Visit this website: eurofyre.co.uk

“We have used Ballyhoo for many years and have always found them to be responsive, imaginative, and they have always delivered the project on time and on budget. Our latest project with them necessitated a complete rebuild of our site in order to bring us back in line with today’s trends and requirements, and this is exactly what was delivered; a good job well done.” Jon Redfearn.

Brief

Eurofyre Ltd, who specialise in fire detection products, have been Ballyhoo customers for many years. In 2011 they came to us to redevelop their existing website which was starting to look a bit dated.

There were two aspects to this project; Eurofyre wanted us to bring their design up to date to reflect current trends and look at improving their content management system to make the website easier to manage.

Design

Our graphic designer, who originally created the Eurofyre logo and site design several years ago, created a new design concept for this website that looked fresh without losing the familiarity of the existing Eurofyre brand.

Eurofyre have some outstanding images of their products so making these stand out was a priority.

A few years ago many of the graphic effects that we use today just weren’t possible. A range of techniques and new skills our designer has acquired over the years have been adopted in this design to to add an extra dimension and a higher level of interest –  this is something we have also been able to do with the development of the site.

Development

It was decided early on that Eurofyre would not continue using Joomla as the foundation for their website. Instead they would use our new(ish) content management system Ballyhoo Refresh (which wasn’t even a concept when Eurofyre had their first website developed). Refresh is not only much easier to use than Joomla but, as it is our own system, we can adapt it to suit our clients’ needs on a project by project basis.

Eurofyre had a very specific structure in mind for their website and provided us with documentation to help us achieve their vision. The content management system as it stood was not capable of all of the processes needed to make the site work but we were able to customise sections and, where necessary, build new features into the system to make our software perfectly suit this website.

As previously mentioned in the design section, we have been able to introduce new development techniques to this website that were unavailable when we built the first Eurofyre website.

The web development world is constantly evolving and we are becoming capable of creating ever more impressive and useful features. Examples in this site include a JQuery slideshow on the homepage and tabbed product descriptions on deeper pages of the site.

We usually recommend that our clients include a Google Map integration of their location on their contact page. This allows prospective customers to pinpoint offices or shops if they are considering making a visit or purchase.

If you would like to know more about this project or would like to find out how we can help improve your own website, feel free to call us on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: jamesanduzzell.co.uk

Brief

James & Uzzell are chartered certified accountants providing services to mainly small to medium businesses in the Swansea area of South Wales. They wanted to modernise their existing website (a project that Ballyhoo worked on many years ago) and introduce content management so that their team could keep the site up to date in-house. The content on the website would largely remain the same.

Design

Ballyhoo produced a new custom design for the website that reflected James & Uzzell’s professional image. The new design is very clear and allows the user to easily find the pages they are looking for. James & Uzzell contributed to the design by supplying an artist’s watercolour of their head office, this was used as the background of the site to add visual interest.

The right-hand column of the website contains the most frequently sought information on the website, this column is therefore fixed and remains on screen throughout the whole website.

Development

The content management aspect of the website was supplied through our own CMS, Ballyhoo Refresh. An entirely new website was built for the client in a temporary online environment, allowing their existing website to stay online while this project was in development. This way, the disruption to customers looking for James & Uzzell’s services was greatly minimised.

Refresh is a web-based system that allows the administrator to log in to the site and make changes through a web browser. As the admin area is really just an extension of the website itself (once logged in to the site hidden functions become visible to the administrator) it’s very intuitive, easy to use and requires very little training to master.

Features

On the homepage the main area of interest is the Important Dates feature outlining upcoming tax and accounting events. This feature was custom developed for the client to allow them to add/edit and remove dates as necessary. The Important Dates feature automatically outputs relevant dates based on the current month.

A drop down menu was utilised to allow speedy navigation to all areas of the website and we also integrated for James & Uzzell’s customers was a Google Map of the location of their office.

Other website features include an online enquiry form on the Contact page for quick and easy communication with the James & Uzzell team.

Content Population

As previously mentioned, the content of the site would remain the same. As part of our service we transferred all of James & Uzzell’s existing website content and added it to the new website.

We ensured all of the content was formatted correctly and before launch the site was thoroughly tested in all of the major website browsers to ensure the site’s appearance and functions would be consistent no matter who was using it.

If you are interested in learning more about our simple content management system, our design services or any aspects of this project, feel free to call 0121 286 9390 or email info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: thelettingcompany.co

Ballyhoo were approached to design and build this website by World Renowned for their client, The Letting Company (TLC).

TLC are a residential lettings and management agency based in the Peterborough area.

Brief

The Letting Company needed a website with a property search function and information pages to allow prospective landlords and tenants to learn more about the company. They wanted to be able to keep the content on the website up-to-date themselves and manage the property listings on the site in-house too.

Design

A custom design was created for TLC based on their existing branding. The homepage is bright and inviting and the main areas of the site are clearly labelled.

One of the first things you notice on this site is the Find A Property tool – perfect for potential tenants arriving on the website who want to start searching for suitable properties straight away.

The Landlord, Tenant and Block Management information boxes in the left sidebar are present on every page so that users can quickly navigate to pages expected to have high levels of traffic.

Development

When the website design was approved, we started building the site on our content management system, Ballyhoo Refresh. This would give TLC the content control they were looking for while allowing us to easily build in the custom property search functions they also requested.

The management functions available to TLC include the ability to nest unlimited information pages. A drop down menu was included in the design to accommodate this.

The Find A Property tool is a simple version of the kind of search functions you would expect to find on major property websites like Right Move.

When adding properties, TLC specify whether the property is a flat or a house, the area it is located in, how many bedrooms it has and the rent payable per month. They can also add multiple images of the property.

When users use Find A Property they can then refine their search using Property Type, Area, Number of Beds and Price fields.

The properties to let are then output in a list with an image thumbnail and essential information. Users can click a More Information button to see the full listing.

Custom website design and development is something we really enjoy at Ballyhoo and we love working with you to create something unique and functional for your website visitors. For more information on custom website development or to discuss your project with us in detail and get a quote, feel free to call us on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: norfolkconstabularyssc.co.uk

The Norfolk Constabulary Sports & Social Club (NCSSC) approached us to build their new website after we were recommended to them by Norfolk Police Federation.

Brief

The NCSSC needed a website to provide information to the many members of their club, covering three divisions of their county and numerous sports and social activities. They wanted to be able to keep the website up to date in-house and also restrict access to some areas of the website to members only.

Content Management

As this site was to be fairly complex in structure and potentially hold a vast amount of content we proposed to build this website on the Joomla content management system. Joomla is a comprehensive open-source CMS that offers a large amount of flexibility and power to build content managed websites. Using Joomla would also give us scope to incorporate the requested access permissions with ease and at little extra cost.

Design

Our graphic designer created a custom website design to use with the Joomla system. The design was based on the NCSSC’s comments and preferences and aimed to create a sense of consistency with the main Norfolk Constabulary website.

Members Only

As requested, we built functionality into the website so that the NCSSC can restrict access to certain sections of the website to registered members only. A Joomla extension called Community Builder was used to facilitate this.

Members have to register to use the site by filling in an online registration form. This form includes a custom field for their membership number so that the NCSSC can check their details with those already on file. When the form is completed the NCSSC is notified by email and prompted to carry out the necessary checks. They can then approve membership in the admin area allowing the system to inform the member by email that they can now log in to the website.

The NCSSC can mark pages as restricted when they add them to the website or in retrospect at any time.

If you would like to know more about Joomla powered websites or how you can create a members only section on your website feel free to get in touch on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: www.allecoenergy.co.uk

All Eco Energy are a Midlands-based specialist solar power company and one of the UK’s largest distributors of solar panel equipment. They required a new website that they would be able to easily manage in-house.

We built the site on Ballyhoo Refresh, our new content management system. This gives All Eco Energy the ability to quickly and efficiently manage their website with on-page editing and add items to a built-in blog.

As part of this site, the client needed a calculator tool to be developed so that home-owners could make an educated estimate of how much energy they could produce and save by having solar panels fitted to their house. We produced a simple illustration to accompany the calculator that would give website users a visual representation of how a solar PV system works and how much they’ll benefit by having one.

If you’d like to know more about content management, custom development and how we can tailor your website to exactly meet your needs, give us a call on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: policecompassionatefund.co.uk

The Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Compassionate Fund is a registered charity for police officers in the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. It exists to provide financial aid to members (being serving or retired police officers) and their surviving partners and children in times of difficulty.

The Fund commissioned this website to improve their presence online and provide a hub for members to find out the latest news and events within the organisation.

Design

The Fund asked us to use a painting by Mick Ewins in the design of the website. The painting is a detailed portrait of the history of the Constabulary, from bygone days to present day.

Such a complex and eye-catching feature on the site dictated that the rest of the design be simple and unassuming to compliment the painting.

The Building Blocks

With a view to adding members only content in the future, we built this site on the Joomla content management system (CMS).

This CMS is open-source which means it is free to use and there are no licence fees payable. Joomla is also a good option for sites that are looking to expand their functionality; a strong community and a wealth of online resources means that new technologies and features are constantly being added to the catalogue of extensions and plug-ins available for the system.

Content Management

With Joomla as their CMS, the Fund has an enormous amount of freedom and flexibility to maintain their website. The administrator can add pages, edit articles and alter the structure of the website if required – all without the assistance of a web developer.

Slideshow

The Fund provided us with an amazing selection of images to incorporate into the website. With such an array of great scenes it was impossible to choose just a few to use on the site so we decided to go down the route of incorporating these into a randomized slideshow.

When a new page is selected, or the page is refreshed, the website will randomly select an image orientation (landscape or portrait) for the slideshow. It will then choose three images from the selection available and fade these in and out every 10 seconds or so.

If you would like to know more about content management and how it can help you take control of your website, give us a call on 0121 286 9390 or email info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: bsc-ltd.co.uk

Building Services Controls Ltd provides control solutions for new construction projects and refurbishment projects throughout Wales and the rest of the UK.

BSC wanted us to convert their existing website to our simple content management system, Ballyhoo Refresh. This would allow them to edit their website in-place without needing to learn how to use an administration area.

We started this project by setting up an installation of Ballyhoo Refresh in a temporary online environment. This meant that there would be no disruption to their existing website and BSC could monitor our progress when development began.

It was then simply a case of taking their existing design and building a new template so that this site would visually match their existing website identically.

The last stage was to add all of BSC’s content to the new website. We set up the site structure and made sure the site was ready to launch with all of BSC’s content in place so that when we copied the site over to their live domain nobody would be able to tell the difference!

An improvement we made on their old website was to replace the Flash slideshow on the homepage with a JQuery slideshow. JQuery is widely supported by browsers and doesn’t require any external software installation like Flash to run so not only will the load time of the slideshow be much quicker using this method, more people are likely to be able to view the slideshow in the first place.

Other improvements over the old website include the use of tableless design (this makes the website much more search engine friendly) and the use of a system that will automatically split the content BSC add to the website into columns, saving them time and effort.

Testimonial

Ballyhoo offered us a professional yet friendly service and were always readily available throughout the development process to answer our questions and discuss new ideas.

At Ballyhoo we’re more than happy to work with your existing design to make the management of your website easier. We believe that our content management system will be a valuable asset to your company, saving you time and hassle in the everyday running of your business online.

Prices start at £600 to convert your website to use our content management system – this includes system installation, template development and content structure and population.

If you’d like to know more about converting your website to use Ballyhoo Refresh, or you have any other queries, give us a call on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

www.essex.polfed.org

Essex Police Federation have recently started adding content to this content managed website we developed for them last year. The website aims to keep Police Officers in Essex up-to-date with the latest developments in their area as well as provide a source of information and advice relating to their profession.

Content management is ideal when frequent additions to a website are likely. Content management systems (CMS) offer a facility to add new pages to the site without the need for web development experience or a knowledge of code such as HTML. New articles and pages can be added in minutes and the structure of the site can be modified just as easily. On a website like this, where the information stored has to be kept up to date at all times, a content managed solution seemed the obvious choice. The Essex Polfed site was therefore built on the Joomla content management system, an open source application that is perfect for the volume of content expected.

In light of the professional nature of the site a simple, clean-cut design was used that allows the user to remain focused on the valuable content rather than be distracted by loud graphics and effects.

Essex Police Federation have also taken advantage of our support and maintenance service. Sometimes our customers do not have the resources, or enough technical know-how, to manage their site effectively in-house. In these situations we offer a support and maintenance contract, a simple arrangement whereby the customer sends over any updates they require and we add them to the website. We agree a fixed monthly fee for support (usually 1 – 2 hours), a guaranteed response time and the customer can be assured that all updates are carried out correctly by a trained professional. The support and maintenance contract is an economical choice too as we track each update down to the minute and are very efficient due to our experience in this area.

If you are interested in commissioning a content managed website, or would like to know more about support and maintenance contracts, please get in touch.

The main development feature on this site was a custom skip-hire enquiry form. Potential customers can easily enter their requirements and submit it to Envirowise to receive a quote. The form is concise and intuitive and the Envirowise team can provide the best available quote solely from the information submitted here.

Another fantastic feature of this site is the bespoke skip-size chart which enables customers to easily locate which size of skip they would require. Handy information such as dimensions and how many black bags the skip would be able to hold are clearly outlined allowing customers to make the best choice.

Visit the Envirowise Skip Hire website to see these features first-hand.

For more information on the services we at Ballyhoo offer see our general web design page or alternatively contact us.

When new owners acquired Norwood House, they wanted a new website to showcase the many fantastic features of the hotel, especially their stylish rooms and delicious dishes.

As the hotel has frequent seasonal and special promotions, Ballyhoo created custom icons to easily identify these occasions (seen above).

Working from an existing website, Ballyhoo optimised the site by creating a tableless design and also used CSS to create consistent styling throughout the site. This has aided several further updates to the Norwood House Hotel website.

Visit alamodedining.co.uk to see the current version of this website.

If you are interested in creating a brochure website such as this, please take a look at our general web design page. Alternatively, contact us for a quote.