Internet Insights by LevelTen Interactive

Social Media Bootcamp for Business

Kayla Wren — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:38:31 +0000

LevelTen is excited to be hosting Giovanni's Social Media Bootcamp for Business! The event is SOLD OUT!

When:
Thursday, May 3, 2012
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM (CT)

Where:
LevelTen Interactive
4228 North Central Expressway #210, Dallas, TX
(214) 887-8586 ‎

Digital Dallas is Headed to LevelTen!

tabathap — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:15:18 +0000

Even if you didn’t have a chance to sign up for our free Social Media Boot Camp, you’re in luck! Digital Dallas is coming to LevelTen to give you a great outlet for geek talk and tasty treats from Tin Star. With showcases from Brainfood and ModX, you can’t lose. Sign up via Meetup to learn to more about Digital Dallas and this event happening on May 23.

Friday Fun: 6 Weird, Cool, and Wearable Tech Concepts

tabathap — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:00:00 +0000

If you're reading a Drupal blog, I'm willing to bet you’ve seen Google's latest idea, Project Glass. The concept, if you're not aware, is that users could wear augmented reality glasses with voice control as described in Google's video demonstration.

Same Results, Shorter Class: Results Oriented Website Quickstart

tabathap — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:00:05 +0000

For those of you who couldn't make it to the two-day Results Oriented Website Jumpstart, we now have the three hour Results Oriented Website Quickstart on May 24. This course is great for small business owners, organization managers, marketing managers, IT directors, or any Drupal enthusiast with a busy schedule who wants to advance their knowledge of the CMS.

5 Reasons Why You'll Love Taking Acquia Drupal Classes

tabathap — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:36:30 +0000

Maybe you’ve tried to delve into Drupal once before and realized that this CMS will make a great looking, flexible, and functional site, but you have no idea where to start. To be honest, Drupal has that effect on everyone at first sight. Once you learn the basics from Drupal masters, the overall site building structure looks a lot less intimidating.

How to Get the Most Out of Drupal Training

tabathap — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:08:04 +0000

It’s a simple question that we’ve all asked: “What can I do to make the most valuable use of my time during Drupal Training?”

Having only experienced Acquia training sessions for the first time this January, I have a few ideas on how to make training beneficial for you. As a marketer, working with Drupal was brand new to me, but the Drupal in a Day and Drupal Site Building classes helped me cut the confusion and start building my first Drupal site.

LevelTen Remains the Last Independent Drupal Shop!

David Hahn — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:48:24 +0000

LevelTen Interactive announces today that despite many recent acquisitions and mass mergers in the Drupal web development space, LevelTen remains committed to being the last remaining independent Drupal shop and first choice for people looking for a quality Drupal site without being locked into a slow, expensive corporate behemoth.

Learn Web Building Basics with Acquia Drupal Training

tabathap — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:25:42 +0000

We’re hosting three Acquia courses this May 14-18. Sign up for Results Oriented Website Jumpstart, Drupal in a Day, or Site Building for Drupal to amp up your knowledge of this flexible, powerful content management system.

Our three course offerings include:

Results Oriented Website Jumpstart, May 14 and 15:

Making the Move to Timeline

tabathap — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:19:41 +0000

Facebook Timeline becomes mandatory for pages on March 30th. As always, Facebook changes are lamented by many, yet they bring both benefits and challenges. This time around the layout is entirely different. Your wall is not simply a wall, it’s a timeline of your page’s existence. So how are we supposed to work with this new, unfamiliar format? Let’s demystify Timeline by asking a few common questions:

1. What is the cover photo?

DrupalCon Day 4: "Drupal Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"

tabathap — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 18:31:49 +0000

You know what today is? Sure, it’s the final day of DrupalCon Denver, but don’t despair. It’s also a day of sprints from 9am to “beer:30”, topped off by a ski and board trip at 5pm. I hear there are plenty of other activities available besides skiing. If you just happen to be into spas, snowmobiling, or dog sledding, you’re in luck.

DrupalCon Day 3: "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Drupal"

tabathap — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 18:27:01 +0000

Today is the day that LevelTen's own Tom McCracken discusses how to build sites faster with Drupal apps and Open Enterprise from 2:15pm to 3:15pm in room 208. If you haven't tried out the distribution, now is the time to test Open Enterprise and discover it's vast functionality.

DrupalCon Day 2: "Drupal Side of the Moon"

tabathap — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:21:28 +0000

Now that we’re well into Day 2 of DrupalCon Denver, it’s a good time to highlight some features of the day. There are so many sessions, BOFs, and speakers that it’s difficult to pick and choose. So here are some sessions happening today that might pique your interest:

Drupal Game Show, 2:15pm-3:15pm
Well known people from the Drupal community will compete to test their knowledge in an ultimate game of Drupal destruction hosted by Four Kitchens.

We Want YOU to Join LevelTen

tabathap — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:29:08 +0000

LevelTen is hiring for full-time and intern positions and you might be a great fit for our team.

We are currently looking for a full-time Web Production Coordinator who is a fearless and energetic-self starter and loves to keep others organized.This is an entry level position with great career growth opportunities for a dependable person who is dedicated to delivering results for the client and who can hit the ground running.

Responsibilities include:

DrupalCon Day 1: "Electric Drupaland"

tabathap — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:30:48 +0000

There's a lot going on during Day 1 of DrupalCon Denver. The LevelTen SEO Tester is finally up and running and everyone seems to be having fun with it. Have you tested your site's SEO score yet? The LevelTen crew would like to meet you!

The Great DrupalCon Unveiling

tabathap — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:18:38 +0000

Do you remember when we said we had a secret surprise for DrupalCon? Now that DrupalCon is here, it’s time for the unveiling. It took a few weeks of work to rewire, but the Website SEO Tester formerly known as a Love Tester will be ready for the LevelTen booth on Tuesday. Make sure to stop by and try it out on your own website!

What's Next at SXSWI: A Pete Cashmore Recap

tabathap — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:58:01 +0000

You may have seen LevelTen’s CEO Tom McCracken around SXSW this past week and he has some great videos and interviews for you. If you haven’t checked out LevelTen’s YouTube channel for all things involving Results Oriented Web, now is a great time! At nearly 5000 views and counting, this channel is growing fast to provide you with fresh ideas and information on the strategy, process, tools, and tactics for building a better web presence.

Join LevelTen for the Austin Drupal Bash

Kayla Wren — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:58:13 +0000

Join us at the Austin Drupal Bash during SXSW!

WHEN: MARCH 12, 2012
WHERE: VALHALLA, AUSTIN, TEXAS

Get your Drupal questions answered by experts in the community, meet new people, catch up with old friends, and have a beer or two. The event is hosted by some of the top agencies in the Drupal world including Four Kitchens, GeekAustin, Astonish Designs, Aten Design Group, Zivtech, Phase2, and LevelTen Interactive.

Getting Started with Content Creation

tabathap — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

We’ve heard the phrase so much that it sounds like a string of cheesy buzzwords, but it’s true that "content is king". The purpose of maintaining a high content site is that it educates your customers, keeping them up to date with relevant information that can result in conversions, clients, or purchases. Unique, original content, not necessarily your product, is the bait that you’re dangling out for the fish to feed on.

Mashable Insight from SXSWi 2012

Tom — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 00:31:38 +0000

We got a chance to catch up with Lance Ulanoff, Editor in Chief at Mashable, today at SXSWi 2012. Lance explained the secret to how Mashable has become so darn big. In 2012 Mashable is driving 23 million uniques and 100 million page views a month.

SXSW Interactive Showcases an Explosion in Open APIs

Tom — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:43:21 +0000

Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and a team of others are rushing to fundamentally transform the way we do computing. We have all been witness to “The Cloud" revolution. While services like iCloud and Amazon's cloud are the faces of this revolution, there is another more profound movement happening behind the scenes - the rush to open APIs to drive the content and interaction that will ultimately fulfill the promise of the cloud.

Kimbell Microsite Sets the Stage for a Rare Exhibition

tabathap — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:30:00 +0000

If you’ve been wondering about the new collection showing at the Kimbell, you can now read all about it via The Age of Impressionism microsite. After completing the microsite for Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome, LevelTen provided a template that was set up for simple field and content organization.

5 Reasons Why Google+ Gets A +1 from Us

tabathap — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:30:00 +0000

There are a few simple reasons that we like using Google+ at LevelTen. If you're not particularly knowledgeable of the social networking platform, or just haven't had time to use it yet, here are a few reasons why you should.

1. It’s easy to share with specific groups
In fact, you don’t even have to go through any menus to find privacy settings. The only steps include adding your friends to circles and sharing individual posts as you see fit.

2. Label groups with an easy drag and drop feature

Are You Ready for DrupalCon Denver?

tabathap — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The official conference of the Drupal Community is coming up in late March and we have a big surprise for our booth at DrupalCon Denver. Neither Wham! nor The Miracles can predict what we’re going to do with the secret box we received in the mail this week. Just take a look…

How Training Clients to Input Content is Like Teaching Kids to Play Baseball

Chris — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:30:00 +0000

One of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done is coach my two sons' sports teams. Lately, I've found that teaching my clients to input the content into their Drupal sites requires the same patience and skill, and I'm going to show you just how the two compare.

A Quick Drupal Apps Demo

Tom — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:43:50 +0000

Drupal Apps are crazy cool. They make Drupal site building fast and fun for everyone. That’s right, everyone and anyone. Even if you are new to Drupal. They are that simple.

Despite their coolness, apps are new to a lot of people. So we thought we would put together this quick Drupal Apps demo video.

After the demo, go ahead and take apps for a spin. A test drive is the best way to understand what apps can do for you. These instructions will get you started

Just Released: 5 New Drupal Apps for Open Enterprise

Tom — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:40:00 +0000

Making Drupal more accessible is a never ending quest - but we just hit a big milestone. Just released: five new Drupal apps for Open Enterprise covering some of the most requested features from our clients. These new apps join the existing apps such as the blog to give site builders the essential recipes many sites need in a handy one click plug-n-play apps format. Enjoy!

(If you are not familar with Drupal Apps, see how to get them below)

The Apps

LevelTen is Hiring!

Kayla Wren — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:30:00 +0000

In January, the U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs — a very significant improvement over the December number of 200,000. This was enough to shave another 0.2 percent off the unemployment rate, bringing it down to 8.3 percent. At LevelTen, we're working to make March numbers even better!

Business is good so we're adding another member to the team. Here's what we need:

Web Words Explained: Search Engine Optimization

tabathap — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Search engine optimization, or SEO, has become a complex but necessary beast over the years. Back in the day, a company who wanted to be found easily was named something like AAA Cleaners or Aardvark Plumbing in order to be listed at the top of their category in the phone book. SEO is actually a lot like that. Businesses still want to be at the top of the listing, but in Google instead of the Yellow Pages.

How Search Engines Work

1. Search engines "crawl" pages using a spider.

Quick Enhancements to Make Drupal Content Admin Dirt Simple

Tom — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:39:33 +0000

There is no doubt that Drupal 7's admin is light years better from a usability perspective. Yet, even with all the enhancements, we find site admins still stumbling to manage their content. Over the last few months we have worked out a set of enhancements that have made our clients lives much easier. So we thought we would share.

Papyrus, I Hate You

gretchenv — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 03:48:06 +0000

I’ve always been told that “hate” is a very strong word, but sometimes it's just necessary. And yes, I hate the Papyrus typeface.

If you have any interest in design, typography or even just own a computer, you are probably familiar with oh-so-overused Papyrus. As I sit here and blog about uncool fonts, I can’t help but feel like a cliché design diva, but lately Papyrus has taunted me everywhere I go and I am irritated.

Web Designer's Toolkit

Brent — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:22:31 +0000

Every experienced designer has a “toolkit” to assist with day-to-day tasks, archive ideas for new designs and to organize tools that make life easier. A design toolkit can be as simple as a folder that houses templates, Photoshop brushes and screenshots of design ideas, or it can be more complex. I personally prefer to keep it simple and well organized so that I can find tools quickly when I need them. This article explains how my design toolkit is setup for ease of use.

My toolkit consists of a folder > sub-folder structure. The master folder is labeled Toolkit and contains the following sub-folders.

Building custom widgets

Tom — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:14:05 +0000

The Social Media and Widgets modules have become pretty popular in the months since they launched. The feature request queues have been filling up. Mostly with requests to customize widgets or add new ones.

Web Words Explained: Content Management System

tabathap — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The meaning is supposed to be simple. The omniscient information source known as Wikipedia currently defines a content management system, or CMS, as "a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment"... Say what!?

Of course, this isn't the first time LevelTen has explained the meaning of a content management system and why you need one. The thing is, we can break this definition down a little further.

Is Your Site Design 2012 Compliant?

gretchenv — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:11:00 +0000

I recently heard someone on TV say, “I’m a woman of the tens .…” Ha, I had never thought about it but I guess what else would you call this decade?

I am starting off my third year of the tens with a bang, as the new web designer for Level Ten Interactive. As I settle in with my brand new colleagues in this brand new year, I’ve been reflecting on my goals for my client work at Level Ten. I’ve decided one of my top priorities is to make our clients’ sites look “of the tens.” But what does it mean to be “of the tens?”

Web Words Explained: Open Source Software

tabathap — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

I’ll let you in on a secret. Like many of you, I’m new to Drupal. Despite having a strong background in content management, Drupal is unexplored territory. I remember what it was like in the beginning as I learned to develop new sites. We all remember a point when we were baffled by basic applications like posting blogs, and terms like “CMS”, or “open source” seemed foreign.

Socialize your Drupal site in 5 Easy Steps

Tom — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:10:07 +0000

A modern day web presence is not just your website. To be successful you have to expand your digital footprint to include social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube. You need to enable your site visitors to Tweet, Like, +1 and share your content on the likes of StumbleUpon and Reddit.

To create a rich connected user experience, you need to do more than just link to social media. You need to integrate familiar social engagement directly into your website.

Release of Drupal 7 Content Analysis & Optimizer modules

Tom — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:38:06 +0000

During 2011 the list of requests to port the Drupal SEO Tools suite had grown quite long. After a few months of brushing up on the new D7 changes, I finally got a chance to sit down and do some programming over the holidays. So for all of you who have been encouraging the D7 ports, I give you the Drupal 7 release of Content Analysis and Content Optimizer.

If you are not familiar with what these modules do, let's review.

Drupal Mega Menus Made Simple

Mark Carver — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:15:50 +0000

Have you ever made a Drupal site where the design called for implementing one or more mega-menus? Have you spent countless hours downloading module after module and hacking your theme's template file to get the code to insert at just the right place?

LevelTen Interactive introduces: Menu Views

How to Write a Headline for Your Blog That Will Knock People Out With Its Sheer Amazingness

Sumeeta Kumar — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:37:41 +0000

Your headline is the equivalent of your physical appearance in the web world. It’s the short skirt that captures that cute guy’s eye. It’s that sexy hairstyle and ivy league degree that makes that gal look twice. Because people are surfing the web at rapid intervals, and everyone has developed acute ADHD as a result, it is imperative to grab your audience’s attention in 2 seconds or less, and to rope them into giving your blog or article a read. The Huffington Post is great at this. Celeb rags are great at this.

The Decline of Greeting Cards

Brent — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:18:04 +0000

The decline of personalized greeting cards has left my refrigerator bare this year. Usually wrapped with family pictures, season greetings and magnets, it now stands naked; shivering in the cold winter nights that have approached. What about the cards of years past? Will they not have an opportunity to welcome new comers to their shoebox home? It seems Gmail and Facebook have become their new resting place. This hardly seems fair.

How to Create Great Content for the Web

Sumeeta Kumar — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:23:14 +0000

Content is king. In our modern day, people are bombarded with blogs, videos, articles and photos every single time they turn their computer on. Essentially, people are being shouted at all day long, and so their natural inclination is to tune marketers out. You must EARN their attention. The thing that will allow your company to stand out among the clutter is the quality of content that you churn out. Create remarkable content to connect online with your buyers, and it will bring you back both tangible and intangible rewards.

Responsible Responsive Drupal Themes

Mark Carver — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:06:21 +0000

After being introduced to the concept of responsive web theming, I took to it like a duck in water. I was pleased with the well documented contributed Drupal base theme, Omega based on the 960.gs grid. This amazing framework provides a plethora amount of configurable options, scalability and an overall sense of structure. I will not be covering any technical space-talk or how to configure Omega in this blog. If you would like to learn more about Omega, please visit the following site for more information: http://omega.developmentgeeks.com.

Nobody Wants a Website

Randall Knutson — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:36:25 +0000

Why do you want a website? Because everyone else has one? That's a really terrible reason. Websites are really tools to accomplish a goal. Too many companies set out to build a website without fully thinking this through.

Let me give you an example.

Widget herding made simple - Introducing the Widgets module

Tom — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:31:52 +0000

Have you ever needed to put Service links or ShareThis into block? How about AddToAny in a node link? Want to have different share buttons per content type? Want a simple way to add the latest widgets from Twitter, Facebook or Google to your site. Want to enable admins to customize widgets without having to dig into the API docs? It's time to start wrangling in all those widgets.

Checkup: Drupal coming to the Healthcare & Medical Industry

Chris — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:27:49 +0000

Healthcare, love it or hate it, it's not going away and in fact the healthcare industry is booming and continues to grow. Almost daily we hear about some revolutionary break through in medicine that will help us to lead longer healthier lives. The web has made sharing knowledge and information easier and easier and the emergence of smart phones allows anyone to access years of historical data at their fingertips.

Tutr.tv: Top Videos of the Week

Sumeeta Kumar — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:57:46 +0000

Apps: Drupal Simplified
by: Dallas Drupal User Group

How to Motivate Your Employees

Sumeeta Kumar — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:48:11 +0000

As a company, it is imperative to have the very best team you possibly can. A strong team is one that stands by its leader, advocates for its company brand on and off the clock, and that genuinely wants the best for its company. The disputes between American Airlines' executives and its employees, and the company’s subsequent bankruptcy,

What are social media widgets? Oooh, give me.

Tom — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:25:22 +0000

The web has gone crazy for social media widgets. What's not to love? Magic little boxes that connect our sites to the social power of the web in convenient little code snippets. They are all the rage with the hip, in-the-know online pundits.

5 Basic Principles For Creating a Strong Brand

Brent — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:15:37 +0000

LevelTen’s team recently had a brand discussion over lunch regarding our website. Questions like - does out website positively promote our brand? What is our message? Do we communicate to potential customers in a way that is easily understandable? I can’t say I was very surprised when the overwhelming consensus was that it needed significant improvement.

Unleashing the Power of Drupal on Your Theme

Mark Carver — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:30:13 +0000

People love changing things around. Wouldn't it be nice if people could easily swap out images on their home page or even change the background of the theme. Granted, I usually advise against the latter scenario as many people think they know what looks good, but don't realize that their camping escapade isn't always enjoyable by all. However, it can be done! What I think is more important is that it can be done intuitively.