Here at Oracast, we know it can seem next to impossible to streamline your company’s processes while also creating high quality solutions for your convenience. That’s why we’re here to help. We’re a made-to-measure digital partner that features over seventeen years of high-quality web and mobile app development, professional web development, branding, and targeted digital marketing. We’ve helped countless clients thrive, and find their unique path to digital success.

In light of our contributions and efforts, we’ve earned a spot Clutch’s list of 2020 leaders!

We’d like to take this time to thank our stellar clients for helping us get this far! They took part in client interviews with Clutch analysts to assess our impact and value to their business projects. We were graded along the lines of quality of services and deliverables, adherence to project timelines, and overall project management skill, just to name a few. In reflection of that data, we’re happy to announce we’ve received a wonderful five out of five stars! Take a look at a recent review below:

“We are absolutely thrilled to have been chosen as one of the leading app developers in Canada by Clutch! We couldn’t have done it without our amazing team and valued clients.”                                                                                                                 – Jes Herman, President of Oracast

For those unaware, Clutch is a B2B market research firm that leverages a unique ratings methodology to evaluate and identify leaders among various service sectors. We’ve also been recognized by The Manifest, Clutch’s sister site that’s a business blog platform. They name us a top Canadian Software development firm on their comprehensive leaders’ matrix.

We’re proud to receive this award and vow to keep our clients happy with groundbreaking technologies. Please drop us a line if you’d like to collaborate on a project with Oracast today.

Oracast’s team of app developers are in the process of building MoonCEP; a web-based software application that Dr. Christina Limmer will use in her Brain Coaching school to help people of all walks of life re-learn how to use their brain to its full capacity.

What happens when a person’s brain has suffered an injury? Or when a person is faced with Dyslexia? Well, typically that person has a wide variety of societal barriers to face and overcome. A brain injured person may not have the recall or thought process of a healthy brain and will face challenges in getting and maintaining employment, creating healthy relationships, or even may not be able to live on their own.

Unfortunately, people with brain injuries are grossly over-represented in prison populations and homelessness, and often turn to self-medication to ease their suffering. Is there a better way to approach an injured brain? Christina has dedicated over a decade to re-learn how to use her brain, which was severely damaged in an accident, and now spends her time teaching others who suffer from brain injuries or Dyslexia a wide variety of skills that can help them learn how to navigate the world with a brain injury.

Want to learn more about Dr. Limmer and MoonCEP? Visit her website here: https://re-engineeredbrain.ca/

So, you need a website, and you’re not even sure what the title of this post means! That’s okay, let us break it down for you.

When it comes to websites there are so many options that it can seem overwhelming. For simplicity sake, we’ve broken them down into two options: Content Management System (CMS) + Hard Coded.

What’s the Difference?

CMS: A website that has a CMS allows for a user to login to a back end. This allows for a non-technical user to make minor edits to the content of their website, such as hours of operation, text updates etc.

Hard Coded: A hardcoded website, or non-CMS website (by our definition) is a website that does not use a CMS to manage the content of the website. Instead the website is edited using specialized tools for website programmers to make changes to all aspects of the website.

Decisions…Decisions:

Now you understand the difference between CMS + Hard Coded websites. Before deciding which website structure would be best there are some important questions to ask yourself first. This section gets a bit ‘techy’ but we promise to translate it for you.

 

 1. How big is your website + what’s your budget?

A CMS uses template files that are created to handle content input from a backend interface.  If your website is small (1-4) pages a CMS could be substantially more expensive than a hardcoded website. However, if your website it large, a SMS could be the better option? Why? Well, when we can take a template and use it for multiple pages it has an economies-of-scale affect.

Translation: CMS + Large website = Great Option

 

2. How often does the content on your website change?

As discussed earlier, CMS websites are built for the purpose of allowing you to edit the content of your website without technical knowledge. So, here’s our general rules of thumb when it comes to deciding if the number of edits warrants a CMS website:

i. If the content on your website is only updated 1-2 times a year (or less), a CMS’ functionality could potentially limit the design freedom of your website, as the design relies on specific templates.

So, if you company offers services that remain consistent from year-to-year, then you are more likely to benefit from a Hard Coded website design.

ii. If you are adding / editing or removing content on a regular basis (numerous times a day / week) a CMS will eliminate the need to contact your web developer to make these changes for you. All of your changes can be made immediately.

1. Example: Real Estate is an ideal situation for a CMS website. The content of the website is constantly being updated.  New listings, current listing changes (such as the property being sold or the price being reduced) can occur several times a day.

2. Restaurants: makes it easy to add / update their menus

3. eCommerce: allow you to quickly add and remove products, track sales / inventory

4. nonprofits: After the initial build of the website you can manage your website updates without having to pay a programmer to make the edits for you.

Translation: CMS + Constant Updates = Great Option

3. Do you have time to update your website?

a. Even in situations where the content of your website is constantly being updated, a CMS may not be the best option.  If you or an employee have the time and knowledge to update your website that’s great! However, if you do not have the time to update your website and plan on going through your web developer to update your website a hardcoded website may be the better option.

i. Ultimately you pay for the extra functionality being built into a CMS website. Does it make sense to pay for the extra functionality when you will still be paying the web developer to make the changes to your website? We don’t think so!

b. Be aware that time is not only needed to update the content of the website but CMS’ need to be maintained as well.  The CMS and additional plugins will need to be updated on a regular basis to avoid security vulnerabilities.

Translation: Programmer Updating Website + Hard Coded = Great Option

If a CMS website still appears to be the way to go after asking yourself the questions above, you’re know tasked with deciding which CMS will best suit your needs.

1. WordPress

a. 24% of the web operates though wordpress including

i. the “New Yorker”

ii. Best Buy

iii. Xerox

b. Open source, which means you don’t need to purchase a license to operate it.

i. No additional yearly cost

c. Easy to use/update

d. Plenty of add-ons / plugins

e. Content, document and project management, file distribution and project tracking

f. No native database report

2. Magneto

a. Developed specifically for eCommerce

b. Open source

c. Websites:

i. Burger King

ii. Nestle,

iii. Zumiez

d. Easy to navigate

e. Extensive features revolved around products, pricing tools etc.

3. Drupal

a. Many tools and modules to help create content relevant to your target audience and structure your website so it can be crawled effectively

b. Major websites:

i. The economist

ii. Weather.com

iii. Fox

c. More complex than other open source CMS platforms

d. Regarded as the most secure open-source CMS

4. Joomla

a. Major websites:

i. Hardvard University

ii. Guggenheim Museum

iii. Many extensions / plugins that can meet the needs of most small businesses

1. All add-ons are free

iv. Easy to navigate

v. Not many support options

vi. Inst a quick website builder

vii. Regarded as a CMS for web designers who have experience using code.

As you can see, there are a LOT of factors to be considered when deciding what the best path forward is for your website. Still unsure as to what the best option is for you? That’s okay, if you’re looking for an experienced company to develop your website, let us help you decide. Send us a quick note and we can go from there.

Gone are the restrictive days! The days when websites were bound to the shackles of a limiting CSS framework. Enter CSS Flexbox and Grid!!! (we’re a little excited)

First things first though… what IS a CSS Flexbox and Grid?

We Believe the easiest way to think of Flexbox is to imagine all of your elements are floating inside of a container, using the Flexbox code you are able to position, scale and order the elements of your website. Making it very fluid and customizable.

The Grid CSS is similar to the Flexbox, but more structured. You are still able to position and order the elements of your website, but within a grid system.  Think of how sections appear in a newspaper, this is the same with a Grid CSS, we are able to position elements position elements within customizable rows and columns.

Rethinking Website Layouts

With the CSS Flexbox and Grid now in play, we’re no longer constricted to the old symmetrical layout of websites. This allows a new generation of websites to push the envelope through innovative designs beyond what has ever been possible before.  Look for brand personalities being expressed with abstract, a-symmetrical or even chaotic layouts.