Our Work - Database Integration Custom Web Design - Weems and Plath

Web Content Management Software

Weems & Plath has played a key role in the history of navigation and supplied the world with navigation products from its inception in 1928. Weems & Plath approached WebConnection to redefine their web strategy. They wanted to organize the content and navigation structure of their web site to provide information on their products as efficiently as possible. The product information needed to be managed internally by their staff using a web content management software and eventually they hoped to upgrade their information based web site into a fully functional e-commerce solution.

WebConnection consulted with Weems & Plath and soon determined that they would need a database driven site which would create a relationship between the web site and their annual catalog. This site would import data from spreadsheets and other data sets that were already used internally to manage their inventory. Their products were divided into categories, product families and then finally the individual products. In order to streamline the steps to access this information we implemented a holistic navigation system that allowed a visitor to jump between categories, product families and products directly without having to go back to a default starting page. We also provided a breadcrumb trail to display the path of pages that a visitor had clicked through to arrive at the page they were currently viewing.

The products that Weems & Plath provide have related publications such as manuals, technical documents and warranties in pdf format that needed to be present for download on the web site. We accounted for these documents in the back end authoring tools that we developed for the web administrator. This made their web site not only a place where people who were interested in purchasing their products could obtain information, but it also became a resource for those visitors who had already made a purchase. Although this version of the web site does not allow visitors to purchase directly from it, WebConnection designed it in a modular fashion which simplifies the upgrading of the site form just using web content management software to a full e-commerce solution with minimal cost.

The web site that WebConnection developed exceeded the client's goals and positioned them to be the major internet destination for navigation products. Just as Weems & Plath have revolutionized the industry of nautical and aerial navigation, WebConnection continues to make great strides in internet navigation for our clients.

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