For parts of July and August Packawhallop will be in in the shop rearchitecting and reprogramming are first product, Webfiles.

Webfiles is a brain-dead easy to use tool to list files in a folder. Apache, the great open source web server software, will do this… but not so prettily. That’s a problem for the web designers, who spend a lot of time crafting great looking web sites, and that’s a problem for users, who understandably get a bit confused when they move from a nice looking, well laid out page to a spare directory index. mod_autoindex does a better job, but there’s a lack of control there too.

Why not use FTP? Well, you’d be surprised at how many users don’t “get” FTP. That’s not a problem with users - that’s a problem with the tech. We’re all using HTTP these days versus Gopher, afterwall.

Webfiles does some other things too - there’s a Perl, Python and a PHP version, so it’s basically web-server agnostic; there’s a password-protection feature; there are pretty, built in icons so that, for example, an MS Word file looks like a MS Word icon. All of this stuff is important. But we’re getting ready to do better.

Planned features and our goals for version 2.0 - modest:

1. Rewrite the Perl, PHP and Python versions.
2. Web-based interface for adding and managing files. Version 1.0 requires that the administrator use FTP to build the files to be listed.
3. Simple templating system - up to the Packawhallop design shop.
4. An iPhone interface.
5. Administrivia: Whether to open source it, which changes the business model for Packwhallop in part from a company building and selling software to a company building software and selling services to set up, maintain and enhance that software. TBD.

That’s it. Stay tuned. Great things are on the way!

Oh, existing users of Webfiles will get a free upgrade when the new version’s done.

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Simple, focused, direct solutions are usually the best. Not surprisigingly Packawhallop internally are a UNIX shop (Mac OS X, Debian and CentOS). That said setting up a system to cache our content from social networking tools was simple. Here’s how we do it:

1. A simple Perl script runs in cron and periodically imports data from the online services. Usually these are RSS feeds. Almost all require a rudimentary knowledge of curl.
2. If data are new or updated it goes into the cache. If not, then forget about it. We already know about the data because we’ve got it.
3. A simple PHP script on the Packawhallop site queries the database and draws the cached data on the page you’re viewing.

Simple!

Questions and answer session:

• Why use the social networking tools at all? Tools like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. are about networking. For a business - and Packawhallop isn’t Wal*Mart-sized - maximizing our communication and marketing efforts is kind of important. It’s the same for all our clients!
• Perl? Yes, Perl. Perl is excellent for backend processing - much better than PHP, which itself is excellent for rendering dynamic web pages. And when it comes it IT at Packawhallop our developers are multilingual.
• Isn’t Perl dead? Err, no. If you think so… you don’t know what you’re talking about.
• PostgreSQL? Yes. The cache a.k.a. database is written in it. PostgreSQL is an excellent open source software - one of a number of great open source databases softwares web developers nervous about Oracle’s acquisition of Sun and MySQL might want to learn. Also, PostgreSQL’s mascot is a pachyderm, and at Packawhallop we’re understandably a little partial to pachyderms. (But we like dolphins as well!)

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The reality of using online services for marketing and outreach, all these social networking tools, is sometimes the service will go offline. Often this downtime is for maintenance. Sometimes it’s “unplanned”, i.e. something breaks on the servers hosting the social networking tool or something breaks on the network between your web browser and the server or data center where the tool is hosted.

We thought about this when we designed the Packawhallop web site to use social networking tools for content management. And rather than just talk about the tools we do believe it’s good to use them ourselves, as an integral part of the business’ communication and outreach. It’s what we recommend to clients! While we’re  excited about the tools we are pragmatic, and like most organizations with a web site we want to design our information systems in such a way that users don’t see blank pages - ever.

The solution: We designed a database management system to “cache” data from the online services we’re using: Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook - there’ll be more. Cache is a technical word for, well, save in a database. The better services provide APIs to make getting data reasonably easy. And while some services send data we don’t really care about (for example, Twitter sends its 140 character tweet in the title and in the description namespaces), once we’ve got the data cached we can do what we want with it. Access to and control over our own content is important.

Another benefit the Packawhallop designers want me to point out: Flexibility of presentation (presentation = design): We can use social networking tools without in the end having a web site looking like a blog. How many web sites have you seen that look like WordPress templates? They are WordPress templates!

So, a number of reasons to use the online social networking tools and cache the data. Here’s how we do it:

1. A simple Perl script runs in cron and periodically imports data from the online services. Usually these are RSS feeds. Almost all require a rudimentary knowledge of curl.
2. If data are new or updated it goes into the cache. If not, then forget about it. We already know about the data because we’ve got it.
3. A simple PHP script on the Packawhallop site queries the database and draws the cached data on the page you’re viewing.

Easy!

Questions:

• Why use the social networking tools at all? Tools like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. are about networking. For a business - and Packawhallop isn’t Wal*Mart-sized - maximizing our communication and marketing efforts is kind of important. It’s the same for all our clients!
• Perl? Yes, Perl. Perl is excellent for backend processing - much better than PHP, which itself is excellent for rendering dynamic web pages. And at Packawhallop we’re multilingual.
• Isn’t Perl dead? Err, no. If you think so you don’t know what you’re talking about.
• PostgreSQL? Yes. The cache a.k.a. database is written in it. PostgreSQL is an excellent open source software - one of a number of great open source databases softwares web developers nervous about Oracle’s acquisition of Sun and MySQL might want to learn. Also, PostgreSQL’s mascot is a pachyderm, and at Packawhallop we’re understandably a little partial to pachyderms. (But we like dolphins as well!)

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After a couple revisions of the Packawhallop web site (www.packawhallop.com) Gordon and I decided to manage all the content we could using social networking tools, like Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. The question: Why?

Two reasons:

1. Social networking is really useful for making connections. For Packawhallop, as a hosting and software products developer, that’s particularly compelling: We do want to get the word out about the great things we’re doing, and we want to share the great things our customers, friends, colleagues and even peers are doing too. But, although we’re growing soon, Packawhallop right now is a two person shop. Social networking maximizes our marketing and outreach efforts.
2. Social networking tools rely on centralized data management systems. Sure, most (the better tools) have API’s for data aggregation, but Twitter.com is serving Tweets, Tumblr.com is serving blogs, Facebook.com is serving networkings, etc. Centralizing the database means there’s a single point-of-failure. If Twitter.com goes offline so do your tweets. So, Gordon and I wanted to use Packawhallop as a guinea pig to see how robust these tools really are.

Stay tuned for the follow up blogs to this entry: Part 2 weighs enthusiasm (hey, it’s ours too!) for shiny new tools with anxiety about reliability and control; Part 3 discusses architecture and implementation. Hey, it’s one thing to say you use x tool. It’s another to actually use it - in your own web site!

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exăgoMD is a health care advisory, focused on improving physician leadership effectiveness. Gordon Holman at SlickFish Studios worked with Stephen Blattner, MD, MBA, to design the site and Dr. Blattner's Health Care Leadership Blog: http://www.healthcareleadershipblog.com/. exăgoMD and the Health Care Leadership Blog are hosted by Packawhallop. hide

Eclipse Media Group a full-service niche public relations firm specializing in the distinctive needs of companies in the physical security market. Gordon Holman / SlickFish Studios designed the site with enabling tools to allow Eclipse to manage their own press releases - no-brainer for a PR firm. Packawhallop hosts the site, email, database and all content. hide

Sam Allen Photography makes fine dog portraits. Based in Portland, Maine you do need to check out the portfolio section of the web site. Great pictures! Gordon Holman and SlickFish Studios designed the site. Packawhallop hosts it. hide

Print, web, brand, multimedia design and fine art photgraphy and painting: Arielle Blattner is a Packwhallop hosting customer. Check out the portfolios. hide

Salt is a place where professionals from a variety of disciplines work together to promote and advance the field of documentary studies. Gordon Holman / SlickFish Studios and Jim Cradock / Yellahoose built the Salt web site, relaunched in Fall 2008 using customer design and development and a few Packawhallop products (Blueprint). Jim and Gordon continue to work with Salt to build on their great content and their great web site. hide

Packawhallop hosting customer Porter Drywall is a professional drywall company servicing commercial and residential clients throughout the State of Maine. It the only company in Maine able to provide 100% employee based labor (no 1099's / independent subcontractors) for the entire spectrum of the trade. Gordon Holman / SlickFish Studios designed the great looking site enabling Porter Drywall to showcase its diverse work. hide

Coming soon (and we're very excited about this site): LakesofMaine.org delivers valuable information, including depth and water quality, about Maine lakes and ponds to homeowners, town managers, researchers and students. The site's being developed by the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research at the Univertsity of Maine. Jim Cradock and Yellahoose are IT project leads. Packawhallop will host the web site and data. Stay tuned! hide

The Nordic Heritage Center promotes healthy outdoor recreation and economic vitality in Central Aroostook County by providing first-class facilities and programs to area residents, athletes, and visitors. NHC are a Packwhallop hosting customer, and Gordon Holman and SlickFish Studios manage their web site design needs. hide

Jim Cradock is co-owner of Packwhallop, and Yellahoose is the IT consulting (programming, project management, server sysadmin) business he runs from the heart of Portland, Maine's Arts District. Yellahoose's office is known amongst Packawhallopers as Packawhallop West. hide

SlickFish Studios, LLC is a highly creative web design and flash animation studio located in the historic Old Port of Portland, Maine. SlickFish is owned and operated by Gordon Holman who also happens to be co-owner of Packawhallop. Both SlickFish and Packawhallop focus on making the W's a better looking/better functioning place to be. hide

The Council is a Packawhallop customer: It uses Webfiles to distribute documents to Councilors in the U.S. and Canada - only a web browser's required. Jim Cradock and Yellahoose provide information technology consulting (programming, web development, database and UNIX server administration and project management) services as well. hide

UMRLAC (pronounced UM-rah-lack by UMRLAC-ers) serves as the area's advisory board on its designation in the NH Rivers Management and Protection Program and conducts a variety of projects and programs in the upper Merrimack watershed. UMRLAC uses Packawhallop's Webfiles product to share the organization's internal and public documents. hide

Packawhallop hosts Maine Winter Center. The Center's mission is to create a model for the sustainability of rural communities through a skiing lifestyle. Gordon Holman and SlickFish Studios are designed and maintains the site and helps identify new features and functions. hide

Not only did Packawhallop grand vezirs Gordon Holman and Jim Cradock design and build the Museum's web site, Packawhallop contributed several of its products, including Meta and Blueprint, to the Museum. Packawhallop hosts the site and its database management system too! hide

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