PixelMill Blog

Innovative SharePoint Driven Web Templates Radically Simplify Site Building and Content Management

(DAVIS, CALIF.) - May 9, 2008 - PixelMill.com, a provider of design solutions for Web site builders and content managers, today unveiled a series of new content management system Web templates that gives all levels of Internet users the ability to easily and instantly edit content areas of Web sites from within ordinary Web browsers.

By combining the professional graphic design of pre-designed Web templates with the power of Microsoft's SharePoint-driven content management system (CMS) interface, PixelMill has introduced an unprecedented level of Web design and content management simplicity. With support from Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) experts B4Contact to develop the new Web template products, PixelMill crafted for business professionals a site building and content management solution that enables virtually any staff member with minimal Web experience and training to contribute to and dynamically edit and update a company's Web presence.

"With today's tightening economy and the rapid decentralization of employees and business partners, establishing a Web presence built on a centralized collaborative tool like SharePoint makes good business sense," said PixelMill CEO Jason Reckers. "This new approach removes virtually all obstacles for businesses to quickly create, deliver and manage a world-class Web presence."

PixelMill advanced this initiative to provide users the customer-centric focus of past Web sites and the collaborative features of today's social collaborative sites which bring together employees and business partners into a secure online environment.

Content management system Web templates from PixelMill are used from within ordinary Web browsers. The templates are first loaded onto a Windows SharePoint Services web server in a process very similar to publishing a standard web site. Hosted Windows servers running SharePoint services are available from a growing number of Windows-based hosting companies, including SharePoint experts at Frontpages Web Hosting Network and B4Contact (in Europe), and other large Web site hosting companies.

With the template loaded, staff members given permissions may login and start making edits and most common changes to content areas of the site from within the browser. The innovative Web browser interface allows for the easy addition of pictures, graphics and images, extra pages, and the ability to modify navigation bars, instantly edit and update content areas with full "rich text" capabilities.

Leveraging Microsoft's Windows SharePoint Services to drive the simpleCMS templates follows a series of moves by PixelMill to make Web site building cost effective, easy to manage, and scalable for web presence growth especially for small and medium sized businesses. Among its more recent moves to make Web site building and editing easier, PixelMill introduced in October 2007 a new catalog of Web Themes and Template "Skins" specifically designed for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 to give novice and progressive Web enthusiasts the ability to transform the "out-of-the-box" SharePoint site design into a variety of customizable designs.

PixelMill's new content management system Web templates are designed as flexible, cost effective packages that give small to mid-size businesses a solution they can grow with for internal team and external partner collaboration, as well as on-the-fly maintenance of their own public-facing web site. In addition to its new SharePoint-driven Web templates, PixelMill's other SharePoint services include custom design work for WSS and MOSS (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server). Having contributed to more than 60,000 Web sites, PixelMill's adaption to back-end solutions allowed it to quickly introduce to the design and developer market enterprise solutions that offer increased flexibility and choices in implementing the look and functionality of SharePoint products and services.

Established in 1998, PixelMill serves as the Web's central source of solutions for Web site builders and content managers. PixelMill's extensive digital library features high quality templates and tools - guaranteed royalty free and free of copyright concerns - including more than 2,000 Web, Microsoft® Expression® Web, SharePoint Designer, Adobe® Dreamweaver®, FrontPage®, and HTML templates, 1,800 PowerPoint® templates, 9,000 stock images, and 4,500 royalty free music tracks. Media Contact: Chris Doyle, 916.847.0261 cdoyle@pixelmill.com

Has it been that long?

I realize now that it has been over four months since our last post and our last newsletter. Don't worry, we're still here and working on the business of developing new and exciting solutions for you and your customer's needs.

I recently returned from the Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Redmond. Over the years Microsoft conferences have been somewhat dull and uneventful from a business perspective. Often, they've been very tech heavy with hard-core coders periodically peaking up over their laptops between (and during) sessions. The one exception being the MIX events, which have had a flare to them from the beginning.

This year's SharePoint Conference threw much of that somber "I need to be here, because I was told I need to be" mentality out the window. First, the conference was over sold out. They added a couple over-flow rooms for the keynotes, and it wasn't unlikely to find standing room only in the sessions. The most important observation was the constant buzz. People are 'excited' about SharePoint, and it's not just programmers and network administrators. Many of the attendees, from my observation, were also business consultants and process managers. The industry is seeing the value of SharePoint both inside and outside the Enterprise.

I won't deliver a complete synopsis of the conference, but want to point out the energy we're seeing behind SharePoint. Stay tuned as we start to roll out SharePoint specific solutions that you can start using for your business or as an opportunity to connect with your clients.

PixelMill Introduces "PixelMill Skins^TM" for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

(Davis, Calif.) - October 31, 2007 - Leveraging the entry of the latest version of SharePoint, PixelMill today introduced a new catalog of Web Themes and Template "Skins" specifically designed for Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0 to give its users the ability to transform the "out-of-the-box" SharePoint site design into a variety of customizable designs.

Advances in SharePoint Services 3.0, which includes a number of design enhancements that make building Themes and Templates much more cost effective and easier to implement for users, prompted PixelMill to develop its first phase series of Skins for business users. Its years of experience designing with SharePoint and providing custom design services for business enabled PixelMill to readily adapt to evolutions in SharePoint. PixelMill's design contributions to more than 60,000 Web sites and its adaption to back-end solutions allowed it to quickly introduce to the design and developer market enterprise and small business solutions that offer increased flexibility and choices in implementing the look and functionality of SharePoint products and services.

PixelMill's online Skins catalog introduction (http://www.pixelmill.com/products/website-templates/vivid-office.aspx) arrives at a time when hosting solutions for SharePoint now provide significant collaboration capabilities and flexible, cost effective packages giving small to mid-size businesses a solution they can grow with for internal team and external partner collaboration, and even maintenance of their own public-facing web site. Anticipating SharePoint's increasing relevance, PixelMill has already begun developing new solutions that will move beyond "skinning" SharePoint sites to providing Web site designs that use SharePoint as a content management tool.

"We're investing in efforts that give small businesses the ability to use dynamic content in Web sites that anyone on the team can update," said PixelMill CEO Jason Reckers. "With our new Skins, we're enabling companies today to create and deliver world-class Web presence using multimedia and e-commerce components supported by simple, easy to use and powerful back-end solutions such as SharePoint."

PixelMill began its work with SharePoint in 2003. At that time, PixelMill, through its Vivid Office brand, packaged and developed a number of complementary products, design templates, and instructional guides featured in the Microsoft® Right Tools Toolkit and on www.sharepointcustomization.com. PixelMill experts also developed effective strategies to help users implement these designs into their Windows® SharePoint® Services Web sites.

Supporting its entry into Skins for SharePoint, PixelMill's online seminar series featured at PixelMill EDU, helps designers and developers transition from FrontPage to SharePoint Designer. PixelMill's educational series is designed to help customers learn how to effectively work with SharePoint Designer for both static Web sites as well as easy integration with SharePoint. The series also puts focus on users converting from FrontPage to SharePoint Designer since previous versions of SharePoint used FrontPage to edit design, Web Parts, and data view integration tools. PixelMill EDU is available at http://www.pixelmill.com/services/seminars-webinars.aspx.

PixelMill, established in 1998, serves as the Web's central source of solutions for web site builders offering an extensive array of high quality templates, images, video, audio, add-ons, platform-specific solutions, training, and custom services for developers' Web design needs. PixelMill's extensive digital library features high quality, guaranteed royalty free and free of copyright concerns, templates and tools with more than 2,000 Web, Microsoft® Expression® Web, SharePoint Designer, Adobe® Dreamweaver®, FrontPage®, and HTML templates, more than 1,800 PowerPoint® templates, over 9,000 stock images, and over 4,500 royalty free music tracks.

Media Contact: Chris Doyle, 916.847.0261 cdoyle@pixelmill.com

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PixelMill Becomes Member of ProStores Design Certification Program

(DAVIS, CALIF.) - PixelMill.com today announced it is a Certified Designer under the ProStores Design Certification Program, created to expand the network of Web developers and designers versed in creating stores for ProStores merchants.

ProStores, an eBay Company that allows small- and medium-sized businesses to create professional online stores, customized with their own branding and domain name introduced its e-commerce platform certification program in June 2007. ProStores Design Certification Program offers existing and prospective merchants with a progressive, qualified resource of clean, easy-to-navigate and professional-looking stores built specifically for them. Those securing ProStores certification have demonstrated proficiency in designing ProStores sites to exacting specifications.

Earning ProStores certification further fixes PixelMill.com's position as the Web's central source of professional solutions for the broader Web development community. In addition to becoming a 'ProStores Certified Designer' merchant solution with over 40 ready-to-use and 250 ready-to-convert ProStores-enabled e-commerce Web templates, PixelMill offers an extensive array of high quality templates, images, video, audio, add-ons, platform-specific solutions, training, and custom services for developers' Web design needs, including custom design solutions to ProStores merchants.

PixelMill for years has served as a top Web resource for Webinars, education and training programs to support products, services and matters relating to Web site design. PixelMill also authors and publishes its own series of on-site and downloadable tutorials for a wide array of products, tools and resources to make site building quick and easy.

"ProStores offers the unique combination of an affordable solution with virtually unlimited flexibility in store design," said PixelMill Chief Executive Officer Jason Reckers. "As an authoritative source of training programs itself, PixelMill heartily supports ProStores' e-commerce Web design certification program because it ultimately maintains and improves quality industry standards that bring greater value to merchants, as well as to the customers they serve."

PixelMill, established in 1998, serves as the Web's central source of solutions for web site builders. PixelMill's extensive digital library features high quality, guaranteed royalty free and free of copyright concerns, templates and tools with more than 2,000 Web, Microsoft Expression Web, SharePoint Designer, Adobe Dreamweaver, FrontPage, and HTML templates, more than 1,800 PowerPoint templates, over 9,000 stock images, and over 4,500 royalty free music tracks.

PixelMill Newsletter - July 2007

If you missed our email newsletter, we encourage you to take a look at our July 2007 Newsletter online.

July 2007 Newsletter

This month's newsletter delivers the first of many upcoming opportunities. Both ProStores and eBay Stores have created new Certified Designer programs. We have worked with both ProStores and eBay Stores in the early stages of these programs, and feel that both programs will be ideal additions to your portfolio. I encourage you to read more about these opportunities, below.

Also, Corrie continues her series on CSS with a focus on CSS Layout. "More than just changing some colors and fonts, CSS layout involves setting dimensions and learning the "box model,"..." Box model? What's that? Take a look at Corrie's article, and she will set you on the right track.

We hope you find these articles and all of our newsletters valuable to you and your business.

July 2007 Newsletter

The PixelMill newsletter features articles, tutorials, helpful tips, industry news from trusted 3rd-party sites, links to our featured blogs for the month, and much more.

To receive the newsletter by email you can either edit your account information to receive the newsletter, or you can sign-up using our Constant Contact account using the following link: Sign up for the PixelMill Email Newsletter

PixelMill Newsletter - December 2006

If you missed our email newsletter, we encourage you to take a look at our December 2006 Newsletter online.

December 2006 Newsletter

In this month's newsletter, Corrie Haffly delivers two more excellent tutorials. The first tutorial shows you how to convert your FrontPage link bars to basic text links in Expression Web. We found with the official release of Expression Web that the link bar feature has been removed, but we also found that this feature was still in SharePoint Designer 2007's official release. If you decide to go the Expression Web route, we recommend this tutorial if your FrontPage site contained FrontPage Link Bars.

Corrie's second tutorial provides another excellent Photoshop tutorial on how to make last minute Christmas cards or how to simply add a border effect to the images on your site.

Looking towards next year, we introduce you to the many opportunities we have opening up at PixelMill. With all of the new products and services we'll be delivering in 2007, we're looking for some talented individuals that can help us with these projects. Here's your opportunity to pick up some extra work, additional training, and more exposure in the industry.

We hope you find these articles and all of our newsletters valuable to you and your business.

December 2006 Newsletter

The PixelMill newsletter features articles, tutorials, helpful tips, industry news from trusted 3rd-party sites, links to our featured blogs for the month, and much more.

To receive the newsletter by email you can either edit your account information to receive the newsletter, or you can sign-up using our Constant Contact account using the following link: Sign up for the PixelMill Email Newsletter

PixelMill Newsletter - November 2006

If you missed our email newsletter, we encourage you to take a look at our November 2006 Newsletter online.

November 2006 Newsletter

This newsletter starts with a look at one of our recent learning experiences with using some of latest in online meeting technology. Plus, we introduce our newest webinars, seminars, and one-on-one training services. We all face some new challenges in the web development environment and PixelMill is finding new ways to help everyone through the transition.

The newsletter also features our tutorial Managing Styles in Expression Web, which is the first in our series "From FrontPage to Expression Web". Plus, another excellent Photoshop tutorial from Corrie Haffly, 'Save Time With Shortcuts'.

We hope you find these articles and all of our newsletters valuable to you and your business.

November 2006 Newsletter

The PixelMill newsletter features articles, tutorials, helpful tips, industry news from trusted 3rd-party sites, links to our featured blogs for the month, and much more.

To receive the newsletter by email you can either edit your account information to receive the newsletter, or you can sign-up using our Constant Contact account using the following link: Sign up for the PixelMill Email Newsletter

Webinar: Managing CSS in Expression Web

PixelMill is happy to announce our first in a long series of Webinars and Seminars for Expression Web and SharePoint Designer 2007.

One of the most anticipated features in Expression Web and SharePoint Designer 2007 is the integrated CSS editor use interface. In the session, Corrie Haffly, our resident expert will guide you through managing CSS in these new editors. The title says Expression Web, but the same techniques will also work in SharePoint Designer. Space is limited, so don't miss this opportunity.

Managing CSS in Expression Web
Expression Web comes with great new tools for managing and using CSS. Using Expression Web Beta, Corrie Haffly gives an overview of the new tools and some practical tips on how to use them.
Thurs., Dec 7, 2006
10:00 AM - 10:45 PM PST

The Photoshop Anthology

Announcing Corrie Haffly's new book, The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Trick, and Techniques.

Corrie, PixelMill's Lead Designer, has seen the culmination of years of hard work and self-taught determination come together with the publishing of this new book. Working with the talented team at SitePoint, Corrie put every ounce of effort into focusing primarily on the challenges that face web designers. Most of the Photoshop books and tutorials currently in the market either focus heavily on Photoshop features in a overview format or on needs specific to the print or photography industries. The Photoshop Anthology is the first Photoshop book I have seen that clearly focuses on the web industry's needs. This makes sense when you know that Corrie has spent her career in web development and learning to use Photoshop effectively within that environment.

In the book, Corrie covers how to:

- Learn the basics: image sizing, layers, vector shapes, transparency, and more.

- Create attractive buttons: aqua-style, metallic, glassy, etc.

- Work with text: style it, create special effects, and wrap it around 3D objects.

- Touch up photographs, match colors, and combine different images.

- Make graphics for CSS rollover buttons.

- Optimize graphics for web use.

- Create animated GIFs.

- And lots more…

From beginner to Photoshop expert, The Photoshop Anthology puts clear focus on one niche of the Photoshop customer base and does an excellent job of diving down into the key step-by-step information we all need to get the most out of such a powerful tool.

To learn more and purchase this valuable addition to your web building library, please use the following links to the SitePoint site:

The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Trick, and Techniques

Overview
Sample Chapters
Order Today!

PixelMill Newsletter - October 2006

If you missed our email newsletter, we encourage you to take a look at our October 2006 Newsletter online.

October 2006 Newsletter

This newsletter starts with a look at the constant changes we are all facing in the web development environment at the moment. In response to these changes, we introduce some of the new products and services you'll be seeing from PixelMill in the coming months.

We are also pleased to announce the availability of Corrie Haffly's (PixelMill's Lead Designer) new book, The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Trick, and Techniques. This is an excellent book for any web designer who works with Photoshop. As a sample of the types of tips you'll find in her book, Corrie includes a PixelMill Newsletter article showing how to crop to a specific size in Photoshop.

Finally, we provide an overview of some of the eCommerce solutions we offer in conjunction with ProStores, osCommerce, and PayPal. Thinking about starting an eCommerce site you in 2007? You should read this article to see what PixelMill can provide.

October 2006 Newsletter

The PixelMill newsletter features articles, tutorials, helpful tips, industry news from trusted 3rd-party sites, links to our featured blogs for the month, and much more.

To receive the newsletter by email you can either edit your account information to receive the newsletter, or you can sign-up using our Constant Contact account using the following link: Sign up for the PixelMill Email Newsletter

Web Only Images

Thanks to PixelMill’s growing partnership with Jupiterimages, we’re now able to offer for the first time 'Web Only' formatted images from our AbleStock and Photos.com catalogs.

Announced in our blog, Jupiterimages, PixelMill has secured a reseller agreement with Jupiterimages to sell legally licensed images in a single-image download format. PixelMill pays all royalties, and the customer receives a Jupiterimages license to use the royalty free image under the terms of the Jupiterimages license agreement.

Today, we’ve taken this agreement one step further to offer a low-cost 'Web Only' version for customers who do not need a print version of the image. At prices ranging from $44.95 to $49.95, you can now have the same great quality images in a 500 x 375 pixels, 72dpi option to use solely with your Web site.

What prompted this move? Well, in recent months we’ve received a number of positive comments from customers about offering a broader range of images in our catalog. But, we have heard many comments/questions very similar to this: "I just need it for my web site, and not for print. Is there an option to buy a version at 72dpi?"

So, we took this feedback to Jupiterimages (PixelMill has had OEM license agreements with Jupiterimages since 2004) and encouraged them to add this new format to the selection of options. Our selection of image options range up to a maximum image size in the 3600 x 2700 pixels, 300dpi range.

This development now gives customers the ability to take almost any PixelMill template, from any category, replace the image with one from our images catalog, and create a personalized site. Watch the selection grow as another 5,000 images will be added before the end of the month.

Add variety to your site with images like these:

Man holding house - A focused image for your real estate web site.

Life - A fun, 'Sky's the limit' image to use for a site that needs the exciting zeel of red and blue.

Travel Agent - An blue tinted travel concept image for your travel site.

Visit our Images landing page to start browsing...

We Need your Talent!

Business is booming and we're continuing to receive more requests for custom work and support resources than we can effectively meet. Starting with this blog and continuing in future blogs, we will be soliciting resumes from customers and SiteBuilders for specific talents and/or areas of interest. Our goal is to start a databank of human resources and talent that we can refer customers to for additional support and custom work. If you're interested in additional exposure for you and your business, please review the following areas of need and submit your resume to talent@pixelmill.com.

PayPal Experts

During our meetings with PayPal, we were asked to join their Solutions Directory where they recommend companies to assist customers with the integration of PayPal solutions. We need individuals (or companies) interested in joining a team of five or so PixelMill members to support this referral business from PayPal. These are paid opportunities where you will often work one-to-one with the customer. We (along with PayPal staff) will provide additional training for more complex PayPal solutions, and will ask that this PayPal group assist with the development of supplemental support materials tailored to the PixelMill customer-base.

.ASP, .NET, .PHP Coders

PixelMill has often tested-the-waters in providing database driven solutions within, and as add-ons to, our products. Over the last year we have seen a significant increase in the number of requests for these solutions and for additional custom services. This is a ripe opportunity that we have had to turn-away due to the cost involved in providing these custom services on a regular basis. We're looking for people (or companies) who have significant experience working with any of these languages in building database driven solutions, and are interested in receiving referral and contracted projects. We take product and service quality very seriously, so we only request resumes from those that have a proven track-record in delivering the right solution, on time and on budget.

Jupiterimages

PixelMill has recently released the first group of over 5,000 images from Jupiterimages' AbleStock and Photos.com catalogs.

PixelMill has entered into a resell agreement with Jupiterimages to sell these images in a single-image format. These images are offered in three different print sizes at a print resolution of 300dpi. This means that you can use the same images in your web site and in your print materials.

Watch for more exciting announcements as we add more than 20,000 images over the coming months.

Visit our Images landing page to start browsing..

PixelMill Newsletter - July 2006

If you missed our email newsletter, or still have not joined our mailing list, we encourage you to take a peak at our July 2006 Newsletter. You may find a nice discount coupon in there. ;-)

July 2006 Newsletter

This newsletter starts with a reality check on how life challenges can affect the 'time' we spend on our businesses. We use a personal experience to show how we can spend 'time' to make 'time' for future needs. We also share our eperience at the eBay Live/DevCon conference, and clear up a question about the expected release date of Microsoft Expression Web Designer. We hope you enjoy the July newsletter.

The PixelMill newsletter features articles, tutorials, helpful tips, industry news from trusted 3rd-party sites, links to our featured blogs for the month, and much more.

To receive the newsletter by email you can either edit your account information to receive the newsletter, or you can sign-up using our Constant Contact account using the following link: Sign up for the PixelMill Email Newsletter

PixelMill Customer Satisfaction Survey

As part of our ongoing effort to improve PixelMill's products, support, and site useability, we have started creating surveys to solicit your feedback.

The following is a link to the first in a series of surveys that PixelMill will be conducting in 2006.

We kept this survey short (2-3 minutes) to just get a general feel for your satisfaction with PixelMill and our products. Future surveys will go into more detail, so we can better understand what products, support, and services will best suit your needs.

At the end of the survey, provide us your PixelMill username or email address and we will apply a $5 credit to your PixelMill account for a future purchase.

April 2006 Customer Satisfaction Survey

Thank you for your participation!

PixelMill Newsletter - April 2006

In April, PixelMill published two newsletters. We found that we had more information to deliver than we could effectively cover in one issue. The following are links to both of our online issues.

April 2006 - Part 1
April 2006 - Part 2

The PixelMill newsletter features articles, tutorials, helpful tips, industry news from trusted 3rd-party sites, links to our featured blogs for the month, and much more.

This past year we were proud to launch a new site with an updated design, increased functionality, and a layout built to grow. The return of the monthly newsletter is only a small piece of the many communication tools, feedback opportunities, valuable resources, and major announcements that you will see from PixelMill in the coming year.

To receive the newsletter by email you can either edit your account information to receive the newsletter, or you can sign-up using our Constant Contact account using the following link: Sign up for the PixelMill Email Newsletter

PixelMill Offers ProStores-enabled Templates

PixelMill announces the availability of Web templates built for ProStores' e-Commerce solution. These ProStores-enabled templates are built to fully integrate with the dynamic features of the ProStores' solution. With just a few quick steps any ProStores customer can get a head start on launching their new store or upgrade to a fresh design for their existing store.

ProStores, an eBay company, enables small- and medium-sized businesses to sell products and services online through a completely customizable virtual storefront at their own internet domain. A few of the many excellent features I like about ProStores are:

1) Ease of use - I built a store for my son, using the ProStores system, and I'm impressed with the ease of getting the store started and inspired by the confidence of having all of the commerce pieces I need to take and fulfill orders. Within a few hours, I had an account set up, added the PixelMill template, added a handful of products, and was able to see the store functioning live.

2) Integration with PayPal - Being a long-time advocate of PayPal, I found the integration of PayPal's new Website Payments Pro to be an excellent feature. With PayPal's low-cost 'merchant' solution, it was perfect for minimizing my initial start-up costs and ongoing transaction charges. Plus, they offer a couple months free with the integration of both solutions.

3) Integration with eBay - Over the years, I have found that there are a number of things that I want to sell online. eBay was one of the obvious first choices, but I started to realize that there are some products that do not sell well through eBay during certain parts of the year. With the ProStores solution, I can have the product listed in my Web store and then easily post it on eBay when the timing is right.

We, at PixelMill, have long refrained from supporting any full-featured e-Commerce solution. Other than promoting the valuable tools PayPal offers, we were never 100% comfortable with any e-Commerce solution that provided a complete storefront. Most grew out of small programming houses that were more code oriented rather than marketing focused. Many of these companies built quality solutions and had hard working teams, but we always had concerns with their marketing experience and the long-term viability of their solutions. In a constantly changing environment, one couldn't be certain that these e-Commerce companies had the financial backing to effectively adapt.

Then came eBay Live 2005, and the announcement that they were launching ProStores. I looked at my colleague, Greg Snow, and said "Now, that's an e-Commerce solution with the right idea and the perfect financial backing." We have been fortunate to work with the team at ProStores. The process of working with them and integrating our templates further reassured us that this is a solution we can confidently recommend to our customers.

This brings us back to today. We are proud to introduce the first of many templates built to fully-integrate with ProStores. We will continue to work closely with ProStores to ensure that the PixelMill templates are always easy to implement and designed to take full advantage of the ProStores solution.

Please take the time to visit our Templates for ProStores landing page to learn more about these templates and the ProStores e-Commerce solution.

PixelMill Featured in Microsoft Local PC Builder Program

Today, Microsoft launched a special promotion for Local PC Builders. The new Buy Local Bonus Pack campaign is designed to give Local PC Builders - local and regional businesses that build and sell PCs - a competitive edge when distributing genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP software.

PixelMill was invited to participate, with companies like T-Mobile, D-Link, Entreprenuer Magazine, and other prominent brands, in this co-marketing opportunity that features up to $1,200 in products and services for Local PC buyers. Local PC Builder customers, who redeem their Bonus Packs, receive exclusive access to six free PixelMill templates for Microsoft Office FrontPage and PowerPoint which are valued at more than $300.

We view this as a great opportunity to give Local PC Builders the wherewithal to deliver a customized solution to their customers with an added bonus. A recent trend among local system integrators is to provide additional consulting services to their customers. These services include small and medium size business marketing, presentation, and web development support and consultation. PixelMill products fit well for this group, and we are pleased to help make their job easier and more profitable.

If you're in the market for a new PC workstation, support your Local PC Builder by finding one in your area using the list located in the upper-right corner of the Local PC Builder Windows Marketplace.

Are you a Local PC Builder and not part of the program? Don't hesitate to learn more about your opportunity by visiting the Information for PC Builders area of the Local PC Builder Windows Marketplace.

We look forward to continuing to support local business consultants with our quality products and web site solutions. Learn more about this Microsoft offering today!

PixelMill Inc.

With PixelMill in its' eighth year and growing at a significant pace, we made the move to incorporate PixelMill, which will no longer be under the auspices of Advantrics, LLC. In doing so, we have a new Board of Directors, a new set of officers, and we have brought Vivid Office, John Galt's Templates, and TastyStock into the family.

I have assumed the role of President & CEO of PixelMill Inc., and my charge is to move PixelMill forward as an industry leader. For this to occur, I have set aggressive goals to expand product selection, educational/support materials, and increase opportunities for SiteBuilders and customers to benefit from our growth. With our new management team in place – a team that has worked together consistently since 1998 – I fully expect PixelMill to achieve these goals.

If you’re not already familiar with our management team, I’d like to introduce you to them. First, Eric Overfield serves as CTO and is responsible for everything code-based whether it is with the PixelMill site or product development. Greg Snow, who serves as COO, will drive PixelMill’s day-to-day operations, such as product support, product sourcing, and more. Chris Doyle, who has partnered with and supported PixelMill for years, has joined our management team and will partner with me on business strategy, marketing and public relations. His extensive background with companies like REI, Converse/Nike, Altrec.com, ExOfficio and Eagle Creek, combined with his launch experience with five successful Internet concerns, is a solid addition.

As we update our corporate structure, you will see some small changes to our marketing materials. You will likely see few other core changes to our business philosophy. Our goal is to continue to provide customers the highest-quality products, built with legally-licensed images, the latest coding and graphics standards, and the proper level of online and live support.

I look forward to working with you and our product designers to continue to build upon the success of PixelMill. We are confident that you will enjoy the coming enhancements to our site and product selection.

A New Product Venture

PixelMill and CMS provider DNA Freedom start building content management-based solutions.

At PixelMill, we have always been reserved about products that require services to get started. Our goal has been, and will continue to be, to build and deliver products that customers can complete themselves. But, we have had a growing number of customers interested in building sites based on a Content Management System (CMS). As part of our product expansion plans, we decided it was time to look into possible solutions.

Last year, I met with a local company that provided a successful CMS system and found their dedication and support to be superior. We have always been very cautious about aligning with companies that we were not 100% confident with, but Diverse Network Associates showed promise. We spent the next six months reviewing their product, and performing test integrations of PixelMill templates.

Today, we're announcing the launch of the new product type DNA Freedom Templates. By purchasing the template product, you are purchasing the start-up and integration involved with getting your site launched. The site will be integrated with the Freedom CMS backend database, which will make it easy for you (or your client) to maintain and update the site through a simple and intuitive interface.

One of the best features of the Freedom system is that you can host the site almost anywhere. By using the system inerface you can easily update the content on your site, and then output the site in pure HTML. You can then take those HTML pages and publish them to any server. In fact, this publishing function is built right into the interface.

We ask that you take a few minutes to learn more about this product option on our DNA Freedom Templates landing page. We're confident that many customers will find this a perfect fit for their business or organization. Don't worry when you see only a few products in the catalog. We're working on more pre-built templates specific to the system, plus you can also choose from any of our HTML templates. These can be integrated into the system at no additional charge.

New Software Partner - PowerCONVERTER

Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Flash in minutes....

Two years ago, I was first introduced to an impressive product that converted PowerPoint presentations into Flash movies. Though Microsoft had made some strides in making PowerPoint presentations viewable on the web, PowerCONVERTER from PresentationPro quickly proved to be a winner. Making PowerPoint presentations available online, to a broad audience, was now realistic.

By overcoming the size limitations of PowerPoint presentations and taking advantage of the then fairly new Flash multimedia technology, PowerCONVERTER was able to create significantly smaller Flash (.swf) presentation files that could easily be viewed online by anyone with a Flash player. PresentationPro continues to enhance the converter with new features such as animation, audio, and video support as well as more optimized Flash files.

Back when I first spoke to PresentationPro, we decided to do a trial run as an affiliate by providing a link to the PowerCONVERTER product. I think the link did ok, but I believe we're all learning that it is better to give customers the option to buy immediately from the site they're on versus sending them to another site. About a month ago, PresentationPro approached us with the idea of selling PowerCONVERTER directly. They had noticed the same trend as us that the overall PowerPoint market for templates and add-ons was growing again, and that PixelMill's market share was also growing in this area. This all combined for an easy answer..."yes".

With a few tweaks to the PixelMill site, we are now ready to sell PowerCONVERTER direct to our PowerPoint and Web Template customers.

That's right web folks, this is a very valuable and profitable tool for you also. How many times have you had customers ask you how they can get their PowerPoint presentation online? If it hasn't happened yet, don't be surprised when you start to get a rush of requests. More and more presentors are learning that they can effectively take their presentation, designed for a live audience, and open it up to a much broader, less time-sensitive audience online. Now, all they have to do is send you the PowerPoint (.ppt) file, you run it through PowerCONVERTER (only takes a few minutes), and blammy you have a happy customer and billable time. For only $399, you will more than realize a return on investment. You will see that this product gives you the opportunity to approach your customers with a new and exciting solution to their nagging problem of adding more compelling content to their site. I have been using it for years and have continually been impressed.

Learn more about PowerCONVERTER, and download it today for only $299!
Go to PowerCONVERTER at PixelMill.....

PayPal Website Payments Pro

In June, PixelMill was invited by PayPal to participate in their 3rd-Party Developers booth at eBay Live!. During the conference we were pleasantly surprised to learn that PayPal had finally made the move that all PayPal merchants have been waiting for.

The new PayPal Website Payments Pro appears to have the makings of a valuable online transaction solution for small, medium, and even large merchants. This all-in-one payment solution allows merchants to better integrate PayPal into their transaction system at an overall lower cost than typical merchant accounts. No longer is there a need for your customers to leave your site to purchase with a credit card through PayPal.

Website Payments Pro works almost exactly like a typical online merchant account. Your customer uses your check-out pages to complete their credit card information. When they submit this information, your site will send the appropriate information to PayPal where they instantly provide an authentication and/or charge reponse. Thus, allowing you to instantly respond to your customer with an order confirmation. The actual customer experience is not any different than other online credit card transactions.

Last week we updated our payment options to include PayPal's Website Payments Pro. Overall, we're very satisified with the implementation. We decided early in the process that we would run this new option side-by-side with our existing credit card option. In fact, you will see this option is only available after selecting the PayPal payment option. You're then presented with the choice to use PayPal Express or Website Payments Pro. Running side-by-side allows us to get some real-world tests on their system while providing customers with yet another payment option.

Similar to other online transaction systems, you will need to know how to code with HTML, a scripting language (PHP, Perl, ASP, etc.), and have some experience with SOAP. To learn more about the technical side, visit PayPal's Technical Overview page.

We encourage you to select a PixelMill template and give this payment option a try. When you reach Step 3 - Payment Options, choose the 'Pay by PayPal' option. This brings you to the choice of paying with PayPal Express or completing the credit card form to pay with a credit card. We would really like your feedback on this experience. As compensation for your help, in this early testing phase, we will add $5 in store credit to any customer account that uses the Website Payments Pro option before November 1st.

We also encourage you to learn more about the new PayPal Payment Options. We have long considered PayPal one of the best long-term options for online transactions. We'll keep you posted on our experience.

Coupons and Credits, Easier to Use

With this weeks refresh of the PixelMill store, we have made it much easier to use coupons and credits during the checkout process. Now the coupons and credits fields are easily accessed through the main checkout section of the page versus buried in the right column. We didn't intintially bury these fields the first time around, but customer feedback proved it was hard to find. Thus, we responded with a solution.

Coupons are our way of passing out a gift. We don't often include them as a site-wide discount on the home page. We like to pass them out when you least expect it; for example, we might randomly provide a coupon code in response to a support or sales email, chat, or phone call. We'll also place them at the bottom of some of our landing pages to promote that specific type of product. Or, we'll have a little fun and randomly bury them in the site. It's interesting to see some of the orders come through from people who have found some of these hidden gems.

Account credits ($$) have been available in the site for some time, but only through our PixelMill Refferal Program. Now, we're really going to start using credits to your advantage. We'll leave the mystery on how we'll do this for a later blog, but we'll give you your first chance to earn store credit right now. Anyone who leaves a comment to this blog, with the following information, will receive a $5 credit in their account. This offer ends October 15th, so act fast.

Required Information:

1) Username - Please provide your PixelMill username. If don't have an account, create one now

2) Email address - This will ensure we can find your account and that we can contact you about your credit..

3) List five (5) things you like most about PixelMill.

4) List five (5) things you wish we would add or change.

We will not publish these comments to the blog. We may summarize the responses, but no usernames or email addresses will be published.

Over the coming months, we will be finding more ways to offer different discounts and incentives for using PixelMill. Watch the blog and the site for more details.

PixelMill Blog Returns

After a long hiatus, the PixelMill Blog returns! This step back into blogging marks our return to a coordinated effort of proactive communication with PixelMill customers, and the industry in general.

We, at PixelMill, have been extremely busy over the last year working on a number of valuable additions and updates to the site. These include a new user interface, advanced searching and sorting tools, a growing catalog of standards-based Dreamweaver templates, FrontPage templates and HTML web templates. Plus, new image partnerships with Jupiterimages' properties Photos.com and Ablestock. But, these updates are only the beginning of a series of positive changes you will see in the coming months. PixelMill is well positioned to bring an expanding array of new products, features, tools, and partnered services.

We have received many positive comments, and hope that all of you have enjoyed the changes. Please let us know if you have any suggestions, comments, or product ideas. We're always very interested in working toward valuable web site template solutions.

Related Links:
www.photos.com
www.ablestock.com