Recently we took on the task of continuing, and expanding, a popular Joomla! extension. Little did we realize the complexity of undertaking such an endeavor. It has been a lot of work, especially coming from the design side of Joomla! websites, and rapidly needing to shift in the role of developer. Add to that, every developer has their own "style" in their coding. In my reading on development, there was a lot of information, out on the web, that there were, as it was put, lots of redundant, but necessary files that needed to be created for MVC extensions. The project was looking daunting, but we stayed the course. Thankfully, there are numerous services and components available to assist in the creation of components for Joomla!. A few of these are Component Creator and Cook Self Service for online subscription based services, and jDeveloper, EasyCreator, Component Architect, and Advanced Component...

I was recently asked by a client if I could create an app for them, and of course I said yes, without having any knowledge as to HOW to even start with creating an app. In this blog I will go through some of my experience, my headaches, my strong dislike for some platforms, and just my overall take on the entire process. When it comes to app development, there are numerous routes that you can go through, whether it be the abundance of app development services, or using software to create and build the app yourself. In this process I personally signed up for, and tested, several of the app development services that are available today. Although they had their pros and cons, they all seemed lacking to me in one way or another. Whether it be lack of a template that I liked, limited customization, inability of nested...

I would like to take a few moments to put out this brief comparison review. I still come across people who say they've tried Joomla! and it was too confusing for them. When pressed on when they tested Joomla!, it was back in the early days, back with Joomla! 1.0 in 2005/2006. How can you actually make an honest opinion on something you checked out 10 years ago, but haven’t touched since? Joomla! is completely Open Source software, from the beginning to the last piece of code. Joomla! has 7,825 (50% or so commercial) extensions which are actively maintained. All extensions on the Joomla! Extensions Directory are Open Source, otherwise they don’t get listed. A common thing that will be seen with other reviews is that WordPress has over 45,000 plugins, compared to the 7,800 for Joomla!, so the reviewers will claim that that shows Joomla! is "dying," which is...

I hate to keep writing about WordPress, but with it being so prevalent in the world today it makes for a prime topic. It really surprises me the number of people that call themselves “Web Design Professionals,” when there is a lot more to being a web design professional than simply adding some text, and putting in some pictures. Having worked in the web design industry since the early 2000s, there are a lot of things that you learn that are dos and don’ts, but I routinely see the don’ts in a large portion of WordPress websites. I’m becoming a firm believer that Web Design Professionals are misrepresenting themselves, and are in fact little more than someone who installed WordPress, added some graphics and text, and said “wow, look I made a website. I can do this professionally.” This would be like a 15-year-old getting his driver’s permit and telling...

Stallion Online Services is now Most Wanted Web Services, Inc. Over the past year the owners of Stallion Online Services had been periodically evaluating our existing business name, and whether or not it actually identified with what we offer. In the end we determined, along with input from several clients and non-clients, that Stallion Online Services did not identify with what we offered. So began the search for a business name that would better identify with what we do. In December 2015, talks began with Charlotte Snyder, in Helena Montana, converning our taking over the design, hosting, and technical work of her existing clients, so she could focus solely on sales. After further talks it was decided that Stallion Online Services would file the required paperwork with the necessary State, Local, and Federal agencies for a new corporation that would combine the clients, sales, and technical support of both companies....