• Cover photo. Instead of having a row of business-related photos at the top of your page, you’ll have a large photo on top, and your business’ profile photo will be set in the left corner of this photo. This gives you the opportunity to create a unique Facebook logo for your business. Choose an image for your cover photo that reflects your business’ values and add a slogan to it. Make sure your business page’s profile picture reflects the same feeling as the logo and blends well with your cover photo.
• Two column layout, divided by a timeline. The Timeline layout is meant to allow readers to view a page’s “story,” in narrative form. Your customers can drag the timeline to see what you were doing in the past. Use this to your advantage to tell your customers how your business has progressed. For example, post photos of your grand opening, your biggest sale, the first positive review you got and so forth. Label your photos with the correct dates so they go in the right part of your timeline. If you take the time to do this, prospective customers can get a sense of your business’ history and values.
• Tabs on top instead of landing page. The new Timeline format won’t allow you to set a custom landing page with coupons or recent news the way the old business page format did. Instead, you can choose which three tabs run across the top of the page. Use your tabs to help with your branding; choose tabs that reflect popular projects or items of interest to your customers.
• Ability to pin items to top of page. The Timeline feature allows you to pin items that are important to you. Pinned items appear at the top of your page regardless of how much other content you have on your page. You can use pins to help solidify your marketing efforts. Pin links to blogs, recent events and other items that you want your customers to see as soon as they access your page.
• Private messaging capabilities. You will now be able to send private messages to customers who have joined your page. You can use this to send targeted messages to customers who might be interested in a particular sale or follow up on a customer concern.

When setting up your Facebook business page using Timeline, keep in mind that your cover photo, tabs and first two items are most important. These items make up the part of your page that is “above the fold”–the portion of the page customers see when they first load it. The above the fold information is more important than the rest of your Timeline because prospective customers may not scroll down to see what else you have on your page. You want your entire page to look professional, but concentrate on the above the fold material first so that you can get customers’ attention right away and encourage them to join your page.

The LSU 100 celebrates the success of former LSU students and recognizes the impact of LSU on the local, regional and national economies. LSU 100 is co-hosted by LSU and the Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute. The complete list of 2012 honorees is available at www.lsu100.com.

“Gatorworks is indicative of the Tiger-led businesses that we are looking for to show other Tigers from every college on campus what they need to do to be successful,” said Lisa O’Beirne, director of development for SEI. “We congratulate them on this achievement and look forward to their continued success.”

Gatorworks met the following requirements for inclusion in the LSU 100:

• Has been in business for five years or more
• Has had verifiable revenues of $100,000 for 2008
• Has a former LSU student as owner of at least 50 percent of the company or as chief executive officer, president or managing partner
• Operates in a manner consistent with the mission of LSU and SEI

Partnership support for the events is available, as are individual tickets and tables of eight. For more information, visit www.lsu100.com or contact Lisa O’Beirne at lisao@lsu.edu or 225-578-0958.

The Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute, an integral part of LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, utilizes the Stephenson Entrepreneurship Fellows Program, LSU Executive Education, Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, and the Distinguished Entrepreneur Speaker Series to address the challenges of entrepreneurship and to positively impact students, the regional economy, the state of Louisiana and the nation. For more information, visit sei.lsu.edu or call 225-578-0313.

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For more information on other WordPress features, or if you have any questions, head to our WordPress Tutorials Page.

For more information on other WordPress features, or if you have any questions, head to our WordPress Tutorials Page.

For more information on other WordPress features, or if you have any questions, head to our WordPress Tutorials Page.

To log into your WordPress Account, just follow these easy steps:

1. Type the URL of your site in your web browser.
2. After the URL, type “/wp-admin/” (with no quotes).
3. From here you will be brought to the WordPress login screen.
4. Use the WordPress Login and Password that we have provided for you, and select Login.

If everything worked correctly, you should be brought to the WordPress Dashboard. From here you can upload media, create posts and categories, plus much more.

For more information on other WordPress features, or if you have any questions, head to our WordPress Tutorials Page.

Read the full article here.

So what’s the difference?

Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform that was developed as a way to add animation, video, audio, and other interactive elements to web pages. Viewing Flash content requires the use of a free plug-in. Developers must embed the Flash content into the HTML document, which means that the Flash content is independent of the other content on the page.

JavaScript is a lightweight, and open-source scripting/programming language designed to add interactivity to HTML pages. Unlike Flash, support for JavaScript is built right into all major web browsers without the need for additional plug-ins. JavaScript works by manipulating HTML content, which means that all content on the page is seamlessly integrated.

Why do we use JavaScript?

Firstly, JavaScript has become immensely powerful and easy to use with the development of JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, MooTools, Prototype, etc. jQuery, our library of choice, is fast, concise, and versatile. It allows us to rapidly add complex interactivity to webpages without spending a lot of time. jQuery is also an open-source project with many developers working tirelessly to improve it each day.

The Web was meant to be an open system, and to use open-source tools is to follow in that virtue. I that same vein, JavaScript/jQuery is FREE. Flash (as a tool) can be an expensive initial investment and also expensive to maintain as upgrades are released over the years.

Another problem with Flash is that the required plug-ins to support Flash content aren’t available on all platforms, namely iPhone, which means that you could be limiting your content from a huge portion of web users by using Flash. Meanwhile, jQuery works on these devices with no problem. Furthermore, even if JavaScript is disabled in a user’s browser, because JavaScript is unobtrusive in nature (integrated content), those users still have access to all of your site’s content.

Finally, JavaScript is universal. As a web project changes hands from one developer to another, no special applications are required to view or edit JavaScript files. Additionally, JavaScript is a widely known language, therefore, future modifications should be able to be made by nearly any web developer handling the project.

These are just some of the reasons we’ve chosen to use JavaScript. Hopefully next time you’re looking to add some interactive elements into your site, you’ll take a look at using JavaScript & jQuery instead of Flash.

By Mateo Corby

The campus visit is a significant and memorable occasion for students and parents involved in the college search, but organizing the adventure can sometimes be a nightmare.

When Kevin Preis, Ed.M.’07, witnessed family members struggling with the challenges of finding information about campus tours, keeping track of admissions details, and getting reliable advice on their college searches, he immediately went online to look for an itinerary planning tool for college visits. To his surprise, he came up empty. He began thinking about his own college admissions process — both the good moments and the difficult ones — and decided to use his computer programming knowledge to build a website that would make the college search a more engaging, enjoyable experience.

The result was Go See Campus, a free website that helps students and parents plan campus visits online and make the most of the college search. Among other resources, the site includes what Preis believes is a first-of-its-kind web tool that connects users to campus tours, information sessions, and other admissions activities.

“Now students and parents can go to a single website,” he says, “choose the schools they want to visit, learn about admissions activities on campus, build an itinerary for their trip, and get resources like campus maps, parking directions, nearby dining options, and events calendars.” By compiling all this information in one place, Go See Campus saves users the headache of scouring each individual college website for admissions details.

In addition to students and parents, Preis says that high school counselors have used the website as a complement to their work advising students throughout the college search process. Since Preis made it one of his goals to provide as many helpful resources as possible for counselors, Go See Campus has a growing library of advice articles on topics like deciding how many colleges to visit, what questions to ask during campus tours, and how to prepare for admissions interviews.

“Counselors have told me that they often refer their students to these articles. In addition, some counselors plan trips to visit campuses with their students or as part of their own professional development,” he says. “They’ll use Go See Campus to plot their routes, get campus maps, and find contact information for admissions officers.” New initiatives include a counselor’s newsletter that began last fall to provide updates on new site features and relevant professional development opportunities.

Preis, a graduate of the Technology, Innovation, and Education (TIE) Program, senses that digital media is quickly becoming a larger part of the college search.

“Students are still learning about schools through college websites, but they are also exploring them through third-party sites and social media,” he says. “As a result, some of the decisionmaking about whether to apply to a specific college happens away from the school’s official channels. I imagine we’ll soon see colleges investing in new technology and platforms to reach potential applicants.”

To enhance the site’s utility, Preis plans to add a number of new features. For example, the College Trip Planner’s Map Creator currently allows users to plot and save a driving route from one school to the next; a future update will give the option to find nearby colleges along the route.

Several years post-graduation, Preis still maintains relationships with his Harvard classmates and professors, many of whom have provided helpful advice and feedback on his business ventures.

“More generally,” he says, “the Ed School’s TIE Program allowed me to explore emerging technologies and to think about how they could apply to learning and communication. Go See Campus is a product of that exploration.”

— Mateo Corby is a senior at Harvard College.

— Connect to Go See Campus at www.goseecampus.com.

Feel free to read the article on Harvard’s website here: http://hvrd.me/m4HMmd

1. Broad Oak Energy, Inc. – founded 2005 – David B. Braddock ‘74, JD Braddock ‘03, Cory Parrott ‘03
2. Public Properties, LLC – founded 2000 – Ben Butler ‘85
3. Joubert Law Firm – founded 2002 – John “Johnny” Joubert ‘93
4. General Informatics, LLC – founded 2001 – Mohit Vij ‘97
5. Ryan Gootee General Contractors, LLC – founded 2004 – Ryan Gootee ‘96
6. Gatorworks Web Design, LLC – founded 2004 – Brian Rodriguez ‘06, Charlie Davis ‘03
7. Construction Management Solutions, LLC – founded 2005 – Kyle G. Flettrich ‘05
8. Doerle Food Services, LLC – founded 1950 – Carolyn Doerle ‘80
9. Petro TV, LLC – founded 2005 – Ethan J. Cheramie ‘95
10. Worley Catastrophe Response – founded 1976 – Michael Worley ‘84

According to LSU Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute Director of Development Jill Roshto, the LSU 100 celebrates the success of LSU graduates and recognizes the impact of LSU on the local, regional and national economies. LSU 100 is co-hosted by LSU and LSU SEI. The full list of winners is available for viewing at www.lsu100.com/honorees.

Our company met the following requirements for inclusion in the LSU 100:

• Has been in business for five years or more
• Has had verifiable revenues of $100,000 or more for the last calendar year
• A former LSU student owns at least 50 percent of the company or is a CEO, president or managing partner
• Operates in a manner consistent with the mission of LSU and LSU SEI

We are honored to be a part of a list of such distinguished companies. We’d like to thank our friends, family, unbelievable staff, and of course all of our amazing clients!