Technology has come a long way since then – thank goodness! When I offered Donna an opportunity to convert her static website to a WordPress CMS website – explaining that she would be able to update it herself at her own leisure her eyes lit up.

Photos of Fairlawn’s dogs and puppies were important to Donna’s marketing strategy, so we added a WordPress plugin called NextGen Gallery – a simple, easy to use photo album/gallery generator.

We also took the opportunity to give Fairlawn’s Website a fresh new look, so first…

Before

And now for the new and improved WordPress site…

After

Donna is so pleased with the new look. And though we’ve not had our training session yet, I know she’s going to love how simple maintaining her site and growing her photo galleries will be.

Its been a pleasure working with you Donna! Next… training! Piece of cake!

Technorati Tags: website makeover, website design, fairlawn labradors, wordpress, cms, template design, jentekk

Along with assisting Vancouver Community College Library with a new look for the home page content, and developing Sustainable Cities’ home page and Youth-Led pages, here are 3 projects I am currently working on.

Kids Summer Reading Club 2009

We have had the privilege and pleasure of developing the Kids Summer Reading Club’s website for 4 years in a row. The annual Reading Club is sponsored by the BC Library’s Association, along with BC’s local Libraries and the Royal Bank of Canada.

Fairlawn Labradors – using Wordpress CMS

This will be Fairlawns second website to be developed by JenTekk. We are in the process of updating the design, as well as developing the new site with WordPress, an open source content management system.

Donna is thrilled with the freedom a CMS brings, giving her the ability to update her Litter Due Dates along with other information – all on her own.

Conscious Living Designs – using Joomla CMS

Katherine Willems, the owner of Conscious Living Designs has a passion for Environmental Design and a fascination for Feng Shui.

Her company, Conscious Living Designs, provides eco-friendly solutions that incorporate ancient Feng Shui Principles and Sustainable Design Strategies. It was very important that the design reflected this.

~

So there you have it, in a nutshell!

It will be interesting to see how far or close to these mock-ups the final designs will be. Stay tuned!

-

Technorati Tags: website design, website makeover, Kids SRC, Conscious Living Designs, Fairlawn Labradors

Design Tech Hair Studio is a very successful Hair Salon in Richmond. Its original design (built by JenTekk in 2003) reflected the salon’s brand back then.

Built for 800 x 600 screen resolution, static pages, and in basic HTML (no CSS) it was time to upgrade in a big way and move Design Tech Hair Studio into a Content Management System. We chose WordPress, as the customer’s needs were basic.

After…

Solution: a sexy and clean WordPress (customized template) CMS website – reflecting the salon’s new brand, colors and attitude.

All the best Grace and Yumi. It was a pleasure to assist you with your website make-over!

~

Technorati Tags: website makeover, website design, design tech hair studio, wordpress, cms, template design, jentekk

After the great success of WordCamp Vancouver, a friend of mine Gary Jones of BlueFur is going to host WordCamp Fraser Valley for all the WordPress bloggers out that way… cool!

This event is for anyone that has an interest in blogging and WordPress in general. Beginner’s will learn more about what blogging is and what WordPress software can do. Expert WordPress users will be able to network and learn from other expert bloggers.

WordCamp Fraser Vally Details

When is the event happening?
Date: Wednesday – July 16, 2008
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Where is it happening?
The Cascades Casino
20393 Fraser Hwy – Langley BC

Registration
Register here or via BlueFur.

Speakers/Schedule
For Speakers, Topics & Schedule click here!

I wish everyone at BlueFur a very successful event. Happy blogging everyone!

Technorati Tags: bluefur, wordcamp fraser valley, wordpress, blogging

Thanks to Amanda Abrams for this great photo!

We initially estimated around 35 – 40 people attending the event, located at the beautiful Network Hub. However, word got out, and a week before the event, RSVPs starting flooding in – yeah, I commenced to panic!

Phone calls were quickly made to locate a larger venue, but with such short notice none could be found, so we all just ‘pressed’ in.

The first to arrive got chairs, others took to the floor, and the rest stood. Okay, its not ideal, but I tell you what, there sure was a sense of community within the room. We made the best of it!

I had the pleasure of greeting all the attendees, and must say they are an amazing bunch. I feel like I’ve just made a whole whack of new friends!

To summarize the event: the presenters were fabulous, making the most of their 20 minutes. As far as topics go, there was really something there for everyone.

In addition, sponsors provided Timmy’s coffee and donuts for all, and a free beer (thanks Automattic!) for those who made it out to the after-party held at the Flux Bistro.

So, from me personally, and as Director of Communications (Tazzu) to all of you: THANK YOU so much for making Tazzu’s WordPress Camp a huge success!

Here’s a little LINK LUV for each of you!

Thank you to the presenters:

• Rebecca Bolwitt – www.miss604.com
• John Chow – www.johnchow.com
• Bruce Byfield – brucebyfield.wordpress.com
• Duane Storey – www.duanestorey.com
• Kulpreet Singh – www.kulpreetsingh.com
• Monica Hamburg – monicahamburg.wordpress.com
• Jeff Kee – www.synchronous.ca

Thank you to the sponsors:

• Automattic (the creators of WordPress)
  www.automattic.com
• The Network Hub (The Startup Launchpad)
  www.thenetworkhub.ca
• InvokeMedia (an awesome interactive & marketing agency)
  www.InvokeMedia.com
• The Tiny Massive (thank you Kate and Lauren)
  www.TinyMassive.com
• Citizens Bank (thank you Nancy Zimmerman)
  www.citizensbank.ca
• BlueFur Web Hosting (thank you Gary Jones)
  www.BlueFur.com
• Culinary Copik Multimedia (thank you Liesa)
  www.culinarycopikmultimedia.ca

Thank you for spreading the word:

• Rebecca Bollwitt: www.Miss604.com
• Raul Pacheco: hummingbird604.wordpress.com
• Amanda Abrams: www.AmandaAbrams.com
• Jeremy Costin: weblawg.costinmedia.com
• John Biehler: www.johnbiehler.com
• Lisa Bettany: www.mostlylisa.com
• Andy Peatling: www.andyinlife.com
• Monica Hamburg: monicahamburg.wordpress.com
• Phillip Jeffrey: www.fadetoplay.com

~

Technorati Tags: wordcamp, tazzu, vancouver, 2008, networkhub, socialmedia, blogging, wordpress, automattic, rmd studio, peerglobe, jentekk

WordPress users: don’t miss this event!

DETAILS
What: Tazzu WordPress Camp
When: Wed. April the 30th from 5:30 to 8:30pm
Where: The Network Hub – 422 Richards St. Vancouver BC

A bit about WordPress

Wordpress is perhaps the most commonly used Blogging web application on the web. We blog to express ourselves, share our thoughts, or promote our businesses.

Wordpress is one of the simplest forms of Social Media Content Management Systems where one or few people write blog posts, and many readers are able to provide feedback through comments. The social aspect of a blog makes it a very effective Communication and Marketing tool.

Wordpress is an Open Source software released under the GPL and many aspects of it relies on the wisdom of the crowds. Wordpress comes with a large list of plugins developed by community members. Many successful blogging techniques and methods have also been created as a result of community members who have collectively built on each other’s ideas and creativity.

PRESENTERS

Rebecca Bollwitt

TOPIC: Adding photos [flickr, permissions, links, gallery plugins, badges] to your WordPress blog.She is a blogging and social media star. A Podcaster, hyper-local blogger, new media outreach wiz, mainstream media pundit ~ Vancouver’s new ‘blogebrity’ – Rebecca Bollwitt has been blogging about Vancouver since 2004 on Miss604.com, podcasting RadioZoom since 2005 and is a co-host of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. You can find Rebecca live blogging at many of the social media conferences around BC – watch for her!
www.miss604.com

Bruce Byfield

TOPIC: The Joys of Amateur Blogging.
Bruce is a contributing editor for the SourceForge sites Linux.com and the IT Manager’s Journal. Among other topics, he reports on the Debian Project, the Free Software Foundation, licensing issues, and office applications. He also writes a monthly blog for the Linux Journal website, which tends to center on varying aspects of OpenOffice.org, the free software office suite. In addition to his online publications, he has published in such magazines as Linux Journal, Maximum Linux, and The New Internationalist.
www.brucebyfield.wordpress.com

John Chow

TOPIC: How to make money using a WordPress Blog.
Residing in Richmond BC, and hailed as a Dot Com Mogule – John has received much publicity (The Province, Vancouver Sun, Entreprenuer Magazine, BC Business, Globe and Mail, and T.V.) for his ability to make money – LOTS of it – by blogging. His free eBook “Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com” is a huge success, and documents everything he did to take his blog from $0 to over $10,000 per month in just eight months.
www.johnchow.com

Monica Hamburg

TOPIC: Blogging & Social Media.
Monica is a Freelance Writer and Social Media Evangelist/Consultant who calls Vancouver BC home. Me Like The Interweb: Thoughts & Articles @bout Social Media (Crowdsourcing and more) is Monica’s blog where she writes engaging and insightful articles about her investigations and observations on this new phenomenon.

www.monicahamburg.wordpress.com

Jeff Kee

TOPIC: WordPress for total website development.
Jeff is a young, ambitious business man who owns Jeff Kee Companies and its subsidiaries, one of which is Synchronous Design & Marketing. His Synchronous website is ENTIRELY developed with WordPress – some people don’t want to believe it, he’s going to explain how he did this.
www.synchronous.ca

Greg Andrews

TOPIC: Good Typography in WordPress.
Greg Andrews is a Writer and Web Developer and for Techvibes. Born and raised in Edmonton, Greg was blogging about his high school drama long before it was fashionable. In the Spring of 2007, half a year out of school, Greg moved to Vancouver in search of interesting technology and the Canadian dream.
www.miscellani.ca

Kulpreet Singh

TOPIC: Using WordPress to create a custom library, catalog, or other mashup-type site.
Kulpreet is the Communications Manager at Creative Gift Solutions, and has extensive experience in web design, web progamming, graphic design, desktop publishing, copywriting, fundraising, public relations, advertising, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, social media optimization, blogging, content management systems, ebusiness, marketing management, and other types of integrated marketing communications.
www.creativegiftsolutions.com

Duane Storey

TOPIC: WordPress and mobile blogging – i.e. how to read and write from an iPhone
Duane is a Principal Engineer at CounterPath Corporation as well as freelance Photographer and Software Developer. Currently he offeres services in the fields of software development/testing/documentation, web development, Facebook application development, document layout and typesetting, writing, or general geekery.
www.duanestorey.com

SPONSORS

• www.Automattic.com & www.wordpress.org
• www.culinarycopikmultimedia.ca
• www.bluefur.com
• Citizens Bank
• PeerGlobe Technology
• JenTekk Web Solutions
• rmd Studio Inc.
• The Network Hub
• www.tazzu.com

MEDIA SPONSORS

Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604): www.Miss604.com
Angela Hubbard (Hubbard Photography): www.angelahubbard.com
Amanda Abrams (Professional Photographer): www.AmandaAbrams.com
Phillip Jeffrey (Fade to Play): www.fadetoplay.com
Lisa Bettany (Mostly Lisa): www.mostlylisa.com
Jeff Kee (Synchronous Design & Marketing): www.synchronous.ca
Ash Sanieyan (PeerGlobe Technology): www.PeerGlobe.com

THE EVENT

The Event will be 3 hours long.
Each Presenter will get 20 minutes to share their ideas. There will be two 20 min. breaks, so we can stretch and socialize.

We will learn how to reach a larger audience by using Wordpress in conjunction with other web services and social networking websites such as Flickr, YouTube, Slideshare, Facebook, and Google Calendar.

We will also have an opportunity to share and exchange tips and how-tos on WordPress and Blogging in general.

Would you like to sponsor this event?

You could contribute to the event by either providing funds or spreading the word and becoming a media sponsor. In exchange we will put your logo, name and link on all the publications and announcements in regard to this event.

We will be using the funds for the projector rental, coffee and doughnuts, and the first round of Beer for the after party at the Steamworks.

Become a Media Sponsor and we will place your name and website on all our announcements:

1. Write a blog post about the event
2. Take pictures from the event and share them online
3. Make video clips from the event and share them online
4. Twit, Twit, Twitter the event !!!

Leave me a comment if you are interested or need more information on sponsorship.

Technorati Tags: wordpress camp, wordcamp, tazzuwordcamp, wordpress, bluefur, copik, culinary multimedia, tazzu, jentekk

OLD DESIGN

NEW DESIGN

WordPress 2.5 is not a required upgrade like the recent 2.3.3 urgent security release.

It is a newly designed, newly functioning WordPress CMS – redesigned from the ground-up. Features include a cool new admin interface, multi-file uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, customizable dashboard, media library.

SNEAK PEAK

If you are curious to see what all the fuss is about, view screenshots of the new Admin Interface, new features, and watch a 4 minute screencast.

2.5 DOWNLOAD & UPGRADE

So, like the eager beaver that I am, I quickly downloaded Wordpress 2.5 and upgraded my blog.

The upgrade process was as slick as its always been. I deleted the old files, uploaded the new ones, ran the upgrade.php and voila, I’m doing the happy dance!

2.5 PLUGIN COMPATIBILITY

WordPress 2.5 Plugin Compatibility List

Next I began testing the site for anything suspicious. Low and behold I discovered that one of my plugins is no longer working.

No suprise here. You can’t go and redesign a site from the ground up and expect all the previous versions of plugins to be compatible.

I’d been using Gregarious a social bookmarking plugin (DIGG etc.), but it is not compatible with 2.5, and support for it is limited if non-existant according to its developer: “Due to time constraints, I cannot guarantee support for this plugin. Not compatible with WP 2.5.”

The Dagon Design people (PHP Form Mailer) are also currently in the process of testing all of their scripts and plugins for 2.5 compatibility.

SimpleTags (Technorati) and Askimet (Spam Catcher) are both working fine.

2.5 THEME COMPATIBILITY

WordPress 2.5 Theme Compatibility List

Persons using the very popular K2 WordPress Theme will want to make note that older versions of K2 are not compatible with WordPress 2.5, although they are busy at work and made this K2 support announcement just over a week ago:

The revision currently in subversion should support WordPress 2.5, so if you’re in need of a new K2 for the latest WordPress release, go grab the latest nightly. Meanwhile, Steve is hard at work at putting together a new release, which is right around the corner.

The new Admin GUI is nice, and the new features are cool, but because there are still some compatibility issues (no fault of their own) I’d hold off upgrading your website if you have lots of vital plugins installed.

If you’re developing a new site or blog, go ahead and install WordPress 2.5 – just remember that some themes and plugins are not yet available.

Overall, for looks & functionality, JenTekk gives WordPress 2.5 a great big 2.5 thumbs up!

~

Technorati Tags: wordpress 2.5, wordpress, wordpress plugin compatibility, jentekk