Month: September 2022

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Projects

Why You Should Optimize an Existing Application

If your application is already live, there are many reasons why you should consider optimizing it. This article will cover the main steps of optimizing and scaling an existing application, from where to start with the optimization process to when to stop.

What is Application Optimization and Scaling?

Application optimization is a process of improving the performance of an application by making it faster and more efficient. The goal of application optimization is to ensure your website or app runs smoothly on all devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computers. For an app, it involves ensuring smooth running on android and ios.

Application scaling refers to increasing a system’s capacity without adding more hardware or software components. Scaling allows you to work with less hardware than before because you can share resources with other applications running on the same server.

What are the essential requirements for optimizing and scaling an application?

Optimizing and scaling an application is a process that involves analyzing the current state of your application, identifying potential bottlenecks, assessing whether they can be addressed cost-effectively, and then implementing any necessary changes. The following are some of the essential requirements for optimizing and scaling an application:

  • Application performance – This includes how well your system performs under load and responsiveness to user input.
  • Application scalability – How many users can be supported by this system? How will this grow over time as new features or existing ones need improvement?
  • Application security – What measures do you take to protect sensitive information within this system (e.g., passwords)? Are there any significant weaknesses that could allow attackers access to critical data such as credit card numbers or social security numbers without authorization from authorized users? If so, how could those weaknesses be fixed without breaking any rules set forth by law enforcement agencies?

Critical Considerations for Optimizing and Scaling an Application

There are many aspects to consider when optimizing and scaling an application. The performance of an application is determined by its performance profile, which can be broken down into three key areas:

  • CPU Bottleneck – This refers to the time required to process data or APIs (application programming interfaces). If you have a bottleneck in your code, it will slow down or even stop other functions from executing correctly.
  • Memory Bottleneck – The amount of RAM used by each process on your server depends on how much traffic comes through it at any given time. As more users come online, they’ll need more memory to access their favorite sites as quickly as possible without delays or crashes!
  • User environment- Understanding your users’ internet quality is key to your app’s success. Research your target market’s constraints to know how different networks will impact your performance and optimization.

When Should you Optimize and Scale your Existing Application?

There are many reasons why an application might be running out of memory or disk space, including:

  • The application has grown beyond its original limits and needs to be rearchitected.
  • The application is slow (i.e., it takes too long to load).
  • More people are using the app concurrently(e.g., if there are only ten users but they’re all using the product at once).

You should also consider whether your app is scalable and user-friendly—if not, it may be time to scale up!

Step-by-Step Guide to Optimizing and Scaling your existing web application

Optimizing an existing web application is a complex process. It requires the right tools and a thorough understanding of how they work together to improve performance and scalability.

  • Identify bottlenecks in your application: You will need to identify what parts of the system are slowest or most resource-intensive to focus on improving those areas first. For example, if one page takes 2 seconds to load on average, it may be worth focusing your efforts on improving that page’s performance. This is easier than trying to improve the entire system simultaneously.
  • Identify the right tools for the job: You’ll want to use optimized tools for scaling out applications like Heroku; this means looking into things like Postgres and Redis, depending on what kind of data set needs optimizing (if there is any).
  • Implement the right tools for the job: Once we have identified our bottleneck within our codebase, we should begin implementing solutions.

Here are some reasons why you should optimize an existing application.

Reduce load on your application

The first reason you should scale and optimize an existing application is that it can improve the performance of your system by reducing the number of requests to load a page or lowering latency for users who use the site. If a user is frustrated with waiting for something to happen on their screen, they will leave in frustration before giving you another chance at gaining their business or attention.

Improve user experience

User experience (UX) refers to how well a product meets its users’ needs through design elements such as visuals, content, and interactivity within a given platform or device; UX also includes usability testing, where testers evaluate how well products function in real life situations versus theoretical expectations when designing them initially (elements like navigation menus are considered part of UX).

This helps ensure that everyone using your product gets what they need without asking questions about what those needs might be beforehand because someone already knows how these things work out loud right now!

While optimizing an application may seem daunting, it doesn’t have to be. With the right tools and team at your disposal, you can find ways to streamline your existing web application to improve performance, scale up with new features, and add new functionality. So talk to us, and we will save you time and money and increase user satisfaction!

Categories
Plecco Insights

How to Set Up a Jobs Board, Step by Step Guide

We’re all familiar with the concept of a job search page. A website where you can post your resume and send out emails to prospective employers. These have replaced the more traditional job-hunting techniques involving much legwork. Are job search pages similar to job boards? Well, not exactly. A ‘job board’ is more niche-focused. An example is Upwork for freelancers or QuirkyCoders for the tech community.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, here is a 5-step guideline for creating your job board.

1. Pick a Niche

The first step toward building a job board is settling on a niche. This involves extensive research on under-served sectors. Unlike job search engines, you’ll focus on a specific niche, meaning standing out is key for your website to attract recruiters and job seekers alike.

Next, you should brainstorm ways to increase your site’s visitors. You may include a blog with optimized articles that improve the site’s ranking on search engines.

2. Choose a Name and Hosting Services

Once you have settled on a site niche, pick a domain name that clearly describes its goal. If the intention is to connect programmers to prospective employers, the domain name should be something tech enthusiasts can relate with.

Come up with a list of favorable names and conduct a web search to find out if they’re available. After settling on a name, register it and find a hosting provider for your site.

While hosting is relatively cheap, you must settle on a package that comes with 24/7 support and large dedicated space.

3. Building Your Site

After paying for your domain name and hosting services, the next step is setting up the website. This involves choosing a Content Management System (CMS) that reduces the website building cost to almost nil.

I would recommend WordPress if you have little or no programming experience. WordPress offers a high degree of customization using themes and plugins so you can alter the front end of your website to your liking.

4. Setting Up a Job Boards Software Provider

You can choose from several different job board software options, so it’s important to do your research before making a decision. There are several key features that you should consider when selecting a job board solution:

  • Responsiveness – How fast does the site load on your computer? How quickly does it respond to user interactions and updates? This is important because users will likely leave and never return if you have an outdated or otherwise slow website.
  • Ease of use – Is the interface intuitive enough for potential applicants and recruiters? If someone is unsure about how to use your site or what they should be looking for when searching for jobs in their industry, then chances are high that they’ll abandon their efforts quickly (and possibly never come back)
Open-Source Job Board Software

This is considered the more affordable option and is easier to set up if you have no programming experience. However, this may depend on your choice of CMS as some do not support either job boards or plugins.

If you settled on WordPress, setting up a job board plug is relatively simple and comes with pre-installed features such as a job search bar and a file upload section where applicants will drop their resumes.

Despite the relatively easy setup, open-source job software may require maintenance and debugging, so have a techie on speed dial just in case!

Software As a Service

Using SAas reduces the hustle of constant maintenance required by open-source software. While it is slightly more expensive, it frees you up, letting you work on getting more job listings and visitors to your site.

Search for a reliable SAaS provider and get a package with mobile responsiveness and full-time support.

5. Publish Job Listings

You’re almost done with setting up a jobs board. It’s time to publish your first job listing! You’ll need to do a lot of networking to kickstart your site.

At first, you may be forced to select relevant jobs from job search engines so that you don’t start with a blank jobs board.

Reach out to employers in your particular niche and get them to post vacancies on your job board. You can do this through sites such as LinkedIn or social media. You’ll also need to advertise your site to job seekers aggressively.

Now that you know the basics of creating a job board, it’s time to start! While getting a techie to help you build yours may seem like a hustle, placing a job vacancy on our site will get you one in no time. You know what to do!

Categories
Plecco Insights

How to Make Your Rental Platform Stand Out

Months of sleepless nights developing the next big thing in the rental space are almost coming to an end. Your rental platform is nearly ready for a production environment, but getting users to install and use your app might be the hardest thing you’ll ever do. Amazing software applications have been built, only to end up as catastrophic failures with minimal user engagement. CNN, the most recognizable name in news streaming, had to scrap their $350 million streaming service a month after launching because of dismal subscriptions. In a competitive space like rental apps, you’ll need to pull out all the stops to stand out from the crowd. A cursory glance on Google Store reveals thousands of rental apps, all with decent ratings and users. To get your foot in the door, and guarantee your app gets at least a few thousand downloads within the first month – a key metric in any application’s long-term performance – here’s what you need to do.

Choose the right name

The words you use can make or break your rental application success. Think about it. When users are searching for a rental platform, either through a search engine or on an app store, their use specific words. If the name of your app doesn’t make use of these search words, it’ll be increasingly difficult for users to find your app. This doesn’t mean that you cram each high-value search word into your rental apps name. A name like “World’s Best Rental Platform” won’t win the user base over. You want to strike a balance between the search words and uniqueness to improve the chances of your rental application standing out. You can use SEO tools to discover words popular with users in the rental market and combine those with a unique word that describes your rental application.

Interact with your user base

If you haven’t already, its time to know your audience. The best products are those that address the needs of their targeted consumers. Read through user reviews of various rental applications and ask yourself how your app addresses their needs, how it improves on current offerings, and if it addresses any gaps. Asking yourself these questions helps you come up with a description that makes your rental application stand out from the rest. A rental application that helps New Yorkers find homes and apartments by their preferred neighborhood will attract more users than non-specific apps. Being specific also guarantees your app engages with your targeted user base, making it stand out from the rest.

Focus on your UI/UX

The user interface and user design experience can make or break a platform. As a software developer, you know or have used Vim. But given the choice between Vim and a graphical text editor, which one would you prefer? Sure, Vim has tons of functionalities and is more productive than graphical text editors. But the fact that Vim lacks a populated graphical interface and has a steeper learning curve than graphical text editors makes it a less popular choice, with only 25% of software developers using it. Vim is a great tool, but its user interface and user experience design are not. Your rental application might be on the bleeding edge of technology, but if it doesn’t have an equally impressive graphical interface and user experience design, not a lot of people will want to use it.

Spread the word

You can’t sit back and wait for users to download your rental application. With dozens of new apps being published each month, you need to make users aware of your app every chance you get. That means you’ll need to spend a lot of time on social media channels marketing your app and interacting with potential users. If your budget allows, you might also want to spend some money on social media and search engine advertising. Advertising on digital channels and social engagements will create a buzz around your app that should snowball into active users, provided you’ve completed the steps above.

Never ignore customer feedback

Once you have the first few users, you’re bound to get feedback on your app. Some of the feedback will be critical and even down right disheartening. Don’t get discouraged by the feedback. Instead, use the critical feedback as motivation to improve your rental application. When users realize developers actually care, they are bound to let others know, driving your rental platform to the number one spot. The developers of No Man’s Sky, the video game, are a perfect example of how to turn negative feedback into a strength. Within a year of releasing the game, No Man’s Sky developers received a lot of flak from the online community. Rather than giving up on the game and writing it off as a failure, the developers used the criticism to improve their game. Four years later, No Man’s Sky is a fan favorite and the developers willingness to continue improving on the game has endeared them to their entire user base.

Categories
Design

How to Build an E-Commerce Website

Owning a business in the 21st century means more than having a brick-mortar store. In 2022, e-commerce will account for 20.3% of all retail sales globally. This number is rising daily, and this is how you ensure you don’t miss out.

Pick a Domain Name

Choosing a domain name is just as important as your website’s overall design and structure. A good domain name will help you stand out in the crowded marketplace, which is why choosing wisely is essential.
You should also consider:

  • If the name describes your brand
  • How easy will it be for people to remember and spell your site’s URL?
  • Is this a word that has been used before? If so, who else has used it, and when did they do so? This is important as you don’t want competitors latching on to your brand after you make it big.

Settle on Website Hosting Service Provider

Choosing the right web hosting is essential to building an e-commerce website. Web hosting companies provide space on their servers for your website to live, an internet connection, and software that allows you (and Google) to see what your site looks like.

You must choose a web hosting company with access to multiple locations worldwide so customers can find it online easily—but it’s not just about finding a good host. It’s also about picking out one that doesn’t have any problems with bandwidth or server crashes. This means using a reputable provider.

A good hosting provider will ensure your customer’s data is secure through SAas solutions such as SSL.

Build Your Website

You can now build your site with a Content Management System or get a website developer to do it for you. Besides having a products page, ensure your site features a contact page and an ‘About Us’ page.

Adding a ‘Blog’ page to your site is also advisable. You can write articles about the products on your E-commerce site, which will help your site rank higher on search engines such as Google and Bing.

Choose an eCommerce Platform

Choosing an e-commerce platform is essential because it will be the backbone of your website. It’s the software that connects you with your customers and the place where all of your data resides, whether it’s products, customers, or payment information.

There are three types of e-commerce platforms to choose from:

  • Open Source- These are free software that is also easy to install. It can be added to Content Management Systems such as WordPress. However, it is essential to note that they require some tech skills to install and maintain.
  • Headless eCommerce Platform – Such platforms’ structure has the website’s frontend separate from the backend. It provides a more seamless interaction between your customers and your website.
  • Subscription-Based Platforms – This is software you periodically pay for. It’s scalable but also requires a degree of tech skills.
    Your choice of platform is dependent on your skills and financial ability.

Add Products to Your Ecommerce Store

The next step is to add your products to your site. There are two main ways to add products: by uploading them manually or by using an import tool.

The first is more complicated and not recommended for beginners. The second option will allow you to upload your files and add images from external sources like Shutterstock or Adobe Stock.

Once those basics have been covered, it’s time to create your product listings! This step will involve adding info about each item so that search engines can find them easily when users search for specific products based on your keywords.

Select an eCommerce Site Payment Service

When you’re building a website, there are several things to consider. One of the most important things is choosing a payment service provider (PSP). This is where you will be sending your customers’ payments, so you must choose one that has the best rates and fees to keep your business running smoothly.

There are many different types of PSPs available today:

  • Merchant accounts – These are usually offered by banks or other financial institutions like PayPal or Stripe. They allow merchants to accept credit card payments through their websites without technical knowledge about how these services work. However, they also come with higher costs than other models because they’re more complicated than others regarding setting up an account and maintaining compliance with specific laws such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).
  • Mobile money – This is a more common payment method in the developing world, where close to 90% of the population has access to a phone. Integrating mobile money payment methods will improve your sales if this is your target market.

There you have it: the steps to build your eCommerce website. You can always reach out to us, and we’ll help you create the perfect online store that will help you sell more products and generate more revenue than ever!

Categories
Plecco Insights

How to Build a Non-profit Website  

Introduction

Non-profits have a lot of competition for attention. The web is full of sites that look like they’re trying to sell you something and make money off your time and donations. So how do you stand out from the crowd? You need a website that’s focused on serving the needs of your members and donors, not just making a profit.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to build an effective non-profit website without spending a fortune on design services or software solutions. This post will explore some essential elements for building an effective non-profit website.

Choosing a domain name

Choosing a domain name is an essential step in the process of building your non-profit website. It’s also one of the most challenging parts because it can be very tricky to figure out what you want and how much it will cost.

A good rule of thumb is that “easy-to-remember” and “easy-to-spell” domains make for better choices than those that are hard to remember or spell (i.e., .gov). You don’t want either end of this spectrum—you want something memorable but not overly complicated. Hence, people remember what they see on your site without having trouble remembering how exactly it’s spelled or pronounced!

Setting up hosting

Once you’ve settled on a domain name and confirmed its availability, it’s time to get a hosting provider. When deciding on a web host, it’s crucial to consider what your non-profit needs and how much money you want to spend. Here are some things to consider:

  • How long do I need my website up? Free hosting may be okay if the site is only up for one night. But if there’s any reason that someone might want access 24/7 (for example, there’s an emergency), then having unlimited access is worth paying for.
  • How many people will use this website? The more traffic your site gets, the more resources (bandwidth) it takes up on its server providers’ end—and these costs can add up quickly over time! So if someone wants their dedicated server but doesn’t mind how much they’ll cost per month/yearly total amount paid out each year, then go ahead because those services generally come with lower prices than shared ones do since they aren’t shared between multiple users.

Build Your Website Structure

A website structure is a way you organize your content on a website. Your website’s user interface largely depends on your choice of a Content Management System. If you settle on a CMS such as WordPress, choosing a theme that works for you is a simple case.

The first step in deciding how to build your non-profit’s website is understanding the pages your site should have. A basic non-profit page should have the following:

  • Home Page
  • About Us
  • Services
  • Support Us
  • Contact Page

Implement a Membership Management Software

The next step in setting up your non-profit website is integrating membership management software.

The benefits of using membership management software include:

  • Easy signup process for new members.
  • Automatic updates on the status of your memberships (new member, renewal, etc.).
  • Tracking all communications from donors.                                     
  • Offline payment processing with credit card/debit card support.

A sound membership management system is easy to use for both the donors and your staff.

Create Content for the website

The most important part of your website is content. Without it, you have nothing to show visitors and potential donors. Content makes your non-profit unique and defines who you are as an organization. It drives traffic to the site and ensures that people are reading about the causes that matter most to them. Content may be in the form of blogs or a well-described gallery of photos.

Content is also crucial because it can be used as a foundation for building other aspects of a non-profit’s online presence:

  • It helps people understand why they should donate money or time
  • It gives them an inside look at how the organization operates (or doesn’t)
  • It encourages them to take action by clicking on links related to their interests

Implement SEO practices for website

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process by which a website, or web page in general, is optimized for online search engine queries.

The goal of SEO is to make your content more visible through search engines so that it can be found when someone does an internet search for what you have to offer. Implementing good SEO practices can help you get more visitors and improve your rankings on Google and other major search engines.

Implementing good SEO practices in your blogs will raise your site’s search engine ranking making it more visible to potential donors.

Building a non-profit website is a great way to fundraise and promote your organization. If you’d like a professional touch on your non-profit website, get in touch with us and we’ll set up your site in no time!

Categories
Engineering

How to Create a Parking Management App

In today’s world, parking management has become an essential part of business operations. The parking management software can help you to manage your parking lots efficiently and effectively. It enables the organizations to solve many issues related to the parking lot like traffic congestion, illegal parking, etc.

1. Discovery and Ideation Phase

In the discovery and ideation phase, you’ll need to identify the problem your parking app will solve. Asking yourself questions like these can help you come up with an idea for your
project:

  • What problem are we trying to solve?
  • Who is our target audience?
  •  What do they want from this app?

2. Configuration of the Parking Management Application Staging Environment

Now that you clearly understand the problem you want to solve, it’s time to configure your  parking management application staging environment. The first step in configuring your
parking management application is to define the directory structure where all files will be stored. This includes the source code, supporting images, and other resources that need to beloaded into memory when running the application. The best practice for organizing this directory structure is based on function rather than location.

3. Integration of Parking Management Software

A parking management system will help you optimize parking spots across the city. The app should show available parking spots and booking choices starting from hourly, daily, and monthly parking. Ensure to include:

  • Integration with reservation feature. The user will use this to book their spots,especially during peak times. This can help increase sales and reduce wait times during busy weekends or holidays.
  • Payment processing software integration: Integrate a payment procedure that will be as seamless as possible. It would be best if you aimed to keep transactions at a minimum to reduce delays in pay points.
  • Ticketing management software integration: Ensure your app can issue digital tickets. Depending on your budget and skill, you may choose to go for a SAas parking management system or, even better, get a bespoke software tailor-made parking management application from us!

Features of Good Parking Management Software

You should be aware of the many features of good parking management software. The key ones are:

  • Support for all mobile platforms, including iOS and Android.
  • Automated ticket generation, which can be customized to your needs.
  • Customizable rules for parking tickets, including length of time allowed for each type of vehicle and whether or not the car owner has paid their fee.

4. Integration of License Plate Recognition Software

LPR is a technology that automatically reads license plates and compares them against a database. This will help you track and manage your customers’ vehicles in real-time and alert you if someone leaves the property without paying for parking. LPR is also useful for parking management because it helps you keep track of events in real-time. You can see who’s parked where, when they arrived and left, and how long they stayed.

5. Testing the App

Once you’re happy with your app’s functionality and usability, it’s time to test it. This is where things get a little tricky; it will involve testing all aspects of the parking app remotely or manually. Make sure to include experts not part of the development team to assess the UX of your app. It would help if you also gauged the parking app’s usability through simulation exercises. It’s important to remember that there are many different parking management apps on the market, and you can search for one that works best with your needs. In our experience,
however, a tailor-made solution for parking woes works best. Get in touch with us, and we’ll solve your problem.