We’ve been pretty busy the past few weeks and we haven’t had the opportunity to write about the latest sites we’ve been working on. Take a look to see the latest sites we have launched.

City of Fountain Inn

The site is powered by LightningCMS and has our dynamic weather and time of day system integrated. Soon the site design will update depending on the time of day and even the weather.

Launch Website: http://www.fountaininn.org

FindCarolinaDentists.com

We redesigned and upgraded FindCarolinaDentists.com with new features allowing dentists to sign up for premium memberships. The premium memberships allow for on-site advertising, photo galleries, promotions, and much more.

Launch Website: http://www.findcarolinadentists.com

Eversouth Development

Eversouth Development is a commercial real estate development company based in Greenville, South Carolina. They needed a new website to effectively showcase their development portfolio. The site is powered by LightningCMS and features a custom web design by LightningHammer.

Launch Website: http://www.eversouth.com

Rising Tide

Rising Tide offers Sports and Event Marketing. The site is powered by LightningCMS.

Launch Website: http://www.risingtideco.com

Hill Marketing and PR

Launch Website: http://www.hillmarketingpr.com

Virtual Sidekick

Launch Website: http://www.yourvirtualsidekick.com

DOWNLOAD: facePLANT.zip (264.68 kb)

It’s been a while since we touched upon the facePLANT plugin we created for Windows Live Writer. We had some people that had trouble getting it to work, so we did some testing of our own. We created some new facebook accounts, did some debugging and as it turns out facebook is now implementing some new permissions requirements when it comes to updating your status.

Facebook now requires all applications to get “Extended Permission” in order for them to update your facebook status. We did some tweaking of the code, and now it will prompt you to grant permission for the “Windows Live Writer” application to update your facebook status.

Once you have granted access, facePLANT should have no problems updating your status. So give it a download and let us know if you experience any problems.

Installation Instructions:

1. Download the Zip file from above.
2. Extract the DLL’s into your WLW Plugins directory (Ex. C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Writer\Plugins)
3. Run Windows Live Writer
4. Optional: You may configure the default message by going to Tools > Options > Plugins > facePLANT > options button

DOWNLOAD: facePLANT.zip (264.68 kb)

We have a winner for our Halloween iTunes gift card giveaway!

Congratulations to GiraffeDiva (Dana), the winner of our $25 iTunes gift card.

Of course you’re curious of how we selected the winner. Well since we’re software developers after all, we decided we would write a program to do it. If you like you may take a look at the page we created here.

Here is how it works:

1. Input a list of names with each name on a new line.
2. Click the “Get Winner” button.

The page takes the list of names and sorts them into a random order, then it picks one of the names at random. Of course, with the more names the more random it will get.

Feel free to use our page to for your own contests, or if you would like to make your own page here is some code to get you going:

ASP.NET Code:

   1: <!-- Text Area to collect names !-->

   2: <asp:TextBox id="txtNames" runat="server" TextMode="multiline" validationgroup="winner" CssClass="field" /><br />

   3:  

   4: <!-- Submit Button !-->

   5: <asp:Button id="btnSubmit" runat="server" Text="Get Winner"  OnClick="btnSubmit_Click" validationgroup="winner" /><br /><br />

   6:  

   7: <!-- Label to display Winner !-->

   8: <asp:Label id="lblWinner" runat="Server" CssClass="winner" visible="false" />

C# Code:

   1: using System;

   2: using System.Collections.Generic;

   3: using System.Web;

   4: using System.Web.UI;

   5: using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

   6:  

   7: public partial class randomwinner : System.Web.UI.Page

   8: {

   9:     protected void btnSubmit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

  10:     {

  11:         // Get Random Winner        

  12:         List<string> names = new List<string>();

  13:         names.AddRange( txtNames.Text.Split('\n') );

  14:  

  15:         // shuffle list 

  16:         names = MixList(names);

  17:  

  18:         // Now pick a random item from the shuffled list

  19:         int count = names.Count;        

  20:         Random RandomNumber = new Random();

  21:         int x = RandomNumber.Next(0, count-1);

  22:  

  23:         lblWinner.Text = "And the winner is: " + names[x];

  24:         lblWinner.Visible = true;

  25:     }

  26:  

  27:     private List<string> MixList(List<string> inputList)

  28:     {

  29:          List<string> randomList = new List<string>();

  30:          if (inputList.Count == 0)

  31:               return randomList;

  32:  

  33:          Random r = new Random();

  34:          int randomIndex = 0;

  35:          while (inputList.Count > 0)

  36:          {

  37:               randomIndex = r.Next(0, inputList.Count); //Choose a random object in the list

  38:               randomList.Add(inputList[randomIndex]); //add it to the new, random list<

  39:               inputList.RemoveAt(randomIndex); //remove to avoid duplicates

  40:          }

  41:  

  42:          //clean up

  43:          inputList.Clear();

  44:          inputList = null;

  45:          r = null;

  46:  

  47:          return randomList; //return the new random list

  48:     }

  49: }

The code is pretty basic. There’s not a lot of error checking in there, but since we were the ones using it, it worked well.

How would you like to get a $25 iTunes gift card in your Halloween bucket? Well now is your chance. On October 31st we are will be giving away said gift card to one lucky contestant of our 1st annual Halloween giveaway. It’s easy to enter, just follow the 2 rules:

FIRST: Choose from ONE of the following:

• Become a fan of LightningHammer on facebook.

• Follow LightningHammer on twitter and post a link to this article.

• Post this article to digg, del.icio.us, or stumbleupon

• Mention LightningHammer in a post on your blog and link back to this post.

(You may complete more than one if you like, but it will not increase your chances of winning).

SECOND: Leave a Comment on this post letting us know which of the above steps you completed.

Comment

We WILL NOT send you SPAM or sell your Email address to anyone. We only need your email to contact you if you are the winner.

Once you’ve completed those 2 steps you are entered into the contest. The deadline to enter is 11:59 PM, October 31st. The drawing will be held November 1st, 2009.

If you have any problems submitting your entry please Contact us.

Happy Halloween!

Rules:

1. Only 1 submission per person will be counted in the drawing.

2. Employees of LightningHammer are not eligible. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Giveaway is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

3. Only United States citizens are eligible for this promotion.

We have just launched a new Template Gallery to showcase all of our FREE LightningCMS template. There are 45 FREE templates to choose from. Click here to view the entire gallery.

Please welcome the two newest additions of the template gallery:

Efficiency – Deft

Efficiency – Reverie

As well as the Template Gallery, we have also added a new online signup form so you can get started with LightningCMS in 3 easy steps.

Our FREE LightningCMS sites feature:

• 3 Content Pages
• Blog (blog pages DO NOT count towards your 3 page limit).
• Calendar
• Photo Gallery
• Video
• and more…

So what are you waiting for? Sign up for your FREE site today!! This is not a trial, there are no hidden costs. Don’t believe us; view our pricing.

Click here to sign up for your free website today: http://www.lightninghammer.com/cms/signup

Halloween is approaching fast and we wanted to show some spirit for the holiday and the upcoming holiday season, so we gave our site a frightening facelift. The site has a new halloween themed background, but we decided to step it up a notch and make the theme update with the time of day. Stop by the site throughout the day and night to see if you can catch all the themes.

But if you don't feel like waiting, check out the pics and links below to view the new themes:

Dawn

Day

Dusk

Night

Midnight

Like what you see? Want to integrate a time of day theme into your website? Contact Us to see what we can do for you.

Back in my high school years I was an avid car enthusiast; especially when it came to fast cars and racing. Needless to say, I was extremely excited when I was approached by and old friend, Ben Howard, to hear out his idea for a new online automotive magazine. He wanted to do something none of the other magazines are doing; feature the cars that are not getting the attention they deserve. From July to August, Ben and I had several brainstorming sessions, and in early September it was time to get down to business.

I must have researched 50 different competitors trying to see what we could do to set GreasyBlocks.com apart from the rest. Ben showed us his idea for the logo design and a light bulb went off in our heads. The development team at LightningHammer knew exactly what to do. We kept everything behind closed doors; giving Ben just enough teasers to let him know we were creating something unlike any other automotive magazine on the market.

The day finally came to send Ben the screenshot of his new magazine. I was quite nervous not knowing what Ben’s reaction would be. I sent him the screenshot through instant messenger and eagerly awaited his reply.

After a few moments the reply came through: “OMGFG{!FLJSHWM]ZCXC!!!!!!!!”

I didn’t know what to think. Did he like it? Did he hate it? The fact was that he LOVED IT. It was so far beyond his expectations that he was momentarily speechless. We had succeeded at our goal. The next step was to take this picture and convert it to something that works on the web.

Being proficient in CSS techniques is a big plus when it comes to piecing together a website with this much design detail. We worked away putting all the pieces together before handing it over to Ben so he could begin writing. Social networking played a huge part in the marketing and anticipation of this site. Through facebook, flickr, and various automotive forums the anticipation of the site launch was through the roof.

The site launched at 11:00 PM EST on Monday, September 21st and it was an instant hit. Everyone that viewed the site raved about the design and applauded Ben’s determination. We expect to have a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Ben and GreasyBlocks.com. GreasyBlocks.com has something for every automotive enthusiast; imports, domestics, euros, you name it.

Some of the site features include:

• CMS (Content Management System)
• Flickr Integration
• Partner / Sponsorship / Advertising Management

Stop by the site at www.greasyblocks.com and let us know what you think.

Interested in the development process of this site? Stay tuned to our blog. We will have some “Making of” posts coming soon.

We are excited to announce the launch of FICivicCenter.org. The website is powered by LightningCMS and boasts several usability features. Through the FICivicCenter.org website, users can view the latest upcoming events, order tickets, view videos, and connect through social networks like facebook and twitter.

The dynamic website invites people of all ages to come out and see what the Fountain Inn Civic Center has to offer. See you there!

What is a CSS Sprite?

The term "CSS sprite" isn't exactly self-explanatory, but it is something every web developer should become acquainted with. A CSS sprite is a method of combining several images into a single image. Below is an example of a CSS sprite:

Why you should use CSS Sprites?

One word explains it all: speed. If the image above was sliced into 6 separate images, your web browser would have to make 6 separate HTTP requests. The more HTTP requests the browser has to make, the slower the website will load. The browser may have to download a larger file, but there is only one round trip to the server for all 6 images. This technique is very useful to load an entire icon set for your website.

Implementation

Now let’s get our hands dirty. We are going to use our sprite from above, an html unordered list for placement, and some simple CSS to move the image around.

The (X)HTML

   1: <ul id="menu">

   2:     <li><a class="cms" href="#">Content Manager</a></li>

   3:     <li><a class="modules" href="#">Plug-in Modules</a></li>

   4:     <li><a class="framework" href="#">.Net Framework</a></li>

   5: </ul>

By default an unordered list will be displayed vertically, so we want to do some CSS to position them horizontally:

   1: #menu{

   2:     width: 480px;

   3:     height: 127px;

   4:     margin: 0px;

   5:     padding: 0px;

   6:     list-style: none;

   7: }

   8:  

   9: #menu li{

  10:     width: 160px;

  11:     height: 127px;

  12:     float: left;

  13: }

The unordered list was set to 480 pixels wide. This is the width of the entire sprite so that all icons will display on the same line. We could have set the unordered list to 320 pixels wide and the 3rd remaining icon would have appeared beneath the first two icons. The list items are set to float:left; this makes the items scroll horizontally instead of vertically or in “block” mode.

Now we will set the CSS that adds the sprite to the background of our hyperlinks:

   1: #menu li a{

   2:     display: block;

   3:     width: 160px;

   4:     height: 127px;

   5:     overflow:hidden;

   6:     text-indent: -999px;

   7:     background: url(images/slidebuttongrid.jpg) 0px 0px;

   8: }

   9:  

  10: #menu li a.cms{

  11:     background-position: 0px 0px;

  12: }

  13:  

  14: #menu li a.modules{

  15:     background-position: -160px 0px;

  16: }

  17:  

  18: #menu li a.framework{

  19:     background-position: -320px 0px;

  20: }

We have set all the anchors (<a>) for the unordered list with the same properties and background sprite. Then we individually set the background position for each menu item. The negative background position causes the background image to start displaying the background sprite at 160 pixels from the left boundary of the sprite. Since each anchor is set to a fixed width and height only the portion of the sprite we want to display will be shown.

Finally, we want this to be a rollover menu, so we are going to add :hover classes to the anchors:

   1: a.cms:hover{

   2:     background-position: 0px -127px;

   3: }

   4:  

   5: a.modules:hover{

   6:     background-position: -160px -127px;

   7: }

   8:  

   9: a.framework:hover{

  10:     background-position: -320px -127px;

  11: }

The End Result

• Content Manager
• Plug-in Modules
• .Net Framework

I have been doing some research lately and I have found several posts claiming that Mozilla Firefox had taken up to 47% of the global web browser market share. I personally prefer Firefox as my browser of choice, but that number still seems surprisingly high. So what better way to do my own high-tech analysis than to post a poll. Submit your answer and we shall see who is the greatest browser of them all.