leandra's blog

Cascading style sheet (CSS) files can be rather intimidating for people not familiar with what all that code does for a webpage. But what if you are the only person available to update the banner with your organization's new logo or change the color of the sidebar links? What snippet of code do you even look for?

The lovely Dawn Crawford and I will be teaching a We Are Media session on blogging at NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Conference) this Thursday and in preparation, I have compiled a list of basic CSS markers that will help you recognize some of the more common terms in a standard style.css file.

I am not planning on letting all my work sit in a drawer after the workshop, so I am going to share it with you! Click here to download my basic css terms worksheet (pdf).

I have two new Wordpress sites to unveil - Pomp and Panache and Longevity Nutrition and Fitness. Both companies are woman-owned small businesses.

Fall has been keeping me very busy (a good thing!), so I wanted to show off a few Drupal projects I've completed in the past few months.

NC Assets Alliance | view website

This North Carolina-based nonprofit needed a new look and feel to their Drupal website, so I created a custom theme for them that allowed them to better utilize their social media efforts and created a dynamic header slideshow using the views module.

Coptic Orphans | view website

This Virginia-based nonprofit organization wanted their website moved into Drupal for easier updating. They were happy with the look and feel of their existing site, so this project was mainly about functionality. I re-designed their website in Drupal and moved all the content over to the new site. Using custom content types and views, I also created an easy system for them to update current and upcoming events for several countries as well as an urgent needs page.

Move My Mountain (development site) | view website

This was a relatively easy project to create a simple Drupal interface for the development portion of the client's main website. She wanted the development site to have a similar look to her parent site and a few custom roles based on a sub-contractor's place in the project.

Do you need to get organized? Are you falling under a mountain of paperwork: grant applications, insurance forms, old fliers and files on those you help?

You have the opportunity to win a FREE Productive Environment Day™ with Barbara Hemphill, the Paper Tiger Lady! Barbara is a renowned productivity expert who has written several books on the subject, has appeared on several TV shows, including the Today Show, is a regular speaker at corporate events and is currently co-authoring a book called “Bushido Business” with Stephen Covey, Brian Tracy and Tom Hopkins.

Plus, even if you don't win, you can qualify for 50% off of the cost of a Productive Environment Day™!

Benefits:

• News media coverage is expected of the event, which will help spread word about your group.
• You can tell your donors and board how much paper you recycled.
• Getting organized will give your group a fresh start on achieving your mission.

Qualifications:

• Your organization must be a nonprofit group in the Greater Triangle region.
• The winner will get ONE FREE Productive Environment Day™ with Barbara Hemphill.
• Employees/volunteers must be willing to have the Productive Environment Day™ recorded for Barbara Hemphill’s future use. The nonprofit may be given a copy of the footage.
• At least one member/volunteer/employee must be willing to speak on camera about the Productive Environment Day™ and how it affected the organization.

Your Productive Environment Day™ will be scheduled between November 1 and December 31, 2010. The organization’s employees and volunteers will be needed that day. Groups who apply but do not win are eligible for 50% off the cost of a Productive Environment Day™. Those days will be scheduled as mutually agreeable.

To Apply:

Please fill out the application along with photos and/or videos and an explanation (up to 200 words) on why you should be chosen for the FREE Productive Environment Day™ via email to contest@productiveenvironment.com by 5pm Friday, October 29.

Entries will be judged by Barbara herself. The winner will be chosen by Friday, Nov. 5. Please call the Productive Environment Institute at 919.773.0722 if you have any questions.

Back in the beginning of 2008, I redesigned a website for entrepreneur Winder Lyons for one of his multiple ventures. This week, we decided to move the site into Wordpress to allow for easier updates and more flexibility to integrate social media elements like Facebook and Twitter. Although the site looks very similar to the old version, the back-end is much more powerful!