The Challenge

Spinning Jewelry contracted an external Photography and image handling company which was responsible for storing picture material that is to be managed and supplied through an API. This image setup was originally created for printing purposes and therefore all materials were in high quality formats. All product images should therefore be taken and processed on the fly so they can be presented in a web friendly format on the webpage.  
Image combinations as galleries were also present in the Image database and needed to be presented on the website based on users’ requests.
All other content including product information, resellers, and prices in different currencies are stored and managed in the internal company’s Navision system, which also served as the fundamental backbone for the company financial controlling and accounting.
Therefore it was essential that the Sitefinity CMS was fully integrated with the Image database on one hand and the Navision system on the other.
Furthermore, operating with a big network of shops and resellers in different countries, it was important to allow sales representatives to directly update the information on the website.  One of the places where the dividing of roles was required, was under the news section as there where announcements dedicated for Public, Press and Cooperating partners.  

The Solution

Based on the Sitefinity’s open and extensible architecture, the development of the custom automated “image handler” module went smoothly. After the image handler was ready, creating the image gallery was a simpler task, as we setup a template in Sitefinity to support “x” numbers of images based on the return of one request to the API.
Fetching data from the existing Navision system was by far the most difficult task as we were not able to setup a fully RealTime updated system but had to rely on “pushed” data and import functionality. So the solution was to setup Navision to Export data in CSV format daily and automatically send the CSV file in our secured FTP folder where we had 3 different files for prices, products and resellers. Then we developed an import script that recorded the correct date in the database. This script could also be executed manually based on the functionality from the Sitefinity backend. 
We also developed a login system for the different country representatives by using the Sitefinity user role management system, so that they can enter the relevant data in the system. We succeeded to setup login restricted areas showing only the data that the user had the right to see. Sitefinity’s integrated features such as security (membership, roles, and profiles) and extensible workflow were critical for this project and were quickly implemented.
Different Microsoft technologies from Windows Services to LINQ have been used during the project’s development phase. LINQ has been used to access the database for custom tables storing the data for products, prices and resellers or combinations of any of these. Web Services have been used to query the remote image database. Windows Services have been used to parse and import data from the CSV files that contain data from the Navision system.
A custom IP to Location service has been developed to determine the visitors’ locations on a country level thus allowing us to show them the website content in their own language and currency. The country information has also been used to show the products being sold in their country and filter the rest of the products.
Google Maps API has been used to develop the Resellers page so that the visitors can locate resellers in their area.

The Results

As the site has just been launched, long term effects are still to be measured. But without doubt the website is already serving as a powerful marketing tool for presenting the company’s products among prospect customers and partners. The website content is easily updated and new products quickly find their way to market.