BetterSites Portfolio - Recent and Ongoing Projects

Comox Valley Paddlers: kayaking, canoeing and Stand-Up Paddleboarding in the Comox Valley area on Vancouver Island, BC

The Comox Valley Paddlers were stuck - they had an article coming out in the Friday newspaper and really needed a new look to their 90's-style website. We delivered, with an attractive, basic one-page redo, within about 36 hours. Now, with the 2013 paddling season almost upon us, we're setting up a more permanent, Wordpress-based solution for them.

Extreme Runners: Fitting Runners on Active People in Courtenay on Vancouver Island, BC

It was time for Extreme Runners to get a new look. Bright and active is their style! Whatever your sport - running, walking, cross training, trail running - Lene Curts and her staff have the expertise to fit you with the right shoe. Extreme Runners sponsor local events and popular group runs, including their wildly popular running and walking event, Thursday Night Trails. Stop in and say hi, see what's new and maybe even buy a pair of shoes that really fit you. This Wordpress-based website allows Extreme Runners staff to update pages, add news items and featured products and continue in their very active role within the local Comox Valley running community.

Discovery Expeditions: Kayak with Killer Whales (Orca) in Johnstone Strait on Vancouver Island, BC

For the adventure of a lifetime, come explore the waters of Johnstone Strait and experience close up the natural beauty of Vancouver Island. From our established base camp complete with all amenities, you can safely paddle among orcas (killer whales) , sea lions, porpoises and dolphins, seals, eagles and other wildlfe. These guided kayaking tours are suitable for paddlers of all abilities. In fact, if a member of your group prefers to remain on the island, the orcas and other wildlife may even come to you.

Alpaca Spring Valley Farm: Alpacas for Sale in Ohio, USA

For this alpaca farm in the US, our website redo included setup in Wordpress so that farm managers and staff could log in and edit any page of their website. Included setting up some custom post types and a short tutorial. Alpaca Spring Valley Farm offers natural health products for alpacas as well as animal synergy essences, which you can purchase online. If you wish to invest in alpacas, board your alpaca, or breed your alpaca to our award-winning alpaca herdsires, then talk to Alicia at Alpaca Spring Valley Farm.

TC Kayaks: Kayak Rental and Transport from Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island, BC

Owner/operator Larry Roy will help you gear up and plan your kayaking trip in Johnstone Strait, the Broughton Peninsula, Sophia Islands near Telegraph Cove, BC. TCKayaks also offer kayak rental and camping/safety equipment rental from Telegraph Cove. Have a paddling group with varied abilities? With his front-loading Landing Craft, Larry will effortlessly transport your kayaks, group and gear to your basecamp, from which you can make day trips to view Orcas, Eagles, Black Bear, Porpoises, Harbour Seals and many other species in their seashore habitat.

Research with Respect - Support for Phase 1 Clinical Drug Trial Volunteers in Canada

The Research with Respect Care Program for Phase 1 Clinical Drug Trial Volunteers in Canada is a free service for terminally-ill people who have agreed to participate in a Phase 1 Clinical Trial. Information for prospective Clinical Trial Volunteers is presented, including Patient Self-Help Forms, Consent Form information and links to further Cancer Research resources. To ensure that every volunteer's donation furthers medical knowledge, Research with Respect is lobbying for mandatory registration of all Clinical Trials in Canada. This website has just been revamped and rebuilt on a Drupal framework by Agentic in Vancouver, BC.

Natural Approach to Health

This center for Natural Health Courses offers Iridology Training, herbal health supplements, essences for people, essences for animals, courses for natural health practitioners, and much, much more.

Alicia has been educating natural health practitioners as well as the public on using herbs and essences to manage the health of your family as well as your pets and farm animals. This website is #4 on google for the term "natural health courses."

Mary Ann Rolfe: Comox Valley and Campbell River Counselling

Mary Ann Rolfe is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, serving the Comox Valley and Campbell River on Vancouver Island, BC. She specializes in Couples Counselling, can help with Depression and Anxiety, and Grief and Loss.

Are you a little apprehensive? Mary Ann's web site explains what to expect from your first counselling session. Do you need Addictions Counselling or are you an adult child of alcoholic parents? Critical Incident Stress Debriefing? Contact Mary Ann Rolfe today.

CV Marine - Comox Valley Boat Service, Sales and Repair in Courtenay on Vancouver Island, BC

Ed Broughton and Wayne Wyant proudly announce the opening of CV Marine, the newest complete marine sales and service center in the Comox Valley. Formerly Willemar Marine at 2497 Cousins Ave in Courtenay.

Comox Valley Home Inspections: Home Inspector in the Courtenay area on Vancouver Island, BC

If you are buying or selling a home you should get a home inspection. Clear View Home Inspections services northern Vancouver Island, including Comox, Courtenay, Cumberland, Campbell River and Denman, Hornby and Quadra Islands.

Clear View Home Inspections services Courtenay, BC. Book a Pre-Purchase Home Inspection, Pre-Listing Inspection, After Purchase Inspection and Problem Investigation Inspection.

Total Wellness: Discover Radiant Health and Happiness with Ean Langille

Health and wellness starts with, understanding the thoughts that you have, understanding mind, and how to release yourself from emotional turmoil and addiction. From Energy
Reflex Testing to Iridology, Ean has the research and skills to help you overcome negative thoughts and emotions and grow to achieve perfect health and happiness.

Courtenay Physiotherapy: Physiotherapist Dan Belcher in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, BC

Dan Belcher is a well-known and respected physiotherapist in Courtenay, BC. Along with Gord McIlroy, Marilyn Atkinson and Susan Bloxsome, they offer exercise therapy, post-surgery rehabilitation, Sports Physiotherapy, Vestibular Rehabilitation, Neurological Rehabilitation, as well as Sports Taping and light bracing. Having no previous web presence, they knew it was time to establish a website. There you will find information on available physiotherapy services, fees, contact and address information, and even each physiotherapist's weekly schedule. April, 2010

Comox Valley Gym - Fitness Excellence on Vancouver Island, BC

This friendly, clean gym in Courtenay, BC offers weights and fitness equipment, training and fun fitness classes for people of all ages and levels of fitness. Spin classes are free for members - on state of the art spin bikes. Looking or a fun way to get fit? How about Zumba classes in Courtenay? If a fitness boot camp is the only thing for you, they have that too. There is truly something for everyone at Fitness Excellence, including an infrared sauna. Come on in and check them out - your first visit to this Comox Valley gym is free.We pulled it apart, dusted off the bits that were still usable, and put this website back together without drastically changing the look but with new, more up-to-date code. The end result is much more informative, functional, fast-loading--and it's search engine friendly to boot. Fitness Excellence may have been around for 13 years; however, the website has never showed up in a Google search for Comox Valley Gym. It shouldn't take long for Fitness Excellence to go from 0 to number 1. February, 2010.

Custom Woodwork, cabinetry and furniture: Doc Wildwoods in Campbell River, on Vancouver Island, BC

Whether you are looking for custom kitchen cabinets, hand-crafted entrance doors, or one-of-a-kind furniture pieces and more - DOC Wildwoods offers years of experience in fine woodworking on Vancouver Island. Doc will design and build your custom woodworking project according to your needs and tastes. You are even welcome to visit his Campbell River woodworking shop on Vancouver Island, BC.

VS Probate Assistance & World Search Co: Find missing heirs and locate beneficiaries in Canada, the US and Europe

This Probate Assistance company based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, has a very high success rate. They specialize in genealogical research to find missing beneficiaries and heirs, from Canada and the U.S to Europe. VS Probate's team of Professional Genealogists and Genealogy Research Assistants can perform intestate searches as well as overseas searches for heirs in the Ukraine, Poland as well as other European countries. VS Probate Assistance and World Search Co. can prepare an Affidavit of Due Diligence as well as testify in court as a Forensic Genealogist.

Cortes Island Luxury Vacation Lodge, Cabins and Camping

T'ai Li Lodge offers luxury private waterfront acommodations, waterfront cabins, and luxury camping on Cortes Island, BC. Cortes Island Kayak tours, boat charters and yoga programs are all available during your stay. This website was spiffed up to make it easier to find information and to better showcase this beautiful piece of paradise.

Denman Island Cottage Retreat

The Blue Owl Cottage is a cozy, private cottage suited for one to three adults. Located near the beach and also near Graham Lake on Denman Island, BC. The luxurious bathroom boasts an Infrared Sauna and old fashioned slipper soaking tub with a view of the forest.

Comox Valley and Campbell River Funeral Services

Kent and Rosemarie Roduck offer funeral and cremation services at the Comox Valley Funeral Home, Cremation and Reception Centre, as well as Campbell River Funeral Services with their Island Funeral Services, Elk Falls Cremation & Reception Centre in Cambell River. They are a Canadian independent, locally owned company, with no chain affiliation.

As an independent funeral provider, Kent & Marie Roduck provide you with the highest level of professional services. You can talk directly with the owners at any time.

Quarter Horses for Sale in Black Creek, BC: Border Quarters Ltd.

This new site features champion quarter horses by Border Quarters Inc. Cory, a dentist in Campbell River, and Candice, a veterinarian in Courtenay, breed, train & show some of the top quarter horses in the North West. They have had success at the highest levels of Competition including an NSBA World Champion and a Reserve Congress Champion. They are located in beautiful Black Creek, BC, on Vancouver Island. This site includes links to YouTube videos of quarter horses for sale.

Mount Washington Real Estate - Comox Valley, Vancouver Island, BC

This collaborative project was to develop an easy to use Content Management System for a busy Realtor to update on his own. Tying in previous contact management database and building project listings, now Rick can add, edit and delete listings, make them hidden or visible, upload photos, etc.

Comox Valley Road Runners - Content Management System: GreenCMS

The CVRR is an active club that promotes running and fitness in the Comox Valley. With their new GreenCMS site, volunteers can easily update the site themselves without any technical knowledge. GreenCMS is an easy to use Content Management System developed by Comox Valley web developers who have experience working with streamkeeper organizations. The software includes all of the functionality that might be required, and comes "out of the box," ready for non-technical people to add, edit and delete content, documents, maps, pictures, etc, on their website.

Tsolum River Restoration Society - Content Management System: GreenCMS

A mine abandoned 40 years ago ruined the Tsolum River. The Tsolum River Restoration Society (TRRS) are working to restore the Tsolum River to historical levels of health and productivity. As successive volunteers worked on their website, it became clunky and outdated. The TRRS were looking for a website that they could easily update themselves without any technical knowledge. GreenCMS fit that bill. GreenCMS is an easy to use Content Management System developed by Comox Valley web developers who have experience working with streamkeeper organizations. The software includes all of the functionality that might be required, and comes "out of the box," ready for non-technical people to add, edit and delete content, documents, maps, pictures, etc, on their website.

Wildlife Gallery Database and Website Redesign

This photography website previously built in 2004, needed an overhaul. With now over 2500 wildlife photographs, well over the "few hundred" the site had originally been designed for, there was a need to reorganize and recategorize photos in a more logical manner. I redesigned the MySql database from the ground up to reflect the new requirements. Graphical "frames" are now added to each photograph "on the fly" as the image is being displayed. A new, cleaner sitewide header was created. Usability was improved: Now, simply clicking on a large image automatically takes you to the next one. Gallery navigation was updated from buttons to text. The sitewide navigation was moved to the top of the page from its previous position on the left side, to allow for more room for the large individual photographs. This site is now more search engine friendly, the photographs are much better organized, and overall the look is cleaner. One of the more challenging aspects of this redesign project was simple communication: trying to explain some of the technical aspects of the project, in English, to someone who speaks mostly German was... very difficult and time consuming. While this project was a success and the site owner is very happy with the result, we now ensure first that any barriers to communication are identified and addressed in the early stages of a project.

Extreme Runners - Running and Walking Shoes and Clothing in Courtenay, BC

This Technical running/walking shoe store in Downtown Courtenay on Vancouver Island previously had a very bland website, invisible to the search engines, that they were unable to update themselves. After several years of maintaining their old site, they asked for a new site with a more "exciting" look that would appeal to runners and walkers of all ages and abilities. We used a Mysql database so they can update their product listings, add news items and events whenever they wish. Digital photography for products by Better Sites. The end result is a much more interesting and dynamic site, that is also search engine friendly! PHP/MySql backend. December, 2006

Mount Washington , BC - MileHigh.ca

Produced by Rick Gibson of Royal LePage in the Comox Valley, this Mount Washington BC News site includes articles, information, a live Mountain Cam complete with weather station, as well as on-mountain dining, accommodation and real estate information. A news archive database full of interesting stories of Mount Washington and the Alpine Resort goes back several years. It was fun to read all the old articles as I added them to the database along with pictures. The Mountain Cam was particularly interesting to set up--during a blizzard-- and gives a dazzling long shot to the summit of Mount Washington when the sun pours out onto the mountain. This dynamic site runs on PHP/MySql. October-November, 2006

Gold River, BC

Gold River, on beautiful Vancouver Island, BC, is a very special place indeed. Surrounded by wilderness, both land and sea, Gold river offers an abundance of opportunity to get in touch with nature. Containing a wealth of information about the area, it is packed with useful local information, history and business contact info. A site map was added to help both search engines and humans navigate the sections of the site.

CVRR Online Running Discussion Forums

This online discussion forum is a place for Comox Valley Road Runners to discuss all things running-related . The forum is based on PHP and a MySql database. It is currently viewable to the public but requires CVRR membership and forum registration to participate. This online meeting place is popular with CVRR members. PHPBB setup and customization by Better Sites. March, 2006

Royal LePage Comox Valley Snow to Surf Online Registration

Online Registration for relay teams, a "teams entered" page that is dynamically generated from the database to show "paid" teams, a login for team captains to update their team information, an extensive back-end "admin" area - All this adds up to a more streamlined registration process for teams and administrators. Reminders are automatically sent to teams who have not paid their registration fee, and the administrators can view and sort teams by a number of criteria. Broadcast emails to team captains can be sent and team information can be edited by the administrator. There is even an "admin lite" login so that other chairpersons can monitor the registrations without the possibility of accidentally changing information.

Comox Valley Shoreline Orthodontics Tri-K

This website, redesigned to suit a tight budget, was given a new, less cluttered look. There is handy access to all the necessary information for participants in this event, including a multi-step online registration system .

Mount Washington Accommodation

This site offers a comprehensive database of lodgings and vacation rentals at Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island. The original version of this site (shown below, not clickable) offered rental unit information in static HTML pages converted from huge MS Excel spreadsheets. The data for each rental property was delivered in a giant "grid," difficult to use and too big to print. Photos were not visible, and there was no way to see if a rental was available at any particular time. Updates were difficult and infrequent, and had to be performed by the webmaster. Because of the static nature of the web site, discrepancies occurred in the information, as the original Excel spreadsheet was updated on the owner's desktop computer but not the web site. A database-driven website that the site owners as well as the property managers can update themselves was the natural solution in this case. This PHP/MySql site offers several regular search options (such as number of bedrooms) as well as a search for lodgings by location (using an image map) and search for rental accommodations by dates available using a dynamic availability calendar that the property managers can update themselves as the vacation property is reserved. Search results display lists of matching rentals. Individual vacation lodging unit pages display exterior and interior photos, information, rates, and the availability calendar showing dates booked/not booked. An extensive dual admin system was also implemented: contacts for the rental units may change information, upload photos, etc, for their respective units, while site administrators can view stats and make additions or changes to any unit, building, or contact.