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The price you see listed for the Frameworks, even a $395 basic HTML version, includes everything you need to have a properly done, basic site up and running. It includes a sampling of the most common items, and of course, any additional content, page styles, features, customization, and consulting can be added at a la carte pricing. Described below are just the most common, simple page styles and features, with more options described in Options & Upgrades. The reality is that $395 sites at this level of quality and service offer a solution for getting everyone on track with a good quality site, to be able to start having success on the internet, and to experience the care and personal service that Boa Media / IntelliFolios offers to all clients, not just the big ones. We hope that even the smallest site and budget, can open the door to a great, long-term relationship.
A Launch Page with special smart technology is included. You can choose from two approaches for your viewable content:
For the fastest production time, and easiest editing, we use an Article Page as the basis for content, with a choice of up to three Media Objects (images) on the right or left of the text, in a stacked configuration. The Article Page approach, with its HTML text info, will also create maximum compatibility with assisted devices, and work best in search engine visibility, since the text is HTML, not image-based.
The second approach is to use a Graphics Page, using one graphic that you provide, or we can create one for you as an extra custom service, that has text integrated right into it. The latter approach can potentially look the most refined, as it offers complete design control of the content area. This text as a graphic approach, which many editable portfolio site systems offer as their only solution, is not readable by search engines. Text as a graphic allows for columns, more alternative fonts, and more design flourishes,
Any additional text can also be placed on a hidden layer, which allows your text info to be done as a static image, yet still register properly with many search engines becasue of the underlying traditional text layer. You can also put highlights of what is in the rest of the site on this page, since it is hidden from regular view, but visible to search engines. even if you have HTML text on that page, we recommend keeping it brief, so the hidden text allows you to eloborate more about the content of the site, and helps with search engine positioning.
Our clients can request a detailed guide written by us, which explains how to create metatag information (keywords, site description, copy, etc) for optimal search engine positioning, and how other factors can affect your search engine results. Basic keyword review is included, but clients who want to have the best results possible for more competitive general keywords, like "Philadelphia product photographer", should invest into our search engine positioning services. This is a wholistic approach that should be done as early as possible, and we will be involved in your copywriting, image titling, captioning, image keywording, and section keywording, as well as advising or actually executing a number of other techniques outside of your site content.
You have the opportunity to select Launch Page button sets, override the text that appears next to the buttons, or have us design custom buttons, either with or without integrated text, at a nominal charge. The whole page can be a custom design, as shown in our launch page gallery, integrating your imagery, branding, and buttons into one very cohesive visual experience. You have the option of having a button to the print version of your site on the Launch Page, or just have it accessed from the print button in the Flash site (if you are getting the recommended Flash version done). The bottom line is that you are getting two complete websites that are interlinked, each being the perfect solution for its niche.
Content:
A total of fifteen still Media Objects (JPEG images or Flash graphics) are included, which can be used in any page throughout the site, including the Launch Page. With each media object, whether it is in the initial site build, or in subsequent additions, you get a custom-cropped square thumbnail created for you, which helps identify the piece well when in a thumbnail sequence for gallery page navigation.
Unlimited Gallery Pages are included (you just pay per image), which can be split into however many Gallery Sections you wish or the Framework holds. Each can have a project title, which can be substituted dynamically by an image number. Most Frameworks support a one or two line caption, and many also support a description area, either as dedicated real-estate, or as a rollover panel over top of the image. A Gallery Page is usually connected with a number of other Gallery Pages, to form a Gallery Section or Subsection. Each gallery-sized image can be popped up to go full-screen (1024 x 768 pixels), at no extra charge.
The Gallery is the most unique page design, and varies greatly between Framework Designs. It functions as a second or third-level navigation system, and often has tools like auto-advance, keyboard advance to next image, keyboard advance to next gallery, and paid features such as "select image", "print image", "related projects", etc. Galleries often have interesting transitions between projects, pre-selected, but you can override the selection.
Two Article Pages are included within the site. Each has unlimited length of text, although we recommend not making the passages too long. It can have any size of media up to 360 pixels wide, either on the left or right side. A pixel width is defined, and all the media shrink to that size, for visual uniformity. The media can be in an auto-advance slideshow, or stacked vertically. If the media has a caption, it will be displayed under each media by default. If the media is set to 72 px, the thumbnail version will be used for quicker loading. If the media has a "square-cropped thumbnail" made, it will be used instead. Popular uses of Article Pages are About, Services, Contact, Bio, Exhibitions, Locations, Credits, Links, etc. Article Pages only support one column of text, and the text is fully format-able and linkable. It can also be used with minimal text on one side, to create a slideshow page, with 360px wide imagery.
One additional simple Article Page is included that can be linked from the optional text that you can specify to be put on the bottom right of the site. This can be used for more information about the copyright, terms of use, or full contact info.
One Graphics Page is included, and it essentially just a blank page, which has the largest possible area for content. This is used for when you just want to fill up the whole space with an image. The image can be a JPEG photo, .FLV movie, .SWF animation, .SWF still image with transparent background, or a JPEG or SWF illustration. Other popular uses are for creating a completely custom layout. Just design it in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Quark, or whatever graphic layout program you use (or we can do it), and just have the whole page imbedded into the Graphics Page. You lose HTML search engine and internal site search compatibility, good, easy printing, and quick editing of content, but you gain complete, easy control over the most complex layouts. It is a natural for re-purposing material that was created for other uses, like print, TV, or other sites. It is a popular choice for Home pages that have very unique design attributes. One video conversion to .FLV and setup is included, up to a 4 minute long video delivered to us as a file in a universal digital format like .mov, .avi, .mpg, etc.
A total of five simple links are included, which can be an email link (with optional pre-addressed subject line), an internal link (to navigate to any other page without using the navigation system), or a popup Media Object (like a non-Flash movie file, readable article, or FlashPaper file). The links can either be in-line with text, or have a Media Object trigger a link, or be a Quicklink, which is always visible from any part of the site, and is part of the Framework design.
A total of fifteen occurrences of unique text formatting are also included, which can be used throughout the site in Article Page content, Gallery Descriptions, or Intro Page text.
Usage:
With your System Fee, you have 25GB of included annual bandwidth. An average visit for a small, simple site will be about 2mb. At that rate, you are looking at about 12,000 unique visitors per year that actually enter the site and look at extensive content and pages. If you have a non-looping soundtrack, videos, and one of the really large gallery size Frameworks, this may go up to 5-10mb, taking it down to about 5,000, which is still plenty of targeted, interested traffic. Repeat visits will often take media out of the visitor's cache, so that substantially reduced your bandwidth use. Some services say "virtually unlimited", but that is because of how they design their systems, to pre-load high resolution images, you really need that "virtually unlimited bandwidth" to not go broke. What would you rather have, a huge truck with terrible fuel consumption, but with unlimited gas at a pump across town, or a spiritedly, luxurious car with great gas mileage, fast performance, and enough free gas for normal use?
Your account has unlimited number of projects, and includes 200mb of holding space, which will accommodate up to about 10,000 (YES, TEN THOUSAND) projects / media, depending on Framework, popup option, videos, etc. Technically, there is no set number as a maximum limit, and you can always increase your account space for $10 per 100mb, per year, if, for example, you had many videos. IntelliFolios is designed for high performance website delivery. If you just need to hold lots of files online, or use it often for large file delivery, there are other services that are more economical for those uses, and we can just create a link that will launch the video that is housed on a cheap server or free media site.
Services:
The initial site build has up to 2 hours of site build / meeting time included, which includes all time that has been spent with you, including pre-sale. This can be divided into as many as 4 sessions. If you are local, we recommend coming to our production studio in downtown-west Toronto. If you cannot do this, we are well-equipped to do everything via phone, Skype (audio and/or video) and/or emails. At first, we will be reviewing with you the Site Objectives Worksheet that you will receive, ideally looking at site and design inspiration samples you provide, and discussing the competitive landscape of your business. We will also be reviewing your present site (if applicable); your prepared site content and media; looking at which Frameworks have been short-listed by; and deciding on which Framework, color set, and fonts we are going with for your project.
Once these are determined, we will start on doing any corrections or modifications to the materials you supply, but if those changes are numerous, we will likely need to add on some extra time onto the sessions, at $80 per hour. Then, we will start working on your custom graphics, if required.
These are fast-paced sessions that will surely create the right focus for you. The more prepared you are, the more we can accomplish within the included time. At the end of this session, you should have a clear idea of what your site will consist of, what content you need to source or create.
At the end of the site build, you'll be preparing for site launch, talking about how the site works in with your other self- promotional initiatives, making any last-minute changes or updates based on feedback from your beta visitors, and talking about preparing for the next phase of the site, after the launch. Remember, we want you to have a great site as fast as possible, so we launch with what is realistic, and material that is ready or easy to prepare. Sometimes, this is not the main launch, but just going live with a decent web presence for the time being.
With either of these sessions, you have the option of a longer meeting (schedule permitting), or another session (1 hr. minimum) at a cost of $80 per hour. We can also come to your office, but travel time will be billed at ½ rate, plus expenses. The rate is per person. Usually, just meeting with the key, appropriate person for that stage is fine, but with very complex projects, or projects that require strategic branding or graphics work, it may be 2 or even 3 people at a time for certain meetings.
Built-in visual options:
site designs:
We have over 50 completely unique Flash site Frameworks to choose from, 2 HTML designs, and 1 print-only HTML version that is just black and white, with blue links. The HTML versions are compatible with most PDA's and mobile internet displays that can surf regular web pages. Each Flash Framework has dozens of built-in design options, plus the ability to fully customize the background and surrounding graphics, change the site footprint, etc. If a design is close to your ideal, but needs modification beyond the built-in options, we can duplicate and modify the Framework for an extra fee. If the core functionality needs to be altered, that is possible as well, but gets to be significantly more expensive. The bottom line is that if your desired site experience has relatively traditional structure and navigation levels, we can create an IntelliFolios site for you. There is little that our technology and our talented developers cannot accomplish. If you would like to see a clear example of how the same content is rendered in different Frameworks, please see the www.mirlada.com site, and click on "change design," and just follow the instructions.
color set:
You can choose from the 63 (and growing) pre-tested, high-readability designer color sets, or have a custom one done to suite you're branding. In doing a custom color set, we can even load in your digital image file, analyze the exact colors, and create a palette based on it.
fonts:
Choose from over 90 professional fonts for your dynamic content, or you can even have a custom font added to the system at an extra cost. One font can be chosen as the "navigation font", which can be more decorative, if you wish, and another, highly readable one, chosen as the content font. This font then can have bold, italic, and underlined words, as well as be in the main text color, highlight color, or alternate text color.
Use the IntelliFolios Site Visualizer to see all the options in a working preview site with generic info, and even launch a full-size working version of the same demo, with your specific choices. Then, just copy down the site code, and we can use that as a starting point with your site design consultation and site build. We developed these tools to achieve effective results for you in record time.
launch page icons/ button set:
We have 11 (and counting) sets of buttons / icons to choose from, for the smart-sensing technology feedback to your visitors, allowing them control of how to work with your site. Custom icons, or integrated designs, can be done for the launch page at extra cost, while still retaining all the usability of this sensing technology. Manager
pre-loader design:
There are 38 (and counting) pre-loaders available for you to choose from, and they can be previewed here. These pre-loaders have an animated stage for each potential item that could load in your site. If the item is not used in your site, it just zips through that stage. If that item, like a soundtrack, is used, then it will give accurate feedback on the progression of that load. These pre-loaders have themes that relate to different Frameworks, and handfuls are just done for fun. A completely custom pre-loader can be done at an extra cost, which could be thematically linked to your business, or logo. This site shows a "worst-case scenario" load, where there are elements loading for each stage. Most sites will have a faster load.
Clear, easy, and flexible payment terms and records
Each billing period you will get a well-formatted, easy to read and understand, printable PDF invoice in your email, with a one-click online payment option. Your present and previous invoices are all very easy to access and print out again from the Access Site.
The Access Site
It is included with every IntelliFolios project we create. It is so comprehensive that it has its own section to show you how it works.
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The System Fee is a basic, never discounted charge that is key to us being able to continue delivering the performance and reliability you expect, as well as keeping the technology up to date, making continuous improvements to it, and includes 4 hours of annual credit toward site content customization, expansion, and edits. Some people think of the System Fee as just hosting, but it is MUCH more than that. In fact, for many clients, this fee will be their ONLY ONGOING COST for their site, if their updates are fairly minor, and only happen several times a year.
It is a flat $400 prepaid annual fee, or you can choose to be billed monthly for it at $40 per month. GST is extra for Canadian clients. For Canadian clients, the fee is $400 CND. The US and international clients, it is $400 USD.
The fee helps cover a number of key areas:
Content Updates and edits
These updates are content updates, and do not include extra custom graphic or Flash design or programming. Typical changes are text info edits, text formatting, adding, subtracting or changing order of media, media titling, adding or subtracting pages, changing site structure, and changing metatagging. The $320 annual credit can also be used for marketing consulting, or training, at $80 per hour, especially useful for our Manager beta users.
Reliability and Backup
Co-location of our server bank at a high-end, high security, climate controlled, local facility, along with experienced server administrators on call doesn't come cheap. Actually, it costs about 100x that of cheap, shared hosting that you may see advertised. Continuous, high performance service is our #1 concern, whatever the cost may be. Our customers expect the latest, most powerful equipment, and that is what they get.
Boa Media hosts IntelliFolios sites on their dedicated racks at one of Toronto’s top, ultra-secure co-hosting facilities, just several blocks away from our production studios, ensuring we have immediate hands-on control. We are running dedicated Sun Fire X2100 M2 x64 dual-core servers, with 2GB RAM and hot-swappable mirrored 500G Seagate ATA 300 drive arrays, ensuring very high reliability, a lot of breathing room, and break-neck speed. Each day, all sites are backed up on a separate backup server. The servers are dedicated to just providing IntelliFolios services, ensuring the snappy performance you see in our sample sites.
Emergency Response
We have implemented a series of tests that are carried out continuously throughout the day, using off-site computers and commercial server monitoring services, which alerts core technical staff via cell and email if any core pages and content are not loading properly. Key staff are located just minutes away from both the studios and server facilities. Downtime, on the extremely rare occasions it happens, is very minimal. We feel your IntelliFolios site is the lifeline to your business, and if you succeed, we succeed.
Automatic and timely technical updates and upgrades
Any time a new browser, web technology, or Flash version comes out, we extensively test it right away, and in the rare chance that there is a compatibility issue, we fix it immediately, without your even having to think about it, or any extra cost to you.
Throughout the year, we make dozens of enhancements to the system, or add free features, all behind the scenes, also at no extra cost to you. Whenever any changes impact sites, we make sure we inform you of critical changes, and implement and then test those changes on your draft site before the technology is turned on for the public sites.
and...the Access Site, which you can read more about here.
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Yes, you can. In fact, there are two workflows.
Any client can have a MyPage created, which is essentially a pre-designed page that has a certain layout combining still imagery and text in a specific way. This page can then be very easily and quickly updated by anyone, without any specific tools, training, or experience. The design and formatting stays the same, just the content changes. In fact, a site can have specific pages only accessible to edit by certain people, for example, a Careers page edited by the human resources person, while a News page can be edited by the publicity person or product manager. This allows those people who have a high interest in an area to be responsible for it, yielding more up-to-date information with fewer, if any errors. Pre-designed MyPages are the most economical, while custom pages may cost a little more, but offer you the exact layout that you want.
For IntelliFolios clients who want to be able to control everything, including all page content and design, site structure, site graphics, versioning, etc, we have the IntelliFolios Manager beta program. The IntelliFolios Manager will soon be released via subscription, but until then, we have a free beta program for qualified users, which allows them to even build the site from scratch, on their own. Interested?
If you are comfortable in making your own marketing and promotion decisions, are comfortable in using the web and its end-user terminology, and know how to use a basic image-manipulation or graphic design application, then talk to us about it to see if it is the right fit. Basic site build and Framework pricing still applies, but you can come over and participate in your site build, while at the same time getting trained in using the software, one on one. The first version of your site should be built by us, so it incorporates the most strategic tools and ways of showing your information. This will also allow it to be ready very quickly. Editing your own content is better once the main site is up, and you can take your time in properly learning how to do the updates, without stopping the progress of your business.
The IntelliFolios Manager is the most comprehensive, most editable, most expandable Flash site building and editing browser-based, no technical knowledge required, and subscription-based Flash site building system available today.
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There are many scenarios for which IntelliFolios sites shine, including for creative and technical professionals, creative professionals, agents, and organizations... anyone who is serious about having a highly functional, professional-looking online presence. If you want any of these aspects to your site, you need an IntelliFolios site:
• Sites with much media: illustrations, artwork, diagrams, products, places, animations, movies, virtual reality images, or music. We can easily manage your media in building the site, and media can be interlinked and cross-referenced automatically to create very deep, informative web experiences. Now, when we say "much media", it could even be 10 still photos to start with. The idea is that it really shines as a gallery-oriented experience. The more media there is, and the more complex the information about it is, the better value it will become, and the design of the system and Frameworks will make more and more sense.
• Sites that need to be updated often, or have to have certain pages update-able by the organization itself, or certain people assigned to certain pages. It is the speed, affordability, and flexibility of constant changes that make this system stand out from others.
• Sites that need to have several phases in their development, without ever having downtime, "under construction" pages, or improperly-functioning links. You will see draft versions through a privately access point, while the live version goes unchanged. You never thought it was possible to grow your site in such a seamless way.
• Sites that need to always work properly, no matter what platform or browser the viewer is using, or their level of web savvy, and at the same time, looks completely consistent between those different scenarios. All of IntelliFolios smart-sensing technologies, high usability, and loading efficiency will guarantee no headaches for you or bad site experiences for your visitors.
• Sites that need to have multiple versions live at the same time (a.k.a. site versioning), whether for different regions, different languages, different verticals, external vs. internal use. Versions of your site can be customized for specific uses, and each is trackable in our comprehensive statistics reporting. Versioning has never been so fast and easy or affordable!
• Sites that need frequent, major redesigns or changes. We can easily re-purpose your content and its formatting to a new look when you need it.
• Clients who appreciate a completely managed solution. You don’t have to worry or know about anything technical because you know we are a responsible, responsive, knowledgeable team that is invested into our clients’ success, manages everything appropriately, predicts any potential problems well ahead of time, and suggest effective courses of action to meet strategic requirements.
• A client who wants the fiscal simplicity of having one bill that accurately represents their entire website costs will love our standardized transparent pricing that is guaranteed not to ever increase. Yes, that is true, even if our costs increase, even due to inflation, the original price that you pay for services will always stay the same, forever. Think of it as an ever-increasing discount for your loyalty.
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IntelliFolios marries the standardization, build speed, and update-ability of online portfolios or site builders, with the options and customization usually just available with completely hand-built sites. Here we highlight the most popular customization options:
Each of the 50+ Frameworks has dozens of unique options that can be switched on and off, creating a unique functionality and look. You can choose from the 63 pre-tested, high-readability designer color sets, or have a custom one done to suite you're branding. We can even load in a jpeg, analyze the exact colors, and create a palette based on an image you provide. Choose from over 90 professional fonts, or you can even have a custom one added to the system. The result: millions of unique looks.
Use the IntelliFolios Site Visualizer to see all the options in a working preview site with generic info, and even launch a full-size working version of the same demo, with your specific choices. Then, just copy down the site code, and we can use that as a starting point with your site design consultation and site build. It is these types of systems that allow us to achieve effective results for you with rapid turnaround.
You can also use the pre-loader demo site, to choose from 38 different pre-loaders, each programmed to give the viewer accurate, progressive visual feedback as to the loading of the site components. Most of them are paired with a Framework, being designed around its design elements.
Custom "branding" graphics in specific areas: Each Framework has a number of areas that are specifically left with little or no critical site information, to enable these areas to be used for text, logos, images, patterns, etc. These containers for JPEG or Flash files have a distinct pixel size, shown in the Photoshop templates that we provide to our clients, upon request.
Background graphic: the whole footprint of the Framework can have a JPEG or Flash file inserted. The Flash format allows for animated elements, very sharp text, or efficient loading of certain graphics, since it is vector-based, instead of pixel based.
Sidebar extension: on the right-hand side of each Framework can be inserted a number of graphics, either static jpegs, or animated Flash graphics / movies. These can be images, design elements, animated or scrolling text, buttons, ads, announcements, etc. The width of this extension of the background can be any size, but 50-200 pixels is recommended. The graphics automatically stack.
Surrounding background: When the footprint (total width x height) of the Framework needs to be a little bigger, a graphic can be placed surrounding the site, essentially extending the total footprint by 50 pixels on each of the 4 sides. This is especially effective with custom background concepts that break through the standard rectangle shape, or have elements that float on any side of the Framework. The most typical use is at the top, to integrate a company logo more into the site design. By turning off the Frameworks outside border, the inner and surrounding areas can be made to seamlessly extend into each other by careful planning and image slicing.
Background override: This is an advanced feature which places a background layer over top of the built-in graphics and navigation layers. It is used when extreme modifications are required, and often a very unique "static" navigation is created, perhaps thematically linked to the content of the site, or the company branding.
Framework core design modification: We take an existing Framework design, and make some changes to it that couldn’t be accommodated with dynamic options. This requires putting this new framework through our 200+ stage test suite, sometimes several times over. This version can then be reserved as an exclusive Framework (extra exclusive-use fees, and future fees for upgrades), or be available (at our discretion) to other IntelliFolios clients (no exclusive-use fees, and lifetime free upgrades). This service starts at $3495, including basic site build, and a custom template created for your reference, and takes 3-8 weeks for full site build, depending on availability of programming staff.
Custom Framework: We start with a blank canvas, and create a framework that is driven by a unique design that cannot be accomplished by modifying existing Frameworks. This site then has all the advantages and flexibility of an IntelliFolios site, while having the exact layout, navigation, and proportions required. This service starts at $4995., and takes anywhere from 4-12 weeks for full site build, depending on what additional plug-ins and core system changes are needed to accomplish specific functionalities requested.
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Because everything is modular, pre-coded and pre-tested, the development time with IntelliFolios sites is very fast, ranging form same day or next day ultra-rush service for a small emergency site, where we are working in constant communication with the client, or the client just comes in for a better part of the day, to usually 1-3 weeks at a relaxed pace, to 1-3 months for really large, heavily customized, or complex sites, plus any unusually long client approval waits. All of our production times are in writing in the quote, and are guaranteed, whether it is for the initial site build, additional phases later on, or small changes. A guranteed completion time is important, becasue the longer your project isn't online successfully, the more opportunities atre missed and revenue lost.
Most small and medium sites typically take 1-3 weeks, depending on what other projects we are working on, and how quickly and completely you provide final information to us. If the customization is minimal, and the content is well-organized, any of our experienced developers can produce it, and it will take a lot less time and cost. If there is much additional marketing or content strategy required, custom graphics, custom technology, additional services such as photography, illustration, branding, or writing, or the existing content is not well-organized or of inferior quality, then that significantly adds production time and cost because our different in-house specialists need to be scheduled.
In traditional web projects, the site assembly and coding takes a long time because it is essentially a process of trial-and-error. IntelliFolios sites have many visualization tools available to you, so figuring out what you need is much faster, and we already pre-tested everything, so it just works perfectly right out of the gate. If one was to get a site with the same quality and technological advancements as our IntelliFolios sites, but built from scratch, other methods of site building with comparable quality and price (if possible) to IntelliFolios will typically take 5-20 times longer, until a perfect, fully compatible site is achieved, like it is with IntelliFolios.
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IntelliFolios site costs are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We have special programs, while we are preparing to launch IntelliFolios, which you may qualify for, to get a deep discount...so talk to us about your particular situation.
Factors that influence price are things like: number of pages, amount of media, text content formatting, existing or new Framework design, Framework customization, custom graphics production, extra site features, advanced site features, how well the content is prepared, your deadline, and the size of business. Larger businesses typically have longer, more complex approval cycles, more decision-makers, and more communication, so that takes more time, therefore increasing cost. On the other hand, with much larger sites, the per media or page cost goes down substantially.
The basic pricing concept is that you start out with one of seven Framework Levels that suits your budget and creative needs. Included in this are basic site features, basic page styles, and content. This is enough to have a fully functioning basic site. When you want to add content in a page style or feature that already exists, you just pay the per item fee and/or hourly fee. Most items are at flat rates, and items that are typically ordered in larger quantities may have a quantity discount available.
If you want to add features or pages that do not already exist in your account, you pay an activation fee that enables you to economically have access to that type of page or feature, and then the per item fee. When you add a certain type of page or feature, the basic content and formatting are included. If you want additional formatting or customization, an extra charge will apply.
Because of the limitless possibilities, it is difficult to quote without knowing the specific requirements of the client. That said, we can, without knowing any details about your requirements, provide rough pricing that reflects a "best case scenario", which is readily achievable. The common cost is a $400 per year System Fee, which covers many common items and services that all clients require. It includes a $320 annual credit towards content updates and/or additional consulting, so the "hosting", which includes technical upgrades and backup, is only $80 per year, an incredible deal for what you are getting. Certain features are charged as an annual use fee, instead of a build or programming fee, which allows very exciting, but otherwise prohibitively expensive features, to be affordable. These can be more advanced page styles, search capabilities, etc. The production fee is typically the largest component of site cost for medium to large sites, and is directly proportional to amount and complexity of content, and custom services required.
We can create a complete, yet simple HTML web presence starting at $395, which has all of the content in an easy-to-access way, and are fully search-engine compliant, meaning that it will give you the head start needed to get onto the search engines, which often takes a lot of time, and will provide a decent reference for potential clients to go to for now, and not see a "coming soon" page for months. The exact same site content can later be utilized by the Flash version of the site, and this HTML version then becomes the print / search engine version cross-linked with the Flash site, so it retains 100% of its investment.
A basic gallery-style Flash site, with some additional projects, and some more info pages, starts at just $595, depending on design chosen and level of customization. This can be upgraded to at any time. Even the lowest-priced, most basic Flash frameworks have the same core technology behind them as the most expensive ones, and most frameworks have many advanced features available as a free option or paid upgrade. With some simple customization and a sprinkling of extra services, a small site will typically be in the $1-2k range, and be ready in 3-14 days.
There are 6 price levels for Flash Frameworks, the last two being the creation of a new, stand-alone, custom Framework done to your specs. If the desired Framework is close to an available one, but some changes need to be done that are beyond the built-in options, than it is "customized". The most expensive Framework option s where a brand new design is created from scratch, according to your specs. Even at this level, it is very affordable, considering what you are getting.
A key difference in the Framework price is how unique the Frameworks are; how difficult it was to construct them; how naturally expandable they are; and whether they needed custom technologies created to make their concepts a reality. The more time we have invested into creating a Framework, or the less likely it will have "mass-market appeal," generally the more expensive it is. By some Frameworks being significantly higher priced than others, it also creates a natural exclusivity, similar to high-end clothing, furniture, buildings, and automobiles. The newest Frameworks sometimes have design elements or features that could only be done with new designs, and these are priced a little higher, just like any newly-released product, while at the same time, the Frameworks that are not suitable to go through these changes have special SALE pricing.
For a complete, medium-sized site with some customization for a small business or individual professional, if you budget $2-$8k, it will cover most, if not all the typical requirements, plus a bunch of things that you could only dream about until now. This cost includes design, content, and web marketing consulting, medium search engine optimization, some custom graphics, some post-production on images, proofreading, extra approval cycles, etc. Costs are easy to plan for, as everything is clearly defined and priced.
Larger studios and businesses, or groups of individual professionals, will often have more extensive needs, and have more projects or items for the site, so those will typically be in the $8-$50k range. Clients in this price range and above also pre-qualify for our beta-tester program to use the IntelliFolios Manager for free until public release. It is the revolutionary software that we use to build your site, and will be available in the future by subscription. It blows away any portfolio management or site builder software away by light-years! It is designed for non-technical people to expand and edit their site, create microsites, and generally use it in a very integrated way with daily marketing and sales activities. It is all drag'n'drop, icon based, and does all the code dynamically in the background, so you do not need any other software besides any web browser on any platform (except an image-editing program like Photoshop is helpful in preparing images for it). Please inquire for more details, as this is not publicly-available software yet.
Very large sites, perhaps multilingual or sites with many microsite versions, often the case with national or international companies, will typically be $50k+, which would include extensive customization, likely requiring adding core capabilities and options to the whole system, a from-scratch Framework design, many consults, deep navigation with hundreds or thousands of projects / pages, continuous updates, and additional web marketing tools outside of the IntelliFolios system. Of course, this level of quality, expandability, development speed, performance, and control would typically cost over a million to build from scratch, so relatively speaking, it is a great deal!
The unique concept here is that an individual can start out on the system as a young professional or start-up business, perhaps it even being their first site out of school or assisting, and have this site seamlessly grow, without any downtime or sudden expenditures of new sites, to the point of them being a multi-million dollar company, with several locations, and many decision makers. This is the concept of being able to take steps forward, without ever having to take a step back. Think of how much time, energy, and money that will save you of the course of your business.
We often recommend a staged approach, where we map out the long-term site goals, and create a more basic site that will naturally accommodate those goals over time. This ensures a successful web presence is realized for you next week, not having to wait until next year. Imagine how many sales you have lost (or don’t know that you lost), because of not having a high-usability, well-designed site that projects the right image for your business. That figure is already likely more than what your IntelliFolios site will cost, so imagine how much more money you will make in the next 5 years by having a great site with IntelliFolios.
If you ask colleagues who have had sites done, if they remember accurately, most will share some common unpleasant surprises in the process. These include things like that the final total cost of the site was higher than estimated, they had to unexpectedly sacrifice or simplify certain things because of final costs or timelines not being what was estimated, their final launch date had to be pushed back, they had to work overtime to get things done properly, or they had stumbling blocks when the site launched because of not enough beta testing. All of these things make the final cost of the site more, or decrease potential early sales. They are preventable with the IntelliFolios workflow, and are guaranteed to not be a problem when you work with us.
We want to have clients with us many years, and we bend over backwards to make that happen, including giving startups or young professionals that we want to invest in, major discounts or complimentary services. We have professional organizations discounts, and several programs in the works that will make it affordable for many young pros and companies to have the right site from the start.
If you choose, you can put as much as 75% of your site build and extra services on a payment plan, and have up to three years to pay off the balance from the date of the service ($200 minimum, for each payment).
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If you have a domain already, and you feel that it is the best choice for you going forward (short, easy to remember, easy to spell, helps with search engines, etc), then we give you the DNS numbers of our servers, and you change your domain to point to our servers. The propagation usually takes several days. If you are not comfortable with doing all this now and keeping tabs on your domain, and not losing it from unauthorized transfer requests, shady registrars, or forgetting to renew, then we suggest you just hand all that responsibility over to us by transferring to our registrar, and having us named as the administrators. You will still retain ownership. We then provide our completely managed solution for you, and integrate the annual domain charge with your IntelliFolios account.
Domain registration through us includes all setup and email forwarding to your current ISP's mailbox, like yourname@rogers.com or yourname@sympatico.ca, or to your free email service, like yourname@gmail.com or yourname@hotmail.com. Our service includes up to 5 email aliases at registration time, such as sitecontactpage@ yourdomain.com, which can be forwarded to the same or different email boxes. Try not to use info@ or sales@, which can get automatically spammed, but we can consult you on this.
Additional email aliases beyond the 5 free ones are available at a one-time fee of $5 for bundles of 5 at a time. Enterprise-level email management services are available through third parties, if your ISP email boxes cannot accommodate your needs. Extra needs may be more email storage space, better web-mail functionality, better server-side spam filtering, etc. At this time, we do not offer dedicated mailboxes, but if that is what you're after, and want us to provide them, let us know and we'll work something out. We are in the business of creating and managing websites, not being email server administrators, and we want you to have the best service possible.
In order to protect the privacy of our clients, and shield them from spam and scams, by default we register our own company name and contact info as the site contact, while you are still registered as the owner. If you wish to be named instead, just let us know.
If you cannot get a good, obvious .com, then we suggest alternate TLD's (top-level domains). You can search for these on www.networksolutions.com. Also, you can register multiple domains to protect your domain from competitive domains. Unchecked, these may result in confusion, search engine ranking dilution, and competitors or other businesses creating similarly-named services to yours.
The following are available through us (price listed is per year. For a $15 per year rate, do a 10 year registration for $150 (all $30 domains), which is 50% off. 10 year registration is recommended to do for your primary domain, one that you know you will be keeping forever:
.com / Generic domain $30
.net / Generic domain $30
.us / United States of America
(Have to be doing business in the U.S.) $30
.org / Organizations and clubs $30
.info / Information $30
.name / Personal domain $30
.biz / Generic domain (aka Business) $33
.ws / Western Samoa (aka Website) $33
.cc / Cocos Islands $49
.tv / Tuvalu (aka Television) $54
Google recommends renewing domains for 2+ year periods, as those that are for registered or renewed for shorter may be interpreted as "throwaway" domains for spamming. Your investment with us is solid, even if you were to transfer your domain to another provider after stopping IntelliFolios service. Your registration period with us would just be added to your new domain registration period, rather than losing that paid-for period.
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The Launch Page can have almost any look, and contain any text info or links, and be almost any size. For good web usability and compatibility, we recommend something utilitarian for starters, but imaginations are the only real limits. It can be as stark and minimal or as informative as you wish. It all depends on how people are coming to the site, search engine visibility, etc. We generally recommend something simple, small, with static graphics, to ensure complete compatibility with any type of visitor. Please also review extra Launch Page Options.
A number of standard options are included:
a) basic image integration, whereby a supplied graphic is re-purposed to work with one of the very flexible branding areas.
b) a number of built-in launch icon sets are available to choose from
c) the option of having any HTML text associated with any button, or foregoing text at all.
d) site launch options, including:
display in a larger or full-screen popup window (recommended for focusing viewer's attention onto your site)
display in a small, sized popup window (more conventional, and allows viewer to easily see all other sites and desktop activity)
automatic popup (less clicking required, if it isn't critical for visitors to view the Launch Page. It will still be there, behind the site)
display in main window, after the "enter" button is pressed (the most traditional popup approach, and best if you have good, unique info or visuals on your launch page)
disable Flash site (used only for parked pages or HTML only sites)
The following are all extra options (as seen in the examples on the right):
custom layout
custom buttons, often with integrated text
custom graphics
exit page Article Page or graphic, that switches from the initial Launch Page look, that can be something as simple as a thank you, a very memorable image or quote, or a call to action or special offer.
The Launch Page, which has a number of important functions:
1. It serves as the "cover of your book," the "sign of your store," or the "poster for your exhibit," to inform and entice your audience. It should be obvious to what type of site it will launch. It should in most cases contain at least one visual that represents what your business does, plus incorporate your branding (logo). Ideally, it contains not only your name or the name of your business, but a compelling tagline, description, or call to action.
2. It should contain the most important contact info, including a link to an email form (but not an email link). The email address can be incorporated as a graphic, but not as a link, because of spam issues. Some sites will include a full address, fax number, hours of operation, map link, even a several images showing what the business does. Others will have a logo, and maybe one word.
3. It allows your Flash site to be properly visible to search engines, and your optional HTML site to be deep-indexed for every page. It has special metatagging options, including ways to further optimize your search engine rankings. Search engine optimization consultations and submissions are extra.
4. By having sophisticated sensing tools, it determines whether the viewer has the appropriate technical configuration set, and only if they do not, it gives them detailed instructions of what to change to effectively view the site. Other systems are passive, whereby telling the viewer what they need, regardless of whether they already have it or not, and letting them figure out the rest. Our system figures out exact Flash player version installed, exact screen resolution, browser version, and whether Javascript is enabled, and if any of those are not, will not let the viewer in until it is remedied, and provide step by step instructions, specifically for their operating system.
5. These same sensing tools report their findings in the detailed statistics available through the Access Site, a utility site included with every IntelliFolios site that provides much functionalities that the site owner should have access to.
6. It allows your site to be bookmarked effectively, so people can easily find your site in their bookmark collection. It allows there to be a distinction between the launch page, the Flash popup page, and the optional HTML site, when people choose which window to go to, from their browser menu.
7. It allows the option of going to the optional IntelliFolios HTML version, an existing HTML site, or specific micro-site, as a secondary site choice.
On this page, you will some examples of different custom designs that can be done by us, or even you, if you have the skills and patience, and are a beta user of the Manager software.
When we create a custom launch page, we include a full set of all possible buttons that correspond to any launch setting or launch option that you may choose. Here is an example of how a complete custom launch page button set looks. This will also help you understand how these pages work. Remember, that any design can be utilized, but to retain all the intelligent sensing and situation cueing for the viewer, a properly done page should adhere to the design parameters needed.
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These days, it seems that many portfolio site systems are flaunting maximum image size. At the same time, it seems like many visual professionals' websites using these systems are starting to all look the same. When we interviewed Art Directors who hire photographers and illustrators, for example, many stated that they like to see a unique vision, in a unique presentation, as that helps them remember that person when the right project comes along. A unique size is part of this visual package. Just like not all ads have full page images, and not all promotional pieces are 8½ x 11", so should websites have differing dimensions, we feel. Some images just look better, more precious, smaller.
Our solution to this, which we have had for years, has been to create a huge variety of sizes and design configurations, called Frameworks. Each one has completely unique proportions, so image creators can find a Framework that suits their natural style best, and not just 3x2 horizontal. Some have very minimal "branding" areas or "breathing room", while others have the ability of having large blocks off color, design, static, or motion designs.
What if someone likes to work square? What is someone does many verticals, and they don't want to always "pair" vertical images? What if we are redoing a site, where easily accessing all the original, larger files is not possible. By choosing a gallery media size that is close to the size of the already available media, a site redo is much easier.
At the same time, some creators are concerned about their imagery being appropriated without their knowledge or permission, and a large, unwatermarked image just makes this easier to do. To battle unauthorized usage, and at the same time create the fastest-loading sites possible, we have always had a great solution. Keep gallery media moderately-sized, to allow more interesting things to happen with background graphics and navigation systems, but create a universal feature which pops up any Media Object in it's own frame. This has many advantages...
Visitors only pop up the images that they want to see large, which saves them bandwidth and loading time compared to seeing all images at full size. The sin is that many of these systems, along with many traditionally-built sites, pre-load all the higher resolution images, even just for the thumbnails. What a waste of the internet, server power, energy, and ultimately, the viewer's time! Why? Because the typical viewer does not want to see every image in a website full-size, but yet that is what the site that doesn't know any better delivers. Every other thing in this world is going on-demand, switching to lower power when it is not needed or drop-shipping from a warehouse, but yet these site systems just don't seem to understand this universal concept of greater efficiency.
IntelliFolios has always been designed to be hyper efficient, being able to be even viewed on 56k modems, or buggy wireless connections, while downloading music, listening to internet radio, watching streaming video, or file-sharing in the background . You know, the stuff real people do. How is this accomplished?
First, we accomplish fast loads and internet efficiency by having highly optimized sites, graphics, code, and loading sequences. Next, by loading in thumbnails that are big enough to see what is going on, but not so big that they can be used as portfolio images, we create further speed. Each one is about 2k. The secret to having small thumbnails which are clearly read is our free, optional Cropped Thumbnail service, where we create a close-up crop of the project, which looks fantastic in a gallery, and adds some intrigue to the site-viewing experience. Further, when the actual full-size gallery image loads, it is large enough that the visitor can appreciate the detail and quality, without taking up their whole screen, tempting copyright infringement, or creating a slow load. The sizes vary tremendously between Frameworks.
Finally, and this is the kicker, there is a full-screen 1024px by 768px version of each Media Object in the account, and our clients can specify if it is used, and how. This is much bigger that any of the other portfolio systems, because it is pure image! The default is that when the viewer clicks on any image, anywhere (except site background graphics), it will pop-up this huge version, which can also be dragged to the side, or saved to a drive. How convenient!
If you are a creator who is concerned about unauthorized usage, then a little extra feature can be added, called Dynamic Watermarking, which actually turns the image into a Flash file, and places text on top of it. Text content, line breaks, position, size, opacity, and shadow opacity can be controlled, creating anything from small sharp text going across the bottom, to large, ghosted text across the middle. And it is Dynamic, meaning it actually is not permanently part of your image, and can be easily changed. This feature has another amazing option as part of the package. The opportunity to have a custom banner going across the top of each popup image, with whatever you want, a graphic, logo, name, number, or full contact info. Furthermore, the caption of the piece is placed below the image, creating a very professional, custom look to it. For very little extra cost, a separate Profile, a unique, separately trackable version of your site with minor changes, can be created with no watermarking, to send to trusted clients / potential clients.
So now you see that bigger isn't always better.
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Most of the Frameworks are suitable. We often demo the Frameworks with a huge amount of content and all Quicklinks turned on, so clients can see what it can expand into, if need be. On the other hand, if you forgo Quicklinks, and turn off many utilities and Framework options, you will often see a very clean, minimal interface. If the Framework has built-in graphics, sometimes these can just be turned off too, or a special background graphic can be inserted that goes on top of these graphics, but below the images and text. This "graphic override" feature can also be used to create a unique navigation that is hard-coded to the content, overriding the existing navigation. With this, you get total creative control, but give up content editing and expansion speed and low cost.
The bottom line is that almost all of our Frameworks can be minamalist, and at the same time, all of them can be completely crazy...animated, busy, detailed, whatever your heart desires. Talk to our consultants to see what options are suitable for you.
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You can upgrade to another level of Framework at any time. The content of your site will be re-formatted to fit into another Framework, Upgrading requires many of the initial design approval stages to be redone, and includes a face-to-face or phone meeting to discuss and view alternatives.
If no pages need to be reformatted or re-sized manually, that the change fee is $495, plus the difference (if any) between the price of the Framework, depending which price level it belongs to. This includes reformatting titles, re-purposing header and background graphics, tweaking the color assignments, and potentially moving around some pages (if they are internally linked, then there may be a small extra charge to redo the links to track to the new location).
A new pre-loader may be chosen, and any Framework Options can be changed during the switchover. Your current site will be live during the approvals, and when the new site design is successfully tested by your approval circle, the switchover takes a split second, resulting in zero downtime or technical issues.
If a Framework is chosen to be replaced by a newer design, there is no cost to the client, if their site options and content remain the same (unless they have to be changed for compatibility). We do all the work at our own cost. This was the case with some of our first generation Frameworks that we recently replaced with fresher, more flexible designs that accommodated new features and web trends better. This is one of the dozens of things your annual System Fee covers.
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Payment schedules
Unless a payment plan is in effect, a 50% deposit will be due upon approval of the proposal. The balance will be due at site launch, or 30 days after the last approval version was sent, whichever is earlier. For projects over $10,000, clients can divide payment into more intervals, with usually an interim payment due at first finished site approval.
Currency & Method of Payment
You are billed "at par" in your local currency, either USD or CAD, based on the location of your business. This is a huge advantage with Canadian clients, since, unlike using a USD-based service, long-term actual cost is guaranteed, no matter what happens with the exchange rate.
If you are outside of the United States or Canada, you will be billed in USD. If you live in the United States, you will be billed in USD, and can pay in USD through our integrated credit card payments via PayPal, or by check marked "USD", which will keep your accounting easy.
If you live in Canada, you will be billed in Canadian Dollars, and will remit payment in Canadian dollars, either cash, check, money order, bank draft, pre-authorized credit card payment, or online through PayPal, in that order of preference. 6% GST will be charged if you are based in Canada.
Monthly Payments
We can provide financing, OAC, with a pre-authorized credit card, of up to 75% of your site build, with monthly payments of a minimum of $200, for up to 36 months, at 1% per month interest. That means that you can finance a $7,300 site for $2000 down and $200 per month for 3 years, plus system fee.
-or-
Finance a $3,000 site for 12 months with a payment of just $210 per month, plus annual system fee.
Barter
You can barter for your site build or site expansion / updates, as a "retail price for retail price" model. Please ask us for details and to see if your products or services would be suitable for barter with us. There is usually at least a token $200 "cash" payment for the site, plus the $400 per year System Fee cannot be bartered for.
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We make the changes
The most common way is to have us make any changes to the site. During the site build process, you will be given a unique, shareable URL which shows the "Draft Version" of your site. In other words, it is your pending content and changes, not what is "live" on the public web. This Draft Version has an "Approval Bar" on the bottom of the site which the public doesn't see. This Approval Bar has a number of buttons, including "refresh", "make note", "submit instructions", and "info", which tells you when that page was last edited and by whom.
Whether it is live content or draft content, and changes should be requested through this system, as it goes into our Client Communication System, and is permanently recorded. Most importantly, it allows the first available designer to start working on your request. You can ask for a quote first, if you wish. Our goal is to implement small changes within 3 workdays, but we ask that you allow for up to 2 weeks, if needed. If your timing is more critical, you can have an immediate priority service, which will have the change implemented within 24 hours, or it's half-price. Priority service is double rate.
Changes are to your exact specifications. If the request is not clearly written, we will ask you to provide more details, which may cause delays. If the change is production-based, there is no interim approval stage. It's just done, and goes live, and is billed. If it is creative service approval stage, there are two approvals before the final goes live. If we do not hear back from you within 2 weeks on an approval, it is considered approved, and will be billed.
Any request for content changes or additions is subject to a $100 minimum charge. Billing is done on a monthly basis, when there is a minimum of $100 in accumulated services and fees.
You make the changes
Simple, safe editing by key personnel is accomplished by making virtually any page layout or gallery into a MyPage version, easily editable through the Access Site, or a unique URL for the editing page.
If you are involved in the IntelliFolios Manager beta program, you can make any type of complex changes to your site.
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This is not a Flash template site. Flash templates are pre-built site components sold as a package, namely graphics and code. Wherever the content is, it is either blank or has sample content there already. You have to hire a web developer (or know how to build websites from scratch yourself), and then take these purchased templates, and modify them with your own content. If they are Flash templates, they usually are heavy on animation and visual effects, but there is very little flexibility or expandability. Often, you cannot re-use all the content in a totally different design, as it is hard-coded to that specific design.
Flash template sites usually are not dynamically-driven, meaning that changes to content need to be recoded for the site every time, which can lead to delays, high expenses, and glitches. Furthermore, you are completely responsible for hosting, upgrading, testing, and maintaining them online. IntelliFolios is for people who appreciate something just always working properly and intuitively.
Template sites, though they may have a very attractive low purchase price, have a huge real cost of ownership, whether it be time, professional fees, or lost business. More often than not, they have cheesy, over the top graphics to hide poor underlying design or functionality. The main thing is that they are not a long-term solution for a business that needs flexibility in how site content and design changes over time or a business that updates content often.
If you have a lot of time to spend, reliability is not critical, and want to learn a lot about web development, than it may be the right solution for you for now.
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Yes. The HTML versions will work with any device that can display web pages and graphic content, such as jpegs. The Print Framework will work with any size screen, including the iPhone and iPod Touch. Brick and Etage, the other two HTML Frameworks, will work with any screen that is 800px wide or larger, without side scrolling or zooming. This includes the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet.
Many of the smaller IntelliFolios Flash Frameworks, such as Micropixel (340 x 370 pixels), MiniPixel, Bamboo, Slide, and Flow (780 x 460 pixels, perfect for the N7800's 800 x 480 screen), and will work with any device with that resolution or better, that supports the Flash plug-in.
There are a number of mobile device simulators available online. Apple OS X users can download iPhoney, which is a small, free, downloadable app that accurately simulates how the IntelliFolios iPhone experience would look. Just go to www.mirlada.com site while using it, and click on the HTML version. Soon, you'll be able to view the Flash version too, as Apple and Adobe are developing a Flash player that will work on the iPhone.
If you want to simulate how it will look on other PDA's, check out the WAP3 simulator, and just type in www.mirlada.com/PDA . In teh future, we will be developing versions that have designs that are optimzed for these devices. Right now, you can access the info in a pinch, but our 3 HTML frameworks are not optimized for mobile devices yet.
If you would like two different Frameworks to be available to your visitors, one for viewing on larger screens, and another for small screens, like PDA's, that is easily accomplished. The price is easy to figure out. Just take the Framework price minus $500, for a second Framework that has the same content, colors, graphics, etc. The secondary design can be linked instead of the HTML button on the launch page at no extra charge, or a custom launch page can be created with buttons and links in Flash.
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