Ok, so maybe I’m pushing it a bit to say that November would be a potential launch date… I’ve done some more research regarding web site use, in particular the use of the client side of the site, and learned a lot which means changes are being made to that portion of the site… in short, the script wasn’t flexible enough, so some things have been moved around, and there have been some database changes–which will affect the other scripts and queries which are already in place, which means more time to change those things.

One huge addition we made is the ability to suggest cities and states, or even zip codes, when the client is entering the location of their project.  The old way was to simply have the client enter the zip code and then an AJAX call would determine if the zip was correct.  While this was helpful, it was an extra step that didn’t need to be there… why not allow suggestions to be made while the person is entering their text?

Another large addition, which is in the works and may not be fully function by the time the site launches, is the update of the zip code database… this database now includes census information, city aliases, and even information on financials for businesses in the area.  While I won’t go in to how this will affect the backend processing of the script, I will say that I think this feature alone will be extremely helpful to the photographers as they attempt to create their estimates.

Other than that, there are relatively smaller changes and additions being made as the site develops… we continue to remain focused on the core function of the site, and its purpose, so as to work towards the launch of the web site.  Motion in progress, progress in motion.

Today, the early tests and troubleshooting of the payment gateway were a success.  We were able to positively create transactions based on our custom shopping cart and payment transaction gateway.  This is big news for the company and moves us a heaving step forward to meeting a October-November launch date.

Yes, I said it.  October or November the site will likely be done if we continue to make the leaps we realized today.   This is exciting and I can’t wait until that fine launch day.

We have a nice marketing plan in the works as well… we’ve created a temporary identity which I think will work nicely with our business model, but these things can always change.

Stay tuned for more exciting news in the near future.

Well, it’s almost a year into the development of the new site… many neat things are happening which are making me extremely excited about the possibility of a launch in the near future.  We’ve been working on the payment gateway/shopping cart script, which is a farily complex script in itself, but this is what has me so excited.  I mean, the next step is debugging, right?! lol

So, as the launch date approaches I’ve had the userbility folks take a look at both the front-end and back-end of the site to see how we can improve efficientcy… for the sake of simplicity, I initially kept all of the database tables inside one database, but since we are now using a class to access the database we now just create objects of the database class and then set the connection properties so that we can compartmentalize the information into a better organized, and efficient operation.  I tell ya… the speed of the script increased dramatically just from that one change.  I think this will also allow for a much easier integration of our analytics script.

In other news… Chris Kirkpatrick [Nigels 11, N'Sync] had yet another awesome party at his house over Labor Day so more networking took place.  What a guy… I tell ya.  Finally got a picture with him, but I’ll refrain from posting it here as I’d like for this blog to be somewhat professional in nature. lol

So when is the launch date?  Everybody’s asking this… I can’t say right now… it’s not that it’s some secret, it’s just that we still have a lot of stuff to do, along with plenty of testing, so I’d like to not speculate on a launch date as of yet.

So much has gone on in the past few months… the script is becoming more powerful and I have been networking so much more than ever.  July 4th Chris Kirkpatrick, of N’Sync, Nigels 11, Sureshot, and others, threw one awesome party at his home here in Orlando.  Live bands, plenty of food and booze abound the place along with awesome people, including the man himself.   Connections like this, and my connection with Yahoo! Music, really makes me feel like I can bridge the gap between the two so that we can all work together for our own respective causes and be a success.  Chris really is an amazing guy, thanks man.