Curated Technology News with a focus on FileMaker and WordPress
Note 1: The example in today’s article/demo is intentionally very basic.
Note 2: The demo is self-populating to keep the data current, so the values you see in the screen shots will not exactly match those you encounter in the demo.
The word “enterprise” typically refers to larger and more complex businesses and corporations. Workplace innovation is a key differentiator and productivity booster in businesses of all sizes, from enterprise all the way down to small businesses.
A Content Management System manages the content of your website, usually via your web browser (though there are mobile apps that give limited access).
It provides a way for you to edit, add, and rearrange the content (blog posts, pages, widgets, custom data, etc.) of your website, from anywhere you have an internet connection. Most CMS solutions have WYSIWYG editing (looks and works roughly like Microsoft Word) so you don’t have to know HTML to update your website.
Claris recently released the new and improved FileMaker Cloud (replacing FileMaker Cloud for AWS). This is a new Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering. Claris has been working on ways to deliver the value of FileMaker that is simpler than past offerings. It can be a good starting point for users new to the FileMaker workplace innovation platform, but it is missing some features that long-time users of FileMaker Server for Windows and macOS rely on.
Apple-owned Claris has opened beta access to Claris Connect, its new tool for linking third-party apps such as Slack and Mailchimp to automate workflows.
I’ve written a number of custom functions through the years and lots of loops in scripting to manage repetitive tasks like complex string manipulation or complicated mathematical calculations. So, when I heard that the latest version of FileMaker would include a new function that accomplished both a loop and assignment functions all at once, I was anxious to get my hands on it — until I did.
The newly-released macOS Catalina (10.15) has many great new enhancements, however two of the main changes introduced in Catalina require some extra consideration before upgrading. This article walks you through the things you should consider before upgrading.
This year at the international event formerly known as “FileMaker DevCon,” I had the privilege and great pleasure of speaking about FileMaker interface design. In my presentation, “From Clutter to Clarity,” I took outdated interfaces from three legacy applications and demonstrated how to improve them, following a time-lapse approach inspired by Julia Child and Bob Ross.
We have a simple solution that will allow users to manage and customize images in FileMaker. Hard to believe it’s a script with just two script steps.
The recordings of these sessions will inspire you to see what is possible with FileMaker solutions.
Claris Connect is an enhanced and rebranded product formerly known as Stamplay. Stamplay was called “the next generation software development platform for the API era.” Originally a website builder, Stamplay pivoted to an API-first development platform that enables developers to build applications by piecing together APIs as building blocks.
A JSON custom function to insert a new element into an array at a specified address; any existing downstream array elements will slide one position rightward to accommodate.
In this blog we’ll unpack a lot of the exciting changes announced and provide as much of the info as we can, so that even if you weren’t able to be at DevCon, you’ll be in the know.
Today we’re going to look at a custom function, JSON.UpdateArrayElement, written to circumvent a problem you may encounter when using JSONSetElement.
Our clients appreciate how easy it is to integrate email distributions within their FileMaker workflows. But, they almost always want to send HTML formatted email messages. This makes perfect sense because who among us has sent plain text email messages in the last fifteen years? Almost everyone includes some sort of signature or other fancy elements in their emails.
Many of their services focus on capture and release, passive deterrence, and environmental modifications. Their pest control service technicians service the communities where they live, primarily in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
To that end LuminFire financially supports several nonprofits every year by creating technology that helps them fulfill their mission better and more efficiently. We do this through a matching grant program.
For years, Backcountry Access (BCA) has used a custom FileMaker solution as a CRM to assist with efficient operations. BCA had a custom eCommerce solution written in PHP that was used to run the backend of their eCommerce website via the FileMaker Custom Web Publishing XML gateway — including inventory, products, and orders. As the company and orders grew, it put a strain on their custom solution and FileMaker server. Unable able to handle the load spikes during busy traffic seasons and special events, FileMaker becoming unresponsive was becoming an issue that needed a solution. This was especially a concern around the critical black Friday sales period when the FileMaker server often crashed multiple times causing lost sales.
OpenJDK was offered by FileMaker as an option for those not wanting to pay a commercial licensing fee to Oracle, but many businesses are reluctant to install software with no official support in production systems (many still do and just don’t realize they do, but that’s another blog post).
Most of the time, it doesn’t make financial sense to reinvent the wheel. Here are some of the helpful features in Hubspot for sales and marketing that might not make sense to build into a custom FileMaker solution:
Tracking leads as they view pages on your website
Tracking emails and consolidating under contacts
Setting up meetings when your calendar is open
Tracking web analytics
Getting company marketing information such as annual revenue, owner, number of employees, etc.
(most of these functions require customer interaction with a web site)