OH! Media is excited to announce our acquisition by Phoenix Group.

For those of you not in ‘the know’, Phoenix Group was founded in 1982, and is a leading Saskatchewan advertising and communications agency. The OH! Media team cannot wait to combine our expertise with theirs…seriously, we haven’t been this excited about a partnership since cheese and bacon were put on the same burger!

For our existing clients, this means providing new and better services. For us, this move will put us at a level where we can pursue truly world-class business opportunities. And that-is great thinking!

We are excited to get in the sandbox with Phoenix Group, and look forward to combining our skills with theirs to best serve our clients.

You can meet the team at www.thephoenixgroup.ca

As our About Us page states, OH! Media is a web development company based in Regina, Saskatchewan. Over the last six years, we’ve had many opportunities to work with people that help give Regina it’s own unique, awesome local flavour. Supporting local companies and organizations is very important to us because we also live here and personally benefit from these great people.  Today we’re going to look at some of the web work we’ve done locally.

Queen City Marathon – Every September people from all over North America come to the Queen City to participate in the QCM, which is one of the few Boston Marathon qualifying races in Canada. 2011 was another successful year and we are honoured to sponsor such an amazing event.

Schmirler Curling Classic – Like every Saskatchewanian, we watched Team Amber Holland at the 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and again at the Worlds.  Now we’ve had the honour to work with Amber on this charity event named for one of our greatest curlers, Sandra Schmirler.

Pile o’ Bones Derby Club – It’s a little more rough and tumble than running and curling, but roller derby is just as exciting!  These lively, lovely ladies are amazing to work with and amazing to watch.

CJTR – Local community radio, by Reginians for Reginians.  You can find local flavour here including gems like Regina Vinyl Preservation Society block.  New redesign is in the works!

Regina Family Expo – With dozens of exhibitors, many local, the RFE promotes local business and offers a great event for our wee citizens.

The Comedy Grind – Did you know Regina has its own comedy show?  Come to Amateur Night to try your hand at it, or just come to Gabbo’s for some great weekend laughs.

Regina Newcomer Welcome Centre (coming soon) – We also like to help welcome new residents of Regina.  The Newcomer Welcome Centre provides resources and information to new immigrants and refugees, including help with our infamous winters!

Pulmonary Hypertension Association of Saskatchewan -  As part of our OH! Cares program, we donated our time to design and develop a website that would enable the Association to reach people in Saskatchewan and distribute vital information on this disease.

We’re looking forward to a lot more years of working in our great Regina community!  Remember, Pride Lives Here.

As a business it’s essential that your site is stays current. A website with old, outdated content gives you less of an edge over your competitors and can give the impression that you don’t care about your online presence. Though having a web developer make updates to your website can sometimes be costly and may take a few days to complete. But, there is a better and easier way to manage the content on  your website that means lower costs and instant turnaround. OH!CMS is a content management product that we developed to allow our clients to quickly and easily update their websites.

We like our system so much that we thought we’d give you 5 great reasons to choose it over the other systems out there.

1. Simple User Interface

OH!CMS was designed with a target audience in mind: small to medium sized business owners who are smart, but may or may not be technically saavy. This means that the interface of OH!CMS is intuitive and easy to navigate.  We pride ourselves on how simple it is to effectively manage your site content using our system.

2. Modular and Scalable

Your website needs will grow as your business or organization grows.  OH!CMS has this covered.  OH! Media has built over a dozen modules for OH!CMS that may be easily installed at any time.  From event calendars, to polls, to newsletter deployment, even membership systems.  And if you need a specific feature built, we can develop it for you.  OH!CMS is fully customizable, and can grow and evolve with your needs.

3. Search Engine Friendly

We understand how important it is to be positioned well in search engines.  That’s why we ensure that our CMS follows basic SEO standards. We take the time to implement properly designed layouts and utilize search engine friendly URLs.

4. Support

OH!CMS was built in house by our talented staff, so it’s fair to say that we know every line of code intimately.  Open source CMS systems are typically developed by a combination of developers and can be bulky and disorganized, making them a challenge to support.  If there is ever an issue with your OH!CMS install, you can rest assured that the problem will be remedied quickly.

5. Version Rollback

Make a mistake? Wish you could back in time and retrieve a previous version of a page? Now you can. OH!CMS includes a page versioning system that allows you to instantly revert to any previously saved version of a page, quickly and without hassle.

We could go on and on about benefits of our custom CMS system.  If you need more convincing watch our overview video or give us a call and we’d be happy to take you on a guided tour.

http://www.ohmedia.ca/cms

Another happy client!

I wish every business was as creative, responsive, receptive and oriented toward excellence in their product as OH! We have been working with this stellar group for 4 years and after having bounced around trying to find programmers that knew what they were doing but able and willing to respond to our evolving needs, we finally found our ‘home’ with Trent and his team. They have a refreshing balance of ‘logic’ and creativity, open to ideas but willing to let you know what they think works best and why. We have had numerous compliments on our website and we couldn’t be happier – it is incredibly easy to update the site and during the transition to their new CMS, the team was always available to assist us. Trust me when I say you can STOP LOOKING – your search for the best website team should end with OH!

Dr. Judy Boychuk Duchscher, RN, BScN, MN, PhD
Executive Director – Nursing The Future
Calgary, AB
www.nursingthefuture.ca
—

On Monday, June 6th, the Regina Leader Post newspaper published an article “Software for Hard Bodies” on the front page of their business section. We are absolutely thrilled with the way it turned out and love all the attention we are receiving from the media exposure.

Below is an excerpt:

Web application tracks repairs

“IF YOUR EQUIPMENT IS DOWN LESS, YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE HAPPY, YOUR RETENTION RATE IS HIGHER (AND) YOU HAVE MORE MEMBERS.”

Skye Kaiss had a problem. He was working out one day when the equipment he was using broke down.

His solution? A partnership between four Regina businessmen and a new company, Club Vitals.

“All equipment degrades. All equipment breaks down,” said Kaiss, co-owner of Regina’s two Gold’s Gym locations.

When a piece of equipment breaks down, the user has to report it to staff. Kaiss found that users either weren’t reporting damaged equipment or when they did, the information was being lost or repairs were slow to be made.

Read the entire article on the Leader Post website.

Wow, what a month so far! We’ve been launching sites left and right! Here are some details on a few that we’ve recently set live…

MAXX Energy Solutions Corp.

Website: http://maxxenergysolutions.com/

MAXX Energy Solutions was yet another great client to work with! MAXX Energy is an oilfield equipment company that prides themselves on delivering turnkey innovative products and services that increase productivity and resolve common issues that arise in the oil and gas industry. We helped develop the MAXX Energy Solutions brand with their logo and website. The MAXX Energy site is powered by our very own OH!CMS (Content Management System), which allows them to update info on new equipment, important company news and career opportunities.

Stonewood Builders Inc.

Website: http://stonewoodbuilders.ca/

We had a great experience working with Kyle on the site for his company Stonewood Builders, a local custom-work construction company. Stonewood Builders Inc. is a relatively new company on the Regina building scene but is one that does beautiful custom work on everything from complete new home construction to full renovations and specialized projects like home gyms and outdoor decks. We helped develop Kyle’s company with the complete branding on everything from logo, business cards, QR codes, web and mobile sites. The Stonewood Builders site is powered by our in house OH!CMS (Content Management System) which allows for updating at any time. With updateable photo galleries and a blog-style “Current Projects” page Kyle will be able to keep his current and prospective clients informed on his recent projects! Kyle’s laid back attitude and strong work ethic has made working with him a positive experience, we’d recommend them to anyone!

Chitt-Tronics Ltd.

Website: http://www.chittronics.com/

Working with the folks at Chitt-Tronics has made our job so much easier! Their motivation to get the new site up has helped us get the site live in record time. Chitt-Tronics serves Montmartre, Kipling and neighboring communities with the newest consumer electronics and Sasktel products and services. The Chitt-Tronics Ltd. site uses WordPress as it’s content management system. Their new site not only incorporates a  fresh new look it’s also loaded with great new features  like an easily updatable catalog system, where staff can do price and product updates on their own. Their news section has been integrated with their existing Facebook page to help them reach both their web and Facebook audiences more efficiently. Don’t forget to sign-up for their e-newsletter (powered by Mail-Chimp), where they’ll be sending out company news and product sales!

Saskatchewan Nurses Foundation

Website: http://www.saskatchewannursesfoundation.org/

Another record fast site we did this month was for the Saskatchewan Nurses foundation. A non-profit Regina based foundation that gathers donations for bursaries towards nurses in Saskatchewan who choose to further their education. The fresh new site was set live just in time for their annual conference this month. SNF is supported by donations from SNF members, members of the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses’ Association (SRNA), Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN), nursing school alumnae associations, corporate groups, and individuals. These donations can come in forms of personal donations and “in memory” donations and bequests. Donations are often put towards lowering tuition/book cost and student living. The new site is powered by our own OH!CMS (Content Management System) and includes social media links, Canadahelps donation button, online membership application and more.

Most businesses out there have Facebook pages these days, or at least they should! Many businesses also use the WordPress blogging platform to post their news and upcoming events to their website. Updating content at both places can become very time consuming. To save time, we recommend integrating your WordPress blog with your Facebook page.  This means that whenever you publish a post from your blog it automatically post to your Facebook wall.  Although there are many plugins/apps out there that help with this we’ve chosen to focus on our favorite.. the RSS Graffiti App for Facebook.

See below for details on adding the RSS Graffiti App for your Facebook/WP integration:

1. Log into your Facebook account.
2. In the main Facebook search area type in “RSS”, the first result that displays is “RSS Graffiti”.
3. Click and download this app.
4. Once downloaded it should bring you to a RSS Graffiti page where you can add a new feed by clicking the “+Add Feed” button.
5. Under the “Basics” tab input the info it asks for… your “Feed URL” is the URL of your blog followed by the “/feed/” tag. For example: “http://yourblog.com/feed/” or “http://yourblog.com/blog/feed/”.
6. Under the “Schedule” tab input how often you’d like your Facebook to look for new blog posts (ranges form ASAP to Once a day).
7. When you’ve input all your info hit the “Save” button. (Be patience! This might take a day or so to grab your new posts for the first time.)
8. Get out and enjoy your extra free time!

Of course if you need a hand with this integration, we’d be happy to help.  Give us a call at 306.546.2118 or shoot us an email.

Often our clients need to send us large files whether that be high resolution photos, vector graphics etc. Most web emails (gmail, hotmail etc) will only allow sending of 25MB per email which sometimes just isn’t enough! One important thing to know is how to zip or compress those folders or files you want to send. By doing this you can drastically reduce the file size, which helps when it comes to sending over the web. Below are some steps outlining compressing files and folders on both PC and Mac.

Compressing files using a PC (Windows 7)

• Select your file or folder and right click.
• A menu will appear above your file with many options, select the “Add to archive” option.
• Once you’ve selected “Add to archive” a dialog box will appear prompting you for details about the name and parameters of the file you want to compress. You can ignore everything except the “Archive format” selection. The default will be “RAR” you will want to switch this to the “ZIP” option.
• After you’ve selected the “ZIP” format hit “OK”.
• Your file will be now be compressed into ZIP format! (Depending on the file size this could take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes to complete).

Opening ZIP files using a PC (Windows 7)

• Select the ZIP file, right click and in the menu select the “Extract Here” option.
• Once you’ve hit “Extract Here” the file will begin extracting itself in the same location as the ZIP file. (This could take a while depending on file size).

Compressing files using a Mac

• Select your file or folder and right click.
• A menu will appear above your file will many options, select the “Compress” option.
• Your file will be now be compressed into ZIP format! (Depending on the file size this could take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes to complete).

Opening ZIP files using a Mac

• Select the ZIP file, and double click.
• The file will then extract to the same location as your ZIP file.

Sending Large ZIP Files Over the Web

There are many free tools on the internet that help with sending large files (YouSendIt, Dropbox etc). Our personal favorite, and the one we recommend to our clients is SendSpace. Below are a few steps outlining how to upload and send your large zip files using SendSpace:

• Visit: http://www.sendspace.com/
• Under the “Select File” section hit “Browse”. This will open up a dialog box where you can select and upload your zip file.
• Under “Decription:” type a few words describing your file (Ex. Photos for OH! Media) or something that will help you to remember which file it is you’ve uploaded.
• Under “Recipient’s Email:” put in the email address of the person you wish to send the files to.
• Under “Your email:” put in your email address (so that you can keep track of the documents you’ve sent).
• Once your done filling out the form hit “Upload File”.
• This might take a few minutes depending on file size.
• Once the upload completes it will send a link to download the file to both yourself and the person specified in the “Recipient” area of the form.
• That’s it!

If your having trouble compressing your files but you still need to send them, no worries! SendSpace has a tool that allows for multiple uploads (for zip and non-zipped files)!  Below are the steps:

• Visit: http://www.sendspace.com/flashupload.html
• Select “Add a File” , this will open up a dialog box where you can select and upload your files.
• Once you’ve selected a file it will prompt you to enter a description, this is optional but in the long run will help you organize what files you’ve uploaded.
• When your done adding the files fill in the “Recipients email” and “Your email” text fields.
• Check off that you agree to the “terms of use” and hit “Start Upload”.
• This might take a few minutes depending on the size of the file you’ve chosen.
• Once the upload completes it will send a link to download the file to both yourself and the person specified in the “Recipient” area of the form.
• That’s it!

We’ve started to realize that when it comes to naming for the web there can be a lot of confusion. Below we’ve outlined some helpful tips in properly naming your photos/files for use on the web!

Things to Avoid When Naming Files for the Web:

1. Spaces: Avoid using spaces when naming your photos/files. For example if you upload a PDF with the file name “example report 2011.pdf” when the PDF is viewed or downloaded the naming structure will look like this “example”%20report”%202011.pdf”". The browser will automatically add in “%20″ anywhere there’s a spacing in a file name. Try instead to use underscores (_) or dashes (-) in place of spaces. For example the file names “example_report_2011.pdf” and “example-report-2011.pdf” are much easier to read and won’t be manipulated when uploaded to the web.
2. Hash Signs (#): Never use hash signs when naming your photos or files. Photos/files with hash signs (#) will NOT display on your webpage. Hash signs are part of the coding language used to develop your website so by incorporating one into file names the browser causes an error and fails display the file. For example this photo “player#20.jpg” will not display in the browser but a photo titled “player20.jpg”, “player_20.jpg” or “player-20.jpg” will display fine!
3. Quotation Marks ( ‘  &  “): Never use quotation marks when naming your photos or files. Photos/files with quotations incorporated into the filename will NOT display on your webpage. Quotations, much like hash signs, are part of the coding language used to develop your website. For example this photo “lil’photo.jpg” will not display in the browser but a photo titled “lilphoto.jpg”, “lil_photo.jpg” or “lil-photo.jpg” will display fine!
4. Lack of File Extension: Never upload your photos/files unless they have an appropriate file extension. File extensions cannot be changed by editing the filename. For example editing  a photo with a “.gif” extension to “.jpg” doesn’t actually change the type of photo from .”gif” to “.jpg”. This type of file change usually needs to be done through special software. Popular file extensions for photos are “.jpg”, “.jpeg”, “.gif”, “.png” and “.tiff”. For PDF documents the file extension must always be “.pdf”.

At OH! Media, we consider ourselves fortunate at the success we have achieved in our short 6 years. Many of our clients are non-profit organizations and we came to understand the financial pressures that they deal with. Most of the time a website is a luxury for them. We think that it’s imperative that they have a presence online, broadcast their organizations message to a larger audience, finding more volunteers, donors and like minded people who would like to get involved to support their cause your organization to a larger audience and in reaching out & finding more volunteers, donors and like minded people who would like to get involved to support the cause you are working at.

We applaud the efforts of these organizations and are proud to offer our services to one worthy non-profits each year.

A free website includes:

• Custom website design for the organization.
• Installation of a CMS so that volunteers can update the website themselves
• Creation of pages ie: About Us, News and Events, Donations, Contact etc.
• Insertion of content provided by the non-profit
• Web hosting for the website.

The free website package does not include:

• Domain registration (although we would be happy to help you through the process of registering)
• Logo design
• Content writing
• Professional photography

Rules and Regulations:

• You must be a legitimate non-profit service or organization
• OH! Media will provide free websites to two selected non-profits each year.
• OH! Media reserves the right to determine which organizations are chosen, using our own discretion and as time permits.
• OH! Media will include a small link back to our company website.
• Hosting and CMS licensing will be free for the life of the website.
• Additional features beyond the originally agreed upon scope will be subject to service charges as authorized.
• OH! Media will provide 1 hour of free website support a month. Additional support will be billed out at $75 /hour.
• In order to develop and launch the website in a reasonable time period, OH! Media requests that a timeline by the non-profit be strictly adhered to.

If you know of a non-profit that could use our help, please spread the word and send them our way. tellusyourstory@ohcares.ca

To apply, please complete the following application: