Emtwo, LLC - Website Development, Website Design, Specializing in ExpressionEngine Design and Websites

I just wanted to write a quick post to say that I have been very sick the last few days, so if anyone is waiting on email or just waiting in general to hear from me, I appreciate your patience.  I rarely get very sick like this, but when I do, I’m usually out of commission for a few days.  I hope the medicine that my doctor prescribed will start kicking in soon and that I’ll be back to my normal busy self pretty fast!

Thank you for your patience and understanding.  I will get back to you as soon as my head feels like it’s not going to fall off my body and I can keep my eyes open long enough to create a coherent email.

So, today the newest release of Expression Engine (1.5) is available.  Personally, this release has me all in a tizzy.  I’ve been looking forward to it since the early part of 2006 and here it is.  There are a slew of changes (see change log)

One of the biggest features that I have been jonesing for is the Simple Commerce Module, which has been included in this current release. I know that I have a few clients who have also been waiting on this and I am so happy to finally be able to implement it into their sites.  This is not the full-featured Commerce Module, but that will be coming soon.  In the interim, this Simple Commerce Module should hold us over.

Reverse Relationships is yet another feature that is going to be quite helpful on a few upcoming projects.  There are over 70 new features and enhancements in this version, and I simply can not wait to dig in and check it all out.

I am beyond thrilled with the fact that the folks at Pmachine listen to their users and consistently strive to better their products.  Thanks Pmachine for another great job!!

I’m very excited to announce the relaunch of Simply Blog by the folks at SimplyHired. 

SimplyHired contaced me to discuss the redesign of their blog.  They had all of the design specifications worked out and they needed someone who could code their design for Movabletype. 

I took their Photoshop files, sliced and diced them, and then went into a coding frenzy.  With the help of a few plugins and a few bits of customized code everything came together nicely.  The site, prior to the importing of the old blog entries, is fully standards compliant and renders the same across mulitple browsers. 

I was pleasantly surprised when I began working with the newest release of Movabletype.  There had been some significant changes in the overall backend structure, and some really nice additions like the ability to tag entries and some much needed spam filtering.  I also found an assortment of useful plugins available from various developers.  My favorite one being the CustomFields plugin, which I hope to eventually see in future version of Movabletype.  I originally started blogging with MT years ago, and it’s nice to know the people at Sixapart are still vigorously developing their software.

This project was really fun to work on and one where I got to try out different techniques and also learn some new ones.  I found that the people behind SimplyHired are really down-to-earth, friendly and pretty damn cool. 

So, if you are looking for a job or if you are trying to fill a position you currently have available...go check them out! 

When I originally put together this new redesign, realigned site, I told myself that I would definitely invest in some business cards.  And they arrived today.  Just in time to coincide with the launch of the site design.  I used vistaprint.com for printing and I think they came out quite snazzy!

I went with the matte finish, because I am ALL OVER matte.  While the shiny polished look is cool, I just wasn’t feeling it this time around (I had some bad experiences with glossy wedding photo thank you cards and I’m still a little hesitant about going that route again and repeating that horror). 

I think they are really bold and fresh.  Different than most business cards and that’s probably why I love them.  I wanted to make a statement and so far, they have gone over quite well.  I’m glad I chose to round off the corners because I feel it really brings the card together.  Now, I just need to get out there and hand more out.  More and more people have been asking me for a card and now I am prepared!

Since the reboot, I have been spending some of my quiet off-time working on some adjustments to the overall layout and information on this site (as well as 10 of my other pet-projects).  When I worked on the site originally, there was no doubt that I was under a specific time crunch, which left certain things all willy-nilly.  Here and there, little by little, I have realigned and restructured some pieces that I wasn’t completely and totally 110& happy with.  I don’t know if I will ever be 110% happy with a site, because I think there is always room for expansion and growth and rethinking and adjusting.  The web is ever changing, and so are the things we can present on our websites. 

Did I have to do this?

Definitely not.

But designing and creating is something I love to do, so my want to change it up, far exceeded the need. Some people might say that if it isn’t broke, then don’t fix it.  But that’s not how I live my life, so why should my company website be any different?  What you see, is what you get.

Oh, one last thing, I finally switched the entire site to the domain emtwowebstudios.com (you can still get here via m2webstudios.com and even the short version at emtwo.net). Be sure to update your links!