Web Applications

Sites that do more

Beyond being an online brochure, marketing tool, or information portal, sometimes a website needs to do more, to provide some specific functionality for your visitors, users or members.

Red Letter Design specializes in web application development using PHP (a programming language) and MySQL (a database) to build websites that calculate, manage data, process transactions and more. Sometimes we build an application from scratch; other times we find a tool that can be customized to your specific needs.

Below are some examples of our recent work. Some are publicly available on the web; the others we would be glad to demonstrate to offline.

Content Management plus a Password Protected Membership Area

The Olney, Maryland Chamber of Commerce website combines a customized content management system for the Chamber membership records, news, calendars, and other administrative functions, with a password-protected membership feature where Chamber members can log in to update their business information, which then appears in the site’s local business directory. Red Letter Design received the 2008 Partners in Business Award from the Olney Chamber of Commerce for our work on the Chamber website.

E-Commerce with Inventory Management

Amani ya Juu is a sewing - marketing - training project for marginalized women in Africa. Their website offers a selection of their products for sale in the United States. The store is powered by an extensively-customized version of Cartweaver that provides a smooth shopping experience for customers and an easy-to-use administrative section that includes inventory control, customized reporting on sales, inventory and customers, plus the ability to upload and crop product photographs. The store accepts major credit cards, which are processed through Authorize.net.

Real Estate Transaction Calculators

Several Maryland settlement firms have used our services to create online tools to calculate settlement costs, especially title insurance fees and transfer and recordation taxes for Maryland, Virginia, DC and Delaware. The calculators are easy to use and feature detailed results along with extensive form validation to check and interpret user input.

Online Workflow Management

One of our standard website clients told us about their need for a comprehensive online tool to manage their move management business. We developed TeamWork, a comprehensive work-flow management system that integrates client and event/task management with employee scheduling, warehouse management, and timesheet/expense tracking. The client is thrilled with the system and credits it with a big jump in their business, due to both increased efficiency in management and as a selling point for their service in sales meetings. The system is built with CakePHP and uses jQuery and AJAX for a smooth, user-centered interface.

Online Trading Community

PriorAttire.com was developed as an online community that let’s you take what you have and trade it for what you want in children’s and teen’s dress clothes. This site is built with CakePHP and includes a fully-featured member-area to track items, trades, feedback, and credit balances. The administrative area includes extensive reporting and nightly reports sent by email. PayPal IPN (Instant Payment Notification) is used for making and recording payments made through the site. (Note: the site is not particularly active at this time.)