Dogbark.com >> good stuff
>> software for your site
You'll find a wide variety of packages and services below, from blog software to automated site maintenance. The one common denominator is that it enhances your website. In the interest of full disclosure, we won't make one penny if you use anything below, except the associated hosting fees. In fact, many of the items below are Free / Open-Source Software, so it doesn't even cost a cent! We just like spreading the word about good stuff! If you are using software on your site that you think deserves to be listed here, send us a link, and we will check it out.
If you would rather have us install software for you, let us know. Most of these packages can be installed for our base one-hour rate. In addition, may require MySQL , so you may need to add MySQL hosting to your current DogBark.com hosting plan.
• Blogs
Web logs, or blogs, have gotten a lot of press lately, breaking news faster than traditional media, influencing public opinion, and generally stirring stuff up. Blogs are great for exercising your voice.
• Movable Type has a pretty high
profile, and has been around for quite awhile. However, they have recently moved to a paid
licensing system (a free personal version is still available, with no support), and we feel
that their template system is a bit klutzy compared to the alternatives.
• WordPress is our current favorite blogging system.
The theme system is all based on standard PHP, HTML, and CSS, and quite flexible and
well-documented. WordPress is Free, and has a thriving and active community developing plugins and
other support for it. Plus it is quite easy to setup and use.
• Gallery / Site Management
When you to manageable online galleries, here are a few candidates.
• Gallery is a mature open-source project. It is a bit tedious to
set up, but works well once it is up. Be aware that, like most of these gallery systems, the look-and-feel out of the box is a bit rough,
but is customizable through "skins".
• ImageFolio is another popular gallery package. ImageFolio is a
commercial package, but they have a number of configurations, from basic galleries to full stock management and ecommerce.
• fotoshow pro is pricey, but good. fotoshow is a client/server
package, with software that runs on both the webserver and your studio computer. Most professional photography organizations
have an affiliation discount available, so be sure to ask.
• Need a more full site solution?
• Mambo is a full site-generation and site-management solution, allowing you to set up, link, and populate new sections and pages on your site using an online interface. It is a little bit of work to set up the software, but works well, and there are a ton of modules available to handle everything from forums, to galleries, to ecommerce integration.
• Forums/Bulletin Boards
If you want more involved community discussion on your site, nothing beats a forum.
• UBB or "Ultimate Bulletin Board" is the old man of the forums block.
UBB has been around for quite awhile, and in it's youth was free, then free for personal use, and now everyone pays.
It is a good, reliable package, as long as you don't want to modify anything and you don’t mind paying a service
fee to have access to online support. UBB is closed-source, so if you want to change anything about the way it works, you'll
need to talk to the InfoPOP guys about it.
• phpBB is a great open-source php forum, originally based on
the look and feel of UBB. phpBB has a very active development community, and integrates well with a number of other software packages.
• ECommerce
Whether you want to sell your kid's woven potholders or custom framed and matted silvers from your last Hollywood shoot, one of the following will do the job.
• Lite Commerce
• XCart