Case Study - Stack Computer Solutions Ltd
When Stack Computer Solutions Ltd commissioned us to design their new website the main goal of the design was to create a functionally complete web-site that Stack employees could have total control over, allowing them to expand the site without the company incurring further costs.
Company
Stack Computer Solutions Ltd. is a company based in Merseyside that offers bespoke IT and networking solutions for companies both large and small. Despite this Stack was burdened with an out-dated website in both content and design and as such, they required a replacement.
Current Issues
Stack identified the following key problems with their current site:
- Even though driven by ASP it was essentially static HTML, with no easy way of editing existing pages or adding new ones.
- Limited interactivity - no user logins or even contact forms.
HallNet was charged with creating a replacement that would address these issues.
Project Goals
During discussion with our client, the following project goals were identified:
- PostgreSQL database so Stack engineers would be able to backup and restore the site without any additional training.
- Flexible yet simple way to create and format site content.
- Secured against malicious use.
- Include time-saving features to make editing as quick as possible.
Delivered Product Features
The finished web-site took 6 weeks to design, develop and implement. The following features incorporated into the design:
CMS
A bespoke content-management system was written to allow staff to easily edit pages and create new ones, borrowing elements such as wikitext for the main markup language over HTML to reduce the amount of user training required and prevent invalid markup from rendering the site un-viewable.
Much like MediaWiki, pages are created simply by visiting them, with the exception that the CMS we designed allows users to define site structure by including forward slashes in the URL instead of a flat layout. Thus mimicking a directory structure and grouping common pages together in separate sections is trivial, and depth is unlimited.
Safety
To ensure that valuable content is not accidentally deleted the CMS implements a revision system. Previous versions of every page are stored along with the name of the author and the time it was created, and can be viewed and restored at any time.
What's more pages can be soft-deleted so they cannot be accessed by visitors, but restored to visibility with a single mouse click.
Time-saving features
To ensure that staff can do their job quickly a number of time-saving features were created, ranging from simple utilities such as file and image uploads (with dynamic resizing) to a sophisticated template system which allows users to define snippets of wikitext that can included in other pages eliminating the need to copy and paste content, with the added advantage of only having to change that content in one place.
Users can also define HTML forms that tie into back-end scripts for contact, registration or search facilities with ease.
Design
The finished site includes a clean, professional design which fits in the existing company logo, with an emphasis on readability and easy to understand layout.
Evaluation/Testimonial
The finished project proved very successful, and a great example of the benefits of designing a bespoke solution to a problem rather than modifying an existing product.
"Working with Hallnet was a pleasure. They understood our needs straight away and made plenty of usesful contributions during the design process. What maks them different from other companies we have worked with is their responsiveness and willingness to go the extra mile for customer satisfaction. If you are looking for an especially good job at a sensible price look no further than Hallnet."
- Jeff Orr B.Eng M.BA M.Inst MC C.Eng Managing Director Stack Computer Solutions Ltd
