Ferguson Merchandising approached us to improve their website for the Redmond Ben Franklin store. The had a static website with a couple hundred html pages. The website had been built over a long period of time. The code was very disorganized and no standardized structure between pages existed.
The first phase of the project was spent correcting the problems with the current website. Instead of trying to fix page by page of sloppy code we recoded a couple templates to cover the various page layouts. We then converted content from the old website to the new templates. In less than three week we were able to convert over 250 html pages, correct the functional, display errors and eliminating W3C validation errors.
The second phase of the project was to design a custom content management system (CMS) that enabled the company to take advantage of the web to drive customers to the store and generate sales. By analyzing their business we established that classes drive sales as well as projects. To achieve this goal we built a class calendar and registration system. We also included a projects section allowing people to browse projects by category and then print/download a PDF supplies list to be brought into the store. When a visitor views an individual project or class the site displaying three related projects and classes. By cross selling related projects and classes we anticipated increasing the number of classes and items purchased per visit. We also provided social bookmarking & networking buttons for visitors to submit projects to high traffic sites.
One of the unique features of the website is the XML template based page system. The company wanted the ability to create pages, insert different layouts without having to do any coding. We created a system that enables us to create simple xml files and upload them to a folder, adding new template options. This makes it quick, easy and cost effective to add new layouts. The layout templates include the ability to insert images, links and use a WYSIWIG. By providing this functionality it eliminated the need to hire website designers to modify or add new pages to company website.