Website Development

Rootwork designs engaging, accessible websites for social change. Websites are created through content-management systems such as Drupal and WordPress — meaning non-technical staff can easily update organizations' sites. Because Rootwork uses open-source CMSes, groups aren't locked in to proprietary systems and can easily find support from robust online development communities.

Exotica Jewelry

Screenshot: RingsForever.com
Screenshot: RingsForever.com titanium wedding ring
Screenshot: RingsForever.com titanium wedding ring detail
Screenshot: TitaniumBeads.com

Rootwork's Ivan Boothe created Exotica Jewelry's first presence on the web back in 1995, by establishing RingsForever.com. The website, which features Exotica's handcrafted titanium wedding rings, has gone through multiple iterations but remains the primary vehicle for the company's sales of titanium rings. Ivan designed the site from the ground up, including the custom design and implementation of Drupal's ecommerce platform.

In 2008, RingsForever.com was joined by a new site showcasing Exotica's hand-milled titanium beads, TitaniumBeads.com. This site uses a slightly-modified stock design and uses the Ubercart ecommerce system.

Ivan also sits on the board of directors of Exotica Jewelry.


Genocide Intervention Network

Screenshot: AskTheCandidates.org
Screenshot: The Genocide Intervention Network's MySpace page
Screenshot: DarfurScores.org
Screenshot: TimeToProtect.org events map

Rootwork helped the Genocide Intervention Network build out its social networking presence from the beginning, leading to widespread exposure and an engaged membership. In addition to social change outreach through a half-dozen different networks — Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, BlackPlanet, Eons and WiserEarth — utilizing social media from Flickr and YouTube, Rootwork also built the following campaign websites:

  • AskTheCandidates.org: Rootwork created this website from the ground-up through the Drupal content management system. We were responsible both for the technical implementation all components on the site as well as its design and layout.
  • DarfurScores.org: Also built on Drupal, Rootwork created the back-end and design of this congressional scorecard site.
  • TimeToProtect.org (no longer online): Focused on a fundraising campaign, Rootwork built this site and implemented an events map, connecting activists in their local communities. Over the course of the month-long campaign, student activists raised more than $100,000 through the Time to Protect website.

NetSquared 2008 Featured ProjectRootwork-created proposals for the Genocide Intervention Network were featured projects, nominated for awards at the 2007 and 2008 NetSquared Conferences.


Pendle Hill Peace Network

Although no longer active, Pendle Hill's network activated a broad range of people in the Philadelphia area around social change through a speaker's series on racial and economic justice. Rootwork's Ivan Boothe supported this series through a comprehensive website complete with images and video from each event, with online materials to supplement the forum series.