Here’s a scenario. You’re trying to send out an important document which needs to reach your client within the next few minutes when suddenly, a frustrating Outlook error window pops up on your screen. What is it? It’s that much dreaded instruction to archive your mailbox because your company’s server has run out of space. You’re overseas at a foreign office desk without access to your personal laptop. Sadly, most of your documents are stored on your personal hard drive and you can’t retrieve them on a third party computer.

We’re sure I.T. frustrations abound when it comes to running a business. What’s mentioned above is probably only the tip of the iceberg. Thankfully there are some wonderful solutions to these problems! You might want to consider Google Apps.

Google Apps is a cloud-based productivity suite that helps you and your team connect and get work done from anywhere on any device.

And there are over five million businesses across the globe that are already using it!

• Safe & Secure – We don’t blame you for having your qualms about cloud-based systems, but Google’s security is impeccable, your data is safe.
• Full Suite of Services – You’ve got an E-mail that uses your own company URL (e.g. hello@chillybin.com.sg), a central storage service called Drive where your colleagues can access documents and edit them, a Calendar which can be synced to your mobile devices and office essentials like document processors (Docs), spreadsheets (Sheets) as well as presentation slides (Slides). The list goes on.
• Work Anywhere – Because everything’s in the cloud, it doesn’t matter what computer you’re using to access your work data. Everything is there once you log in, wherever you are in the world.

Of course, Google has invested heavily in this marvellous invention to ease the way we conduct business, and up until earlier this year they offered the service for free, unfortunately that has changed, so it’s only right we bear a bit of the load just to show our appreciation. While companies spend millions to create a robust I.T. infrastructure, yours can do so for as little as US$50 a year per user. Still a good deal don’t you think?

Paying that small premium has its perks too. For those of you who are pretty much I.T. illiterates when it comes to managing a backend system, Google allows to customise your own Admin Console through a simple drag and drop function. And… you can also access it on any web browser.

Now, if you remember earlier, we talked about storage space. Good news! Chances are you wouldn’t require archiving your documents – unless they are huge and graphic/video intensive. As an apps user, you’ll be entitled to 25GB of space (instead of the 10GB for previous free accounts) which can be spread across your E-mail, Drive, Calendar, as well as other areas of your Google Apps suite.

We’ve made our case. Tell us one good reason why you shouldn’t switch to Google Apps.

SEO, YouTube and the Seen Future

Watch out! Have you ever been in a car next to a friend who nearly got the both of you into an accident? If only you had some form of third party assistance. Well, Volkswagen has it. And it’s called Side Assist. But that isn’t what we’d like to get at today. We’d like to focus on something more amazing; how they’ve marketed it within the online space.

Speaking about family connections, by now, you would already know that Google and YouTube have moved in together. And suffice to say, Volkswagen ran a campaign across both web platforms. If you watch the video below, you’ll be taken aback by its creative use of “future” frames along the YouTube timeline to communicate how Side Assist can actually predict potential accidents before they occur.

Honestly, who would have thought to use this timeline feature in that manner? Makes you wonder whether even the common buttons you see on websites could be utilised for any web guerrilla marketing gain. Let’s move on anyhow.

Back to the stroke of YouTube genius, the question we should all ask ourselves is how to direct traffic there. That’s where the Google-YouTube marriage comes into play. With some very powerful Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) on targeting Google images, five different URLs were optimised for the keyword phrase ‘ultimate business car’ to position their chosen images along the top row of Google’s image results..

Just when we thought we knew all the hidden nuances of marketing in the online world… NOT!

After months living in space, Commander Chris Hadfield, another Canadian astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut will return home from the International Space Station on Tuesday morning, and you can watch their landing live online, right now!

Commander Hadfield himself has conducted more than 130 experiments during his five months in space. The crew have also managed to set a record by spending 71 hours in one week on scientific research. Some of the research is about trying to understand the impact space and being without gravity can have on living on living cells and organisms. Such work will be essential for any future manned missions deeper into space, such as to Mars.

But he’s also and maybe more importantly for us right now, made space accessible by using many social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. Hadfield also made videos of everyday life in space, which he posted on YouTube, some of our favourites are embedded below, especially yesterday’s upload of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, a haunting rendition.

Space Oddity

Wringing out Water on the ISS

Chris Hadfield on getting sick in space

We wish him a a safe journey home!

It’s rare to hear an avid PC user rant about the old Windows XP operating system because it was, and still might just be, the most stable and user-friendly OS ever built on the PC platform. In fact, many chose to retain it despite the introduction of its successor, Windows Vista, although Windows 7 has had some positive success.

Launched in 2001, Windows XP has less than a year left before it hits retirement. 7 April 2014 is the date set when Microsoft officially terminates support. That said if you were happy to pay between US$200,000 and US$500,000 a year for custom support, you’d have another lifeline. But what a price to pay, and we would advise against it.

Windows XP was not without its drawbacks though. Its incumbent Internet Explorer (IE) 6 was riddled with security issues and a major headache for web designers and developers the world over, in fact versions 7, 8 and 9 all have different compatibility issues with advanced web technologies which have been well documented for a number of years.

With Windows XP ushered one step out the door, it does bring with it some form of glad tidings. For web developers who use the popular JavaScript library, jQuery, its new 2.0 release drops support for older versions of IE, including IE 6, 7, and 8 – how timely with the looming exit of Windows XP. If you do not yet know, jQuery is currently used in the construction of more than 50% of websites.

Yet the question is why did jQuery make the cut? Two main benefits. One is a reduction of the size of the library’s code base by 12%. While another, is a congruent improvement in performance. Where coding for older IE-compatibility in applications (e.g. Chrome extensions and apps, Windows Store apps) could often cause problems of its own, developers need not worry about them anymore.

Come to think of it. While we feel nostalgic about the retirement of Windows XP, it actually works out for the good of everyone don’t you think? We just hope that all those users still on Windows XP come this time next year don’t get turned into a rather large botnet because of the end of security updates from Microsoft. Do yourself a favour and get free and stable operating system like Ubuntu, Mint, upgrade to Windows 7, or better still, move over to the dark side and purchase yourself a Mac.

“The website opens fine on Safari but it’s kind of messed up on Internet Explorer.”

Creating a website nowadays isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. There are many considerations to ponder over, one of them being compatibility across various browser types – Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer (don’t get us started…). Imagine the nightmares web developers have to go through when they start punching in their codes – the 1001 things to take into account. In short, coding a website from scratch is ammunition enough to shoot one’s brains out.

But there are a few lifesavers: Boilerplates and Frameworks

Think about them as a foundational base which lays out all the coding fundamentals before you even start; stuff which you would have taken hours to code from scratch. All you need to do is add on and minus off specific codes according to your customised needs.

We have shortlisted our top 7 picks for you.

Genesis Framework

The Genesis Framework is the core of any smart WordPress design, and the base framework that we use for 90% of our client sites. Key benefits include:

• Search engine optimised
• Offers sleek and professional turn-key designs with an array of beautiful frames for your content
• One low price entitles you to unlimited support, updates, and domains you can build on
• Built in line with WordPress best security practices to prevent malicious hacking
• Updates are tested beforehand so you don’t get any bugging problems
• Easily customisable with widgets, themes etc.

HTML5 Boilerplate

With the combined input of more than 100 developers, HTML5 Boilerplate helps you build fast, robust, and adaptable web applications and websites. Credibility wise, you’ll be pleased to know that Google, Microsoft, NASA, Nike and even Barack Obama are among its many users. Key benefits include:

• Lean, mobile-friendly HTML template
• Optimised Google Analytics snippet
• Placeholder touch-device icons
• Docs covering dozens of extra tips and tricks
• Includes Normalize.css v1, a modern HTML5-ready alternative to CSS resets that furthers base styles, helpers, media queries and print styles
• Includes two latest best-of-breed libraries: iQuery and Modernizr
• Apache settings to help deliver excellent site performance
• Independently maintains server configurations, a node build script and an ant build script

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is a sleek, intuitive, and powerful front-end framework for faster and easier web development. It is built on responsive 12 column grids, layouts and components. Key benefits include:

• Scaffolding global styles for the body to reset type and background, link styles, grid system and simple layouts
• Base CSS styles for common HTML elements like typography, code, tables, forms and buttons; also includes glyphicons, a little icon set
• Basic styles for common interface components like tabs and pills, navbar, alerts, page headers and more
• JavaScript plugins for interactive components of things like tooltips, popovers, modals, and more

960 Grid System

The 960 Grid System is an effort to streamline web development workflow by providing commonly used dimensions, based on a width of 960 pixels. There are two variants: 12 and 16 columns, which can be used separately or in tandem. Key benefits include:

• Ideally suited to rapid prototyping, but it would work equally well when integrated into a production environment
• Printable sketch sheets, design layouts, and a CSS file that have identical measurements
• Elements can be rearranged, independent of the order in which they appear in the mark-up; keeps more pertinent info higher in the HTML, without sacrificing precision in your page layout
• Alternative 24-column grid version with 10 pixel gutters and 5 pixel buffer on each container side, which keeps text from touching browser chrome; helpful for devices like the iPhone where a lower-case “I” or “I” might be easily missed

Unsemantic

As a CSS Framework, Unsemantic is a fluid grid system that is the successor to the 960 Grid System. It works in a similar way, but instead of being a set number of columns, it’s entirely based on percentages. Key benefits include:

• Built with extensibility in mind, using Sass and Compass
• Supports all major browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer (7+), Opera, and Safari
• Helps search engines determine the most relevant content on a page

Antwort

If you are one that’s looking for responsive email layouts which fit and adapt to your desired widths, Antwort’s for you. Key benefits include:

• Bulletproof layout made for transactional emails with dynamic content; layouts are thoroughly tested in live environments with real data and edge cases
• Experiential single column layout that works seamlessly across mobile and desktop platforms
• Universal compatibility across all devices
• Supports all email clients such as Apple Mail, Gmail, Android Mail, Outlook, Outlook.com, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and AOL Mail

HTML Email Boilerplate

The HTML E-mail Boilerplate creates a template of sorts, absent of design or layout, that will help you avoid some of the major rendering problems with the most common email clients out there — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, etc.

Let’s pause for a moment and think about the fashion industry. Ask yourselves about trends and how fast they come and go. Now take that mind-set and place it in the context of web design. Are there any parallels?

If you ask us, the answer is… yes. The geological state of the online world is that of one which is subject to constant tectonic shifts. While at one time, information clutter was much celebrated; information minimalism and aesthetic appeal is the trajectory of today. You get our point.

Before you decide to engage any web design company to handle your company’s website, it’s important for you to take into account all that we’ve mentioned above. Sure, your new website might be “in trend” when it first makes its home within the world’s cyber sphere. But what happens three to five years down the road? Is it going to become passé? Then what? Start the whole web development process all over again? That sure doesn’t make any sense especially if you’re watching that bottom-line of yours.

So what’s the solution? Go iterative. Be sure to stress that you want your website to be flexible to changes in the near future when you get in touch with your web consultant. Lay the right website foundation from the start. It will save you a lot of hassles and not to mention, a lot of cash in the long term.

Next, set in motion a master plan of web tweaking every couple of weeks or months. You’ll be surprised how that would go a long way to keep your website looking fresh. Go on an anti-stagnant binge!

Feel us? Speak to us!

In an era where the smartphone rules, its hard to neglect the need for Mobile Optimised Websites that fit neatly into the screens of your mobile devices. For one, it can be a pain to perform that two-finger “outward stretch” motion to expand certain segments of a full website you’d like to explore, only to find that you need to “pinch” back out to read other sections of the site.

ChillyBin Web Design & Web development in Singapore functions on a similar train of thought. In a landscape where media users are relatively mature, they tend to prefer simpler mobile versions for ease of navigation and reading, and that’s where we come in, either through development of a full mobile site, or through a responsive web design, we can bring your business to a mobile audience. But, what the heck is Responsive Design? take a look at this fantastic example by John Polacek!

Having said that, should you decide to approach a website design company in Singapore to say, re-develop your company’s website, they are likely to come to you with a “package” proposition which would comprise the development of a conventional full website and a separate mobile friendly version.

However, any website consultancy Singapore, like us, would still recommend you to have the option of viewing the full website on mobile devices, through responsive design, allowing for the website to scale up and down with your iPad or iPhone as an example. Why? Reason being that it’s just not possible to concise massive chunks of information into a simplified mobile version. (It could be the case where a potential client would like to find out much more about your company’s offerings before making the decision to contact you.)

Keep this mind on your next website revamp, or fresh creation. A WordPress developer in Singapore, like ChillyBin, would also be able to offer you some cost-effective advice on how to go about doing this.

Do you remember the days when every man and his dog were setting up their own blog? We’re sure you’ve heard about blogging sites like Blogger, Tumblr and yes of course, WordPress. Serious businesses would always tend to shy away from these because services of their perceived lack of credibility & understanding as well as up-selling from agencies. But you have to admit that the user interfaces were “idiot proof”; one where the least savvy of individuals could still find their way around, and that’s why WordPress going from strength to strength in 2013.

In the Singapore web development sphere, we often refer to a website’s backend infrastructure as a Content Management System (CMS). As a web designer in Singapore, we constantly advise our clients, notably small-medium enterprise start-ups that investing heavily in creating a CMS from scratch is just cost prohibitive, unless your project specifically requires it. What if we told you there is a ready-made CMS that is both customisable and offers you the integration benefits of social media to help you ride the Internet marketing Singapore wave?

We give you 5 reasons why as a new business, building your website on the WordPress CMS platform makes perfect sense.

Save Money

Know that WordPress is an open source project, which means that we are free to use it to construct any website in Singapore without paying a license fee. Of course, if you are looking to customise your website further with fancy pre-written plugins and themes, you may purchase them, at a fraction of what it’d cost you to construct a CMS from scratch.

Expansion Versatility

So you’re a new business in the market but have plans to expand your product or service line in the coming years. The question you ask yourself is whether your current website is scalable in the future. With WordPress, it is. You are free to add new pages and even introduce new categories without the aid of a web development company, the website is your own.

Fits Any Mobile Platform

We live in an era where tablets and smartphones rule the mobile arena. The last thing you’d want to happen is to have your website go haywire when someone opens it on their iPhone. WordPress automatically recognises the device being used to view the website and configures the content appropriately.

Information Protection & Security

Knowledge is power and as a business with high stakes, we understand that you need to protect your information from being hacked into and misused. WordPress allows you to upload your content (e.g. images) from a secret admin area instead of through a traditional FTP. This way, you put yourself at less risk of deleting important files or uploading content to the wrong directories. WordPress are constantly releasing new updates and security patches for any bugs found so you can assured you will be up-to-date with the latest in website security.

Host Anywhere

WordPress doesn’t host your website per se but it gives you the flexibility to host it anywhere externally. For example, web hosts such as DreamHost, or MediaTemple. If you’re newly starting out without the need for massive storage space, purchase a shared server first to save your business some cost. You can still shift to a stronger dedicated or virtual private server hosting in time to come when the need arises, and we can look after all of these aspects for you.

Want to know more?

Keen to find out more about WordPress as a web development tool? Feel free to contact us.

Small on Capital, Big on Time

Why small business should leverage on the marketing benefits of social media atop website development

In this day and age, new businesses tend to approach a website developer company to help them set-up that all-important website as a first step to securing an online presence. But have they thought about investing in social media? No, it isn’t going to burn another hole in their bottom-line  – probably only a fraction as compared to what they’d pay for their website anyhow.

If you are a small business owner who has just embarked on the uncertain seas of entrepreneurship, do read on.

In the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, authored by Michael Stelzner, 88% of small business marketers surveyed found social media helped them get increased exposure. Just for clarity sake, when we say social media, we’d like to think of these four: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs.

Here are FIVE benefits that should get you interested:

• Relatively Cheaper – Setting up a social media account costs companies next to zero in terms of initial outlay, lest one purchases premium packages or places ads (which is still recommended as an alternative to expensive above-the-line options).
• Establish Relationships – Through constant engagement, your company’s brand name would be able to establish intangible trust with potential customers.
• Exposure – No, you don’t have to spend big marketing dollars to break through the clutter. Think about it. As of Q4 2013, 618 million people use Facebook every day. It’s a market ripe for plucking.
• Catch ‘em on the Move – Facebook’s mobile user base increased to 680 million in 2012. Take the local SMRT subway train. What are people doing while travelling?
• Referrals – People know you, they like you, they recommend you. What’s more, it doesn’t have to be merely one person. A person’s “wall” post reaches out to their entire contact base of friends.

So here’s the catch. Yes, as a new business, you don’t have a humongous marketing budget. For some, even non-existent we dare say. Most of it probably would have gone to your local web designer in Singapore whom you’d have approached for design consultancy with regards to your website. But look on the bright side. You’re time rich!

In fact, time investment is one key factor in determining whether you succeed in the social media realm. Engagement is very much a human process. No algorithm or artificial intelligence can possibly “connect” as intuitively as the human mind. Six hours a week. Keep that discipline and you’ll start to see results. It might not come immediately but it’s the inevitable. Make social media an indispensible aspect of your online web development strategy!

Get in touch with ChillyBin if you would like to explore the benefits of Social Media for your small business. What social media tips and tricks have you used? let us know in the comments.

ChillyBin Web Design & Consultancy would like to wish all of our clients, friends, partners and readers good luck and great success in the coming New Year!

祝来年好运，并取得更大的成就。

ChillyBin will be closed on Feb 11th & 12th for New Year celebrations and will return Wednesday 13th.