Detour is City Zen's first public add-on developed for Expression Engine.  The idea was to create an add-on that would allow users to quickly and easily add 301 and 302 redirects without the hassle of an .htaccess file.  What started as a simple exercise in testing the Expression Engine add-on waters quickly grew into an exciting endeavor into commercial add-on development.

I'm sure some of you will be surprised that I have taken down the old free version of Detour so I wanted to offer an explaination as to why I made this choice.  As anyone that has developed software knows, there is a wonderful feeling knowing that people are using your code to solve problems.  When I released Detour, I didn't really expect much and was pleasantly surprised by the number of reponses I got both saying thank you and requesting support.  Realistically, I don't mind helping people out as long as I have the time, what I didn't have time for was actually refactoring some of the code behind Detour.

As time went on and I received more really good feature requests, I decided it was time to convert it from a basic extension to a module with features such as wildcards, wildcard and segment replacement, start date, expiration date, filtering of current detours, etc.  The main reason I decided to discontinue the free version isn't about anything more than the fact that the codebase has changed so much, I don't have time to maintain both versions.  

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.  Don't forget to check out Detour Pro here!

I would love to update this blog every day (or even week) if I could but we have been way too busy.  Lots of exciting things have been and are going on here.

As a small business owner, what you do outside of the office is as important as what you do in the office.  This year I decided to step up my game and participate in the 5th Annual Nation’s Triathlon To Benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Washington, DC.  This was my first triathlon but certainly won’t be my last.

Great people?  Check!  Flawless process?  Check!  Ok, so you should be set, right?  Maybe not.  Think about the bigger picture for a minute.  What is it you’re trying to accomplish with your online presence?  Not to be confused with presents, which are great (feel free to send us some, we’re partial to chocolate and gadgets), but we’re not talking about that here.  If you put a lot of thought into selecting your people and establishing your process, this question should already be answered.

So now that you have the right people in place, you want to start thinking about your process.  One of the biggest complaints we hear from clients is, “We have a facebook page, but nobody ever updates it.”  From end users we hear, “I tweeted about ABC Widget company and they responded three weeks later!”  These tools are only useful when used consistently and correctly!  So establish a good process, one that is reasonable to follow, and get that great person on it.

Online marketing is the hot topic these days, with agencies shouting to tell you how they can get you set up with Twitter, Facebook, Four Square and the rest.  For some companies, the rush to keep up with the latest trends has them overlooking some of the basics that are crucial to successfully market your product or service.  Don’t get me wrong, it is important to integrate these trends into your overall strategy, but make sure that foundation is solid first.

When people think about the iPad, one of two thoughts usually comes to mind… “This thing is a game changer” or “What’s the point?  Why do I need a supersized iPhone”.  Unfortunately I’ve been feeling a bit on the latter since the release.  The iPad is certainly interesting but I am yet to be convinced of how it can be used productively… until today.

If you didn’t already guess it from the name, or the color scheme, we’re a little bit tree-huggerish over here.  Not the ‘chaining ourselves to the tree’ type, just the ‘eco-friendly, so we can sleep at night’ types.  So we put together a quick list of 7 ways we go green, without spending lots of green.  Try a few out if you like, and share any gems you have in the comments.  After all, who doesn’t like to feel good and save money?