GIST Website
GIST is an application for educators who use graphic organizers in their teaching. It's sold by Velvet Bridge, a Kansas City, Missouri-based company. In addition to the core development of the application itself, Little Dog also provides expertise in website development and management for Velvet Bridge. This site was developed in 2005 using XHTML, CSS, PHP, and a few open source and proprietary off-the-shelf solutions. Photoshop and ImageReady were used to manipulate artwork provided by Velvet Bridge.
Content for the GIST website's front page is primarily generated by a Movable Type installation. Movable Type, a popular web publishing platform, allows Velvet Bridge staff to post news releases, tutorials, and other information without asking Little Dog to help. Stock photography and color used here and elsewhere matches print-based marketing literature created by Velvet Bridge.
Although the GIST website is relatively small, it provides quite a bit of information to a variety of constituents. Sections such as Support cater to the software's entire user base, while other sections of the site provide focused information for professional developers or IT professionals.
In addition to custom code, we've helped Velvet Bridge incorporate open source applications in their site. For example, power users who want the latest version of the documentation may visit a wiki instead of waiting for an updated print or PDF version. This wiki uses MediaWiki, the popular wiki engine from the creators of Wikipedia.