OD Media | News

OD Media provides that polish for workFile Vision

workFile Vision is an enterprise content management repository (ECM) that is used to take control of an organisations content, no matter what form that may take. OD Media has been asked to provide the interfaces and "custom skins" for the next release of workFile Vision v2.0 (available at the end of 2010). In addition, this latest version will have the capabilities to provide an online service to customers (SaaS implementation), making it far easier for organisations to utilise the workFile platform.

OD Media is looking forward to the challenge and working with the developers of workFile ECM. Though this isnt the first time OD Media has provided interfaces and designs for workFile ECM, it will be the first time that Silverlight 4 is used, along with the "OOB" (Out Of Browser) experience.

Watch this space...

Rich Web Applications

With 2010 now underway, and the promise that the end of the recession is upon us, it's important to ensure you make a great first impression on potential customers - especially when it comes to your web presence.

In todays market place, if your web presence simply lacks that X factor, or is too hard to navigate, clumsy to use, you will soon find that potential customers are off of your site and gone for good. That's not great news, especially if you have spent a sum of cash on getting them there through a carefully planned marketing campaign...

So to ensure you "wow" your user base, we at OD Media are providing Rich Internet Application solutions for up to 50% off our standard fees - if you sign up to using our design / development services before the end of February 2010. This means that you can provide your potential customers with not just a website, but a website with real presence and with the capabilites to seamlessly use rich media and deliver a new and engaging experience for your users.

OD Media specialises in using Microsofts latest technology, Silverlight. With Silverlight you can bring your website to life, offering new ways of interaction, a better user experience, and above all - leave a lasting positive impression on your website visitors...

This offer isnt only available to websites, but also web based applications that require that special touch in order that they sparkle. So if you need help on designing your business application, need to make something "look great" then get in touch with a member of staff...

Help maintaining your website?

Do you have a small website at the moment that just needs some simple changes and amendments made to it? Are you having difficulties in finding a trust worthy organisation that will help you maintain your website?

If so, then please contact a member of staff at OD Media. We have a number of web designers and developers who work on and support websites just like yours. Working on a small monthly retainer fee, you will have access to designers and developers who can quickly and professionaly make those needed alterations to your website. In addition, if you are looking for a complete new website or change in "branding", we have the right professionals here to help...

Contact OD Media and ask us what we can do to help you with your web presence....

OD Media templates

A number of website templates are now available from OD Media. These templates offer an entry level to the world of online trading (eCommerce) for any small business. With an eCommerce website you need to ensure you have the following features - all of which are available with an OD Media eCommerce template:

1. Content management of about us pages, terms and conditions, returns policy and delivery information

2. The ability to add, amend and delete stock items

3. Ability to link stock items together - helping the shopping experience

4. Ability to associate a number of images to a particular stock item

5. Integrate with payment solutions (ePDQ)

6. Capabilities to seperate stock logically - e.g. Into Brands, Stock Type (Audio, Video, Home improvement etc)

7. Highlight editors choice / pick of the week stock items

8. Allow Search Engines (such as Google, Bing and Yahoo) to pick up and easily index your stock items...

OD Media templates provide all of this functionality at the fraction of the cost of typical eCommerce solutions. In addition you have the option to utilise OD Media design staff to add that wow factor to your web presence (at a small additional cost).

For more information contact a member of staff at OD Media

June Emerson eCommerce website launch

Well it has been a while coming, but the June Emerson Wind Music new website was launched yesterday (26^th August). The new website seamlessly links with the June Emerson workFile Medium Business solution, which is the heart of their back office, providing stock management, customer and contact management, sales transaction capabilities, intelligent ordering, business process management and much more...

June Emerson Wind Music carries in excess of 40,000 titles of music for wind instruments ready for dispatch, making this probably the largest collection of wind music found anywhere. But finding the right title has sometimes proven to be a little tricky, and this is why the new website was designed and implemented, to help the customer locate what they are looking for, quickly and easily.

The website was designed by OD Media, part of the One Degree group. A number of tabs are used to help users quickly narrow down their activities on the website. In addition powerful search and search narrowing features are also made available. Other features include news feeds, social networking and sharing capabilities and a dedicated tab for ensembles who have won this year’s June Emerson Launchpad prize. There is also some nifty use of Silverlight for launchpad prize winners managing and administering their profile.

The website is constantly kept in synchronisation with the June Emerson workFile back office system, ensuring prices, stock lists and all information are as up to date as possible. But the really intelligent functions kick into life when a customer completes a transaction. Once completed, the website automatically links to the back office system, where the transaction is processed, invoices / receipts automatically processed and details sent to the warehouse ready for quick picking. Once picked the items are boxed and made ready for dispatch.

For more information on workFile Medium Business, the June Emerson back office solution and website, please contact info@onedegree.co.uk

Template Solutions...Keeping your costs down

In these hard economic times, OD Media understand the importance of maintaining an up to date web presence for as little investment as possible. Because of this, OD Media is now delivering “template” solutions, providing feature rich websites in a professional fashion at a fraction of the cost.

By utilising the workFile eCommerce module, OD Media have developed an administration panel that lets organisation manage news articles, stock, web content, file downloads, endorsees and trading partners all from a single panel. Organisations then simply choose a template for the “look and feel” of their website and within days, they can enjoy a brand new, professional website at a fraction of the cost of having a site developed from scratch.

“Obviously template solutions can be a little limiting to organisations. However, the OD Media template delivers great functionality, flexibility and freedom to organisations. The administration panel allows organisations to take control of typical website features that often require a large investment to get working well. Pretty much all bases are covered with the admin panel for businesses, so it’s really a matter of choosing your template and OD Media applying some of your own graphic work to it to ensure corporate branding remains.” Andrew Smith – Managing Director explained.

Get in touch with OD Media for more information on OD Media template website solutions.

Why not follow our staff...

Our staff are always up to something interesting, be it design and blue sky thinking, building prototypes with new technologies or supporting existing clients. You can now follow some of our senior staff members on Twitter, providing you with an insight into not only what we spend our days doing, but also a personal view of our senior staff, helping you to get to know them....

Please note that these are personal accounts for our staff members, not company accounts used as marketing tools.

If you want to follow Chris Duffy, OD Media senior designer, you can at http://twitter.com/ChrisODMedia alternatively, you can follow Andrew Smith, Managing Director of One Degree Group, at http://twitter.com/AndrewOneDegree

You can also keep up to date with Andrew’s personal blog at http://andrewonedegree.wordpress.com

OD Media Silverlight website launch

Well today is the day. The new Silverlight version of the OD Media website has been launched. Its look and feel is very similar to that of the original “text” based website; however it has that added polish which Silverlight delivers.

The new site is still content managed in exactly the same way as the text site, with both sites being updated once from a single workFile Vision repository, the same workFile repository that maintains all One Degree company based websites. The original ASP.NET, or “text” website, is still available; this is to ensure disabled users have an option in how they wish to view OD Media content.

For more information on Silverlight and Silverlight based website design, please contact OD Media.

Open Kitchen opens its doors

Open Kitchen is a new bar and restaurant, based in the heart of vibrant Hoxton. Today saw the launch of their new website, a site that ties the branding of Open Kitchen, with the feel of its location.

Open Kitchen source all their food locally and all their menus consist of free range, freedom welfare and fair trade produce wherever possible. As the training restaurant for the London City Hospitality Centre (LCHC), all food and drinks are served by students, as part of their vocational studies.

So if you are in the Hoxton area, why not drop in and visit Open Kitchen for some great food and drink in a highly social and relaxed environment.

eCommerce and Social Media for June Emerson Wind Music

June Emerson Wind Music, one of the largest suppliers of wind sheet music in the UK, will soon be launching their new look website. OD Media has been working to deliver a highly intuitive and simple website that allows users to quickly search or browse for a particular piece of music.

The new eCommerce web site is maintained completely by their workFile Medium Business stock management solution, seamlessly integrating the two systems. By doing this, almost all website administration is removed, with workFile updating stock, images and online content.

It isn’t just your normal workFile eCommerce website though. June Emerson Wind Music has decided to embrace Social Media concepts and allow content to be shared with typical social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo. In addition, ensembles have the opportunity to utilise the new “launch pad” feature, effectively providing ensembles with a web space within the June Emerson website.

The “launch pad” will allow ensembles to create biographies, upload images, videos, event information and the publication of their own blogs. Users will be able to view any of this information and again, have the ability to share with their friends and networks.

The new website launch is due in the coming weeks, and its launch will be published on this site.

Silverlight for business applications

For years, business applications have, shall we say, sometimes lacked visual qualities. It can become costly to involve design teams for business applications, especially when these types of applications are dealing with large amounts of data and complex workflows.

Since the early days of Silverlight managed code, One Degree has embraced the idea of using Silverlight to deliver business applications that not only perform well, but are easier to administer and deliver a good experience to the user. To this extent, OD Media has been working hard with One Degree on its workFile Vision ECM product, delivering an out of the box solution in Silverlight.

“The benefits of using Silverlight are quite compelling. With workFile Vision, it enables us to allow users to interact with the repository in a different way, a way which is far friendlier, requires less training for business users, requires less administration and increases business process efficiency. In addition, it looks great” – Andrew Smith, One Degree Managing Director explained.

With Silverlight 3.0, Microsoft is pushing Silverlight as a technology that can be adopted by business to deliver business wide applications. New templates are to be shipped with 3.0 to promote rapid application development for businesses. Skills that business application developers have aren’t lost with Silverlight; rather those same skills can be used to develop Silverlight business applications.

Andrew Smith concluded - “I believe Silverlight gives us a great platform to move forward with, not just with media rich websites, but with business applications. I foresee most of our development work, be it on the web or for business applications, to be delivered to the end user via Silverlight.”

Own your social media content

With social media now becoming an ever increasing part of business communications, it is important to ensure that your social media activities still optimise your company identity.

Many websites are available in which you can host your own blogs, even build communities, news and feeds. However, nothing beats providing these services within your own website, within your own branding and under your own control. More and more businesses are talking to OD Media with regards to providing their customers with online communities, feeds and blogs all implemented and hosted from within their own website.

“Users are intelligent people, they are fully aware when they have been taken off to another website. They don’t like unexpected things to happen; they don’t want to be bounced around to different sites to essentially read your content. By doing this, you risk the user not reading what you have to say.” Chris Duffy senior web consultant at OD Media explained. “If your website takes you off to a third party site just to deliver a blog, it looks un-professional and you lose control of not only where the content is stored, but its security and presentation.”

Of course you don’t want to just limit your social media activities to users of your own website. Let users share your content with their networking sites of choice. In addition with OD Media social media tools, you can deliver “Mashup” and “Meshup” web experiences, pulling in content from other popular social networking websites.

Chris Duffy continued - “Mashup and Meshup websites are fuelling the way in which users read content. Pulling in content from many different websites and presenting it on your own website, is a great way to embrace the social media concept. Not only does it allow people to contribute to your content from outside your website, it also allows you to present that content in a more controlled fashion within your own website.”

“However, pulling in content from different places can cause some headaches. There are a number of privacy and security issues that must always be looked at, and of course, there are those that use social media tools in an abusive fashion. So while moderation is not often associated with social media, it is something that must be thought about”

OD Media provide a number of social media tools and services. Review these online at: www.ODMedia.co.uk