Website design
Established in 1999, Climbers.net has a proven track record of developing innovative and successful websites. We are experts in using PHP scripting together with MySQL databases to produce fast, efficient sites which are easy to navigate and compatible with all web browsers. Our portfolio of major clients (see sidebar) include some of the most popular climbing sites in the world.At present, we are not accepting any new clients.
Our Design philosophy //
We produce fast, efficient sites which are easy to navigate and compatible with all web browsers on PCs, Macs and Linux. Pages are designed to load quickly, without assuming everyone has a fast broadband connection. Our page layouts are flexible, to suit a wide range of different screen sizes, from mobiles, to handhelds, to large desktop monitors.Our design 'bible' continues to be the superb work on web usability written by Jakob Nielsen.
Internet standards are very important to us, but having sites that work correctly across multiple browsers is much more complex than simply designing sites that are valid XHTML.
Technologies //
Name your acronym... We use open-source LAMP servers (Linux, Apache web server, MySQL database, PHP scripting) to provide industry-standards websites displayed using XHTML/HTML and CSS. We also use JavaScript, XML, RSS news feeds and dynamic AJAX techniques where needed to provide additional functionality for a modern browsing experience, while keeping all page content useable even on older browsers, or those with JavaScript disabled.We don't use Macromedia Flash, Microsoft-only languages such as C# and ASP.NET, or browser extensions that only work with a particular operating system/browser.
Case studies //
- UKClimbing Forums
By far the most popular climbing website in the world, by 2007 "UKC" had over 2 million messages and 30,000 active members in its busy discussion forums. Written from scratch like everything else on the site, the custom forum software is optimised for speed and ease of use. It integrates with other aspects of the site such as user photo galleries and climbing logbooks, but remains fast to download pages and light on server resources.
- Jagged Globe Accounts
In 2006 Jagged Globe launched an online account for all clients who book onto their expeditions, treks and courses. This allows the clients to manage their bookings & hire equipment, as well as providing a streamlined system for Jagged Globe office staff to communicate client details to expedition leaders around the world. This complex system closely integrates the Linux MySQL database with their internal office systems which are based around Microsoft SQL Server.
- ROCKFAX MiniGuides
An innovative downloadable guidebook to different climbing areas around the world, ROCKFAX MiniGuides have proved hughly successful since its launch in 2002. The system integrates with the ROCKFAX registered users database, and uses WorldPay real-time payment systems to deliver an Adobe PDF download that is customised on-the-fly.
- UKClimbing Advertising
This custom-written advertising management package provides an interface to multiple advertising clients, enabling them to place graphical banner and text-only adverts (including Google Adwords) to targetted 'zones' across UKClimbing.com. Detailed statistical reports are generated to help monitor the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.
- Climbers.net Photography
A simple design with a very 'clean' look, our own site uses dynamic AJAX techniques to provide powerful searching of our photographic catalogue, to help magazine and book editors find the images they need with the minimum of fuss. A shopping cart also allows online ordering of large-format prints, using the PayPal payment system.
Other clients //
Over the years we've worked on dozens of different websites, mostly in the climbing/outdoor pursuits industry:planetFear, Rock+Run gear shop, The Foundry wall, Indoor Rock holds, S7, The Edge wall, Rocksport gear shop, CragX gear shop, Foundry Travel Insurance, Heason Events, Stopover Connections accommodation, Wendy Windblows weather, ClimbingMedia, OutdoorStaff recruitment ...
