[ic] some praise where praise is due

[Thomas J.M. Burton]

> All too often we only hear complaints when things don't
> go so well, and very little praise is given where it is due.
...snip...
> Thanks again to all the people that have helped me
> with various things through this list.
> --
> Aaron

I'm in complete agreement here too. To date I've developed a total of
17 Web sites driven by Minivend or Interchange. When we were first
contracted to develop an e-commerce site, I spent a lot of time
searching for a package that would allow the flexibility to completely
customize and integrate the e-comm components with the rest of the
site. Nothing came close to meeting my needs until I was introduced to
Minivend.

Not only is MV/IC flexible enough to be totally customized on the front
end, but it's also robust enough to address any and every need that's
come up in the variety of projects that I've used it for (from
e-commerce catalog to a "virtual tour" of an artist's studio). As I've
mentioned in other posts to this list, I'm not a programmer by trade.
I'm trained in the graphic arts but have enough computer knowledge and
experience to hack my way through customizing simple PERL scripts and
the like (and I continue to learn).

For several of the solutions I've developed to address the needs of
various projects, I've taken my own approach and broken off of the
paved MV/IC road. As I've worked more and more with IC, I've been
learning every step of the way about the "right" and "wrong" ways to do
things (with much appreciated help from Mike Heins, Kevin Walsh, and
others on this list). My most recent projects involving IC forced me
into using the existing features of the foundation catalog and admin
component and now, based on what I've learned from those experiences,
I've got a list of some improvements to make to the solutions I've
developed in the past.

True, IC's documentation could be improved -- and I'm sure it will be
over time (it's difficult to document something of this caliber in the
first place). True, there are some topics that people are frequently
asking about but the answers lie buried or cannot be found. But all in
all, Interchange is a great system and it more than meets my needs.

All who have contributed to the development of Interchange and keeping
it alive through all that's happened over the last few years deserve
many thanks from all of us who make use of this system.

And for those of you who have read this far, I thank you for hearing me
out. I was going to write a quick response, but just couldn't express
what I wanted to in so few words.

Mike Heins, and all the rest, THANK YOU and keep up the great work!


Sincerely,
Tom Burton

___________________________________
Thomas J.M. Burton, Design/Production
Global Focus Digital Media, LLC
www.globalfocusdm.com
[541] 342.5717