Here are case briefs on a few of our previous and current clients. If you would like to hear from our clients first-hand what it's like to work with us, we are happy to provide references.

MEDIA

Stand UP! with Pete Dominick

standupwithpetedominick.com

The hottest new talk show on satellite radio needed a site that would be primarily about the listeners, and secondarily about the host and his career in stand-up comedy. The result is a highly engaging, interactive website that the client, his staff, and listener-volunteers can administer from top to bottom using friendly user interfaces. The site incorporates a powerful content-management system (heavily modified WordPress) in a simplified manner that streamlines administration and editing tasks for diverse content types into just two interfaces: one for publishing, the other for managing a growing social network called The Fray. Moreover, we integrated these two main features for additional fluidity and consistency between them.

The site features user discussion forums, a live chat room, sound and video libraries (and podcast), a multi-author blog, feedback forms, a photo gallery, and lots of eye-catching bells and whistles – everything you'd expect to see in a website that revolves around a listener-oriented, international radio show.

The Stand Up! website is an open-ended project in its initial-release phase. We have plans to widely expand the site, and we built the capacity for modular extension into the product. Integration with Twitter, new social-networking features, audience-generated content, and numerous other features are pending in future phases of development.

Anand Gopal

anandgopal.com

Independent war correspondent Anand Gopal asked for a site that was professional, "straightforward," and user friendly (to himself as the webmaster and to visitors, as well). We kept the site theme simple and crisp but used a highly modified WordPress installation and phpList to give Anand the power to manage his own articles, blog posts, and send email "blast outs" to his subscribers with no additional help from us.

While we love managing clients' sites when that makes sense, it also feels great to give someone like Anand all the tools they need to publish their own content and manage their own online presence.

Dahr Jamail

dahrjamailiraq.com

Journalist Dahr Jamail contacted us in 2007 with a very specific need: he was paying too much to maintain the popular web operation he uses to self-promote and disseminate his journalistic efforts, and he needed a new webmaster. We immediately took over administration of his web server, including his massive e-mail list. In November that year, Dahr asked us to save him even more money by migrating his site from his own, dedicated server to a WebRoot Solutions server. Having reduced Dahr's monthly expenditures by more than 75%, we now keep on top of all his Internet operations. In the summer of 2008, Dahr asked us to give his website a complete overhaul. He wanted a more dynamic and functional site with a professional look. In addition to a fresh design with better content integration and display, we added a comments feature, a better search engine, and a social bookmarking function, which helps readers share his writings with their friends through email and popular websites. The site also includes a photo gallery and other multi-media features.

The NewStandard

newstandardnews.net

In 2003, Brian Dominick and Jessica Azulay (currently WebRoot developers) co-founded this nonprofit, daily online hard-news outlet. By far our most demanding endeavor, TNS required a highly customized content-management system; elaborate, custom e-commerce features; a robust, dynamic subscriber-management facility; and many more features needed by modern online publishers, such as RSS feeds, blogs and podcasting abilities. We used the innovative ColdFusion application development environment to rapidly code from scratch a database-driven site that answered these needs and could be adapted and modified on an ad-hoc basis over a course of years. The resulting site was a wholly integrated content- and user-management application that enabled editors, publishers, authors and visitors to access diverse information and capabilities conveniently using an elegant, user-friendly interface.

ACTIVIST

No More Victims

nomorevictims.org

Part antiwar organization, part charity, NMV already had its own website when it approached WebRoot Solutions looking for help renovating the site and managing its broader online operations. We began with a simple makeover, tightening up the design and cleaning up the cluttered pages. The client did not want a complete overhaul, and we liked the basic look and feel of NMV’s simplistic design, navigation and page layout, which emphasized the group’s projects and the children it seeks to help.

The original codebase was not (and is not) as clean as if we had written it from scratch, but it was functional, so wherever possible we left well enough alone. But more functionality was needed, and NMV’s volunteer staff was unable to keep up with its IT and A/V demands. WebRoot installed blogging software to allow numerous authors to contribute content to the site and keep it lively to attract return visitors. Now we operate as NMV’s IT department, fulfilling requests to add content, convert videos, manage email accounts and carry out other sundry tasks so NMV can focus on the work it does best: opposing the US war on Iraq and getting help for wounded Iraqi kids.

Most recently, we built a custom organizing database so that NMV volunteers can keep track of the dozens of local chapters, Iraqi children, projects, health clinics, medical records and other interconnected logistical details. Using simple web forms, No More Victims members can manage all of this information in a user-friendly, decentralized manner.

Indian Creek Watershed Association

indiancreekwatershedassociation.org

The design for the Indian Creek Watershed Association website reflects the mountain streams found in Monroe County, West Virginia where the Association is working to preserve the abundant local water resources. Along with beautiful photographs of the creeks that make up the Indian Creek Watershed, the website features numerous useful tools for the group. There is an online membership registration form and a landowner survey, as well as an events calendar and an e-newsletter signup. The group is able to manage their own site through a customized content management system.

Another Mother for Peace

anothermother.org

Another Mother for Peace is an anti-war organization founded by mothers in the 1960s. Their previous website was static and difficult to manage, so they asked us to build them a site that would be easier to use. They were also ready for a new, more-vibrant design. We quickly set to work creating a site around their beautiful sunflower image accompanied by the words “War is not healthy for Children and Other Living Things.” The site is built with a customized and easy to use content management system that group administrators were able to quickly learn how to use. In addition to pages presenting the group’s mission and history, the site includes “Peace Homework” for parents who want to work against war. It also features and blog with updates about the group’s latest activities and an e-store where the group sells numerous products featuring their sunflower image. The e-store is integrated with PayPal and is fully customized to allow numerous shipping and tax options and to provide the group with sales reports.

CNY Public Power

www.cnypublicpower.net

This community-based activist organization lacked both funds and Internet expertise, focused as it is on a grassroots campaign. They came to us with a sloppy, disorganized volunteer-generated website and asked for a simple makeover – nothing fancy, just enough to convey their purpose and activities. On almost no budget, WebRoot Solutions started from scratch to create a standards-compliant website that is both attractive and useful to visitors. Our main intent was to make it possible for visitors to quickly navigate the site and easily get involved with CNYPP’s organizing efforts.

Worker Coop Credit Union

workercoopfcu.org

The founder of this ambitious project asked that we build a low-cost dynamic website to present his ideas using a crisp, subdued style. Since the client wanted as much control as possible over the content itself, without having to rely on us as webmasters, we opted to power the site using WordPress, a robust, yet user-friendly content management system. We custom-designed this simple theme, which is expandable, but currently reflects the rudimentary nature of the organization itself. The client is now adding and editing pages at will, using the WordPress interface accessed through his web browser.

ART

ArtRage Gallery

artragegallery.org

With its mission to exhibit art that "inspires resistance and promotes social awareness," we are proud to have helped this new art gallery get up and running on the Web. The site features a unique WebRoot Solutions layout, including advanced page-resizing capabilities. Users can easily see and sort through all the exhibits, community events and films planned for the gallery. Meanwhile, gallery staff can add new events and pages through a simple interface, with complete control over which events are featured on the homepage. The site also includes an e-newsletter sign-up feature coupled with a blastout list, provided at no extra charge through our all-inclusive website hosting package. WebRoot Solutions even helped ArtRage acquire and install audio/visual equipment for their small theater.

Sean Donnelly Photography

seandonnellyphotography.com

Sean Donnelly, selected as one of the 25 under 25 Up-and-Coming American Photographers, asked us to overhaul his website to give it a cleaner, more professional look. He was also looking for a way to sell his photographs online. Since Sean was on a budget, we started with a basic theme and spruced it up with a flash slideshow for his home page and a horizontal layout for his gallery pages. To top things off, we added an e-store integrated with PayPal through which he can sell selected prints and downloads.

Velidoxi

velidoxi.com

Elias Gwinn, the personality behind Velidoxi, approached us with a unique concept for a website. He wasn’t planning to use his website for promotion of his artists residence. Instead, he was looking to create a site that would present the feel of Velidoxi to people already in the know. Through a collaborative process with Eli, we settled on a visual, musical presence on the Web that would create more intrigue than it would provide answers.

ImaginAction

imaginaction.org

This theater group, directed by Colombian torture survivor Hector Aristizabal, had a static site that was difficult to update. We did a modest makeover of the design while adding dynamic features to the homepage so visitors could immediately see upcoming shows and workshops, as well as recent news about the company. The site also features a cross-browser compatible drop-down menu that ImaginAction can add pages to through the new user interface. We are currently hard at work adding a photo and video gallery to the site as well.

Emerge United

emergeunited.org

Emerge United uses its website to carry its offline mission of promoting creativity onto the Internet. The client came with a very clear and specific vision for WebRoot Solutions to make real - including a complete design template for us to adapt into a functional multiple-feature website. The site includes a dynamic events calendar and image gallery. Once we put content-management software and page templates in place, we turned the whole site over to Emerge United so they could upload and manage content on their own.

COMMUNITY

Chomksy Tribute

chomskytribute.org

We were thrilled to work on this "happy birthday site for the world's leading intellectual." Since Noam Chomsky has helped us so much over the years with our own projects, we jumped at the chance to honor him and provide others a forum for doing the same. The Chomsky Tribute site provides a simple process for hundreds or thousands of users to contribute content. After an easy sign-up process, users are directed to a simple webfrom, which they can use to post a note or video message to Chomsky. To protect against spam and abuse, the site features technology to filter out non-human spammers and a flagging mechanism that helps users report bad postings to site administrators. The site also allows multiple administrators to promote messages to the "featured message" section.

Buck the Bullies

buckthebullies.org

Buck the Bullies is a multi-user student blog allowing students to speak to each other anonymously about bullying and related issues. Students can start their own threads or respond to each others' postings through a commenting system.

Don't let the simple, youthful appearance of this site fool you. The user interface for the blog, accessed only by students and school administrators, is sophisticated. It provides a straightforward medium for posting content, while meticulously protecting users' identities from each other. It also allows administrators full oversight over the content to prevent abusive or harmful language: students post their own content, but administrators approve it before it shows up on the site.

COMMERCIAL

Syracuse Cultural Workers

syracuseculturalworkers.com

This progressive-merchandise retailer had recently hired another development firm to rebuild their e-commerce system from the ground up. But once it went online, SCW grew dissatisfied with the responsiveness of those developers and wanted the site to have a more-professional design. They contacted WebRoot Solutions with a huge list of software bugs and added-feature requests, as well as an interest in a design makeover.

We quickly got to work attacking problems with SCW’s Drupal content-management system and UberCart e-commerce application. We added features to the shopping cart, inventory and checkout processes. We debugged search problems, fixed pricing quirks and enabled more-convenient displays for store administrators and customer service personnel.

Meanwhile, we started overhauling the site’s design and navigation. We renovated the home page, instituted a new set of menus to make navigation more intuitive to new visitors, and we replaced stale, database-generated catalog pages with visually appealing, custom-designed product arrays.

TruYou

truyouyoga.net

In order for a yoga and personal fitness training to stand out on the Web, it has to immediately capture the attention and imagination of prospective clients. Valerie Vendrame had specific ideas for a straightforward site to introduce her corner of the world to an array of client-focused wellness services. WebRoot Solutions provided logo, design, and construction to make Val's vision come to life through soft yet refreshing colors, complemented by stock and custom photography. We also provided copy editing support involving strategic use of keywords to help local yoga-seekers find her site in search engines.

Naomi Azulay Physical Therapy

naomiazulaypt.com

Naomi Azulay, an established physical therapist, asked us to design a “light and clean-looking” website. With a basic color scheme she suggested, we set about creating this professional-looking, yet playful site that conveys Naomi’s personality while providing easy access to information about her practice. The site is built with a Content Management System so Naomi can freely edit her own content from now on.

 

 

Morgan Management

morganmanagement.net

This “full-service communications consulting firm” wanted a simple, elegant, low-cost website that conveyed a professional yet direct message. The client’s reputation, rather than her website, was going to attract new clients, but she wanted a website that could back that reputation up. We used a few Flash animations, some DHTML/javaScript and strategic content editing to craft just the right mix of innovation and simplicity to portray the client as requested on a budget of just a few hundred dollars. Many years after we created MM’s site, we still carry out a variety of tasks on an as-needed basis, including the addition of new pages, copy editing fresh content, and creating promotional print materials.