Blaze New Media

To celebrate the pending move to Vancouver next week, I’ve just completed and launched a completely new site design.

The site is finally back on Wordpress, having languished in the world of Textpattern for the past two years. Wordpress blows Textpattern away when it comes to administration functionality and general ease of use.

The portfolio section has undergone a big revamp with the focus more on screens rather than long explanations. There is also a fancy new “Latest Projects” section on the home page which has been given the scriptaculous touch.

I’ve always loved dark designs, I’m really happy to bring a dark touch to the company site. The text has been given an off-white colour, so hopefully not too eye straining for those reading blog articles.

Have a good look around, feedback is encouraged!

I’m working on a generic Wordpress MU based social network platform, and have been for a month or so now. I’ve set up a blog for people to check the development status.

When I wrote about turning Wordpress MU into a social networking platform a little while back I never could have imagined the amount of interest it would generate.

I’ve heard from a lot of people. Some who are looking to build a new site, some running a site on old software, and others looking for extended Wordpress MU functionality. It seems that people liked what they saw with ChickSpeak, and wondered if I would be offering the solution to the public.

BuddyPress is my offering, and although it is not close completion just yet, I wanted to let people into the development process with a dedicated blog.

Head on over and let me know your thoughts.

Create a great new YikeSite theme before October 5th and you may well wind up with a new iPhone heading your way.

Head on over to the YikeSite Blog for more details on the contest. It’s even open to non-US residents.

As part of their one year anniversary, Smashing Magazine have compiled answers to six questions from fifty web professionals across the globe. It’s yet another excellent insight and resource from them.

As with their previous article a few months back, I was again flattered to be asked to contribute. The questions this time around were a little more in-depth, as a result there are some really well thought out, high quality answers in there.

They have split the article into two parts, with the first part covering the first three questions. The second part will be released later in the week.

Head over and check it out, it’s an excellent read and it was a lot of fun taking part.

YikeSite – a brand new rails based CMS solution launched this afternoon. I just got back from the launch party, and they had great cake!

YikeSite offers the best of both worlds. It’s simple enough for the technically challenged to log in and edit their website, but also offers advanced customization functions and a theme API for the more technically astute.

Jeff Ward who is the president of Animikii, and the chief brain behind the YikeSite project was recently interviewed by The Web 2.0 Show. If you’re interested in listening to what Jeff had to say about the project and the development process, head on over and download the MP3.

I recently worked with Jeff and Animikii to design and code the public website and default template for YikeSite. It was really awesome to work with them, especially on such a new and cool project.

If you’re looking to start up an easy to maintain website, or want to get your clients using something they can understand, give YikeSite a shot.