There are many compelling reasons to consider publishing a blog. Blogging can be a useful tool for:

• Business websites – to keep customers informed
• Members of online communities to share their experiences and opinions
• Families to keep in touch
• Non-profit websites – to communicate with their members
• Individuals to express themselves in words, pictures, video, etc.

We recommend WordPress for our clients who blog. WordPress is Open-Source software that runs on a web server. The benefits of using WordPress are many, including:

• Cost: WordPress is FREE. There are no licensing or monthly fees.
• Ease of Use: WordPress sports a user-friendly interface for writing and editing.
• Security: WordPress features strong online security against hackers. Multiple user accounts can be created with varying permission levels.
• Open-Source Development: A large, world-wide development community is committed to constantly improving the software.
• Plug-ins: Hundreds of plug-ins enable us to build cool features into your WordPress site. Some examples are: e-commerce, photo galleries, and event calendars.
• Access: Post to your blog or update your website from any internet-connected computer.
• Customization: We can easily create a custom theme for your blog or website.

In addition to blogs, we use WordPress as the foundation for our sites that require a content management system (CMS). We have found WordPress to be easy for our clients to learn, and its ease of use encourages timely updates. Best of all, you are in charge of how and when to update your site!

Today’s Web sites are designed primarily for viewing on desktop an laptop computers, but as technology advances with handheld mobile devices: cell phones, “smart” phones like Apple’s iPhone, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) like the BlackBerry, more and more people are accessing the internet on the run with their phones. Some estimates suggest that over a third of the world’s population has access to the internet through a mobile device.

If you provide content on your Web site that you would like to be accessible to phones and other mobile devices, it should be formatted to make it “friendly” for viewing and navigating on a small screen. Web pages designed for mobile devices should feature:

• navigation specifically designed for mobile devices
• small images, if any are needed
• appropriate feedback to provide context to the user
• “light” page weights to minimize cost of downloading

We keep current with recommendations and best practices in Mobile Web development as this segment of the Web grows and heads toward maturity. If you need to deliver content to phones, smart phones, and PDAs, let us know and we can build mobile-ready pages for you.

We offer two affordable web hosting plans:

Our Managed Hosting plan ($240/yr) is recommended for any site requiring content management, PHP processing, maximum reliability, and speed.

Our Basic Hosting plan ($120/yr) is appropriate for simple sites that don’t require a database.

Why do I need Web hosting?
Once your site is created, it must live on a server connected to the internet. When someone navigates to your site, the server sends the appropriate pages to the user’s computer as they are requested. A properly configured Web server allows multiple users to browse your site simultaneously.

Does iKnow register domain names?
Yes. We can search for and register a domain name on your behalf. Once a domain name has been registered (yourdomain.com) we can configure the name to point to the hosting Web server for your site. We will register one domain for free (1 year term) with the purchase of any of our hosting packages. Annual domain renewals are $15/yr.

What’s included in the Managed Hosting Service Plan?
If you choose our Managed Hosting plan, we will conduct periodic reviews of your site. At this time, we can fix broken links, remove outdated information, and make sure the site is performing as intended. We are happy to make limited content updates at these times. If your site uses a content management system, we will make security updates to your WordPress installation as needed. Sites on our managed plan are hosted locally in downtown Portland by our partner inkfist.com. These webservers are very fast, extremely reliable, and all your data is backed up nightly. This plan is strongly recommended for all sites with user-managed content.

Can I check my e-mail from anywhere?
Yes. Wherever you have Internet access, you can easily check your e-mail with a Web browser. You can also configure your e-mail to work with any popular e-mail program, such as Outlook, Outlook Express, or Apple Mail.

A concise guide to the technical stuff—

Browser Testing: Web browsers are applications that render the different elements of your web site on the computer screen. Unfortunately, different browsers handle some content elements in unusual or counterintuitive ways. Which is why we test all sites frequently during development. Currently, we test with all browsers in common use: Internet Explorer 7,8 and Firefox for Windows, Firefox and Safari for Macintosh. Opera too!

CSS: Cascading Style Sheets are used to control the layout of a site from one central reference file. Using CSS greatly increases the efficiency of development and maintenance of your site. If you want to make stylistic changes down the road, it’s a snap with a CSS-designed site. While all modern browsers provide full CSS support today, this was not the case 4-5 years ago. CSS design is one major reason clients choose to upgrade an older site.

JavaScript: JavaScript is a client-side programming language frequently used in Web development to extend the capabilities of HTML. Since JavaScript runs locally on the user’s computer, it can respond quickly to user input. JavaScript is frequently used to create drop-down menus, rollover highlights, slideshows, and many other useful functions.

Multimedia: Today’s Internet connections allow for a wide range of rich media content to be delivered via your Web site. Examples include: real-time (live) streaming video, podcasts, video conferencing, digital animation, MP3 audio, Flash presentations, QuickTime, Windows Media and more.

PHP: PHP is a popular scripting language for Web development that allows for dynamic content and database driven applications. PHP scripting is used to convey data between the user’s screen and a server-located database.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization is the process of building sites in a way that makes it easy for search engines such as Google to properly index the site for its database. Optimizing your site for search engine ranking is part art and part science, and it’s critical for driving traffic to your site.

Web Standards: The World Wide Web Consortium (WC3) has established a set of guidelines for the creation of Web content that is open to future improvement and mindful of past technology. These standards do not dictate the visual design of the site, but inform the underlying programming practices used to deliver the content.

XHTML: XHTML (Extensible HyperText Markup Language) is considered to be the successor to HTML (HyperText Markup Language), the original Web development language. XHTML incorporates most of the functionality of HTML while conforming to the stricter syntax of XML. Developing in XHTML is important, as it will allow for the eventual transition to XML in the future.

Here is a general idea of the cost of a new web site or a major upgrade. The price will vary according to the content and functionality of the pages.