Jared Ritchey Blog - Gets a Facelift!

Posted on October 31, 2007
Filed Under Design, Real Estate News | Leave a Comment

New Integrated Joomla - Open Realty - WordPress 2.3.1 Template

Yep design is done, ported, integrated and applied this week. I wrapped up projects outstanding and I’m in full preparation to complete a long overdue and greatly demanded set of WordPress and Joomla tools for Real Estate professionals.

Having worked round the clock since my 4 week absence, I’ve managed to take all the many notes, code snippets and features and build a design that will likely be here for a long time. Coining on WordPress’s new Tag Cloud feature among others the new blog will include a feature I’ve wanted since the day I decided to go online. Recognition as an online publication. Now that I’ve been granted an actual ISBN # from the government, I’m more motivated than ever to revamp my writing procedure and publish blog posts in a way that compliments and informs in the areas of my true passions, design and teaching.

This site will go offline for about 10 hours this weekend and periodically may toss a JavaScript error now and again but I’m looking forward to the blogs new interface and the MOOTOOLS features I’ve added.

Open Realty - Joomla - ezRealty Solution

Posted on October 30, 2007
Filed Under Design, Real Estate News | 11 Comments

Joomla with Open Realty vs ezRealty! (an email response)

NOT a formal comparison!
This is a modified version of a response I gave to an email regarding some confusing information the person was receiving about selecting between ezRealty and Open Realty. Its important to keep in mind that this is not a comparison based on exhaustive research but a comparison based on extensive use of both applications and years of experience. So, here it is quick and a bit hasty as I’m sure I’ve made an error that someone will graciously correct me where I’m wrong and you can review the Realtors Use Open Realty with Joomla article as well..

Word Press - Open Realty Integration

Posted on October 26, 2007
Filed Under Design, Portfolio, Products, Real Estate News | 6 Comments

Open Realty and WordPress Integrated Script

Realtors know that a blog can make or break a website and more often than not blogs are being used to break the plateau and barrier with greater ease as a result of blogs.

Realtors would love to have a blog that also featured listings from their featured listings section of their site, many of which use Open Realty. Well now thats possible with the use of some of our proprietary methods for integration that gives Realtors true power in having featured listings displayed within tier blogs via a truly integrated method in design and function.

WordPress to Open Realty - Open Realty to WordPress - Starting at $49.95

The RTDS (Rapid Template Design Series) has been my personal pet project for more than two years and after hearing all the rhetoric, the back talk and other na sayer attitudes I’m happy to say that this very lofty project of mine is nearing its long overdue completion. I’m a Photoshop instructor almost full time during the week now and one of the most rewarding aspects of the RTDS is the speed in which fundamental elements of design can be applied.

Because of the near completion of the RTDS I’m eager to test some of the fundamental characteristics in a production level environment like never before by doing custom conversions for WordPress and Open Realty templates at turnkey prices.

WordPress Real Estate Listings Manager - Open Realty

8 months ago I hired tasked my PHP Coder to complete the WordPress Real Estate Listing Manager to be a free WordPress plugin for Realtors. Happily, and after completion I released exactly 17 copies for beta testing, which puzzling as it was, I NEVER heard a single peep back regarding the functionality and features. Still installed on my LiveDemoSite.com site, I feared the worse for the plugins success combined with a busy work schedule I put the plugin on the back burner. However as things change and schedules get shuffled so to does my priorities and after completing literally dozens and dozens of site design integrations with Open Realty, Joomla and WordPress its time to divvy up an alternative solution. The RTDS gave me motive to provide a way for Realtor and Real Estate blog owners to have featured listings and listing details displayed effectively with their blogs.

Although the WordPress Real Estate plugin isn’t dead in my project inventory, it does need some serious rethinking to figure why I received no feedback from beta testers. Maybe they were just curiosity seekers or even competitors! ? But, the project will be re-examined in the coming weeks for repositioning. Not intended to replace the Open Realty WordPress method I’m so fond of, the plugin was really designed for an individual that may feature their own listings.

So on we go, Real Estate WordPress options exist in the form of a clever set of code snippets and integration methods I’ve used on dozens and dozens of sites with great success. If the objective is to have a blog while maintaining an assortment of featured listings to be displayed then send me an email for a fast quote. As I said, this service will start out at $49.95 which is a drop in the bucket when considering alternative options.

Template Monster Open Realty Conversion

Posted on October 26, 2007
Filed Under Design, Portfolio, Real Estate News | 2 Comments

Template Monster - Boxed Art - Joomla - to Open Realty Conversion

Looking through my client archives today I discovered that I’ve converted no fewer than 50+ template from an assortment of template clubs for various clients to work with Open Realty.

Open Realty like many CMS type applications uses a template engine that generates the rendering of the final site based on predefined template tags to display content dynamically. Because of this the process can be confusing to some people on how exactly they should or could convert a design they admire to function with Open Realty.

Conversion of Templates to Open Realty starting at $39.95

After completing the Open Realty Adobe Dreamweaver Extension, it had been my initial plan to not only release the Adobe Dreamweaver Extension as a free tool but to use it to convert existing designs submitted to me by clients rapidly to work with Open Realty keeping prices competitive and affordable.

Now you can have a template converted to function with Open Realty 2.4.3+ starting under $40 bucks. Designs and layout options may vary extensively so quoting on an individual basis will still be par for the course. General conversions usually take a few hours on the outside depending on how closely a design is to be adhered to and could exceed the day rate for some more complex designs.

Photoshop and Tables to CSS XHTML compliant conversions - Starts at $49.95

Expanding on this as a service now that the final stages of the Rapid Template Design Series nears its 5th beta assembly, I’ve decided to extend a short run service of converting photoshop and non compliant design concepts to fully validating and functioning CSS XHTML compliant designs.

The general process is to have a client submit a design (Photoshop or otherwise) to be converted and coded CSS XHTML compliant. Naturally since this type of service is in relative high demand the minimum price for commercial concerns (template clubs, resellers, turnkeys and so on) will be $100+

Should you need either Tables to CSS XHTML conversion or entire ground up coding of your concepts please do not hesitate to request a quote. For conversion of Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, Template Monster or other types of templates to Open Realty, submit your request with either a link to the design or as a ZIP attachment for a rapid and accurate estimate.

$40 - $100 is a trivial expense when compared to other options for these types of conversion. Using the Rapid Template Design Series gives me the chance to stretch the legs of the process and run it through its paces yet again. Doing so gives you a super good cost effective and affordable option for getting compliant and functional designs fast. As a commercial reseller of templates and or XHTML templates for template clubs this price is certainly going to change in the future so getting on the project schedule is most important.

Page Turn - Page Peel - Adobe Flash Effects

Posted on October 22, 2007
Filed Under Design, Portfolio | 1 Comment

Variable Flash Elements Positions

A short blurb about the positioning elements like the Adobe Page Turn and Adobe Page Flip items on your site will save you a bit of headache others have experienced.

I published some time ago how to add variable code to control when a particular items shows up on a site based on its URL and this technique can be applied to the display of elements like the Adobe Flash Page Peel and Adobe Flash Page Flipping Book Effects. With the Page Flip or Flash Book as its sometimes called. I’ve applied variable code using PHP to display the book only one time per visit which used session cookies to work properly. With the variable code post I made, its easy to apply a feature in dynamic sites where an element like a flash item displays only on a particular page. Albeit easy in CMS Applications like Joomla, products like Open Realty and or WordPress (depending on the template) can be a bit difficult. You can read the post here.

XHTML Compliant Open Realty Templates

Posted on October 19, 2007
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Real Estate Small Office - Agent - Web Site Templates

Okay so long enough over due and promised longer than I care to embarrassingly mention, the CSS templates in inventory will be released 10 at a time as I update them to XHTML Strict compliance.

I’ll start tomorrow with the first set of 10 entry level all CSS XHTML Open Realty templates and then move to more advanced ones as I clean up the code. These initial ones will NOT include the PSD file until I have a chance to determine how I’m going to support the files. I’ll likely make them as downloads available separately.

Licensing? Yeah right! The license is simple. Give credit where credit is due. Keep my itty bitty tiny little non significant un-noticed little commented out blurb and were cool. It looks like this.
How simple and NON LINKING can it get. The alternative of course would be a meta tag which is included in each template but the choice of which stays is your own. I don’t even ask for links, credit, or donations on these. Its largely my version of ego caressing. Even my commercial designs do not have front page footer off site links because I’m just not that arrogant and I actually realize it harms a site to have designer links in the footer on every page. Once or twice in a site is fine but on every page its not wise.

CRE Loaded, Joomla, WordPress

Yeah these to will be published. I’ll likely start out with three different master layouts for the latest WordPress and then add the others shortly there after. Joomla? Well Joomla is yet another story that frustrates many designers in terms of marketing of templates. I’ll elaborate later on this.

Until then, visit the site around October 21st to see what I’ve done.

CSS Design Magic - A Site Above - Make MONEY NOW!

Posted on October 19, 2007
Filed Under Design | 3 Comments

Established, Aged, SE Indexed, PR Rranking, Business Site Opportunities

Cleaning house and getting rid of several domains I’m putting up three for sale, two of which are immediate. These two domains were originally going to be created as a CSS gallery and a CSS repository for code and open source templates specifically developed to benefit its members by providing one way links. Time and energy are better spent elsewhere at this time and I’d hate to see good site names like this die. Each is aged better than 4 years and each has some kind of PR and does index in the SE’s. Markets can be slow and more people invest in other businesses to build residual incomes between September and December than other times of the year. If you are looking for a place to invest, then invest in your own site. These sites have great earning potential and as I mentioned are ALL AGED SITES which lends a great deal to their SEO prowess and potential. Please read more about these sites and contact me for further details.

Updates! Dreamweaver Template Extensions

Posted on October 19, 2007
Filed Under Design | 2 Comments

Templates, Extensions, Products and Plugin Updates

People have asked what the delay was for all the plugins, templates and other products and its simply this. I’ve been gone for long period of time handling a personal matter. I haven’t fully returned to full time work here or at the school so I’ve let a few things slide.

Those who were curious about other aspects of the template design extensions for Adobe Dreamweaver should note that each of these are actually production ready and when I updated my WordPress to version 2.3 it somehow broke my shopping cart which I’ve simply not had a spare moment to fix. I’m going to install a file manager this weekend where you can simply register and download the files without using the shopping cart for all the items that are FREE. This will include all of the templates and some code snippets.

Code Snippets, Tutorials, Updates, Support Docs, Guides, Articles!

Since my absence I’ve managed to take a few hundred brainstorming notes while on the plane between California and Washington each trip and I’ve come up with a new method for publishing support materials and articles for code snippets and such.

My idea is to continue to use WordPress as my primary CMS for this site and then use Joomla 1.0.12 (my version which is modified to accommodate SEF better) as the primary article publishing medium. I’ll publish blurbs or introductions I’ll call the short version in my blog solely for WordPress impressive search engine friendly presence and then direct people to the full documented version of the articles in my new Joomla install. I’ll test this but if I’m correct, it should improve Search Engine rank in regards to getting pages out of “supplemental” status which Google now hides from people.

The new Joomla install location for articles will feature some cool stuff as well like the iJoomla Magazine component and my all time favorite DocMan for document and file management. I can’t count how many Realtors I’ve installed DocMan for that come very dependent on its features. Its a great product. Since I no longer use the Joomla PDF generator for articles, I drafted a new standardized look for all documents that I publish to this site. I simply draft all articles in MS Word, test them for keyword density among other SEO things with my tester, print it to PDF, create an HTML version and finally create a visually impaired version for the compliance people. All articles can be downloaded in DOC, RTF, PDF, MSReader, and HTML formats once complete.

Last the Articles Section will be here: http://www.jaredritchey.com/articles/ (Please ignore that template I was just messing around)

Photoshop Web Templates

Posted on October 3, 2007
Filed Under Design | 2 Comments

Interesting and hefty week of teaching at the college presented a desperate need to alter the semesters syllabus after realizing that the cutting edge is in the minds of the designers not the educators. Its been said that assumption is the mother of all screw ups and the reality of that statement rings true when you actually experience it first hand.

As an instructor for Photoshop for Web Design, its easy to fall into the assumption or should I say presumption that as an instructor I should know more and have more experience than the students I teach. As this modern world’s youth are raised in front of computers, It’s easy to realize the paradigm that the very nature, perspective and interaction between people and the expression of their knowledge is a reflection of how they were raised. Second nature to almost every student this semester, the computer and nearly every facet of it including the use of very advanced software took me by surprise more so then ever before.

Students, especially those that are emerging college students, have nearly a lifetime of exposure to computers and or software. In previous times such knowledge had been the realm of those considered geeky “professional” whom of which would have invested his or her entire life to become proficient. Today its second nature for many students.

Tactics change and so does the syllabus for Photoshop Template Building. More than just a trivial post, I’m forced to rethink my approach in the Rapid Template Design Kit tutorials which I’ll address yet again.

Until then, happy posting.

WordPress Maintenance Update

Posted on September 28, 2007
Filed Under Design, Real Estate News | Leave a Comment

WordPress 2.3 Released - Tags and Tag Clouds SEO Feature

WordPress has released the much anticipated version 2.3 which features one of the latest trends in search engine optimization known simply as tags and tag clouds.

Having used the Ultimate Tag Warrior which in my opinion is by far, the best solution to date for tagging, the new WordPress features the ability to import from about a half dozen popular tagging plugins. Albeit the UTW is rather sophisticated and can be difficult to install, configure and implement the UTW has been fundamental in many sites success when it comes to getting yourself out of supplemental status in google for your pages. Now that google has removed or “made secret” which pages in your blog are in supplemental, the release of the new WordPress 2.3 seems to arrive with a new tagging feature right when we need one.

WordPress 2.3 Themes and Templates with Tagging Options

Cross developing themes to include the options for the new feature for tagging is a breeze and now that WordPress steps further toward the CMS class of applications in this latest release it stands to reason that it will fast become a websites single cms solution. Joomla and others similar in this genera can be overkill for some types of websites that require less than full blown portal or corporate level sites which is where Joomla shines. Now that WordPress 2.3 is released, it stands as one of the best overall instant website solutions on the market pound for pound. With WordPress the ease in which an instant, seo friendly, intuitive, easy to manage website solution can be implemented in well under a day in most instances.

With growing popularity WordPress has become the second fastest growing application on the web second only to Joomla and with the implementation of the new tools and codex could surpass Joomla as the application of choice for websites not requiring such robust and lofty features. Joomla is certainly an excellent application, but in situations where you need something a bit less lofty, WordPress fits the bill for many site requirements we encounter today.

Some additional features of the new WordPress 2.3 include Update Notification, better post and draft management and certainly the long overdue but greatly appreciated updates to the blogroll, wysiwyg editor and url management. Each of the latter three most of the time required some finesse and patience in getting them to behave properly. Well almost, the blogroll has just been annoying so I tossed that in as one of the long overdue feature changes. You can read about the latest updates to version WordPress 2.3 on the WordPress Site Here.

“Now we put it in practice what we eagerly preach”

WordPress Experiments for Design - Site going offline for a day

Now that I’ve managed to update dozens of clients blogs with the new WordPress 2.3 and their themes to accommodate the new features, I’ll be doing the same here shortly. This site has actually been redesigned and my new template is an integrated one unlike any other I’ve built or designed. I’ve created it to function with some features I’ve never applied to anyones site before. Things like the Real Estate Listings Plugin which will be used in this very site as a template gallery to demonstrate its flexibility in hopes that we can release it FREE here very shortly. And I’m a super fan of of jQuery tools over MooTools so I’ll certainly have a nice collection of cool features in this site that use the codex (js library) from jQuery.

Its very strange but many times I set out to work on my own stuff and get my own plugins, addons, extensions ready for publication, a project comes out of no where that just challenges me in a way that I can’t say no. Well I’ve put off way to many very necessary projects too long so I’m taking this site offline to wrap up the design either this weekend or the next and completing other outstanding product developments in addition to finalizing several pending small projects.

Template design by and large is not at all complex and in fact is quite easy if fundamental steps are followed. But steps and procedures can stymie or hinder creativity which had been a major concern in my pet project the “rapid template design series”. With WordPress 2.3 now available, its clear that the approach to design following the fundamentals can help us quickly produce some readily available themes for free download that I’ve procrastinated on releasing. I’ve had hundreds of concepts that I’ve abandoned where only a small percentage became a working example on some clients site that I’ve been itching to dig out, complete, and release for free as many as I can.

I’ll keep you posted as things go on the WordPress 2.3 integration feature as well. Sitting in my WordPress drafts is the post about all of the plugins I most animately suggest to clients for SEO which I’ll publish shortly. I’ve revised my list in recent days as the release of version 2.3 changes the approach but never the goal. My list has grown to become the top 10 suggested instead of the top 5 suggested as many plugins are simply not avoidable if SEO is your objective.

Until then, happy blogging.

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