Today I will be blogging about AJAX. AJAX uses a number of old web technologies, but it has recently become a very hot topic. A number of cool web applications like Google Maps as well as new email services like Windows Live Mail Beta use AJAX. You may even have noticed it in our application when you create an invoice or use a coupon.

AJAX basically allows you to access information from another web address without actually visiting that web address. To me, it means real-time access to our databases. Although AJAX is a very useful technology, it does have a number of short-comings. Browser compatibility and usability are the top two on my list. I will be going into more details about the benefits and drawbacks of Ajax in my next post.

For the time being, here are a few useful links on AJAX. I have separated them into two categories:

For Designers and Web Fanatics:
Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications
Written by the man who coined the term AJAX, this article introduces the concept of AJAX. The diagrams in his article illustrate the concept of AJAX beautifully.

Wikipedia - AJAX
This article is an excellent resource outlining a lot of information about Ajax as well as a good overview of its history.

For Nerds:
Guide to Using AJAX and XMLHttpRequest from WebPasties
This is an excellent step-by-step tutorial on creating a basic AJAX application. I highly recommend it. Did I mention it comes with downloadable source code?

AJAX : A Basic Example and a Bookmarklet
This is another great AJAX tutorial to try once you have mastered the one above. This article goes into more detail about the core functions of AJAX.

Stay tuned for more.

It’s interesting getting feedback from web designers.

We have been building 2ndSite for over three years now. There is still a lot we have in mind and many places we plan to go.

One of the things that has really helped us grow and guide our development is user feedback. We like it and we encourage it.

Recently, I have noticed a spike in requests for more flexibility in the invoice design templates offered by 2ndSite.

This is good feedback and we’ll certainly get to that. That being said, I’m curious about this feedback.

At 2ndSite we offer Direct Link InvoicingTM. When you send an invoice with 2ndSite a brief text email is delivered to our client. In that email is a link. When clicked, the link logs your client straight into your system and they are presented with the invoice you sent them. Once inside your system your client can see all their past invoices. They can also see the address you have on file for them, past payments and more.

Because you can customize the colours and add your logo to your system and your invoices, your clients get an experience with your ’system’ when they log in. This experience is what we have focused on and allowed you to customize to a decent degree. We have not focused as hard on the customizability of “Invoices” to date, though they include your logo, fold nicely into a window paned envelope and convey a professional image. Instead, we have focused on delivering an experience, which to my mind is more powerful than the look and feel of an everyday invoice - a business document that is relatively run of the mill. Experiencing your system is not run of the mill and helps you stand out in your client’s mind. Or so we hope…

Anyhow, we will be offering more invoice customization, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the invoice “experience”. Our clients tell us their clients love getting their invoices via 2ndSite (though the clients don’t know they are using 2ndSite - that’s key).

We are in the business of making small and medium sized businesses look good. In today’s internet world, looking good is more than appearance - it is about delivering a positive brand experience. It is about standing above the crowd. Direct Link InvoicingTM helps with that.

I just came across a post that points out that the site you are on is a new site and a stark contrast to our old site to, which I say, “yes it is!” We are happy about that and currently rebuilding that old site to reflect a whole bunch of things, but mainly what we have learned over the past 20 months of operations.

In a small company (we are six) you have to conciously choose where to spend your time. I was disallowed from playing with the old site until this January. Resources are limited in a small company so you have to constantly decide where to invest your time. You have to make choices. I can live with that.

The truth is our old website does some things very well. It does not demonstrate how we have evolved however - that is why we are murdering it and our brand. 

I am not afraid of change. Being able to make change is something that makes small companies strong and makes the work we do fun. Imagine getting to murder your brand? What an adventure…

Here is the post that sparked this post:
http://pinds.com/articles/2006/02/13/web-1-0-vs-2-0-exposed

Did you know we are going to kill our brand?

http://www.brandmurder.com/