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What is Responsive Web Design?

Technological innovations are happening faster than ever before, changing how and when consumers view the web. With many players in the market and the variety of products available, consumers are able to view web content in an almost unlimited amount of ways. Screen sizes and resolutions area always changing, so creating a website to target each change is not a practical solution. What is the solution? Responsive Web Design!

So what is Responsive Web Design?
Well… it’s a particular kind of web design which responds to the user’s device. Sites built using the Responsive Web Design (RWD) approach give the user the best viewing experience, from reading to navigation, across a wide range of devices.

It works by sending out “Media Queries” to judge a user’s device and then adjusts flexible images and fluid grids to fit it. This technique has become a popular web design trend because developers can now create just one site for the multiple numbers of devices and screens out there.

Any Future Use?
Seeing the present trends with tablet and smart phone purchases, this is the future of web design. As Ethan Marcotte, creator and author of Responsive Web Design explains, ”Now more than ever, we’re designing work meant to be viewed along a gradient of different experiences. Responsive web design offers us a way forward, finally allowing us to ‘design for the ebb and flow of things.’”

Check out the collection of responsive web design layouts here for some creative inspiration!

Meet SharePoint 2013!

SharePoint 2013 comes with improved business intelligence capabilities and data sharing, helping enhance business decision making to new levels. Here’s a few things we think users will like most about the new release.

Social Enterprise
The new SharePoint 2013 lets your employees stay connected within the organization. Its social capabilities include micro blogs, activity feeds, community sites, following, likes and reputations. You can not only follow people but also websites, documents and topics and receive updates in your activity stream. You can join in conversations with your colleagues and also find out what is trending within the workplace using hash tags. With community sites, knowledge can be shared using reputation scores, best replies and gifted badges.

An App Store Within
Microsoft has introduced an Apps Store model within SharePoint 2013. The App store now facilitates users with an easy discovery, purchase, and installation process. SharePoint apps can be easily obtained by the users, which helps reduce the number of new feature requests for IT Departments.

Simplified Document Management With SkyDrive
The addition of SkyDrive in SharePoint 2013, has helped reduce the complexity and number of clicks to perform tasks. Users can now drag, drop and edit content directly into document libraries through a SkyDrive link on their desktops.

Easy Task Management
With the integration of MS Project 2013 with SharePoint 2013 task lists, users can now see a timeline of tasks and due dates, add and remove subtasks, quick edit tasks and color code.

Simple Email Integration
SharePoint now introduces the Site Mailbox which creates an exchange inbox for a SharePoint site. Users can easily share SharePoint sites through their site mailbox with a click of a button. Documents and attachments can be dragged and dropped directly from email messages into the document library within the SharePoint site.

SharePoint 2013 Goes Mobile
With the increasing use of smartphones, Microsoft now makes it easy to access SharePoint from mobile devices. Users can choose between two views: a contemporary view for optimized mobile browser experience and a full-screen view for a full desktop view of a SharePoint site on a smartphone device.

Shredded Storage Saves Space
In the previous versions of SharePoint, for every version of the file saved, a complete copy of the document was saved too. But with shredded storage, only changes are stored in subsequent versions saving space and increasing the speed of document retrieval.

If you’re thinking about implementing SharePoint 2013 for the first time or upgrading from a previous version, give us a call or complete the contact form on the right. We can help you make the implementation a success!

We’ve gone mobile!

DLS Studios Mobile Site

We are excited to announce the release of a mobile compatible version of the DLS Studios website. Navigate to dlssoftwarestudios.com from your mobile device to use the mobile optimized site.

DLS Studios is committed to providing our clients with high quality software development services on time and within budget. We pride ourselves on our exceptional service, experience in software engineering and project management. You can now learn more about our services and contact us to discuss your project needs while on the go!

DLS Studios Team Event

Last week was the DLS Studios company outing. We booked a tour with the Chicago Brew Bus and thanks to Tim, our CEO – it was an all expense paid outing.

We toured Haymarket Brewery, Revolution and Moonshine.

Pondering the Selection at Revolution

The Bid-on-Equipment Crew

NOW Foods Team

I could go on and on about how great the breweries were but what really made the day fun, was the people I was with, my friends and workmates.

A big thanks to Chicago Brew Bus, the owner Kevin was super knowledgeable and a fun tour guide!

A big shout out to our CEO who helped us have a great time and made us feel appreciated!

For more pictures from the event, check out our Facebook Album!

Thank you Tim!

SharePoint Implementation Tips

I was given the task of rolling out SharePoint 2010 for our company. Our goals for the project included increasing productivity, streamlining our processes and increasing collaboration. Not a small job but I was fortunate to already have buy-in company wide before starting. Without this, a costly and unsuccessful project would have been in my future.

A few important things I learned from our SharePoint implementation.

Continue reading →

The Rise of Mobile Healthcare Management Tools

As a software development company, we are big believers that technology can be used to make life better. We automate and increase efficiency, we make information more accessible, and focus on the goal of saving time and money.

Our work spans across a variety of verticals. One industry that’s is certainly a hot topic not only in our office, but in society in general at the moment is Healthcare.

Check out this great infographic from AlliedHealthWorld that shows how the use of mobile and wireless devices is being used to improve health outcomes, healthcare services, and health research.

Courtesy of: Allied Health World