Rogue Interactive Blog

Rogue Interactive relaunch new car leasing website

2011-03-11T15:44:00.003Z

Rogue were tasked to create an SEO efficient site for Luna Lease, a business and personal contract hire and car leasing company in Kent - to help them stand out from the crowded online car leasing market.

We redesigned and re-branded the company as well as creating a modular website capable of delivering super-fast results from URL addressing, utlising vehicles’ make, model and details plus an efficient search system allowing customers to locate their vehicle of choice by price, value and carbon levels. Luna Lease can now add homepage specials, display their best business and personal deals by make and model and feed 3rd party leasing portals with their best leasing offers.

Soon after launch the client reported a massive increase in website traffic and enquiries, and this is only set to increase further as more of the search engines discover the new website.

Visit www.lunalease.co.uk

kmfm extra - launch new digital brand

2011-01-27T20:16:00.002Z

Rogue Interactive worked closely with kmfm, a Kent based radio station, to re-launch their DAB Digital service - kmfm Extra at 7.00am on the 27th January 2011.

Given only a few days to design an online brand with only a colour reference and a logo, we created a young, funky and in-your-face design which met the brief perfectly.

The kmfm extra website was one of a series of 7 websites within the Core3 content management system, and it was an easy job to re-style and integrate the new design into the existing framework.

The new website had a strong social networking focus, so we installed the Meebo bar, allowing direct access to their Facebook page and fans, as well as their Twitter feed and tools for their listeners to chat via Facebook, AIM and others without navigating away from the new website.

The client is over the moon with the new design and all of us at Rogue wish them every success with their new venture, you can visit the website and listen online at http://www.kmfmextra.co.uk.

Kent School Closures

2010-12-22T10:27:00.002Z

The KM Group, have for several years, provided a service to the people and schools of Kent in the form of their School Closure system. Rogue Interactive we’re asked to further develop the concept with a potential return on investment through both localised sponsorship opportunities and premium rate messaging through SMS technology.

We develop a standalone system that can be either a website in its own right, or plug-in to the KM Group’s KentOnline website or their group of KMFM websites. The system uses the latest in Javascript / ajax technology to provide instant searching, live Googlemap updates and an account management system for both parents and schools.

For Parents

Parents can register for updates for any of their chosen schools by registering with Kent School Closures. They have the choice of a FREE email update which is broadcast every time one of their chosen schools updates their status, or they can opt for one of two SMS/Text message services. The first is a pre-payment service for parents to purchase credit upfront via our Secure Trading payment gateway. The second is a reverse bill system, where parents are charged a fee to their mobile phone when a SMS message is received. Both services are integrated into the PIRI messaging platform.

For Schools

Schools, once registered for the free service, can update their status by logging into the system. They have the option of OPEN or CLOSED with a message that will be sent via email, SMS or both to registered parents. They can also add staff members so that chosen teachers can update the school status. The mobile phone number of the school administrator and registered teachers is also stored to allow them to update their school status via a simple text message and not require an internet connection or PC.

For the DJ’s

We have also developed an application (Mac OSX and Windows PC) for kmfm’s DJ’s which sits on their desktops while they are on-air. The application chronologically collects a feed for their region/station and displays the school updates as they come in, rather than waiting for teachers to phone in or send them emails to notify them.

View the School Closure System at: http://www.kentschoolclosures.co.uk

Adoptaword.com - a complete makeover

2010-12-07T15:54:00.002Z

Rogue Interactive developed the original Adopt a Word website two years ago
with Remedy Creative, a design agency based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent
for I CAN the Childrens Charity and we’ve just given it a makeover.

Recently launched, the brand new adoptaword.com is a showcase for current
technologies. The site has been redesigned with a fresh new look and feel to
align with the design of the new I CAN website, which is launching in January
2011.

Rebuilt from the ground-up, we stripped away most of the Flash content making
it even more accessible, which was a requirement from the client. We’ve
added new sections and navigation, streamlined the search and thesaurus functions
and introduced an SEO friendly blog and twitter feed. We have also substantially
upgraded the hosting for the site on a powerful cloud server,
ensuring higher resilience, faster access and maximum flexibility which will
comfortably cope with the high demands made on this site when certain celebrities
decide to tweet to their hundreds of thousands of followers.

The site features a revised and improved Wordiverse, built with Flash technology,
allowing for users to visually search through a universe of words to find a
word to adopt. The rest if the website is built using HTML, CSS and Javascript
and is both W3C XHTML compliant and CSS compliant, and every effort has been
made to ensure that it meets WAI acessibility compliance levels.

Visit www.adoptaword.com to take a look, or maybe even adopt a word
for Christmas.

Polygon Group – embrace Core3 globally

2010-11-30T09:52:00.004Z

Polygon, formerly Munters MCS have recently re-built their global network of websites within Rogue Interactive’s Core3 content management system in conjunction with their creative agency Realia, based in Folkestone, Kent.

Core3 was recently upgraded to feature CK Editor, a multi-lingual HTML editor as well as having specific be-spoke systems written for Polygon‘s display and multi-lingual requirements. Their Core3 system features the ability to completely duplicate an entire website which has been invaluable in creating all of the country site versions within a very tight deadline – we’re currently considering adding this as a Core3 feature in the next round of Core3 upgrades for our customers.

The new group of websites, currently consists of 19 separate sites, in over 12 different languages, all running within one Core3 system, and will be expanding very soon to feature other countries / languages and multiple brand micro-sites.

There are plans in place to develop a complete intranet framework within their Core3 system to manage wordwide, internal HR and communication functions.

You can view the Polygon Group global website at: www.polygongroup.com

A selection of other Polygon Group country sites can be viewed at:

Kent Motors – super fast and slick used car search engine

2010-11-08T20:30:00.008Z

KentMotors.co.uk has had a complete re-build from the ground up within Rogue Interactive’s Core3 Content Management System.

KentMotors.co.uk features the new horizontal navigation system which was upgraded for its sister website kmfm, both of which are apart of the Kent Messenger group.

The new used car search engine allows customers to search by brand, model, price and distance from their postcode as well as offering searches for pre-set criteria’s such as all cars under £2K and £5K.

There is an advanced search system that automatically filters the results by seller type, fuel, colour, age, mileage and transmission type.

You can save multiple search profiles for one-click searching, with the added benefit of setting one of your profiles as an automated email alert, sending you your top 20 car results, straight to your inbox.

The used car search results are displayed immediately due to a clever use of flash and javascript, and can be sorted instantly by distance and price. There is also an option to show all vehicles available by dealer.

Customers can place their own car adverts online, with the payment gateway provided by Rogue’s partner Secure Trading. Up to ten images of their vehicle can be uploaded into an advert and featured for 2 weeks, for £9.99.

There are nearly 20,000 used cars available on Kent Motors, featuring dealerships from around Kent and neighbouring counties – and this number is growing everyday!

Visit the website at www.kentmotors.co.uk

kmfm goes Core3

2010-11-03T16:49:00.002Z

kmfm the Kent based radio group with 7 local radio station has recently upgraded their Core2 website to a fresh new Core3 system.

The websites went through a complete design overhaul bringing the branding inline with the Kent Messenger’s “KentOnline” brand. Most of the original functionality from the website was easily ported into Core3 which included:

Show scheduling at station level
DJ’s and Shows systems including an upgrade for DJ’s to have their own blogs
Competitions and promotions system
Bulletin boards / notice boards
News Feeds for both county wide and local into Core3’s new system
Audio Streaming and Now Playing systems
and much more…

Core3 also had a few upgrades along the way; a new horizontal navigation option, new audio/mp3 player, upgrade from FCK to CK Editor plus Core3’s new Image Editor.

Visit kmfm’s new websites at www.kmfm.co.uk

Core3 Image Editor

2010-11-02T10:08:00.003Z

The Editor is an advanced plug-in for CK Editor, the industry standard HTML editing system that you will now find in Rogue Interactive’s Core3 Content Management System.

Core3 Image Editor will not only allow you to upload images but you can now perform file management operations such as rename files, move files, delete files and create folders. The folder view function allows you to quickly view thumbnail images of the image files on your server. The image editing system has some powerful features from cropping, rotating and scaling to adjusting the brightness, hue and saturation of your images. Please read the user guide for further information and instructions.

Image Manipulation Toolset

Core3 Image Editor allows you to both upload and manage your files, but also gives you the ability to edit your images.

The toolset available includes:

Brightness - either by seperate channels or in full.
Contrast - sharpen up your image
Hue - adjust the colour range position
Saturation - de-saturate to black and white or over saturate for rich colours
Scale - reduce or enlarge your image
Crop - select a specific area of your image to use
Rotation - adjust the rotation of your image within the crop bounds
Colour Overlay - select a colour to overlay your image and adjust its opacity
Colour Underlay - select a colour background to overlay your image upon, with image opacity control

Our image image editor is available in both our Core3 system and within bespoke content management systems we produce for our clients.

For a full user guide, click here: http://www.rogueinteractive.net/image_editor_guide/

Core3 gets a facelift

2010-11-02T10:02:00.006Z

Core3 Content Management System has utilized the industry standard FCK HTML Editor and Image Upload and Management Tools for some years now. With the advent of new browsers and web standards FCK editor has been surpassed by CK Editor, a new, more compliant editor.

Here’s what CK Editor say about their system:

FCKeditor has been around for more than six years. Since 2003 it has built a strong user community becoming the most used editor in the market, accumulating more than 3,5 million downloads. In 2009, we decided to rename the editor, bringing to light the next generation of our software: CKEditor 3.0.

CKEditor inherits the quality and strong features people were used to find in FCKeditor, in a much more modern product, added by dozens of new benefits, like accessibility and ultimate performance.

Our CKEditor is not only functional, flexible and fast but also innovative, smart and user friendly. Our new version is based in many cases on your opinions and suggestions. Therefore the new CKEditor version 3.0 is a milestone better than the older one.

Accessibility

Accessibility is a key aspect of CKEditor. It's compatible with well known screenreaders like JAWS. It's throughly navigable with the keyboard. It features also unique high contrast support.

Compatibility

It is also compatible with most Internet browsers and operating systems, including Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+, Google Chrome and Opera 9.5+

Performance

CKEditor has been designed and developed with high performance in mind. The editor loads extremely fast and its features run even faster. It is a pleasant user’s experience.

Professionalism

The editor is maintained by a team of professionals focused on creating high quality software and providing high level services. Our team is certainly our unbeatable asset.

For further information and features, take a look at http://ckeditor.com/end-user-features

Plan8 Music Website

2010-05-05T12:44:00.013Z

London based, Plan8 Music, are an independent music production company. They specialise in the production of soundtracks for organisations such as the BBC, Sky, Channel Five, CNN and Nickeldeon to name but a few, utilising their own in-house music talent as well as promoting and featuring independent writers.

Rogue Interactive Ltd were approached and appointed to design and build a unique, intuitive and user friendly web based application that could manage their diverse range of music.

The system we delivered consisted of the following elements:

• Advanced administration area for track assignment and category management

• CMS system for managing website visual content

• AJAX based system for navigating through genres, albums, composers, moods with instant results updated in real-time.

• Super-fast keyword search system

• Previewed and Project "light-box" style system to help users manage their searches and files

• Instant audio playback or download of samples and full tracks in mp3 or WAV format.

Visit the new Plan8 website at http://www.plan8music.com

This blog has moved

2010-04-28T07:09:00.001Z

This blog is now located at http://rogueinteractive.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://rogueinteractive.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Heritage Special Events - a unique solution for a unique brief

2010-01-07T13:47:00.006Z

Visit the Heritage Special Events website - http://www.heritage-events.co.uk

We were asked to not only build a online e-commerce ticketing solution for their forthcoming events, but create a secure e-ticketing system allowing for customers to purchase and download their event tickets online in the form a printable PDF file. For the system to work, each ticket was required to have a unique identifier, in this case a barcode, plus the users details would be printed on ticket.

Redemption

We were then asked to create a system to redeem tickets at the event gates. The problem we faced was that each event was in varying locations, with multiple entrance points in potentially varied weather conditions, so a wi-fi network / microwave link was out of the question. Our solution was to create an online redemption interface and utilise the GPS (2G/3G) networks. We helped source multiple, industrial handheld PDA’s with both GPS connection and a built in laser barcode scanner.

The secure redemption system would scan the barcode and automatically cross reference online and update the ticket status with full telemetry. This online system would highlight potentially forgeries and copies and only allow one person into the event with that specific ticket, even if the attempt was made at multiple entrances.

A backup system

Our next challenge was a backup system, in case the mobile network failed. We first developed an offline application which downloaded the data sets from the online database, and allowed the events team to lookup using the barcode, email address or ticket ID as a reference and subsequently redeem their ticket. The data set created can then be uploaded to the online database which would update the telemetry for each ticket. To speed up this process, we were then asked to upgrade this system to integrate a barcode scanner into our offline application.

Seating

Heritage Special Events were so impressed with the web site, e-commerce and redemption system that they asked us to provide a solution to manage event seating.

We created an desktop application which allowed them to create new seating plans, allowing for specific rows, columns and walkways. The system had direct access to the online database and would, via a drag and drop system, seat customers and group bookings. We also developed a ticket printing system, which would update the online database with the seat reference position and the printable ticket with the seat number.

Our next challenge was to try and automate this system, so for version 2, we created an automated seating system which upon request would automatically seat unplaced customers, sitting all groups together without splitting across walkways and would find any potential gaps and seat smaller groups.

A few words of thanks from heritage Special Events

Dear Peter

We would like to thank you and your team for all your hard work and producing us a fantastic web site, that far exceeds our expectations.

Our initial design and concept for the site, was to produce an automatic ticketing / e-ticketing for our events business. The tickets would then be scanned on entry to our events, which then provides a complete secure entry solution. The site being built from scratch carries out some complex tasks without our customers knowing what’s going on behind the scenes. Our customers only need make some simple choices to select the products they require, then a very simple process for payment.

We have moved the goal posts several times to make more of our tasks automated. This includes a complete seating system and a barcode scanning application for our PDA scanners, which makes our job so much easier.

All of the work has been undertaken within your time estimates and at a very reasonable price.

We would have no hesitation in recommending Rogue Interactive to anyone who needs anything from a basic website to a complex bespoke system.

Once again thanks for everything you have done for us.

Kind regards

Jon Wright
Heritage Special Events Ltd

Wordiverse - adoptaword.com

2009-10-27T23:26:00.004Z

Rogue Interactive were asked to create a system to display a universe of words. The words consisted of the 64,000 words within the English language, highlighting by colour key, both words available for adoption and previously adopted words by businesses, celebrities and the public alike.

The ingenious system loads a random selection of a few thousands words at a time and enables the user to float around the wordiverse using their mouse to see words people have been adopting and to find a suitable word to adopt for themselves. The system also allows the user to view the word’s definition and discover the reason why adopted words were chosen.

The wordiverse system should help I CAN’s adoptaword website, which was developed by Rogue Interactive in 2008, continue its success into 2010 by introducing a fun, dynamic and engaging way of searching through the English language.

NEW - Core3 Messenger

2009-09-04T10:31:00.004Z

Core3 customers can now benefit from our most recent upgrade, Core3 Messenger.

A standalone desktop application for both PC and Mac operating systems, linked directly to your Core3 system, allowing for secure messaging between staff members within your organisation using one unified internally managed system.

feature set includes: text based messaging, file transfers, staff favourites list, online staff and new message notifications, group messaging, read receipts, quick links to recent conversations, access to historical conversations.

Find out more or download the installer now.
Core1&2 customers, contact us to arrange a bespoke installation.

New Core3 solution for children's charity in Kent, The Caldecott Foundation

2009-09-03T08:08:00.005Z

Rogue Interactive are honoured to launch the new website of The Caldecott Foundation utilising their Core3 content management system.

The Caldecott Foundation’s new website provides invaluable resources for social workers looking to place a child in their care or a support worker looking for help as well as providing information to the general public and businesses on how they can help with regular donations or fund raising events.

The new website is full of information some of which includes:

Latest news and features
Extensive details on all of their residential care homes
Fostering information
How you can help with fund raising and donations
Social and corporate events
Staff recruitment section

Visit the new website at: http://www.thecaldecottfoundation.co.uk

Core3 video tutorials - Staff Access Groups

2009-05-17T05:57:00.003Z

The video tutorial on Staff Access Groups has been added to our list of online tutorials as can be watched from here

Kent Cricket Club launch new Core3 website

2009-03-03T15:06:00.004Z

Rogue Interactive have proudly launched the new Kent County Cricket Club website utilising their Core3 content management system.

Kent County Cricket Club have worked with Rogue Interactive for 3 generations of websites, the previous version being a Core2 product which has served the club well for some 3 years.

The new website features many of the previous systems and has some new ones as well:

Current and former player statstics, archive and blogging
Fixtures with full details, compettion tables and online ticket purchasing
League Tables widgets for displaying up to date competition results
Audio player, Video player, Social Networking, Page Printing, Page Emailing and RSS widget
Online shopping area for tickets, events, membership and merchandise
Latest club news, supporters news and Sky sports cricket feed
A new self-contained online forum
Banner management system
Calendar events system
Integrated weather forecast system - COMING SOON
and much more...

Visit the new website at: http://www.kent-ccc.co.uk

A few kind words of appreciation...

I have been working with Rogue for around 5-6 years and the website we launched last week was the 3rd developed on our behalf by the company.

The previous two websites have generated over £900,000 in online income and I expect the new site to substantially improve on this. The new site has resulted in almost 100 congratulatory letters and e mail - with only one e mail expressing a preference for the old site.

As the administrator of the new site I have nothing but praise for the Core3 system which gives me virtually total control over the content of the site. I am able to provide our supporters with a far superior website, with far greater depth and numerous additional features and I am able to do this in a fraction of the time it took me to administer the previous sites.

To sum up: I have no hesitation in commending both Rogue Interactive and Core3 to you and it has been a pleasure and delight to work with Peter Blay and Gary Burfield-Wallis these past few years.

Jon Fordham FCIB
Director of Operations, Kent County Cricket Club

3D Virtual Exhibition System

2009-01-08T09:53:00.002Z

Rogue Interactive has recently completed the design and development of a 3D virtual exhibition system for The CN Group to allow their group of radio stations to create virtual online exhibitions.

The mainly flash based system allows CN Group to set up and run multiple exhibitions within a 3D virtual environment and have full control over the setup and running of the exhibitions.

The functionality includes:
- Create multiple exhibitions and landing pages
- Assign up to 30 stands to each exhibition at specific locations
- Create 3D stands by uploading flat artwork for each panel
- Upload video and audio files for users to view and interact with
- Upload full client details, descriptions and product listings with links
- Choose between a male or female 3D avatar

View the 3D introductory animation created for the system by visiting our featured work area.

Adopt a Word from I CAN, a new interactive website developed by Rogue Interactive

2008-10-29T18:15:00.002Z

Rogue Interactive Ltd are proud to have been the chosen developers for the UK national children’s charity I CAN’s latest online project in conjunction with Remedy Creative, their design agency based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

The new website www.adoptaword.com has been developed to help raise money for I CAN by selling words from the English language, which have been generously supplied by Collins Language.com. The words are a perfect self-indulgent purchase or a great gift for Christmas or birthdays and can be purchased with a gift pack / certificate and with other merchandise such as t-shirts or mugs with their unique word printed on them.

The website has many features including:
- word definitions and meanings
- thesaurus for alternative suggestions
- comments blog for users to comment about words
- celebrity adoptions
- corporate adoptions
- media stories area
- recent adoptions widget
- word category selection widget
- category pricing for premium words
- online order processing system
- profanity checking and administration alerts system
- integrated into Secure Trading payment gateway
- W3C, CSS and WAI compliance

We wish I CAN every success with this fund raising venture and look forward to working with them again on other exciting projects.

Rogue lauch new app for Facebook

2008-09-22T18:37:00.001Z

View your Facebook Albums with Image Flip - a cover flow style application for quickly navigating through your albums and photos.

You can also view friends photo albums using Image Flip if they have subscribed to this service.

Click here to add Image Flip to your Facebook profile

Slideshow Edit Pro

2008-09-16T11:26:00.003Z

A Major Core3 Upgrade has just been launched and allows site adnimistrators to create a totally new kind of image gallery to complement their image flip, transitions and picture pop galleries within their Core3 system.

The slide show system is a fully featured still-image video editor, allowing users to animate their images over a 30 second clip to an audio track.

The features include:

3 Caption Layers with customised text allowing for size, alignment, opacity and colour as well as animatable atributes: x/y position, rotation and scale.
10 Image Layers with master opacity and swap-image as well as animatable atributes: x/y position, rotation and scale.
Upload and set a 30 second mp3 audio track as background music to your clip with the new audio upload Core3 upgrade*
Layer Controls: adjust start point, fade in duration, clip duration and fade out duration.
Overlay Layers using fade in/out and opacity controls to create animated image montages.
Use within a Core3 gallery or select the share option which generate standalone HTML embedding code to place your Slideshow Edit Pro galleres within different areas of your site or on other peoples websites.

*Audio upload system also comes with a code generator for use as standalone mp3 audio player within your html/wysiwyg content pages.

Online business and advertising set to soar

2008-08-27T06:48:00.006Z

The online business world and online advertising is well an truly on the launch pad now and all set to really take off in a big way.

You may have thought that it was already flying in a big way, but lets consider a couple of recent announcements from statistical companies and analysts.

Today BBC news announced that the The Office for National Statistics said that two-thirds of UK homes were now online, which is almost 16.5 million households, an increase of 1.2 million since 2007.

According to all the analysts online advertising spend is all set to overtake that of television next year. There is also a lot of chatter about how print sales are falling and how many of the big companies are doing more with web based campaigns and pay per click advertising and not going for the more traditional large spend campaigns that they were.

It certainly appears that the credit crunch is going to be good for the web and online businesses and our advice is that right now you should be looking very closely at what you are currently doing with your web site and what should be done to bring it up to scratch. Whilst the credit crunch is good news for your online offering don't get complacent, it won't take long for lots of new e-commerce and promotional sites to spring up as the credit crunch starts to put the squeeze on bricks and mortar only firms.

If you wish to know more or would like to discuss the issues raised in this blog please feel free to contact us.

CN Radio Group, Core3 sites launched

2008-08-26T14:43:00.004Z

CN Radio Group, a part of the national CN Media Group approached Rogue Interactive to help develop a fully content managed solution for their online presence.

CN Radio Group currently have 9 individual radio stations across the UK and Ireland.

We recommended our Core3 CMS for the job, as it already had 75% of the tools/ functions required as well as being able to manage a multi-site environment allowing all of the station website to share content areas if they wish to.

On top of the comprehensive tool set that came installed with Core3, we have developed bespoke tools for their Core3 CMS which include:

• Presenters profiles and blogging system

• Station Show Scheduler

• Integration into 3rd party news systems

• Integrating into RCS system for individual playing now function.

• Promotions and Competition system

• Online payment system

• Business Directory System

• Voucher System

Rogue re-branding with Core3

2008-07-07T12:50:00.005Z

Rogue Interactive has given itself a complete design overhaul!

We have refreshed the logo, colour scheme and design... deciding to practice what we preach by re-building our website completely within our Core3 CMS; utilising the tools and functions available within Core3 to create HTML pages, galleries, news categories and so on.

Have a good look around... we hope it gives you an insight into what Rogue can do, and how your business can potentially utilise our Core3 CMS and other offerings and services from Rogue.

Simple but powerful tool added to Core3

2008-06-25T20:26:00.007Z

E-communicate is a simple tool added to Core3 to allow visitors to your site to sign up to a mailing list that you can use to communicate with them, quickly and simply.

Its a fully featured mailing system that confirms your customers email address and confirms they want to join the list before any mails are received.

Any emails sent out by you will also have an opt out link attached to the bottom of the mails that allows them to easily opt out of any further emails.

All the display pages and confirmation emails are fully customisable so can be used to tell your customers about site updates or product news or any thing else important to you and your customers.

Core3 gets first series of updates

2008-06-01T19:42:00.003Z

Core3 clients will be glad to hear that the first set of Core3 updates has been successfully rolled out to their CMS. These updates include:

1) Press Office / News - User Comments System

Stories / articles within the news/press area can now have comments switched on or off. Switching comments on will enable readers to give feedback and interact with the story administrator who intern will be informed by email of a new post. Posts need approval by the administrator before they are set live. Comments appear in chronological order beneath the news story in-line with the new comments form.

2) Press Office / News - User Poll System

You can now attached a user/customer poll to news items/article which can be switched on and off by the story administrator. A poll consists of a simple question and multiple answers. Users can select an answer, which will
then display the current poll results. Cookies are used to remember the user has answered that question and will not knowingly ask them again. The poll system will appear as standard to the right of the comments system, below
the news story. You can move the positioning of this system within your CSS as well as changing any styles / formatting to suit your site.

3) News Area Administration

The current news management system has always allowed for multiple news categories, but has only allowed for one to be chosen as the homepage news system.

To display further news areas, i.e. Latest News, Movie News, Music News etc, can now be done with the news area upgrade. News categories can now be assigned to navigation items (as is currently done with galleries, downloads
and other functions) with their own news listing, display page and search tool.

This upgrade has opened up the news display and archiving system allowing whole sections of a website to be managed with images, music, audio and downloads within their own self contained area without additional coding or functional changes.

4) Banner System

We have upgraded the banner management tool to allow for a third banner. The third banner is set as a right hand skyscrapper utlising the internal GIF / URL feature or 3rd party inline code feature as before.

This banner is set up within the main template and CSS as #rightinfo and #skyholder which are both currently set not to display. You can amend your core design to allow for a third banner placement area (known as Skyscrapper
within the administration area) and styled to display the banner where you would like it placed.

5) Support Ticket System

We have upgraded the Core3 system with its own built-in support ticket system. The master administrator can access the system within their administration navigation.

The support ticket system allows a Core3 administrator to report bugs, ask questions and request amends through a fully tracked ticketing system, which will also sends ticket status updates via email. Documents and images
/ screenshots can be uploaded within a request, keeping all relevant information together.

If you have any queries or questions about our recent upgrades, please contact us by telephone, email or for current Core3 clients (and a large percentage of Core2 clients), through the support ticket system.

We hope you enjoy the upgrades.

The Rogue Core3 Team.

Best of both worlds when it comes to SPAM

2008-04-05T09:15:00.010Z

Do you spend way too much time deleting unwanted junk mail from your inbox or do you sometimes miss important emails and never receive that confirmation email you are waiting for after signing up for a service on the web somewhere?

Problem is you can't have it both ways. Either you have junk mail getting through that shouldn't or mails that should don't. Well that has all changed with spamarrest.

The principle is really quite simple. Watch the animated demo below and you will see what I mean.

Stop Spam In Just A Few Minutes

When you visit Spam Arrest and sign up for their service, you will be given your own @spamarrest.com email address. In order to protect the inboxes of any of your existing email accounts you can do one of the following two things. You can simply forward mail to those accounts to your Spam Arrest email address. Or you can arrange to have Spam Arrest periodically poll those accounts.

All of your valid non-spam-tagged email will be placed into your Spam Arrest inbox. You can then access those messages using either the POP3 or IMAP methods which are available in your email program (e.g. Outlook or Eudora). Alternatively, you can use your web browser and read your mail by logging into the Spam Arrest webmail system.

Configure Your Pre-Approved Spam Arrest Senders

With Spam Arrest You'll find that you can easily pre-configure your account to allow certain known users to send mail to you. That way, they are never challenged

You can do this by authorising specific email addresses, domains, and even entire mailing lists. This can either be done manually, or you can elect to use Spam Arrest's easy-to-use import tools.

Spam Arrest also provides you with convenient disposable email sub-addresses. These will allow you to accept messages from unknown senders and automated systems without at the same time exposing your real email address.

Eliminate Spam By Human Verification

Spam Arrest works because it uses Challenge/Response technology to block the spam. Emails sent from unrecognised sources will automatically be sent a response message that requests a human verify the source of the message.

Spammers cannot get around this one very critical step. When the, as yet unknown, sender clicks on the link contained in the Spam Arrest request email, they will be taken to a web page where they are "challenged" to type in a word that is hidden within either a graphic or an audio file (in case the user should be visually-impaired). Once the sender has successfully completed their "response", their email message is forwarded to your inbox, and they are then added to your authorized sender list so that you can received their future messages.

The challenge/response process is very easy for people to deal with, but impossible for automated systems to deal with. Spambots cannot circumvent this technology.

Full Access To Unapproved Email Messages

Any emails that are sent from unauthorized senders will be held in your Spam Arrest "unverified" folder for 7 days.

You can access these "zombied" emails when you need to by logging into the Spam Arrest website. You can then manually approve any senders from whom you wish to receive further email.

If you are still not sure whether Spam Arrest is right for you, you can try it absolutely free for 30-days. Subscription cost is just a few pounds per month for spam free sanity. And if you are unsatisfied, you can simply cancel your subscription at any time.

Start your free Spam Arrest trial today

Core 3 Launched!

2008-03-11T15:35:00.001Z

After much anticipation from some of Rogue Interactive’s expectant clients… and blood, sweat and tears by the Rogue Team over the past few months, we are very proud to announce the launch of Core 3.

The Core CMS system has been in development from its first incarnation some 5 years ago to the launch of version 3 this year. Many of Rogue’s past and current clients are still benefiting from and using the base CMS as the hub of their online and intranet toolsets. The Core1 and Core2 CMS currently run multi-site systems for clients such as Leeds Castle, GSE Group, English Heritage Buildings, Caldecott Foundation, KMFM Radio Group, KMFM Bands, Kent Cricket Club, Bennet Opie, ASE Solutions and most recently the KM Motoring portal which inspired many of the new toolsets within Core3.

The Core3 system is the biggest step forward in full content management for our clients, catering for both clients with little to no experience, to the more seasoned developer who can utilize the comprehensive development and customization tools.

Rogue Interactive will firmly position itself as a development partner, helping both clients who need assistance in managing their site setup and content population, through to clients requiring specific tools and functionality uniquely built into their Core3 system.

System Architecture

Linux System running Apache, MySQL V5.0, PHP V5.2, HTML 4.0, XML, JAVA applets, Flash player V8 or higher

Core3 Compliance

The base Core3 system is W3C HTML4.0 compliant and CSS compliant. Due to the nature of CMS adaptability, we cannot guarantee that after a client has populated a site with their own HTML content and images, that it will still pass the validation tests.

We endeavour to meet the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Content Accessibility Guidelines set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and we aim, wherever possible, to ensure we conform to 'Double-A' standards. We intend to keep improving our accessibility tools, but can only offer our client the tools to help them make their content accessible, for example, complete control over navigation tab indexing and access key shortcuts as well as the more basic meta data and title tagging for all images and links. Correct use of heading (h1,h2 etc) styles for content importance is purely at the clients discretion.

Security

Over the various versions of the core we have learnt many lessons over security. Core3 is by far our most secure and advanced yet. Below are just a few of these security features.

Every user is uniquely tracked through multiple sessions
Link sharing is fully catered for by reverse detection and session modification.
Session strings are encrypted
Restricted menus are hidden from view
Every page has access checking server side

Granular access and administration

Each Core3 system comes complete with a full staff administration and access level system for overall and sub website control and setup. Each sub-site has administrative access for control over all functionality relating to its specific toolsets and content control. Content Sharing is available within specific systems, allowing news categories, calendars and so on to be shared across different sub sites if required.

Navigation Setup

Create navigation items and assign to root or to any other item to create sub navigation
Apply pages, templates, directories, galleries, download categories or links to navigation items
Set access levels for user access to specific items or sub navigation folders
Set access keys for accessibility options - Set Live or Demo (On or Off) to quickly rollout or turnoff content

Homepage Manager

Optional homepage manager for basic homepage setup
Control news display listings and news archive search options
Control events calendar and customisation options
HTML / WYSIWYG editor for main homepage content

Templated Pages

Choose from one of 5 pre templated pages
Place text and upload images (auto resized) to create basic web pages
Assign pages as navigation items
No training or experience required to create and amend content

HTML Pages

Full HTML WYSIWYG inline editor (development experience is required)
Create multiple HTML page layouts
Assign pages as navigation items

Dynamic Pages

Optional override at Admin level to assign dynamic page content to navigation items, allowing for further site development by the Rogue team or other experienced developers.

Headers and Footers

Website header and footer control using HTML Editor at administrator level.
Optional override at Admin level to assign dynamic page content for expanded navigation or other dynamic based content.

Latest News System

Multiple news categories - HTML content entry using WYSIWYG editor
Story Image upload
MP3 audio player (optional)
FLV Video player (optional)
Document Downloads (optional)
News archive with keyword search system

Calendar Events System

Event data including title, address, description, dates, times etc.
Optional event image upload and display
Customisable listing generator for homepage events listing

Directory System

Database Constructor
Data input via user constructed forms
Data import and export in CSV format*
Display generator with customisable functions for sorting, indexing and paging options
Listing Image and document download enabled
HTML introduction header
Apply multiple directories as navigation items

Downloads System

Multiple download categories
Apply categories as navigation items
Create HTML headers for each category
Upload multiple file types with titles and descriptions

Photo Galleries

Image upload repository
Image titling and optional descriptions
Gallery category management
Choice of 3 gallery types, all with a maximum of 16 images Image Flip, Transitions and Picture Pop.

Site Search

Search accessible pages within group sites.
Search for keywords within Meta data – title, description and meta tags.

Banner Management

Assign banners at page level
Upload gif files or use 3rd party HTML code
Top and bottom banner placement options
Standard 468x60 banner spots with CSS editable containers

Image Maintenance

Upload images for use within your HTML / WYSIWYG based content
Image TAG generator to ease implementation

CSS Maintenance

Inline flash based CSS engine
View, amend, delete and edit full CSS classes at site level
Experience with CSS is required to use this tool to its full extent

Additional licensed tools included within your Core3 setup

HighSlide Java applet – used specifically for Picture Pop gallery system
FCK Editor – integrated as the in-line HTML editor.

Password protect your cash

2008-02-22T16:04:00.003Z

It's vital that you keep your computer protected by a password and don't leave financial web sites logged in when your not in front of it.

Whilst the story about a three year old's online shopping spree is quite amusing it does highlight the very serious point of how easy it is to help yourself to someone else's money.

It might be obvious for me to say that you should not leave your computer logged into such accounts at work but how many actually do? I would guess a large number of us, after all the coffee machine is just over there and I can trust the people I work with. Be warned though it takes a simple "Oh Bob can you just pop into my office for a moment" and we forget that we left our paypal account logged in.

And yes I do realise the story was about a little girl at home, but would you give every visitor to your house a big wedge of cash to look after for you????

Rogue go limited

2008-01-08T15:06:00.000Z

First off let me wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year.

For Rogue things are moving forward, as of the 1st January we have now fully incorporated the company and moved from LLP status to Ltd.

This decision was made as we are continuing to grow as a company and the change in status will enable this growth to continue with ease.

Day to day will not be any different and you can continue to expect the same excellent service we strive to provide to all our clients and yes I will be available at all hours to solve any technical issues as always.

This year promises to be an exciting year for us and our clients as online activity and sales continue to rise and with all those new people getting online with their new PCs they got for Christmas.

Congratulations Pete & Susan

2007-08-25T13:22:00.000Z

Yesterday, Rogue co-founder, Peter Blay and Susan Rousell were happily married at Tenderden in Kent.

Just as the blushing bride appeared with her father to walk down the red carpet the clouds parted and the sun shone on us all for the ceremony held in the beautiful grounds of the hotel and remained out for just long enough for the ceremony. It seems the sun truly does shine on the deserving and righteous.

The rest of us at Rogue would like to wish them both the very best for the future.

New team member

2007-06-12T17:43:00.000Z

Last week Carrie joined our team and has already settled in very well and made a great impression not only with us but also with our clients.

Carrie brings a good range of skills to the team with 8 Years experience in online and offline based technologies. Specialising in application development, e-commerce, CMS and SEO for a number of varied clients.

kmfm Launch

2007-05-27T21:29:00.000Z

Rogue have launched kmfm's new website tonight, having totally rebuilt their existing website.

kmfm are network of seven local radio stations across the county of Kent.

Welcome

2007-05-23T04:06:00.000Z

Welcome to the Rogue Interactive blog.

The team here at Rogue will be using this blog to write posts on a range of topics including:

Industry news thats relevant to our clients
Useful tips and tricks
Whats happening at Rogue
and Techy stuff for the coders out there.

We hope you will find this blog useful and please do leave comments about our posts here (good and bad).