Kourou - content management platform

2012-05-09T15:24:00.000+01:00

All quiet on the western front as far as new sites are concerned - or is it? In fact there are a few Kourou powered sites bubbling away getting very close to release, so watch this space over the next few weeks to see how they worked out!

Zonta Club of Guildford

2012-04-04T10:35:00.001+01:00

The Zonta Club of Guildford is a local branch of Zonta, a global organisation of executives and professionals working together to advance the status of women worldwide through service and advocacy.

The website is an intentionally minimalist Kourou design, with a few elements subtly animated with Flash, and using a database-driven calendar to promote future events for the club.

Amplify Presentations

2012-01-13T13:51:00.001Z

Amplify Presentations needed a website, and Kourou was the ideal implementation platform. The slightly quirky visual design was outsourced to an external designer, but we were able to implement it in full.

The site uses some quite interesting plug-ins in places to achieve the desired effect, but the customer is delighted and with a minimal amount of training is fully able to maintain the site for himself.

Remote FTP publishing

2011-12-03T12:14:00.001Z

Announcing the latest new feature in Kourou: remote FTP publishing!

Some customers' pre-existing webspace is very basic, not supporting "advanced" features like PHP, Perl etc that modern websites increasingly need to work efficiently. So we are pleased to announce that Goznet Systems' Kourou content management platform now supports remote FTP publishing.

Basically this means that you can have a fully content-managed Kourou-based website even if your webspace doesn't directly support it. You simply maintain your website at a special private address, and then click Remote publish in the Kourou toolbar to send the updates to your actual website via FTP.

There are a few limitations still. In particular this does mean your website should not rely on any special dynamic functions like searching or contact forms, but even so, this new feature opens the realm of possibilities enabled by Kourou to even the most simple webspace. Features like Google Maps, Flash and so on are all potentially supported, so there is still plenty of scope for highly interactive websites!

Introducing geebiz

2011-10-18T18:29:00.002+01:00

Want to get on to the web, but a full-blown website (even with Kourou's easy-to-use content management) is a bit too much to get your head around right now? Well it could be that geebiz is right up your street! It's a new service allowing anyone to create a simple but stylish web-page for their business, including eye-catching banner graphics and the ability to tweak the colours and fonts to your heart's content. Needless to say, as part of Goznet Systems' coordinated product range, your geebiz site can easily be upgraded to full-blown Kourou at any time and at very competitive additional cost.

As a special bonus, because geebiz is still in its beta-testing phase, sign up now and when you're ready to publish, then subject to approval, you can get your web-page up on the web and visible to your future clients absolutely free - and if you can provide any useful feedback to us, that could even be free forever!

Farnham foodbank website updated

2011-10-05T18:10:00.001+01:00

We've just updated the successful Farnham foodbank website to closely follow the brand new design guidelines from the charity's parent organisation. In line with current best practice, the Kourou-based site is now optimised for wider displays, with the main content occupying the industry standard 960 pixel width.

Farnham foodbank as an organisation has got off to a great first year, providing emergency food parcels to well over 200 needy people in the area. It's part of a nationwide network of similar foodbanks, under the oversight of the Trussell Trust.

Samantha-Jayne

2011-08-19T16:08:00.003+01:00

Not so much action on the Kourou front for a little while, but Goznet Systems has been busy working on other projects. We recently rolled out a significant update to the Tracey Lawson Dressage website to convert it from a Microsoft Publisher project that only really played nicely with Internet Explorer, and have a couple more websites (one Kourou-based, one not) just waiting for client approval. One major Kourou release however was the site for Samantha-Jayne, a new saxophonist operating in the UK midlands and beyond.

One of the distinctive features of the site is the bespoke Flash-based media player as depicted in the screenshot above, which displays a gently-animated slideshow to accompany Samantha-Jayne's example tracks, inspired by the "radio" player on the popular Last.fm music website.

Novelty/complexity model

2011-06-14T17:25:00.004+01:00

This isn't quite so obviously Kourou, but it's a little web application for AJP Consulting going live any time now that employs some of the modular elements of it. This is why we call Kourou a content management platform, rather than system - it's a loose collection of technology that can come together in many forms, from individual bits of handy functionality able to be dropped in to independently managed websites, to complete ground-up site designs.

The web application collects a number of responses about a project from the registered user, which are then analysed to determine the novelty and complexity of the project, to recommend further reading, and to generate a reference PDF containing all of the above in a handy print-off-and-keep format.

In this case, the quickform element of Kourou is used in the admin interface, significantly accelerating what could otherwise have been a very laborious and error-prone development process for something not directly visible to the visiting users.

Search rankings

2011-06-10T15:47:00.001+01:00

Hey, it's surely at least a little bit exciting to see that this new blog is doing great in the search rankings! At the time of writing, we're #9 on Google worldwide, #1 on Google UK, #5 on Bing and #1 on Ask Jeeves UK. That's when searching for kourou as a term in itself, admittedly (rather than best content management platform for example), but that's still a bit cool, right?

SFM Project Management

2011-06-09T18:00:00.000+01:00

Another new site for an existing client, SFM Project Management offers services to self-builders. Text content, titles and so on were all defined by a friend of the client.

As Kourou sites go, it's pretty straightforward, not employing any particularly fancy features or plug-ins, but that reflected in the speed of design and implementation - and therefore the overall cost to the client.

Highshot Events

2011-05-09T17:00:00.008+01:00

Produced to support a new venture for an existing client, Highshot Events promotes a clay pigeon shooting business. Based at the upmarket Groomes hotel in rural Hampshire but also offering a quality mobile service, Highshot Events needed a website that was, in the words of the client, "calming, inviting and exciting" and consistent with the country/rural feel of both the hotel and the business. We hope you'll agree we've succeeded!

We'll be honest and admit we're not the biggest fans of Flash, since it can make websites slow, fiddly and unreliable to use. However used judiciously it can enhance some sites, with Flash being used for the fancy slideshows at the foot of many of the pages on this one. We also use Goznet Systems' proven square_thumb_gallery on the site, making it easy to add stylish browsable photos into the mix.

Farnham Conservative Club

2011-03-29T15:00:00.004+01:00

Farnham Conservative Club needed to move with the times and get themselves on to the web, and Kourou proved the ideal system to help them do so. The website uses various photographs - some provided by the client and some taken by Goznet Systems during a guided tour of the premises. An interesting feature of the website is the sidebar menu, including an option for special events, with everything easily updated by the client.

Sprockets & Sockets

2011-03-18T09:00:00.009Z

Sprockets & Sockets is a simple website created using the Kourou system to promote a new motorcycle maintenance business. Produced to a tight budget and timescale, the site remains stylish and individual, keeping the look and feel of the business stationery that the client had already had produced. The website also hooks into Google's popular mapping service for showing the location of the client's workshop.

Aylesbury Sailing Club

2011-02-15T12:56:00.003Z

Aylesbury Sailing Club had a website before, but it was more or less impossible to maintain - which might have been all right had it not been rather dated-looking. Kourou came to the rescue with a no-nonsense design template and easy-to-update information and photo galleries throughout. There is also a login-based members' area, and linkage into event results generated by the Sailwave software the club uses.

FotoShotz Photography

2011-02-07T12:50:00.000Z

Live this evening is FotoShotz Photography, promoting a team of talented photographers based in the West Midlands. The site looks quite different from any other Kourou-based site to date, but remains underpinned by the dependability and ease of editing the content management platform provides.

The Urbanist

2011-01-18T12:49:00.001Z

Gone live today is the website for top airbrush artist The Urbanist, to coincide with his appearance on ITV's Daybreak alongside Adrian Chiles, Christine Bleakley and special guests Katie Waissel and Paije Richardson from the X Factor.

Roda Golf Holiday Lets

2010-12-02T12:44:00.002Z

Roda Golf Holiday Lets website rolled out live today. Content and SEO by a friend of the client, but all design and implementation by Goznet Systems. Kourou does the business yet again, including the first outing for the funky new square_thumb_gallery quick and easy photo gallery plug-in.

MAN with MOWER

2010-09-24T12:39:00.000+01:00

Put those stripes back on your lawn with the help of MAN with MOWER - yet another quick win for the Kourou content management platform!

Billy Fincham

2010-07-30T12:34:00.003+01:00

Billy Fincham is a top football freestyler, and needed to get on the web quickly but in style. We were able to deliver, thanks to Kourou, with a simple but distinctive looking website including extensive use of photos and video.

Arthur Boustead Building and Joinery

2010-07-26T12:32:00.000+01:00

Arthur Boustead Building and Joinery is a brand new Kourou-based website, structurally very simple and created to a tight budget, but still looking good and functionally rich with an intentionally "retro" feel.

Top Dog Workshops

2010-04-08T12:25:00.001+01:00

We are pleased to announce the launch this evening of the new-look Top Dog Workshops site, created in conjunction with local graphic designer mellowdesign.

My Body In Mind

2010-04-01T12:17:00.001+01:00

Earlier this afternoon, the My Body In Mind website went live. This was a fast turnaround design and implementation to a fairly tight budget. The client is delighted!

Springflower Animal Sanctuary

2009-12-22T12:13:00.002Z

Today Goznet Systems rolled out the new website for Springflower Animal Sanctuary, a local non-profit organisation devoted to rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing animals in need. Please do support Rochelle and her team in their valuable work!

Although quite simple, the website makes extensive use of custom Kourou plug-ins, such as the fun menu animals and the fancy fund-raising thermometer device.