Latest News

Happy new year!

Dec 28, 2008 by Nick Hayward

While the future might look a bit uncertain, new year is always a time of reflection and planning for me. I always take stock of things around my birthday (end of June) and the new year to make sure I am still going in the right direction. This year has been fantastic for FCS Websites, with a number of websites and shops going live and some more in the pipeline.

Over the next year, it seems unavoidable that we might all have to tighten our belts. We have some new offers and services to launch over the next couple of weeks to help out small businesses that might be feeling the pinch. While business is slow, it’s a great time to update or launch a new website to increase your sales. A downturn can be unsettling, but also offer opportunities.

We are concentrating on SEO which vital for increasing traffic to your website and also web analytics to see who is visiting your site and what they do when they are there!

So, have a good New Year’s eve and get in touch if you would like to discuss existing or new websites.

Online protein and sports supplements ecommerce site launched

Dec 19, 2008 by Nick Hayward

After a few weeks of hectic design and programming, we have launched theproteinshop.co.uk for a Nottingham based gym. The guys are expert bodybuilders and have recently branched out into selling protein and other supplements online. We did them a graphic design and logo, put them a Zencart shop together and entered all their products for them as a package deal.

Shop for cheap whey protein at theproteinshop.co.uk

Knightkit.co.uk ecommerce site launched

Dec 10, 2008 by Nick Hayward

Knightkit.co.uk has recently gone live, again using the open source ecommerce software Zencart. Offering a range of police safety lights, duty kit, traffic management equipment and security equipment, Knightkit helps the people that help us.

The shop runs on our green web hosting and uses Paypal to take payment when checking out.

Check out the range of Police safety lights from Knightkit.co.uk

New Zencart shop on the way

Nov 30, 2008 by Nick Hayward

Hot on the heels of EasyFurniture, we have another Zencart based ecommerce site in development for a Police equipment retailer. Watch this space!

Project Management area added

Nov 08, 2008 by Nick Hayward

FCS Websites’ clients now have the ability to log in to a project area of the website, where they can see how their project is coming on. Task lists, messages and file uploads all help to make the web design process faster and smoother!

As well as using it ourselves, we can also offer integration of this project management software into your new or existing website. It’s great for working remotely and keeping track of to-do lists, with email messaging and the ability to log in from anywhere using your web browser.

Easy Furniture ecommerce site launched

Oct 22, 2008 by Nick Hayward

We are proud to announce that a new ecommerce site for Easy Furniture Ltd has been launched today. The site takes advantage of open source Zencart software and is a redevelopment of a shockingly bad OSCommerce site.

We imported all the products and text from the old site, saving EF from having to re-enter all their content. We created a fresh new image for the Birmingham based furniture retailer and integrated their Worldpay account for a smooth shopping experience.

Check out the new site at www.easyfurniture.co.uk!

Is your wireless internet secure?

Oct 07, 2008 by Nick Hayward

I went to see a customer the other day, and while connecting to their internet to show them something I found about ten unsecured wireless networks! Setting a password on a wireless router is not difficult, yet these people are letting complete strangers use their internet.

Google launch their own web browser

Sep 09, 2008 by Nick Hayward

Google recently launched their own web browser called Chrome for the Windows platform. No Mac version yet :(

The browser is fast, has minimal clutter around the page being viewed and they claim it is developed with modern website browsing in mind rather than evolving gradually from old technology. The new browser achieved a market share of 1% in ONE DAY, so hopefully it will eat into Internet Explorer’s share of the web browser figures.

We tested it out here at FCS HQ and it certainly was fast. Being nosy web designers though, we were lost without all the extensions that we have added to Firefox for poking around other people’s websites. We await the Mac version to see whether the font rendering can surpass Safari, which is beautiful.

They also provide a nice comic that explains how Chrome came about: Google Chrome comic

Target.com pay out up to $6m for non-accessible website

Aug 31, 2008 by Nick Hayward

American retailer Target have may have to pay out $6m after being taken to court by the National Federation of the Blind. Users complained that the Target ecommerce website was not designed to allow blind visitors to use it, and a class action suit was filed.

While Target admitted no wrongdoing, test cases like these pave the way for widespread fines for websites that are not accessible to impaired users. Making your website accessible is not necessarily a complicated task – contact us for details on accessibility/user testing and accessibility reports.

Samworth Brothers website goes live

Aug 23, 2008 by Nick Hayward

The Samworth Brothers Charity Challenge website went live today, allowing the charity to upload and edit their own content on the run up to the 2009 charity challenge event.

Samworth Brothers Charity Challenge