At Pixo we have used a ton of different Concrete5 add-ons for our client's websites and this list is some of our favorites.  If you need help with add-on installation or if you just want to talk about any of the add-ons we have tried drop us a note. The following is our list of favorite add-ons: Concrete5 ecommerce (sometimes called CoreCommerce) Blog by ScottC (it powers this blog) Any SocialOp5 add-on Extended Form Page Ear Autonav Exclude Sub Pages Ecommerce Importer Simple Cast Parent Link jqZoom Image There are a number of other great add-ons out there but these are the ones that make the top of our list.  Which C5 add-ons are your favorites?  Please leave a comment below.

Pixo's Attribute Gate Concrete5 add-on is a unique tool for site owners that allows you to put content behind an inital registeration form page that a user only has to fill out once in order to view the content.  After the form is filled out the user is cookied and they are able to view the content on subsequent visits without having to login each time they go to your site. This unique add-on allows you to capture information from your users without making them have to login each site visit.  Captured information from the registration page is stored in a new, unique area of the Dashboard that is both sortable, searchable and can be exported to Excel.  To learn more about Attribute Gate and learn how it might fit for your Concrete5 website visit our Contact page.

Very handy little blog post on Concrete5 code from Weblicating...http://www.weblicating.com/c5/cheat-sheet

We've gathered some of our favorite Concrete5 training videos into one place so that you can brush up on your C5 skills or learn more about the Concrete5 content management system.  Learn how to add and edit pages in Concrete5 along with creating forms, adding products into ecommerce and using page properties to change pages.  Visit our Concrete5 Training videos page to view all videos.  Let us know if you have any questions!

The following little code is a handy way to create a new attribute type in Concrete5 that becomes a link.  We used this code to create an attribute that we called Website for a client that wanted a  linking URL to their retailers website include on their Product Detail pages.  Enjoy! First create the following folders: /models/attribute/types/text_linkThen in the text_link folder create a new controller.php file with this code: getValue().">view site"; } } ?> That would be a system-wide attribute type that should be available to install in dashboard > sitewide settings > attributes.create the folder: /models/attribute/types/text_link

The following is a handy little script to use if you need to delete a bunch of Concrete5 product pages and products from your ecommerce website.  It is particularly handy if you had a bad data import or need to redo your ecommerce products. The first thing that you need to do is create a tools page: [site_root]/tools/product_bulk_delete.phpwith this content: deleteProductCollection(); // delete the page $res = $pr->delete(); // delete the actual product echo $pID . " deleted
\n"; } echo "done"; exit; ?> The populate the $product_ids = array() with ids or an id range from the CoreCommerceProducts table for the products you'd like to delete and then this will remove all the products and their pages.  Please be careful with this script because once you delete everything you can't get it back.  After completing the buld delete your should remove or comment out the file from your server.

Are you setting up a new ecommerce website using Concrete5 and are dreading adding a ton of products one by one through the Dashboard?  Adding a buch of users to your website?  Or do you need to add a bunch of new pages that you have in a spreadsheet and you don't want to do the copy and paste thing?  Contact Pixo!  We can bulk import your products, users and pages for you to your website. If you can provide us a spreadsheet of data we can import that data into your website and save your hours or even days worth of time.

The famous Kish doll company (www.kishandcompany.com) found that they had the need to move from their Flash based website to a platform that would allow them to make edits and add new dolls to their website through an easy to use interface.  Pixo utilized the Concrete5 ecommerce add-on to create an online catalog of dolls that are segmented utilizing product attributes to create a robust website with search tools that allow users to find dolls and retailers through an easy to navigate website. What we did is turned off the add to cart buttons within the ecommerce to create the catalog.  That is easy to do with Concrete5.  We then add both the dolls and the retailers and segmented them using product attributes to create both the doll catalogs and the retailer directory.  Doing it this way allows Kish to easily add new items to both sections of the website and allows users to use the sorting tools to find the dolls and retailers they are looking for both quick and easy. One challenge that we ran into with the retailers is that we need a product attribute for the retailer's website that was not a link.  No problem.  We created a custom attribute that uses the website address as the linking address automatically so that Kish can add new retailers without any technical knowledge to their website.

He are happy to announce the launch of the Trust Hall website (www.trusthall.com) utilizing the Concrete5 content management system.  Trust Hall saw the need to be able to react to market needs and approached Pixo about redesigning their website.  Pixo's solution:  a custom website design with the Concrete5 platform to all Trust Hall to add and edit website pages and interacte with their insurance customers customers through their website. To learn more about Concrete5 to find out more about Pixo's website design services click here.

The Concrete5 theme system allows for you to add templates to your website and change templates (what Concrete5 calls themes) on the fly.  Within the design of your theme you can define editable areas that you want to add content or other functionality to such as ecommerce, maps, forms or videos. Pixo Web Design & Strategy are experts in creating Concrete5 custom themes.  We can create a design for you or apply a template that you already have to any Concrete5 website.  Our services are very affordable.  We can also consult you and help you build a website design strategy that can help users easily navigation your website and drive business. Feel free to contact a Pixo representative to get a free consultation on your Concrete5 custom template design.