cf10ten the journey

Can't believe cf10ten Ltd have been running for a year though Chris the founder has been working in creative media for 30 years.

Its been an exciting year with some great projects here and in Africa. Its good to have been able to pass on our knowledge and enthusiasm to many and pleased in our 2nd year we will be working more on delivering creative media training to individuals, groups and organisations. We also plan to set up a rural learning Centre so not only can we come to you, you will be able to visit us for all sorts of creative courses with rural connections. All of this and located close to the canal a good place to get creative.

We will still be providing support and build websites, create videos and cover with photography as we have a great team and a network. No project is too small or big for us.  As we say we give you creative solutions with a *smile* Proud to support communities in the UK and Africa especially looking forward setting up training in Gambia and we will be running a trip to Gambia where you will be able to join us on, details soon.

Now and again we will be putting out tips and advice helping you get the best out of your camera. The first one is about using a compact camera in low light, thanks to Kara Franklin for her help. Video below

Cf10ten covers 10 areas and the most important one is of course you. We want to inspire you to take your idea and grow it with creative media. Be it photos, video or the web we can help you make a difference to you, your community, charity or business. You will find out about the 10-10 matrix which will allow you to connect to others and help. More on this and the other 9 areas soon. If you need a quote, advice or want advice on creative material drop us a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Here is to creative year 2. Thanks for your support  *smile*

Joomla is a Content Management System (CMS) which has become a leader in delivering flexible and dynamic websites. Joomla is our preferred CMS and highly recommended for all size websites. We provide cost effective support, training, consultation and advice. We give you solutions not problems. *smile *

As we have been busy installing new joomla website I though I would share some of the reasons we use joomla and why using joomla saves customers money.. we will be making a video on this to explain more .. may even call in a few other developers like Dene Dunn to have a few words *smile *

Joomla is open source meaning there is not a licence fee and no software is required.

There are thousands of extras like components, modules, template and plugins allowing you to add different functionality to your site. Many are free or for a very small fee you will get some great extra features. Support from the developers are excellent.

I see the extra components like an app which are very easily to install and configure basically there will be a component for nearly what ever you want, be it a forms package, forum, blog, photo gallery, e-commerce and many more though I have not found one to make a cup of tea... yet *smile *

I like the ability to have a secure members area and the ability to post your articles (pages sort of.. message me and I will explain) with a 'publish' or 'expiry' date if required and of the option to send to your social network site or via RSS to other websites. Oh ypou can even set up so your can email in your news / blog updates via your phone!

Due to the amount of users and developers the speed of development is amazing and the latest version 3 is very mobile device friendly. I have been web building for over 15 years and used many different applications. With joomla I found it user friendly, flexible and fun to work with, I feel part of a big family.... and I often like to tell people about joomaling (updating your website, think I made this up!) and its been a pleasure to see people actually enjoying updating their websites rather than get frustrated with very complicated CMS systems.

I (we) have helped many organisations, business, individuals switch their website to Joomla saving them money on licensing and development. Its like giving people back the ownership of their own website. As far as any web system can be this one is future proof and a joy to work with. Well done to the global joomla family *smile *

Joomla basically works and is fully functional on install and has all the features you would want for a starter website but to have your joomla site you will need :

1- A domain name www.yourpreferredname.co.uk or org.uk or many others. These cost from £5 - £15 a year. Once you have this you point to your hosting.

2 - Hosting you will need space on a server so your website is available for all to see. Costs vary a lot but for about £60 a year you should find a good hosting package with e-mails. Joomla is installed on your server space.

3- Internet connection – Joomla works from your server and development is through a secure login via your browser so you will need to have an internet connection.

4 – Content - Those who have worked with me or I have trained will know that I always say a website is only as good as its content so make sure you have the content which will include text, graphics and photos. Always worth looking to get a logo and some branding to your site.
5 – Time Before starting take time to map out your site pages on paper and see if you can group pages (articles! yes message me about what I mean) into categories.

We are of course happy to help you through the process of creating a new joomla from scratch or from a site you already have. Just drop us a line or fill in our form.

A cf10ten website will come with a lot of features which will enhance your website and the users experience.

Here are some recommendations to improve your joomla website for you as a developer or as an end user.

1. Template there are a few that come as standard and many you can download for free though I would recommend Yoo Themes which for a small fee will give you a choice of some excellent templates and great support. http://www.yootheme.com/demo/

2. I would always recommend you to update your joomla text editor and the preferred one is JCE http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/

3. Always good to backup your joomla site before any development work or to move to a different hosting package and the one we use is Akeeba https://www.akeebabackup.com

4. Good to have web photos albums on you site and we use joom gallery which has some great features and a plugin to allow you to add an album to your article http://www.en.joomgallery.net/

5. Another feature we advice is a blog as this will allow you to keep the site updated with new content and of course bring you more visitors. You can also set up your blog to post to your twitter and facebook page. We use easyblog > http://stackideas.com/easyblog.html

6. Forms are a good way to get feedback, ask questions, collect info. The one we use is RS forms easy to use and develop forms > http://www.rsjoomla.com/

7. Video is good to use on your site and would recommend having your own youtube account. To easily get your video to appear in your articles copy and paste the url which will magically appear thanks to this plugin from ArtCreative > http://www.artcreative.me/Plugins/

8. A simple way to add a pop up to your uploaded images in article is this plugin from ImageSizer > http://www.redim.de/downloads/joomla/plugins/imagesizer-for-joomla-1-6-1-7-2-5-en/

9. Good to share your content with facebook, twitter and a great one from JoomShaper (who also do great templates) is SP Share > http://www.joomshaper.com/joomla/free-extensions/sp-share

10. Also worth considering especially if you want to have a members area is a forum and we use Kunena http://www.kunena.org/download or for a basic one Discussions https://www.codingfish.com/downloads/discussions/1_5

Well that is just a taster and you will find many more on the joomla extension site and please feedback on any ones you are using > http://extensions.joomla.org/

I will do more on extensions as so many great ones out there.

Oh will mention one more it is more for the larger sites but a great one for having a directory on your website. Support is good so take a look at Mosets > http://www.mosets.com/tree/

Oh oh another one to have on your site for events jevents > http://www.jevents.net/

oh oh oh another for document management Docman > ">http://www.joomlatools.com>

Yes must write more about these and throw in some great modules!

As to cost for a joomla site to install yourself its free just your time and patience. Our process start from £100 and we provide training at only £80 for a half-day or £150 for a whole day and we make sure the training is fun and our support is always with a *smile *

Training can be done at your home, office or via skype.

Happy Joomaling!

I do get many questions about websites and after 16 years in web development I can hopefully give some good advice and an idea what it would cost. I hope this is of use

We are always happy to give you advice on creating, developing or upgrading your website. It is not as expensive as you may think and a basic Joomla website from us starts at only £100.

If you want to have a chat fill in our work request / enquiry form or give us a call and we can point you in the right direction. We give you what is best for your web presence needs.

To help with the process here are some questions you should ask.

All cf10ten ltd projects over £200 in value a donation of 10% is given to charities we support in Kenya and Gambia

Starting in the Spring we will be running training courses covering all of the questions below.

Do I need a website address?

Do I need branding?

What do I put on my website?

Do I need social networking?

Do I need to promote my website?

I have a website and hosting can I up grade my website to something more dynamic?

Where do I start?

I have another question?

Do I need a website address?
If you are serious about your business / charity / organisation then the simple answer is Yes. Most people will look for your website as its gives you a 24/7 presence.

£6 - £11 per domain name will cover registration fees for a year but this will cover e-mail address but not normally webspace.

£50 - £75  is required for webspace to host your files that make up your website and will be big enough for small to medium size sites. It will have the ability to host dynamic content management systems like Joomla, Wordpress & Dupal.

£900 is recommended for a large company that may need a dedicated server.

Typically a cost of domain, + webspace would be around £59 a year.
Tip - You can create a free website with Google Sites - Free websites and wikis or  http://www.weebly.com/  Though you will quickly out grow it, its worth a look

Do I need branding?
Simple the answer is Yes. If you are serious about putting your business / presence online then branding is important  which requires getting a name, logo and colour scheme to make it easy for your web development.
We do not cover branding directly but do work closely with  partners who can help and advise.

Also important is your name and if you have not done so, its worth checking with http://namechk.com/ to see if your name has been taken. You will probably see why we went for cf10ten as our company name *smile*

Tip If possible get your own brand google email (gmail) arccount http://mail.google.com/  With the free e-mail you can use these features for free: YouTube, Picasa photo gallery, calendar, documents, maps and stats (google analytics) All of this will integrate into your website and of course save you money.

What do I put on my website?
Basically I always say a website is only as good as its content, so its important you spend some time researching, collating and agreeing what will be  your content. To do it well and to keep it current, you need to dedicate time to keeping it updated. Create the content in a word / google document so it can be copied and pasted into your website.

A basic start would have following pages:
Welcome, About us, Contact us,News (or blog), Links, If applicable photo / video gallery.

With photos / video you need to have copyright permission so take your own photos or commission a photographer. Also ensure the image is not subject to copyright or permission of use.  You can also use YouTube, Flickr, Picasa to host your creative media and easily add to your website.

Other recommendations are a blog which can be set to automatically post to your twitter / facebook page, a feedback / request form and if appropriate features like a forum, members area or a shop.
There is no better time than now to get a website but make sure you allocate time to keep it updated.

Tip: With systems like Joomla its easy to set up various logins so other people can login in and update their section of the website. This takes the  pressure off, and shares the work rather than having just one person keeping the site updated. With Joomla this is achieved front end and is an easy click, edit or paste and save, no technical skills required. Also it can be set up so you just e-mail in your content.

Do I need social networking?
Most definitely- more people follow social network sites like Facebook, twitter, google+, linkedin,YouTube and many more social networking sites ,so its worth the effort in setting up pages, accounts with your brand name.

Tip: With sites like Joomla its easy for the  set up to enable updates from your website automatically then post to the social networks. We can help or use http://twitterfeed.com/

Do I need to promote my website?
Of course there is no magic wand and you will be up against a lot of competition so you need to add appropriate links to your site and get others to add your link. A good step forward is to publish details to forums, social networks and blogs where ever you can.
Make sure you add a meta data description to your website of up to 20 words describing your business. This is what will appear in search engines searches under your web title. Also add a list of keywords, phases to help search engines identify your business.

Tip Get your team, partners, friends talking about your site in person or on the web. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to network and communicate your business.

I have a website and hosting can I up grade my website to something more dynamic?
Yes normally no problem most hosting will support system like Joomla, Wordpress, Dupal so no need to switch accounts. What we do is install along side your old site and then switch when the new site is built and approved making the process stress free.

Where do I start?
Hopefully advice on this page has helped. If you need more advice or would like us to give a quote drop us a line, phone 01380 723698 or fill in our work request form.

I have another question?

If you have a question we have not answered please fill our our question form and we send you the answer and add to this page.

Greetings

Salisbury CathedralWe are please to be able share our demo site with you and show what you can do by simply logging into your joomla site from the front end or by just sending in your updates by e-mail. I always say a website is only as good as its content so its important to keep your site update as often as possible and of course joomla allows you to do this easily without any need for technical skills.

If you drop us an e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it we can set up a login for you to trythe following -

Sending in your articles by e-mail this could be to your news, event, offers page. The subject become the article (pages) title, the body the main content and you can easily add photos and documents.

You can also send in your blog updates by e-mail again able to add links and photos. If you add a full youtube web url it will automatically appear in your page. Blogs are great way to keep your website fresh and of course you can set it up to automatically to publish to facebook, twitter and LinkedIn and of course we can set it up for you.

By logging in you can also edit articles or add new articles with a few clicks of a button. You can also set up articles that only members can see or you could have a subscription page so many options and all easy to do.

We have also put in phoca gallery where you can add photos. It also will link to your facebook, picasa and flickr albums.

It also set up so you can add your favourite linksl from the members menu which will appear when you login as will the secret area *smile* drop and e-mail to c This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text82422 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Greetings

This is a blog sent to my demo website via an e-mail. You may ask why?? Well basically I had a cf10ten customer who wanted to have the ability to send in updates to their joomla website from either their iphone or by e-mail and for it to also sent out to their facebook and twitter account. My customer will be off around the world and wanted to be able to update his website while away via iphone or a wireless internet connection. I always like a challenge *smile*

I like to use easyblog in my joomla websites and with some help from stackideas (great support) I was able to set up the ability to send in via e-mail and a word in the subject would trigger a blog upload. With iphone you can set up a cloud e-mail mine is called This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so that was easy next task was to send out to facebook and twitter I did this through twitterfeed but numerous options as joomla will provide a RSS feed to your articles / blogs.

So I had to test and I went up on Cherhill which is not too far away and sent in a blog entry via cloud e-mail.  You can send in photos as well which will be re-sized with a mouse over. So a happy customer who will be able to update as and when it also means anywhere in the world (within reason *smile*) I can pass on this method to other customers who want to keep their website updated via e-mail. We can already set up so articles can be updated via e-mail so pleased blogs can be done this way as well.

A blog is good for a website as this will give you more pages and better ranking with keywords on search engines. So from one website you can update your website > blog > twiter > facebook > linkedIn and many other sites via a simple e-mail giving you a good profile *smile*

As I was up at Cherhill I thought I would take a few HDR photos (bracketed) its something you can do with most cameras though a lot easier with a digital SLR. It will be one of the many courses we will be putting on next year to allow you to be more creative and have fun with your camera both stills and video *smile*

Happy clicking and joomlal *smile*

http://test16.cf10ten.org.uk/

We often get asked about how easy is it to update a joomla website so we have put together a demo site so you can log in and see how to edit and add new articles. All you have to do is send an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and follow the link that is sent to you with your login and password. Its worth watching the video on the front of the demo website or from the link below. You will see how you can have a members area and learn to edit, add articles and video links. I will add further features and tutorials like how to add documents how to add images.  Please free to edit and have a play you cannot break it and I will clean up old articles.

A website is only as good as its content what we normally do is set up your website and you concentrate on the content. It can be set up so you e-mail in your new articles and it can publish to your facebook and twitter accounts. By being able to log into your website from the front end makes it easier to get the information on your website. 

Demo joomla website > http://test16.cf10ten.org.uk/

I hope this demo site helps you get an understanding of how joomla works and how easy it is to edit and develop your website.

Happy joomaling *smile*

We do like to support charities & communities projects here and in Africa. Charities & Community projects are welcome to use photos by cf10ten or Chris Franklin for free all we ask is for an acknowledgement. If you follow on facebook you will find many photos old & new.

We are involved with various charities here and in Africa donating skills and time mainly around building websites for free with joomla. It gives the charity achance to promote its good work and show where the money goes.

We also collect old digital cameras and send to Kenya / Gambia so the children and staff can capture their moments in time. These photo's were taken by Billy in Watamu, Kenya today and sent to me so I can pass on as a thank-you. We attended the Devizes Tennis Club Christmas social last Friday who collected £120 for the charity as a thank-you for work supporting the community tennis  club. So I was pleased that I could ask today for a photo of Harrison a child we support at the orphanage who at the age of 4 is taking up tennis.

Not my photo but one we are responsible for. Its so rewarding knowing you can make a difference and as always a photos says more than words...The charity is the Children of Watamu & the project is the Happy House orphanage its well taking a look and see if you can help with donating time or money.

http://www.childrenofwatamu.net/