NASA EPDC
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
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.
St. Mary’s University
Description
St. Mary’s University, the oldest Catholic university in Texas, was looking for an easier way to manage their website.
Solution
After coming to VND for guidance, we came up with the ideal solution for St. Mary’s. VND merged their 10,000 into a WordPress-based content management system that allows each department to manage their own content and web pages. In addition to building a custom WordPress solution, VND also documented all new website features in an easy-to-use indexing codex.
Results
St. Mary’s new CMS has made all the difference in how quickly their website can be updated, allowing for new content to be available to their users around the clock. Not only is St. Mary’s new site faster and easier to use, but their team is now also able to maintain the site independently, thanks to VND’s well-documented codex and configured permission-based access.
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.
