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Web Design

Thomas Multimedia is all about web design. But why should you choose us?

So many new websites popup every day that having something special to set your site apart from the crowd is essential. At last estimate, there were close to 160 MILLION INDIVIDUAL WEBSITES†!

Everyone seeks something different from the internet. Thomas Multimedia web services has the experience and the knowledge to find the right solution for you. Whichever fish you are (or would like to be) in the picture, we can cater to your needs!

• Design & Development: It may surprise some to learn that website creation is typically broken into two areas - design and development. Design relates to the visual aspects, while Development is what makes it all work. While this is typically an excuse for web companies to charge extra for "two different services", we believe in calling a website a website!
• Quality of Work: We take great pride in delivering standards compliant websites that are built with the utmost precision. From the outside, you might not always see whether a website has been built properly or not. But it is fundamentally important that a website is coded properly, in terms of accessibility, future updates, and search engine placement - and alot of "web developers" have no idea!
• Practicality: It is all too common for a web design company to bombard a customer with industry jargon... we will tell you the stuff you really need to know - while communicating at whatever level you are comfortable with - nothing more, nothing less.
• Technology: We build sites utlising the most up-to-date and practical technology available. After we have built your site, any reputable web designer/developer will be able to build upon and modify our existing work with ease. For example if you wish to later add an additional page, updating your entire site navigation is as easy as changing 1 file! After all its always nice when things are made easy!
  -> read our blog article regarding server side includes
• Content Management: What good is a website if you have no control over it? Most people don't want to pay an hourly rate everytime they want some simple updates performed on their website. And yet with a standard website, unless you are savvy with HTML, uploading and download of files and web-editing software, it is basically impossible to DIY. So at Thomas Multimedia, you choose your own level of involvement. If you want to control every aspect of your web site then great - we will build your website with complete control in mind. Having said that, if you want to leave the updating of your site in the hands of trained professionals, we are more than happy to accommodate. It all comes down to what you want!
• Reliable Web Hosting: We use the same servers to host thomasmultimedia.com.au that we place client sites on. This is a sign of faith that we are using the very best reliable web hosts available. Our servers are located in a state-of-the-art datacenter in Brisbane, Australia. Being connected directly into the major international internet backbone means your site will be super-fast, and super-reliable!
• Experience: As discussed in the Thomas Multimedia web design blog, there is a prevalence of companies offering web design services with a a total lack of ability. But there is no substitute for a professional developed website. It is comparable to the foundations of a house. If you build on a sand dune, then you can expect that sooner or later, the whole lot will tumble down.
• Complete Solutions: Starting a website means more than just creating in. There is hosting and domain registration to think about. We are extremely familiar with the process of starting a website, and can have you up and running at the earliest possible opportunity. We can handle every aspect of website creation, you don't have to deal with multiple companies.

Types of Web Services Offered

Database Driven Website

For a website that plans to store volumes of information in an organised and coherent manner, a database is essential! The real beauty of a database driven website is the opportunity to hand the reigns over to the you, the client rather than being reliant on a professional to peform sometimes tedious updates.

Consider this hypothetical situation:
A company has 10 products that it currently advertises on its website. 3 years ago they hired a web professional to create them a basic website which works, but is expensive to keep up to date whenever their supplier releases a newer version of the same product, or when they wish to add new products as they become available.

This is where the power of a database can be realised. While 10 products in a small number of entries for a database, keep in mind each item can contain an infinite amount of unique supporting information. Jump ahead - the site has been modified to be fed by a database. The client can now create, edit and delete products with a few keystrokes... no need for ongoing expensive maintanence! They have a unique control panel which can be accessed 24/7 from any computer in the world, which allows them to instantly keep their product information current.

Static Website

While a database driven website is exclusively useful for maintaining large volumes of potentially changing information, sometimes a static website is sufficient to convey your message. If you consider the Thomas Multimedia website for example, besides our web design blog, we have no need for a database to get our information across. We do however have the unique advantage of changing the internet for a living, so its not a big deal for us to change our site.

A static website is a great starting point to getting your web presense started, and in many cases may be everything you'll ever need!

Web Applications

Any web developer who convinces you they need to build a custom solution for any requirement is probably pulling your leg. The reality is the wheel does not have to be reinvented every time! Web applications are built, sold and distributed in ever-growing numbers.

Think of a web application the same way you think of a Windows or Macintosh application. It is a program that is built for a purpose. Unlike most offline applications to date, a web application can be usually be (at least) visually customised to fit the theme of your site.

Web applications have a massive scope from live chat consoles to auction systems to blog writing to forums.

The main concern when using web applications are the licensing agreements. Some are free, others are not. Some can be customised, others can not. Below is an overview of the types of web applications that can be extremely useful to your web needs.

Licensed Web Applications

The majority of web applications are licenced and copyrighted. Commonly you pay a once-off fee to purchase the product, the "source-code" is downloaded, and you are entitled to use it on your site. Products have a varying level of support, which sometimes can come at an additional charge, although the majority of web applications have a support forum for customers.

Thomas Multimedia has built several web applications that can be applied to many business types, including booking software, content management system, auction software and email marketing software. Take a look at our web software page for more information.

Open Source Web Applications

One of the most exciting innovations of the internet is open-source technology. You may encounter these types of sites every day without realising that they are built on the same platform as millions of other sites. The beauty of open source web applications is that they are FREE to download, change, and use for any means, but also the whole world can contribute to their ongoing development!

Some spectacular open source programs we can setup on your site include:

• WordPress - The blogging application taking the blog world by storm
• PHPBB2 - A forum application that is powerful and easy to use
• osCommerce - Complete shopping cart based e-commerce application
• Zen Cart - A spin off of osCommerce, Zen Cart is a fantastic online shop program

The sheer volume of people who actively develop open-source web software guarantees that its fairly easy to use. Having said that it still requires significant knowledge to install, setup and customise. If you want to setup a blog or forum on your website, we can professionally install these FREE applications (at an hourly rate), which inevitably will save you hundreds of dollars in development.

Pricing

The internet is no exception to the age old cliche - "you get what you pay for"

We enjoy to work with a variety of clients from large organisations to small business and hobbyists. With this is mind, we have created a highly competitive pricing outline;

• Very short term jobs approx. 2-10 hours (eg. installation of software, basic website maintanence) $77 per hour
• Medium term jobs 11-50 hours $66 per hour
• Long term jobs negotiable

* all prices include GST

Please note the above prices are an outline only. Fixed priced quotes are available for most types of jobs so that you may work within a budget. Please direct any enquiries you may have to our contact us page.

We can offer you an obligation free estimate on any requirement you may have. You may be surprised just how quickly things can get done when we have a good brief to work with.

† Source: February 2008 Web Survey - NetCraft.com