19/05/2017Drupal Website Backup Strategy
Backups are vital, but just having a backup isn't enough, what's needed is a backup strategy, which means thinking about what you are protecting against, setting up a system and testing that it actually works.
CodeA Drupal website installation has two elements, database and code. The codebase should be running under some kind of version control which gives you great layer of protection when it's hosted in a private repository on GitHub or BitBucket. The repository contains… Read More
08/05/2017Why Would Anybody Want to Hack My Site?
It's a common mis-conception among website owners that hackers would not be interested in their website because it doesn't contain any information worth stealing, or that hackers wouldn't be interested in attacking their friendly helpful site. The truth is that hackers can benefit from gaining control of any site - so you need to be secure.
So, how exactly can hackers benefit from taking over your site?
SEO SpamThe most common use of a hijacked site is SEO spam - injecting links into your site which point to other sites,… Read More
03/05/2017Web Design Workflow, Reliability Through Drupal & Git
One of the biggest changes in the way we work over the last few years has been the introduction of version control into our workflow. As systems get ever more complex, we need better tools to manage them and this has led to using something called "Git". Git is great because it allows us to easily manage our workflow of "dev", "staging" and "live". Let's break that all down a bit and explain what it means.
Many web design companies, particularly at the low end of… Read More
06/04/2017Permission to send
There is a big difference between having access to a list of email addresses, and having permission to send email to that list.By using this software you agree to follow our permission policy for sending emails, which is required by our Terms of Use. If you don't have proven permission to email the addresses on your mailing lists, you are sending spam.
… Read More
16/01/2017All of These Web Sites Look the Same!
Have you noticed how all web sites are starting to look the same? Is it a good thing? Do stock solutions always work?
Despite the commoditisation of web design, I believe there is still a role for the designer. Buying a template is not the end of the story - it's not how flashy it is, it's how you use it. The elements that you add to the template - imagery, branding, text and even the structure of the pages can be good or bad. Your customer's experience can… Read More
05/01/2017New Site Launch - Country Holiday House Rentals
We've just launched a new site for a holiday rentals company specializing in luxury, high end accommodation close to London.
https://countryholidayhouse.com/
They have some spectacular properties and some great January offers!
29/11/2016New Site Launched for the Latin Mass Society
We are very proud to announce the launch of a brand new site for the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. It's been a complete rethink of the site, completely restructuring all of their site contents and creating a new, modern look and feel.
The new website includes
A fully featured membership… Read More
26/08/2016If Web Design was Photography is Social Media the Talkies?
When Henry Fox Talbot started his photography experiments in 1835 just down the road from here at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, he had no idea of where it would eventually lead. This image is credited as being the first ever photograph, Pikachu was not in the original.
When I was a student we were given an essay to do based on a quote that "from today painting is dead"... Which wikipedia tells me is from Paul Delaroche after seeing a daguerreotype, one of the earliest forms of photography. It's a very forward thinking approach… Read More
04/05/2016CiviCRM Drupal - Transfer to New Server
CiviCRM Drupal is a winning combination for charity web design, but they can be very fussy and demanding about how they are set up. Foreign key checks on database tables make it difficult to manage backups and site migrations for a CiviCRM data site in the way you would normally handle a Drupal website - but it can be done.
This recipe works for setting up a new development version - or copying data to a new server. CiviCRM is very fragile and needy when it comes to database tables… Read More
11/04/2016Don't be the Next Victims of a Data Leak
If we had built the Mossack Fonseca website, they wouldn't be in this mess! Reading about the Panama papers I spotted that the information originates from a compromised mail server. Somebody got admin access to the mail server, which then allowed them to download all emails sent through the company and all emails sitting in user's mail boxes. That's a lot of data - 2.6 terrabytes in total - and a lot of information which really should have been better secured. So, how did the whistle blower get the data? The company deals with… Read More22/03/2016
Commerce Kickstart - How to Get Rid of Git Submodules
If you wish to remove the submodules, you can do so with the commands
git rm --cached profiles/commerce_kickstart/libraries/jquery.bxslider git rm --cached profiles/commerce_kickstart/libraries/jquery_expander git rm --cached profiles/commerce_kickstart/libraries/jquery_ui_spinner git rm --cached profiles/commerce_kickstart/libraries/selectnav.js Once you've done this commit and push your code and you should be able to deploy once more.If you still have problems, try this:
$ git rm -r ProjectName --cached $ git… Read More
16/03/201616 of the Best Modules for Drupal 7
As a follow up to our previous article - 12 Modules You Need to Know About - we've been asked about top Drupal modules which are essential to any web design and development project.
So, here is a list of the best modules for Drupal 7 that we routinely add to every project we set up. I haven't included drupal modules such as Ctools or Entity in this list… Read More