About Alma Technology

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“alma utilises technology to enhance business, life and communities, by being part of an ecosystem of forward-thinking people who are involved in collaborative I.T. projects, consulting & educating – encouraging creativity and technical freedom”

Alma Technology is a web developer and IT consultancy based in Sawtell, on the Coffs Coast, NSW. We specialise in web development, from simple entry level websites to sophisticated world-class online services. We also provide services, support and training in other areas of IT, and work with a broad network of complementary IT businesses in the area. Our work is always based on the principles of open standards and free software.

Contact us to discuss how we can help you.

"If someone charges you for Search Engine Optimisation, you have been conned."

Submitted by Matthew Davidson on Thu, 15/10/2009 - 2:36pm
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I've made the same points in the past, if not quite so forcefully (strong language warning!), but can highly recommend to anybody considering a Web project this post by web developer Derek Powazek on the "Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists" selling "Search Engine Optimization" (SEO).

"The problem with SEO," he writes, "is that the good advice is obvious [to competent web developers], the rest doesn’t work, and it’s poisoning the web." Powazek's personal strategy for making a website successful is the same as our own: "Make something great. Tell people about it. Do it again."

In his follow-up SEO FAQ Powazek makes a less obvious point that few have caught onto yet: "Social media is rapidly becoming much more important than Google." If you are not engaging (constructively - not spamming) with the communities you serve, on your own website and elsewhere, the money and effort spent on your website are likely to be wasted.

Alma using Piwik open source web analytics

Submitted by Allison Davidson on Fri, 01/08/2008 - 12:42pm
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piwik is an open source (GPL license) web analytics software. It gives interesting reports on your website visitors, your popular pages, the search engines keywords they used, the language they speak… and so much more. Call us if you would like to give it a try or check out the demo at www.piwik.org

The Case for Drupal

Submitted by gnu on Tue, 03/06/2008 - 3:36pm
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If you are planning a non-trivial website, this twenty-five minute presentation by Paul Albert, Digital Services Librarian at Weill Cornell Medical Library which compares Drupal, a free Web Content Management System and Application Framework, to FatWire, a proprietary Web CMS, should be required viewing.

Many of the arguments presented here in favour of Drupal also apply to any of a number of popular free systems, and most of the arguments against FatWire apply to any proprietary system. In this case the systems were evaluated for their suitability for use by a Medical Academic Library, but any situation where management of a great deal of information via the Web is required might be considered broadly comparable. The staff at Weill Cornell Medical Library found that:

  • Drupal is and will be cheaper
  • Drupal is robust, extensible, and enterprise ready
  • Other departments in their college are already using Drupal, as are other colleges and libraries, and many are dropping equivalent proprietary systems
  • Drupal supports "perpetual beta" (continuous improvement of a site)
  • Drupal has a much more active support and development community, and "a culture of sharing solutions"
  • Drupal has been paired with other technology in proven ways
  • Drupal has a gentle learning curve (compared to other development environments)

The Case for Drupal-- Why the Open Source CMS is Well-Suited for a Medical Academic Library from Paul Albert on Vimeo.
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