical to maintaining a good quality of life.  Enabling them to care for and keep their pets is a real benefit to their continued well-being.

Cedar Rapids AniMeals works in conjunction with area social service organizations who help screen our clients.  With the cooperation of area veterinarians, we also provide subsidized vaccinations and spay/neuter procedures to help our clients be responsible pet owners.

Project Goals:

The focus was to create a website with a few pages of information but really focus on reaching out to volunteers and donors both locally and abroad. The goal was to give the program directors a blog to post news, updates and event reminders in a simple format. The website allowed them to store their email list in one area and eliminate the need for each program director to keep a list of emails to CC when they send an email. Plus emails no longer came from their personal email address but a server email address.

The other goals were to allow for more photos, video and connect the new website to social networking sites like Facebook & Twitter. Now anytime they post to the blog an update is automatically sent to their Facebook Fan Page and the Twitter account.

PayPal was also setup and integrated to allow online donations which was not an option with the previous website.

Website Details:

For our base site theme we chose Titanium Theme by iThemes as it had support for multiple rotating home page images, video integration and an “about us” area on the main page then two vertical columns a side bar and footer.

CRAnimeals.org is small organization that has a lot to say about a number of different items. A home page with a lot of slots for widgets was our goal! It’s a balance of form vs. function and some may feel the home page is too busy others love all the information in one place.

We also setup a PayPal donation button as the club has always taken donations by postal mail or in person. Now supporters local and abroad can make a donation to help the organization with their mission.

Social Networking:

We also setup a Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter account so any blog or news updates would be sent to the social networks to get more visitors to the site! Visit the site and follow the group via Twitter or become a Fan!

Some of the plugins we used for this site are:

Event Calendar – Post upcoming events using the blog Post dashboard!

Add to Any:Share/Bookmark/Email Button – Share website info with your favorite social networking sites or bookmarking

FollowMe – A cool Twitter widget in the right corner of the web browser window

Subscribe2 – Email management to announce updates to volunteers and supporters

There were many other backend plugins used for SEO, Google Sitemaps, XML and backup.

In Closing

To learn more about this organization and the great cause they support visit http://CRAnimeals.com and sign up for the newsletter or make a donation online.

For additional information or questions about this website design, plugins and more contact us!

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1. Website Launch: DanceArtsIowa.com
2. Our website development focus
3. Rubicon Photo website is live

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

The Organization:

Dance Arts Iowa offers a carefully designed and progressive program in dance technique, which takes the young dancer from the primary levels to pre-professional dance.

Dance Arts Iowa offers strong technical training in ballet and encourages students to take Jazz, Tap, and Irish Step Dance to stimulate creativity and enhance rhythm, musicality and fun.

The Website: http://DanceArtsIowa.com

The owner/director Ellis Stroud wanted a new website with more functionality and bright colors! She wanted the new website to match the new colors of their studio which are very bright and cheery!

Due to the number of options we built this site using the Flexx Blog Theme from iThemes Home Page. DAI wanted the rotating images look in the header so we created a base header image with text and changed the background images. We then uploaded the multiple background images and the theme has options to rotate the headers to get a “flash look.” I also like that the navigation buttons can be set above or below the header so we have full use of the header to show what the organization is about.

Next we built a custom graphic with the client’s provided colors to make the page stand out!

Due to the number of options they wanted on the home page we chose both right and left sidebars as well as a footer. This Flexx Blog Theme makes WordPress.org sites look and act very much like what many call a “standard website.” The sidebars, header, footer are consistent through the entire site. We can change that if we like but this is what the customer requested.

The “home page” or landing page was changed to be a static page the client can update. From there we created numerous web pages which are now managed by the client and they contact us for help as needed.

Plugins we used:

The online calendar was very important for managing upcoming events online. We decided to use the Calendar plugin from Kieran O’Shea as we find it’s the best plugin for schedule events that repeat. There’s a full page view as well as sidebar plugins to show upcoming events. The only thing we wish it had was the ability to create a blog post for each entry so clients can be emailed automatically!

Email Subscribers are important as many people still don’t understand RSS. I’m sure RSS makes total sense to all the techies reading this but to show someone what RSS is and then find a reader and then get them to check it, we needed an easy way to allow people to subscribe to upcoming events. So we used one of our favorites Subscribe2 by Matthew Robinson. The plugin allows visitors to enter their email address and subscribe to blog posts/updates. You can manually add people to your list and there’s no need to configure an email server or anything like that. Configure a few options and add the widget to the sidebar and you can build your email subscriber list.

One note on this topic: If you have multiple blogs and you want to build a single subscriber list you’ll need to use a service like aWeber. Setup one email list at aWeber, copy the code into EACH WordPress site and when people subscribe to any site or you update any site everyone gets the update. You can also customize the emails to clients more with aWeber. Click here to learn more: http://aweber.com/?313785

For the photo galleries we used non other than NextGen Galleries plugin. With NextGen you can create multiple galleries of photos, resize photos and even combine photos into albums. From there you can upload various flash or swf players to display the photos in moving “flash” galleries or individual photos.

Related posts:

1. Rubicon Photo website is live
2. CedarRapidsMLSOnline.com
3. CRHomes365.com

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

Jeff Schmatt has been a photographer for many years. He has a successful studio near Mt Vernon but he also travels to the clients or events and he also shoots commercial photography. He does great work with Seniors and families!

For this project we used the iThemes Life Theme and customized the header and some colors.

Plugins include Subscribe2 for managing email subscribers, NextGen Gallery for photo albums.

We also integrated this site with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace.

When Jeff completes a photo shoot with a client he creates a blog post and includes a gallery of low-res photos which link to his online fulfillment gallery.

He then chooses a category for each post (Seniors, Commercial, Family, etc..) which auto creates his portfolio links.

Next every blog posts automatically updates the social network sites which brings users back to his website.

Check it out at: http://rubicon-photo.com

Related posts:

1. Blog.BobFoto.com
2. CedarRapidsMLSOnline.com

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

Band Sites

Bands can’t survive today without a website. They need a site to connect them to MySpace, Facebook and more!

We have a custom Gig’s calendar plugin for our band sites as well as audio and media players built in.

View the site and let us know how we can help your band!

http://cedarislandband.com

Related posts:

1. Church Sites
2. LifeIsTooBusy.com
3. Isle of Iowa Parrot Head Club

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting

Isle of Iowa Parrot Head Club

This site is very active, complex and a lot of stuff going on! We transferred the existing site content to this new theme and customized the background, added numerous pages, created number widgets to connect to all the organizations they support, bands they like and more!

It’s a great organization with a great cause!

Related posts:

1. INEVO.com
2. CedarRapidsMLSOnline.com
3. Church Sites

WordPress Website Design-Development-Hosting-Training-Consulting