Version 2.93 now in development!
PowerSite® is Stargate Connections' advanced development service for creating custom, structured websites and web applications. It's a combination of our own in-house software coupled with rapid development and maintenance services.
PowerSite was created to allow companies and other organizations to operate complex, interactive websites that can be maintained over the internet using any ordinary web browser. No special skills and minimal knowledge of HTML are required. We do all of the programming for you, and we customize the administration interfaces to suit your workflow. Administrative access is available 24/7 from any internet connection.
Security is paramount, not an than afterthought. Every PowerSite is protected by a comprehensive set of robust security controls.
More than a CMS
PowerSite is more versatile than a typical content management system (CMS) — it's a full-fledged development service for creating any type of custom web application. Distributed databases, on-line contests, product catalogues, document libraries, customer relationship management systems (CRM) and e-business solutions have been built using PowerSite.
Pages are fully interactive and data-aware so they can include important features such as reporting, sorting, grouping, calculating, graphing, drawing, importing, exporting, automatic notifications and more.
The fully-customizable nature of PowerSite means its capabilities are unlimited. To date, we have built every type of application requested by our customers no matter how unique or unusual.
Sites Using PowerSite
See how select Stargate Connections clients have benefited from PowerSite:
Featured Site: Return-It www.return-it.ca
- Industry-led Stewardship Program managed by Encorp Pacific (Canada)
- A vast amount of information for the public including searchable databases of depot locations and recyclable beverage containers
- School recycling contest featuring on-line registration, administration, reporting and real-time results
- Many secure areas for internal stakeholders such as brand owners, depot operators and employees with various e-business applications (ordering, reporting, etc.)
Featured Site: Major Appliance Recycling Roundtable www.marrbc.ca
When Encorp Pacific became the service provider responsible for managing the MARR recycling program, they inherited the stewardship's legacy Drupal website. Encorp requested Stargate rebuild the site using PowerSite, a product they were more comfortable using. Keeping the same design and content, the PowerSite version ended up being at least 2.5X faster and 55% the size of the Drupal version.
Also:
BC Recycles: www.bcrecycles.ca
Beverage Container Recycling Network of Canada: www.recyclingnetwork.ca
Leister Blake Enterprises: www.leisterblake.com
Many sites/applications using PowerSite are private. However, demos may be given upon request.
Types of applications built with PowerSite
To date, we have developed sites with features such as:
- Web pages with full WYSIWYG editing and hierarchical navigation
- Corporate directories of businesses and people
- Restricted, members-only intranets and extranets
- News listings and archives
- Event calendars and scheduling applications
- Product catalogues
- Shopping carts (with payment processing provided by third-party services)
- Registration forms with approval, confirmation and reporting systems
- Data entry forms with complete online management, reporting and exporting
- Polls and surveys with multi-step, conditional processing
- Online training and testing systems with automatic scoring and reporting
- Blogs with commenting
- Online newsletters, with each article in an issue submitted by staff but approved by an editor
- Media libraries, galleries and slideshows consisting of downloadable files, photos and videos
- Internal banner ad management
- Online dictionaries and glossaries
- Classified ads with online placement, management and approval, including an "export to magazine print provider" feature
- Employment listings with online application forms, reporting and management
- Email forms and online email readers
- Email subscription lists with mass emailing functions
- Instant messaging systems
- Integrated Google Maps with custom markers and geolocation search features
- Integration with social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
- Exported RSS feeds
- Site deployment tools (multiple sites served from the same PowerSite installation)
- Built-in mobile and printer-friendly views via responsive design
Stargate develops these applications using the framework provided in every PowerSite installation. No external modules or plugins need to be purchased. All that's required is the configuration of each section and creation of one or more view templates.
Benefits over WordPress
As of January 2022, over 43% of the web uses WordPress. It's easy to use and versatile. It's also available for free, making it very popular.
Unfortunately, WordPress has a significant number of security concerns. We've witnessed many security problems encountered by our WordPress-using customers over the years, and attacks against WordPress sites are escalating.
Many important security features that should be present in every modern web application are not built into WordPress by default. They require the addition of third-party plugins as an afterthought. However, the ability to install plugins, themes, and updates from the WordPress dashboard also provides the mechanisms for malicious actors to access and change the server-side programming.
PowerSite does not allow users to install or update server-side programming. We do all of that work for you. In its 24+ years of existence, no PowerSite installation has ever been compromised.
WordPress users must be diligent about upgrades, patches and maintenance or pay for a maintenance contract offered by their developers. (If you are using WordPress, we strongly recommend it.)
On the other hand, every PowerSite installation comes backed by Stargate's commitment to on-going security and performance maintenance, which is included in the basic hosting fee. The only services that incur additional fees are the programming, design and content updates that you've requested from us.
Benefits over SharePoint
SharePoint is a well-established collaboration and document management system developed by Microsoft. It is versatile, secure and highly respected by enterprise IT managers. Its most notable feature is tight integration with Microsoft Office.
However, SharePoint is a daunting product. Depending on the installation, licensing can be expensive. While it is versatile, basic customization can be incredibly limiting, and more advanced customization is complex, time-consuming, and requires a significant amount of training. SharePoint experts charge high fees, and for a valid reason.
Much of what can be done in SharePoint can be done in PowerSite with significantly less time and effort. We take care of all of the customization for you, and most of our interfaces can be altered to make your workflow easier and more intuitive. Plus, PowerSite hosting is one flat, monthly fee regardless of the number users.
For more information:
See our PowerSite Frequently Asked Questions page, or contact our creative team at webupdates@stargate.ca.