Moore Tech Solutions Unleashes New Technology for Firms

Cite as 3 Litigation Commentary & Rev. 16 (March 2010)

When faced with decisions regarding the adoption of new technologies, the dizzying array of alternatives can leave you scratching your head regarding the best path to take.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of website design and development.  Regardless of the size of your firm, an online presence with an up to date and relevant website is essential in today’s marketplace.  Important decisions which are required during the development process include domain name selection, registration and management, site hosting, design platforms, look and feel, features, appropriate content, and search engine optimization.  Decisions made based on sound recommendations will result in a site that is attractive and informative, affordable, and easily maintained.

Initial web development tools were quite limited, and producing even a simple web page required knowledge of the language of the web - HTML.  Subsequent web authoring and editing tools made web development much easier, but even these advanced editors have certain limitations.   Routine tasks such as adding fresh content like articles and images, adding new links, or adding any new features can be arduous and expensive.

To simplify the process of site updates, organizations began using a special type of software called a content management system (CMS). The CMS application provided the capability for nontechnical users to make updates to site content with little technical knowledge.  Owners of sites implemented using a CMS found that most of the headaches of site management disappeared.  Features such as a site map and a site search could be automatically updated without the need for custom programming with additional features such as shopping carts and picture galleries either built into the software or widely available as plugins.  All of this minimized the amount of custom development (and the associated expense) required for more traditional web site development.

In early 2008, Don Moore, President of Moore Tech Solutions (MTS), was faced with a rewrite of a site for an online storage company in which he is a shareholder.  “Our original company name was WebSafe, and we spent a significant amount of money in 2004 to have a site designed by a large full service firm,” Moore said. “We had the site redeveloped by a free lancer in 2006 to get a fresh look and feel, but there were ongoing expenses incurred each time we wanted to make even minor site changes.  Late in 2007, the company name was changed to vitalEsafe, and having learned of the advantages of developing using content management systems, we decided to evaluate a very popular CMS called “Joomla.”  After our investigation, we became convinced that the future of web authoring tools would be content management systems and that our development efforts would embrace the Joomla concept. VitalEsafe was redeveloped using Joomla in 2008, and in early 2009 Moore Tech Solutions began providing new and updated sites developed using Joomla.”

Joomla is an open source content management system.  The Joomla CMS has been embraced by a wide spectrum of individuals, corporations, nonprofit organizations, boutique businesses, and public organizations. Large organizations using Joomla include:  Avis, Burger King, Jetstar, Nikon Instruments, Olympus, Porsche, Sprint, and Yamaha. There is a very large Joomla developer community and numerous resources are available to meet almost any web site requirement.  Over 3,500 add-ons and plugins are available (many of them open source also) which extend the functionality of Joomla.  These plugins include image galleries, shopping carts, forums, blogs, project management tools, etc.

Firms who want to make sure their web site is affordably developed and easily maintained should consider using a content management system such as Joomla.  The benefits are numerous and will provide the assurance that the site will not go “stale” due to lack of technical resource.

Note: This issue of the Litigation Commentary & Review was developed by Moore Tech Solutions using Joomla.

For more information feel free to contact: Don Moore of Moore Tech Solutions, Inc.