Recently, the Baptist Media Specialists group invited Thomas and me to attend and participate in their annual meeting in Prattville, Alabama.
The group was originally formed many years ago with more of a focus on videography. As times have changed, the group has evolved and grown to include those focused on web and social media also.
The format is simple in that it’s 100% round table discussion with no specific agendas to accomplish while there.
During the meeting, we were able to talk about and show some of the projects we have worked on in the past year along with sharing about tools that we used.
Here is a sample of some of those tools that may benefit you also and that you may see integrated into future sites that we will be working on!
Helpful Tools
Egnyte – If your site is loaded down with files that multiple people manage – this is an easy tool that you can set up to allow clients to upload documents. They can replace documents easily without breaking links. Once it’s uploaded, the client provides the web manager the link once. Not to mention, your website isn’t storing the files.
Huzzaz – Does your site need a way to collect videos under common topics? You can create groups and embed them into your site. YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook videos can all be embeded.
Mandrill – WordPress doesn’t do email. Well, it does…kinda, but that’s not what it was made to handle. Enter using this tool from MailChimp that you can set up to handle the transactional emails in your site. We’ve already added this to one clients site that runs shopping carts, donations, and deals with a lot of contacts have already seen a major improvement in deliverability.
Transmit by Panic – This is a great tool for accessing and uploading files to your site using SFTP. Not everyone needs to do this, but it’s extremely user-friendly and easy to set up.
Paste 2 – Imagine being able to copy multiple items for pasting later. I’ve personally used notes to do this, but not anymore with this easy to use app.
SIP – Need a color from a site so you can match your graphic, your social media, post, etc.? Enter sip. It’s also great for storing palettes of colors that match your branding for easy access.
Magnet – I’m constantly resizing windows on my desktop so I can see two or three at the same time. Magnet helps you organize your desktop better!
Siteimprove – This is a tool you can use to analyze your site to make sure it is accessible.
Some of these do have a cost involved but the return in productivity can help tremendously.
Hope these help you as they have helped us. As always, have questions? Get in contact with us!
