The Way Ahead - Part 1
I am frequently amazed at the altruism and generosity of the Open Source Community.
Such are the applications and designs freely available these days, that going Open Source (OS) is no longer an issue. Many large companies, government organisations, schools and charities have embraced OS software. Not just because it is free, but because there are quality products that are viable alternatives to commercial offerings.
On starting the redesign of the net-results desktop site, I had three objectives. Firstly to utilize OS software throughout. Secondly, to develop in MODx - the OS Content Management framework. Thirdly, to re-brand using an elegant, clean, template design, that I could customise and modify as required.
Mobile interlude....
In fact what happened was I initially built the mobile site - net-results.mobi - as a way of testing MODx and as an attempt to deal with the different standards of mobile design. For this I am particularly grateful to both W3C and dotMobi respectively, the latter with their mobiReady testing facility.
Back to the desktop....
Having undertaken some research into open source templates, I was delighted to find Denise Mitchinson's Snapp Happy website and the stimulating collection of templates available there.
I opted for 'Limelight' and have endeavoured to customise the design to the extent where it is now the 'new look' for net-results and can be updated via desktop and mobile.
My sincere thanks go to Denise for her original design and to the development team and community that is MODx - for what is an absolutely brilliant development framework.