Our Work
A few projects we’re especially proud of
National Geographic Events
Events showcases the wide range of public programs, including exhibits, speaker series, films, concerts and special events put on by National Geographic.
For many of the content producers on the site, this was their first experience with Django, or even working with a live database-backed web administration tool. We worked with them to reshape their ideas about how they would manage content on the site and create database models to suit their needs. The end result is a very flexible content management system that seemlessly displays local content in a number of different formats as well as linking out to external pre-existing content when needed.
Roles
- Django development
- Integration of static HTML/CSS/JavaScript provided by client
- Deployment support
News21 Newsroom
News21 is a Knight Foundation funded initiative to innovate and experiment with new ways to deliver in-depth and investigative reporting online.
They had done considerable development by the time they approached us, but were looking for some more firepower and a fresh perspective on the problem. We worked with them through several iterations, converting their ideas into functional code and consulting with them on the best way to handle complex site interactions. During our time on the project, it evolved into a social site built on top of Django and the Pinax platform utilizing the geospatial features of GeoDjango. The code is open-source and available on Google Code as django-newsroom.
Roles
- Technical Consulting (best practices, development techniques, etc.)
- Django development
- jQuery development
- User Interface design for the site administration
Navy & Lavender
Navy & Lavender is an online store focusing on fine gifts and favors for weddings and other special occasions. Sprout Creative approached us to build a full-featured e-commerce site using their design and static HTML/CSS. The site is built on the shoulders of a number of open source Django applications and Satchmo.
Roles
- Django development (Satchmo customization)
- Integration of static HTML/CSS provided by client
- Deployment
Green Effect
Green Effect was a contest sponsored by Sun Chips® and National Geographic to find the most compelling ideas for green environmental change. Five winners were selected and each given $20,000 to implement their idea.
We were in charge of building the site based on their wireframes and design mockups. From authentication to video encoding, several existing platforms and APIs were leveraged for core site functionality. Due to the high traffic received during the voting process, we tuned the code so that most pages could be rendered either directly from the cache or with only one query to the database.
Roles
- Django development
- Front-end (HTML/CSS/JavaScript) development
- Deployment support
- Scaling/Optimization
PBS Digital Learning Library
Digital Learning Library is a way for local PBS stations to share digital content amongst each other. After starting life as a customzied version of Alfresco (an open source Java CMS), it’s complex and confusing interface needed an overhaul to be functional for the end-user.
We were tasked with creating a more user-friendly layout and then implementing it as a front-end to the existing CMS using it’s web service APIs. jQuery was used extensively for AJAX calls to make the application more “desktop-like” as well as allow for quick page loading by having slower elements load after the page has been rendered. The project is currently under development.
Roles
- User Interface Design
- Django development
- Alfresco API Integration
- AJAX framework built on top of jQuery
- Front-end Development (HTML/CSS)
PBS TeacherLine Capstones Program
PBS Teacherline’s Capstones Program is an online service used to train and certify teachers against various standard sets. The certification process involved very complex workflows each with its own minor variations. We built an extensive test suite around the workflows to verify proper functionality.
Roles
- Django development
- Front-end (HTML/CSS/JavaScript) integration based on existing framework
Our Experience
We’ve been doing this for years
We’ve built websites for big enterprises, small start-ups, design firms, Knight Foundation winners, non-profit organizations and just about everything in-between. Our expertise is in the Python programming language, and more specifically, the Django Web framework. Many of our developers have been working with Django from the day it was open-sourced and we are all active in the Django community either via blogging, releasing code, fixing bugs or monetary donations. Participation in the Django community is a requisite for our team, a core value, and something we believe has led to our success.
Through our years of experience in Django, we’ve seen most of the common pitfalls and know how to avoid them. This wisdom allows us to deliver great code that is well-documented, thoroughly tested, and easily maintained.