When contacted by Valley County resident, Richard Holm, to help make his book on Payette National Forest fire lookouts a reality, it sounded like an interesting job, and it was. (That’s one thing about my business: you are always learning all these obscure bits of specialized information on a wide range of industries and disciplines.)

His book is now going to press, complete with over 200 contemporary and historic images and looks to be the conclusive guide and history on topic. He’s a meticulous and careful researcher and reviewer and pleasure to work with. And I guess it’s mutual, as his last note to me reads, “Thank you again for all of your help. It has been great.”

I’ll link to the book from this page as soon as it’s available. And though I’m sure he needs a breather after the several years he spend researching, compiling, writing, etc., I hope this is the first of several by Mr. Holm.

[Ed: updated 29 Aug. 2009 with link to book]

Besides looking dated, the functionality was just not there for the group members. Similar content spread over separate pages, lot of static information just sitting there doing nothing.

So the BoiseMacs site got a full redesign and complete integration with the latest and greatest WordPress release. It’s due. Now we can stand with the best of the MUG websites knowing we’re serving our membership and interested parties.

How about your group or nonprofit’s site? Is it in need of some work? You don’t have to break the bank. Ask what CFDS can do for your website, while fitting within your budget.

I enjoyed getting to know her as we worked through just what she wanted her site to present. She wanted simplicity and a certain palette. Her web site meets all her requirements. And I knew just what I wanted to capture when I took the product photos for her site (visible in the slideshow on her home page). She was knocked out by them; called them “beautiful and compelling”; made my day.

They contacted CFDS with a common problem: their current site was a bit disorganized (since they’d grown and expanded in several areas since their first website was built) and the design itself was not really reflective of their “brand” or their style — the impression they wished to convey to their prospective clients.

We carefully reviewed the content provided, developed a palette more in keeping with their name, created a logo, and structured a site that allows for fast and easy navigation for visitors. The images we obtained convey the ease and comfort and well-being that Clearwater Day Spa seeks to provide.

Their response? “We all loved it! We thought you did a wonderful job.”

We were very pleased she chose CFDS to create her website. Top criteria were a spare look and the ability to administer her site herself — easily, so it wasn’t a chore to add or edit artwork displayed on her website. Theresa has declared that the site is just what she’d hoped for. We couldn’t be happier.

We appreciate our relationship with Humphreys Diabetes Center, further enhancements coming down the road, enabling them to reach and communicate with the people they care about.

But now Patti would like to get more involved in adding content all the time, whenever she wants, so we took her site and — though it looks just the same — set it up with a CMS so she can edit pages at will. Plus, she has an all-important news page, so those wondering what this Idaho writer (assignments from the NY Times and Sun Valley Magazine, among others) is doing can keep up with her. (Though, as busy as she is, I think anyone would have trouble keeping up with her!)

One key request was a way to include a lot more informative material. They’ve been practicing, both of them, since around 1990 (he 1989, she 1991) and have a wealth of knowledge. We crafted an easily browsed Q&A area so that visitors can spot items of interest.

Other services included the creation of a brief Flash tour of their office and layout of a fill-in version of their new patient form.

They’ve been very happy with their improved Google search statistics since the redesign.

The site is at chineseacu.com.

We worked up a couple of approaches and now her site displays a rich palette of deep green, velvety gold, and royal purple, with a rich cream background for the content area.

Prospective clients can write to her about specific pieces of art, and she can update her site’s content and inventory at any time through her personal administration area.

The site is at mooreportraits.com.

CFDS was approached when the board realized their current site was visually and technically out of date and not meeting their needs in fostering communication between officers and members and prospective members.

We built a members area for self-administration of members’ contact information and a custom administrative area for adding members and their project details and upcoming news and events.

The site is at iscpm.org.

This project encompassed the complete redesign of an existing site which had become “overgrown” and was difficult to administer. The new site is based on a personalized WordPress installation with an add-on self-administered gallery area with opportunities to search by both time and theme.

The site is at idahofca.org.