People love Perch: Clive Walker

We love to hear how much People love Perch and this interview is with Clive Walker of CVW Web Design.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I am Clive Walker from CVW Web Design

I’ve been a freelancer since 2002 after I was made redundant from my previous job (as a scientist). I’d always worked with websites in the evenings and weekends but the freelance jump was a bit of a career changing moment!

Front end developer is probably the closest description for what I do. However, the nature of my freelance business is that I cover a range of website activities. For example, as well as creating and building new sites, I manage websites and provide hosting for some clients.

What sites have you used Perch for recently?

Classic Bags – this site is based on third party ecommerce software which is not designed to have blog capabilities. So, we chose Perch for the blog aspects and integrated it into the site. It just runs alongside the ecommerce software.

Print Futures Awards use Perch to update text areas and add Winners details to their site.

Chappelsons – I redeveloped and redesigned this site and subsequently added Perch for the site’s News section, then extended Perch to the rest of the site.

Essex Independent Care Association – I redesigned the site for the Essex Independent Care Association and used Perch for the News section. Each page then uses perch_blog_custom to display articles for that section/category.

Harrabin Consultancy – my most recent project was for Harrabin Consultancy. The site includes several list and detail project pages which means that the client only has to add project details in a single place and the list page is created automatically. In addition, I think one of the best aspects of Perch is that slideshows like the home page are easy for the client to edit once the content region template is created. And I can re-use the slideshow template on other sites of course.

CVW Web Design – my own site. The News section uses Perch blog; it’s been a quick way of getting some new content on the site.

Why did you choose Perch?

Perch was chosen for ease of use and appropriate scale/budget for small business sites. I like the fact that Perch can be used with existing HTML and retrofitted into a site after an initial site design is completed. Often, small business budgets may not stretch to a CMS in the first redesign of a site but budget is available 6 months or a year later. That’s where Perch can be the best solution.

Also, I like the website performance aspects that have been considered in the development of Perch. And it’s a good fit with my skills so I like working with it.

How did you find working with Perch?

Easy, with great documentation and forum support. Clients don’t seem to require extensive training. In addition to normal run-throughs of the system after installation, I normally add Help text blocks at the top of content regions in the Perch admin so that clients can read specific help tips for that region as they add content.

How do the content creators/site owners find working with Perch?

Our clients said:

“For a small business looking to embark in the world of blogging this package is ideal. We find it easy to use and enables us to show pictures and link to pages within our site. Intuitive to use and gives our website a professional looking blog which is essential for businesses looking to improve their websites and web presence.” – Classic Bags

“I found making text changes and adding winners’ details to the website very straightforward.” – Print Futures Awards