Umbraco is a Content Management System, a tool to make it easier for Website Editors to update and maintain their website by enabling then to change the written copy and images and video without having to understand complex programming languages. Umbraco is called Open Source software because the underlying program code is free and open for everyone to download and change.  This makes it possible for anyone to build features and fix bugs in Umbraco, which improves the safety and security of the platform immensely.  That being said, the Umbraco CMS is developed and supported by the Umbraco HQ corporation,…

When starting out on a new Umbraco Project it's really important to know and communicate what features and other requirements you have.   There are many ways of communicating these requirements, but here at Carbon Six Digital, we use a spreadsheet called the Prioritised Requirements and Traceability Matrix.  Long name, but easy idea. We’ve previously talked about producing a Prioritised Requirements List, which is a crucial first step in commissioning a new Umbraco site.  In this post, we look at the other side of this template, the Traceability Matrix. The purpose of this side of the template is to track the…

Most business projects involve some element of risk - negative events that may impact the project budget, quality or timescale. Web-based Umbraco projects are no different - their success often depends on how well the team manage and resolve risks so that their effects on project delivery are minimal. At Carbon Six Digital we use a pretty simple process of risk management. Risk management of web projects, like any other, is just the methodical identification of events that might occur to impact the project, assessment of how big the risk actually is and then putting plans in place to manage…

This month sees the start of our 7th year as an Umbraco Gold Partner.  We've been committed to Umbraco since Founder Paul Marden, went all in with Umbraco launching Carbon Six Digital in 2009.  Seeing the benefits to the agency, our clients and the Umbraco we joined the Gold Partner program in 2013. In that time we've seen releases of Umbraco 4, 6 and 7 mature to become the world's most popular .NET based Content management system. Tools like Umbraco Forms, SEO Checker, Merchello, and Personalisation Groups have produced a technology platform that can compete with the leading proprietary CMS's…

In our experience, it’s common for website buyers to treat hosting as a commodity - a bit like electricity and gas supply, website hosting is all the same really, the only difference is the price?  Wrong! There's a big difference in the hosting services on offer, and as a buyer, it’s crucial to understand what you need and what you're getting for your money. Hosting an Umbraco site calls for a number of minimum requirements: you must have Windows-based hosting, it needs to be in Full Trust Mode, and you may (probably) need a SQL server database. That precludes the…

Today I spoke at the inaugural Umbraco Spark Innovation Conference, based on some research that Jamie Pollock and I have done.  Titled How to design a great Content App for Umbraco 8 the talk was really an opportunity for me to research and better understand one of the new features in Umbraco 8: Content Apps.  Over the space of a few weeks I managed to speak to a number of Umbraco devs who have been pioneering the development of Content Apps, and this presentation is the distillation of what I learnt. Transcript Slide 1 While working to design and build…

When commissioning a new website built using Umbraco, or any CMS for that matter, its critical to have a clear understanding of your audience.  During the initial scoping of the new website, you should define who you are targeting the website at in as much detail as possible. Having a clear audience definition that clearly states their goals can make it very easy for an agency to understand what you're trying to achieve and ensures that the site is personalised with meaningful content.  The audience statement supports the production of a content specification, and, during the design stages of the…

Today saw the release of Umbraco 8 - a long-awaited update to the CMS we know and love.  We’ve been using Umbraco since version 3 way back in 2008 when Kung Fu Panda was released and the charts were chock full of X Factor stars.   Umbraco 7 has been arguably the most stable, successful and long-running version of the CMS. But the world has moved on, and with version 8, so has Umbraco. Things we’re most looking forward to in this release are the new Content Apps, the improved performance and the new editing experience - Infinite Editing. Content Apps…

“There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved. (And finding the perfect CMS)” – George Sand, Author. Have you ever met someone and just known that they are the one? We first met Umbraco 10 years ago, and have never looked back since. After finding Umbraco, we’ve never felt the need to use another CMS. With over 443K active installs it’s the most frequently used .NET CMS. We love Umbraco…here’s why it’s been our Valentine for the past 10 years. Umbraco I really do love you, you never make me frown,Your reliability is second to…

When starting out on a new Umbraco Project it’s really important to know and communicate your requirements and your desired features. There are many ways of communicating these, but here at Carbon Six Digital, we use a spreadsheet called the Prioritised Requirements and Traceability Matrix. Long name, but easy idea. First the requirements list. This is a methodical list of all the features the new system must incorporate alongside other factors such as security and performance requirements. The functional requirements are often best articulated as a “User Story”. The list should be Prioritised so that the developers focus attention on…