Alaina Cauchie is the platform integration lead at Webkite, which is a fancy way of saying she helps to make your Kite dreams possible. She has created all the WebKite support documents and has helped many of our users keep their Kite flying high in the air after their initial launch. 

One of the key features of WebKite is how it makes data easy to sort through. From a single spreadsheet you can create a site for just about anything – pizza spots, e-commerce solutions, or innovative companies in Pittsburgh. I sat down with Alaina to ask her some questions about the process of turning data into a website.

Dan: How does WebKite turn spreadsheets into a site? Why such a reliance on spreadsheets?

Alaina: The quick answer is ‘magic’. It’s also a lie. When you upload your spreadsheet to our Kite Creator, it does a bunch of behind-the-scenes work that would take a very long time to do manually. It creates individual items for you, allows you to sort them, and creates comparison pages automatically. We rely on spreadsheets because they are the most straightforward representations of data and the most likely to give you a great Kite.

Dan: Is it possible to get started without a spreadsheet?

Alaina: Sure! The spreadsheet just needs to be the final product. You can get your data into a spreadsheet in a variety of ways – collecting by hand, using a web scraping service, or exporting a spreadsheet from an API. If you are crowdsourcing data, using a tool like Google Forms can be a great way to convert information to a useable spreadsheet.

Dan: Is there any specific way the data needs to be structured? Rows? Columns? Numbers? Images?

Alaina: The absolute only thing you need in your data is the name of each item. In my hypothetical Kite of my cats, I would put the name of one of my cats in the first row, then the next cat’s name in the second row.. I don’t need anything besides that. It would create a very boring Kite, but it’s a place to start if you literally have no other data.

Once I have the names of my items, I can flesh it out a bit horizontally on the page. In Column B I could add a heading like “age” and go down the spreadsheet inputting the ages of my cats. I could put a heading on Column C that reads “fur color” and enter that data accordingly.

All I need to do for images is have a link and title my column “Images.” You are able to upload images from your computer once they are on your Kite.

One thing to keep in mind when creating your spreadsheet is “What do I want to be able to do with this Kite?” Once you have an idea of you would want to filter, sort, or order your items, that makes it easy to identify the kind of data you should include.

Dan: Talk to me about sorting – what am I limited by?

Alaina: Sorting is a very powerful tool that we offer in your Kite. It allows you to arrange your items by any individual or combined fact. For example, I could sort my cats from oldest to youngest, or vice versa. Including a fact like ‘weight’ would allow me to sort my cats from lightest to heaviest (and vice versa). From there, I could put the two together to find out a list of the heaviest, oldest cats. That’s a sad list.

Dan: How do filters get created?

Alaina: Filters are created when you narrow down your options. Saying that I only want to see the cats with black fur, for example, would remove any cats that did not have black fur. If I limit my results so that weight can only be up to 10 pounds, I will only see cats that weigh less than 10 pounds. Putting these two lists together would show me all of my sub-10 pound black cats.

Dan: From spreadsheet to Kite – how long are we talking?

Alaina: That is the beauty of our Kite creator – you can go from spreadsheet to editing your Kite in under five minutes. After that, you are in control of how detailed your Kite can become.

Dan: So, what have people built with this? From a regular spreadsheet?

Alaina: We’ve had an impressive variety of uses! Some of our recent Kites have included engagement rings, medical marijuana, e-commerce site reviews, longboards, entertainment options in Branson, Missouri… if you can give us data about it, we can make a Kite from it. All from a regular spreadsheet.

Thanks for reading – check out our examples page for more information about WebKite.

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I knew we wanted WebKite to be involved in someway because it is the who’s who of technology and interaction. Unfortunately, at the time of getting a booth and things were still brewing in the WebKite kitchen. The great news it’s more than ready to show off and we’ll be hanging out at Innovation City showing what WebKite can do to help the world achieve a new level of innovation. So, what’s Innovation City? Glad you asked.

Innovation City is an official SXSW party – they don’t just hand out that title to any party. This is going to be a bona-fide amalgam of technology, music, festivities, and interactive activities. It’s being put together by the Pittsburgh Tech Council and Carnegie Mellon University to showcase just how much Pittsburgh has changed in the past years. With new incubators opening, an excellent place to live, and a solid networking community, Pittsburgh has evolved into a burgeoning hub of technology. We’re more than hyped to be a part of such an event. What we’ll have on hand is a directory of Pittsburgh innovators for visitors to sort through to see a) what exactly Pittsburgh is innovating and b) why these companies stayed in the area. If you’re a Pittsburgh innovator that wants to be part of that list just fill out this simple Google form.

Speaking of SXSW parties – we couldn’t help but create a Kite dedicated to all of the official SXSW events. We put together a list of parties sortable by age requirements, what day of the week they’re happening, and a link to add to your schedule. Check it out, share with a friend, review a party, let us know what you think.

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During Kite Jam 2012, one of the awards that WebKite team members competed for was the Money Kite — the Kite the staff thought would earn the most money.  This award category proved highly competitive with several Kites utilizing affiliate links and lead generation. Justin, a member of WebKite’s amazing development team, used his personal knowledge and experience with e-commerce platforms to create a Kite that reviewed e-commerce sites like Shopify, Volusion, and Magento.

His E-Commerce Review Kite won the Money Kite award and was a runner up in several other award categories. The way that Justin’s E-Commerce Review Kite will earn money is through referral commissions when users sign up for one of the e-commerce platforms reviewed on his Kite. Here’s a brief Q & A with Justin about his in-depth E-Commerce Review Kite:

Q: What kind of Kite did you create?

A: I created an E-Commerce Review site, which aids store owners, new to online retail, designers and developers find the right platform for their or their client’s needs.

Q: Why did you choose to create a Kite for that particular topic?

A: Before working at WebKite, I worked as a contractor for a number of e-commerce merchants. Whether they were new to online commerce or considering a new e-commerce platform, often they needed help figuring out which e-commerce platform was right for them. The WebKite platform allowed me to build something that anyone can use to find that right platform for them.

Q: How did you collect your data and what sources did you use?

A: Each e-commerce platform has a great informational site. I went through by hand and collected the data and information I wanted about each product.

Q: What was the best part about creating your own Kite?

A: I really enjoyed using the data uploader. It took no time to get my spreadsheet of e-commerce site data onto the web.

Want turn your content into a website that creates money? Sign up for the free WebKite Beta to create your own Kite. We’ll be showcasing one more award-winning employee Kite from Kite Jam 2012!

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Creative Mornings is lecture series that takes place in 40 cities. Its purpose is to jumpstart your work day with  a concentrated dose of creativity and perspective. The pastries, coffee, and gregarious company certainly didn’t hurt.

This morning’s theme was “Happiness.” The pursuit of happiness and what exactly happiness even is. The speaker was David Newell (better known as Mr. McFeely of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood) who regaled us with stories of the astounding amount of happiness following your heart can create. Delivering mail to Fred Rogers for 35 years will have that effect on someone.

Part of Newell’s presentation included a clip of his final on-screen scene with Rogers back in 2001. I can’t find the scene online so I’ll describe it the best I can. Their exchange is friendly and Mr. Rogers is so appreciative of a film that Mr. McFeely put together to show the audience. After they sing the speedy delivery song and part ways, Mr. Rogers sits down and says, “Find out what people can do and appreciate it.”

And isn’t that part of the startup mentality? Take a rag-tag team and figure out what works, where everyone’s niche is and explore the roles in that space. This, most of all, is why young folks can be attracted to the startup scene. There’s no convention here and it’s an arena to hone skills and test out theories. A type of proving ground. Once you find out what you’re good what, what works and what you can be appreciated for, do you carve out your role in the company.

Personally, my role at WebKite has changed significantly since my arrival almost a year ago. From working on Pikimal to spreading the word about WebKite, my skills and tasks have changed until I’ve found messaging that works or the type of content that can help better define WebKite. The constant experimentation, refining, and exploration makes appreciating the startup world that much easier.

I’m definitely looking forward to the next Creative Mornings! I’d highly recommend the series, it’s a pleasant way to start off a day. A perfect cup of coffee and the ideal amount of inspiration.

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Dan, WebKite’s marketing manager, is a pizza journalist that works hard to eat and review pizzas from Pittsburgh’s many neighborhoods. He knows where to get the best Neapolitan pie, the cheapest pizza, and a plethora of other valuable pizza information that is begging to be shared with the masses in an interactive way.

His passion for pizza has resulted in the creation of a pizza blog and now a pizza Kite! Dan’s pizza Kite, Pizza Walk With Me’s Pizza Directory, won the Swiss Army Kite award at Kite Jam 2012 due to its incredible usefulness. After all, who wouldn’t use an interactive list created by a pizza expert to find the best pizza in Pittsburgh? Here’s a brief Q & A with Dan about his rad pizza Kite:

Q: What kind of Kite did you create?

A: I made a pizza directory to showcase my reviews and pizza content.

Q: Why did you choose to create a Kite for that particular topic?

A: I’m big into pizza. So much so that I eat pizza for at least 50% of my meals. I have a pizza blog and thought a neat complement to my pizza writing would be a directory of pizza places I’ve eaten at that gathered my review and thoughts. If people visit my pizza site they see the most recent, but I wanted to enhance that experience. I wanted pizza enthusiasts to be able to sort through my reccomendations and even rate pizza places themselves. There’s not really anything else out there like this, so I thought this would be a great opportunity.

Q: How did you collect your data and what sources did you use?

A: I’ve been writing about pizza for about two years now so I had plenty of my own data. I was able to use my notes and reviews to rank pizza based on crust quality, volume of cheese, type of sauce, and overall atmosphere. As I continue to explore the world of pizza I hope to add more items to my pizza Kite!

Q: What was the best part about creating your own Kite?

A: The best part about creating my own Kite was that I was able to enhance my current content offerings and provide a new way for my audience to interact with my reviews. It takes the conversation and content and turns it into a two-way street. Instead of me writing about pizza there’s the opportunity to proide my own rating and let users come and add their own perspective. Also, being able to sort by neighborhood, cheese, user ratings and more variables is great – makes deciding on what pizza to order on a lazy Sunday much easier.

Inspired by Dan’s pizza Kite? Sign up for the free WebKite Beta to create your own Kite. We’ll be showcasing two more award-winning employee Kites from Kite Jam 2012!

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But we’re back! With vigor, oomph, hype, and excitement for what’s to come in 2013: The Year of the Kite. To kick things off we’re arranged a portion of our office to harness our synergy. I know synergy is such a 2012 word, but I think it’s somehwat relevant in this case.

With a portion of our offices rearranged for maximum teamwork we’re ready to get down to business and expand our platform. One thing we’ve been working on is our self-serve platform. Users will be able to come to WebKite.com and upload a spreadsheet and turn it into a site about pizzas, engagement rings,  American Girl dolls, or literally anything. It’s a whole new way to publish content and make data interactive. If you want to help us test out the self-serve portion of the site you can sign up for the WebKite self-serve beta. Best part is that you’ll get a free WebKite powered site out of this! It’s our way of saying thanks for helping us test our platform.

Looking further into 2013 we’re getting ready to announce some new clients who are leveraging the WebKite technology in some exciting ways. When you spend so much time inside the office talking about the technology, you never know if you’re in love with the tech or you just have cabin fever. Spending the holidays explaining to friends and families what WebKite does has been reassuring that this is something that people want.

2013 is going to be the year of the Kite. The year where we begin to let our reel out a bit further and show how WebKite can change the world of publishing – one idea at a time.

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Dubbed Kite Jam 2012, employees competed for four distinguished awards: Money Kite, Swiss Army Kite, Kite Clooney Award, and Ultimate Kite. The next several blog posts will showcase the Kites that received these prestigious awards. The first Kite we’re showing off is Tiny Pillow by Jessica, one of our awesome developers and the winner of the Ultimate Kite award! Here’s a brief Q&A with Jessica about her award-winning Kite:

Q: What kind of Kite did you create?

A: My kite topic is engagement rings. The purpose is to help a guy or girl identify an engagement ring to buy.

Q: Why did you choose to create a Kite for that particular topic?

A: I always thought Pikimal should do try jewelry categories, but we never got around to it. Specifically, engagement rings are a big-ticket item and cause a lot of anxiety in people who have to pick one, so a site that can help a user pick one seems like it would be in demand.

Q: How did you collect your data and what sources did you use?

A: Major jewelry sites I know: BlueNile, Zales, Kay, Jared, and Amazon.

Q: What was the best part about creating your own Kite?

A: I thought the color picker was a lot of fun.

Interested in building your own Kite? Sign up for the free WebKite Beta today to be among the first to create your own Kite using our self-serve platform.

Stay tuned for more award-winning employee Kites!

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Last Friday the staff came to work armed with a single .csv file. From that seed of data we had to grow a site that helps users sort items and make a decision. Luckily, that’s exactly what the WebKite platforms specializes in. It was thrilling to build a Kite from scratch and spend the day working with our tools. Having the opportunity to create custom lists and get the site up to my standards reminded me of my early days setting up blogs and websites. So many fun little customization options to make the site truly your own.

Giving you the power to easily publish data is what we’ve been striving for since day one and what we saw at the Kite Jam was amazing work. We’ll be highlighting some of our created Kites in the coming days, but for now you can check out my Kite I created about Pittsburgh Pizza Places. I’m still working on some of the details, but that entire site was built from a 26 row spreadsheet!

To spice up the Kite Jam, we turned it into a small competition where the staff could vote for Kites they thought would make money, most usable, the best looking, and the best overall Kite. Here’s some photos of the ceremony, the winners, and their winning mug.

Everyone getting hyped up for the Kite Jam Awards

Justin Burdett, winner of the “Money Kite Award”

Me humbly accepting my award for the “Swiss Army Kite”

Jess won the “Ultimate Kite Award” for her Engagement Ring Kite. We’re all so proud.

Not pictured is the winner of “Kite Clooney Award,” the award for the best looking Kite, because they weren’t present that day. Drats.

The post Kite Jam 2012 Redux!! appeared first on WebKite.

But now we’re working on getting our technology in front of even more users. We’ve seen this tool in action and we know how effective it can be when paired with a healthy set of data or the knowledge of an expert. And since everybody is an expert or enthusiast about something, why not open the platform to everyone? Hey, that’s exactly what we’re doing!

We’ve built a free version of WebKite so you can begin to construct a Kite about anything. Want to make a list of pizza places that’s sortable by “best sauce”? How about a directory of blogs that is easy to sort by according to preference? Or breathe new life into items you’ve reviewed? You can do it all with WebKite.

The free version isn’t quite ready yet. But the signup form is ready, which is just as exciting. Just visit the WebKite Beta page, plug in your email address and we’ll ping you when it’s ready for you. Not only will you be one of the first to use the free Kite platform, but we just received a large shipment of shirts and we just don’t know how to get rid of them…

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The holidays begin to ramp up in November which can often times directly relate to anxiety. There’s just too many decisions to be made: what to do for Thanksgiving? How to strategically shop Amazon in dark hours of Black Friday? How many spoonfuls of mashed potatoes do you dare eat? While we can’t help you with all the decisions, we used the technology of WebKite to help you find the best pie and sort through a sample of holiday gifts for kids. We were able to toss together these Kites in a short amount of time and we hope you find them useful. We want to do more of these, so if you have any ideas or suggestions leave a comment in this post and we’ll see what we can do.

One of the largest Kites we launched in November is the Top 100 Military Friendly Employers Kite. Working with Victory Media to turn their data into a sortable Kite was a tremendous opportunity. We learned a lot about our Kite building process and what clients look for to get the most out of their data. Fun fact: At one point there was an aircraft carrier involved in the announcement of the list, but the weather didn’t cooperate.  One day we’ll unveil a Kite on an aircraft carrier!

On the multimedia front, we’ve expanded our collection of helpful and informative videos by 100%. That’s right, we’ve added two new videos to our lineup. They both explore a different aspect of WebKite. One is about how WebKite can help make you money, and the other goes into detail about the decision aspect of the technology.

It’s been a wild few months at WebKite and the pace that we’ve developed and evolved is sometimes staggering to look back on. It’s really a testament to a well organized dev team and passion for what we’re creating at WebKite HQ! Stay tuned for some big announcements in December, we have some really neat things dangling from the tail of a high-flying Kite.

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