Maintained and developed the site for the next 12 years evolving it from Perl cgi-bin and file based data storage to Apache mod_perl & MySql data base.
- Created and continued to develop the original EzyDVD web site built with Perl cgi scripts on a shared server.
- Assisted the owner with initial marketing strategy. (replying to questions on newsgroups was the big one back then..)
- Rewrote the site, moving to a dedicated server running Apache with mod_perl to drastically increase the speed and capabilities of the site.
- Created the product search system as a custom “full text search” with relevancy weighting and the ability to detect common spelling mistakes (common now, but not so much back then).
- Created the shopping basket which could dynamically apply pricing deals to groups of products.
- Worked with Eway to develop their first “stored payments” system allowing us to take pre-orders without charging the customer (another first) which allowed us to negotiate bulk-buy discounts with distributors.
- Created an automated order processing system to easily process charges and generate PDF packing slips when pre-ordered titles became available for dispatch.
- Created an admin system to automatically track and control promotions according to stock levels and pre-set limits allowing staff to implement unlimited promotions and multi-buy deals.