The problem I have with a lot of these systems is that they’re very bulky. Sometimes you need a solution that is much smaller and won’t be daunting for your client the first time they log in to the admin area to edit their website. That’s where Perch steps in. Perch ‘the really little content management system’ is aimed at sites that don’t need a huge CMS. It’s quick to install, very designer friendly and has a nice price too (£35+VAT).

There are a couple of reason why I like Perch so much. Firstly, it’s very quick to install and setup – I recently converted a small 6 page static html website to being fully content managed in an afternoon (and that was the first time I’d ever used it!). Secondly, the admin area is a breath of fresh air. It’s simple, intuitive, brandable and very user friendly, there’s no need to give clients a walk through of the system which makes my job that little bit easier.

Of course, there is room for improvement with Perch. At the moment, as it’s fairly new to the market the support is still growing and it doesn’t have the large community that some of the larger CMS’s have. That said, the responses I’ve had from the support team have always been very quick and helpful. It would be great to see some more tutorials on the Perch site to see how far it can be pushed.

All in all, I would definitely recommend Perch to anyone looking for a simple content management system to add to a small website!

http://grabaperch.com/

After a few days of testing it quickly became apparent that FreeAgent was a great fit for my business. I’m not going to have an in depth look at every feature that FreeAgent offers, the trial can do a better job of that than I ever will, but what I will try and do is explain why I rate it so highly.

First and foremost, FreeAgent is a UK based business. The software understands UK business and tax better than any of it’s competitors, it’s all very straightforward and intuitive. Right from the off it really feels like it’s tailored to your business, you’re prompted to choose your business type: Sole Trader, Partnership or Limited Company after which the interface changes to meet your requirements.

FreeAgent’s dashboard provides you a great overview of all that’s happening with your business – open/overdue invoices, projects with unbilled time, profit and loss for the year so far, recent timeslips, and open/recently approved estimates. If that doesn’t float your boat, you can customise the overview page to meet your needs.

Another great feature is the ability to import your electronic bank statements and explain transactions as money in or money out. As you begin to use this feature you really notice it’s worth as FreeAgent learns from your explanations and starts to save you the time, while at the same time building a picture of the money coming in and going out of your account.

Finally, FreeAgent offers all the usual features that you would expect from an online accounting service – estimates, expenses, invoices, reminders, time tracking and contact management. And it does them all very well.

Pricing & Discount Code

Take a look at FreeAgent, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed – FreeAgent starts at £15/month with a free 30 day trial and you can get a 10% discount by clicking this link or by entering this code into your FreeAgent trial account – 362gj3oe.

So finally, along comes Adobe Browserlab and I love it! It’s fast, gives you multiple browsers to choose from (all the major players), allows you to compare screenshots from different browsers side by side or even use a very slick onion skin method to overlay them.

So far so good!