NASA EPDC
Description
The NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative is a project led in collaboration with Texas State University. After receiving a sizable grant from NASA, the Texas State University STEM department needed a scalable website to accommodate rapid changes to both curriculum and the growing audience of educators visiting the portal. Between needing newsletters, daily updates, and a syndication of multiple resources across different platforms, the request was hefty.
Solution
Through the use of RESTful APIs, VND was able to sync EPDC’s new WordPress site with their existing eTouches platform, connecting their remote staff to the site automatically. This project features:
- WordPress CMS implementation: Staff can edit and post content on what has
become a greatly visited website with over 30,000 pageviews per month. Users
receive automated events and resources newsletter every month - WCAG 2.0 Accessibility Implementation was implemented to allow people with
impairments to browse the website - A mobile responsive website design was implemented to adapt to any device screen
- Installed new plugins to improve user interfaces
- Content layout improvement
- Custom API implementation with digital badging system
- Provided a full migration to a private cloud hosted at the VND data center in San
Antonio, Texas. The site was built to grow on a clustered hosting environment, able
to support the high traffic demand
Results
Staff can edit and post content on what has become a greatly visited website with over 10,000 pageviews per month, and users receive an automated events and resources newsletter every month.
CRT Flooring
Description
CRT Flooring Concepts required both a product, manufacturer, and supplier database to be used internally and a virtual client greeting application to be used when clients visit their place of business.
Solution
With thousands of product variations, VND created a large database for CRT employees to use. The platform has several additional features:
- Client appointment integration for welcome display on television monitors on site
- Client, manufacturer, and supplier database
- Full staff accessibility for internal reference and appointment setting
Results
CRT Flooring Concepts can now deliver even more professional on-site visits with a simple but highly useful appointment and operations database.
Mission Title
Description
Mission Title, one of San Antonio’s oldest title companies, approached VND for a web site redesign and a challenge to integrate their new site with their existing intranet server infrastructure.
Solution
Through use of modern PSD Slicing methods, VND took several designs provided by the client and converted them into a fully functional responsive WordPress website, which also connected to their existing resources and tapped into RSS feeds for their blog content.
Results
With beautiful visual elements, a Spanish-language alternative and data integration from third-party resources, Mission Title’s new site puts them ahead of the curve in the title industry.
TCT Dispatch
Description
TCT Dispatch was using a combination of unrelated tools to track a system of truckers, dispatchers, and administrative staff to deliver tons of sand to different oil wells across South Texas. The system was stressful to use, to say the least.
Solution
VND decided to use a blossoming technology, Node.js, to create TCT Dispatch’s solution. Through a web socket that kept constant connectivity, VND was able to deliver information between dispatchers, administrative staff, and drivers on a 24/7 schedule with zero downtime.
We also added the ability to send text messages from a single dashboard, and provided server hosting with a redundant scenario to protect against any primary server failure.
Results
A process that before had taken several hours was reduced to a few minutes, which saves millions of dollars in time every year. The TCT team is now featured on a popular Discovery channel TV show, aptly named “Texas Trocas”, which has recently released its third season.
