Custom Applications. All the capabilities we've listed so far are considered standard, so much so that we've built website applications to make these features easy to add to any Newfangled site. But sometimes clients have an idea that's unique to their needs. While not exactly plug and play, these custom applications usually use enough pieces from our existing standard applications to minimize the cost of custom application development.

For example, check out the PlanUSA village feature (click "visit now" once you get there). We built this section of their site using custom art work, and popular AJAX techniques. The village map scrolls just like Google Maps. The map can be zoomed and icons representing village children, adults, village scenes, and Plan activities can be toggled on and off the map. Clicking these icons pulls up details including photo galleries and video clips from the actual village in Africa.

Not only is this a really cool site feature, the administrative interface allows PlanUSA staff to add and update the various people and activities in the village. We built a custom administrative interface that uses a visual map picker to define where new village element icons should be displayed. While we're not at liberty to say how much a system like this cost to build, suffice it to say that it's hardly out of reach for a business with an adequately funded website budget.


It really is a joy to be able to exceed the typical website proposal's expected requirements. Certainly this is a better situation than having to educate clients that their expectations are way too high. In the end, when a website includes many of the capabilities mentioned in this newsletter, clients are extremely satisfied with the performance of their websites. And that's a good thing.