Every month is an opportunity to make a difference. While in December, inspired by the festive atmosphere, we are more eager to support those in need, it’s worthwhile to turn a one-time act of kindness into a habit and contribute regularly. We have been operating this way for years, and this month, following the wish of Katarzyna Bownik, a junior project manager in our company, we are providing financial support to the “Świetlik” association and the open-source project GIMP.
GIMP
GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a powerful and versatile tool for photo and graphic editing, effectively replacing commercial software. As emphasized by Katarzyna, it is a “free alternative for those who would like to edit graphics and photos legally and professionally in the comfort of their homes, on any operating system. It is a competitive program for both beginners and more experienced users, serving as an alternative to Photoshop.”
One of the key features of GIMP is its accessibility. It can be successfully installed on various operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. GIMP allows the community to report bugs, suggest improvements, and create add-ons, making the program continuously evolve and adapt to users’ needs.
Like many open-source projects, GIMP relies on the financial support of its community and a broad user base.
The Association for the Development and Support of People with Disabilities “Świetlik” in Matczyn
“Świetlik” is an association supporting the Social Welfare Home in Bełżyce, in the Lublin Voivodeship, focused on aiding young people and adults with intellectual disabilities. The association provides rehabilitation, 24-hour nursing care, access to specialist doctors, and special education. For the residents of the Social Welfare Home, a Daytime Activity Center has also been established, offering occupational therapy, including art, theater, and culinary workshops.
How will our company’s December support be allocated? “It will be used to prepare seasonal gifts for the residents of the Social Welfare Home, ensuring they experience this time joyfully and creating pleasant memories they can cherish even after the holiday season,” says Katarzyna.
In the November edition of our donations initiative, Szymon Gdula – Full-Stack Developer, who recently celebrated his first anniversary in our team – makes his debut as the selector. What projects will receive our support this month, following Szymon’s choice?
TypeORM
Szymon’s first choice is TypeORM, a programming library for working with databases in applications written in JavaScript and TypeScript. As often happens with the selections, Szymon chose software that he uses regularly, justifying his decision as follows: “It’s a backend library that makes working with databases easier and faster. I use it every day in Node.js.”
TypeORM, like many other ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) solutions, allows developers to work with data from the database in the form of objects. This technique not only increases productivity but also improves the quality of the code written and often helps to avoid errors occurring with direct access to databases.
The TypeORM project can be developed thanks to the financial support of the engaged community. Together with Szymon, we join them as part of this month’s edition of our initiative.
Forest Forever Foundation
The second organization Szymon chose to support is the Las Na Zawsze (Forest Forever) Foundation, which focuses on forest protection. „The foundation protects mature, rich forest ecosystems and plants young, biodiverse forests. I believe that in times of progressive degradation of the natural environment, the foundation’s activities are a noble and right thing,” says Szymon.
The Foundation not only plants new trees and protects existing forests from logging, but also conducts educational activities to increase society’s ecological awareness. The foundation’s employees and volunteers educate communities about forest protection, in accordance with the principle that prevention is better than cure.
As we do this month, you can support the foundation in its activities. Thanks to the joint effort, nearly 1,300,000 m² of forests all over Poland are now under the foundation’s care.
With over a decade of experience at Sidnet, Jakub Opara, our CFO, has had many occasions to designate recipients of our monthly donations. This month, Jakub chose two initiatives for us to support financially: a practical and valuable open-source project, KeePassXC, and the Warsaw Hospice for Children, which is a foundation Jakub has been advocating for the past years.
KeePassXC
KeePassXC is a free and open-source password manager available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is a community-developed fork of the original KeePassX project.
What makes Jakub use KeePassXC to manage his passwords?
Secure password storage
Open-source
Robust encryption algorithms to protect data
Local storage
Customization
Password Generator
Browser Integration
“Supporting KeePassXC by contributing code, bug reporting, or donations helps ensure its ongoing development and improvement.”, says Jakub, adding: “It also promotes using secure and privacy-conscious password management practices, which is crucial in an era of increasing online threats and data breaches.”
Warsaw Hospice for Children Foundation
Warsaw Hospice for Children Foundation aims to improve palliative care for children with terminal illnesses by providing care in their homes. It means that young patients can stay in their own homes instead of being in the hospital all the time. Caregivers from the hospice visit them at home.
Since 1994, the foundation has worked to improve the quality of life for these children and support their families. According to Jakub, “the foundation does not promise to extend the children’s lives or reduce their suffering. Instead, it helps them live their final moments with dignity.” The foundation aims to alleviate the physical and emotional pain of the patients. It also organizes fundraisers to provide care at home and supports grieving families.
September marks the end of vacation time for most of us and the start of new endeavors and obstacles. Our office manager, Małgorzata Łaszczych, is always prepared to take on any challenge, regardless of the season, while inspiring the rest of our team to do the same.
Unsurprisingly, Małgorzata chose to support Thunderbird, an email client whose benefits she uses daily, and the Lower Silesian Animal Protection Inspectorate, which rescues animals in need—a cause she feels deeply about. Thanks to Małgorzata, we will financially support both of these projects.
Thunderbird
Thunderbird is a free and open-source e-mail client and message management application created by Mozilla Corporation. It is available on various platforms, including Windows, macOS and Linux. It is an extensive e-mail management tool that allows users to receive, send, and manage e-mail messages.
“As an office manager, I receive a lot of e-mails, and part of my communication, both with clients and accounting, takes place through this channel. Thanks to Thunderbird, I receive email notifications on an ongoing basis, regardless of the web browser chosen. I know I won’t miss anything, and I don’t have to look directly into my inbox to see if any new important message is waiting. This tool makes my work much easier, and I recommend it to every new employee during the implementation process.”—explains Gosia and adds: “I can create separate folders for messages and catalog them, or quickly mark their priority – it’s very handy.”
Thunderbird is an attractive solution for people who value open-source, flexibility, and availability on various platforms and those looking for a free alternative to other e-mail clients.
DIOZ
The DIOZ Association (Lower Silesian Animal Protection Inspectorate) operates especially in the Silesia region in Poland. It carries out dozens of interventions, rescues injured animals from pathological environments, provides them with care, and implements necessary treatment.
“With its everyday perseverance and charisma, DIOZ has already saved many animals from the hands of bestial owners. Their activities cost them a lot- they have repeatedly risked their health and lives! But the members of the Association do not give up,” says Małgorzata, adding: “There are videos of the intervention on social media, and when I watch them, I often have tears in my eyes, and uncensored words come to mind. People who harm animals cannot be called humans. They are beasts. Starving dogs, cats, and farm animals that live in their excrements reproduce without control and die in suffering. Thanks to DIOZ, they have a chance for a better life. By supporting the foundation financially, we give them such an opportunity.”
You can stay updated on the association’s activities by following them on Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, you can support them by purchasing goods from the shop or making a bank transfer.
Summer holidays are slowly coming to an end, but we continue to help. In August, it is Emil, a Python and Golang Developer who has been part of our remote team for over three years, chooses the initiatives as part of the monthly #SidnetDonations action.
What open-source and non-profit projects will we support according to our developer’s wishes?
The Mozilla Foundation
The Mozilla Foundation has been working for an open and accessible Internet for 20 years. The list of its numerous projects and ventures includes, among others, the development and maintenance of the Firefox browser, of which Emil is a faithful user. Primarily, for this reason, he chose the Foundation.
“The browser market is dominated by large corporations, especially Google with its Chrome and Apple with Safari. For me, using Firefox is not only an alternative but a choice of freedom from monopoly,” – says Emil.
“I use Firefox in both desktop and mobile versions. I especially appreciate the feature of synchronizing browsing history between devices, and the ability to easily transfer an open page to another device,” – adds our programmer.
Thanks to the organizational and financial support of the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox not only does not lag behind the rival browsers of the powerful competition but also often blazes new trails and is the first to introduce innovative features and technical solutions.
The Legal Protection of Animals Lex Nova Foundation
The Foundation was established over a decade ago in order to disseminate knowledge of the principles contained in the World Declaration of Animal Rights announced by UNESCO in Paris in 1978 and other provisions regarding the legal protection of animals in Poland.
The organization supports activities in the field of animal and environmental protection, in particular:
Counteracting all forms of cruelty and violence against animals
Activities for the humane treatment of animals, their protection, and care
Shaping pro–ecological attitudes in society through educational activities
Taking action to build and strengthen a civic control system in the field of animal and environmental protection.
Emil adds that “the goal of the foundation is also educational activity in the direction of counteracting the phenomena of violence and aggression, also directed at people”.
Even during the summer holidays, we remain committed to providing financial support for chosen open-source and non-profit initiatives. As part of our ongoing campaign, Marcin Tabaka, an experienced lead developer, has selected two ventures to receive our assistance this July.
Marcin chose Django, a framework that simplifies web application development using pre-built components. At Marcin’s request, we also support Feliks, a lovable four-legged companion at the Pomagaj Pomagać Różaland Association.
Django
Django is a powerful tool that helps you build web applications. It’s like a set of ready-to-use components that makes web development more accessible and efficient.
‘In recent years, I have been participating mainly in projects based on this framework, so it was my first choice of an open-source project that we can support.’ – says Marcin.
Using Django, developers can create different parts of a website, such as feature modules and databases, in a tidy and organized way. It provides support for functions such as:
– Storing and retrieving data from the database
– Managing user accounts and permissions
– Displaying dynamic content on pages.
Django also allows you to equip a website or application with an admin panel easily. It acts as the website’s control center, allowing the website owner to effectively manage content and make changes without writing any code.
Overall, Django simplifies web development by providing a structured approach and out-of-the-box components, making it easier for developers to create robust and functional websites without having to start from scratch.
The Pomagaj Pomagać Różaland Association
Feliks, a charming mongrel, found himself under the care of The Pomagaj Pomagać Różaland Association after wandering through one of the Łódź communes for several months. When volunteers found him, he was severely malnourished and suffered a pelvic injury.
While the precise details of Felix’s past remain unknown, it is easy to surmise that his journey was far from easy. However, despite his challenging circumstances, he exudes cheerful and puppy joy. There is a pressing need for financial support to provide Feliks with proper nourishment, medications, and essential vitamins.
Marcin has chosen to support this specific fundraiser because ‘it is a chance for real help in saving an animal.’
Technology and empathy can intersect, as proven by the choices of our full-stack developer, Michał Zbytniewski. This month he singled out the open-source and charity projects that will receive our financial support. Prettier, a code formatting tool, and Compassion in World Farming, an animal protection organization, may seem unrelated, but both slightly improve the world.
Let’s examine how Prettier’s approach to code formatting and Compassion in World Farming’s efforts are making a difference in their respective fields.
Prettier
Prettier is a popular and widely used code formatting tool. It helps developers maintain consistent and clean code styles across their projects. It formats code automatically, regardless of the programmer’s preferences or personal coding style.
It supports various programming languages, including JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, HTML, and many others, making it versatile for different project needs.
When using Prettier, developers can spend less time manually formatting their code. Instead, Prettier analyzes the code and automatically applies predefined rules to format it consistently.
‘We use it in many front-end projects. Literally, with the click of a button, every developer on the team, regardless of experience level and the editor used, can boast professional-looking, readable, and stylistically consistent code’,Michał adds.
Prettier improves code readability and minimizes potential errors by enforcing a consistent style. Overall, Prettier simplifies the code formatting process, saves time, and helps maintain a clean and professional code base.
Compassion in World Farming
Compassion in World Farming is a global non-profit organization dedicated to improving the welfare and treatment of animals in the agricultural industry. Founded in 1967, it advocates for ethical and sustainable farming practices, putting animal welfare, the environment, and human health first. The organization works for a world where people treat farmed animals with compassion and respect.
CIWF aims to end factory farming and promote humane and sustainable farming systems. The organization conducts research, investigations, and campaigns to raise awareness about issues related to intensive farming practices and their harmful effects. CIWF works closely with governments, companies, and consumers to encourage policy changes, legislative reforms, and industry standards that support animal welfare.
CIWF also provides guidance and resources to farmers to help them transition to more humane and sustainable farming practices. ‘I’m counting on the organization’s work on publicizing the problems of industrial animal agriculture, education, and introducing appropriate regulations to reduce the negative environmental impact of animal agriculture,’ Michał concludes.
This month marks 11 years since we started our monthly donation initiative. To date, Sidnet has donated more than 130 times to open-source projects and charitable causes nominated by team members.
The campaign’s initiator, Michał Wojciechowski, renews his choice from the first edition of #SidnetDonations, supporting FreeBSD and Przystan Ocalenie. Our CEO stresses that these two foundations have been constantly operating since we included them in 2012, persistently pursuing their goals.
FreeBSD Foundation
The FreeBSD Foundation has been in operation since 2001, developing the operating system of the same name. While FreeBSD as an open-source system remains in the shadow of the hugely popular Linux, its existence was instrumental in the birth of many other operating systems popular today.
Systems such as macOS and iOS used in Apple devices or TrueNAS (a free system for managing network disk resources) are based on FreeBSD’s source code.
“In our company, we have been using FreeBSD on several servers from the beginning, providing basic services needed for daily work, such as e-mail and LDAP.” – Michal emphasizes.
Przystan Ocalenie Foundation
Przystan Ocalenie (Harbour of Rescue) is a shelter for horses, farm animals, and many others. The foundation’s dedicated team works tirelessly to provide care, shelter, and the proper treatment for Poland’s abandoned, injured and abused animals.
The foundation’s activities and the pursuit of its mission to save animals’ lives are based solely on donations and the work of volunteers. On the Przystań Ocalenie website, there is an active store. Anyone can contribute to help the animals get the necessary vitamins, feeds, or vegetables. We encourage you to support them – spending even a small amount can improve their living conditions.
Let’s see–your website is already running in the top search results. Your site’s visitors increase monthly, but user engagement is surprisingly low.
Many websites, web apps, and online shop owners face the same problem–insufficient user engagement. The growing number of potential customers browsing your website does not translate into the desired activities, such as leaving a comment, rating a product, sending an inquiry, or purchasing.
If you want to increase user engagement on your website–we will tell you how.
Why Is User Engagement so Meaningful?
The answer is simple: every interaction users have with your website builds your relationship. The better your users feel about your website, the better their experience of that interaction, translating into favorable opinions about your company, product, or service.
You can benefit from such positive feedback from your website users and soon-to-be customers. They wish to communicate with your brand and are looking for various ways to interact with it. As they visit your site more often, you can find ways to dialogue with your company, express an opinion, and feel an important part of the community created around it.
If you enable them to engage, users will likely be eager to spread good word of mouth about your brand. It usually results in a growing number of visitors to your website, as well as committed users and spokesmen of your brand.
This ideal scenario–getting visitors who actively spend time on your site and recommend it to others–is achievable in any industry and for any website, app, or online shop. How do you make it happen? Continue reading.
Make It About Your Users
When users have problems, they look for a quick fix online. If you know how to solve them, share this on your website.
Be user-centric. Be helpful and share your knowledge. Provide your users with solution-oriented content to address doubts regarding your brand. If the users find your content useful and valuable, they will share it.
Regularly publishing valuable content is the fastest way to elevate user engagement on your website. After all, you decide what is worth posting on your page or through your web app. However, well-tailored content is sometimes enough to keep your website visitors involved.
Keep Your Website Easy To Use
A well-designed website is easy to navigate, well-designed, and allows reactions and interactions intuitively. To make the experience of users gushing through your site the best it can be and translate into higher engagement, mind these factors:
Easy Navigation
Easy access to information is the key to attracting and increasing user engagement. Your website’s proper arrangement allows the user to reach the desired content quickly. If you design the information architecture correctly, users will move through web pages smoothly. They will keep track and save time.
Furthermore, when you plan the user flow poorly, visitors will leave immediately. Good content is crucial, as it can convert first-time visitors into loyal customers. Ensure that the most relevant content is close to the users. If access to the information the user seeks is challenging, they will return to the search engine and probably your competitors’ websites. Accessibility of data is the key to attracting and increasing user engagement on your site.
Good Looks
We all know how important the first impression is. The better your site looks, the more reliable and trustworthy it will appear to the users.
The visual aspect of your website should be consistent with your brand. Ensure your content and graphics are readable and clear so the visitors feel safe. Large blocks of text, low-quality photos, and unclear navigation can discourage users from interacting with the website.
High-quality Content
Thoughtfully planned website content is a must. If you present it properly, it will be effective and increase user engagement. Therefore, add hints and tips on your topic to make it work. That will help the users learn about your brand.
Provide blog articles with a table of content for easy reading, link articles on similar or trending topics, and create a know-how page or a FAQ section. Make each ‘call to action’ visible (e.g., newsletter subscriptions, ebook, or report download), and add ‘click-to-call’ buttons. Verify if the content is displayed correctly on every laptop, tablet, and mobile device.
Let the Users Interact with Your Brand
Website users love expressing their opinions–prepare places where they can comment or react to your content. It would be wise to find some room for them to do so on your websites. You can quickly propel their engagement by adding a comment section and a share button at the end of each blog article.
If you manage an online shop, allow users to review and rate the products. It may also be a good idea to create a separate platform for the users if it fits your brand’s character. A forum or a fan page could be a perfect place for users to share their emotions and interests. Built-in live chat will also increase user engagement on the website.
Once you have addressed the ‘front-end’ issues, let’s look at the website backstage and see how you can increase user engagement and make it user-friendly overall.
Does Page Loading Speed Affect User Engagement?
Statistics show that 90% of the users will leave your website if it loads for 5 seconds. If it takes even more time for your page to appear on the screen, the users will simply give up browsing it.
In May 2021, Google updated its algorithm for Core Web Vitals. The improved algorithm is expected to assess better the quality of the user experience of any website and rank higher sites that:
Quickly display elements such as text, images, or videos
Allow users to navigate the site efficiently
Avoid sudden shifts of content on the screen
Again, page speed influences the website’s usability. It is significant in the same way as the page navigation pattern. A well-designed website will address the mentioned metrics and focus on improving the user experience by shortening the page loading time. Quick access to information is crucial for users and can significantly influence their commitment to the brand. If you care to increase user engagement on the website do not make them wait!
Check If Your Activities on Increasing User Engagement on the Website Are Effective
To audit the effectiveness and usability of content implemented on your website, you can track simple metrics with free website statistics analysis tools. When you want to measure the increasing engagement of the users on your website, it would be helpful to define events or activities that are strategic for your business and the type of website.
Suppose you are a pro in your industry, developing a corporate blog. In that case, you should regularly check the following:
The bounce rate
The average time spent by a user on a given page
Traffic source
The number of comments
Shares for your articles
For large e-commerce websites, you will recognize user involvement by tracking the shopping carts, interactions with product pages, and the growing number of ratings and reviews.
The array of handy metrics to assess your on-site actions is much more significant. If you plan to engage the users even more, also check the following indicators:
Number of visits
Number of page views
Number of unique users
Number of active / returning / registered users
Conversion rate
An adequately connected analytic tool can provide valuable insights into your online activities. You can quickly assess what content your users like and what is not interesting for them. You can identify sub-pages that engage users poorly or cause them to abandon further action on the site.
Well-designed Website Increases Satisfaction and User Commitment
Creating a user-friendly, intuitive, and visually appealing website can improve your online presence, reach more customers and ultimately grow your business. It takes expertise and time to design such a website, app, or online shop that is effective for business.
Outsourcing this part of the job may be a good idea. It helps business owners and retailers who, knowing their industries, are aware of the benefits an online presence will bring. A well-designed website will reduce frustration and improve user experience, increasing user satisfaction. Furthermore, it will translate into more satisfied users who will spend more time on the site, return to it and recommend it to others.
If your company does not have a trusted web development partner, when choosing one, pay attention to their:
Range of the services provided
Understanding of the business side of the project
High communication skills
Portfolio of completed projects
If you like what you see, they may be an excellent technological partner to develop your website.
You may already have a website or online shop operating for a while now, and neither needs any significant amendments. In this case, look for a development team that provides consulting services like website audits. After carefully examining your page, they will suggest necessary modifications, e.g., increasing the efficiency and security of the website or improving its visual side.
As you can see, increasing user engagement on your website is a process. Constant testing and monitoring of implemented changes and user reactions allow you to find and fix the weak points of your website. Expert data analysis makes finding promising or innovative ways to activate website users easy. Tasks related to increasing user engagement also involve teamwork. You provide business insight. We at Sidnet provide skills and knowledge on how to build engaging websites.
Contact us today, and let’s create a great website together!
Contributions to an open-source project can take many forms: bug reports, code fixes, documentation updates, etc. But for our PHP developer, Gabriela Walczyk, the best way to give back to the community was to choose Git–an essential tool for developers to support financially this month.
In addition to the open-source projects, we donate monthly to charity. Gabriela aims to make a positive impact as effectively as possible. For this reason, The Hunger Project–fighting hunger and poverty–seemed an obvious choice for her, so it will also receive our support.
Git
Git is an open-source project and a tool allowing developers to manage changes to a source code and collaborate on software development projects.
“It’s a vital tool for programmers,” says Gabriela, adding: “Git enables multiple people to work on the same code simultaneously. It also allows us to go back through the history of changes and makes completing tasks less stressful. If something goes wrong–changes can always quickly roll back. Once you start using it, you can’t imagine working without it.”
The key feature of Git is the ability to work offline. Each developer has a local copy of the repository to work on independently. Later changes can be merged back into the main repository when they are ready to be shared.
Some other Git features include:
Support for multiple users
Built-in conflict resolution tools
Support for annotated tags
The ability to manage large files
Git has become a popular choice for version control in the software development industry. Companies such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft and open-source projects use it. However, many available tools and services integrate with Git, such as GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab.
The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project is a global organization fighting hunger and poverty across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Its mission is to provide those in need with the necessary tools, knowledge, and resources to achieve sustainable progress.
“According to UNdata, from early 2022, 850 million people are at risk of dying of hunger, and this number has been increasing instead of decreasing over recent years. Martin Caparrós tells the story of many of these people in his reportage, ‘Hunger.’ He looks closer at the causes and consequences of extreme malnutrition and gives the problem the face of suffering people. After reading this book, my choice of organization was obvious. The Hunger Project considers the broad spectrum of the problem and seeks to eradicate the root of it through its actions.”, explains Gabriela.
There are three pillars of The Hunger Project:
Empowering women
Mobilizing communities for self-reliant action
Supporting effective partnerships with local government
By engaging communities, the organization helps to identify their needs and aspirations and works with them to develop strategies to achieve their goals. The organization also provides training and resources to help individuals and communities build the skills and knowledge needed to take action. Finally, The Hunger Project works with other organizations, governments, and the private sector to create a global network of supporters committed to ending hunger and poverty.
