Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/10/2011 -- DesignHammer is pleased to announce the release of version 2.0 of the iPhone app for the Carolina Theatre, a Durham historical and cultural landmark. The latest version of the mobile application boasts an improved user interface along with new features. The iPhone app was first released in March 2011 and has maintained a steady rate of downloads over the last six months.

The Carolina Theatre iPhone app pulls content directly from the Carolina Theatre's website, built by DesignHammer using the Drupal, an open source content management system. "We are excited to further connect with our loyal patrons with this significant update to the Carolina Theatre iPhone App." says Aaron Bare, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Carolina Theatre.

The latest Carolina Theatre app features a more intuitive and visually pleasing interface while maintaining the distinctive style and branding of the Theatre's website. According to Jay Roberts, DesignHammer's lead iOS developer, "The new version can take you to the Ticketmaster page for each event to buy tickets and brings Carolina Theatre's new blog directly into the app. The update also brings a host of other bug and UI fixes, making this the best and most stable version of the app yet." In addition, iPhone users upgrading to iOS 5 on October 12th need not worry; the Carolina Theatre app is already fully compatible with the latest mobile operating system.

The Carolina Theatre of Durham, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization hired by the City of Durham to operate the Carolina Theatre. The professional staff, along with more than 300 volunteers, executes a comprehensive performing arts program including live performances in music, dance, theater, and educational programming, as well as a nationally-respected film program that includes the county's only first-run independent cinema, which operates 364 days a year, as well as four dynamic festivals – the North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the Retrofantasma and Retrofantasma Classics horror series, the Nevermore Film Festival and the Escapism Film Festival.

The Carolina Theatre first turned to DesignHammer for web development services in 2008, and since then the two have worked closely together. DesignHammer has designed and developed the Theatre's main website, as well as sub-sites for the Theatre's numerous film festivals. DesignHammer also has sponsored several shows at the Theatre over the past few seasons.

About DesignHammer Media Group LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer Media Group LLC is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service; DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites.

About Carolina Theatre
The Carolina Theatre of Durham, Inc. is dedicated to presenting vibrant, thought-provoking film and live performances that contribute to the cultural and economic vitality of downtown Durham and the Triangle Region. Live performances at the Carolina Theatre are supported in part by the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of North Carolina, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the A.J. Fletcher Performing Arts Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/01/2011 -- Durham's award winning web design agency, DesignHammer, is adding a new service to their roster and making a fun iPhone app for Durham's Carolina Theatre. The 10 year old agency has been expanding services greatly recently and iPhone application development is the newest in offerings for the increasingly mobile world.

The application, available for free at the Apple iTunes stores, includes features that will help the local audience engage better with the theatre and become more aware of the diverse entertainment programs that is offered. The application's features include:

- Updated information on the evolving schedule at the theatre - information of schedule changes and additions to entertainment
- Social media sharing through the users preferred social network. Other features include
- Access to personalized directions to theatre,
- Seating chart, and
- Easy access to purchase tickets.

Bob Nocek, President and CEO of the Carolina Theatre, believes, "This app will connect with fans on a deeper level and we hope make them more frequent customers. In a time when it's harder to reach people through traditional media this tool provides a direct link with our audience."

DesignHammer and the Carolina Theatre of Durham Inc have worked closely together since the creation of the theatre's new site began in early 2009. The mobile application maintains the branding and functionality of the new website while making the theatre even more accessible and engaging to the mobile audience.

"The app is truly the best way to stay up-to-date with what's happening at the Carolina Theatre. It also makes it easy to share your plans with your friends." DesignHammer Developer, Jay Roberts, shares Nocek's excitement about the new app.

Application development is the newest service offered by DesignHammer. The agency offers services in Web Design, SEO, Email Marketing, Hosting, and Maintenance along with Website, Drupal and iPhone app development.

About DesignHammer Media Group LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer Media Group LLC is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service; DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites.

Contact: Stephen Pashby, (p) 919.544.0086 x151

About Carolina Theatre
The Carolina Theatre of Durham, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which manages the city-owned Carolina Theatre at 309 W. Morgan Street, Durham, NC 27701. Carolina Theatre of Durham, Inc. is dedicated to presenting vibrant, thought-provoking film and live performances that contribute to the cultural and economic vitality of downtown Durham and the Triangle Region.

Live performances at the Carolina Theatre are supported in part by the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of North Carolina, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the A.J. Fletcher Performing Arts Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation.

Contact: Aaron Bare, (p) 919.560.3040 x224

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/14/2011 -- David Minton, Managing Partner of DesignHammer, has been honored by Business Leader Media as one of the 2011 Top Catalyst Entrepreneur sof the Triangle. The Top Catalyst Entrepreneur Award is given to dynamic and outstanding business professionals who greatly contribute to the growth of their communities.

The 2011 Top Catalyst Entrepreneur Award for David is the first time he has been honored by Business Leader Media in this category and marks the fourth award for the company. Upon learning of the award, David stated, "I am honored to be a part of this exemplary group of local business leaders. Without the exceptional staff, and dedication on the part of my business partners, DesignHammer would not have provided me a platform to be so recognized."

Other notable Top Catalyst Entrepreneurs for 2011 include Dr. Jim Goodnight, Chief Executive Officer of SAS, Chaz Felix, Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Bronto Software, and Danny Rosin, Co-owner and Acting Vice-President of Brand Fuel Promotions.

As Managing Partner, he oversees the business aspects of the company, including sales, finance, and operations. David also consults with clients on usability, accessibility, search engine optimization, and social media.

The 2011 awards dinner took place last night in Raleigh and honored approximately 46 of the Research Triangle's most dynamic entrepreneurs from a variety of industries. Profiles of all of the winners are available in the Triangle edition of the Business Leader Magazine.

Business Leader Media has grown as a source for local business news since 1989 and provides local editions of Business Leader Magazine for various regions of North Carolina. The publication regularly honors leaders in the community throughout the year with awards such as Top CFO, Women Extraordinaire, and Top 100 NC Small Business Awards. In total, the company presents 10 regular awards events each year for the Triangle business community.

Contact:
Stephen Pashby
Account Manager
DesignHammer Media Group LLC
(e) Stephen@designhammer.com
(p) 919.544.0086 x151

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/10/2011 -- Kosta Harlan, Developer at DesignHammer, will be attending DrupalCon Chicago, the world's premiere Drupal conference. DrupalCon Chicago will be an international event that brings together people who use, develop, design, and support the Drupal platform. The conference will take place March 7–10, 2011 at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Chicago, IL.

"I'm looking forward to learning about Drupal 7 from other Drupal developers and site builders," said Kosta. "This conference is bringing together thousands of people from around the world, and it's a unique opportunity for me to learn from and engage with many talented people."

Drupal is an open-source content management system with an active, worldwide development community. This open development model creates a free, flexible, robust, and constantly improving CMS solution for websites large and small.

"Drupal is a great solution for building complex websites. We've been using it on a large number of our projects at DesignHammer, and it's what I spend most of my time working on. The Drupal community is very active, creative, and helpful, which is what makes the platform great."

The first DrupalCon was held in 2005 in Antwerp, Belgium. Attendance has grown from 25 at the first DrupalCon to 3,000 at DrupalCon San Francisco in 2010. Attendees to DrupalCon San Francisco represented 20 different countries. DrupalCon is not just attended by developers—designers, themers, project managers, and corporate leaders will also participate. Projections for DrupalCon Chicago are upwards of 4,000 people.

About DesignHammer Media Group, LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service. DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites. http://www.designhammer.com

Contact: Stephen Pashby, (e) stephen@designhammer.com, (p) 919.544.0086 x151

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/05/2011 -- Web Design and Development agency, DesignHammer, has again been included in Triangle Business Journal's book of lists on the Top Internet Marketing and Design Firms and top Graphic Design firm in the Trianlge. This year, the agency ranked 17th and 8th in the Internet Marketing & Design list and Graphic design list respectively. The ranking is based on number of employees and percentage of work dedicated to that area of expertise.

DesignHammer is a full-service, web design and development firm offering services in design, development, drupal development & training, seo, usability, maintenance, email marketing, ecommerce, and hosting. Since it's founding in 2001, the company has been the recipient of several awards including 2010 Top 100 Small Companies in North Carolina by Business Leader Media. A few of the firm's clients include The Durham Bulls, RTI International, John Locke Foundation, Carolina Theatre, Duke and Cisco.

Triangle Business Journal provides a comprehensive Book of Lists for all top Triangle companies arranged by industry in addition to including the lists weekly within the Journal. The annual book is available for purchase on the TBJ website.

Founding Partner, Frank Yonnetti stated, "We're thrilled to be included in the Triangle Business Journal's list of top Triangle companies in both Internet Marketing & Design and Graphic Design. Many thanks to our staff for helping to grow DesignHammer and make us successful in this competitive area."

About DesignHammer Media Group LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer is an award-winning, Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology and personalized service. DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites. http://www.designhammer.com

Contact:
Caroline Silver
(e) caroline@designhammer.com
(p) 919-544-0086 x115

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/03/2010 -- Web Design and Development agency, DesignHammer, is continuing it's sponsorship of the historic Carolina Theatre in Durham for the 2011 season. The theatre has been a Durham institution since opening in 1926 and is today one of the primary contributors to the performing arts in the Research Triangle. The theatre produces live shows featuring nationally touring acts as well as offering regular screenings of classic and contemporary films.

The Carolina Theatre has a great line up this year, full of live entertainment for all age groups. DesignHammer will be sponsoring three shows early in the season including:

Natalie MacMaster: Christmas in Cape Breton
December 16 at 8:00p
This award winning Canadian fiddler will be performing Celtic songs and Christmas carols to get everyone in high spirits for the holidays. Having toured with other top recording artists including Faith Hill and Carlos Santana, Natalie is headling her own Christmas in Cape Breton tour throughout the US during the month of December. With her incredible talent and lively performance, this show is a must see this holiday season.

The Max Weinberg Big Band
February 4 at 8:00p
Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and most recently band leader for the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show will performing his wide repertoire for the Carolina Theatre audience this Winter. His performance will include songs from Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, and Bruce Springsteen. For fans of the big band sound, this is a great performance for the area as well as an opportunity to see this longtime talent close up.

Cirque Mechanics: Boom Town
February 15 & 16 at 7:30p
Cirque Mechanics presents Boom Town, a story set in the 1865 mining town of Rosebud. Through acrobatics, amazing stunts and beautiful artistry the performers tell the story of two salon owners amidst the time of the gold rush. The spectacular acrobatics will delight an audience of all ages. This performance will be one of the highlights in the Triangle this Winter.

Looking forward to this exciting new season! For more details about the Carolina Theatre or to buy tickets for their upcoming season, please visit the Carolina Theatre website, http://www.carolinatheatre.com.

About DesignHammer Media Group, LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service. DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites. http://www.designhammer.com

Contact: Caroline Silver, (e) caroline@designhammer.com, (p) 919.544.0086 x115

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/12/2010 -- DesignHammer, a Durham based web design and development agency, has recently completed redesign work on Thought Leader Select, now live at http://www.thoughtleaderselect.com. Thought Leader Select is a private research and consulting firm that identifies and connects experts in the biopharmaceutical and health care industries.

The completion of this redesign marks the third project between DesignHammer and Thought Leader Select. The client first approached DesignHammer in early 2010 to provide a comprehensive redesign of the site including design work, SEO analysis, and reconfiguring the site to use a content management system (CMS).

Designer and leader for the Thought Leader Select project, Tevan Alexander, commented, "Converting their static site into one that uses a CMS was satisfying because WordPress empowers them to take control of their content. Kristen Smithwick and Brian Castle, who led the client's team, were great about conveying their vision for the website and the end result was something that effectively integrated the form and function they were seeking from the redesign."

The new site has been built in WordPress, known well as a blog publishing application and is currently one of the most popular content management systems. With WordPress, administrators from the company have full access to managing and editing content, a major incentive for the site overhaul. The structure of the site is now more intuitive with an aesthetically pleasing design, enhancing the user experience.

Kristen Smithwick, VP of Global Sales, Marketing & Strategic Planning for Thought Leader Select, stated about this latest project, "We wanted our new site to echo the internal growth we're experiencing, showing outwardly that we are a full-service provider that is sophisticated and professional. Thanks to Tevan and his team, the site does just that. We love the new colors, more expressive photos and more dynamic look and feel of the whole site."

About DesignHammer Media Group, LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service. DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites. http://www.designhammer.com

Contact: Caroline Silver, (e) caroline@designhammer.com, (p) 919.544.0086 x115

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/27/2010 -- Web design and development company, DesignHammer, will again be sponsoring the Raleigh-Durham BarCamp for their Fall 2010 event this Saturday October 23rd. This event marks the fifth time for BarCampRDU and the second consecutive year of sponsorship from DesignHammer.

The BarCamp event is an "un-conference" where attendees of the event can watch as well as engage as educators with their peers. The event is open to the public and driven entirely by content created by those attending the event making for a unique, entertaining and educational experience.

BarCamps have developed worldwide, bringing together professionals from various industries to share their knowledge with peers. Other industries that have taken advantage of the BarCamp format include Real Estate, Marketing, Healthcare, and Education. There are also more topic specific conferences within the technology field that cover cloud computing, design, privacy, and UX sessions throughout the day for those interested in a highly focused event.

In addition to sponsoring the event, DesignHammer's staff will be in attendance to pitch their own presentations and contribute. Developer, Jay Roberts, who has attended BarCamp events in the past stated, "BarCamp is a really great opportunity to connect with other developers in the area. You never know what new thing will spark your interest. For example, last year there was a great session on Robotics. It can be a way to explore some new technologies that you wouldn't ordinarily look into or try out."

For those that cannot attend, the BarCamp sessions are covered by live bloggers and can be followed as it happens by searching for the BarCampRDU tag as well as following along with #BarCampRDU on Twitter.

The event will be held at the RedHat offices in Raleigh this Saturday from 8:30-6pm. For more information on BarCamp, please visit the organization's website at http://barcamp.org/BarCampRDU.

About DesignHammer Media Group, LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer Media Group LLC is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service; DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites.

Contact: Caroline Silver, (e) caroline@designhammer.com (p) 919.544.0086 x115

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/12/2010 -- DesignHammer will be sponsoring the 3rd Annual Internet Summit held in Raleigh this November 17-18. The Summit is focused on bringing the executives, entrepreneurs and investors together to share knowledge about the latest information on trends in the Internet business community and encourage technology development in the Southeast Region.

The two-day conference will feature presentations from top level executives in the industry discussing a range of Internet and technology topics including social media, cloud computing, mobile strategies, ecommerce best practices, etc. David Minton, DesignHammer's Managing Partner, will also be presenting at this year's conference on the topic of Website Usability.

The summit will include different educational tracks for audience members of the marketing, Internet and IT communities. Last year's event featured over 80 guest speakers with an audience of approximately 1,200 in attendance. On this first ever sponsorship for DesignHammer, David Minton stated, "We are really excited to be sponsoring the Internet Summit this year and working to generate provocative discussion with all the other participating organizations to develop the industry."

To learn more about the event or get tickets, please visit the Internet Summit website at http://www.internetsummit.com

About DesignHammer Media Group, LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer Media Group LLC is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service; DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites.

Contact: Caroline Silver, (e) caroline@designhammer.com, (p) 919.544.0086 x115

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/30/2010 -- This month David Minton, Managing Partner of DesignHammer, has been honored by Business Leader Media as a Triangle 2010 "Mover and Shaker." The magazine's annual award celebrates executives in leadership positions making a difference in their company and the community.

The 2010 awards dinner took place in Raleigh and honored approximately 70 leaders in the Research Triangle from a variety of industries. Profiles of all winners are available in the Triangle edition of Business Leader Magazine.

Business Leader Media has grown as a source for local business news since 1989 and provides local editions of Business Leader Magazine for various regions of North Carolina. The publication regularly honors leaders in the community throughout the year with events such as Top CFO, Women Extraordinaire, and Top 100 NC Small Business Awards. In total, the company presents 10 awards each year for the Triangle business community.

The 2010 Movers and Shakers award for David is the second time he has been honored by Business Leader Media in this category and marks the third overall award for the company. Upon learning of the award, David stated, "It is an honor to be selected as one of this year's "Movers and Shakers," and be associated with such a distinguished company. This award is a reflection of the success of the company, which is due to the hard work and dedication of my partners, and the staff at DesignHammer."

About DesignHammer Media Group, LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer Media Group LLC is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service; DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites.

Contact: Caroline Silver, (e) caroline@designhammer.com, (p) 919.544.0086 x115

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/01/2010 -- Durham web design and development company, DesignHammer has recently been honored by inclusion in Business Leader Media's Top 100 Small North Carolina Businesses list. The annual award issued by the publication, honors companies with fewer than 100 employees who have demonstrated business success as well as a commitment to community engagement over the course of the year.

This year's award winners were honored at three simultaneous events around North Carolina on Thursday, June 24th. David Minton and Caroline Silver attended the awards dinner in Raleigh to accept on the company's behalf. Minton has also been honored by the publication before, receiving an award in their "Movers and Shakers" category for 2009.

Business Leader Media provides valuable local market intelligence while also rewarding excellence in the business community with award events such as the "Movers and Shakers" and Top 100 Small Businesses throughout the year.

The award recognized the excellent performance of DesignHammer in 2009, a momentous year as the company approaches its tenth year in the Triangle. Increasing in size and services, the agency is improving the breadth and quality of service offered to clients. After receiving notice of the award, David Minton, Managing Partner of DesignHammer stated, "It is an honor for DesignHammer to be selected as one of the top 100 small businesses in North Carolina. Our success through these trying economic times has been a testament of the hard work and ability of our staff, and the support of our loyal customers."

About DesignHammer
DesignHammer has been a Durham based Web design and Development company since 2001, and building smarter websites is what we do. Featuring refined aesthetics, advanced technology and personalized service, DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites.

About Business Leader Media
Since 1989, Business Leader Media has focused on providing regional business profiles, business news, leader profiles, and best practices to C-level executives and business owners. Business Leader Media develops magazines, Web sites, e-newsletters and events that support the critical local market information needs of business leaders.

Media Contact
Caroline Silver
DesignHammer
(919) 544-0086 x115
caroline@designhammer.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

DesignHammer, a Durham-based web design and development company has recently completed work on the new Raleigh Rescue Mission website.

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/15/2009 -- DesignHammer, a Durham-based web design and development company has recently completed work on the new Raleigh Rescue Mission website, now live at http://www.raleighrescue.org. Raleigh Rescue is a Christian, interdenominational nonprofit whose mission is to shelter the homeless and disadvantaged population in the community. In addition to shelter, the organization collaborates with a range of nonprofit organizations to offer comprehensive recovery services to individuals and families in need.

- Before the re-design, the organization had great challenges with a static HTML website which was proving both costly and time consuming.  In addition, they were seeking a new design to enhance areas of the site such as increasing donations for the charity, raising volunteerism, developing itself as an informational resource for poverty issues, and transforming the site to be easily maintainable by the staff.

- DesignHammer has maintained a strong relationship with Raleigh Rescue since 2007 as the provider of their hosting and maintenance services.  On being selected for the re-design work, Managing Partner, David Minton stated, "Though DesignHammer provided website hosting and maintenance for the organization's legacy website, we were very glad the Mission selected our firm for their ambitious website redesign project."

- The site has since been improved with an attractive new design, including prominent call-to-action buttons for volunteering and donations, which has addressed the organization's primary goal.  Dynamic pages have been added, filled with information about Raleigh Rescue as well as homelessness, poverty, and links to their newsletter.  The addition of a new Drupal content management system will also now ensure website content is current and easily maintainable by staff at the mission.

Leslie Currin, Director of Public Relations at the Mission said after the revised site went live, "I think the new site is excellent and according to the feedback we've received since the launch of the site, so do many others! The new site is not only aesthetically pleasing with a modern design, but has the functionality we desired to help engage people in our ministry."

About DesignHammer Media Group, LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer Media Group LLC is an award-winning Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service; DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites.

Contact: Caroline Silver, (e) caroline@designhammer.com, (p) 919.544.0086 x115

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/09/2009 -- This week Durham Web Design Company, DesignHammer Media Group LLC has launched NC Transparency, a new site for the John Locke Foundation. The John Locke Foundation, a conservative non-profit North Carolina think tank, sought to create in NC Transparency a new initiative to encourage more public accessibility to government entity information. "In the age of the Internet and digital technology, citizens are demanding their state, local and national governments provide online access to the basic information they must have in order to make decisions as responsible citizens… We hope NCTransparency.com will help convince more government leaders that it's time to let in the sunshine," stated Fiscal and Health Care Policy Analyst for the Foundation, Joseph Colletti.

As part of new policy for North Carolina politics, Governor Perdue has stressed the importance of transparency in government even during her first days in office this year. Since then, the new administration has already introduced NC Openbook http://www.ncopenbook.gov/ to provide state contracts and grants information to the public. While contracts and grants are also included in NC Transparency, the foundation also considered an extensive list of additional documents for disclosure including budget, annual financial information report, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Revenue Report, number of employees, audit reports, employee salaries, etc. Complete list of resources used to determine grades is available in the About page of the NC Transparency website http://www.nctransparency.com/about.

In an interview about the new project, Joseph Colletti, stated, "it is really difficult to get to documents online for the government, so we figured the best thing to do is to just make, to provide a simple portal for people to access what is available already and to encourage the governments to put more online in the future… And so we grade them as well to help that along."

Each entity's grade is based on a system that considers the number of resources readily available to the public on government websites. Also taken into consideration is the document's importance as well as its format. As online databases are more usable in extracting information to use for analysis, documents presented in this format gain more points towards grading than scanned documents, which are more difficult to utilize. Grades will be updated as resources are added or removed from government websites, making the Transparency website a far more valuable tool than reports published once per year.

While DesignHammer develops numerous websites using off-the-shelf content management systems, such as Drupal and WordPress, the requirements of Transparency website required a completely custom-written online application. According to Jay Roberts, DesignHammer's lead developer on the project, the new website is "based on a PHP MVC (Model View Controller) Framework, called CodeIgniter. Using an MVC pattern allowed clean modular code to be written for the project making it easier to develop and maintain. The platform was also selected for its speed. The system is able to process scores for thousands of records on the fly without a lot of additional processing overhead."

NC Transparency is the latest in a series of projects DesignHammer has developed for the John Locke Foundation since 2002, including their recently redesigned flagship news site, The Carolina Journal, various subject and region specific websites and blogs, as well as the Foundation's main site. Other examples of DesignHammer websites can be found at the company's website http://www.designhammer.com. Select client websites for viewing include RTI International, Habitat for Humanity Orange County and Durham Bulls Baseball Club.

About DesignHammer Media Group, LLC
Founded in 2001, DesignHammer Media Group LLC is an award-winning, Durham, North Carolina based web design and development company featuring advanced planning, repeatable processes, refined aesthetics, solid technology, and personalized service; DesignHammer empowers clients by building smarter websites.

Contact: Caroline Silver, (e) caroline@designhammer.com, (p) 919.544.0086 x115

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/09/2009 -- This week the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) is launching a newly designed website after recruiting the services of DesignHammer to undertake the project earlier this year. NISS is an independent research organization formed by organizations in the statistical sciences community, Triangle universities, and organizations in 1991 performing research for predominantly national governmental and industrial clients. Their clients include national governmental and industrial clients including the National Cancer Institute, National Center for Health Statistics and US Department of Health and Human Services.

Improvements from the former website include a refined modern appearance with increased ease of navigation and less clutter. On the website, NISS shares ample information including organizational news, publications, position papers, and select research. The organization provides cross-disciplinary research involving the statistical sciences and maintains summaries of their various projects within the research and publication sections of their website.

Due to the large quantity of research the site contains, organization and usability have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the website as easy discovery of documents is critical to the purpose of the website. After reviewing the former site, the design team focused a great deal of attention on organizational aspects for the new website.

As part of the redesign, the website received new site architecture and a Drupal-based content management system. Drupal is a cost-effective, simple content management system that allows individuals at the organization to maintain content without assistance from a professional web designer. Jamie Nunnelly, Communication Director from NISS remarked that, "Comments about the site are that it is much easier to use and find what you're looking for. It also has a much more contemporary look than the old website. DesignHammer is a great organization to work with. They did a great job of listening and developing a comprehensive design plan."

The new National Institute of Statistical Sciences website is now live at www.niss.org. Other examples of DesignHammer websites can be found at the company's website www.designhammer.com. Select client websites for viewing include RTI International, Habitat for Humanity Orange County and Durham Bulls Baseball Club.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Durham, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/07/2009 -- Indyweek.com, the online edition of the popular alternative paper serving the Triangle, The Independent Weekly, has added a new look to the paper's blogs using the services of DesignHammer Media Group, LLC. The revised look of the entire website complements the print edition of The Independent Weekly which has been providing alternative news to the Raleigh community since 1983.

Indyweek.com began working with DesignHammer by redesigning their main website in early 2008. The design team offered an optimized layout for new content and focus and an attractive design that was well received by Indyweek. The successful redesign of the main site became the beginning of an entire site overhaul as Indyweek returned to DesignHammer to complete the look with the blog section.

For frequent readers, an immediately recognizable change of the redesign is the consistent appearance across the entire website from homepage through individual blog sections. Pete Weber, Web Director for Indyweek stated the section suffered from issues concerning organizational and navigation challenges. "Our layout was a culmination of items positioned haphazardly wherever we could find space to stick them," says Weber.

The Indyweek blogs are powered by WordPress (http://wordpress.org/) blogging platform. As part of the redesign, DesignHammer developers migrated the existing blogs to the latest version of the open-source software. They researched and identified the dozen or so plug-ins used to extend the basic functionality of WordPress to provide just the functionality the Indyweek bloggers were seeking.

The five blogs cover a wide spectrum of topics and provide views of world, national and North Carolina news with local flare. Scan is the music source blog regularly updated by various authors and provides updates on local and national music happenings. For political and local government news, Citizen provides a steady blog recently covering such topics as local transit tax and the School Violence Protection Act, recently passed through the state senate. Triangulator is an aggregation of interesting local blogs that strives to cover local as well as national stories, which impact the Triangle. Triangle Offense and Artery are sports and entertainment blogs providing commentary and updates with a local focus. The blogs can now be found on their own dedicated domain, indyweekblogs.com (http://www.indyweekblogs.com/), with links to the five subject-specific blogs; Scan, Citizen, Triangulator, Triangle Offense, and Artery.

Readers, viewers and other peers in the news industry have responded to the new design favorably, according to Weber. After the project was completed, Weber remarked, "The finished website is gorgeous. It's visually appealing, while remaining functional and easy to use… The great thing about communicating periodically with the DesignHammer team is we were able to incorporate a trial and error method with certain ideas, features, and products with relative ease… Our site is exactly what it needs to be as a result of the careful consideration and care on the part of the DesignHammer team."

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