Idealware

More than just building a mobile website - what ab...

2010-03-19T10:16:50.048-04:00

More than just building a mobile website - what about good mobile email, direct donations and creating an acceptable day-to-day mobile campaign?

http://www.artez.com/blog/introducing-artez-mobile-communicator

I use UserTesting.cou om all the time. It's a...

2010-03-18T09:26:33.971-04:00

I use UserTesting.cou om all the time. It's awesome. changed how I plan my website. I use them to see how people respond to my competitors' websites, how they find me, etc. Ask UserTesting.com to have 5 people "find a great XXX on the internet" and don't tell them what company they're looking for. For example, say you rent children's books. Just ask them to find a website to rent children's books and see what people do. You watch them search on google, click through to your site, your competitors site, get lost, get found and finally decide on a site. It's amazing. I learned more in that hour then I learned in 2 years of old-school testing.
-john

Yes the virtual office is increasing in trend and ...

2010-03-18T07:08:53.575-04:00

Yes the virtual office is increasing in trend and is obviously now a thing of the modern world,there is so much more software and tools out there to help us now a days!!

Incipi is now offering FREE hosted Open Atrium wor...

2010-03-17T16:18:03.674-04:00

Incipi is now offering FREE hosted Open Atrium workspaces. Check out www.incipi.com for more info.

Hi kerikeaindc, I am so glad! The tools are out th...

2010-03-17T09:41:31.270-04:00

Hi kerikeaindc,
I am so glad! The tools are out there and they are getting better and more accessible. I didn't even go into virtual phone systems, GoogleVoice, video conferencing, because those are beyond what I need right now, so I haven't used 'em much (and I prefer to write about what I know when possible). But many of these things are free or low-cost, too, which is extra handy when you're just getting on your feet as an independent consultant.

If you do come across something in your travels that you really like to add to the list, please do add it here, or email me about it -- I am sure I will be posting more on this topic in the future.

Great post! I wish I had some wonderful gizmo to ...

2010-03-16T22:43:02.562-04:00

Great post!

I wish I had some wonderful gizmo to add to your list, but the truth is that I've been looking for a list like this for months now! A recent freelancing and consulting nonprofiteer, I have been struggling with a "lack of place" or home base. These are just the kinds of tools I need!

Great analogy (and engaging writing). I'm curr...

2010-03-16T09:38:24.705-04:00

Great analogy (and engaging writing). I'm currently trying to convince my nonprofit to update their website--a serious ice dune. I haven't quite been able to communicate why this is important, though I'm going to toss this metaphor their way during the next meeting ;)

I've been following Idealware's postings a...

2010-03-15T11:37:50.858-04:00

I've been following Idealware's postings about Widgets (I'd say thanks for being a big obsessed about them!) and have found them very helpful. We just decided to start building with Widgetbox Pro, and it's been a breeze.

This post has a few really good examples of what's possible, and is great inspiration for how we could use this tool for our own organization. Thanks again!

Hi, my name is Justin Thorp. I'm the Community...

2010-03-11T22:02:53.369-05:00

Hi, my name is Justin Thorp. I'm the Community Manager for Clearspring. If there are any questions that I can answer for you about the transition to the AddThis sharing platform, don't hesitate to drop me a line. - justin@clearspring.com

Many nonprofits use Google Checkout to collect don...

2010-03-10T12:44:24.844-05:00

Many nonprofits use Google Checkout to collect donations. Google Checkout can be configured to accept recurring (monthly, annual, etc.) donations. Also, the "donor experience" can be controlled. It needs a little technical knowledge but you can have it done for a reasonable fee at places like Alta Tech Solutions. www.altatechsolutions.com

COZALITY would welcome a professional comparison r...

2010-03-08T15:32:50.196-05:00

COZALITY would welcome a professional comparison review of our Effect Engine CMS for non profit websites versus the likes of Convio and the other players. The result would no doubt be that COZALITY provides a superior product (I.e. better social media integration, such as our Facebook Connect module) and for relatively less. Compare us and get in touch!

Thanks for a helpful post! I was just reading an a...

2010-03-05T13:38:07.173-05:00

Thanks for a helpful post! I was just reading an article from The NonProfit Times (http://www.nptimes.com/10Mar/breakingnews-100303-1.html) about a recent study showing increasing willingness (especially among younger generations) to make donations via text-message: another reminder that mobile-optimized sites are going to become more and more important in the coming months and years. I've included your post in my weekly roundup (http://bit.ly/d1zp2K); thanks again!

You might want to consider Unity Mobile ( http://u...

2010-03-03T16:10:28.375-05:00

You might want to consider Unity Mobile ( http://unitymobile.com ) they do everything, it's very simple but they make mobile site that are unbelievably powerful.

or you could use our software :)

2010-02-24T23:41:56.358-05:00

or you could use our software :)

Very informative post.I was searching for such kin...

2010-02-24T01:13:40.963-05:00

Very informative post.I was searching for such kind of information.Thanks for sharing.

Does anyone have any experience with disocuntnonpr...

2010-02-23T14:20:35.615-05:00

Does anyone have any experience with disocuntnonprofitwebsites.com? Their website looks impressive with the logos of clients and their pricing is very low considering what they claim to offer.

Thanks for the great walk-through of domain regist...

2010-02-22T21:15:14.363-05:00

Thanks for the great walk-through of domain registration considerations.

In case it's useful for nonprofits taking the next step, hosting a website, a few months ago I posted a couple of nonprofit-focused items: one on choosing a web host, and another on migrating your domain from one host to another.

HI Heather- found this post by following a link on...

2010-02-22T11:44:19.197-05:00

HI Heather- found this post by following a link on a similar post of yours elsewhere. I am taking the opportunity to introduce Call2Action to folks who are left a little high and dry by sproutbuilders recent decisions. We make widgets for nonprofits. We combine your videos with your campaign into one widget that can live anywhere. We are pretty new and still working out or pricing- as the Sprout debacle shows, it is key to figure out realistically from the start rather than attract people with a low price then realize it is not viable.
I hope folks will come by and check out our widget!
http://www.call2action.com and drop me a line at maha[@]call2action.com if you have any feedback or thoughts.
Best,
Maha

Such a nice post, it is really interesting, want ...

2010-02-22T07:39:22.434-05:00

Such a nice post, it is really interesting, want to admire your work, Thanks.

Something of an update via Facebook fan pages. F...

2010-02-19T17:31:26.874-05:00

Something of an update via Facebook fan pages.

First, in the group Johanna mentions "Spurned Sproutbuilders Unite!"
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=309525392366#!/group.php?v=wall&gid=309525392366

Carnet did indeed say that all existing Sporut subscribers that are members of the group can get the half price discount ($1500 a year) by emailing info@sproutinc.com with subject line "early adopter discount" and give the email address you used for your Sprout account and if different your paypal email so they can send you a manual invoice. This is because you will need to pay the for the full year up front.

Also on Beth Kanter's fan page (http://www.facebook.com/Beth.Kanter.Blog?ref=sgm) there is a reply to Jon Dunn's post about Sprout's discontinuation from Michelle Wohl at Sprout saying that they are working with existing Sprout non-profit clients on pricing. Please email support@sproutinc.com for info.

The company has expressed their concern for nonprofits and intentions to do all they can to support them in the past, so its likely they will offer some sort of discount for 5013c organizations.

In any case, all nonprofits using Sprout would be wise to contact them and see what can be done for your organization.

Hi, Hal -- good point, and one that I did miss in ...

2010-02-18T20:43:12.663-05:00

Hi, Hal -- good point, and one that I did miss in part 2, which I hope you found here. I'm not sure what the ramifications of having the registrar listed as a contact are, but it doesn't seem right to me. That gives them undue authority on a domain that they only host, not own.

A DNS article would be a good follow-up, I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks, Thomas. I also have to say that my fave op...

2010-02-18T17:07:14.168-05:00

Thanks, Thomas. I also have to say that my fave open source CMS platforms--Drupal, Wordpress and Joomla--are all written in PHP, and that's important to me. PHP is in wide use and is a very accessible programming language (heck, even I can successfully alter it). I know there are plenty of proprietary systems written in PHP, but I really like that those particular OS platforms use a common, flexible language. In the earlier days, when I didn't know any "Drupal developers" or "Mambo (Joomla)developers" yet, it was still easy to find someone who knew PHP and could help me out.

I was once involved in a the building of a very large, custom open source CMS/website in TCL, or "Tickle," and it quick became an albatross because... well... how much do we talk about TCL anymore? Not much.

Thanks for sharing your vendor, too!

Thank you for the very nice summary of Domain Regi...

2010-02-18T14:00:36.378-05:00

Thank you for the very nice summary of Domain Registration. You may have planned to address this in Part 2 of your series here, but it is worth noting that some registrars list themselves as the Technical contact, and sometimes Administrative contact, in the WhoIs information for a domain. I have not seen this (yet) when domains are transferred to a new registrar, but do see it when registering a domain for the first time. A registrar with an easy to use method of editing the WhoIs info is a bonus.

Any plans on doing a DNS series?

Hal Noble - netCorps.org

I suspect (hope) that many of the vendors who adve...

2010-02-18T13:16:32.693-05:00

I suspect (hope) that many of the vendors who advertised in the Consultant Directory of Idealware's Comparing Open Source Content Management Systems report would provide these types of services.

One of the benefits of supported Open Source is that if you have a falling out with one vendor, you can always go out and get another one without having to completely redo your site. To be fair, that's not exclusive to Open Source CMS, as some of the larger proprietary CMSes also have networks of vendors/implementation partners, but the selection of say, Drupal developers with nonprofit experience is much broader than the selection of Ektron implementors.

We've been happy with our Drupal vendor, Message Agency. We have a monthly support contract that includes security updates, configuration changes, and user support, and they've also been responsive and very fair when we request enhancements beyond the support contract. Our ongoing need for their help is such that the contract really makes sense, but they do straight hourly for some clients as well.

Carnet is addressing concerns on the Facebook grou...

2010-02-17T21:07:27.040-05:00

Carnet is addressing concerns on the Facebook group "Spurned Sproutbuilders Unite!"

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=309525392366#!/group.php?v=wall&gid=309525392366