You are an established business in a unique market. Your current website has remained the unchanged for several years with the same information and graphics. You want fresh graphics, new stories and add new interactive functions to help your customers use your services.  Your staff needs to be able to add or change information on your website to help your customers participate in your business and to keep up with changes in your services.

In this case study, we look at the Joomla CMS (Content Management System) website for Communicare Inc  – a family, community and employment services company. Communicare is an established charity working with several niche markets like family daycare services, counseling, employment development and disability employment services.

What You Want

Foote Francis – a web development company and BrainCells – an advertising agency teamed up to deliver a customized website and streamline Communicare’s online communication. At the commencement of the website planning, Communicare wanted improvements including

• Reorganize and regroup their services
• Achieve more customization and different features than most website templates offer
• Roll out their website project quickly
• Keep their website easy for their different niche markets to use
• Ensure their site is simple for their administrative staff to update
• Use their site as both a hub for working with public and for secure communication with their partner businesses
• Have good lifespan on the functionality and look of the site
• Allow flexibility to add or change functionality to meet market and customer needs

Fast and Flexible

Let us start with a quick explanation of the technology that runs the website. Joomla CMS (Content Management System) is the structure and the application that the Communicare website is built into. Joomla systematizes the grouping, menus and look of the various sections of the website, like the menus and page layout. Added into the Joomla structure are any combination of templates and services to add functionality to the site, like interactive event calendars, photo galleries and secure document sharing.

The setup of the website and functions took about two weeks. The addition of the content, the stories, data, documents, pictures and stories can take a few weeks to a few months depending on the amount of content and the amount of time that staff can dedicate to adding content. The good news is the important sections site can be available to the public while additional sections are edited and added.

The team of three companies is immersed in the project together. Foote Francis customizes the website using the concept and graphics that BrainCells advertising agency developed. BrainCells and Communicare supply the outline of topics, key images and text. Foote Francis trains Communicare staff how to maintain the website and during training Communicare places the actual text and images into their own website.

Usability and Purpose

Let’s look at three of the many interactive functions within Communicare’s website. At http://www.communicare.org.au, a visitor is able to see several categories of community and family services grouped at the top of the window. A summary of the company services, recent news and images describe the company.

The first interactive tool is a login for service partners, counselors and daycare providers. This frequently used business tool, the partner-login is conveniently provided at the lower-right side of the window.

Many of the public pages within the website contain text describing services and providing guidance. Added into these “brochure-like” pages are modules with dynamic information, like a calendar of events or list of counseling locations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next interactive tool is the calendar run by JCal Pro, an optional module that can be added to and customized within Joomla. Here’s how Communicare implemented their JCal Pro calendar.

Visitors can change the layout from month to list (Flat View), filter the calendar by Category, download or print the calendar. There is a search function for visitors who know the name of a specific activity. The calendar events are added and edited by Communicare’s staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a different section of the website, we explore a third interactive tool. Parents can search for family daycare provider located near their home or office.

As day care providers join and leave Communicare’s program, their information is updated by Communicare’s staff. The parents looking for day care are presented with the currently active providers.

 

 

 

 

 

Want It Now. Need It to Last.

Foote Francis can quickly roll-out a interactive website while providing guidance and customizations that help businesses reach new customers and maintain existing business. Foote Francis has experience working with a variety of industries and has over 10 years of web development experience.  Businesses can have a professional website within a few weeks and that same website can continue to adapt and evolve to business and customers over many years.

In addition to rapid deployment of modular websites, Foote Francis has an extensive toolbox of web applications like broadcast email - F2 Shout Out and online event registration - F2 Sell Out that can be customized and added to a website as the future business develops. Contact Hayden to explore your website needs and discuss your long term website goals (AUS) +61 8 9228 9288 or http://www.footefrancis.com.au/Contact/Foote-Francis-Pty-Ltd.html

Smart Web Solution for a Niche Market by Hayden Foote is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License