Working on a project that has cool subject matter is always fun. For most guys it doesn’t get any better than things that go boom! For a bonus round working with a company who’s sole purpose is to keep law enforcement and military personnel safe. A few weeks back the Denali Training Group website went live.
These guys have done multiple tours in Iraq doing the worlds most dangerous job, explosive ordinance disposal (EOD). As a navy guy I might be biased but I’m sure most would agree, U.S. Navy EOD operators are the best in the world at what they do. The guys at Denali are passionate about passing their knowledge to other military and law enforcement personnel. They also run various mountaineering and risk mitigation courses.
The Process
We worked out what the site needed from scratch starting only with, “It should be cool”. Not only did we need to figure out how to make it “cool” we needed to figure out what they needed.
My goals are to get the essentials first, automate as much as possible, create something that is manageable by the client. Of course always being mindful of how things will change as additions are added. This always involves taking a hard look at their business model so I can anticipate needs and break down the essentials features and the “cool features”.
Obviously their business model revolves around their courses. Some courses are available to all, others have a specific target audience.
The Results
We ended up with a custom built CMS (content management system) that allows them to manage their courses and who they offer them to. The guys at Denali will be able to easily add new course offerings, new courses and modify their own content without the need to call up their web developer.
Dork Stuff
- LAMP Environment
- Fresh copy of Blueprint for the layout
- jQuery and various plugins for the “cool” factor.
- Google map integration
Looking Ahead
The guys at Denali are already looking into expanding their site and I’m looking forward to helping them out. Especially the video additions, video of things blowing up is even better than pictures.