Posted by Geraint on Dec 1, 2009 in
Random,
Websites So it’s the 1st of December and in the IT Pie office we thought we’d ensure you have a chance of a white Christmas with this cheeky little script.
Simple right click and save one of the following images to your images folder on your website: 
Then copy and paste the below script into you web page after the <body> tag:
| <script type=”text/javascript”>
/******************************************
* Snow Effect Script- By Altan d.o.o. (http://www.altan.hr/snow/index.html)
* Visit Dynamic Drive DHTML code library (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/) for full source code
* Last updated Nov 9th, 05′ by DD. This notice must stay intact for use
******************************************/
//Configure below to change URL path to the snow image
var snowsrc=”images/snow.gif”
// Configure below to change number of snow to render
var no = 10;
// Configure whether snow should disappear after x seconds (0=never):
var hidesnowtime = 0;
// Configure how much snow should drop down before fading (”windowheight” or “pageheight”)
var snowdistance = “pageheight”;
///////////Stop Config//////////////////////////////////
var ie4up = (document.all) ? 1 : 0;
var ns6up = (document.getElementById&&!document.all) ? 1 : 0;
function iecompattest(){
return (document.compatMode && document.compatMode!=”BackCompat”)? document.documentElement : document.body
}
var dx, xp, yp; // coordinate and position variables
var am, stx, sty; // amplitude and step variables
var i, doc_width = 800, doc_height = 600;
if (ns6up) {
doc_width = self.innerWidth;
doc_height = self.innerHeight;
} else if (ie4up) {
doc_width = iecompattest().clientWidth;
doc_height = iecompattest().clientHeight;
}
dx = new Array();
xp = new Array();
yp = new Array();
am = new Array();
stx = new Array();
sty = new Array();
snowsrc=(snowsrc.indexOf(”dynamicdrive.com”)!=-1)? “snow.gif” : snowsrc
for (i = 0; i < no; ++ i) {
dx[i] = 0; // set coordinate variables
xp[i] = Math.random()*(doc_width-50); // set position variables
yp[i] = Math.random()*doc_height;
am[i] = Math.random()*20; // set amplitude variables
stx[i] = 0.02 + Math.random()/10; // set step variables
sty[i] = 0.7 + Math.random(); // set step variables
if (ie4up||ns6up) {
if (i == 0) {
document.write(”<div id=\”dot”+ i +”\” style=\”POSITION: absolute; Z-INDEX: “+ i +”; VISIBILITY: visible; TOP: 15px; LEFT: 15px;\”><a href=\”http://dynamicdrive.com\”><img src=’”+snowsrc+”‘ border=\”0\”><\/a><\/div>”);
} else {
document.write(”<div id=\”dot”+ i +”\” style=\”POSITION: absolute; Z-INDEX: “+ i +”; VISIBILITY: visible; TOP: 15px; LEFT: 15px;\”><img src=’”+snowsrc+”‘ border=\”0\”><\/div>”);
}
}
}
function snowIE_NS6() { // IE and NS6 main animation function
doc_width = ns6up?window.innerWidth-10 : iecompattest().clientWidth-10;
doc_height=(window.innerHeight && snowdistance==”windowheight”)? window.innerHeight : (ie4up && snowdistance==”windowheight”)? iecompattest().clientHeight : (ie4up && !window.opera && snowdistance==”pageheight”)? iecompattest().scrollHeight : iecompattest().offsetHeight;
for (i = 0; i < no; ++ i) { // iterate for every dot
yp[i] += sty[i];
if (yp[i] > doc_height-50) {
xp[i] = Math.random()*(doc_width-am[i]-30);
yp[i] = 0;
stx[i] = 0.02 + Math.random()/10;
sty[i] = 0.7 + Math.random();
}
dx[i] += stx[i];
document.getElementById(”dot”+i).style.top=yp[i]+”px”;
document.getElementById(”dot”+i).style.left=xp[i] + am[i]*Math.sin(dx[i])+”px”;
}
snowtimer=setTimeout(”snowIE_NS6()”, 10);
}
function hidesnow(){
if (window.snowtimer) clearTimeout(snowtimer)
for (i=0; i<no; i++) document.getElementById(”dot”+i).style.visibility=”hidden”
}
if (ie4up||ns6up){
snowIE_NS6();
if (hidesnowtime>0)
setTimeout(”hidesnow()”, hidesnowtime*1000)
}
</script> |
Ensure that the ‘var snowsrc=”images/snow.gif”‘ points at the image you have just saved (you may need to rename the file) and there you go. A White Christmas on your website.
Hope you enjoy
The IT Pie team
Thanks to Dynamic Drive and the author Sasa Skevin for the script.
Tags: Christmas, snow effect, website, website fun
Posted by Geraint on Sep 22, 2009 in
Websites 
IT Pie has launched a new website, the website belongs to The Original Bill Bandit.
Bill Bandit Ltd creates order where there is chaos!
They solve a universal problem by providing beautifully simple and practical solutions for managing receipts, ATM slips and all those other little bits of paper you need to keep for expense claims, accounting and budgeting purposes.
BillBandit was created to take away the pain – and cost – of ‘out-of-control’ money management. As BillBandit Ltd CEO Chris Ogle says,
For years I’ve been messing around with receipts and credit card vouchers. I tried operating folder systems, envelope systems, the old spike-on-a-wooden-block system – you name it, I tried it – but none of them worked. It was during a typical moment of frustration about the state of my expenses that I came up with the idea for the BillBandit – and the more I thought about it, and shared the idea with colleagues, the more I realised I was onto something big. It’s such a simple idea and yet, it’s totally transformed the way I look at and manage my expenses.
Ready to use in minutes the original BillBandit will sort out your expenses… GUARANTEED !!
We think its an amazing idea and recommend you get your hands on one asap!!
Tags: website, website development
Posted by Geraint on Jul 29, 2009 in
Websites IT Pie has launched a new website, the website belongs to YourMotive.com, a company who specialise in motivation, offering team building events, working with students on the edge of mainstream education and providing fitness coaching to teams of all ages and abilities, the YourMotive.com team have the experience and enthusiasm to help its clients achieve their goals.
YourMotive.com Website screenshot
Director Gareth Fish says “We all have aims, for education, for business, for sport, for life. Structuring these aims into achievable goals, and gaining the skills & self belief to achieve them is key to helping us reach our full potential. At YourMotive.com our passion is in helping you get there! A dedicated team working alongside and engaging your school, organisation or sports team, to bring expertise, ideas and structured programmes that will ensure you achieve your objectives”
Click here to visit the YourMotive.com website
Tags: website, website design, website development, Websites
Posted by Geraint on Jul 8, 2009 in
Challenges of an SME,
Websites Today I want to discuss the importance of using a professional website developer, I have encountered many businesses who either use a family member or friend, someone they know (maybe a student studying IT or Website development), attempt to build the website themselves or use what we call an ‘off the shelf’ package. None of these methods will produce a website that will be technically or visually as good as one made by a professional website developer.
1. The first and most obvious reason is Expertise – A good web developer should build a cleanly coded website and include a minimum amount of essential SEO on the website. As they work in the industry they will have knowledge of and understand the latest technologies and trends that are happening (i.e. Twitter, Blogs etc) and be able to advise you on how they could benefit your business.
2. The next reason is that a professionally designed website is virtually always much better visually than a non professionally designed website (though obviously some people do have a good creative eye and will be able to design a beautiful website). It is important to remember that your website is a window on your business, many people will visit your website and form an opinion of your business based on your website: amature website = amature business. No matter how good an impression you make when you meet this person they will review your website and this will partly form their opinion of your business.
3. As mentioned, some people will opt for an off the shelf/Out of a box packages which will require the website to conform to set features or a set frame work that has been pre-built into the package, no matter how much freedom these packages claim to offer the user you will still have to work within some form of frame work, where as using a website developer means complete freedom of design and functionality.
4. Another issue faced when not using a professional website developer is that little or no support is available. If a friend or someone you know has built your website in their spare time, then when something needs updating or maintenance is required it will be done when this person has the time. A professional website developer has an invested interest in making sure your website is live and up-to-date as it reflects their work and will probably be in their portfolio so potential clients could be looking at any one of the websites they have built. Worse still, if you have bought an ‘off the shelf’ solution there will certainly be no invested interest in you or your business as you are just another anonymous user, through using a professional website developer you can develop a personal relationship with them and a good developer will inform you of any business opportunities they see for you and other clients, either through networking and collaboration or through adding additional or the newest, latest features to your website.
5. The final reason is it will ultimately be cheaper, amature a website can cost your business money through missing out on business. If you are lucky enough to have the ability to build your own website, your time would surely be better invested in running your own business and potentially earning money. Also if you have an off the shelf package, although it may be cheaper in the 1st year, over 2 or more years it likely to cost more: Off the shelf packages usually range from £10 – £30 a month or more.
A final thought, imagine someone informing you that they were going to do what your business offers themselves, do you believe that they would be able to do the work to the same standard that a company specialising in that industry would be able to offer?
Tags: getting higher in Google, improve website ranking, Improving Google rankings, website, website design, website development, Websites
Posted by Geraint on Jul 6, 2009 in
Websites IT Pie has launched a new website, the website belongs to Lapider who are Chartered Building Surveyors and Architects based in Penarth. Click here to visit the Lapider website
Lapider Website Screen Shot
For further information on Lapider please read below:
“Lapider is a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors and Architects based in Penarth near Cardiff, providing a broad range of design and construction expertise.
The professional collaboration between Building Surveyors and Architects is a fusion of the visionary and practical that transforms clients’ aspirations into reality.
Lapider believe good client relationships are key to unlocking creativity. We are approachable, working closely with our clients to understand their needs and requirements, to provide a quality, cost effective and efficient service.”
Tags: website, website design, website development, Websites
