Fenix Blog

HTML5 has certainly been making the rounds in the news lately. With Apple’s on-going PR campaign against Adobe’s Flash technology, comes mounting misconceptions about what exactly HTML5 is, what it can do, and what it means for end-users.

I hope to clarify several of the most glaring misconceptions over the next few posts. Today I’d like to focus on the most publicized and misunderstood issue of HTML5 video.
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When people think of open source, the things that immediately come to mind are products and tools that many consider to be polar opposites of Microsoft offerings.

Firefox vs Internet Explorer
Linux vs Windows
Apache vs IIS
PHP vs ASP.NET
MySQL vs MS SQL
Open Office vs Microsoft Office

If you run an organization that heavily relies on Microsoft technologies like Windows Server and Microsoft SQL, you may immediately assume this means you’re out of luck unless you’re willing to invest in open source web infrastructure – the most popular of which is known as the “LAMP” (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack.

Luckily this is no longer true. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a search I monitor in my Twitter client for “drupal“. As the awareness of the tool grows in traditional and new media (especially following the high-profile relaunch of whitehouse.gov), the relative backlash in the feed is startling.

I don’t really blame people, though. Drupal probably isn’t for them, and drupal.org and most Drupal advocates are doing a terrible job of setting expectations. So much so that I feel this trend of pushing Drupal onto everyone for everything is hurting Drupal’s reputation and perception. Read the rest of this entry »

As anyone who has developed a Drupal site with devel module‘s query logging on can tell you, a Drupal implementation can quickly get out of control when it comes to hammering the database. Personally, I’ve seen Drupal run well over 300 queries to render a single page. In a hosting setup where the bottlenecks exist at the memory usage and MySQL levels (which refers to nearly all non-dedicated hosting packages), this can quickly become a problem.

I’ve summarized a series of simple setup and configuration tips behind the jump that can help any site running Drupal 6.x improve performance and the subsequent user experience as a result. Read the rest of this entry »

Fenix announces the launch of another Drupal initiative, this time for Gennum Corporation, a leading Burlington based semiconductor company. Designed, developed and executed in under two months, the Gennum site was a significant Drupal endeavor requiring 15+ templates, 1500+ pieces of content, faceted search feature powered by Acquia, an innovative context sensitive block module, and laid the foundation for the development of the accompanying secure extranet which we will begin developing in the next few days.

“With each Drupal implementation our team impresses me more,” says Fenix Founder Jennifer MacKinnon, “and this project was no exception. The speed and sophistication with which we can deploy an enterprise class environment, complete with a complex feature-set and numerous custom components is exciting and we are happy to be able to offer this level of service, quality and professional capability to our clients.”

“Gennum Corp is a great company and we have enjoyed working directly with their team to see Phase 1 of this initiative to completion. Our two teams worked hard, but more importantly worked well together, mutually ensuring the success of this project.”

Adds Leanne Labelle, co-Founder of Fenix Solutions “Open source solutions are being more and more widely accepted, particularly by large, and international, organizations. Companies seek us out because of our Drupal and open source experience, passion and capabilities. The benefits of open source solutions are compelling and we are seeing a noticeable shift in thinking, resulting in the demand for our kind of offering deployed on open source software. It’s exciting for us to be leading this charge.”

Picking up a new framework can be as difficult (and sometimes moreso) as learning an entire computer language.  On the drupal end of things, the community has yielded all sorts of time-saving tools that you can use to get up and running without even having to get your hands dirty with code.  We’ve whipped up a short list of modules we commonly use and that have saved us considerable time. Read the rest of this entry »

Check out our new microsite for information that will help you through the process. http://opensource.fenix-solutions.com We cover everything from open source content management solutions to frameworks.

The Wiki, built on the MediaWiki platform, is the Government of Canada’s first foray into the world of Web 2.0. and has earned considerable praise, adoption and promotion for the Government.

Fenix provided the NHRC with a brand new look-and-feel targeting each of their key audiences: students, researchers, and NHRC members. The site was built using the open source Drupal CMS and implemented various web 2.0 features. A key component of the website makes use of the Google Maps API and allows members to find research hubs and repositories across Canada. The site is now a great marketing tool for the NHRC, and they hope to be able to use this to promote housing research on an on-going basis.

See the new NHRC Web site.

Building a Web Presence – Selecting a Content Management Solution

There are many factors to consider when selecting a Content Management Solution. Obviously the first question you should be asking yourself is “do I need a content management solution?”

At the very least, if you have content that requires updating on a regular basis, then the answer is yes. And, with the emergence of Web 2.0, social marketing, online communities and online business automation, most of you are likely doing a whole lot more (or what to do a whole lot more) with your website than simple content updates. Choosing the right CMS can not only make the tedious task of publishing content to your website easier, it can also become the platform on which you can unify and integrate all aspects of your online business. Read the rest of this entry »