May 2022 – What We’ve Been Up To

Wayne

Making websites 'punchy' and a trip to the Cornish coast.

Approaching halfway through the year is when I start looking back to the goals I set for the business back in January. We set out to grow the web department with some great ideas and we’ve added the team with a new Front-End Developer joining us in a few weeks, as project work is keeping us super busy.

Speaking of which, this month we’ve been creating a new website for Kings Croft Hotel. The client wanted to streamline their website… “make it punchier” they said! We’ve done away with the dark website they had previously and have introduced a cleaner design, ensuring important content is above the fold. After carrying out initial research we found that their previous site had a low number of pages per session, meaning either:

a) visitors are getting the content they need immediately (doubtful)
b) visitors couldn’t find what they were looking for easily

We hope this new design brings the hotel’s brand in line with the quality service they offer, and encourages visitors to take in more of their content.

I ended the month with a week in Cornwall, and again, I’m pleasantly surprised to report the weather was great! We visited two lovely beaches, Porthcurno and Hayle, as well as Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole, Lands End, Falmouth, Charlestown and our favourite – St. Ives. A quick stop in Devon on the way back saw us visit Tintagel, Westward Ho and Instow.

Andrew

A good month for learning.

This month, I have created a functionality aimed at allowing clients to make their own landing pages for product categories in OpenCart. This gives clients more freedom to shape their website without relying too much on developers.

I’ve also been developing new knowledge in testing processes which will ultimately improve the quality of my code and help deliver solutions right the first time. Furthermore, my apprenticeship has been providing me with new skills in cyber security and I look forward to delving further into this subject as I progress through my course. This will help me fill a skill gap in the company and better secure our web applications.

With a week long holiday in May, I was able to take a relaxing break spending some time with some friends in NEC, Birmingham as well as brushing up my skills in acoustic guitar fingerpicking (which ended in blisters on my thumb and index finger). I’ve definitely now learned my lesson in taking breaks. Looking on the bright side, I can at least make a start with my new hobby of miniature modelling while my hand heals. I have been procrastinating from this for over a month now!