About two months ago I was sitting in a hotel conference room being trained on a new piece of software here at Bridgeline when an interesting philosophical question was raised. When something is not true, is it necessarily false? I suppose I should provide a little more background information for this question before getting into why this question is important.

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iAPPS v2.7 Forms Editor

iAPPS v2.7 with Forms Editor functionality is ready to go. The new Forms Editor capabilities make it simple and easy to collect structured data on your website.  Have you ever wanted to quickly put up a form on your site but were told by your IT staff: “Sure, we can have it done in a couple of weeks.”?  Not any more.

With release 2.7, the built-in Forms Editor continues the iAPPS tradition of making powerful CMS features easy to use – in addition to seamlessly integrating new functionality into the existing product suite.   Now adding a form can be as simple as a 4-step process.

Forms Designer

1. Create the form. Use the drag-n-drop forms designer to select all the elements you want in your form.  All the usual types are supported, text, dropdown, radio, etc. including validation (e.g., email address format).
2. Insert the form. In step 1 you created a re-usable piece of content, now all you have to do is drop it into a container on a new or existing iAPPS Content Manager page.
3. Publish the form. In step 2 you modified a CMS page.  Now, just hand it off to a workflow or publish it.
4. Collect form data. After it’s published, sit back and let iAPPS collect the form data.  At any point you can run the Results Report for the form to see the data that’s been submitted by your website visitors or export to Excel to generate reports like a list of conference attendees.

Of course, iAPPS gives you much more flexibility than just this four step process.  The Forms Editor has some advanced element controls like a date picker, file upload button and hidden fields to pass parameters like the IP address of the user or the page the form was used on.  You have access to all element properties for further customization – or just accept the standard ones.  By default, the form is going to be presented as a simple list.  But as with any iAPPS Content Manager page you can tailor the form page to display anyway you want by applying your own styling.

Published Page with Form

Probably the most import time-saver with the Forms Editor is the way it seamlessly integrates with the back-end database.  When you create a form, iAPPS automatically creates the database schema and the Results Report.

Since all iAPPS database functions use MS SQL Server it’s easy to extend the forms system.  If you’re an iAPPS developer you’ll be able to gain full access to the forms data via an additional set of APIs that have been added to the iAPPS Framework.  Regardless of whether you want to extend the core functionality of the system, or build new interfaces to the stored form data, it’s all there for you to use.

The totally integrated iAPPS philosophy keeps on going with the forms editor.  Because the form is treated as a CMS page you can publish it using workflow, set SEO properties, and view previous versions.  And finally, if you’ve got iAPPS Analytics installed you can measure any website “conversions” that would be possible after a successful form submission (e.g., getting to that ubiquitous Thank You page) in addition to evaluating all the usual web analytic metrics like page views, page abandonment rate, etc.

I’ve previously written about adoption as a primary key to CMS implementation success. The KISS method was highlighted as a central point in user adoption. If the system is easy to use, your user base will readily learn how to use it, one step at a time. If its difficult, many will throw their hands up in frustration. This happens because they feel more work is now required to complete the same task. In effect, they are working for the CMS, not the other way around.

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So you now have a pretty functional shopping cart and you are ready to embrace the masses with a great inventory selection. You quickly realize that when searching for your products on the Googles and Yahoos of the world, your site is found right along with thousands of other online stores who sell the same stuff. Even if you come up on the top of search result pages, your competition is just a click away. How do you differentiate yourself from the crowd? This is where the innovative marketing mind comes to the rescue.

The challenge is that at times sophisticated marketing ideas are not easily matched with an adequate automation to enable them.  Take for example a popular marketing technique used by one cell phone carrier:

“If you call your friends and family between the hours of 6 AM and 8 PM during weekdays and if you have registered for the 2 year plan then you get a 20% discount but only if you are the primary contact on the account and only if your account monthly fee does not exceed $200 and only if you over the age of 18 etc…”

The above set of complex rules must be enabled by a strong rule-based engine that enable the billing system to manage the discount . In many large corporations, the IT department is often tasked with a monumental challenge to amend the billing software so that business keeps flowing while all the promotional rules are honored.

The example above just underscores one of the biggest areas of contention between marketing and IT. Marketing comes up with ideas and IT just can’t keep up.

This article will touch on some of the techniques that will make your online commerce a sophisticated and self managed Marketing Machine.

Free Shipping – Free shipping is a common mean to induce customers to buy from you. In general, customers are very sensitive to the good old “Shipping and Handling” charges. Sometimes, a good strategy may be to increase the margins on the merchandise in lieu of a reduction or complete elimination of the shipping and handling fees.

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Based on the number of inquiries from my last post (Building Scalable Ecommerce Solutions) I decided to follow-up with a more in-depth discussion on one of the topics which I have touched on previously. In this post I will concentrate on Data Caching.

In my opinion Data Caching is the single most beneficial strategy a System Engineer or a Developer can implement in order to achieve scalability. In this article I will discuss a few guidelines for implementing an effective Data Caching strategy.

Data Caching is a method by which data is stored and retrieved from transient memory. Transient memory, distinguished from persistent memory, is storage that is normally short-lived and is reset or removed when the server or the computer on which it resides is rebooted or when the storage is replaced with other transient data. Transient memory is the fastest medium used to retrieve from and store into modern computers. (more…)

The Devil is in the Details…

Lately, software development has become a commodity which often is evaluated solely on price. Seasoned software engineers who struggled with bits and bytes in the past are looking at the younger generation with envy as applications are developed faster than ever. Open source, templates, code library and code generators have become ubiquitous and software engineers can now generate “working” code with a single click of a button.

The main problem is that if the tools are used without a deep understanding of their internals, the software generated ends up being nothing more than a trial prototype. Many consumers get blindsided by the allure of a working prototype and engage with development firms that lack the discipline and experience needed to refine the application and provide the needed production-level detailed functionality and support. On many occasions, we have been approached by customers who came to us frantically seeking assistance in getting out of the prototype “trap.”

Advocating efficiency and time to market can provide the competitive edge over another firm eager to earn the business of a software development project. However, when it comes to delivering on time and on budget, very few make good on their promises. What separates the “men” from the “boys” are the software professionals who can take advantage of what’s re-usable, but are capable of modifying and enhancing the code when it is needed.

If you are in the market for a web development project, you should ask to meet the development staff. Meeting the Project Manager, Software Architects, and the developers will help you gauge their level of experience, professionalism and their understanding of your business challenges.

Most software developers are brutally honest and their experience, dedication and positive attitude will directly translate to a successful deployment of your project.

In this day and age where big picture, strategy, and productivity are the name of the game, we mustn’t forget that these should never come at the expense of detailed craftsmanship and just good old-fashioned coding!

Written by Erez Katz