Five Technology MN » Web Development

Providing a Communication Link for K12: The Delano School District Website

Jason Landa — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:24:45 +0000

Schools have an overwhelming amount of academic and administrative information to provide parents and students. Five Technology can help your school district put all of that information in one easy-to-access place.

Five Technology’s website for the Delano School District provides an easy, effective communication link between their parents, students, teachers, and administration. Your district can benefit from this same convenient communication link customized to your specific needs.

Easy to Navigate

Any information users need is easily found in one of the site’s clear categories.

Main Categories: From any page on the site, users can access the main categories of District, High School, Middle School, Elementary School, Activities, and Community Education instead of using the back button or needing to return to the home page and start over. For example, a parent can choose the main category High School to get to a specific teacher page and then go directly from the teacher’s page to information about a recent school board meeting under the main category District.
School and Classroom Pages: Each school and classroom has a page with its own specific announcements. Classroom pages allow students and parents to see assignments, course topics, schedules, grading scales, and more.
Teacher Profile Pages: Teachers’ pages provide a teacher’s contact information; links to each class they teach; and additional links such as parent information, class schedules, homework, and assignments.

Protected Information

Your district can customize pages for each school. Also, schools have control of all content. Parents must subscribe and students must log in to access information about individual class schedules and so forth. The site complies with FERPA regulations.

Convenient and Time-saving

The user-friendly organization of the website saves time for both parents and students who need information and the school staff who provides that information.

Facebook-like functionality: The website is easy to navigate because elements of it work like facebook, which most users are familiar with. Classroom and teacher pages are similar to facebook profile pages, and teachers can make posts on pages like a newsfeed. The bonus is that you avoid actually putting your information on facebook, and instead have your own website controlled by you.
Parent Subscribe: Parents can subscribe to have all posts from their child’s classes sent to their email address so they don’t have to search the sight each day to see if new information is posted.
Student Log-in: Each student has a log-in. When they click “My Classes” at the top of the page, they see a list of their classes so they don’t have to spend time searching for each class. Also, students can download worksheets and turn in homework for assignments posted to a classroom page.

Helpful Showcase for Your Community and Schools

People considering a move to your area can research the benefits of your community on a professional, well-organized site. Users see the highlights of your schools and can find enrollment information. Parents can see how your schools would suit their child.

Improved Communication and So Much More

This is just an overview of what Five Technology’s website can do for your school district. We will work with you to meet your district’s specific needs while providing a site that allows your teachers, parents, and students to communicate effectively and efficiently.

Screen Captures

Please don’t hesitate to navigate delano.k12.mn.us and see first hand how the Delano staff members are using these great online tools to communicate classroom activity. Below are a few screen captures of important functions mentioned above.

Use the mega navigation to navigate to any page with one click:

A classroom page that is effectively being used to communicate with parents:

A sneak peek at the teacher administration process and sample categories:

Removing a URL from Google’s Index with Google Webmaster Tools

Eric Mobley — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:45:45 +0000

You have a beta site in production and project completion is weeks or months away. By chance you catch that the site has been indexed by Google. It could be that your staging server has been indexed. Or maybe your client has shared the beta site’s link on twitter or facebook.

Regardless of how it happened, you are going to want to get this off Google’s index ASAP.

The site could start getting visitors who would be viewing incomplete design and information
People might start trying to order products if it is an e-commerce site
There will be duplicate content issues which could harm the current site’s rankings

Thankfully Google gives us a tool to request the removal of an entire website from its index.

To get started you need to make an account for the site with Google Webmaster Tools.

Once you have this setup, navigate to Site Configuration -> Crawler Access. On this page is a link for Remove URL. Plug in the root domain of your site. That’s it!

We recently had two sites we submitted for removal and both were removed in under two hours.

Now that you have taken steps to remove the beta site from Google’s index, this would be a good time to prevent it from happening again. Take a look at creating a robots.txt file to prevent search engines from indexing your beta sites. Just remember to remove the search engine restrictions once the site goes live!

Facebook has Provided the Blueprint

Jason Landa — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:13:39 +0000

Facebook has put social media on the map, and there’s no sense in debating whether it is here to stay. I think we can all agree that it’s not going away anytime soon, but what is debatable are the benefits social media marketing and Facebook can offer your business or organization. For some, the negatives of bringing Facebook into the work day far outweigh the positives, while others are using the medium to effectively communicate to their current and potential customers. Personal networks are a double edged sword!

I’d like to go outside that box somewhat and discuss a corollary benefit Facebook and other social media platforms have introduced to application designers and developers. Social media is starting to show-up in the design of custom web applications we build to help business to be more efficient (I.e. CRM, Customer Portals, Project and Task Management, Sales Management, etc.).

When a new technology is introduced, Five Technology will figure out the best way to utilize that technology and make your business more efficient (I.e. profitable). The mobile phone or tablet PC is the device. The Cloud is the new storage facility for all your business critical data. The 3G, 4G, and wireless networks provide the infrastructure and access to this data anywhere at anytime. And finally, the software developers create apps to make the interaction with this data easy and secure. Facebook has provided the blueprint for the web developer to accomplish this.

The two things Facebook does extremely well are Communication and Easy. You post to your wall, and everyone that needs to know about that post (your friends) is notified of a new post. A comment is made, and all involved (your friends) are automatically invited to the conversation. An effective communication platform that is easy to use at all levels (i.e. my grandfather has a Facebook account). Is a post on your Facebook wall really all that different than a task or conversation relevant to a work order?

Facebook makes online communication easy! If they only offered a “private” or “business” version of their software that could be customized to fit the needs of an organization, but that’s a whole other conversation. :)

Quick Side Note: In addition to platform, Facebook is also doing a majority of the training for us. Change is difficult for any organization, particularly if there is a huge learning curve to this change. Everybody knows how to use Facebook, so if can design a system that looks and acts just like it, the adoption rate of the new system becomes a whole lot higher.

Five Technology is an online marketing company whose solutions primarily involve some web design, web development, search engine marketing , and a powerful content management system (CMS). Most solutions address pretty straight forward marketing agendas and don’t require a ton of customization, but there are customers that are doing a lot more online than just marketing. As a result we are involved with mapping out business processes, and it’s critical we determine the most efficient, secure, yet user friendly way to utilize technology to accomplish the task.

Five has recently implemented this methodology into a project management system as well as a portal that K12 Schools will use to communicate classroom activity with a student’s parents. Details of these projects will be revealed as they become more mainstream. I’ve also noticed others have come to the same realization, as I was recently reading an article in Fast Company magazine detailing what Glam Media is doing for their authors.

Facebook, thank you for providing the blueprint for successful online communication!

Web Design Project: Whole Cottonseed for Cotton Incorporated

Jason Landa — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:31:08 +0000

Our latest web design project was built to communicate the benefits of whole cottonseed for dairy cows. The project was a microsite for Cotton Incorporated and involved working with the great team at Harvest PR.

A Website With A Message
The fun part about a microsite is the focused message. Cotton Incorporated needed to reach dairy farmers with the benefits of feeding whole cottonseed to their herds in new ways online. The website is filled with valuable information on WCS facts, feeding, storage, pricing and more.

We built a custom WordPress blog as whole cottonseed news delivery feature that allows for the posting of news, press releases and video updates.

The website also features information on WCS dealers so that dairy farmers can locate where to get pricing information and buy product.

Components Of The Web Design Project
For a microsite, we still packed in a bunch of great features into this project.

Web design
Custom jQuery JavaScript slideshow
Content management with the SMC
Custom WordPress blog/news feature
Video player
Integrated Twitter feed
Custom contest entry forms
Dealer locator
Media and resources
Email marketing opt-in

We’re looking forward to further work with Harvest PR and Cotton Incorporated to achieve macro results.

Visit the website: http://www.wholecottonseed.com/

Web Design Project: COMPAR

Jason Landa — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:59:00 +0000

The latest Five Technology web design project is for COMPAR, a Minnesota technology and computer products reseller.

New Web Design
The old web design for COMPAR was out of date, lacked proper navigation and content structure. The new web design focused on aligning best web practices with a design that represented their brand today and where they are headed in the future.

Content pages, like their technology solutions page, were enhanced to make the user experience easy and successful.

New Website Features
COMPAR wanted to not only update the web design feel of their website, but they needed to add new functionality to the site. Five developed a customer portal app that allows their clients to securely log-in to order products online, view account history and other information.

We’re excited about the release of COMPAR’s new website design and custom features. Not only can we make things look pretty, we make them work better as well.

Visit website: http://www.comparinc.com

Web Design Project: Simonson’s Salon & Spa

Jason Landa — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:01:26 +0000

There is never anything wrong with creating something beautiful, especially for a business that is all about it. Our latest web design project released is for Simonson’s Salon & Spa. Adding to the fun was the co-agency efforts of Spyder Trap Online Marketing working with Five to produce the website.

A Web Design With Style & Simplicity
During the early project discussions it was clear that we wanted to bring a stronger style to the Simonson’s website. Finding the balance between elegance and approachable was important.

Simplicity was a driving factor to make the website easier to use all around. Clear navigation, focused services, content areas and new features combined to make the website easy to interact with for the user.

Simonson’s also is engaging with customers on social media channels like Twitter and Facebook. You’ll notice the emphasis we put into letting website visitors know they can further connect with Simonson’s via social media.

Location, Location, Location
It’s no secret that the goal is getting customers in the door. We put a strong focus on the Simonson’s four locations by making it the first item left in the main navigation, prominent footer information (see below) and the detailed page of each location.

Below is the website footer that displays a photo, phone and address of each location on every page. These are also clickable to the location detail page.

The location detail page, like this one below for Plymouth, features the address, contact information, photo gallery, online appointments, store hours, interactive Google map and other helpful links.

Finding the Right Stylist or Technician
Simonson’s has an experienced and talented staff and knows that their people make the biggest difference. We created an easy to use search and filter tool for users to find the right stylist or technician for their needs. If you’re looking for a stylist, specializing in red hair in Maple Grove, you’ll find it!

Recap of This Web Design Project
As you can see from the details above on a few features, a lot went into this web redesign in both form and function. Here are a few more areas to hit upon in closing that we engaged in:

Custom web design
Content management with the SMC
Custom blog design
Search engine optimization & local search
Salon & Spa Team search filter
Enhanced location pages
First time guest feature to market to new customers
Online gift card purchase
Online store integration
Online appointment integration
Prominent social media channel placement

We enjoyed the web design project, the great team collaborating together and the final outcome.

Check it out: http://www.simonsons.com

Web Design Project: Rear Window Media

Jason Landa — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:17:53 +0000

One of our recent web design projects has been grabbing some attention. Rear Window Media is a real-time, digital marketing start-up that utilizes LCD screens in vehicles to run ads while on the roadways. Simply put they are mobile digital billboards, but RWM has done so much more with it.

A Complete Web Application
Rear Window Media runs their business right from their website. The back-end is a web application that allows advertisers to manage their ad(s) showing, their ad budget and other campaign details. This application (screenshot below) is the hub of their client interaction and gives complete control to their advertising clients.

Incredible Tracking
RWM advertisers also get to view detailed maps on just exactly where there ads are showing. How’s that for tracking? By integrating Google maps with their web application, an advertiser can see what block in downtown Minneapolis thier ad appeared or what mile market on Interstate 35W. Real time advertising, real time tracking.

Here is a screenshot of the map tracking report.

Web Design Project Overall
Five completed the front end of the web design and as well for their marketing interface. This project really shows our ability to handle both the marketing front of a project and the complex web application backend, far past our great CMS features.

This project included:

Web design
Search Engine Friendly build
Custom WordPress blog for RWM news
Advertiser account & log-in
Web application management for advertising
Custom Google maps reporting
Content management platform (SMC)

If you haven’t yet, visit the site: http://www.rearwindowmedia.com

Five Technology Client Appears On WCCO-TV

Jason Landa — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:46:43 +0000

Rear Window Media, a Five Technology client was featured on WCCO news for their mobile digital advertising service. While the story played to the “controversial” angle of vehicles displaying ads, we’re excited for our client’s exposure of their unique advertising service.

WCCO doesn’t offer a video embed, click here for the video.

Five Technology worked with Rear Window Media’s President Jessica Netter and created both the web design and an extensive web application that runs the Rear Window advertising management. Rear Window clients can manage ad rotations, budget and track their advertising with GPS mapping right from an online account. We’ll post more on the Rear Window Project in a future blog post.

How valuable for an advertiser to know exactly what spot on Interstate 94 or what block in downtown Minneapolis their ad was displayed? Sounds like smarter marketing to me.

Check out the video, you’ll see the Five Technology logo in a few shots as we have some ads on their network.

Regardless of the service being controversial or not, Rear Window has seen a significant spike in both drivers wanting to use the service and advertisers for their network since the story aired. Any publicity is often good publicity, no matter how the story is spun.

Congrats Rear Window! http://www.rearwindowmedia.com

Web Design Project: Ranchline Network

Jason Landa — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:12:33 +0000

Sometimes you have to go bigger, the Ranchline Network web design project is an example of that. The Ranchline brand has 4 other websites on our web platform and I have worked with them for years, including on their logo design.

Ranchline Network is a national real estate listing website, focusing on high-end land and ranches for sale. The website features hundreds of listings from brokers and agents all across the US and even Internationally.

Ranchline was founded by real estate broker Paul Taylor III who has achieved incredible success in the industry. Paul and the Ranchline team saw a great opportunity to bring their marketing and Internet success to others in the Real Estate industry as a tool for them to market their properties and homes for sale as well.

Ranchline Network – A Better Website
At the core of the Ranchline Network website is a focus on making real estate research easy for the consumer. The website offers the ability for a user to create an account to save properties and searches. The layout is clean and offers clear navigation in multiple formats for any user to find their desired property. These include:

Type Navigation like Ranches For Sale, Land For Sale & Waterfront For Sale
By State Navigation like Montana For Sale, New Mexico For Sale, Texas For Sale
Search filters for land type, location, price range, listing ID# or keyword
Visual map search with listing population numbers by state (see below)

In moving through the real estate listings users are presented with both strong visuals, clear navigation and over property details. Once into an exact listing the page consists of a variety of images, content, details, maps and more.

Content Management System To The Extreme
Our web platform is extremely flexible, scalable and capable of some great custom features. This project offered us the chance to program some great features for the updating and adding of listings. The back-end offers a great feature and tool set including:

Online creation of client accounts
Online payment of one-time advertising & membership fees
Uploading of listings, data, photos, video and more
Listing statistics for agents to view stats on searches, impressions, views, clicks & contacts
XML feed capabilities to automate listing population & updating process

Overall Website Project Details
The Ranchline Network project was a very expansive project and the client is not engaged in online marketing strategies with Five as well. As an overview, the web design project involved:

Custom web design
Content management system integration
User accounts and agent accounts
E-commerce & merchant account
Multiple search & filter features
Banner ad network
Photo gallery features
Google maps
Various XML data feeds
Search engine optimization
Pay per click marketing
Web analytics

Check it all out for yourself, we’re proud to work with Ranchline as part of their team and business success.

Visit the website: http://www.ranchlinenetwork.com

E-commerce Web Designs: Let It Snow(mobile)

Jason Landa — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:57:25 +0000

Our latest e-commerce web design projects come in a 2-pack and cater to the snow loving crowd. MotosportsGearUSA.com and SledGearUSA.com feature snowmobile clothing, gear and accessories for the snow and machine enthusiast.

MotorSportsGearUSA.com

The Motorsports USA Gear site is the flagship of this e-commerce network of sites. The initial release of the site only lists snowmobile gear for sale, but will eventually offer ATV, Motocross and more.

Brand Focused Websites
The other aspect to this site is that we are producing product line focused websites. The first one we produced is focused on Klim snowmobile clothing and gear. The main site will feed product information to each of the brand focused websites.

E-commerce Website Features
These e-commerce sites feature the following:

Custom e-commerce design (we also made the site easy to re-skin for the brand focused websites to follow)
Product catalog & shopping cart
Multiple navigation locations for category, brand & search
Product preview & product detail pages
HTML sitemap & product sitemap
On-page SEO
Product options & product codes
Authorize.Net merchant account

We’re excited to release these new e-commerce web designs and make winter a little more fun.