AWR Web Design Blog

The web is full of discussion about which CMS platform is the best for creating web sites.  A great deal of opinion is generated from people who are comfortable using a specific platform for building web pages.  Some prefer a CMS such as Joomla!, Wordpress or Drupal, while some purists are hand-coding HTML, CSS and Javascript.  I have tried various options for building sites and I have found that Joomla! is simply the best.  Here are my top 5 reasons why. 1. Easy to Deploy  The core Joomla! system is very easy to deploy on a web server.  Within a few minutes, you can have a basic site up and running, ready to be customized and content added.  If you ever tried to hand program a CMS style site using PHP, HTML and CSS, then you can truly appreciate this. 2. Open-Source  Joomla! is open-source and is covered by a General...

There has been great discussion across the web about whether to keep your Joomla! 1.5 site or migrate to the newer versions of Joomla!, such as 1.6 or 1.7.  After a failed experiment of my own, I was even on the side of sticking with Joomla! 1.5 for now.  But that was until the Joomla! team released the new Joomla! 2.5 in January 2012.  1.6 and 1.7 were just the lead up to 2.5, which is here to stay, for a while anyway.   The Joomla! team reports that support of 2.5 is scheduled until August 2013 and that support of 1.5 is ending in April 2012.  This is an indication that it is time to begin using Joomla! 2.5.  There are many people who post negative comments about the newer versions of Joomla! because they are not working for them for various reasons. But remember this, all new versions of...

Web designers love to build websites and often struggle to find new clients to build for.  Today, there are increasingly more and more web designers of all skill levels available for potential clients to choose from. This makes client retention even more important than it was even a few years ago.  There are several things that a web designer can do to keep clients longer, such as providing great customer service.  However, let's talk about something that will help you retain those clients longer and at the same time improve your bottom line. Let's face it, today there are more people who are willing and asking for the ability to maintain their own content.  This has led to the increase in the use of Content Management Systems (CMS) such as Wordpress, Joomla! and Drupal.  These systems are beneficial to the designer because they can be implemented quicker and managed easier.  Clients...

Search Engine Optimization is one of the hottest topics these days in web design.  The reason is that everyone wants to know how to improve the ranking of their site in search engines like GoogleTM. Increasing your ranking will increase the likelihood that someone will find your website.  The purpose of this guide is to explain how you can improve your search engine ranking using some techniques that are not gimmicks.  Yes, it's true, there is no "magic pill" for SEO.  Actually, using techniques that attempt to fool search engines, are easily detected today and will actually hurt your ranking even more as search engines will penalize sites that use these types of methods.  The techniques described here are all legitimate and proven ways to improve your ranking. Is this a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) project or should I leave it to a SEO Professional?  The answer to this question is based on...

Like many web designers out there, I am slowly beginning the switch from Joomla! 1.5 to Joomla! 1.7. I actually just completed a very simple site using 1.7 and a professional template and I had really no trouble at all. That experience lit a fire under me and I dove right into my next project, one that will feature Virtuemart 2.0, which is also new and improved and a custom made template using Artisteer. Sounds great so far, right? So I had no problems installing Joomla 1.7 and Virtuemart 2.0. That was all that went well. Next I tried to install two third party extensions that I use with Virtuemart.  One would not install completely and the other installed but then when I ran it there were issues with images not displaying.  Yes, these are both supposed to be compatible with 1.5 and 1.7.  This was a little discouraging, but...

Finding a Freelancer to Work With and Becoming the Freelancer They Want to Hire

By Jennifer Kyrnin, About.com Guide

We often hear the same comments and complaints from potential clients contacting us about our web design services.  "We are not happy with the level of service from our current webmaster." "We got a quote from a larger design firm and it just does not fit into our budget." "We want a web site but have no idea where to begin." If this sounds like something you have been saying, then please read on. 

Open Source CMS is an increasingly popular choice of web developers for web projects of all sizes, from simple advertisement sites all the way up to corporate ecommerce sites. There are many reasons for this, but mainly because the core software as well as many extensions and plugins are free. As with most software on the internet, there are many open source content management systems to choose from, however there are really only three that stand head and shoulders above the rest. Joomla!, Wordpress and Drupal.

The question asked most often by our clients is "How do I make my site appear higher in the search engines?" Seems harmless enough, but the answer is the most complexed in web development.

Regardless of why you have a web site, whether its for your local group or organization all the way up to a full blown corporate site with eCommerce, you want people to be able to find it.