From online shopping and automated web page creation, to statistics & demographics,
web-based databases and more, ICorp has systems already developed and proven. In all
cases, our systems are extremely powerful and flexible - a standard server may be
designed for a particular application - our systems are configurable and customizable
so that there are endless possibilities! If
you are looking to enhance the capabilities of what can be done online,
talk to us.
Here is a sampling of some of ICorp's Technology, along with references to existing
sites:
- The "Engine" Online Shopping System
-
The Engine is a complete online shopping system - from beginning to end the system
handles everything necessary. You simply specify your product information, lay out your
html pages, then plug-in the Engine and everything is automated. The system will keep
track of customers, shopping baskets, process orders, generate invoices & acknowlegements, and
allow advanced searching through your inventory of items. Best of all, The Engine
works with ANY browser (so NO potential customers are alienated as a result of what
software they're using) - it automatically detects what browswer is in use, what
resources are available (tables, frames, encryption, cookies, etc.) and customizes
its output on-the-fly for the best performance and appearance - all automatically!
It would be an injustice to call our system a simple "shopping cart program" - it is a full-featured
database and order processing server. As with all of
our software, The Engine is fully-customizable via html and can be used for individual
storefronts, or large multi-vendor shopping malls. The system can take process
multiple orders for multiple vendors and separate all the products at time of purchase
behind-the-scenes and send each merchant their portion of the order automatically.
The system can use a central, searchable database of products (which can be maintained
through a web browser or imported from other sources), or product information can be
embedded in the html form itself. The searching abilities of the Engine are impressive;
virtually any piece of information on file can be part of a search query and
multiple conditions can be established easily (i.e. search for all products with "Springsteen" as
the artist, in a format of "CD" in the category of "Rock Music").
Shopping Engine Features:
- A complete shopping/database system for the Internet; can be plugged into existing
shopping sites (even on remote systems) very easily
- Works with all browsers: Netscape, Internet Explorer, AOL, Prodigy, Lynx, etc.
- Includes an advanced web-based database system; you can add, edit, search or delete
items from your inventory via a browser at any time - changes to product information
are instantly updated throughout the site
- Keeps track of users and a unique shopping basket of items, even of products from
different merchants
- Automatically detects the user's browser type and employs special features if
available (tables, SSL encryption, cookies, etc.)
- Multiple servers can be employed - if the user supports encryption,
the system will connect to an SSL or SHTTP server
during input of sensitive information, and then switch back to a non-secured server
for normal operation - in this manner you can use the system from one local server,
yet exploit a centrally-located commerce server. ICorp operates a SSL/SHTTP server
(as well as a fax gateway and other systems)
than can be your central order processing system.
- Supports special shipping calculations, price look-up tables, weight tables, etc.
- System output is completely customizable, with vendor-specific headers, footers
for each section as well as news and information in e-mail orders, search result pages,
etc.
- Automatically e-mails customer acknowledgements, merchant orders, etc. in clear or
encrypted form - even supports PGP encryption; orders can also be left on the server
for password-protected, encrypted access from your browser; orders can also be sent
via other means such as fax, private newsgroup postings, etc.
- Can be set up to run transparently with no pre-registration or specifying
of user/billing information until point of purchase or can be configured
to maintain customer accounts so that users never need to re-enter billing info to
make subsequent purchase in any participating store.
- Written in C for blazing performance and compatibility across a wide variety of
platforms from Unix, Windows, Win NT and beyond.
- Compatible with all standard html and extensions such as forms, frames, VRML, Java, JavaScript, ActiveX,
imagemaps, all types of graphics and browser plug-ins, and other cgi scripts.
Applications:
- Any web site or company interested in selling products online can benefit from the Engine,
which automates the ordering procedure and offers advanced security & encryption features.
Detailed information on The Engine
Sites using The Engine:
Ultimately, there are hundreds of online stores using our technology, and
too many to list. If you are looking for examples from your industry,
Contact us for specific information, or
take a look at a small sampling here:
- The Louisiana Internet Mall - A
listing of a wide variety of merchants using the VOE: flowers, jewelery, music,
gifts & more.
- Songsearch - One of the premier
online CD, Music & Video Stores. Songsearch grosses millions of dollars in
sales per year using the VOE. In this application, we've teamed up the power
of ICorp's online ordering system with Oracle's database server to provide
a state-of-the-art inventory of over 300,000 products!
- TopMerchants.com - Over
100 VOE merchants!
- Orleans Coffee Exchange - A very
large inventory of products: over 175 types of coffee, each available in 5 grinds and different blends make this a much tougher than expected shopping appliction - yet the Engine handles it beautifully. This site also demonstrates the
"style" feature of assigning non-price-related attributes to items for sale.
- The Stockroom - An adult products
site that does tremendous amounts of online sales, with an ever-changing
inventory of several hundred products - a very busy site that could not
function without a rock-solid ordering system.
- Melindas - Hot sauces & more
- Cowboy Mouth - A top-flight
New Orleans rock band that uses the Engine to sell their great merchandise.
- SURVEY.NET - Automated Polling/Demographic System
-
Survey.Net is a prominent internet site
showcasing another one of our advanced systems which we identify with the same
name. ICorp's flagship system, Survey.Net is an automated, intelligent, online polling system
which generates instant reports and handles a wide variety of options and user
input. Survey.Net is recognized world-wide as the premier site on the
Internet for opinions and user demographics. (accolades and press are too
numerous to mention here, but can be found on the site itself)
ICorp's Survey system takes standard html forms of multiple choice questions (in a
variety of formats) and instantly compiles the data and automatically generates
output reports of the latest results. The system supports different types of data
and questions, including user-specified "essay-type" input which is automatically
appended to special comment pages.
Like all of ICorp's software, the output
from the system is completely customizable, so each survey can have a unique look-and-feel
if desired. The beauty of Survey-Net is that unlike other polling systems, our system is
fully self-maintaining - set it up and let it run and
it continuously compiles information and stays fresh and topical. In addition, Survey.Net
incorporates several levels of advanced protection against users completing multiple
surveys, improperly answering questionnaires or otherwise attempting to tamper with
the survey data. All activity is logged and the system has the ability to exclude
particular users or hosts.
In addition, Survey.Net is an ideal promotional tool - we have a variety of online
surveys covering a wide range of topics from
internet demographics,
religion,
online commerce,
politics,
to sex and
drugs. This yields an extremely
large and diverse group of people from the online community, and makes our
data more accurate than other narrowly-marketed polls. 80% of those who visit
Survey.Net come back regularly to view the latest data!
ICorp runs the main Survey.Net site as a public service to the Internet community,
and subsidizes the system through advertisements (not related to survey subject
matters) and private surveys by contract. Contact
webmaster@survey.net for information
on advertising or private survey services.
Applications:
- Main system is used as a basis of a unique, high-traffic site on the Internet
- Useful in any scenario where you want to find out more information about the people
who visit your site (demographic analysis)
- An excellent entertainment/information tool which requires little or no maintenance,
yet yields continually changing content
Sites using The Survey.Net System:
- Survey.Net - (http://www.survey.net) Our
main site and implementation of this technology. An entire operation is built around
this basic
- Other customers are running surveys using our system, but as part of our
agreement, these clients wish to have their systems private.
- WebSet - Automatic Home Page Creator
-
WebSet might look rather benign at first glance,
but this program is incredibly advanced - in essence, WebSet is a system that will allow you to
create your own web pages online through your browser. OK, that doesn't sound all that
innovative right? Except that with Webset you can also go back at any time and
EDIT the pages as well! There are some systems on the web that have this feature,
but they're all designed for a very specific format of web page - WebSet is
unique in that it uses special "style templates" to offer a virtually unlimited
number of different styles/appearances of web pages. All you do is fill out a
simple form and *bingo* your web page is created. Administrators can create a
variety of different web page styles that a user can choose from.
Imagine the possibilities here! This allows you to set up a portion of the web
site that can
be remotely maintained; ISPs can offer hassle-free web pages for their users;
consultants can set up systems so that clients can modify portions of their site
without intervention, etc. WebSet is completely "programmable". You can restrict
user input in a variety of ways - you can allow users to create their own pages
offline and instantly put them on the web - WebSet will check the html pages for
illegal commands and validate the page before making it available. Users can
even upload their own graphics, which WebSet examines and then copies to their
private directory. And best of all, virtually no HTML knowledge is required to
create web pages using WebSet - each template can be created for differing levels
of sophistication. There's NOTHING like this on the net anywhere!
If you want to play with WebSet, we've created a "guest" account with a password
of "guest" (no quotes). Be advised that anyone who creates a page will overwrite
the previously created page, and this is obviously a public/test account. Check
out the new customizable Newspaper template! Click
here to edit the last page,
or here to see the last page
that was created/edited on the guest account.
Applications:
- WebSet's value lies in its ability to control the creation and editing of
web pages via a browser, which means that no maintenance, ftp accounts of special
monitoring or service is required. This is an exellent tool for ISPs who want to
offer free home pages but do not want to have to be concerned with tech support,
maintenance, or security issues. WebSet controls everything and the operator can
determine the level of access and abilities a user has in creating home pages based
on the available templates.
- There is no simplier system of creating home pages than WebSet - no knowledge of html
is required, therefore unsophisticated users now have the ability to create fancy web
pages with virtually no hassle - any site which wants to entice users to contribute
content to their pages can use WebSet to automate this process.
- Any site where pages need to be regularly updated (especially if done so by
novice users or data entry people) can use WebSet to automate the fancy formatting
of raw data automatically.
- WebSet can also take input from other data files and generate web pages automatically;
any client who has data from another source, wanting to publish it on the web can use
this system to automate the conversion process.
- WebSet's functionality is defined by the available templates - a collection of
interesting templates can be used as an appealing site in itself - allowing users to
quickly create pages they can use elsewhere.
Sites using The WebSet System:
- WebSet Main Site - ICorp's WebSet
demo area. Check out our "newspaper" template - and see how we can emulate sites such
has Microsoft's 'customized home page' feature, and CRAYON (another simplistic site
offering an automated method of creating a "What's New" page).
- Cybertown Colonies - This
is more of an example of an application where WebSet can be of value. The prominent
Cybertown site is using WebSet to offer free/cheap home pages to their users, calling
them Apartments and Colonies - and with WebSet, the entire procedure
is automated - once a user is approved for a free home page, the folks at Cybertown
do not have to provide any further maintenance or support - it's a great way of
attracting business without having to spend much time.
- Survey.Net Editorial Columns - Here's
a great example of how WebSet can add more to a basic site. At Survey.Net, a special
area of the site is dedicated to regular editorial columns. Using WebSet, we can automate
the process of maintaining this area by giving each columnist their own ID/password; then
they can update their own online column at their leisure and virtually no
maintenance is required, and it's fully-secure.
- Other WebSet projects include internal "whiteboard" projects, where a team uses
WebSet to create/update project schedules, lead lists, etc. At ICorp, WebSet is
especially useful in allowing us to have a centrally-located "current project list"
on the web - anyone on the team can modify the list and the latest version is always
available - because WebSet does the translation between a form and a fancy web page,
it's very easy to maintain this page for everyone's benefit.
- MQuote - Automate changing content on your site
-
MQuote is a simple script which has a variety of interesting uses. While this program
may be rather mundane in comparison to the other, more-complex ICorp systems, MQuote
is a good example of how even a simple script can be used to build a very interesting
and dynamic site.
MQuote sequentially parses (reads) a standard text file of blocks of information, then outputs this
data. Each call to MQuote retrieves the next block of information, until the end is reached
and the cycle repeats itself. The data can be html commands, graphic advertisements, or
just about anything that you want to display/rotate on your page. There are several
"flavors" of MQuote based on the environment under which you're using it. There is a
version designed to be called as a standard script, which omits cgi header information
that can be used to create features such as a "random jump to a site" type button,
and other versions designed to work as a
server-side-include, executing whenever a page is accessed - this allows you to have
rotating advertisements, or snippets of information on screen which change each time
a user visits your page - automatically.
Applications:
- Rotating banners and advertisements - MQuote can be used to cycle graphics, blurbs
of text and URL links on pages automatically. A virtually unlimited number of advertisements
can be employed on a single page - and each will get equal PR time.
- Other automatically changing areas of web pages - Maybe you're running a site and
each time you want to tell the user about a different item on sale - simply create a file
with each promotional message separate by a blank line, add the command to run MQuote
and all your information will be rotated on the site automatically.
Sites using MQuote:
- Words of Wisdom - This is a site that was
created just to show off what MQuote can do (it also demonstrates how with a bit
of ingenuity and a little technology, one can easily create something of interest
to the community). We've taken a collection of famous
quotes and used it as a data file for MQuote, then built a page that causes MQuote to
update the famous quote every few minutes - it makes for a very interesting and
entertaining site. In addition, a second reference to MQuote is used on the page
to rotate a graphic advertisement at a different interval.
- ICorp Home Page - On our main home page, we are also
referencing MQuote to display a random quote from the same Words of Wisdom data
file.
- Random Jump to an ICorp Site - This
is a link similar to what we have on our home page. Every time you click on the
Random Jump to an ICorp Site link, it will take you to a different site.
- ICorp Jukebox! - Using
plug-in embedding and ActiveX controls in conjunction with MQuote, this site
demonstrates a number of neat techniques: frames, MIDI, applications embedded
in the web page itself, and using MQuote, the system plays music from an
extensive collection of Beatles songs; a
Jazz version is
also available - check it out - it's a lot of fun if you have Netscape 3.x+.
- ICorp MDb Engine - Web-based database system
-
This system is also currently known as the "Classified Engine" because the first
site demonstrating this technology was a web-based classified ads system. However,
the MDb server is much more powerful and flexible - it's a general-purpose database
system with advanced searching and output capabilities; completely customizable, and
able to be implemented in a wide variety of scenarios.
Like all of ICorp's systems, MDb can be completely controlled via hidden html commands,
which affords the web site designer maximum flexibility in determining the look-and-feel
of the pages. In addition, MDb incorporates a special html-parsing system which allows
you to take standard html pages, read them with the database engine, and insert records
directly into the pages in the format you specify - a database template that you control
the appearance of - and it even supports all FORM fields and options.
MDb is a full-featured database system, offering all of the performance and options
you would expect with a non-internet-based program. Data can be added, modified or
erased at any time, directly from a browser. There are numerous security options,
and individual records can even be password-protected. MDb also includes a number of
fancy features such as the ability to display the age of a record and erase data based
on how old it is. MDb also includes an advanced lattitude/longitudal database system
which can be used to calculate the distance between two locations and use this as a
searching parameter (i.e. a user can specify his location, and then search through
the database for other records posted by or relating to something within X miles of
his current location; likewise a user can also search for records that are X days old).
Unlike other database systems, MDb is a general purpose system. The first release of MDb
has been designed to accomodate a wide variety of applications and uses a standard data
structure that can accomodate most scenarios - this means that we can build fancy database-related
sites in a very short period of time, but the system can also be quickly customized for
more advanced types of data. MDb has too many options to list here, but supports
searches using multiple conditions, embedded images and much more.
Applications:
- Any and all web-based database systems: Classified Ads, Yahoo-type URL catalogs, product information & price lists,
help desk data, online restaurant/attraction guides, Web bulletin boards and messagebases, other directories and indices, not to mention virtually any customized client-server database application.
Sites using MDb:
- CompuMARKET - An online
classified ad system dedicated to offering non-commercial ads for buying/selling/trading
new and used PC equipment. This site is unique in that it is fully-automated, and
automatically promotes itself via usenet daily (the system extrapolates new ads
in various categories and automatically posts messages in relevant usenet
newsgroups both on a product/category as well as regional/location basis!) There
is no other system this advanced anywhere online. Effectively, you can post
an ad on the web site from Kansas City selling a 17" VGA monitor, and later
that night, your ad will be cross-posed on specific newsgroups such as kn.forsale and comp.forsale.monitors.
With extensive lattitude/longitude information built-in, the system is searchable
by DISTANCE as well as other more standard means including keywords, categories, age, price range, etc.
- The Louisiana Classifieds - This is the
flagship site using our database engine - a full-features online classified
ads system that runs itself. NOTE that there are also private administration pages
that are part of this system - which allow a supervisor to occasionally examine the
ads and quickly remove any inappropriate ones. In addition, the system is designed
to archive and erase old ads.
- The Cowboy Mouth
Messageboard - This basic implementation of the Mdb Engine as a
messageboard for a great band in New Orleans currently uses Mdb in
its original form, but soon we'll be customizing a special version
for exclusive use as a messageboard, complete with threading and some
rather apazing search features.
Don't forget to check out their
website!
- Other projects are currently in development including a web messageboard, and an
online restaurant guide - stay tuned.
/InterCommerce
Corporation,