Hannah’s House is a children’s respite centre, providing a “home away from home” for kids with life-limiting conditions and their families. It’s a safe, fun place where kids feel comfortable and are cared for, and where parents have the opportunity to take a break as primary carers for their kids.

Intertec is proud to support Hannah’s House by providing web-site maintenance services. We’ll be looking after the Hannah’s House website, updating it with new visuals, stories and news. If you’d like to find out more about this very worthwhile organisation.

Visit the Hannah’s House website.

M68 Bioceramic Race Gear is a French company specialising in race gear and sports clothing.

Bioceramics are extremely durable metal oxides that are biocompatible, non-toxic and chemically stable within the biological environment. They are used in a range of scientific applications including joint replacements and dentistry. M68 applies a Bioceramic coating to its racegear that generates significant effects within the body, which enhances the performance of the athlete wearing them.

Intertec worked with the client remotely to developed a WordPress CMS website and integrated an Ecwid ecart to sell the exclusive garments.

Visit the website: M68 Bioceramic Race Gear

M68 Bioceramic recommendation:

It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for the team at Intertec. I originally contacted Steve to discuss a website project for the company I was working for in 2010, Focus Mineral. During our initial meeting, I felt 100% confident that this was the company to put my trust into to bring the Focus Minerals website to life.

The professionalism, knowledge and enthusiasm that Steve, Petar and Seng portrayed was beyond what I hoped for. They understood my vision and requirements for the website and shared in my enthusiasm for the project. You can tell that the team at Intertec enjoy what they do and that each project- no matter how big it small- is just as important as the next one. I really appreciated how motivated they were.

During the process of creating the website, I spoke to Petar probably once a day and if ever I had a question or needed help they were always available to talk to. This was also another thing that really stood out for me- they really kept me updated and involved in the process every step of the way.

I cannot stress how easy the entire process was- the only thing that delayed the project was how fast I could work to give them the content and photos they needed to put onto the site!

It goes without saying that the Focus minerals website was completed successfully and to the exact specifications of which we envisioned from the beginning, if not better than expected.

Since this project, I have worked with Intertec again to create another website- this time for my own business called M68 Bioceramic Race Gear. Again, Intertec worked their magic and produced an amazing result.

It is without a doubt that I will continue to use Intertec for future projects that may come up and would highly recommend them to anybody who wants a great looking website made by true professionals.

Facebook has changed all of our lives. Whether you’ve ever had an account or even visited the website, it’s difficult to ignore the hundreds of Facebook’s “Like” and “Share” badges seen all around the modern web. The blogosphere is constantly buzzing with comments and shares over Facebook.

Knowing the popularity of Facebook, it’s commonplace to create a fan page for any community or website launch. This provides an outlet for your fans to get together in one place to share ideas, photos, questions, and reviews. This type of marketing works in any corporate or personal situation, thus it’s perfect for businesses and events.

In this particular post, I’ll be going into a few useful tips to put together an amazing fan page. This will help your website, community, or product sales garner a lot of attention! After all, Facebook is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on the Internet. Why wouldn’t you want your brand spread all over there?

Benefits Of A Fan Page

Before we go into creating a Facebook fan page, first we should explain what exactly a fan page comprises. Unknown to many is the fact that each fan page will be presented in public. While user profiles are generally hidden from search engine crawlers, fan page can be created and open to everybody. This is by default their natural state.

Users are able to see your photos, updates, and latest notes published even without a Facebook account. With some newer features you can even import a RSS feed from your blog or Twitter account. Once you’ve created a fan page, you can set up discussion forums too. This is a great place for people to meet and share opinions about whatever your topic may be.

And the most obvious benefit? It’s 100% free of charge! Doesn’t cost a dime. This type of marketing only costs a little time to setup and configure, thus making it possible for you to invest more time and cost on marketing.

With fan page, you’re also able to upload photos and video content and store these contents remotely on Facebook’s server while sharing out directly to your fans. The promotional value is huge from any standpoint.

Creating A Fan Page

For the sake of this article we’re assuming you’ve already signed up Facebook and have an account yourself. If not, feel free to create one, or sign up under your company name with a fake personality.

If you are logged into the site, scroll towards the very bottom of the page. On the right-hand side of the footer you’ll find a series of small links, one of which is titled Create a Page. Click and you’re brought right here to choose the type of page you’re looking to create. Facebook styles the pages differently based on your focus. Some examples include an event or charity, entertainment media, celebrities or bands, and local businesses.

You’ll have to fill in a bit of information and agree to Facebook Pages’ terms and conditions. It’s all fairly straightforward information, so you shouldn’t get lost anywhere in the process. However if you run into an obstacle, you can try to go back to the front page and start again.

If you’ve confirmed your details and everything looks good, congratulations! You’ve completed the creation process and your new fan page is up online. You can now edit settings, upload photos, and invite your friends to join.

Continue Reading: Better Facebook Fan Page: Essential Tips, Apps And Examples.

WordPress has stepped into its 9th years of being the content management system that most website owners love, and its design has since been evolved from really simple piece into extremely impressive work with all kinds of unique styles implemented.

Sensing that most designers nowadays prefer more to use corporate and minimalistic design, we decided to turn to the road not taken, showcasing you the unusual WordPress theme design which either defied the law of grid, or implemented essential levels of graphics into the design.

These designs are not your average Joe. Some of them may maintain the balance between beauty and user-friendliness, but most of them have sacrificed user-friendliness and design theory for beauty. Can they be called successful design? I’m not sure, but these designs have one similarity – beauty, the element that does a great first impression for visitor. And now, they are showcased here for you to enjoy.

Vector Stories

An elegant and inspiring design that’s perfect to express the craftsmanship.

Pin Up Girl Lip Balm

A retro but very interesting design, suits perfectly for the particular product.

Transformology

An original theme with warm color scheme that makes the visitor feels friendly when browsing it.

6 Wunderkinder

A minimalistic theme that outlines important content with the design that doesn’t look awkward at all.

Cat Rabbit

A cute and very interesting theme that increases the viewer’s curiosity to discover more about the site.

Eyebridge

A great mix of raw art and personal style to create this unique theme.

Round Robin Studios

Simple but pleasant. This design has a vibrant color scheme that motivates the visitor to check out the site.

Michelle Macedo Music

Wild mix of fonts and colors to create an absolutely artistic atmosphere, looks good an artist’s site.

Racket

This theme looks strange at first, but it is skillfully done and has a unique style that’s different to others.

Red Bull BC One All Stars

A powerful and impressive theme that suits the event very much.

Barszcz

A simple yet expressive design, short but nice presentation of the designer himself.

2fresh’ Studio

It’s a dark theme yet it looks so energetic! Loved the vibrant color scheme used on the header.

Alexandre Rudalov

A design with great lighting that greatly improves the overall feeling of the site, beautiful work.

Sheena Oosten

Attractive design which embraces the beautiful and artistic font.

Who Is Leon?

A classic work of art illustrated on a website, simply nice.

Van Coke Kartel

Really awesome combination of color scheme, typography, graphics and white space, great work!

Marketing Profesional

Nice layout positioning that makes the entire site unique but not too messy.

Calobee Doodles

A charming design that creates a friendly atmosphere that makes visitors feel cosier.

Outlinez

Interesting introduction has given a great head start for this personal website.

Every Time I Die

A design which is done in the rock’n roll style, having a lot of uncontrollable power and, it’s cool!

Hugs For Monsters

Strange looking but very cool. This design has showcased the marvelous and creative imagination of the designer himself.

Wawa Coffeetopia

Great for coffee lovers, as this design and its color scheme really encourages me to have a nice coffee!

GamerPrint

Creative and fun design created to attract gamers!

Watersports Guru

Awesome combination of retro graphics, that’s how a website makes its offered event looks fun and attractive!

2am Media

Elegant design with perfectly positioned elements, it’s modern web design!

DesignWise

Good design is a good head start for good business, this design proved it.

Spout Creative

Minimalistic yet properly designed website. Simple and young, I’m feeling good.

Acosmin

Extremely unique design that really tempts visitors to check out what this great site offers.

Read the full article: Showcase Of Beautiful WordPress-Powered Websites

We’ve turned 12 years old and would like to celebrate by offering a “Logo Design Package” valued at $750 to a lucky winner in this competition.

What do you win?

• 2 professionally designed logo concepts from which to choose.
• 1 revision of the selected concept to get the logo looking just right.
• Final logo provided in vector and hi-resolution formats: EPS, PDF & JPEG.

How do you enter?

Enter your details in the form below and submit it. You’ll then be shown a link to the Intertec’s Facebook page – just click on the link to go to the page and “Like” it. Too easy!

Entries close 30 July and the winner will be contacted via email and announced on our website.

The fine print:

• Only one entry per business.
• Winner will be chosen at random from entries submitted.
• Prize may not be exchanged for cash or other services provided by Intertec.
• Prize may not be used with other specials offered.
• The design of the logo will be scheduled at Intertec’s convenience.
• Competition details are subject to change at Intertec’s discretion

Last year was brighter. This year is lighter.

Your humble servants at LogoLounge.com were called out by some after last year’s Trends Report on allegedly favoring brightly hued logos. In truth, though, like with all Trends Reports, we were objectively reporting what we saw. The color dial was certainly pegged.

For the 2011 report, our ninth, color is still prevalent, but tinted down. Where black has been used as the strong neutral, now brown or gray is in place. Blues and greens are softer, and pinks are starting to appear.

Other degrees of lightness: Shapes are airier, lifting off the page. Designs are rising out of their 2D resting places and suggesting that they would really like to go places. In some logos, line weights are slimmer. There’s plenty of transparency, too, as if light is now able to flow right through.

It feels like what people believe a logo to be is also becoming more transcendent. A logo is no longer a single piece of flat art. It can be a favicon, an icon, or an entire set of marks that work together to support the team. Its boundaries have become less strict as well. There was a time when most logos could be enclosed in a simple hand-drawn square, circle or similar geometric shape, but now many logos drag outside those outlines. They just don’t want to fit the old mold.

We also saw plenty of:

• Items related to wine—bottles, corks, glasses, corkscrews.
• Sticking with the light theme, lots of sunrises—or are they sunsets?
• For some curious reason, mortar and pestles, owls, and zebras (not in the same designs).
• Single-, double- or triple-line ribbons—almost like Chartpak tape of the 1970s—that run through letters and designs.
• What stood out most of all were trees (which incidentally is the most searched-for word on the LogoLounge site). There was also a hyper-resurgence of leaves, but leaves being used in really creative way: floating on water to represent stepping stones, celtic knots built out of leaves, a sculling team rowing a leaf-boat, the veins of which represent oars. Trees and leaves are not just used to represent sustainability/nature anymore, but the designs in which they are used do get the added perk of being basking in a pleasing ecological light.

The 2011 Trend Report

Every year, it’s worth noting that this is a report on trends, not a recipe book of styles. It is also not a finite list: There are other valid trends out there that are not mentioned here.

The report should serve you as an ongoing view of where logo design is headed. The word “trends” in itself can have a very negative cast, but in truth, trends aren’t bad. They reveal our growth. It’s our take on them that allows us to move even further forward.

Read the full Logo Lounge report.

Many businesses are making their presence felt online – especially on Facebook which has recently topped more than 500 million users. Facebook lets you interact with your target audience – reaching out to them with your brand, products and services. From small businesses to enterprise-level organisations, Facebook has become the go-to social media site to engage with your market.

We’ve recently launched a new service – Facebook Business Page Design – at Intertec.

It began when we started our own Intertec Facebook Page – and it wasn’t long before our social media savvy customers started asking us to help them make their Facebook pages look smarter and more professional with our design services.

If your business is on Facebook and you’ve been thinking about how you can make your brand more prominent on your Facebook business page, then get in touch. Our Facebook Business Page Designs start at $300 ex GST for a business profile image and Welcome tab.

The beauty of Ecwid is that it is lightweight, flexible and super-powerful. It can be easily installed on any website by inserting three lines of HTML code, and is a great system for businesses looking for an eCart that is quick to install and deploy, and which provides a comprehensive range of eCart features.

Ecwid seamlessly integrates with the business’ existing website, so our customers don’t need to modify their existing sites to accommodate an eCart. Ecwid uses a freemium model where businesses can sell physical or digital goods with no fee, or opt to pay $17 a month for a white-labeled widget or app with API access and the option to distribute discount coupons. Businesses that want to sell across the web but only manage a single catalog will benefit from Ecwid.

Another Ecwid feature is that it allows businesses to set up a single store that can be embedded on Facebook pages, allowing businesses to leverage on social networking sites to help boost exposure and sales.

Ecwid allows business owners to enable their existing website with eCart functionality very easily and without blowing the budget.

Check out our Showcase soon for examples of eCart sites we have developed using Ecwid. In the mean time checkout Ecwid.com for more info.

By Steven Papas at Hongkiat

We all know that Internet changes at lightning speed (could be faster) and that means, techniques and technologies we used 3 years ago are obsolete! You should be on your feet and keep up with these changes constantly. Luckily, there are some clear warning signs that tell you that your site needs an update. Here are the “red flags” that will let you know.

1 – Your Site Looks Like a Coding Freak

How does this happen? You hired a designer to create the site, and then when you needed an overhaul, you hired another to fix it. And then another to fix it. Now, you’ve got ten years of bad code piled on top of bad code and your site’s design is a mess. A better idea is to make a fresh start.

2 – A Fancy Flash Intro Dazzles Your Visitors

Flash was so cool about ten years ago. Now, it’s “so ten years ago.” I guarantee you that nobody’s impressed anymore when you’ve got a flash intro welcoming them to your site. People have no time for this clutter; your visitors want to access the information that they are looking for as fast as possible.

In fact, a flash intro may even keep them from viewing your site. On an older browser, it takes forever for the intro to load. While they’re waiting, they’re going to be clicking the “back” button or heading somewhere else.

3 – You’re Not Being Social

We now live in the world of Web 2.0, and it’s all about communicating and networking. Your site isn’t a billboard or print advertisement; it should be an active part of a community. This means that you need to get out in the social networking sites and create some community.

The more you let your users get involved in your site, the more they’ll stick around. You can install Facebook widgets, “Tweet This” buttons, and even user profile functions for your customers. You should at least have a comments section and be running a fan page on Facebook. These social networking sites are some of the most popular places on the web, so you should be there mixing it up!

4 – The Site Is Covered With Tables

Several years ago, tables were the main design used for websites. Nowadays, it’s totally a thing of the past. Tables are hard to read, and they’re just about impossible for search engines to find. In fact, they’re technically made with invalid HTML code. So, they’ve got to go!

5 – You Still Need To Go Mobile

The entire internet is now going mobile and if you’re site’s not set up for it, you’ll lose customers left and right. If your site isn’t mobile-compatible, it will take forever to load on their mobile devices and it will look like garbage.

Techie experts predict that mobile is the thing of the future, and the number of sales of smartphones is supporting this prediction. Get a mobile version of your site going so you don’t get left behind.

6 – You’re Hiring A Programmer For Every Little Change

These days, more and more companies are using a CMS, or content management system. This is an interface that allows anyone in your staff to make changes when needed. Things happen quickly in the world of the internet, so you’ve got to be able to make these necessary changes without having to hire a web designer again.

7 – No Inspiring Towards Action

Your site needs to have a simple, clear and effective call to action to get them moving. It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to get them to sign up for a newsletter, donate to a non-profit organization or hit the “Buy Now” button.

Everything needs a strong call to action to get them moving. For example, don’t make them sign up for a membership to buy your product; let them buy as a guest and you’ll remove one more barrier from them taking action.

Read more: Signs your Website Calls for A Revamp

The enhancements in Intertec TimePro v5.2 are based on feedback we received from customers and reflect our commitment to always enhance the Intertec TimePro system to meet your business’ time recording and time tracking requirements. For a comprehensive list go to the TimePro 5.2 upgrade page.

Major Enhancements

QuickBooks Integration

Intertec TimePro has been significantly enhanced to integrate with QuickBooks for invoicing and timesheets. You can now:

• Import Quickbooks Customers and Suppliers into Intertec TimePro to set up your Intertec TimePro Customer and Supplier records.
• Export time records and expenses as QuickBooks Invoices, Bills, Timesheets and Expenses.

Time Entry Replication

Time recorded for a given day can now be copied to one or more other days via an Advanced Options link at the bottom left of the Time Entry screen. This new feature can be enabled/disabled via a Configuration option in the Intertec TimePro Settings. This is a quick and convenient way to save time if users have to enter the same times across a number of days or weeks. For example entry of extended holiday leave.

Intertec TimePro Data Exports

Major improvements have been made to the Intertec TimePro Data export function, which now allows you to create and save data exports to re-run at later dates. In addition to the Time and Expense data exports, you can now also export Attendance data.

You can also edit existing saved Exports, or make a copy of an existing saved Export.

Note: As part of this upgrade the location of the Data Export functions in Intertec TimePro has changed:

• To export Time, Expense and Attendance data, look for the Data Export icon under the Timesheet tab.
• To export Intertec TimePro Admin data, look for the Admin Export icon under the Admin tab.

All Data Exports (Time, Expense, Attendance and Admin) now also include multi-selectors that allow you to select from multiple Customers, Projects, Managers, Staff and Staff Types. Furthermore, MYOB/Quickbooks related fields are now available for export if the Third Party Accounting System Integration Module is enabled.

Check Manager Authorisations

A new “Check Managers” function has been added to the Timesheet-Check screen to resend Managers any pending authorisation emails for timesheets. This circumvents the previous workaround of unlocking and re-submitting staff timesheets in order to resend the authorisation emails.

Note: The Check Timesheets screen has now been revised to make use of a tabbed interface. Administrators can now choose to Check Timesheets, Check Managers or Lock Timesheets.

Forgotten Password Reset

Users who have forgotten their passwords can now reset their passwords for themselves without having to contact their Intertec TimePro administrator.

Clicking the reset password button in the login screen will transfer the User to a screen where the User enters their Customer ID and either their logon ID (username) or email address. Users are then sent an email with a link to enable them to reset their password themselves.

New Staff Cost Detail Report

A new Staff Cost Detail Report has been created which is similar to the existing extensively used Project Cost Detail Report but is Staff-focussed rather than Project-focussed.

New Multi-Tab Configuration Settings Screen

The Intertec TimePro Configuration Settings screen has been made more user-friendly via an enhanced tabbed interface.

Each Configuration Setting category is now represented by its very own Tab. Click on a Category Tab to view the configuration settings in that category.

This tabbed interface makes it easier to quickly configure your Intertec TimePro settings. You can make multiple configuration changes across different Categories all at once, and then click the Save Settings button to commit the changes you have made. The background colour of each changed configuration alters after you have changed its setting to give you a visual indication of configuration settings which have been edited.

When you finally choose to save the changes you have made, a list of settings that have been changed is shown in a pop up confirmation window prior to Intertec TimePro saving the changes.

Improved Global Projects

Staff which had not previously been allocated to Global Projects can now be assigned to Global Projects, and Intertec TimePro will retroactively create the relevant Staff Project Records allocating Staff to all Global Projects.

Similarly, existing Intertec TimePro Projects which were not previously marked as Global Projects can now be set as Global Projects, and Intertec TimePro will retroactively create the relevant Staff Project Records allocating Staff to this Global Project.

This is a significant enhancement on the way Global Projects previously functioned (previously, Staff Project records were only automatically assigned when a new Staff or Project record was created – not when they were edited).

Other enhancements

• Project Lists and Multi Selectors: Project selection lists in reports now show the disabled Projects at the end of the list flagged with a different background colour. Reports which have a project dropdown with the new multi-selector now only show active Projects by default. In addition, new multi-selectors for Staff and Projects have been introduced on many reports/exports and the Batch Print screen.

• Full description text displayed in Time and Expense entry screens: The full Description text can now be viewed in a pop up when you move your mouse pointer over the Description field in the Time Entry or Expense Entry screens. This lets you read the full Description without having to click on the Description field and scrolling through the text entered there.

• Date Selection on Reports: To improve the usability of reports, Intertec TimePro now remembers and defaults to the most recent date range entered in reports during a given session.

• Auditing of Tasks: The Audit module and Report has been updated to track inserts, deletions and changes to Global Tasks and Project Specific Tasks.

• Accounting System Selection: You can now select your Accounting System from the Intertec TimePro System Configuration settings. Choose between MYOB or Quickbooks.

MYOB Integration Module

MYOB Integration Module: We have updated the Intertec TimePro MYOB Integration Module to enable integration with the latest range of MYOB Accounting and Business Products, including:

• MYOB Account Right Standard 19x (Australia)
• MYOB Account Right Plus 19x (Australia)
• MYOB Account Right Premier 19x (Australia)
• MYOB Account Right Enterprise 19x (Australia)
• MYOB Accounting Edge 9
• MYOB Account Right Standard 19x (New Zealand)
• MYOB Account Right Plus 19x (New Zealand)
• MYOB Account Right Premier 19x (New Zealand)
• MYOB Account Right Premier with Payroll 19x (New Zealand)
• MYOB Account Right Enterprise 19x (New Zealand)
• MYOB Accounting Edge 9 (New Zealand)

Enhanced MYOB Activity Slips Export: The MYOB Activity Slips Export has been extensively enhanced to now give you the ability to export Expense records as well as Time records. In addition, many new options have been introduced to allow significant flexibility in the mapping of fields between Intertec TimePro’s available fields and the MYOB Activity Slips fields. Key enhancements include the following:

• The ability to export Expense records as Activity Slips.
• More options for content to be included in the Notes field (now extended to optionally include Project Description, Task External ID and the MYOB Line Item Order).
• The option to select the Value to be supplied as Rate in the Activity Slips Export. You can choose to use the Staff Project Charge Rates stored in Intertec TimePro, or to use the Rates stored in MYOB.
• Options for values to be supplied as Activity ID, MYOB Job and MYOB Payroll Category now include: Projects MYOB Job number, Staff Projects Cost Code, Staff Projects Description, Staff Projects MYOB Activity ID, Staff Projects Role, Staff Reference, Task Description, Task External ID or a value entered by the Admin User.
• Multiple Customers, Projects, Staff, Staff Type and Expense Codes can now be selected for the same Activity Slips export (previously, single selection or all was only available for each category).
• The various export selections that you choose are now saved for when you next run the export.

MYOB Customers and Suppliers: When a MYOB Customer or MYOB Supplier record is created manually (ie. not via importing from MYOB), you can now select to generate the corresponding Intertec TimePro Customer or Supplier record automatically.