RL Hanson-Online's Blog

Christmas Cards for our Troops

2008-11-28T14:04:00.002-06:00

Xerox is offering an online card designer to send deployed soldiers Christmas cards!

You can't choose who receives them, but it will go to a deployed soldier which I think is really cool!

Here's the link: http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html

R.E. Peters Company Website

2008-11-11T10:22:00.010-06:00

Rick Peters of R.E. Peters company posed a challenge to me for an element on his new website we were designing. He wanted a drop-down menu that changed background colors for each menu item to correspond with the background color of each page it linked to.

I have used the script written by Angus at Twin Helix for the drop-down menus in the past and knew this was probably my best option for customization. However, with little experience in actually fully customizing this script - I was a little apprehensive. But, I love a challenge!

Basically, I removed all the style effects for the background colors in Angus' code, and applied a class to each

<li>

to achieve the effect.

I'm attaching the style.css and listmenu_h.css for your review - this isn't the complete code you need in order to use the twinhelix menu - make sure you download it from www.twinhelix.com.

I hope this post helps all you "new to coding" people!

style.css
listmenu_h.css

Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Flint Hills

2008-11-11T10:17:00.002-06:00

RL Hanson-Online Latest News:

Extreme Makeover Home Edition!
The Extreme Makeover Home Edition is coming to the Flint Hills area! We have been so fortunate to have been selected by American Dream Development and The Builder Coalition to have created the website for this wonderful opportunity for a local family!The www.extremebuildflinthills.com website went live on Thursday, Nov. 5th, 2008 and by Sunday, Nov. 9th - we had 1279 uniquie visitors and over 600 volunteer sign-up emails! What a wonderful show of support from our community!We really appreciate the opportunity of being a part of this effort! Latest Projects:

R.E. Peters Company Website
We have just finished the development of the www.repeterscompany.com website which is a referral from Anton Communications in California and a collaborative effort from R.E. Peters Company, Anton Communications, RL Hanson-Online and KC Design Studios.
It was an exciting endeavor to work with so many qualified personnel to have a design concept and content-rich site developed! We are in the process of designing a full-color handout as well as Business Cards, Letterheads and Envelopes which are already in print production. We wish Rick the best of luck in his new endeavor!

Gfeller Bulldogs
We have just completed the initial design phase of www.gfellerbulldogs.com - we are very excited to have the opportunity to help Joan Gfeller display her embroidery and dog show must-have products on a professional website! We have many more items which will eventually be available on the site - so make sure you check it out if you are a breeder or just want to spoil your family pet!

Behind the Scenes
We really enjoy working with Amanda as our Graphic Art and Print Design specialist! This has proven to be a wonderful partnership and one which we are sure will benefit our clients greatly!Consider RL Hanson-Online for services or projects that seem overwhelming or to time-consuming - you'll be surprised at how easy the projects become completed! Give us a call - let's see what we can do together. 785-922-6922

RL Hanson-Online Publishes New Website Design and Client Tools!

2008-07-29T20:46:00.002-05:00

We've re-designed our site!
The RL Hanson-Online website has been re-designed for a more user-friendly and cleaner environment. We think you'll find the new design aesthetically pleasing as well as easy to use.Please visit the site here: RL Hanson-Online

Latest Projects:

Dry Creek Equestrian Center Website
We are in the final stages of the new site for the Dry Creek Equestrian Center in Manhattan - we are still working on the verbiage and getting some project photos on the site, but you can check out the conceptual design! Once the site is 100% complete you will be able to view the site by clicking on the link under "Website Examples" on any one of RL Hanson-Online's web pages.

Project WIN Website
We helped design the new Welcome Home to Heroes Foundation website - though still in it's approval stage - please take a look around and consider supporting this awesome program for our wounded and recovering soldiers with either participating or by donations! Visit Project WIN Website!

Behind the Scenes

We've secured a relationship with two new distributors specializing in wholesale printing for both digital full-color and raised ink business cards! We're excited about the reliability and quality of our new distributors and look forward to passing the experience on to our clients!

We've also signed up for a new trial program allowing web site editing from any browser. Sites must be designed with this functionality in mind or be configured to use the program. It's an ineteresting feature we'd like to offer clients who would like to update a portion of their site on a regular basis for a subscription fee.
Upcoming Dates:

Happy Birthday!

09/15/2008 - Joyce (Joyces-Graphics)

Please add your birthday to: http://www.birthdayalarm.com/dob/23974912a252455589b363

For Our Hosting Clients

Did you know?
We've added new CLIENT TOOLS to our website. You can now check your webmail, access your cPanel, check out our calendar, and renew your domain from our site.

Chapman Tornado

2008-06-19T07:34:00.007-05:00

Latest News:

Thank you for your prayers and support!
The Chapman tornado which occurred on June 11th, 2008 narrowly missed our new home and devastated our neighbors and community. We were without power, natural gas, and drinking water and relied very much on the kindness of friends and collegues to take care of our basic daily needs.

Thank you so much to everyone for the messages of support and prayers! We appreciate your patience and understanding of those clients which had projects in-house at the time.

Thankfully, RL Hanson-Online is back to normal operation! Please consider making a donation to the American Red Cross for their continued effort in helping disaster survivors.

Latest Projects:

Dry Creek Equestrian Center Website
We are in the process of designing a new site for the Dry Creek Equestrian Center in Manhattan - once complete you will be able to view the site by clicking on the link under "Website Examples" on any one of RL Hanson-Online's web pages.

Shhh! Website
We are in the process of designing a new site for a local company in Junction City who wishes to remain anonymous until the official unveiling! We're excited about the new design and hope to hear what you think - once complete, we'll send you the announcement (and link)!

Behind the Scenes
We've started a new type of service providing contracted graphics and e-newsletter design for clients nationwide. It's been an exciting endeavor! The partnership between RL Hanson-Online and our clients has proven to be a great decision for our clients who have expanded the services which they can provide, as well as many satisfied customers!Consider RL Hanson-Online for services or projects that seem overwhelming or to time-consuming - you'll be surprised at how easy the projects become completed! Give us a call - let's see what we can do together. 785-922-6922

Upcoming Dates:

07/04/2008 - Happy Independence Day!

Happy Birthday!
07/01/2008 - Christie (San Vicente Mortgage)
07/20/2008 - Rich (RL Hanson-Online)

Please add your birthday to: http://www.birthdayalarm.com/dob/23974912a252455589b363

For our hosting customers: Did you know?
SPAM can be caused just by having your email listed on your website?
Benjamin Pfeiffer discusses how to SPAM-proof your website in an article where he says, "Despite recent improvement in tools and programs in the battle against SPAM, most of us cannot escape the menace that plagues most of our inboxes on a regular basis. Each day most of us probably receive more SPAM than actual real email, and with Spammers getting more and more creative in their ways to circumvent traditional anti-SPAM tactics, it's vital webmasters empower themselves with some anti-SPAM tactics for their own websites."

RL Hanson-Online has initiated the techniques he and other's describe in avoiding spam by hiding the e-mail addresses by using javascript and different programming for feedback forms. We can install a feedback form on your site for as little as $25 and completely hide your email addresses from e-mail miners.

Screen Printing

2008-05-21T23:14:00.000-05:00

So it's been a burning question from one of my clients about creating halftones and fade effects for their screen printed t-shirts....

I learned graphic art design in the day of "paste-up" when you either "shot" a picture of what you needed in a very large camera with a halftone screen on the glass or you "pasted" gradient dot pattern effects onto one of the paste up boards.... Yeah really, it wasn't that long ago. :)

I found an excellent tutorial on creating 4-color printing by using Adobe Photoshop and the tools it has available to create the 4 different screens needed. I loved the article, and the way it was written. This author knows creative, busy people and actually refuses to give you all the information til you've read the information you NEED to understand. I liked it, I learned a LOT so I thought I would pass on the link:

http://www.screensilk.com/2007/01/full-color-screen-printing-with-photoshop/

I am looking forward to trying out the technique and upscaling my client's product line - not to mention saving a lot of time converting the digital images into line art...that way I can get back to creating web pages and logos - which I love to do!

New Online Business Card Designer

2008-02-23T22:52:00.000-06:00

That's right folks! RL Hanson-Online now has an online business card designer!

We've implemented some pretty unique backgrounds for variety and tried to take into account the most popular type of premium business card layouts.

Plus, we've kept the ability to upload your custom art files or have us create your custom look!

Make sure you check the designer out - we are very proud of the programming we learned and the designs we implemented into the online business card design wizard.

RL Hanson-Online would eventually like to have many background concepts to choose from for an even better upscale appearance with the ability to purchase a design for exclusivity and perhaps copyright/trademark. If you have any suggestions or designs - please send me a message!

Save 10% on Printing or Web Design through New Year's Eve!

2007-11-17T21:29:00.001-06:00

When shopping for the holidays - don't forget to place your orders and receive a 10% Discount* on your total order!

Just enter coupon code: RLH-10-07 during checkout and receive your discount! Offer good through 12-31-2007.

RL Hanson-Online wants to wish all of you safe and happy holidays!

Our prayers are with you and your families during this upcoming Thanksgiving!

*Not available through our affiliate printer sites for "You-Design-It" products including but not limited to: labels and stamps and items listed on easyshopforeverything.com. Offer expires 12-31-2007.

EasyShopForEverything.com is our new Amazon Associate Website - Check out all the awesome products & gifts for sale on our site! Electronics, Jewelry, Automotive, Video Games, DVDs, Digital Cameras, Music Downloads, Movie Downloads!

Better Business Bureau

2007-10-17T08:02:00.000-05:00

The Topeka Chapter of the Better Business Bureau just invited us, RL Hanson-Online, to become a member! We will be listed under the 'Web Design' directory.

The reason: They've had some positive feedback about our business practices and some inquiries as to whether we were members! Very exciting!

We've been in business for almost two-and-a-half years now - with no negative complaints from clients!

A little more info about our community participation:

Memberships:
Better Business Bureau
Junction City Chamber of Commerce
International Webmaster's Association

Supported Organizations:
2007 - Committee for Missing Children
2007 - Donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Bike-a-thon
2007 - Supported the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police
2006 - Girl Scouts - Must have cookies!
2006 - Participated in the Muscular Distrophy Lock-Up Fundraiser
2006 - Supported the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police
2005 - Girl Scouts - Must have cookies!
2005 - Supported the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police

We are very excited about the opportunity to be listed in a national registry committed to reputable business practices! Very exciting!

Recent Projects

2007-09-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to tell you about the last couple of projects we have been working on!

First, we have added Lunchboxes Catering to our web hosting and design clientele. They offer a unique service to the local area here in Kansas.

Check out their menu - it made me hungry working on their site!

Second, we are developing RKS Management Group's website. This has been an interesting project and very exciting for us. The site features a drop down menu, as well as 2 databases for available properties and Home Owner's Association Contacts.

Thanks to RKS Management for the opportunity to work on a challenging project!

An introduction...

2007-07-30T01:04:00.000-05:00

I always seem to have all these ideas or just absolutely exciting programs or scripts people tell me about - and only a select few who don't think I'm talking in a foreign language!

So, I intend to share information here, which you can peruse at your discretion!

Oh yeah, I just launched my new look for my website, you can view it here:

RL Hanson-Online

let me know what your opinions are!

I hope life finds you healthy and happy!