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Why We Like EllisLab’s ExpressionEngine

July 21, 2008

As you may have noticed, we at Hop Studios tend to create the bulk of the projects we work on with EllisLab’s ExpressionEngine. It’s a system Travis and Susie have been working with for many years, long enough to become a pair of EE experts of sorts. Because I am new to the team and not as familiar with ExpressionEngine as they are I asked the pair why EE has become their favorite blogging and general web site management tool. Here is a list of reasons why they like ExpressionEngine:

1) It’s a really good tool for publishers because the versioning of entries and templates keeps track of changes to content. Any edits made are kept on record, and can easily be referred back to. This in turn encourages experimentation and quick edits, because you know you can roll back easily.

2) EE has the ability to create different user groups and administration levels, so you can place control of how various people can access and use features of each site.

3) There is a discussion forum module available for EE and it integrates with the existing membership of the site, which means only one login for users.

4) It’s like a Swiss Army knife.  In addition to being a CMS, it’s a mailing list tool, a photo gallery, a wiki, a multiple site manager, and a commerce module.  Well, the beginnings of a commerce module.

5) The mark-up language is well thought out and logical. EE tags are very consistent.

6) Web sites built in ExpressionEngine don’t have a common look, the way many Wordpress sites and Drupal sites do.  It’s not that you can’t customize those other tools, but EE really gets out of the way when it comes to design.

7) EllisLab, the developers of EE, is a small company with personal service. It’s the kind of place where you can know many of the support people by (screen) name.

8) There is a high quality of support in the ExpressionEngine forums, and it’s not just the staff who are responsive about providing assistance when a problem comes up.

9) The support documentation available on ExpressionEngine is thorough and up-to-date, especially compared with other CMSes.

Posted by Rachael Ashe at 2:01 PM | Comments (0)

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Blog

July 17, 2008

blue moon fiber arts blog logoTina Newton of the Rockin’ Sock Club recently had the web site of her business, Blue Moon Fiber Arts, redesigned and launched. Because she has had so much success with the Rockin’ Sock Club Blog she decided to add a blog to her company site, created by Hop Studios.

The design is based on the existing site with minor tweaks to give the blog its own look and feel, and is built in ExpressionEngine. Tina wanted to do the usual stuff with a blog—post text and photos—but she also wanted to find a way to feature some of the photos she uses for design inspiration when creating new yarn colors. The result is an extra large photo header on the blog that she can change as she finds new photos and use to refresh the look of the blog at the same time. We paired the photo with a fun logo of a crow with some knitting needles and yarn to differentiate the blog from the rest of the site.

We launched Blue Moon’s new blog yesterday, and Tina’s first entry has already received 22 comments. Way to go, Tina! 

Posted by Rachael Ashe at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

Above and Beyond!

July 14, 2008

At Hop Studios, we’re proud of the Web sites we build, and we’re also confident that you’ll enjoy working with us from start to finish. We recently decided to add a new section to our proposals called the “Above and Beyond Bonus.” The idea is, if our clients think we’ve done superb work and been an excellent partner in the process of designing and developing their web site, if they think we’ve gone above and beyond what was expected, then they have the option of paying the suggested bonus listed on the last page of our proposal.  If they think we’ve only done a decent and respectable job, they pay the basic invoice and nothing on top. It’s like a completion reward, but for truly remarkable work.

Really, it’s entirely up to our clients, and it’s up to us to earn it. And we do our best to do just that.

Posted by Rachael Ashe at 5:57 PM | Comments (0)

The Art Center Film Department Gets Its Own Site

July 9, 2008

film department logoThe Art Center Film Department is one of the many programs available through the Art Center College of Design located in Pasadena, California. Class sizes for the program are kept small in order to foster mentoring relationships between faculty and students, and to ensure students receive individual attention. The Film Program already had a presence on the current Art Center web site, but staff and faculty felt the program could be making more impact on the Internet with its own site.

When they approached Hop Studios with the idea of creating an independent site for the Film Department it was important to note it was intended to supplement the program presence on the Art Center’s web site, retaining the style of the Art Center identity, but using web technologies to build something more interactive, fun, and exciting. They needed something of their own to showcase and promote the program’s strengths and features, as well as to target an audience of students past, present and future.

The design has a unique look of its own and features a Flash animation in the right sidebar created from photographs taken of students and faculty of the film program.The new site is built in ExpressionEngine because staff needed a tool they could use to maintain the site without being web experts. There is both an easily updateable news section and a showcase section to highlight and feature student work.

Posted by Rachael Ashe at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

Hot Dog Day at Hop Studios

July 8, 2008

This is our second Hot Dog Day so far this year.

Sausages on the Grill

Each one is better than the one before.

Posted by Travis Smith at 4:02 PM | Comments (0)

More posts from July 2008