web

web development

zijn digital has specific expertise in web design using HTML/CSS2 and dynamic database applications running on MySQL/PostgreSQL and using PHP, Perl or JSP to serve content. We support the Web Standards Project (WaSP) and program according to their guidelines. We are also committed to open source initiatives such as Linux, GNU, and the Apache Software Foundation.

Some of our recent projects include:

Semprini Records

www.semprinirecords.com

Using designs by Montreal-based artist Thomas Csano, we prepared this website in time for the company's successful venture in Austin, Texas, at the South x Southwest 2007 music conference. When we were called, the site was only partially complete, having been worked on by a previous company. We sorted through the pages, coming up with a more usable site architecture, and converted the table-based layout to a more efficient CSS-based one. We also re-created all of the site graphics from the original files, using transparent PNGs in place of the JPEGs that existed. This allowed us to re-use these images in each file, regardless of the page background colour (which changes often). As well, PNGs are much better suited to grphic content than are JPEGs, which should generally only be used for photographs.

Once the initial clean-up was complete, we developed a password-protected media area where certain print-ready graphics are made available to journalists. We also prepared the msuic & video presentation files, using the superb Anarchy Media Player kit from An-Archos.

English-Language Arts Network

www.quebec-elan.org

ELAN grew out of the 2004 Quebec Arts Summit, a meeting of English-language artists who live and work in Quebec. The organisation helps its members connect with each other, with their francophone colleagues, and with audiences in the province, across the country, and around the world.

We worked with ELAN founding members to get an initial bare-bones site live just days after the Arts Summit and then updated the site as the organisation evolved over the following months.In spring 2005, ELAN asked us to contribute to a grant application that led to funding from Canada Culture Online to radically expand the ELAN site.

Launched in April 2006, the new www.quebec-elan.org is a portal where users can discover members of Quebec's vibrant English-language arts community. A new interface reflects the various disciplines – film and television arts, fine craft, dance, media arts, music, theatre, and writing – who make up the ELAN membership. The backbone of the site is an extensive members database. Users can visit the arts showcase section to explore the work of ELAN artists or browse the directories of individual and organisational members by name, discipline, or region. The arts calendar highlights upcoming events.

This is an on-going project with new features being added as time permits. The site was created using PHP and relies heavily upon the excellent user-defined functions for the PostrgeSQL database back-end.

Alexander Interactive

Commentary Magazine

New York City's Alexander Interactive hired zijn digital to create HTML/CSS2 templates for a web site they are building for Commentary magazine. With over a dozen templates and counting, this will be one of the longest style sheets zijn digital has ever written.

carte blanche

www.carte-blanche.org

The Quebec Writers' Federation asked us to design and develop carte blanche, an online literary review featuring poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction by QWF members. We designed an elegant, uncluttered site that allows readers to focus on the content. New issues are published twice a year and previous issues remain archived online.

I.C. Axon / American Medical Association

Dynamic certificate creation for CME credit

The AMA offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to advance their medical learning through its online Continuing Medical Education programs. I.C. Axon asked us to develop an application that would generate a personalized, printable PDF for the healthcare professionals upon completion of various stages of the training. We also provided scripts for post-exam follow-up tests. At the client's request, Perl was used for all dynamic content, including PDF generation.

client confidential

Medical Education Forum

The client hired zijn digital to develop the backend of an international portal for Medical Educators. We wrote code to track users, update member information, and handle registration processes. We also developed search capabilities that allow members and non-members to search for documents within the members-only area while restricting direct access to them. The technologies used on this project included PHP, MySQL database, and ht://Dig search tools modified to allow indexing of Microsoft Word® and PowerPoint® files and PDFs.

Quebec Writers' Federation

www.qwf.org

Following the launch of carte blanche, the QWF hired us to overhaul their own site. We re-organised the structure and created new sections. The site contains information on literary events in and around Montreal, as well as writers' workshops given by the QWF.

client confidential

Intranet portal for telecommunications companies

Our client asked us to develop the backend of a bilingual intranet portal for a developer of speech-enabled auto-attendant and call-routing software. Because the developer wanted to share specific documents on the site with each of its telecommunication-firm clients, the portal required a password-protected subsite for each client. These were set up using PHP and a MySQL database that tracks member accounts and the materials available for download. An administration interface allows the developer to manage the subsites and their contents.