Is Gifteer a 2.0 web site ?

At Gifteer we’re all focused on the upcoming release. As always you’ll see a brand new design, but also several important changes to the ergonomy of the site. We’ve tried to take into account all the feedback we got and hope you’ll love the new release.

Because at Gifteer we’re a bunch of technology maniacs, the site is build exclusively on Ajax. A practical result is that Gifteer does not have pages! The only URL you see is www.gifteer.com. The first users quickly came to realize that the Next and Previous buttons of the browser were getting them out of the site. We found out that users definitely had to have these buttons, also we had designed the site so you did not really need them. Like Gmail, we simulated pages using a browsing history on the site. Having to introduce pages, even fake ones, was a heart-breaker for our CTO. It was a technical prowess, one that casual users do not see.

Today, for ergonomics purposes, we got rid of the last ajax animations on the site:  it was a no-brainer, since they were not adding any value functionally. The upcoming version now looks like good old web 1.0… but you know better!

Whether you like it or not, you are using a magnificient RIA application:  Riche Interface Application. Gifteer is no regular site, but a true application running on your browser. As of today we could even make it a off-line application capable of running without an internet connection. So that brings us to the question:  how do you know you’re looking at a web 2.0 site?  There is a debate within the Gifteer team about this!

The 2.0 fans will recognize in Gifteer the main attributes of a true web 2.0 site:  you don’t need to reload the page when you click around, and the site is super fast. We’re only loading the actual component you really need. For example, when you grand a wish, we only modify the necessary areas on the page. But if you don’t pay attention, you won’t even see it.

So yes, you are looking at a great technical feat, a true web 2.0 site!  You may have guessed that we are giving thumbs up to our CTO to keep him upbeat!  So don’t hesitate to let him know how much you like all this behind-the-scene technology!

Migrating to Wordpress 2.7

Done!  Last night we decided to give Wordpress 2.7 a try (we were using 2.6). The migration was painless.

We followed the procedure proposed by Wordpress. We started by exporting the database. Then we simply had to download Wordpress 2.7 and add it to the appropriate folder on our server. The following steps were fairly straightforward:  copy of the files (images, etc.) from the old system to the new, recycle all the plugins and theme versions. Because we did not want to post a maintenance page and we wanted to have the blog up and running at all time, we had to find a little trick. Here it is:  first, we created a new instance of the database; we imported the database export (from the 2.6 version). The trick here was to go to the table “wp_options” and modify the URL using the “siteurl” field. The site at this point was our current version (http://blog.gifteer.com). We had to replace this URL by the technical address of our site that was in the process of migrating. Then we upgraded Wordpress on the technical address, using the upgrade.php script. The upgrade was almost instantaneous. Last step:  DNS change. If you are still with me you’ll know we had to prepare the database to migrate to the production URL. No need to go the database because we had provided this information to the Wordpress admin. The whole thing took less than two hours. The longest was the DNS propagation.

If you are still on the 2.6 version, don’t hesitate. The plugins we had migrated to the 2.7 versions flawlessly. The new admin is well thought and fast.

Swaps

While trading emails with Gifteer users, we came accross this great concept: swaps.
What are swaps exactly?
Swappers trade home-made gifts related to a given theme. Themes can be “cats”, “Hello Kitty” or “snow” for example.
Let’s look at what a “cat swap” would work: swappers exchange their preferences via email (preferred colour for example) and any things to avoid (allergies for example). Then swapper A will create a home-made gift about cats, following swapper’s B preferences. Swapper B will receive the gift a few weeks later by mail! Swapper B does the same thing with swapper C, etc… until they close the loop.

Who would dare to sell their Christmas presents?

A lot of people, it turns out!
Although this is still a delicate subject in most families, a lot of people are turning to gift selling to get rid off not-so-great gifts in order to generate some quick cash and buy the gifts they really wanted! Selling a gift is better than leaving it in the drawer for ever!
With Gifteer you avoid these extra steps and make sure you get the presents you really want. So next time someone brings up the subject of gift selling, tell them about Gifteer!

Winter has arrived on Gifteer!

The new Winter Theme has arrived on Gifteer!
Snowflakes, blue ice, cold stars… and a nice polar teddy bear are joining us for the Winter season.
Don’t forget to delete all the wishes you received for Christmas, and start adding new ones.

Clean up your wish lists

It’s time to clean up your wish lists and remove all these great gifts you got for Christmas, just to make sure you won’t get them again next year!
You should start adding new wishes right away to prepare for your birthday

A remember our Gifteer advice: put as many wishes as possible, so your friends will have plenty of choice and you will still be surprised when you open the box!

The Gifteer Team Wishes You The Best for 2009

A brief history of Christmas - Part III

This post follows two previous ones, here and here. Thanks to Muriel Banz for this post.

Transformation and evolution of a myth

At the end of the XVIth century, the christian society found more appropriate to replace Saint Nicolas by the Infant Jesus or Christkindel, closer to the real meaning of the 24th december and the religious event.

Christkindel was represented by a young children, dressed in white, which given the presents. He was followed by an awful caracters, Hans Trapp, which role was to beat the nasty childrens.

In the city appeared markets. The oldest one (16th century) is the one in Strasbourg: Christenkindelmarket. At the of the XIXth century, the festivities of Christmas and the Nativity were losing their religious features to the profit of commercial ones. Christmas became a festival for the family, for the childrens, and also for everyone: believers and non-believers.

This two major christmas figures (Santa Nicolas and Christkindel) were brought together by the american press and illustrations, and especially by Clement Clarke Moore, who described in “A visit from St. Nicolas” a famous poem of 1823 Santa Claus as a curious little elf, who goes inside the chemneys, and travels through the air in a miniature sleigh pulled by 8 reindeers.

In 1860, Thomas Nast, an famous American illustrator gave him his white fur and his wide leather belt. The official residence of Santa Claus was known in 1885 : he settled at the North Pole, where was also his toy factory.

The final touch was brought by Haddon Sundblom in 1931 though the Coca Cola ads. During almost 35 years, the Coca Cola compagny used a re-looked mythic character for its campaigns all over the world. The new Santa Claus had a more jovial air, sympathetic face and a human stature…