Web Development

outline of person sitting at computer and cheering

Why You Need Audience Personas For Your Website Content

May 3, 2022

Discover how audience personas can help you find the right balance between creating content that's too broad and content that's too focused.

Combat Dropping Enrollment Rates: See What This Community College is Doing To Bring in More Students

March 28, 2022

Discover how one community college is using digital marketing to turn the tide on falling enrollment rates and better connect with prospective students.

Team gathered around a table shaking hands

Beacon is Hiring! Come Join Our Team

March 14, 2022

It's an exciting time at Beacon filled with new clients, new projects, and new opportunities. There's never been a better time to join our team. Learn more!

Let's Talk Turkey: What Thanksgiving and Your Website Have in Common

November 15, 2021

Your Thanksgiving meal is a lot like your institution's website. Really! Discover how and see what you can do to make your meal and website the best it can be.

Show and Tell: The Do's and Don'ts of Elevating Your Content With Imagery

September 24, 2021

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Discover how to use compelling imagery to elevate the content on your site—along with a few common pitfalls to avoid.

Unlocking the Web: The How and Why of Web Accessibility

May 25, 2021

Beacon Technologies discusses why now is the time to prioritize web accessibility and how you can do your part to create a fairer, more equitable web.

Tired of Open-Source Chaos? Find Balance With a Proprietary CMS

April 22, 2021

If you're tired of the chaos of an open-source CMS, we've put together some of the most important things to demand of your next content management system.

Just One Month Before Google "Speeds Up The Internet:" Don't Get Left Behind!

April 6, 2021

Discover how Beacon can keep your website at peak performance, even as new changes come to Google's algorithm this year.

Why You Need to Invest in Your Website in 2021

January 21, 2021

This year, your website may be the only way to tell students what your college or university is all about. Make the most of this opportunity and invest in your site!

A Good Investment: Show Them How a Degree Pays Off

September 22, 2020

Students are savvy and need to know they'll get real value for their time, money, and hard work. Find out how strong content can show what a degree is worth.

Group of students sitting while wearing face masks.

Back to School: Can Your Website Serve Your Students' New Needs?

August 17, 2020

On campus or remote, it's back-to-school time already. Find out how to optimize your school's site to deliver the best experience - and how Beacon can help.

Mixitup and Bootstrap Data Toggle Interference Solution

February 18, 2020

In this post, discuss how using Mixitup and Bootstrap data toggle interface solutions can cause issues and offer a code solution to help resolve those.

Firefox's Site Identity Button

February 1, 2020

A client recently asked me why their e-commerce site displayed the message “This site does not provide identifying information” when clicking on or mousing over the “site identity” button in the address bar in Firefox.

Top 20 Digital Marketing Trends for 2020 - Part II

January 28, 2020

We talk about the latest digital marketing trends and innovations in the digital marketing space. See the top 20 trends in digital marketing here.

Beacon's Favorite Web Design Projects of 2019

December 11, 2019

Well, it’s almost here… 2020, the new year, the start of a new decade (depending on whom you ask). And that means we’ve nearly made it through another memorable 12 months.

Tales from the Script: Coding Nightmares

October 15, 2019

As a profession, software developers have a reputation for being, um… let’s say eccentric. Or, quirky. Or, unique.

Output HTML Syntax Characters from RSS Feeds to Preview Correctly for Cascade

September 6, 2019

This applies to Cascade Velocity formats. If you’ve ever had to pull in content through an external feed that has rich HTML, this piece of code may help you. Sometimes you may see HTML tags or code output into the content of the page. Such as, <Content goes here.>.

Getting Your Freshman Class On Campus

August 7, 2019

From a student's perspective, picking the right college is getting more and more complicated. It might seem contradictory at a time when applying to schools is easier than ever.

Background Parallax Image Fix in Sliders or Content

June 4, 2019

If your project requires parallax background images, you’ll want to keep this note in mind. If your slider or content area that the parallax resides in has a 3D transform attached, you’ll want to remove that code for the background parallax image to properly work.

What to Expect When Expecting a Website

May 29, 2019

Is your institution thinking about a redesign? Perhaps it is time for a new look and feel, or maybe you are trying to attract more prospective students. With a busy academic schedule, it can seem daunting to tackle a redesign. However, with some planning and a little help from Beacon your redesign can become a reality.

Font Awesome 5 Custom CSS Icon Style Requirement

May 7, 2019

This is just a quick helpful how to tip for Font Awesome 5 custom CSS icon fonts. When adding your own custom styling to the fonts, be sure to add a font-weight: 900 style. This will allow the icon to properly show on the page. Otherwise, you may get an empty icon placeholder in the web browser.

Spring Cleaning the PPC Way

March 13, 2019

It sure feels like those dazzling days of spring are just around the corner. More daylight and warmer temperatures are starting to tease nature back to life from the slumber of winter. It’s hard to ignore all the energy and buzz in the air.

5 Ways to Fall in Love with Your Site All Over Again

February 21, 2019

Sometimes it's hard to appreciate the routine things we use every day. Tools, possessions and even people we see on a daily basis tend to get less and less of our full attention.

10 Things They Hate About Your Higher Ed Site

February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Beacon! Many of us relish this day as an opportunity to express and share our appreciation with our partners and loved ones. We hope today is all about love for you, too.

Maintaining Content Focus on Your Higher Ed Site

January 29, 2019

You've done it! Months of late nights and dedications to the design of the perfect higher ed website have culminated in a beautiful launch. It is all easy sailing from here, right? Well, maybe not.

Is Website Personalization Right For Your School?

December 19, 2018

This time of year, as students flee campus for winter break, the usual bustle of activity slows considerably. This affords the opportunity for faculty and staff to take a break from the breakneck speed of the semester.

Visual Storytelling: Designing an Effective Homepage

November 13, 2018

Brands are big in our society. Wherever we go – out to dinner, to a concert, for a cup of coffee with a friend – we see branding. In addition to communicating (sometimes) complex ideas, branding is also used as an identifying element. It’s how we know that the store we’re walking in to is the place we mean to be.

Content Strategy: Do You Have a Plan Ready?

October 18, 2018

Content sure seems to be hording all the buzz in 2018. Take a look at the lineup of any higher ed marketing conference and you’ll be sure to find at least one or two speakers or break-out sessions promising the latest low-down on content strategy.

testing-for-accessibility

September 20, 2018

Accessibility is a big deal in the world of internet marketing. After all, what good does a large investment in your most prominent digital marketing channel do if no one can see the information you want them to have or the products you want them to buy?

Designing for Accessibility

August 23, 2018

It’s easy to forget how revolutionary internet technology is. Today, applying mobile devices in our everyday lives is almost second nature. But, just 20 years ago, you still had to call someone’s house phone to make plans.

How to Close a Toggle Menu with an Outside Click

August 20, 2018

Adding a toggle menu is nice and straight forward with your preference of CSS or jQuery, but when you want to be able to click outside of the menu and close you will need to add a little more jQuery functionality.

Design Is More Than Meets the Eye

August 9, 2018

Undertaking a web re-design can provide the liberating feeling of starting anew, from scratch. But, most of the time, that's not really the case. Pretty much all of the websites undergoing a re-design still have a base of existing users.

Charlottesville, VIrginia Beacon U conference

Beacon is Going to edUi 2018

August 2, 2018

Beacon is going to edUi 2018 in Charlottesville, VA. If you’re a web professional who works with colleges, universities, libraries or museums, you should, too. In fact, we’ll help you get there.

Google Analytics: Insights That Help Drive Web Design

July 27, 2018

A quick confession. Here at Beacon, we love Google Analytics. We’re data hounds. Whenever possible, we rely on insights gained from data analysis to justify website development decisions. Indeed, a lot of higher ed website redesigns benefit from taking heed of current usage patterns and audience attributes.

Google Analytics: Understanding Your Audience

July 17, 2018

The competition for students in higher education is fierce. With so many excellent options for undergraduate and graduate studies, colleges and universities spend a considerable amount of time and resources recruiting prospective students.

How to Add a Simple Visual Loading Technique

June 28, 2018

Adding a simple loader message to a content heavy page adds for a better user experience. So for instance, if you have a large data table or directory listing that doesn’t load nicely. This can be updated to a simple loading message until the content has finished loading.

CMS: Proprietary or Not?

June 21, 2018

If you’re considering upgrading your school’s website, selecting the wrong CMS can have lasting ramifications. And, with so many options out there, it’s easy to find yourself overwhelmed.

Functional/Audience Design

May 22, 2018

What makes a higher education website effective? The answer can certainly be complicated. Universities, colleges and community colleges are large organizations, with numerous goals, many decision-makers and a diverse set of users.

Accessible Menus or Closed Items Using the Input Checkbox Method

May 21, 2018

When using the checkbox method to open and close an element, you don’t want to hide the input box. Doing that will make it non-accessible. Instead use this method for visual reference, but still allowing a keyboard to access the input checkbox.

Visual/Marketing Design

May 3, 2018

More than four billion people use the internet regularly, according to the latest statistical estimates. That translates to more than half of the world’s population. A lot of eyes on screens, for sure. Which is why it’s smart to invest in your digital storefront – your website.

5 Reasons to Perform Regular Website Audits

February 19, 2018

Whether you’re preparing for a website redesign or simply looking to optimize your existing website, regular website audits are a must. Here are the 5 top reasons you need to perform regular website audits:

Beacon Launches SITEXPRESS for Small Businesses

January 8, 2018

Beacon announces the launch of its all-inclusive, budget-friendly SITEXPRESS product for small to medium-sized businesses.

WCAG 2.0 Checklist

December 13, 2017

An accessible website is important for any website, but especially for higher education driven websites.

Managing a Website Redesign: Overcoming 3 Common Problems

December 6, 2017

The moment has arrived. Your website needs an overhaul. There’s a great deal at stake and if you’ve never gone through the process, it can be overwhelming. However, if you take the right approach, it isn’t that painful. Done right, it can even be exhilarating.

Cohesion: Key To Great Web Design

November 27, 2017

Does this sounds familiar?

How To Remove Aria-Described By if Dots are Disabled in Slick Slider

November 16, 2017

Here are some easy to follow instructions on how To Remove Aria-Described By if Dots are Disabled in Slick Slider.

Surveys: Get the Right Input for your Redesign

November 9, 2017

Before you begin your website redesign, ask the experts – the end users. Getting the right input may be the most important part of the redesign process.

Love Quiz: Fall In Love with Your Website Again

October 18, 2017

Maybe you've started to wonder if your relationship with your website is worth saving. Take this quiz to find out if it's time to get more serious about a website redesign.

CSS Accordion IE10 Fix

September 26, 2017

You can create accordions for your site using CSS and the input button method. This is a fix for IE10.

How to fix for Object-Fit Cover for IE

August 14, 2017

You may notice Object-Fit Cover doesn’t work well for IE or Edge in a responsive aspect. This would help in the meantime.

Mobile is Booming 2017 Report

August 2, 2017

As an update to a blog post written in 2011, we can now see just how accurate the report was.

Responsive iFrames

July 25, 2017

Sometimes your website needs responsive iFrames inserted for things such as forms or third party plugins. Hopefully these tested examples will be of help.

How to add an AccuWeather Current Weather Widget to your Website

July 11, 2017

You can easily install a current weather widget by going to the link below and following the instructions. https://www.accuweather.com/en/free-weather-widgets/current

Featured Image - Higher Education - generic

Top 5 Accessibility Items to Review in a Website Redesign

June 30, 2017

Accessibility and usability are undeniably congruous. The benefits extend beyond just the user experience and into SEO and mobile performance. It’s time and effort well invested.

CSS Equal Height Columns Without Javascript

June 20, 2017

Here are two CSS options for equal height columns, without using javascript.

How to Setup a Video Loop or Video Teaser for Desktop and Mobile Devices

May 23, 2017

If you need to have a video teaser or video loop on your web site there is an easy solution. It’s done with the HTML5 video tag and a few attributes.

Prevent Scrolling Behind a Fixed Overlay and Maintain Scroll Position on Mobile Devices

April 4, 2017

A great piece of code if you need to have an overlay on a mobile device and do not want the background to scroll when you have to interact with the overlay.

jQuery Social Stream Plugin

December 22, 2016

Adding Social Streaming to your site is a great way to get more traffic and provide engaging social feed updates directly to your users in one area.

Pure CSS Masonry Layout

November 16, 2016

If you need a really simple Masonry layout for your website, than this is easy as it gets without jQuery. This below code is slightly modified from the original to work for some cross browser support and responsive layout.

IE Edge CSS Coding Tips

April 25, 2016

There are a few things to watch when testing your CSS and HTML pages for IE Edge on Windows 10.

Making PDFs Accessible (Section 508 Compliant)

April 21, 2016

As 508 compliance becomes more and more crucial for higher ed and ecommerce sites, many developers are encountering Priority 1 issues regarding PDFs.

Bacon Poll: What's the Best Kind of Bacon?

April 1, 2016

With our new branding changes, we really want to get a feel for what our clients and partners think is the BEST kind of bacon out there? There are so many to choose from, but in the end, we had to narrow it down to just a few. Tell us your favorite by participating in our poll:

Build A Mega Menu Like Amazon

February 17, 2016

This is a great code set if you want to create a mega menu with a hover method.

Hand Over Your Browser. You've been Scroll-Jacked!

January 25, 2016

New websites are all about upgrading your look and having the smoothest, most intuitive experience possible for your users.

What's New in Web Design for 2016?

January 12, 2016

As we plunge into 2016, many designers and developers are excited to see what innovative ideas will arise. It is up to us to deliver fresh and atypical ideas which provide a foundation for the progressive nature of our industry. Many are looking ahead and predicting different trends we may see in 2016. Some of the trends from 2015, will linger around for a little longer, while others will fade out. HTML5 and CSS3 have opened the door to many realms of possibility and continue to eliminate needs for Flash and jQuery plug-ins.

Input Field Placeholder HTML5 Attribute

December 9, 2015

There are a few ways to create a placeholder for an input field or setup a hint method. One method is to use javascript for a more controlled experience and fallback for older browsers.

Aggressive Timelines - The Cohesion of Web Design, Web Development, and Testing

November 9, 2015

Where do you start on the importance of the synergy between design, development, and testing when faced with an aggressive timeline when their importance has been written about for years?

Triple Constraint - Customer Satisfaction within Scope, Budget, Time

September 30, 2015

The triple constraint in Project Management refers to the scope, timeline, and budget of a project. Change one and you impact the others. But where does customer satisfaction fit into that triangle? Without it, can a project be considered a success?

CSS Box Sizing

September 22, 2015

If you want to create a great HTML frame structure or a simple CSS box without worrying about padding and margin percentages for responsive sites, this CSS snippet does the trick. This is an example snippet:

Maintaining Data Integrity in CRM Systems

September 2, 2015

CRM Systems are dependent on data integrity. There’s truth to the proverbial ‘garbage in, garbage out’. Data becomes stale, incomplete or inaccurate and the CRM system loses its value. With leads uploaded into the system and multiple parties working within the CRM system, it’s a constant challenge to maintain the data quality and accuracy. So how do you achieve data integrity?

Smart Stuff - The Internet Of Things

August 17, 2015

An internet revolution is almost upon us and like many technological breakthroughs, it has already begun without much fanfare and is more of a curiosity and novelty than life changing. But before you know it, the avalanche of change will alter the way we live.

Decision Fatigue: Keep it Simple

August 12, 2015

Columbia University put this idea to the test by setting up sampling booths with varying selections of jam in an upscale grocery store. On the first Saturday researchers stocked the booth with 24 different flavors of jam for customers to choose from. On the following Saturday they offered only 6. At the end of the experiment the 24-jam booth proved more enticing by attracting around 60% of total jam samplers with a conversion rate of about 3%. While the 6-jam booth only attracted 40% of traffic, it boasted a conversion rate of 30%.

Center an Absolute Positioned Div

July 30, 2015

This is a simple CSS snippet will auto center an absolute positioned div. There are a few ways, but this bar far is the more simple approach.

Different ways to display results using the Nextopia Search API

July 20, 2015

Here at Beacon we use Nextopia to provide search results on several of the sites that we support. They do a great job of supplying an easy to use search solution for your site. There are several different ways to get the Nextopia search results content on your pages. You can make the search calls via java script snippets on your page.

SFTP File Retrieval With .Net

July 8, 2015

I am often tasked with developing .Net applications to interact with FTP servers for uploading and downloading files. However, I was recently given a project involving file manipulation using SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) and I was at a bit of a loss. While there are endless online examples of using FTP with .Net, examples using SFTP were much scarcer.

Mobile Ad Go-Getters

June 22, 2015

Mobile is taking over and you need to reach those audiences that are on-the-go.

jQuery Mix It Up! Great for Galleries and Listings

June 17, 2015

This jQuery plugin is great for portfolios and sorting sections. It has a lot of great effects, such as randomizing, load options, animation effects and more. It’s definitely worth a look and maybe assist you in a project.

How to Integrate ASPDotNetStorefront with back end systems.

May 25, 2015

One of the most frequent inquiries we get from customers is what can be done to reduce our cost in managing our website?

Simple Little Tricks for Web Transition Touch Events on Mobile Devices

May 7, 2015

If you want to have a web transition hover event to show on your website for mobile devices, you just need to attach this attribute:

Critical Success Factors of Projects

May 5, 2015

A recent Gartner survey finds that somewhere between 20% and 28% of all IT Projects fail. This survey goes on to document the main reasons for failure, the top three of which are: “Functionality Issues”, “Substantially late”, and “High cost variance” (Gartner, June 2012).

AspDotNetStorefront 9.5 - Exploring the new release

March 26, 2015

I recently had the opportunity to set up a brand new eCommerce store with AspDotNetStorefront Version 9.5 (released in January 2015) and have the following review. Please note that some of these features may have been available in versions before 9.5, but they were new to me.

Building a paginated listing with only HTML and CSS for Responsive Design

March 10, 2015

Most paginated listings on the web are managed either with server side logic, javascript, or a combination of both. With the first option, the user's browser wait on network traffic back to the server and back down again. Even if the data is as succinct as possible, a bad connection or crowded wi-fi can make your site look slow.

Creating Columns with CSS3 and Fallback for Older Browsers

December 8, 2014

There is a simple way to create columns using CSS3. It also saves several lines of CSS and more streamlined overall. After you’ve set up your HTML structure, you can simply add the column properties to the CSS selector of choice. These options currently work in IE 10.0, Chrome 4.0+, Firefox 2.0+, Safari 3.1+, and Opera 15.0+.

Radio Buttons vs Checkboxes

October 20, 2014

Sometimes when designing forms there’s some confusion as to when to use radio buttons and when to use checkboxes, but actually the rules are quite simple.

How to Plan Responsive Breakpoints

July 8, 2014

Typically people think about breakpoints in responsive designs in terms of typical screen size, and it usually works out to something like this:

How to Create a PHP Include in Velocity

May 15, 2014

If you work with Velocity and need to add a PHP include, there is a simple way. As you know the hash tag is the main character before a directive or code comment. So you can’t use it for regular text or inline copy if it’s within the velocity code itself.

The Ripple Effect in the Design Process

April 15, 2014

When I learned to paint, my teacher would always emphasize the importance of working the entire canvas at the same time. A lot of people have the natural inclination to zero in on the small area they are currently working on, and really develop it before working out to the rest of the piece. The problem with this approach is that a lot of time will pass as you work from one end to the canvas to the other, and your style will change with time. You hand will tire and get looser, the colors in your palate may not be mixed quite the same way, and you may take a break here and there and when you return to your painting, your flow is just not quite the same. So what happens is, you get inconsistencies in style and feel across the canvas leading to a touch of disharmony. The solution to this is to work the canvas in it’s entirety from corner to corner at the same time.

Website Updates For Fall Semester - Start Now!

April 8, 2014

TIME TO PLAN FALL WEBSITE UPDATES

Placeholder Images - The easy button

April 8, 2014

Ever hate having to find various stock or other imagery to fill in example image placeholders in earlier design/development stages?

More Free Social Vector Icons! (flat icon set)

January 24, 2014

This icon set includes the following flat icons:

Full Scale Site Background Image Solution for IE 8 Browsers

January 9, 2014

With modern browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Safari it’s easy to create a full scale site background image. Simply add a CSS3 background “cover” or “contain” value to the CSS body element or containing div of your site and it does the rest.

A Calendar for Your Website

January 7, 2014

When planning for a calendar on your website, there are a number of factors to take into account. Each of the bullets below contains examples of calendar projects with which Beacon Technologies has had direct involvement in analysis and design and/or development and integration.

How to Successfully Crash a Project

January 6, 2014

Anticipating problems is a large part of what it takes to be a Project Manager. Every now and again, a problem is big enough that you’ll have to crash the project (add additional resources to meet the deadline). It isn’t something that should be done lightly, as its effects can reach beyond the project team to the entire company and even other clients. My next post will be about when it’s appropriate to crash a project, but in the mean time, let’s focus on how to do it.

Holiday Gifts for Web Developers

December 20, 2013

Season’s greetings from Beacon! Today I’ve got a couple handy gifts that can help solve some tricky web development problems. First lets unwrap how you ca…

3 Signs of a Run Away Project

November 27, 2013

Tyson Brands sits down to his desk, second cup of coffee in hand, and begins checking his emails, like he does every morning. He notices one email flagged…

Is Flat Design For You?

November 25, 2013

As technology and the familiarity with it grows, designers and developers are now more than ever trying to enhance the website design world. Inevitably, this leads to countless passing trends that come and go much like any design industry. Which leaves us begging the question, how do we know what is more than just a trend and does it fit our website needs?

Parsing xml feeds with javascript

October 28, 2013

There can be any number of reasons to parse xml. Perhaps you want to set up a custom search of an RSS feed. Maybe you need to render a data report from yo…

Find the Critical Path: 7 Simple Steps to Better Manage Project TImelines

October 8, 2013

For project managers, it’s sometimes hard to know exactly how a delay in one part of a project will affect the others. Even if a small delay won’t have any impact on the final deadline, where is the line in the sand and how do we know when we’ve crossed it? How late can one deliverable be before the whole project deadline is compromised?

Progressive Enhancement

October 4, 2013

Progressive enhancement allows everyone, no matter what their browser or internet connection may be, to access the web and view the basic content functionality.

Free Responsive Web Design (RWD), HTML5 and CSS3 Vector Logos in PSD, AI and PNG Formats

September 23, 2013

I was working on my personal website over the weekend and decided I wanted to use the HTML5 and CSS3 logos within my portfolio. When I went to do this I realized I had no visual way to display Responsive Web Design. I searched and couldn’t find any official RWD logos or a version that I felt would go along with the HTML5 and CSS3 logos like I wanted so I decided I was going to have to make it myself.

How to Clear Input Field on Click JavaScript

September 11, 2013

A walk through of an improvement to a small script that clears the search box input field on focus and returns it to it's default value if left empty

3rd Party Plugins, A Cautionary Tale

August 20, 2013

One of the many questions you’ll have to answer when developing your website will be whether to use custom built in house solutions or easy to integrate 3…

Redesigning Without Frustrating Your Users

August 9, 2013

Your users rely on your website to get things done. They are used to doing it a certain way. So when things change, people get frustrated. Nevertheless, c…

How to Override the Max Width of Twitters Embeddable Timeline Widget

June 6, 2013

According to twitters instructions the embeddable timeline widget has a maximum width of 520px. If you need your widget to be wider than 520px you will not be able to use the width attribute. Instead you will need to override it using custom CSS.

Considering Drawer Style Site Navigation

April 22, 2013

Lately we have been utilizing a drawer style navigation in our designs to provide a better user experience in our websites. The request for quite a bit of…

Using .Net ASHX Handlers To Build Web Services

February 8, 2013

I was recently given the task of rewriting an existing web service with a predefined SOAP request and response. I didn’t have access to the original code…

Creating An Accordion List Without Javascript

February 7, 2013

Many sites implement accordions for everything from menus and navigation to product features to calendar event details. The fact is that accordion lists a…

How to Pull WordPress Posts into External Website

January 14, 2013

free custom wordpress xml/rss feed code template to help pull wordpress posts into external website

The Responsive Universal Menu Icon

November 1, 2012

Responsive website design will take over the internet, it’s inevitable. It’s a beautiful answer to the question of how to make content on the internet appropriate for a wide array of devices and screen sizes. With each new design and development approach comes a whole new set of standards.

Clearing cookies from just one site

October 25, 2012

Recently, I needed to be able to clear a single site’s cookies on my computer in order to test an issue that a client was reporting. I certainly did NOT want to clear all cookies on my computer, which is the default and easiest method for most browsers (how would I remember those thousands of passwords that I have stored everywhere??), and it took a little searching on how to do this in each browser for just one site. Hopefully you’ll find this list useful as well!

How to Enable Wordpress to Define the Parent of a Custom Post Type

October 12, 2012

Here is a script that will enable you to define a parent for a custom post type. You just need to include this in your functions.php file. In this code sample, "Product" is my custom post type but you will need to replace this with whatever you are wanting to define a parent for.

Beacon NetCafe Second Update

July 9, 2012

My internship at Beacon Technologies is coming to a close but there are still many things to be done before I leave to go back to school. The previous week I completed the requirements and wireframe documents. I submitted the documents to the web designer of the Beacon NetCafe website. So far, the website is going along very well. The designer has setup a test website and it is taking shape.

On Hover Alternatives for Touch Devices

July 9, 2012

Even though touch screen devices make up only a small fraction of users that visit your site, the number of these devices hitting your site is only going to increase. This doesn't just include mobile devices, but also tablets that are being served a full site version. Your site should take this into account and any mouse hover effects need to be rethought and accommodated by some other means.

The iPad arrives

May 16, 2012

Recently I won my very first iPad by providing the winning suggestion in a product detail page review for AspDotNetStorefront and it arrived today!

Risks and Black Swans

May 2, 2012

Whatever we do, we deal with risks. Despite our best laid plans and intentions, there are always those uncertain and unwanted events that happen which are beyond our control. In previous posts, I have talked about risks on projects

Solving Problems -- Puzzle vs. Mystery

May 2, 2012

Information workers are used to solving problems. Approaches can vary to determine a viable solution and can be bound by many constraints.

Clear(ly) it's time to say bye-bye to buttons

April 27, 2012

With its new iOS app, Clear, Realmac Software has taken the “less is more” axiom to its ultimate conclusion. The Clear app puts a new spin on the common to-do list by enriching it with a playful perception of depth, dynamic transitions and crisp audio feedback, all wrapped under a minimalistic visual language and shallow navigation.

Goodreads grid widget broken

April 27, 2012

Have you been trying to use Goodreads Grid Widget and not able to get it to work? Are you copy/pasting the code and not getting anything but the no script version of the grid with a } at the end of it? If so I was having the same problem and I wasn’t able to find much information online to help me.

Some great Google Chrome Browser Extensions for Web Development

April 18, 2012

The Google Chrome Web Store has a nice library of extensions to use for web designers and developers. Here’s a few that may interest you and are they are free to install.

Using the Free Social Media Vector Icon Set as a Source File for Other Icon Sets

April 9, 2012

Here a few examples of what you can do with just the fireworks png (un-flattened) vector file from my blog Free Social Media Vector Icon Set. Please note these are mainly to showcase using the file as a source file for icon sets and the different levels of customization that could happen. Feel free to download them all and do what you'd like with them. Click here to download all social icon sets.

Top Mobile Browsers

March 22, 2012

Within the mobile phone landscape, there are at least ten operating systems (OSs) and fifteen browsers that require consideration when testing. Web developers should concentrate their testing efforts on smartphones.

DNS Explained

March 7, 2012

Ever been mystified by the numerous acronyms involved in DNS and/or what the heck DNS is anyway? This fun six-minute video is well worth the time and does a really good job of explaining the mysterious world of the Domain Name System. Of course, our Web Hosting experts can also assist with any questions you have, so be sure to contact us!

The Redesign Bug

October 13, 2011

We recently launched the Beacon site with a new design which included a handful of jQuery animation, many of which had replaced the the previous design’s Flash-intensive content.

Cycles and Phases

October 11, 2011

In a recent book review I read, the author proposed that the Big Bang might be cyclical. The premise is that given enough time, everything in the universe starts over again. That is a long cycle for sure. We have some time before the cycle is complete and begins again. Until then, the universe will keep expanding.

7 Factors to Consider When Redesigning Your Website

October 3, 2011

There are very few, if any, websites on the Internet that don’t undergo at least a minor facelift at some point in their lifecycle. If you own a business with a web presence, at some point, that site will need to be redesigned, whether it’s due to the changing nature of your business, or purely for aesthetic reasons.

The Expressive Web (Beta)

August 31, 2011

The Expressive Web (Beta) was recently released by Adobe to showcase some of the newest and most expressive features that HTML5 and CSS3 can add to the web today. Personally I found this to be an amazing example of what’s in the future for web designers and developers.

Happy Anniversary IBM PC!

August 16, 2011

Thirty years ago last week, IBM introduced its first personal computer – the 5150.

Mobile is Booming

August 11, 2011

UPDATE: The information in this post was updated on August 2, 2017. Please read the updated version HERE.

Development Soundtrack

July 27, 2011

As a developer I like to listen to music while I am working. I'm sure this goes for many people across professions so I wanted to introduce everyone to something I was recently introduced to, Spotify.

So Many Rights & So Many Wrongs

July 21, 2011

Some people think there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to code. I agree and disagree. I'm not saying there is only one right way and all developers should live by this method. I'm saying that there is a wrong way for anything. People can go about the same thing in many ways and it would be considered right.

Styled Quick/Jump Menu

July 18, 2011

Over the past few days I've had the chance to do a lot of research and decided to take a stab at a more lightweight version of a jump menu or sometimes referred to as a quick menu. We often include these in the header area and place important ‘quick links’ inside for users to go directly to important areas of the site.

Javascript Mouseover Shenanigans

July 8, 2011

I ran into an issue with the JS mouseover event while scripting some extra functionality onto our homepage last week. I would expect the issue to be more commonly reported or documented, however I found few hints or online resources that discussed the matter after doing some thorough searching.

ICANN to allow new generic ‘dot-brand’ domains

June 20, 2011

The trusty old Internet addresses we know and love -- the .coms, .nets, .orgs -- are about to get some new competition.

The Benefits of Using jQuery

May 24, 2011

Recently I have had the opportunity to make really exciting and interactive web pages using jQuery. Before working on these projects I had very little understanding of jQuery and what all it could be used for. So I decided to do some research on what the benefits are of using jQuery over other applications such as conventional JavaScript and wanted to see what all I can build using it.

Clipboard Managers

May 18, 2011

When developing content, throwing XHTML tags around client text and data can be a slow process without the clipboard.

Zen Cart Cache Overflowing? Here's a fix...

May 17, 2011

A popular CMS system for e-commerce sites, Zen Cart offers advantages in an easy-to-use admin interface (especially for novices) and extensive customization capabilities for developers, either through the out-of-the-box modules or through custom added code added directly to the server.

Backgrounds made easy!

April 13, 2011

When working on a new web site design, I often have projects where a client is interested in having a nice background pattern or texture as a part of their design. I recently found a great tool that makes background images extremely easy: http://bgpatterns.com/ With this tool, you can choose a background texture, image pattern, foreground color, and background color. You can adjust the opacity of the image pattern, scale the image pattern to change the amount of spacing between the pattern repeat, and rotate the pattern. You can preview the background image and continue to tweak it. Once you have the look you want, just click the download button, and you will get repeatable .png. It’s so easy! I <3 this tool!

The Rising Importance of Flexible Web Layouts

April 4, 2011

To read the full article: http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/02/04/the-rising-importance-of-flexible-web-layouts/

Facebook Developer Tools - URL Linter

March 18, 2011

URL Linter - http://developers.facebook.com/tools/lint Facebook’s URL Linter is an extremely handy tool for testing an instance of the Facebook like button. It allows you to view how it will look in the Facebook feed. If you've ever tried to test a like button you know that Facebook caches the results for an unknown amount of time which can be very frustrating while trying to test.

How to Host the Perfect Project Kick-Off Meeting

February 25, 2011

I recently had the very great pleasure of participating in a project kick-off meeting with one of our educational clients. We are about to begin building a Cascade-based Intranet for this customer and the kick-off included two days of meetings at the client's location. This kick-off was truly one of the best I've ever attended and I think it warrants a "how to" list, since they really did it just right...

Java Script with Dot Net

January 11, 2011

There are many times when you want to execute some javascript within your Dot Net page to give it that smooth client side processing without reloading the page. One example would be when you have a contact or registration page that needs to be edited before emailing or saving the page data. You could accomplish this with some Dot Net validation controls, or by registering your javascript within your code behind.

Excel tips and tricks

January 6, 2011

In another life, I was a Microsoft Office trainer and I found that quick and simple Excel tips were always a big hit in my classes, even with the Excel “experts”. So here are a few Excel time-savers– enjoy! BTW, I’m using Excel 2007, so though these features are (for the most-part) still available in other versions, the menu options may be different…

Add-on’s Galore!

December 30, 2010

About a week ago I was told that I'll be getting a new computer and that it will be an upgrade in performance, hardware, and software. Of course I was extremely excited about this but also started worrying about all my files and settings on my current computer. William, our Systems Administrator informed me some of my files were already being copied over. As we discussed what would and would not be transferred I realized I had no way to sync up my huge collection of Firefox add-on's. These tools are what make every job easier along with more thorough and efficient.

Beacon CFO Honored

December 30, 2010

Rob Darst was honored last night as one of the top CFO’s in the Triad. He was a finalist for the Small Business category and was presented an award at the CFO of the Year Banquet last night at Starmount Country Club.

NCTA Partnership

December 30, 2010

Beacon Technologies inks partnership with the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) to provide full scale web marketing for the association, including search engine optimization (SEO), blog development, social media marketing management, email management consulting and deep Google Analytics setup & consulting. The objective of this agreement is to support NCTA in becoming the primary destination website for technology-related information in North Carolina.

Conversion Tracking for Facebook Social Ads

December 30, 2010

Finally! This great new feature is still in beta but it is exactly what Facebook marketers have been waiting for. Soon all of us will be able to track activity that happens on our websites as a result of someone on Facebook seeing or clicking on our Ads. Conversion tracking helps us see the whole picture and I am very excited to start using this on a future campaign.

Tips for Creating an Effective Image Ad Campaign

December 30, 2010

1) Consistency with the theme is so important. Make sure that the images, offers, and text content you include on your graphic are highly visible on the destination landing page so that visitors don’t feel lost when they arrive on your site.

Security & Performance Issues: What can I do?

December 29, 2010

Many of us today work with PCs on a daily basis and are constantly being made aware of security and performance issues with them. Sometimes we are made aware by being a victim and wonder what could I have done to prevent that or how can I keep the issue from occurring again or even mitigate the collateral damage next time.

University Projects Continue to Stack Up

December 28, 2010

Beacon continues to provide website design and development for several universities through newly signed projects for customized enhancements and new features. These Cascade Server CMS projects are:

NCTA - State of Technology Conference

December 27, 2010

Beacon was a sponsor of the North Carolina Technology Association State of Technology Conference: Transforming the Way We Live, Work and Play. Leading technology companies in North Carolina came together to discuss how innovation is impacting business by improving processes and increasing efficiency.

Reasons to NOT do SEO

December 27, 2010

SEO is a term that is finally moving outside of tech circles. Even most laypeople are starting to understand that it stands for Search Engine Optimization and the many advantages associated with having good SEO on a site. Which begs the question, why are so many professional websites so bad at it?

Reasons to NOT do SEO

December 27, 2010

SEO is a term that is finally moving outside of tech circles. Even most laypeople are starting to understand that it stands for Search Engine Optimization and the many advantages associated with having good SEO on a site. Which begs the question, why are so many professional websites so bad at it?

Microsoft and the big Poopy.

December 27, 2010

The other morning, when my wife and I went to get our boys, we had one of those moments parents both love and hate. When we opened the door, we were greeted by a smiling giggling toddler. G. looked at us, smiled and said "Big Poopy!!" then held his arms apart to to indicate something being big. This statement was then corroborated by our nostrils. As parents we were appreciative of the warning and hopeful that this may be the first step in him being ready for potty training, but we were also dreading the cleanup. After all, how big does it have to be for a 2 year old to say it is big (it was). Later that day, Microsoft gave me a "big Poopy" moment

How does your website look on mobile phones?

December 27, 2010

Have you ever wondered how your current website looks on a mobile phone browser? Well, the chances are it won’t look pretty unless, you designed the site to work on mobile phones. In order to see what it would look like, you can pull it up on any cellphone or you can go to Opera Mini Simulator. There are also other emulators on the web similar to Opera Mini that can show you how a site will look on a mobile browser.

Beacon is Ready for 2010

December 26, 2010

We are ready. We are ready for a great 2010. This will be the most exciting year ever for Beacon Technologies and a very successful year for our Clients!

In defense of Social Media

December 23, 2010

In a semi-recent blog post on the Harvard Business Review, Umair Hacque of the Havas Media Lab lashed out at the social media “bubble.” He calls social media “relationship inflation” and then proceeds to outline how it cheapens the word relationship and concludes that it promotes three cancers that are eating away at the web. Now, I am not going to make any claims that Facebook and Twitter are going to save the world, but Hacque’s points are incomplete at best, and flat out wrong at worse. He ignores potential benefits and heaps blame on social media for aspects of society that exist well outside of it.

Google AdWords - Plural versus Singular Keywords

December 23, 2010

You're setting up your Google AdWords campaign and adding your keywords. At some point you may ask yourself, "Does the singular form or plural form of the keyword matter?".

Social Media and Brand Building

December 21, 2010

Today is April 21, 2010 and my blog topic is Web Marketing…what else? Ahhhhhhhhhh…Web Marketing!!! I am ALWAYS excited to talk about Web Marketing and I am thrilled to still be heavily involved in the Web Marketing boom of the past 10 years. Without a doubt, Web Marketing is constantly evolving which requires us/Beacon to continually grow, modify, change, and adjust strategies to ensure the delivery of a healthy ROI for our clients.

10 Great WordPress Plugins for Businesses

December 21, 2010

If your business uses WordPress for blogging or as a content management system, there are some great plugins out there to make life easier. Here are the top 10 WordPress plugins that I love.

Prevent Errors From Being Written to Application Event Log

December 19, 2010

I was going to write about the Peloponnesian War, its ramification on the course of Western Civilization and how that ancient struggle correlates to the Microsoft vs. Apple battles we see today. But, in addition to the fact that I really don’t know very much about the Athenians or Spartans, that war was fought, as my son Tyler would say, “a very long long day ago”. Instead I’ll write about how in ASP.NET you can prevent an error from being written to the server’s application log.

Web Marketing Madness...in March

December 19, 2010

64 popular - and not so popular - web marketing strategies (click on the bracket for the full field). What is your Final Four?

BMI Surplus Site Launch

December 19, 2010

Beacon announces the launch of the BMI Surplus website. This is an extension of BMI’s main website which providing users the ability to search through thousands of used Hi-Tech products that are not yet available on the main site. The database-driven search tool quickly produces a list of products based on keywords or product IDs that are input by the user.

Smith Millwork Site Launch

December 18, 2010

Beacon announces the launch of the new Smith Millwork website using AspDotNetStorefront. The goal of the redesign was to provide the web customer (which could be a home owner or builder) with a simple way to browse products, product images and manufacturers and give Smith Millwork the ability to maintain as much of the site as possible. This is a “catalog site” in that customers will not use the site to purchase items, only to browse the selection and imagery and then contact the office for ordering/purchase. The client is excited with the new site and is looking forward to advertising at several upcoming builder’s shows.

Web Site Focus Groups 101

December 14, 2010

Focus groups can be a really helpful tool for gathering feedback about your current and future web site design, features and functionality. It is an opportunity for the stakeholders of a project to quickly gather a sampling of visitors’ opinions and feelings about things.

Social Darwinism

December 13, 2010

I loved this GREAT post today on Mashable so much that I decided to share it here. Now I'm not usually this lazy about posting but I couldn't have said it better. Here's a great explanation as to why companies may want to get on the social media stick now instead of "waiting to see if it works." One reader emailed me last week saying:

Squash that Bug

December 13, 2010

What's worse than the cockroach under your refrigerator? It is the bug affecting your software. At least you can call an exterminator for the roaches. Sometimes you are stuck with defective software for the lifecycle of the product. To be clear, I am not talking about viruses or malware, I am referring to unintended errors and glitches that inexplicably made it through quality control and testing.

Keep it Legal – Facebook Promotions

December 12, 2010

Promotions have always been a popular way for businesses of all sizes to attract fans. Whether it’s a sweepstakes or a contest, these tools offer an opportunity to create a buzz and encourage fan interaction.

XMarks

December 12, 2010

Here at beacon I work on any number of websites during a typical day/week. Each one most likely has 3-5 links of its own including development, production, test, backend/content management, and other various URL's. This gets extremely difficult to remember which is which. To avoid searching past e-mail, communications or various files, I find using a bookmark synchronizer makes my life much easier ;]

Beacon Gets an Intern

December 10, 2010

Thomas Brinegar has joined the Beacon Team as a summer intern in the Software Development group. He comes to us from High Point University and we are just thrilled to have his help this summer. He’ll be working on content development as we work through our many summer projects. Welcome Thomas!

Some Like it Hot…Crank up the Temperature with Heat Maps

December 10, 2010

When maintaining your website, every inch of space on the screen is crucial to helping you hit your conversions. Why would you leave anything to chance?

BP buying Ads on Google?

December 9, 2010

You would have to be living under a rock not to know the oil spill in the gulf is close to entering its third month of existence. I cannot say much more about the spill and BP's role in it that has not already been stated on CNN, Fox News, and even Comedy Central hundreds of times by now.

"CLEAN" is the new black...

December 7, 2010

Sometime in the last couple of years, “clean” became the new “black” in terms of web site design… I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard the exact same conversation at the beginning of redesign project…

If these NBA players were SEOs...

December 6, 2010

What type of an SEO would the following basketball players be?

Intelligent Business Solutions Site Launch

December 5, 2010

Beacon announces the launch of the newly designed Intelligent Business Solutions website. This in another great example of a small, static website produced by Beacon’s creative and web design staff. The site utilizes a nice color palette and displays the site’s content in a sophisticated and professional way.

Social Media and Blogging Results Are In - Scary!

December 5, 2010

In November, Denise Wakeman, (http://www.biztipsblog.com/) a wizard at all things social media - (follow her, no really - do it) did a 10 question social media use survey that grew out of the success of the Future of Social Media webinar she held in October.

What's New Now??

December 5, 2010

Yes – it’s been quite a while since I last made a post in the Beacon Blogosphere!! So, I thought I would comment on some of the new enhancements to our hosting arena – some of these enhancements have been here a while and some of these features have been added recently.

Fore! Beacon Plays Golf with Leading Technology Members

December 4, 2010

Beacon Technologies sponsored two holes at the NCTA/AT&T annual golf tournament. The event kicked off the North Carolina Technology Association's Leadership Conference, which is a member-only event that brings together the highest echelon of technology members across the state to discuss North Carolina based issues that directly impact the technology industry.

IE6: "I'm Not Dead Yet"

December 4, 2010

I've been with Beacon for almost 11 years. That makes me feel really old (or dedicated, one of the two). Thus, it's really hard for me to fathom that Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 has been with me almost my entire career.

Get Found - Local Search Ranking

December 3, 2010

I seem to be on a location kick lately since two out of three of my last posts have been about location. Although it’s a hot topic in the social media world, we can’t forget the importance of local search results. A simple search for a business or product on any major search engine will usually cause a few top results in your area to show up within the regular listing. See example below:

How To Drive More Website Traffic

December 2, 2010

When building out your keyword lists, it’s best to think of keywords as questions. Does your product or service answer a given question or provide more information about it on your landing page? If the answer is no, then that keyword should not be utilized in your campaign. Once an extensive keyword list is compiled, it is time to strategize the structure of your paid search campaign. Structure refers to the organization of keyword buckets under campaigns in order to maximize the volume of qualified traffic.

Analyzing the Mayday YouTube post

December 2, 2010

In his reply to the update on rankings for long-tail searches, Matt stressed the impact on the improved “quality” of search queries. He also stressed that the “change” was “algorithmic” and not temporary. The change is separate from the upcoming caffeine update, and that the caffeine update is still on track.

Cascade Server 6.7

December 1, 2010

The following is a list of new features for Cascade Server 6.7 (Source: http://www.hannonhill.com/news/blog/2010/Cascade-Server-6-7-Released.html)

Stop Looking for WiFi and get a MiFi

November 15, 2010

We all have running water, electricity, and cable practically everywhere, so why don’t we have Internet availability everywhere yet? Sure, we can sit in our homes, hotels, offices, or local, trendy, coffee shops to use the internet, but what if we are in the back of a cab, on the move, or wanting to do our work in the middle of a park? Before, our only option was one of those overpriced, wireless, phone providers’ cellular modems whose speed is still not even cable-modem fast, but now, it is my pleasure to announce the MiFi to all of those who fall a few steps behind.

Too Many Blocks and Not Enough Regions

November 8, 2010

Miral (a fellow developer) was asking for help on an issue involving the need to have 2 different blocks on one region. We needed a News Index Block but we also needed an Events Index Block for the same region.

A Closer Look at IE9 Beta

November 5, 2010

If you have used past versions of Internet Explorer then you might have run into some of the frustrations that I have. Past versions had all around poor performance with slow loading times and errors everywhere. Being a developer I use Internet Explorer to browser check but personally I never use it to surf the web. Well since last fall Microsoft has been talking about Internet Explorer 9. They were determined to develop a browser that adheres to Web Standards and has improved performance compared to previous versions. In September of this year the Internet Explorer 9 Beta version was released to the general public so I started researching more about it.