We Create custom web applications & killer websites

We specialise in custom development and Umbraco website creation on large and small scales, building solutions for our customers that meet their current needs and provide the foundation for future business direction.

From customer or data management through to graphing and data visualisation, integrating with third party APIs, we do it all.

  1. Netthandelen.no

    Netthandelen.no

    The most recent Netthandelen update project facilitated a complete technology refresh of the platform. The aim was to modernise the stack, enable code sharing with the company’s existing portfolio of online stores, and to make dramatic performance and functional improvements. The project was referred to internally as “Netthandelen Born Again” (“NBA”) due to the level of change required.

    As part of this project, Ignition Development created a service bus and data brokering system between the front end websites and the SQL Server databases. This ensured maximum performance as the UI never had to wait for database writes, and was always reading from memory.

    The data brokering system was combined with a complete overhaul of the user interface that leveraged modern JavaScript and AJAX approaches. This made for a more responsive user experience. Prior to this project, the site had been using traditional ASP.NET postbacks, which meant a large number of full page reloads and a sub-optimal experience purchasing experience for customers.

    Since the initial release we have provided continuous improvement of the platform as part of our ongoing relationship with Netthandelen's holding company, the Brandsdal Group.

    www.netthandelen.no

  2. bookabin.com.au

    Bookabin.co.nz / Bookabin.com.au Site Upgrade

    The key objective of this project was to perform a design and technology refresh of the legacy codebase that supported both of these sites. The code had been maintained by multiple previous developers over a number of years, and had begun to perform poorly and suffer from reduced search rankings in key areas.

    The code presented some challenges, as it was handed over with no documentation and had grown organically to serve multiple countries and multiple domains, with business logic that had become complex as a result.

    The old design was replaced with a responsive design implemented using Bootstrap. Behind the scenes, a number of technologies were updated to the latest versions, including .NET and jQuery, and the data access layer was modified to improve overall performance.

    We also took the opportunity to remove outdated third party components in favour of using ASP.NET's built-in functionality. This change allowed us to simplify a number of aspects of the code to make future maintenance easier, and to offer new functionality to the customer in terms of URL structure and page accessibility to improve search engine rankings.

    Along with the refresh we also updated the code to allow it to run as an Azure web app, which enabled us to use Azure's Australian geographical region. This provided the customer with an opportunity to save on hosting costs, and also to shift the site's hosting to a location that is closer to their target customers.

    www.bookabin.co.nz
    www.bookabin.com.au

    “ When I first met Ross and his team, I was taken by their ‘can-do’ attitude towards our development requirements, and their willingness to meet our needs – both creative and budgetary! Ignition Development have taken our old websites with outdated graphics, fonts, code etc. and transformed them into modern, user friendly, responsive sites. ” Elaine Morgan
  3. Nettportal

    NettPortal (Brandsdal, BliVakker, Cocopanda)

    This was an ambitious project to deliver a scalable and versatile web application to allow the customer to run multiple online shops using a shared platform. At the time, the customer had a single existing online shop (BliVakker.no) and has since added six more shops across five countries, in multiple languages (Cocopanda.dk, Cocopanda.se, Cocopanda.fi, Cocopanda.de, Cocopanda.at and Brandsdal.no).

    Ignition Development created a custom, configuration-based platform using ASP.NET and SQL Server, with client-side JavaScript technologies, middle-tier data caching, and the capability to run the platform on multiple nodes for redundancy and scalability.

    The solution supports multiple "skins", so that any number of shops can be delivered using the single codebase and all the designs are responsive. Each shop can use a different subset of features available through the platform with a few configuration changes, and additional features can easily be added over time as business needs evolve.

    The platform also integrates with a number of back-end and external systems, including Microsoft Dynamics NAV, multiple marketing and analytics services, and 3rd-party deal promotion sites.

    Ignition Development remains involved in the ongoing support and maintenance of the platform in conjunction with the customer's in-house development team. New features and performance improvements are delivered monthly.

    www.blivakker.no
    www.cocopanda.dk
    www.cocopanda.se
    www.cocopanda.fi
    www.cocopanda.de
    www.cocopanda.at
    www.brandsdal.no

    “ Being a 100% internet based company with 3 e-commerce sites the choice of development partner for the creation of a new web platform was extremely important. I am glad to say that Ignition Development has not disappointed. ” Bhairav Patel
  4. arion.co.nz

    Arion

    Arion is an equestrian and veterinary wholesaler based in New Zealand. Their website project involved bespoke development on top of Site Foundation Framework CMS. The core element of this custom work integrates Arion's product database with the website, ensuring product data is available even if the product database is offline. In addition, the customisations allowed us to facilitate a number of different methods of listing, filtering, and searching for products, as well as implementing the customised shopping workflow that the customer required. 

    The e-commerce site allows approved customers to log in and place orders and provides order history information.

    In addition to the custom development work, this project also involved a design overhaul. The new design uses a responsive format and features significant improvements over the previous site's code with an aim to improve search engine optimisation. Product images are hosted using Windows Azure (BLOB storage), which enables more flexible integration with the customer's on-site systems as well as improving performance.

    Leveraging the existing functionality of Site Foundation Framework meant that this website involved significantly less development work than a purely custom approach.

    www.arionefv.co.nz

  5. Site Foundation Framework

    Site Foundation Framework

    When we made the decision to build our own Content Management System (“CMS”) platform we were keenly aware of the sheer number of packages that already existed. Creating our own wasn't a decision that we made lightly. We felt that existing software was trying too hard to be all things to all people, which led to software that was bloated with features and functions that wouldn't be used by most customers.

    Our core goal for Site Foundation Framework (“SFF”) was to create a CMS that focused on the functions that the customer needed, without the bloat, and that having complete control over the codebase would allow us to easily add new features as and when our customers needed them. For those who like software development acronyms, "YAGNI" is something that has been used to guide the development of SFF.

    Over the past 5+ years we've been extending and improving SFF and believe what we've developed is a flexible and cost effective way for us to deliver websites and online shops for our customers, no matter what their needs are.

  6. Site Foundation Framework

    Umbraco

    In addition to using the Site Foundation Framework, we are also proud to build sites using the Umbraco CMS. Umbraco is a fully-featured open source content management system with the flexibility to run anything from small campaign or brochure sites, right through to complex applications for Fortune 500s and some of the largest media sites in the world. 

    When we build your website on Umbraco we create something unique, tailored just for you. Pages and administration areas are customised so there are no obsolete sections and no guesswork on where to put your content. Features such as the media library and the grid editor allow site editors to easily update and add content whenever they please.

    Don't let Umbraco fool you - although it can be used for small websites on a modest budget, it scales very well and is fully extendable. There is a wide range of plugins created by the community, and in addition Ignition Development can build custom modules to perform more complex tasks that play nicely with Umbraco, making this an excellent option for large websites and web applications that need something special.