Debwork Websites

Category: WordPress and Shopify Websites

Blog for work travel was supposed to be on WordPress.com but needed more ‘pretty’

Good Sites for Good People

GeneandSusansAsianAdventure

My friend got a contract to work in Singapore and thus and so off they went. Gene and Susan decided to document their adventure using a blog. Naturally, I confirmed that this was a great idea.

This was supposed to be a WordPress.com website. What’s the difference? WordPress.org websites are self hosted (you have to pay for a web host and maintain it yourself) whereas a WordPress.com site is hosted by WordPress with no maintenance required but the themes and features are limited. My friends are design sensitive and did not find a WordPress.com theme that well represented them so I decided to host a WordPress.org blog for them on debwork.com.

Unlike a lot of designers, I do not resell hosting to my clients. For one thing, reselling does not save them money. More importantly, it also ties clients to my services making it uncomfortable to split if another webmaster is desired. It is my policy to not be a burden if a client wants to move on to use someone else. Admittedly, this has rarely happened but when it has, it is all very civilized.

Client since 2014, friends since – 1990’s!
Responsive? Yep – Nimble Theme by Elegant Themes

December 23, 2014
Ward Paxton ~ Voice Talent

wardpaxton.com

wardpaxton.com

Ward Paxton reads books for the likes of Audible.com! I am a big audio book fan so was happy to help with his WordPress.com site. Most of my clients are self-hosted WordPress.org. There are plus and minuses to everything.

Ward demonstrates his voice talents with Sound Cloud. He also has an audio studio where he can produce voice for himself or others. A lot going on in this compact little website. My job was help with the styling.

Responsive? somewhat
Client since: 2014
Problems solved: header size, styling, page length, content edits
Referred by: search engine

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November 20, 2014
Dolci Biscotti

dolciitaliansweets.com

DolciItalianSweets.com

I was the baker’s client before she became mine. I bought packages of cookies then had the idea to serve them at a sculpture opening. We talked occasionally and after she experienced one failed attempt at a web project, Sandy Hunter hired debwork.com to create her web presence.

This is a WordPress site. Instead of blogging articles, Sandy keeps current a gallery of custom bakery items that are totally fun to look through. I also administer the associated Facebook page and Twitter stream.

Responsive? Yes. Striking Multiflex Theme
Client since: September 2011
Redesigned: 2014
Chow theme was pretty but not responsive to devices sizes. The theme authors abandoned maintenance and it fell behind with WordPress. This site was moved to a new responsive theme in 2014 – but we decided kept most of the great look we developed.

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Good Sites for Good People

July 26, 2014
Website for Articles ~ Center for Healthy Thinking

healthythinking

CenterForHealthyThinking.com

A WordPress site is for a discussion group that had been meeting for awhile. They wished to publish articles by several authors which support the notion that “thoughts shape attitudes”. The non-commercial self-empowerment website is structured using blog categories to enable site visitors to find articles that would be of most interest to them.

Content is king. There was little SEO work done on this site, yet their articles have had amazing position on SERPS.

Responsive? Yes, of course
Client since: 2014
SSL? Yes
Referred by: internet search

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April 16, 2014
Ann Kinkade ~ Lucid Legacy Consulting

lucidlegacyconsulting.com

lucidlegacyconsulting.com

Already well-established in her field, this client needed a website to create her client-base for her own consulting firm. Her name is as much SEO that is needed for launch.

Responsive? Definitely! (Enfold theme, Avia Framework)
SSL: Yes
Client Since: October 2013
Found by: Google & attracted to other sites

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October 7, 2013
Jules Wolf Pilates

JulesPilates.com

JulesPilates.com

Jules Wolf Stenzel opened her own studio for Pilates, yoga, meditation, events and all around wellness. In 2017 she opened a second studio on Atwood Avenue and now had a Westside/Eastside presence.

Adding a second studio presents website design organization challenges. Both locations need to have their own landing pages but yet much content is shared. In this case each studio has its own class schedule and shopping cart the integration is via the API’s provided by the software packages which require a paid subscription.

The new website is built in WordPress and is quite pretty (if I do say so myself!). At first we were using the DejaVu theme but it was abandoned by the author so basically packed up the stylesheet and moved to Striking. (It ends up in 2017 DejaVu theme is on the top 25 most attacked themes per WordFence statistics so it was a good thing we moved on.

Responsive? Yes (Striking theme)
Client since: 2005, redesigned in 2013 and again in 2016
Referred by: self referral, this is repeat business (original site)

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Good Sites for Good People

October 1, 2013
Barbara C White, LCSW

barbaracwhite.com

BarbaraCWhite.com

This client wanted a web page to direct clients to primarily to publish her contact information and services. Very simple and clear.

This is a WordPRess site using TwentyTwelve theme.
Simple. Elegant. Yet does not feel too minimalistic.

Responsive? Yes
SSL? Yes
Client since: November 2012
Referred by: Location – she lives on my block!

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November 29, 2012
Area Glass of Wisconsin

areaglasswi.com

AreaGlassWI.com

Area Glass worked hard to change the business from “auto glass” to “full service glass”. Yes, the logo was changed but they wanted a their site to reflect the transition in a big way. And they wanted to post lots of photos of their installation jobs.

Mike Behr confessed that he never took to the purple in the original html design so we went with the great black skin offered by Striking WordPress themes and a slider that demonstrates the range of their work. The site uses Gravity forms and has rotating testimonials.

Responsive? Yes
SSL? Yes
Client Since: 2008, redesigned in 2012
Referral: The client himself – this is repeat business! (old site)

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March 6, 2012
Change in Motion Healing Arts ~ Syracuse, NY

Change in Motion

changeinmotionhealingarts.com

A bold colored website designed for Donna Dallal-Ferne who offers therapy services (individual, partners and families), yoga classes, and massage therapy in Syracuse, NY.

She also has a Family Therapy, Yoga, Massage Blogspot blog that I help with once in awhile.

Client since: 2009
Moved to WordPress 2018

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Good sites for Good people

December 26, 2010
Personal Blog ~ Quiet Paddling Wisconsin

QuietPaddlingWisconsin.com

This is my own personal paddling blog. We tried various ways to keep track of our treks and finally decided to record them in a blog since I had the skills to pull it off. Theoretically, each time we hit the water we add a post. Things are always different each time.

Responsive? Yes, of course (TwentyFifteen theme)
Client since: 2007
SSL? Yes

May 4, 2007