Growing Minds, Inc. » Thesis

Walt’s Roast Beef

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:56:12 +0000

Walt’s Roast Beef, a chain restaurants in Rhode Island and a favorite of Rhode Islander’s for over fifty years, enlisted Growing Minds for their new web site design and production. Walt’s had a logo and brand image established through its television, radio and print advertising but had not leveraged the power of the Internet with a web site for its chain of restaurants. The custom design developed by Growing Minds incorporates Walt’s existing logo and color theme and utilizes a WordPress blog with the Thesis framework. Informational pages on the web site include a menu, directions to each of Walt’s five locations, Walt’s History, a promotions page, and a blog. The integrated blogging capabilities on the site make it possible for Walt’s management to write blog posts about the restaurants, special promotions, news and events. Search engine optimization (SEO), Google Analytics, and quick links to social media in blog posts were also included as part of the overall design project.

Barrels of Fun Site Redesign

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:19:03 +0000

This redesigned website for Barrels of Fun, a custom gift company, incorporates a blog and an E-commerce application, both of which are free open-source applications with easy-to-use interfaces so that content throughout the site can be quickly and easily updated by Barrels of Fun personnel.

Barrels of Fun Blog Post

The e-commerce portion of the site is powered by Zen Cart, an application with a large established community of supportive users. It is an excellent choice for organizations looking for an affordable e-commerce option. Static web pages and blog posts use WordPress and the Thesis framework. Simplified search engine optimization (SEO) is an important feature of the Thesis framework. Carefully crafted and hand-coded CSS was developed to match color scheme, layout, text, and other elements of the two applications, WordPress and Zen Cart, to give the Barrels of Fun web site a consistent graphic look.

The integrated blogging capabilities on the site make it possible for Barrels of Fun staff to write blog posts about their new product offerings and gift ideas on a regular basis. Informational pages on the WordPress portion of the web site have links directly to product pages in the store to encourage click-through to product pages.

Candlewick Inn Redesign

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:52:15 +0000

Candlewick Inn is a cozy bed and breakfast inn in historic Warren, RI. It is on the East Bay bike path, steps away from the town park, tennis courts, and beach.

The Inn’s existing web site had been online for several years and the design really needed an updated look. In addition, the Inn’s proprietor wanted to be able to add information about upcoming events, classes and special B&B rate packages herself.

The new design for the Candlewick Inn site utilizes WordPress and the Thesis theme. The user-friendly WordPress dashboard interface makes it possible for Candlewick Inn’s proprietor to write blog posts and publish them as an integral part of the Inn’s web site. Updates to web pages on the site are made using the same interface, and the Thesis theme provides easy-to-use search engine optimization (SEO) features.

TAVDI.com Utilizing WordPress and Thesis

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:05:30 +0000

Tavdi’s original web site was developed by Growing Minds in 1999, and after ten years it was due for a new look and updated functionality. The redesigned Tavdi site utilizes WordPress and the Thesis theme. The user-friendly WordPress dashboard interface makes it possible for Tavdi personnel to write blog posts and publish them as an integral part of the company’s web site. Updates to web pages on the site are made using the same interface, and the Thesis theme provides easy-to-use search engine optimization (SEO) features.