E.Webscapes Design Studio

Out with the old – in with the new!  And we couldn’t be more excited!  2009 has been a really nice year for us over here at E.Webscapes – and towards the end of this article, you’ll find out how you can get 15% off our services from now through 12/31/09 to celebrate our relaunch!

For me, 2009 marks the end of a full decade of making things pretty on the web, for myself and my clients. This past year has been a very busy one, in terms of projects we’ve done and people we have worked with – considering the economical weather out there, I’m grateful! E.Webscapes continues to stay strong, so much so that I have had the delightful ability to extend opportunities to some pretty fab-tastic designers, and have added them to our team here at E.Webscapes. Have a gander over at the About Us and Our Blog Designers page and read through their profiles to get to know them a bit. Their talent is stunning and I”m really happy to have them on our team here at E.Webscapes.

Back in early October, we closed down our order form and stopped taking on any new projects. We were just overloaded with work and couldn’t possibly squeeze in one more project, at the time. I’ve since re-opened our request form – so definitely hit it up when you’re ready to place a new request for your new project! Many of you returning clients will also notice that we did away with the Client Desk system we had used for years, and are now using a much more powerful, productivity-inducing system that is not only easy to work with, but serves up our project management needs on a completely secured (SSL) connection. What that means, in non-geek speak, is that the connection between our servers and you is encrypted and completely secure – so when you share information with us – it is only with us, and no other potential sneaky web sniffer can get hold of any delicate information you give in your order form, or through any of the project ticket communications. Yay for the added layer of security!

People returning to this site may also notice a complete redesign, and re-branding of E.Webscapes! I’ve been hard at work on that for the past few months – - and still have a few tweaky things to mess with as I go, but it’s about 99.9% *there*. The branding hasn’t changed a lot – - the main color scheme is still the same (LOVE vibrant and exciting colors!). We lost the silhouetted people and opted for a fresh coat of paint, instead!

As well, I have re-written several areas of content – particularly our FAQ, Terms of Service, Our Services, Resources and Privacy Statement – for those interested in reading those sections here.  I’m not sold on the new Portfolio page layout yet, though. If you have feedback on how it works – do let me know. It used to be when you clicked on a thumbnail in the portfolio – it opened a larger window where you could view a larger screenshot of the design itself. Now, when you click on the thumbnail – it takes you to the article where we’ve written details on the project, and does give you the ability to click to view a larger version of the screen shot. I’m torn on it – - and may change it if I find that it’s not user-friendly enough!

Aside from the re-design of this site, and finishing up several client projects – here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to over the past few months:

• My family and I moved homes during the months of August – October. No small undertaking there! We’re still living in Wisconsin – but now in a very beautiful home in the country.. just in time for beautiful winter snow to drape itself across everything and make it all white and shiny.  The move was a pretty large project for my family and I, since we only had less than two months to move all the stuff accumulated over 6 years!  Sadly, I had to turn away several projects during that time because getting my family up and moved in in that short time frame was the biggest priority during those times!  Thanks for everyone’s understanding and patience!  It’s now December and things are *just starting* to get back to a sense of *normal* around here!  yay for normal!
• I finished writing the official BuddyPress For Dummies book for Wiley Publishing – you can click the link in the sidebar on the right to pre-order your own copy! If you don’t know what BuddyPress is — the real quick answer is that it allows you to add a social community layer to your WordPress powered web site – check out the official BuddyPress.Org web site to learn more! The book is due out the beginning of February 2010
• I was a speaker at WordCamp NYC in November and spoke on the topic of BuddyPress – giving the audience an introduction into what it is and how they can use it on their own sites. I included examples of some very custom BuddyPress work I’ve done recently – such as: NourishNetwork.com, WeEarth.com, WeHeartThis.com and SportsGrants.Org. Fun stuff! If you’re interested, you can view the slides from my presentation on my SlideShare account.
• I’ve signed the contract and have begun the writing of WordPress For Dummies, 3rd Edition, which I am very excited about!  The 2nd Edition is out on the shelves now (why not buy one for your favorite blogger for Christmas, hmm?).  The 3rd Edition plans will be current through and cover up to the 3.0 version of WordPress, which is not yet released, but is in the works.  Considering 2.9 hasn’t been released yet – you can see my challenge here!  haha

Now that we’re settled, my book project is done and we’ve cleared the plate to make room for new client projects – - with all these great new designers – we’re ready to hit the ground running with our clients to make the leap into 2010 – and make it as successful for us, AND our clients, as much as possible!

To that end – to celebrate our re-launch, re-design, re-decorating, whatever you’d like to call it – we’re offering a 15% discount off ALL services – no matter how big or small your request.  A flat 15% to say thank you!  Thank you for visiting us, thank you for your business and thank you for continuing to trust us as your source for custom blog and web site design over the past decade. (The 15% offer is good from today, 12/13/09 through 12/31/09)

Should you be interested in putting in your request – our Client Desk is now accepting them!  For those who emailed during our short hiatus wanting to be notified when we re-opened – our fantastic assistant, Lindsey, has been hard at work making that happen!  Should you have any questions at all – feel free to contact us directly with any questions you may have.

I will end this update by saying it’s great to be back in the saddle after a few months of playing serious catch up and revamping things around here!  I am super excited and looking forward to 2010 – but, first – the holidays!  Everyone here at E.Webscapes wishes you, and yours, a very happy (and safe!) holiday season and a happy new year!