January/February 2011

January / February 2011

New Portage Bay Website

Portage Bay is pleased to unveil our newly re-designed website.

Late last year, we decided to give our website its first major re-design in 7 or 8 years in order to better reflect the nature of the services we currently provide. Our major goals in the re-design included:

To better emphasize the database development services that we provide;

To have a more modern look and feel;

To reflect the fact that we now have offices in both Seattle, WA and Austin, TX;

To be based on a content management system (CMS) for easier maintenance and updates.

I think the new site accomplishes all these goals. If you are interested, the CMS we decided to use is called Squarespace.

We have a number of updates still to make, but please check out the new site. We’d be very interested in any feedback.

In This Issue

Current Projects

Mobile Hotspots

Keep Up to Date with FM and 4D

Who We Are

FileMaker Pro 11 New Features

New text formatting option: text can be highlighted anywhere in your database.

Recurring imports can be configured to update your database from an Excel file on an automated basis.

Current Project: Climate Impacts Group

We've recently been working on an interesting project for UW College of the Environment, Climate Impacts Group and The National Park Service. The customized FileMaker Pro database functions as an online application system, allowing students to apply for the George Melendez Wright Climate Change Fellowship Program.

As a hybrid FileMaker system, the database has both a web interface and a standard FileMaker interface. The web tool is used by applicants and application reviewers, while the back end management system (implemented as a traditional FileMaker application) is used by Climate Impacts Group staff. The applicants are able to complete an application via their web browser and upload supporting documents. Application reviewers will use their web browser to review the applications, and program managers will utilize the FileMaker Pro application for reporting and fellowship management.

By utilizing FileMaker instant web publishing technology, we have been able to create a centralized web database, accessible to users via the most appropriate client interface, and meet the aggressive deadlines of the Climate Impacts Group.

Mobile Hotspots

For a number of years now, I’ve been using a cellular data modem to allow access to the Internet from anywhere I have a cell signal. It’s especially helpful when working at trade shows, while traveling, and at clients where I can’t access the network. For the last couple of years, I’ve used a USB modem on the Sprint 3G network, which has worked quite well and is almost as fast as DSL Internet service.

I switched recently to one of the new ‘mobile hotspot’ devices, in my case the Sprint Overdrive. These devices easily fit in your pocket and give you a Wi-Fi network anywhere you happen to be, allowing you to access the Internet over Wi-Fi from your laptop, smartphone, iPad, etc. In addition, co-workers, friends, and family can share the same access.

It's very convenient, but I have noticed that it’s a bit slower than the USB modem was. In addition, Sprint’s 4G coverage is quite sparse at the moment, so the Overdrive’s 4G capability goes largely unused for me.

Keep Up to Date with FileMaker and 4th Dimension

FileMaker Pro 11.0v2 FileMaker Pro 10.0v3	FileMaker Server 11.0v2 FileMaker Server 10.0v2	4Dv11 SQL Release 11.8
		4Dv12

Who We Are

Portage Bay Solutions is a database development firm in Seattle and Austin, where we've been working with organizations of all sizes for almost 20 years. We specialize in answering and returning calls promptly, staying within budget, and providing top notch support to our clients during all phases of the development process.