Websites are no longer expensive and difficult things to create. The open source movement has given web users and web designers the tools they need to create sites for free, and the possibilities are almost limitless. Just take a look of some of these fantastic sites created using Drupal, Joomla, Magento and Zen Cart to find out more.
43 Folders is the brainchild of Merlin Mann. The site is a breath of fresh air when compared to other sites about how to be more productive. As is fitting of a site about getting to the point, the design is as no-nonsense as the content, with a simple blog-style front page and three tabs. Everything about this site is neat, short and sweet, designed to get you the tips you need and get you back to work again.
Contrasting the stark neatness of 43 Folders is fellow Drupal creation MichaelBuble.com. The singing sensation’s website is dark, glossy and covered in high-quality images of the man himself, along with Flash moving banners, video and audio. The site also has a fan forum, which, as you can imagine, is a high traffic one. This site demonstrates how Drupal can be used to create sites that can handle high levels of community activity.
Barack Obama’s presidential election campaign transformed the way politicians publicised themselves. The Obama team used web technology with such confidence and ingenuity that politicians have been scrambling to copy it ever since. The president’s website is a perfect example of what a political website should look like. The design is clean and well-branded; six neat headers create an efficient user journey; just the right number of high-quality images play in a looped slideshow; and below, the latest news and legislation from the Obama administration is listed in classic newspaper style. If ever a site screamed “transparency!” it was this one.
RedRoom is perhaps the best example of Drupal used to create a community site. The site for authors presents a busy but clean front page, with a large main feature, a section for interviews and a Best of the Day list. Aside from this, there are search facilities and categories for authors, books, genres, podcasts, videos and events, demonstrating the sheer amount of content available. Aside from this, the site is a community for writers as well, with writers being able to sign up, create profiles and clubs (groups), and message each other.
This site is a prime example of how Drupal can be used to create sites centred on users creating their own pages. With WishingWellGiving, users sign up and have a page created about their good cause, which they can then email to friends and receive donations through. The design is simple, up-beat and clean, and the volume of content, not to mention the amount of interactivity handled, is truly impressive.
The main point worth noting about this site is its gorgeous design. Duirwaigh Studios is a collection of artists, writers and film makers that creates creative products. As you would imagine, a company like that needs a striking website, and this site rises to the challenge. The homepage’s rich colours and swirling Rococo theme draws on classic architecture and theatre imagery to make an impression. This site demonstrates how a site created on open source software does not need to follow the same old boring colour schemes and shapes.
This site is the online home of the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, and has a real “I can’t believe it’s Joomla!” factor. The site achieves the right balance of heartwarming pictures of youngsters receiving medical care, and upbeat colours and gadgets to help well-wishers make a difference. The site features real-life stories of children with serious illnesses, as well as sections for events, online donations and information on projects.
MetroDining.ca represents what a funky and modern restaurant’s website should be. The site is designed in rich, dark colours with a view of the inside of the restaurant cleverly build in to the front page. This view includes a large window that displays the Vancouver landscape, but moves to show different images when the user hovers over different tabs. With a focus on user functionality, the site includes useful features such as the opportunity to download menus as PDFs or book online through quick and easy reservation system, boosting this site into the top ranks.
This site is the online home of Friendswood Development Company, which builds master-planned communities across Houston, Texas. The company’s site is a great ad for the communities it builds. The landing page throws up a sumptuous rolling header image, taking up the top half of the page, which flicks through sun-drenched images of parks, streets and lakes. The colour scheme consists of warm browns and earth colours, and in a whimsical twist, butterflies appear sporadically on the pages. Additionally, there is a subtley placed blog and an easy-to-use listing of the communities on offer.
This is a site that will appeal to the little cowboy inside all of us. Rusted Fables is a company that creates leather gun and knife accessories such as holsters, cartridge belts and so on. The site draws on all the Wild West imagery you can imaging, from the frayed paper background to the sepia effect photos and the swirling fonts. The images of the products are high quality and the ordering process is simple and straightforward. The page dedicated to explaining old West slang is good for a quick laugh too.
Believe it or not, this wildly popular interior design store was built on Magento and makes good use of its features. The design of the site is calm, funky and modern, with a shopping, forum and blog section. Particularly notable is the use of Magento product attribute features. Users can click on the shopping tab and select a room, such as kid’s room. Then the site guides the user through a filtering process using colours, retailers, designers and price range to find exactly what they are looking for.
Zumiez, the skate apparel retailer, is well represented on this site with its gritty grunge style, bold text slogans and logo size. The site is a good example of how to bring in fresher, younger styles such as grunge whilst maintaining clean lines and an easy-to-navigate site.
Even brands as big as fashion retailer Fred Perry use Magento to create online stores. The site makes great use for Adobe Flash and JavaScript to bombard the user with images of pale, androgynous models in polo shirts. As well as this, the site includes a Subculture section with music and gig information, and it also makes good use of Magento’s grid when it comes to category pages.
Hello! Lucky, the San Francisco based stationery company, uses Magento to create a website drenched in cutesy imagery in pastel colours that is reminiscent of homemade greetings cards. The site is also a good example of having a good correlation between products sold and the design of the website selling them, the most basic principle for all ecommerce sites.
Glaswegian t-shirt company Got Mojo produces clothing with bold colours and cheeky slogans, and the design of this site reflects that. The site uses a white background with large red and black text to grab the eye, whilst the content is punchy and to the point. Searching through t-shirt designs is easy with good categorisation, and the purchase process is simple too.
LifeBaby is a designer kids’ online clothing store. The calming greys and browns used in the background of the page, complete with images of ridiculously hip, cute children modelling the clothes, gives the site a sophisticated feel. LifeBaby’s integration of social media into the site is particularly exemplary too.
This site took the basic concept of the online store, using Zen Cart, and took it to the skies. Astronomy.co.uk allows users to purchase a star and have in named after themselves or a friend. As well as this, the site offers astronomical facts and news, a cafe, and a bookstore as well.
This site highlights how a simple design and a good product is all you need to make a successful business using Zen Cart. The site sells Elvis Presley memorabilia, and apart from an image of the King himself in the top left corner, decoration is largely ignored. Instead, the site uses good categorisation, clear layout and a few web freebies (like an Elvis clock image to embed on your own site) to build its success.
This online beer and wine store is smart, sophisticated and clean. It combines logical layout, with links to the essential information in all the right places, with plenty of exposure of special offers and images of the products themselves on the landing page.
This site shows how far you can get with a good niche. The site sells ethically produced and traded kids’ presents and sweets, and uses a simple flower design to drive the hippy overtones home. Products are divided into seven simple categories with large buttons to click through to them, and the payment process is made clear from the start.
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Hi! Thanks for the great feedback on our Working Wonders site. It was a great project to work on as the Royal Children’s Hospital team had a great strong brand, excellent imagery and were really easy to work with, plus it was such an wothwile project to be involved with to start. We really stretched Joomla’s capabilities with extensive integration into their offline donation systems and databases. Thanks for the mentionof the Working Wonders site! SM2.
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Mel @ AcuityReply:
Brilliant site SM2!
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Hello, many thanks for selecting Astronomy.co.uk for your article! I have enjoyed this project and zen cart has proven to be an extremely versatile shopping cart, business is booming and the sky is the limit!
Many thanks from all at Astronomy.co.uk
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I am agree with Mal !!
Hébergement Web
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