The Importance of Content Before Design

How is content defined? How does content affect the design of a website? If you’ve ever been involved in a website design project, you’ve probably asked these questions. Industry best practice recommends having content prior to completing the design and development stages of a website. To better understand why this is so important, it’s worth… Continue reading The Importance of Content Before Design

Which comes first: The brand or the logo?

A brand is not a logo, although a logo helps brand a company. What’s the difference between these two marketing tools that help position a company in the marketplace? Some of the branding questions I’ve received as a web designer at NEWMEDIA have led me to believe there’s confusion for some folks around “brand” and… Continue reading Which comes first: The brand or the logo?

Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat: Whats the “Story?”

It seems like everywhere you look, you see a new website launching a feature similar to Snapchat’s. What’s the feature? It’s called, “Stories” and it’s much bigger than you think because it’s laying the foundation for something really really cool. It’s a more authentic way to share your experiences and capture the moment than anything… Continue reading Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat: Whats the “Story?”

3 Ways to Prevent Your Website Project from Taking Too Long

The most common question we are asked after client meetings at NEWMEDIA is, “When will my site be done?” The answer to this is partially up to the selected development team, and partly up to the client. When these two parties are in sync, the development is quicker and more effective , and it prevents… Continue reading 3 Ways to Prevent Your Website Project from Taking Too Long

PCI Compliance & Drupal Commerce: Which Payment Gateway Should I Choose?

When version 3.0 of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) became mandatory in 2015, many eCommerce merchants were ill prepared to meet the more stringent security requirements with the existing modules available for Ubercart and Drupal Commerce. Thankfully, several of the more popular payment processors on the market rose to the challenge and… Continue reading PCI Compliance & Drupal Commerce: Which Payment Gateway Should I Choose?

Drupal vs. WordPress: What Fits Your Needs?

The most important question you can ask yourself when it comes to choosing the right content management system (CMS) for your site is: What do I need my website to do? Two of the most popular CMS platforms are WordPress (current version 4.2.2) and Drupal 7. Both of these  provide endless customizable opportunities and features. The following… Continue reading Drupal vs. WordPress: What Fits Your Needs?

Build robust forms in Drupal 8

Over the last few Drupal releases, the Webform module has been the standard for creating robust forms and surveys. While this venerable module has served the community’s needs quite well, major releases of Drupal often afford the opportunity to take a fresh look at how common problems are solved, leveraging new technologies and concepts introduced… Continue reading Build robust forms in Drupal 8

Social Media Wars: Facebook vs Snapchat

Facebook continues to attack Snapchat by ripping off their core features but does it even matter? While this is a highly touted battle of David versus Goliath proportions, you could make an argument that it really isn’t even a fight. With Facebook and Google accounting for roughly 99% of digital ad revenue growth in 2016,… Continue reading Social Media Wars: Facebook vs Snapchat

Enforcing Coding Standards with Git, PHPLint, and Drupal Code Sniffer

For a Drupal developer, there are several ways that you can use git hooks to speed up and improve your commits. This article will demonstrate three different pre-commit hooks that you can add to your git repository. The first pre-commit hook uses PHPLint which will validate your PHP code looking for syntax errors and other… Continue reading Enforcing Coding Standards with Git, PHPLint, and Drupal Code Sniffer

How Much of a Website Do I Really Need?

When you take the first step and decide to create a website for your business, it can be exasperating. The average person usually does not know a lot about what they need for a new website. Some questions that frequently come up with clients are: How many pages do I need? Do I need a… Continue reading How Much of a Website Do I Really Need?