Wednesday, June 12th 2013 | Short URL
If you run a WordPress powered website please read this carefully and follow the steps to secure your WordPress website.
A mass hacking attempt using a huge 'botnet' of hundreds of thousands of infected computers is currently trying to 'brute force' attack WordPress websites. This attack works by trying to 'guess' your password multiple times per second. This attack is made easier if you have a WordPress user account called 'admin' as this gives the attacker half of your login information allowing them to focus on the password. There are several steps you can take to make it much harder for the attackers and prevent your site being compromised.
Login to Cpanel before you make any changes and backup your database and files - follow the backup instruction on our Green Hosting Support section.
Never use the default WordPress username "admin". Instead, log in to your WordPress control panel, click "Users" and then add a new user with a username of your choosing. Give that new user account Administrator privileges, then logout and log back in as the new user you just created. Go back to "Users" and delete the default admin user.
Note: WordPress can transfer authorship of all posts created by the admin account to the new user account during the deletion process so you should do that and move the posts to the new admin you just created.
Use a strong password that is hard to crack, use a password generator like this one to create it: http://passwordsgenerator.net/ don't use names, simple dictionary words or places.
Always keep your WordPress install, themes and plugins up to date. Updates are usually released to plug security holes, so the sooner you update them the better. You should therefore install all updates immediately (or as quickly as you possible can).
While in the admin panel, click on Plugins > Add New. Search for a plugin called "Limit Login Attempts", then install and activate it. This will prevent new attempts to log in to WordPress for a specified period of time after a set number of consecutive failed login attempts. This prevents a bot from trying one new password after another until it finally finds the right one. You can also see the plugin here: http://wordpress.org/plugins/limit-login-attempts/
Tuesday, April 30th 2013 | Short URL
We are very happy to launch this unique 'super page' for a fantastic project, the Nottingham Peregrine Camera.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Nottingham Trent University have worked in partnership since 2011 to raise awareness of the peregrine falcon pair which return to nest on the University's Newton Building each year. This new 'Peregrine Camera' website provides up to date, weekly footage of the nest activity along with useful facts and information on the history of the site, Mr & Mrs P and peregrines generally.
This responsive website can be viewed on smart phones, tablets and desktop screens and is a content management system allowing NWT staff to update the videos, images and text at any time. It acts as a one screen portal where visitors can watch video footage of the nest, ask questions and learn about the birds, as well as keep up to date with the university's peregrine blog and latest tweets.
We're pretty pleased with this nifty new website and so are Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust!
"It looks ace!!!! We really appreciate your hard work..."
Anna Eddleston, Communications and Marketing Officer
Read more about Peregrine Cam in our portfolio
Monday, April 22nd 2013 | Short URL
Here is our just launched, brand new website for ORCA, the national charity that looks out for whales and dolphins.
ORCA approached us to design and build a responsive, content management system website which would match their corporate branding and meet their organisation objectives.
The website demonstrates the wide scope of work covered by ORCA, including education, conservation, research and campaigning and aims to encourage the public to get involved in a variety of ways.
The ORCA team manage the site from a web-based log-in and were given training on how to do this as well guidance on how to prepare and write content for the web.
Some of the site features include a photo gallery, species directory, sightings map, membership and donation forms, social network integration and more.
Find out more about the ORCA website in our portfolio.
Monday, October 8th 2012 | Short URL
Here is our just launched website and logo design for our new clients, Whave.
Whave works with communities and governments worldwide to address poverty and conservation issues. This is their first professional logo and web presence. The logo brief was to represent Whave's global reach and their expert, caring approach.
We developed a funky, one page scroller website, providing a clear and usable way of presenting their business content.
The site is responsive for mobile devices which is vital in providing access for Whave's international audience.
Find out more about Whave.org in our portfolio.
Wednesday, August 22nd 2012 | Short URL
Here is our latest project development. This is the Army Ornithological Society website.
AOS came to us from a recommendation of one of our other lovely clients. They were looking for a professional new website that would represent their work, encourage new membership and allow them to update their content easily. And that's what we did.
We developed a brand new visual style and content re-structure for clearer navigation and better presentation of their information, alongside clear calls to action. We also implemented a content management system so they may edit their site from a web-based log-in and not worry about installing specilist software or learning code.
Some of the site features include a blog, an events calendar, resources library and photo gallery incorporating Flickr, to name just a few. Armybirding.org.uk also uses our own Green Hosting.
Find out more about the Army Ornithological Society website in our portfolio.
Friday, April 20th 2012 | Short URL
Here is our latest website, Wildlife in the City, designed and developed for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust asked us to create a fun, interactive web presence to get people involved in Nottingham City's green spaces and nature reserves.
At the website visitors can find out about the latest news and events right on their doorstep, as well as get involved in local wildlife sightings and surveys.
The site is a learning tool too, providing fascinating facts about various species that can be found in the city and guides on how to attract them to your garden. Ask the Wildlife in the City team a question at the website and get your answer published online, watch videos, check out the photo galleries and download activity sheets. You can also sign up for free text alerts and the e-newsletter so that you don't have to miss a thing.
Here's what Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust said about it:
We are thrilled with our new Wildlife in the City website... The result was exactly what we had asked for, and more. The website is great - many have commented on how simple the site is to navigate, and how engaging it is. Make Hay's excellent advice and guidance made sure that we ended up with more than we expected, with interactive elements and excellent features... We would not hesitate to recommend Make Hay to other customers
Read the full testimonial and find out more about the Wildlife in the City website in our portfolio.
Wildlife in the City runs on our wind-powered Green Hosting too!
Monday, March 26th 2012 | Short URL
Here is our latest website, designed and developed for Cycling for All.
Cycling for All belongs to the London based charity, Wheels for Wellbeing, who support disabled people to cycle.
Wheels for Wellbeing commissioned Make Hay to create the project's visual identity, logo and website design and develop the website to meet their aim of providing an online resource for those interested in inclusive cycling.
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This brand new responsive site is designed for optimal use on regular desktop monitors through to small smart phone screens.
It includes many features to allow visitors to gather advice and information on a range of cycling topics and learn about others' experiences.
See our portfolio for full details of the website specification and the services we provide to Wheels for Wellbeing.
We can build a website like this for you too. Do get in touch to tell us about your project.
Tuesday, January 24th 2012 | Short URL
Happy belated New Year! 2012 threw us straight into it this year and we've been busy working on projects for our clients and ourselves without much time to come up for air.
However, last week, along with 650 other web designers, developers, project managers and creative folk we escaped from our desks and screens and gathered at the beautiful Albert Hall in Nottingham for the much anticipated New Adventures in Web Design Conference 2012, or NACONF as it has become known. We attended the very first NACONF last year and you can see our review here.
I'm not going to write in detail about the event again as there is already lots of information online - especially at the NACONF website - about the speakers, talk topics and events of the day. Mr Collison (Colly) worked very hard once again to bring some of the top designers in our industry from all over the world to our home town of Nottingham to share their ideas, experience and thoughts for the future of web design.
For any web folk who weren't able to make it on the day or for non-web folk who'd like to delve into the webby world you can buy a pdf of the New Adventures newspaper for just £1 and get a copy of last year's for free. The newspaper contains opinion articles, interviews and useful information for when the videos are released, so look out for those.
In the meantime, check out this short film (made by Relly, one of the conference volunteers and her husband Paul) which sums up the spirit of the day.
New Adventures conference 2012 from nicepaul on Vimeo.
Tuesday, November 22nd 2011 | Short URL
Switched-on businesses and organisations like our clients are well aware of their social responsibilities and that they have an important role to play in reducing their impact on the environment.
Many other businesses are also reviewing their energy consumption, the waste they produce, the activities they support and the suppliers they choose. Consider your suppliers for a moment. Have you thought about the company that creates, maintains and hosts your website and how they address the environmental issues of their industry? Using an environmentally responsible web design company means that your online presence, a significant and growing aspect of your business, has positive eco-credentials too.
Green & Ethical Web Design
Since Make Hay was founded in 2004 we have employed both ethical and environmental policies in our everyday work. It’s the only way we wanted to do business but it is also a means of supporting our clients to be greener and think about the impact of their website too. Our ethical policy demonstrates that there are some activities that we just won't support through our services, we don;t want to make money from businesses who deal in the exploitation of people, animals or the planet, simple as that.
Our websites and our office are powered renewable, wind generated electricity which we use efficiently, switching off idle equipment and lighting. Waste from our office is minimal and when we need to dispose of equipment we recycle as much as we can, including stationery, furniture and computer components. Most of our communication is digital but stationery we do use is made from recycled or FSC paper as are printed publicity materials, which also use vegetable-based ink. We seek out ethical suppliers and eco products when possible, use The Cooperative for our business banking and a motor insurance company which offsets all of our car’s carbon emissions. We are Wildlife Guardians at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, members of Gedling Fairtrade Group and sponsors of Creative Nottingham and All Ours for people experiencing mental ill health.
100% Wind Powered Website Hosting
As well as web design we supply green website hosting powered 100% by renewable electricity. Using Green Hosting means that our clients’ websites are powered by the wind, not fossil fuels which contribute to the rising carbon emissions of non-green data centres, reported to have an equivalent carbon footprint of the aviation industry!
Excellent Web Design and Hosting Service
Providing an excellent service and beautiful, standards compliant web design is equally important to us as running a green and ethical business. We genuinely care about the work we produce, using modern techniques and careful processes in our craft. We handle all of our web development projects personally and foster long-term business relationships. This is why we continue to attract clients who care about quality as well as social responsibility. Take a look at a our portfolio to see some of the great organisations we're fortunate enough to work with and please do get in touch if you would like to know more.
Monday, August 15th 2011 | Short URL
Here is our newly launched website for Leicestershire Support for Carers.
LSFC supports full-time and part-time carers across Leicestershire via independent online information and a telephone helpline.
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This brand new website is a full content management system, allowing LSFC staff to manage and publish content to the various dynamic website sections, inlcuding the 'In Your Area' directory, News, FAQs and Resources. Service users can register online to access further support and update their profile via a secure log-in.
Find out more about the development of Support for Carers in our portfolio.
Visit the website at supportforcarers.org
Tuesday, May 24th 2011 | Short URL
We were in the news yesterday with a story about our work with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Here's what it said:
Visitor numbers to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's website have nearly tripled since a new online presence was unveiled. The number of people signing up online for membership has also increased as a result of the new-look website, the charity reports.
Nottingham-based ethical website developer Make Hay, who created the website in conjunction with the environmental charity, said it was delighted by the news, which comes as the website celebrates its second anniversary.
Pictured above: Victoria Stevens, from Make Hay, and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's communications and marketing manager Erin McDaid
"The web is an incredible medium, which can be used to spread a message far and wide, and it's crucial that an organisation has a website that reflects its values and its aims, and one which is also easy and convenient to manage and keep up to date," said Make Hay director Victoria Stevens.
"We're extremely pleased to hear that Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has been using the online tools created by Make Hay to market and promote the charity so successfully, and that this has been reflected in increased online membership applications and thousands of extra visitors to their website."
Make Hay, which specialises in green and ethical website design, as well as web hosting which is wind powered, had previously created a website for Attenborough Nature Reserve, which is run by the Wildlife Trust.
The charity, which is the county's leading conservation charity and is part of a national network of 47 local trusts working to protect wildlife, said its new website changed the way the organisation looked at its internet presence.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust communications and marketing manager Erin McDaid said: "We've seen a tripling of visits to our site, and a rise in the number of online memberships. The new platform makes it far easier for us to promote our work and events.
"We find working with Make Hay a real pleasure. Understanding the technological aspects of creating an attractive and functional website can be quite daunting, but their friendly, straightforward approach makes it a lot easier. Working with Make Hay means that we can concentrate on deciding what we want our website to achieve without having to worry about how to make it work."
Make Hay, run by Victoria Stevens and Jez Swinscoe, was founded in 2004. Its green web hosting arm was launched in 2006.
Clients include the Uganda Carbon Bureau, Climate East Midlands, Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve and London Insight Meditation.
Pretty nice story eh? We are continuing to work with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, developing the website and online strategy alongside their work and campaigns.
Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 | Short URL
Here's our newly launched website for The Uganda Carbon Bureau.
UCB provides a range of services around carbon management and offsetting. They help organisations measure their carbon footprint and take steps to reduce its size. They also provide advice and support to projects planning to develop and sell carbon credits and carry out a range of education and training to increase awareness about climate change.
A new Content Management System has been implemented to allow UCB staff to edit website content when and wherever they need to. This is especially useful for their busy News, Events & Resources sections. The visual design brings the website in-line with their strong existing brand, already used in printed materials and displays.
Find out more about the website development of UCB in our portfolio.
Visit the website at www.ugandacarbon.org
Wednesday, January 26th 2011 | Short URL
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust have started an exciting new project to help people in Nottingham discover and explore wildlife in the city's green spaces.
We've launched the new holding page for Wildlife in the City which will be in place until the full website is ready.
Visit www.wildlifeinthecity.org to sign up to the newsletter, follow them on Facebook & Twitter and find out more.
Monday, January 24th 2011 | Short URL
On 20th January 2011 at the Albert Hall the plans of Mr Simon Collison’s New Adventures in Web Design were realised here in Nottingham.
This conference (‘naconf’) had come to our attention last summer and we pounced upon the tickets as soon as they were available. We knew from the line-up of speakers (web industry leaders we had followed for years) and topics that this was going to be a high quality event. We were certainly not disappointed.
‘Experimental’ was one of the words Simon used to describe the conference and its themes. We would add ‘exciting’ and ‘inspiring’ to that. With each of the presentations it felt as though you were being led into another level of thinking about the craft of web design and the industry as a whole. There was not one stitch of code placed up on the screens but there were plenty of ideas guaranteed to stimulate discussion and apply to our practice. We particularly enjoyed the abstract nature of some of the subjects.
Dan Rubin’s ‘New Language of Web Design’ was a brilliant choice for the first talk. He encouraged us to think about the power of language and the need for our now grown up industry to develop its own lexicon, rather than continue to borrow misleading vocabulary from elsewhere. This set the tone of intelligent, thought provoking talks for the day. Other highlights were Jon Tan’s insight into our lizard brain, looking at how we might better appeal to those instinctive judgements when making design decisions, Andy Clarke’s examples of movies and comics to invoke storytelling, pace and rhythm and how that may be used in our designs and Brendan Dawes’ amusing and captivating look at what it takes to be a better maker. I swear I could listen to that guy all day!
There were ten talks in total, about 30-40 minutes each and the time just flew by! They all provided something thought provoking and useful to take away. They left our brains fizzing with ideas and so much to talk about.
It wasn’t just the talks that made the day really special, it was the obvious care that had been taken for the whole thing. For example, the exhibitions and book stalls at the hall, the competitions and the pre & post conference social events; One of which was organised by our 2nd Wednesday chums. The conference packs included lots of goodies, the biggie being a New Adventures newspaper full of commentary and articles, written especially for this event, nowhere else. If you weren’t lucky enough to go along you can treat yourself to a pdf or hard copy of the naconf paper.
All that’s left to say is a thank you to Simon Collison, a proper gent, for working so hard in putting on this great conference and for making it affordable and accessible to folks like us.
Oh and if it’s on, we’ll definitely be there next time!
See what people are saying about #naconf on Twitter
Take a look at the New Adventures Flickr group
Thursday, December 16th 2010 | Short URL
Here is our latest website, Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve.
Situated in North Yorkshire, this beautiful 94 acre reserve is home to more than 2000 species. With a range of habitats from woodland and wetland to heathland and meadows it really is a special place to discover and enjoy wildlife.
Foxglove Covert commissioned Make Hay to develop their website, bringing their existing online presence up to date and adding further features. The website has a new design for improved usability and which is now in-line with their strong visual brand.
A content management system is also now in place. Additional features include the interactive habitat map, searchable species lists, educational activity sheets, picture galleries, blog and much more. Visit the website at www.foxglovecovert.org.uk.
Monday, September 20th 2010 | Short URL
The Iris Project is a new service in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire which provides information and advice to parents of children and young people with disabilities.
The remit of the Iris website was to deliver the vast amount of useful information on many issues such as health and social care but to also involve service users online and allow them to support each other via the website.
The Ask Iris site holds pages of information about legal issues, disability rights, statutory and voluntary services and how parents may access support. The resources section includes an extensive directory of over 900 organisations, a jargon buster tool, frequent questions and useful links. Website visitors can take part in polls and give their views about issues which affect them and their family. They can also ask Iris to help them with a problem as well as sign up for the newsletter (using our Make Mail system).
The Ask Iris website is hosted by Green Hosting.
Visit them at www.askiris.org.uk
Wednesday, August 4th 2010 | Short URL
We are very happy to introduce to you Gertie & Mabel and their brand new online shop!
At Gertie & Mabel you will find a range of beautiful homewares and gifts for anyone who loves country chic. They are inspired by English, French and Scandinavian design and their products include kitchenalia, natural soaps and smellies, garden supplies and hand crafted sewing goodies as well as lovely refurbished and hand made furniture. They’re clever folks over at G & M you know!
This is the first website for the new business and their objective was to sell their products online as well as having a means of keeping in touch with customers via their news page and e-newsletters. Join their mailing list if you’d like to know more!
The Gertie & Mabel website is also hosted by Green Hosting. So it is powered by the wind!
Visit them at www.gertieandmabel.co.uk
Monday, May 17th 2010 | Short URL
We had a lovely message from our client Katie at Ethical Weddings this morning to let us know that the ethicalweddings.com website has been listed in greenmarketing.tv’s top ‘30 Beautiful Green Websites‘. In fact it comes in their top 10 and they describe it as “soft, informative and stylish”
Check it out for yourself at www.ethicalweddings.com
Wednesday, March 31st 2010 | Short URL
Leeds Parent Partnership Service provide education information and advice to parents and carers of children with individual educational needs.
We originally began working with PPS Leeds in 2007 and created their very first content management website. Since then the team have been using the site to provide useful information to service users, such as details about local support and events. In this next wave of development we added further functionality, new sections and a parent discussion forum. Updates were also made for further ease of use for site administrators. PPS Leeds have also recently undergone a service re-brand across all publicity materials and needed a website re-design to bring it in line.
The PPS Leeds website is also hosted by Green Hosting.
Visit them at www.leedsparentpartnership.co.uk
Monday, February 1st 2010 | Short URL
“Once again, thank you, it has been a genuine pleasure to work with you.”
This is what the lovely folks at Climate East Midlands said about working with us on their brand new website.
Climate East Midlands is one of nine partnerships throughout the UK working to coordinate action on the causes and consequences of climate change.
As a relatively new organisation they were starting completely from scratch in terms of an online presence. They needed to launch with a content management system allowing them to update information about their work and activities as well as useful resources for learning about climate change. Most importantly the website had to allow for further growth and development in the future – and so that’s what we did.
Climate East Midlands will also use our Make Mail e-newsletter service to keep in touch with colleagues and interested subscribers.
The website is powered by the wind, using our Green Hosting.
Visit them at www.climate-em.org.uk
Thursday, January 28th 2010 | Short URL
Here is one of our latest websites to launch in 2010, Wakefield Riding for the Disabled.
Wakefield RDA provide horse riding and carriage driving sessions to children and adults with disabilities.
We were asked to re-vamp their old, out of date site with new visuals and clear navigation. This website is simple yet effectively communicates the work of WRDA. The added photo gallery brings their activities to life too.
The Wakefield RDA website uses our wind powered Green Hosting service.
Visit their website at www.wrda.org.uk
Friday, October 16th 2009 | Short URL
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Parent Partnership Service supports parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The previous PPS Notts site was out of date and using old technology. They needed a new site which they could update frequently to ensure they could share news of their activities and events, volunteering opportunities and projects. They also needed much more control over their content to reflect the their dynamic and growing service and provide resources for parents looking for support. At the same time the site needed to be clear, easy to use and clean in design whilst incorporating a large amount of information. RSS feeds are included so that visitors can keep up to date with all the latest at PPS.
The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Parent Partnership Service website is also now hosted on our wind powered Green Hosting service.
Visit the PPS Notts site at www.ppsnotts.org.uk
See our other client websites in our portfolio.
Thursday, September 17th 2009 | Short URL
The Social Enterprise Support Centre provides support and consultancy to the social enterprise sector and are one of our longest-standing clients. We’ve worked alongside them as they’ve grown and developed over the years, providing web design, newsletter services, green hosting, support and training.
Now SESC have moved forward into another new era, we’re happy to show their newly launched, bigger, better website.
This new site provides more ways for social enterprises and community businesses to get useful information and advice and allows them to give their feedback too. New features include polls, the info hub, the SESC blog and a free members’ area.
SESC have also recently opened a second office in Bradford so I’m sure they have many more plans for the future and we’re looking forward to being involved!
Check out their website at www.sesc.org.uk
Tuesday, September 8th 2009 | Short URL
This is very important information for anyone using WordPress for their website or blog.
It has come to our attention that there is a new security exploit attacking WordPress sites using old versions (i.e. versions before 2.8.4).
This new exploit seems to create a ‘fake’ administrator (which you cannot see) within WordPress which may change URLs or abuse other parts of your site. Please see the following links for reference:
WordPress 2.8.4 Security Release
Mashable – WordPress Attack Underway
Lorelle on WordPress
To protect your WordPress site you should upgrade the software to the newest version (2.8.4). If you do not know how to do this we can do it for you for a small fee of £25 ex VAT (our current clients).
Please contact us to ask about your WordPress update.
Upgrading WordPress now could save a lot of problems and heartache later so please do not ignore this message.
Monday, August 17th 2009 | Short URL
Newly launched this morning is the Winkworth Farm website
For couples planning a gorgeous green countryside wedding Winkworth Farm is a lovely venue in an idyllic location on the edge of the Cotswolds. The owners of the farm, the Newman family, are in the process of renovating a group of the Cotswold stone barns to provide an all-weather function venue. The building will be powered by a renewable energy source and they implement a green policy to make sure all weddings held there are kind to the environment.
This Winkworth Farm website is a ‘first phase’ site providing information about plans for the new venue and services which will be available to book for summer 2010. They provide a useful ‘recommended suppliers’ list and rates for venue hire. Anyone interested can make initial booking enquiries and view a picture gallery of previous weddings at the farm too.
We worked with the Winkworth Farm team to implement their new logo and branding into a clear, easy to use website focusing on the beauty of the location. The site is also run by our wind-powered Green Hosting.
Visit Winkworth Farm at www.winkworthfarm.com
Monday, June 22nd 2009 | Short URL
We are very happy to launch today the brand new Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust website.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is part of the national Wildlife Trusts network and the leading conservation charity in the area. For a long time they had been using FrontPage to update their old website, which had grown organically and become cumbersome and difficult to maintain.
We worked with NWT staff to re-organise their website content and create a usable structure and navigation system for their new site, allowing for future growth and development. NWT have a massive amount to communicate about their work so it was important to make sure all of their information can be found easily.
We consulted with them on their branding guidelines and discussed a fresh new approach to their visual design and colour scheme. They also have a huge library of beautiful photographs of local wildlife which we incorporated into the layout and content.
NWT staff now manage their website pages without having to struggle with web design software or knowing any code. We spent a morning training them how to use the content management system – built using Expression Engine – and giving them guidance on how to write copy and prepare images for the web. We’re sure they’re going to do a brilliant job keeping the site up to date with news and information about NWTs many events and activities.
The website is also run by our wind powered Green Hosting
Visit the site at www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org.uk
Monday, May 11th 2009 | Short URL
My Global Garden is one of our recently re-vamped and re-published sites, providing resources and information on gardening in a changing climate.
We originally built the My Global Garden blog back in 2007 and as founder Debbie Anderson has built up the Global Gardening movement her online requirements have developed too. The new blog includes an extensive plant list called the ‘Global Gardening Collection‘, videos on climate change gardening and lots and lots of information and resources from veggie growing to lawn care and nursery reviews.
Visit the new site at www.myglobalgarden.com
Thursday, May 7th 2009 | Short URL
One of our lovely Make Hay web design and Green Hosting clients Unscene Production Company have lots of exciting things going on for them at the moment. Not only have we just re-vamped their website, they have also just released the trailer for their very first movie!
Unscene is a growing company, building up its reputation in Scotland for supporting creative people and artists of various genres. They needed a simple website but one that they could update easily by themselves to add latest news and picture galleries of their events. Of course they have uploaded the video trailer for their short film so go and check it out! www.unsceneproductioncompany.co.uk
Wednesday, April 8th 2009 | Short URL
We’re very happy to present two of our newly launched web design projects this month, Attenborough Nature Centre and National Parent Partnership Network.
Attenborough Nature Centre is a visitor and education facility situated within the beautiful Attenborough Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire.
The centre was opened in 2005 by Sir David Attenborough and provides a place for children and adults alike to enjoy and learn about local wildlife.
We worked with Attenborough Nature Centre to create a brand new design for their site, capturing the tranquil environment and activities available. They told us that they wanted the centre and reserve to come alive on the screen and we think it does. We built a content management system for staff to edit the content themselves, including the picture gallery. The site was also developed with further additions in mind, so watch this space!
Visit the site at: www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk
The National Parent Partnership Network support regional Parent Partnership Services who work with parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN). They help Parent Partnership Services to share learning and best practice and develop innovative practices in the area of SEN.
NPPN needed a clearer way to communicate their activities and signpost parents and carers to their regional Parent Partnership Service. We provided consultation and design services to create their new look and layout. We also liaised with their ‘in house’ development team who built the back-end content management system.
Visit the website at: www.parentpartnership.org.uk
Both websites are hosted on our Green Hosting server.
Wednesday, February 18th 2009 | Short URL
We’re very happy to announce the launch of one of our latest web design client projects, Greenmetrics.
Greenmetrics works with businesses to incorporate environmental, social and economic performance into their business communications. Their services include environmental performance measurement, research and benchmarking, community engagement and environmental management systems.
Founder, Susie Howells, has over 15 years experience in environmental management, corporate responsibility and stakeholder relationships and she is an active member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA).
Visit the Greenmetrics website at: www.greenmetrics.co.uk
Friday, August 29th 2008 | Short URL
As you may already know Jez and I here at Make Hay manage and coordinate the Green Girls Global and Green Guys Global blogs. On Monday we will be very happy to re-launch fresh, new and even better versions of them both.
The GGG blogs are all about editors from different parts of the world sharing their experiences, ideas and views on living a more sustainable life.
Since the beginning of Green Girls Global in November 2006 and subsequent launch of Green Guys Global exactly one year later we’ve enjoyed fantastic support from our readers and contributors. We’ve even been featured in The Times (Top 50 Eco Blogs and Anna Shepard’s Greenie Points) and Marie Claire and been voted number 2 in the People’s Choice Best Green Blogger.
So on the 1st September make sure you stop by www.greengirlsglobal.com and www.greenguysglobal.com and tell us what you think.
There will also be lots of opportunities for contributors so if you’d like to get involved let us know!
Friday, August 15th 2008 | Short URL
One of the first questions many potential clients ask is “how to I get to number 1 in Google?”.
Well, this is a massive question. SEO is a detailed and complex subject in itself relating to technical aspects of web development, semantics and copywriting, not to mention keeping up with the changing ways that search engines track and index sites on the web.
Those of you who have worked with us before have probably, at some time or another, heard us say “content is king”. When it comes to potential clients finding you on search engines and then staying on your site when they get there your content is extremely important. This is where you have the most control of your SEO destiny.
Unless you are hiring a copywriter to do the job for you it is likely that you will write the text content for your own website. And why not? Who knows your business better than you? The skill is in taking this knowledge of your business, industry and market and creating clear, concise and relevant copy that both search engines and website visitors will like.
It sounds complicated but following certain rules will go a long way to helping you get to grips with writing in this way. Here are a few resources that you may find useful.
Rule No 1 – Don’t underestimate the importance of good content
See this Webcredible article:
“Website content – Getting it right for search engines“
Rule No 2 – Write for your audience as well as Google
See this Copyblogger article:
“Seven Copywriting Tips for a Well-Staffed Business Website“
Rule No 3 – Understand how linking affects your search engine position
See this Webcredible article:
“Advanced link building“
As I mentioned earlier there are many other things involved in having a search engine friendly website and much of that relies on the coding and way it is built. Please see our article ‘Standards Design Works!‘ for an example and do contact us if you would like to know more.
Thursday, June 12th 2008 | Short URL
This month we have been extremely happy to to be involved in the Canvass Your MP campaign.
This campaign was masterminded by a group of green bloggers who decided that something needs to be done about climate change and fast.
In lightening speed the bloggers met, created the campaign concept and gave it a name. Then what they needed was a web team to design and build phase 1 of the website in just 72 hours! We couldn’t let this pass by without being involved and so Jez, here at Make Hay, stepped up and volunteered. After burning the midnight oil all weekend the www.canvassyourmp.com website was launched on Monday.
Canvass Your MP is all about engaging your local MP, meeting him or her face to face, discussing your concerns about climate change and encouraging them to support proposals for a stronger Climate Change Bill. Specifically to set a target of 80% cuts in CO2 emissions by 2050 rather than the current 60% which just isn’t enough.
Green bloggers involved include friends of Make Hay Leonora Oppenheim from Treehugger and Asi Sharabi from Green Guys Global.
Find out more about how you can get involved at the Canvass Your MP website – www.canvassyourmp.com
Monday, February 11th 2008 | Short URL
Recently we were in the fortunate position to see the true power of standards compliant design in action.
This story shows in real life how a standards compliant site can make all the difference to visitor traffic and search engine rankings.
Find out what happened when two websites went head to head in our full ‘Standards design works!‘ article…
For more information about standards compliant design and accessibility visit our website’s ‘Accessibility‘ and ‘Benefits of Accessibility‘ pages.
Tuesday, January 8th 2008 | Short URL
Last year the Companies Act was updated to include publishingh company details on your website.
Whether you run a new or existing company the Act says that there is specific information which must be displayed. This information includes:
1. your company’s name
2. place of registration
3. registration number
4. the address of the registered office
The Companies House website provides comprehensive and useful information about what is meant by the above terms. It also explains where else this information must be displayed.
For our clients: If you do not already display these details on your website then please get in touch with us. Whether we manage your website updates for you or you do it yourself then we can help you get your details published.
Tuesday, January 8th 2008 | Short URL
Unfortunately the rules around copyright and websites are not clear cut and if you want to know the finer details then we’d suggest you seek the advice of a legal professional. However there are some useful resources out there where you can find out the basics.
Whether you manage your own website or we do this for you you should still be aware of the general guides around copyright. The main two issues affecting you as a website owner are:
1. How do I protect my website and its contents?
2. How do I know when I can and can’t use someone else’s images, links, text etc?
One particularly clear document which has an extensive list of copyright FAQs (including answers relating to the above questions) is that of the Arts and Humanities Data Service. You can find that listed alongside other information at websitelaw.co.uk’s useful copyright resources.
With regard to the design and coding of your website you can be assured that we will not use another person’s HTML, code, images or text if we do not have permission to do so.
©2011 Make Hay Ethical E-Media Ltd. Company Number: 5223822
