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2023-12-31T00:00:00Z
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https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-12-31/our-approach-to-dashboards
Our approach to dashboards
2023-12-31T00:00:00Z
2023-12-31T00:00:00Z
Emma Eynon
How we work to craft client visualisations in SkySpark.
<h2 id="whatIsItLikeToWorkWithUsOnSkySparkDashboards">What is it like to work with us on SkySpark dashboards?</h2>
<p>We have been lucky enough to work with many clients over the past 4 years on SkySpark development projects. Most of these have involved visualisations and dashboards which has given our team a wealth of experience on the subject.</p>
<p>For those of you who have not yet worked with us, or perhaps anyone else on SkySpark development, we'd like to share our approach and best practice on planning and creating new visualisations.</p>
<h3 id="phase1RequirementsGathering">Phase 1. Requirements gathering</h3>
<p>Sounds pretty simple when you start out. Many people believe a dashboard should be "one-stop shop" and you can show energy analytics next to your fault detection and monitoring sections.</p>
<p>.... and of course you can, but ....</p>
<p><strong>For a high quality dashboard, there are several areas to really consider in depth:</strong></p>
<h4 id="aDataUse-WhatWillThisDataBeUsedFor">a.) Data use - what will this data be used for?</h4>
<p>We find the best dashboards are clear in purpose so have an <strong>analytical</strong> view for your executives, and keep a separate <strong>monitoring</strong> view for your engineering team. Not only does this streamline the data to show, (with subsequent rules and axon functions,) but it helps to focus the user group too.</p>
<p><strong>Gotcha</strong> - some previous clients have over-engineered their dashboards with mixed purpose and too much information and as a result found their users don't <strong>use</strong> them!</p>
<h4 id="bAudience-WhoWillBenefitFromTheDisplayedDataPractically">b.) Audience - who will benefit from the displayed data practically?</h4>
<p>Tailoring designs for an actual use group makes it more likely they will adopt using your dashboard. Consider your user journeys and SkySpark experience.</p>
<p>Do the executives in a corporate suite really need to see current faults and alarms? We find they generally just want the key statistics - saving them time on investigation and clicking around. On-site engineers responding to a fault may just want nice big basic alarms to show on a mobile device, on which they can easily click and navigate to other screens, like Recommended Actions for example.</p>
<p><strong>Gotcha</strong> - mixing the user journeys often leads to a poor experience for all parties. Previous clients have mixed the data use, visuals, and web page design, for different audiences. Not only did they have negative feedback from users, but they then found it hard to accommodate for feature changes and scalability.</p>
<h4 id="cVisuals-HowMuchDoesSkySparkNeedToChangeVisually">c.) Visuals - how much does SkySpark need to change visually?</h4>
<p>In our experience, this tends to be the number one reason for clients to request custom dashboards and visualisations in SkySpark. But how much do you really need to change?</p>
<p>Working with digital media can be a minefield. As an example, displaying a simple photo is not so simple when you need to display the visuals on a mobile screen and on boardroom conference screen sizes. Investing into a custom SkySpark view becomes less effective if your visuals are a poor quality or become unusable on different device types.</p>
<p>The goal is to have high quality visuals, no matter how your user is accessing these displays. To do this, you need to create appropriate digital media files to the highest quality and standards to avoid issues.</p>
<p>This may be "bread and butter" for a computer services company like ours, but we find that many Buildings and Controls companies lack the internal competencies to handle this in-house.</p>
<p><strong>Gotcha</strong> - using poor quality or inappropriate digital image files can reduce the impact of your shiny new dashboard. In our earlier days, clients would provide us with a suite of read-made image files, only for us to find they were too poor quality to use. Creating replacement image files can impact on project delivery time so we now always check ahead!</p>
<h4 id="dDataFeeds-CanYouSupplyTheDataYouWantToShow">d.) Data feeds - can you supply the data you want to show?</h4>
<p>Dashboards rarely show pure direct data feeds from points, like one sensor temperature. They tend to involve rolled up analytical data or filtered conditional data, like how much electricity has cost for a building for a specified time period.</p>
<p>This kind of data requires programmatical rules in SkySpark to calculate these figures. In fact, it's the whole basis of SkySpark - giving us powerful and intelligent data for analytics and monitoring.</p>
<p>Companies often make the mistake of designing fantastical new dashboards, without really considering if they can reliably and consistently attain the data to show. Often, the varying code contribution from different programmers over time can overcomplicate and clutter your SkySpark Axon functions. Not all of these data issues are obvious unless you check your LINTING view and can cause issues later down the line.</p>
<p>It is ALWAYS worth investing in a data review and "checkup" to groom and improve your SkySpark Axon code. There is no better time to do this than before a new dashboard launch!</p>
<p><strong>Gotcha</strong> - unoptimised Axon code in SkySpark can cause unreliable data, slow performance, and error messages on your dashboards.</p>
<p class="lead">The good news is that we guide all of our clients through these considerations in the Gathering Requirements phase. We can do the heavy lifting for any of these preparatory tasks and work with your team to share best practices for the future.</p>
<hr>
<h3 id="phase2MockupDesigns">Phase 2. Mockup designs</h3>
<p>Now that we know what you need, it's our turn to impress and excite you about your options.</p>
<p>At this stage, we work out the most effective technical architecture <strong>using as much native functionality as possible</strong>.</p>
<p>We then wireframe the proposed screens and graphics for building to give you appropriate time to review, discuss further with us, and amend if needed. Our designs will also offer our own recommended User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) options.</p>
<p>Alternatively at this stage, we may instead review and adopt designs provided by clients to a level of fine detail, offering our own revisions until we hit the "sweet spot".</p>
<h3 id="phase3SoftwareBuildAndCollaboration">Phase 3. Software build and collaboration</h3>
<p>We never build and test against a live SkySpark environment - it's bad practice for many reasons. Instead, we will ask you for a sample of your SkySpark data which should include all of the typical data examples your dashboard will need to handle.</p>
<p>We work "offline" to build each widget; first for functionality, and then for form. This means we make sure the widget will work with all variances of sampled data before we refine the graphics and iconography.</p>
<p>When we are happy with each developed widget <em>(also known as an Agile development sprint)</em> we invite you to review and test it in your own development environment as we concurrently start on the next one.</p>
<p>This process ensures we capture all relevant feedback at early stages and keep development flowing at a progressive rate. We find it often prompts further thought and new feature requests which can also be accommodated much easier at this point!</p>
<h3 id="phase4DeliveryAndSupport">Phase 4. Delivery and support</h3>
<p>After we send over the final software revision our support for your business doesn't end there. The software is now yours to keep and we're always at hand to help with more <a href="/skyspark-services">SkySpark Assistance</a>.</p>
<p>Work with us over a longer term and reap the benefits of more efficient SkySpark data, optimised performance handling, and future proofing.</p>
<p class="textAlign-left"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Our SkySpark services</a></p>
<p class="textAlign-right"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-12-30/dashboard-for-high-rises
Dashboard for High Rises
2023-12-30T00:00:00Z
2023-12-30T00:00:00Z
Emma Eynon
Dashboard build details and considerations.
<h2 id="skySparkVisualisationsForEnergyPerformanceInHighRiseBuildings">SkySpark visualisations for energy performance in high rise buildings</h2>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/bENVRw/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-site.png"><img src="/coldFeet/bENVRw/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-site.png" alt="Sonrai site dashboard" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h3 id="clientBrief">Client brief</h3>
<p>Our client provides energy performance services for a portfolio of high rise buildings. They approached us to create a suite of sophisticated visualisations for SkySpark data.</p>
<p>The main aim of these visualisations was to provide easy access to key data for building owners and tenants. There was an extensive range of visualisation and data requirements which was broken down into iterative project developments.</p>
<blockquote><p>The client provided a full suite of professionally designed visualisations to replicate and a detailed list of data requirements for these displays.</p></blockquote>
<p>Our task was to translate how these designs and requirements could be accommodated for, and even improved on, with SkySpark.</p>
<p><em>Note: This project has evolved over a number of stages and the software has been released as a commercial product. For our client's business requirements, we built these SkySpark views within a bespoke web application hosted in Fantom website, connecting to SkySpark for all the data. This article displays the same styling within the SkySpark application instead.</em></p>
<h3 id="dashboardRequirements">Dashboard Requirements</h3>
<div class="table responsive sm"><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Audience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Building owners and tenants.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Data use</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Monitoring, performance, fault detection, and energy analytics.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Visuals</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Stunning and sophisticated, replicating the client's graphic designs.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Experience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>To provide a smooth high-end experience of accessing the data.</strong></p>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h3 id="designConsiderations">Design considerations</h3>
<p>To replicate sophisticated graphic designs as closely as possible over 5 view screens.</p>
<p>Using custom made SVG files (Scalable Vector Graphics) for better image performance.</p>
<p>A bespoke theme with background imagery and tailored clickable actions.</p>
<p>A boxed and shadowed tiled effect for page layouts.</p>
<p>A tailored colour range building on the traffic light system to help indicate performance.</p>
<p>Optimised for different screen sizes and including a specific kiosk mode for displaying data in lobby and reception areas on large screens.</p>
<h3 id="buildTasks">Build tasks</h3>
<p>For this project our tasks involved:</p>
<ul><li>Custom SVGs for high resolution images</li><li>Full frontend Fantom-based web application creation</li><li>Integration with SkySpark via API calls using Weblets</li><li>Assisting with writing Axon functions for gathering and formatting data for display</li><li>Assisting with data cleansing for quality improvements</li></ul>
<h3 id="deployment">Deployment</h3>
<p>We (Fantom Factory) built the dashboard in iterative stages for each widget, testing against a comprehensive sample of SkySpark data.</p>
<h3 id="imageGallery">Image gallery</h3>
<div style="display:flex; flex-wrap:wrap; gap:2rem;">
<a target="_blank" href="/coldFeet/bENVRw/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-site.png">
<img loading="lazy" src="/coldFeet/nuoq2w/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-site-thumb.png" alt="Sonrai site view">
</a>
<a target="_blank" href="/coldFeet/FwKkEA/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-dashboard.png">
<img loading="lazy" src="/coldFeet/eUSeiw/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-dashboard-thumb.png" alt="Sonrai dashboard view">
</a>
<a target="_blank" href="/coldFeet/rwBZXQ/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-analytics.png">
<img loading="lazy" src="/coldFeet/lLHg7A/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-analytics-thumb.png" alt="Sonrai analytics view">
</a>
<a target="_blank" href="/coldFeet/afj5bA/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-charts.png">
<img loading="lazy" src="/coldFeet/TusUZw/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-charts-thumb.png" alt="Sonrai charts view">
</a>
<a target="_blank" href="/coldFeet/GkOv5g/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-reports.png">
<img loading="lazy" src="/coldFeet/RXcJcA/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/sonrai-reports-thumb.png" alt="Sonrai reports view">
</a>
</div>
<h3 id="clientFeedback">Client feedback</h3>
<p>Our client was amazed that we were able to replicate their designs EXACTLY. They loved how we did all the heavy lifting for them and involved them at all the right stages for testing and feedback.</p>
<h3 id="dashboardSparkles">Dashboard Sparkles</h3>
<p>See how the colours and icons change with data variances in the final result:</p>
<div class="youtubeVideo"><div class="el-frame" style="--el-frame-width:16; --el-frame-height:9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z7Xi2oNoHs8" allowfullscreen allow="fullscreen" style="border: none;" title="dashboard sparkle video"></iframe></div></div>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Book a call with us</a></p>
<hr>
<h4 id="furtherReading">Further reading</h4>
<blockquote><p>Our approach to dashboards. <a href="/articles/2023-12-31/our-approach-to-dashboards"><img src="/coldFeet/TgCdkQ/article-assets/2023-12-30/images/dashboard-approach-tile.png" alt="approach article thumb" loading="lazy"></a></p></blockquote>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-12-29/dashboard-for-medical-rooms
Dashboard for Medical Rooms
2023-12-29T00:00:00Z
2023-12-29T00:00:00Z
Emma Eynon
Dashboard build details and considerations.
<h2 id="aSkySparkDashboardForMedicalRoomComplianceData">A SkySpark dashboard for medical room compliance data.</h2>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/SGDaHg/article-assets/2023-12-29/images/medical-dashboard.png"><img src="/coldFeet/SGDaHg/article-assets/2023-12-29/images/medical-dashboard.png" alt="medical room dashboard" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h3 id="clientBrief">Client brief</h3>
<p>Our client provides energy performance services for a portfolio of hospitals and medical establishments. They approached us to create a suite of sophisticated visualisations for compliance information figures.</p>
<p>This example details a dashboard view we were asked to create for medical room compliance data. The project was based on the example of Pharmacies although it could be applied to other kinds.</p>
<p>They provided us with an incredibly useful design of their requirements: <a href="/coldFeet/Vcfz2A/article-assets/2023-12-29/images/pharmacy-mockup.png"><img src="/coldFeet/Vcfz2A/article-assets/2023-12-29/images/pharmacy-mockup.png" alt="pharmacy mockup" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h3 id="dashboardRequirements">Dashboard Requirements</h3>
<div class="table responsive sm"><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Audience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Executives and project managers.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Data use</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Analytics for building compliance data.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Visuals</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Clear and easy to read with sophisticated graphics.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Experience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>To provide an easy and "upgraded" SkySpark experience.</strong></p>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h3 id="designConsiderations">Design considerations</h3>
<p>To simplify their existing dashboard mockup and upgrade the visuals to a more sophisticated way of displaying data in a dashboard.</p>
<p>To show data for different historical date ranges.</p>
<p>A light theme to match the native SkySpark theming.</p>
<p>A boxed tile format assists with "at-a-glance" reading for each data section. The tiles were given rounded corners and shadows to help break up the tile sections.</p>
<p>A bright traffic light colour scheme to highlight areas of concern.</p>
<p>Optimised for different screen sizes.</p>
<p>Customisable view data with Axon code.</p>
<h3 id="buildTasks">Build tasks</h3>
<p>For this project our tasks involved:</p>
<ul><li>Writing Stub Axon functions</li><li>Adding updates to internal libraries for card-style displays</li><li>Writing a custom Fantom-based view card</li><li>Assisting with data cleansing for quality improvements</li></ul>
<h3 id="deployment">Deployment</h3>
<p>We (Fantom Factory) built the dashboard in iterative stages for each widget, testing against a comprehensive sample of SkySpark data.</p>
<p>The dashboard is delivered to the client as a .pod file which they can install as a simple SkySpark extension.</p>
<p>After testing each deliverable on their development SkySpark server, we were happy to release the final version in exactly the same way.</p>
<ul><li>Delivered SkySpark extensions can be easily installed.</li><li>.pod files are accessible for the client to read the dashboard source code.</li><li>Custom Area Card view type is re-usable in any View Builder context.</li><li>Axon functions within the extension can be amended by the client to change data displays.</li><li>The SkySpark extension can be rebuilt and developed further for more features and changes.</li></ul>
<h3 id="clientFeedback">Client feedback</h3>
<p>Our client feels much more confident about presenting SkySpark data directly to their customers with this new dashboard. This final design presents more information up front in each tiled area without overloading the reader.</p>
<p>They are very happy with how easy it is to highlight priority areas and yet still find all the information they need on the same screen.</p>
<p>This optimised design also lends to making it more scalable with an option to display more tiles as needed.</p>
<blockquote><p>As a result, we are very happy the client has engaged us for further work on PDF reports from more SkySpark views.</p></blockquote>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Book a call with us</a></p>
<hr>
<h4 id="furtherReading">Further reading</h4>
<blockquote><p>Our approach to dashboards. <a href="/articles/2023-12-31/our-approach-to-dashboards"><img src="/coldFeet/TgCdkQ/article-assets/2023-12-29/images/dashboard-approach-tile.png" alt="approach article thumb" loading="lazy"></a></p></blockquote>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-12-28/dashboard-for-warehouses
Dashboard for Warehouses
2023-12-28T00:00:00Z
2023-12-28T00:00:00Z
Emma Eynon
Dashboard build details and considerations.
<h2 id="aSkySparkDashboardForWarehouseEnergyData">A SkySpark dashboard for warehouse energy data.</h2>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/CZCtuQ/article-assets/2023-12-28/images/warehouse-dashboard.png"><img src="/coldFeet/CZCtuQ/article-assets/2023-12-28/images/warehouse-dashboard.png" alt="Warehouse dashboard" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h3 id="clientBrief">Client brief</h3>
<p>Our client provides energy system services to a large warehouse user. They wanted an easy to use dashboard to prove the breakdown of building energy performance data and cost.</p>
<h3 id="dashboardRequirements">Dashboard Requirements</h3>
<div class="table responsive sm"><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Audience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Warehouse engineering monitoring team and executives.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Data use</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Analytics for energy performance.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Visuals</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Using native SkySpark visuals with additional styling for easy reading.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Experience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>To provide easy access to key SkySpark data with a native feel.</strong></p>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h3 id="designConsiderations">Design considerations</h3>
<p>SkySpark cards and icons were employed for a native experience.</p>
<p>A date picker option to select historical date ranges.</p>
<p>The most important widgets were:</p>
<ul><li>the customised heatmap to show hourly cost,</li><li>and an accompanying table containing bar cells to categorise the energy consumption for a selected period.</li></ul>
<p>A light theme to match the default SkySpark theming and provide a similar experience.</p>
<p>Green and red colours were used to highlight a positive or negative performance.</p>
<p>Links and embedded apps provide a means to navigate further into SkySpark easily.</p>
<p>A boxed tile format assists with "at-a-glance" reading for each data section.</p>
<p>Optimised for different screen sizes.</p>
<h3 id="deployment">Deployment</h3>
<p>We (Fantom Factory) built the dashboard in iterative stages for each widget, testing against a comprehensive sample of SkySpark data.</p>
<p>The dashboard is delivered to the client as a .pod file which they can install as a simple SkySpark extension.</p>
<p>After testing each deliverable on their development SkySpark server, we were happy to release the final version in exactly the same way.</p>
<ul><li>Delivered SkySpark extensions can be easily installed.</li><li>.pod files are accessible for the client to read the dashboard source code.</li><li>Axon functions within the extension can be amended by the client to change data displays.</li><li>The SkySpark extension can be rebuilt and developed further for more features and changes.</li></ul>
<h3 id="clientFeedback">Client feedback</h3>
<p>This dashboard has been instrumental in changing their customer perception of energy use. More informed (and more effective) decisions have now been made on energy-saving practices saving the customer a great deal of money.</p>
<p>Our client is very happy with this end result and enjoyed the whole experience of working with our team.</p>
<blockquote><p>We are pleased to say our client has engaged us on a new project to provide energy billing information in PDF reports to another of their customers.</p></blockquote>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Book a call with us</a></p>
<hr>
<h4 id="furtherReading">Further reading</h4>
<blockquote><p>Our approach to dashboards. <a href="/articles/2023-12-31/our-approach-to-dashboards"><img src="/coldFeet/TgCdkQ/article-assets/2023-12-28/images/dashboard-approach-tile.png" alt="approach article thumb" loading="lazy"></a></p></blockquote>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-12-27/dashboard-for-hospitals
Dashboard for Hospitals
2023-12-27T00:00:00Z
2023-12-27T00:00:00Z
Emma Eynon
Dashboard build details and considerations.
<h2 id="skySparkVisualisationsForKeyHospitalPerformanceDataAndOperations">SkySpark Visualisations for key hospital performance data and operations.</h2>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/EHamhA/article-assets/2023-12-27/images/hospital-dashboard-campus.png"><img src="/coldFeet/EHamhA/article-assets/2023-12-27/images/hospital-dashboard-campus.png" alt="Campus view" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/thWqXw/article-assets/2023-12-27/images/hospital-dashboard-building.png"><img src="/coldFeet/thWqXw/article-assets/2023-12-27/images/hospital-dashboard-building.png" alt="Building view" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h3 id="clientBrief">Client brief</h3>
<p>Our client provides energy system services to a number of hospital campuses using SkySpark. They wanted to prove key performance data to key members of staff at each hospital without a need for in-depth SkySpark training.</p>
<p>Our client approached us to create a suite of easy to use SkySpark visualisations to present to hospital executives and project managers.</p>
<p>To use the same Views across multiple sites, they needed to accommodate for differences between individual hospital installations.</p>
<p>It was important to our client that they could change details on these views internally with Axon, such as site information and branding, and some widgets and data.</p>
<h3 id="dashboardRequirements">Dashboard Requirements</h3>
<div class="table responsive sm"><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Audience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Hospital executives and project managers.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Data use</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Analytics for energy performance and remote monitoring.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Visuals</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Using native SkySpark visuals with additional styling for easy reading.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Experience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>To provide easy access to key SkySpark data with a native feel.</strong></p>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h3 id="designConsiderations">Design considerations</h3>
<p>A suite of 5 views were created to help break down data into a hierarchy of information for hospital sites: Campus, Building, Equipment, Issues, and a hosted Files view.</p>
<p>Customisable site information and branding and View data with Axon code.</p>
<p>A date picker option to select historical date ranges.</p>
<p>A light theme to match the default SkySpark theming and provide a similar experience.</p>
<p>Space for branding and site information without interfering with the data visualisations.</p>
<p>Traffic light colours were used to add additional highlights to key performance data.</p>
<p>Links and embedded apps provide a means to navigate further into SkySpark easily.</p>
<p>A boxed tile format assists with "at-a-glance" reading for each data section. The tiles were given rounded corners and shadows to help break up the tile sections.</p>
<p>Optimised for different screen sizes.</p>
<h3 id="buildTasks">Build tasks</h3>
<p>For this project our tasks involved:</p>
<ul><li>Suite of stub Axon functions to display placeholder data in views.</li><li>Assistance with writing the implementation-level Axon functions for collecting and formatting data for presentation.</li><li>Creation of bespoke Fantom-based view layouts that implement data from Axon functions.</li><li>Implementation of a top-level view that utilises the built-in SkySpark Arc view as a sub view.</li></ul>
<h3 id="deployment">Deployment</h3>
<p>We (Fantom Factory) built the dashboard in iterative stages for each widget and completed view, testing against a comprehensive sample of SkySpark data.</p>
<p>The dashboard is delivered to the client as a .pod file which they can install as a simple SkySpark extension.</p>
<p>After testing each deliverable on their development SkySpark server, we were happy to release the final version in exactly the same way.</p>
<ul><li>Delivered SkySpark extensions can be easily installed.</li><li>Axon functions within the extension can be amended by the client to change data displays.</li><li>The SkySpark extension can be rebuilt and developed further for more features and changes.</li></ul>
<h3 id="clientFeedback">Client feedback</h3>
<p>Our client really enjoyed the experience of working with us and spending time on video calls to shape the direction of this project in the way they wanted.</p>
<p>We accommodated all of their design requirements and the end result was more visually pleasing than they had originally expected it would be.</p>
<blockquote><p>These views have improved working relationships with their customers and are now easily supported in their internal team. We look forward to working with them again in the near future.</p></blockquote>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Book a call with us</a></p>
<hr>
<h4 id="furtherReading">Further reading</h4>
<blockquote><p>Our approach to dashboards. <a href="/articles/2023-12-31/our-approach-to-dashboards"><img src="/coldFeet/TgCdkQ/article-assets/2023-12-27/images/dashboard-approach-tile.png" alt="approach article thumb" loading="lazy"></a></p></blockquote>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-12-26/dashboard-for-data-centres
Dashboard for Data Centres
2023-12-26T00:00:00Z
2023-12-26T00:00:00Z
Emma Eynon
Dashboard build details and considerations.
<h2 id="aSkySparkDashboardToMonitorDataCentreBuildingOperations">A SkySpark Dashboard to monitor data centre building operations.</h2>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/Ac9zMw/article-assets/2023-12-26/images/datacentre-dashboard.png"><img src="/coldFeet/Ac9zMw/article-assets/2023-12-26/images/datacentre-dashboard.png" alt="Sentinel dashboard" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h3 id="clientBrief">Client brief</h3>
<p>Our client approached us to create a visually impressive dashboard for monitoring data centres. The client constructs and leases data centres to customers who then need to manage the sites internally.</p>
<p>This dashboard would be a utility to help their customers more easily monitor the building operations and alerts with SkySpark data.</p>
<p>Addtionally, they desired this dashboard to impress customers and to visually compete alongside other leading brand technology displays on large screens in an IT control centre.</p>
<p>Also, this dashboard was intended to be a Proof of Concept to promote the adoption of SkySpark systems into more customer data centres for analytics.</p>
<h3 id="dashboardRequirements">Dashboard Requirements</h3>
<div class="table responsive sm"><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Audience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Data centre engineering monitoring team and executives.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Data use</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Real-time daily monitoring for critical systems in a data centre.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Visuals</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>Impressive at-a-glance graphics with a high-end feel.</strong></p>
</td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Experience</strong></p>
</td><td><p><strong>To be easily accessed as a SkySpark application.</strong></p>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h3 id="designConsiderations">Design considerations</h3>
<blockquote><p>We worked with the client to replicate their own provided graphic designs.</p></blockquote>
<p>A dark theme for use in the IT control centre making this dashboard visually different from typical white screens and thus more appealing.</p>
<p>Space for branding and site information without interfering with the data visualisations.</p>
<p>Bright colours were favoured to indicate urgency via a traffic light system of red, yellow, and green. Blue was also used to help read data more easily between different graphs and charts.</p>
<p>Subtle hyperlinks to navigate to further details on alarms rather than try to show too much information on this dashboard.</p>
<p>A boxed tile format assists with "at-a-glance" reading for each data section.</p>
<p>Custom icons to draw the eye to temperature, humidity, and energy. All graphics were custom made by Fantom Factory as optimised SVG files (Scalable Vector Graphics) to keep a high quality on different screen sizes.</p>
<p>A clear design to show the difference between NUMBERS of equips and alarms and NUMBERS displayed in the point data.</p>
<p>Optimised for different screen sizes to show this on a large control centre screen and on the smaller sized mobiles and tablets for engineers on site.</p>
<h3 id="buildTasks">Build tasks</h3>
<p>For this project our tasks involved:</p>
<ul><li>Custom SVGs for high resolution images</li><li>Axon function and rule writing</li><li>A full suite of Fantom-based views, including several bespoke data visualisation types.</li></ul>
<h3 id="deployment">Deployment</h3>
<p>We (Fantom Factory) built the dashboard in iterative stages for each widget, testing against a comprehensive sample of SkySpark data.</p>
<p>The dashboard is delivered to the client as a .pod file which they can install as a simple SkySpark extension.</p>
<p>After testing each deliverable on their development SkySpark server, we were happy to release the final version in exactly the same way.</p>
<ul><li>Delivered SkySpark extensions can be easily installed.</li><li>Axon functions within the extension can be amended by the client to change data displays.</li><li>The SkySpark extension can be rebuilt and developed further for more features and changes.</li></ul>
<h3 id="clientFeedback">Client feedback</h3>
<p>The feedback was very positive from our client who enjoyed how smooth the whole process was.</p>
<p>After providing the initial designs and requirements, they provided feedback and change requests throughout the build phase to shape the end product they desired.</p>
<p>They were involved at all stages to understand timelines and progression.</p>
<p>The project was delivered as a pleasant experience and faster than expected.</p>
<blockquote><p>As a result, we exceeded their expectations on the brief and they are now looking to develop larger SkySpark projects and dashboards with us.</p></blockquote>
<h3 id="dashboardSparkles">Dashboard Sparkles</h3>
<p>See how the colours and icons change with data variances in the final result:</p>
<div class="youtubeVideo"><div class="el-frame" style="--el-frame-width:16; --el-frame-height:9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/reBNcPKua1c" allowfullscreen allow="fullscreen" style="border: none;" title="Data centre demo video"></iframe></div></div>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Book a call with us</a></p>
<hr>
<h4 id="furtherReading">Further reading</h4>
<blockquote><p>Our approach to dashboards. <a href="/articles/2023-12-31/our-approach-to-dashboards"><img src="/coldFeet/TgCdkQ/article-assets/2023-12-26/images/dashboard-approach-tile.png" alt="approach article thumb" loading="lazy"></a></p></blockquote>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-10-02/software-developer-bundle
Software Developer Bundle
2023-10-02T00:00:00+01:00
2023-10-02T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
The essential SkySpark toolkit for all developers!
<p class="lead">Our new Software Developer Bundle is all of our essential SkySpark developer tools - in one convenient licence!</p>
<p><strong>Need to save money or keep your costs down for SkySpark development?</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Our SkySpark Software Developer Bundle will save your developers TIME and EFFORT.</p></blockquote>
<h2 id="whatsIncluded">What's included</h2>
<p>Six of our amazing SkySpark extensions:</p>
<p><a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afEasyConnExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/Fawxxg/article-assets/2023-10-02/images/button-easyconn.png" alt="banner image easyconn" loading="lazy"></a> <a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afAxonEncryptorExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/yyJb6g/article-assets/2023-10-02/images/button-axon-encryptor.png" alt="banner image Axon encryptor" loading="lazy"></a> <a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afPodBuilderExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/NgFsCg/article-assets/2023-10-02/images/button-pod-builder.png" alt="banner image pod builder" loading="lazy"></a> <a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afHttpClientExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/7LHRpg/article-assets/2023-10-02/images/button-http.png" alt="banner image http client" loading="lazy"></a> <a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afFolioFileSyncExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/6sCbOw/article-assets/2023-10-02/images/button-folio.png" alt="banner image folio file sync" loading="lazy"></a> <a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afAxontExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/4LqYRg/article-assets/2023-10-02/images/button-axon-t.png" alt="banner image axon-t" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p class="textAlign-left"><a href="https://files.fantomfactory.com/marketing%2520pdfs/FF%2520Software%2520leaflet%25202023.pdf" class="btn secondary" target="_blank">Save the PDF brochure</a></p>
<h3 id="saveMoney">Save money!</h3>
<blockquote><p>We license our software extension per SkySpark instance to make it easy to use on a developer project and share within your team!</p></blockquote>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afPodBuilderExt?_ga=2.11070580.1569397612.1698595283-2113033216.1682935224" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/PRW9rA/article-assets/2023-10-02/images/tool-pricing.png" alt="Tool pricing image" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h3 id="availableNowOnStackHub">Available now on StackHub</h3>
<p>All the juicy details are available on our StackHub page - take a look!</p>
<p><a href="https://stackhub.org/org/fantomFactory" target="_blank">You can find options on any of our StackHub software tooling pages.</a></p>
<h2 id="saveMoreTimeAndMoneyWithOurFantomExpertise">Save more time and money with our Fantom expertise</h2>
<p>We do EVERYTHING in Fantom - so for any software development in SkySpark that requires Fantom knowledge, come talk to us!</p>
<p>We can create custom software or provide collaborative project help and guidance in SkySpark.</p>
<p><a href="/software-services">View our Software Services</a></p>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p><strong>Get in touch and let's arrange a chat.</strong></p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-10-12/sponsors-of-skyposium-2023
Sponsors of SkyPosium 2023
2023-10-12T00:00:00+01:00
2023-10-12T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
Fantom Factory rocked the annual SkySpark event this year!
<p class="lead">We had some important news to share at this year's SkySpark conference!</p>
<p>Representing the team at New Orleans were Aaron and Steve who sacrificed their time to make the trip from Wales to the USA! <em>(Poor things!)</em></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/EjaIjQ/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/spotted.png" alt="spotted cat photo" loading="lazy"></p>
<p>They met up with some familiar faces - do you know them too?</p>
<p><img src="/coldFeet/SXjwRg/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/altura.jpg" alt="Altura" loading="lazy"> <img src="/coldFeet/gT4BUQ/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/terry-casey.jpg" alt="Terry Casey" loading="lazy"> <img src="/coldFeet/_7qhrg/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/energy-twin.jpg" alt="energy twin" loading="lazy"> <img src="/coldFeet/myyZ6g/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/mike-james.jpg" alt="mike-james" loading="lazy"> <img src="/coldFeet/m9UoiQ/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/brian-steve.jpg" alt="Brian Frank" loading="lazy"></p>
<h2 id="companyNews">Company news</h2>
<p>The reason we sent them all that way?</p>
<p><strong>To tell the community all about our amazing new services!</strong></p>
<h3 id="developerTools">Developer Tools</h3>
<p>We've released 2 new software extensions to enable SkySpark developers to do more in-house (without Fantom).</p>
<p><a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afEasyConnExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/Fawxxg/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/button-easyconn.png" alt="banner image easyconn" loading="lazy"></a> <em>An <strong>easy</strong> way to write unlimited HTTP connectors for SkySpark.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afFolioFileSyncExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/6sCbOw/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/button-folio.png" alt="banner image folio file sync" loading="lazy"></a> <em>A software extension which enables your Folio files to be synchronised to a file system location. (Perfect for working with code management systems as a team.)</em></p>
<p><a href="/articles/2023-10-02/software-developer-bundle">Read more about our software bundle.</a></p>
<h3 id="high-endDashboards">High-end Dashboards</h3>
<p>This year we've worked with a whole range of clients developing executive dashboard functionality and reports for SkySpark data displays.</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/Z6mUpA/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/sonrai-dashboard.png"><img src="/coldFeet/Z6mUpA/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/sonrai-dashboard.png" alt="sonrai dashboard sshot" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h4 id="watchTheVideoShowreel">Watch the video showreel:</h4>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="https://youtu.be/YcLfID_cusg?si=zrOLikMwMd4D4cVw" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/Nslu5w/article-assets/2023-10-12/images/dashboard-showcase-banner.png" alt="youtube dashboard showreel 2023" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p>We specialise in building high-end responsive dashboards for SkySpark, so in fact, the hardest part of the whole process is actually just <strong>deciding what to have</strong>!</p>
<p>The good news is that we've just made this process <strong>even easier</strong> with our new <a href="/dashboards">Dashboard Designer</a> tool! Our handy widget page lets you explore popular dashboard layouts and visualisations to create your new Executive Dashboard order.</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/dashboard" class="btn secondary">Try our Dashboard Designer</a></p>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<blockquote><p>We love to help the global community with <a href="/software-services">advanced SkySpark solutions</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Get in touch and let's arrange a chat about your new project requirements.</strong></p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-05-23/easyconn-is-available-now
EasyConn is available now!
2023-05-23T00:00:00+01:00
2023-05-23T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
The very first universal Fantom connector for SkySpark.
<p class="lead">The wait is finally over... The crowds are going wild!</p>
<p><em>Well, ok maybe not, but they should be!</em></p>
<p>EasyConn is now available to download, evaluate, and purchase, from the <a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afEasyConnExt" target="_blank">StackHub website</a> <em>(AND it's free to use for up to 50 Axon calls.)</em></p>
<h2 id="whatDoesItDo">What does it do?</h2>
<p><strong>EasyConn provides a framework for creating your own SkySpark Connectors from Axon functions.</strong></p>
<p>This means all you need is enough Axon knowledge to write your own connectors - we take care of all the <code>Fantom</code> bits.</p>
<blockquote><p>EasyConn connectors work by delegating standard SkySpark connector functionality, such as obtaining curVals for points, to custom Axon functions that YOU write.</p></blockquote>
<p>As with all of our software, EasyConn is robust, secure, and optimised.</p>
<h2 id="howDoILearnMore">How do I learn more?</h2>
<p>Visit the EasyConn page on StackHub to read the full support documentation and examples of Axon functions to use with it.</p>
<div class="youtubeVideo"><div class="el-frame" style="--el-frame-width:16; --el-frame-height:9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TSRs5NEOQd0" allowfullscreen allow="fullscreen" style="border: none;" title="EasyConn youtube video"></iframe></div></div>
<p><a href="/talk-with-us">Of course, we're always at hand should you have any questions too!</a></p>
<p class="textAlign-left"><a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afEasyConnExt" class="btn primary" target="_blank">Take me to EasyConn!</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-01-10/how-to-axon-git
How To := Axon + Git
2023-01-10T00:00:00Z
2023-01-10T00:00:00Z
Steve Eynon
How to version control your Axon source code (with Git)
<p>Software developers use Source Control Management (SCM) tools to:</p>
<ul><li>keep a versioned, incremental backup of their code</li><li>to compare versions, to see what's changed (and by who)</li><li>to roll back to a previous version if if all goes wrong</li><li>to facilite continuous builds / deployment / automation code checkin</li></ul>
<p>Real <em>hardcore, battle hardened programmers</em> use a proper Distributed Source Control Management (DSCM) tool like <strong><a href="https://www.mercurial-scm.org/" target="_blank">Mercurial (aka Hg)</a></strong>, whereas lesser <em>script kiddies</em> seem to prefer an unknown distributed file system called Git <em>(just because you can doesn't mean you should! - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDeG4S-mJts" target="_blank">ahem</a>).</em></p>
<p>But, which ever tool floats your boat, the most important thing for developers is that they use one. And all these tools have one important thing in common - <strong>they all synchronise and version files on the file system.</strong></p>
<p>Compare this to SkySpark, where your <strong>Axon source code is stored in the Folio database.</strong></p>
<p>For SkySpark developers working with Axon, it would be really handy to be able to work on source code (stored in Folio) and have this sync this with the file system, so it may be committed to a source code repository.</p>
<p class="lead">And you can in 2 ways!</p>
<h2 id="1UseOurFolioFileSyncExtension">1. Use our Folio File Sync extension</h2>
<p>The <a href="/articles/2023-09-22/new-folio-file-sync">Folio File Sync</a> extension is the latest software developer tool from Fantom Factory! (Available now on StackHub)</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/articles/2023-09-22/new-folio-file-sync"><img src="/coldFeet/-z_hVg/article-assets/2023-01-10/images/folio-cover.png" alt="Folio File Sync Article" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p><em>Or...the hard way!</em></p>
<h2 id="2UseTheNativeTaskAppInSkySpark">2. Use the native Task app in SkySpark</h2>
<p>The <strong>TLDR</strong>; use a SkySpark Task to observe Folio commits and write function records to disk, then use Hg (or a lesser system, <em><cough></em>, Git) as usual.</p>
<h2 id="theSetup">The setup</h2>
<p>The SkySpark Task App is all about background processing, and running Axon functions behind the scenes in response to an event. It is concurrency and event handling for Axon.</p>
<p>SkySpark Tasks (Axon functions) can even run in response to someone committing records to Folio. So that will be our approach.</p>
<p>We could set up a Task to observe <strong>ALL</strong> Folio commits, and write <strong>ALL</strong> function records to disk each and every time - but that could be very computational heavy. So let's try to be a little more selective instead.</p>
<p>We will add the tag <code>afFileSync</code> to every Axon function we want to write to disk, and add a Task to just observe those records that have been tagged with it.</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/6TGiIg/article-assets/2023-01-10/images/axonGit-home.png" alt="Tasks App" loading="lazy"></p>
<p>To do this, visit the Tasks View in the Tasks App and click <code>New</code>.</p>
<p>Our Task will <code>observe obsCommits</code> (look under <code>obsRecs</code> in the picker), meaning our Axon Task function will be invoked in response to Folio updates.</p>
<p>In <code>obsFilter</code> we put <code>afFileSync</code> as that is the tag that will mark which function records we want to write to the file system.</p>
<p><code>taskExpr</code> is then the name of the Axon function that will be invoked when Folio is updated.</p>
<p>And don't forget to add the Marker tags, <code>obsAdds</code>, <code>obsRemoves</code>, and <code>obsUpdates</code> - these ensure our Axon <code>afDoFileSync()</code> function is called when ever a record (with the <code>afFileSync</code> tag) is added, removed, or updated.</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/Aby8lg/article-assets/2023-01-10/images/axonGit-newTask.png" alt="New Task" loading="lazy"></p>
<p>Next we create the <code>afDoFileSync()</code> Axon function.</p>
<div class="syntax axon"><pre><s>// afDoFileSync()</s>
<b>(</b>msg<b>)</b> => <i>do</i>
funcRec : <i>if</i> <b>(</b>msg->subType == <em>"removed"</em><b>)</b> msg->oldRec
<i>else</i> msg->newRec
filename : <em>"func-"</em> + funcRec->name + <em>".trio"</em>
filepath : <b>(</b><em>"io/axon/"</em> + filename<b>)</b>.parseUri<b>(</b><b>)</b>
<i>if</i> <b>(</b>msg->subType == <em>"removed"</em><b>)</b>
filepath.ioDelete<b>(</b><b>)</b>
<i>else</i>
rec.ioWriteTrio<b>(</b>filepath<b>)</b>
<i>end</i>
</pre></div>
<p>The funcion inspects the given observable message to determine if a func is being updated or deleted (removed) from Folio. It derives a filename / path to save the function to, and saved it as a <code>.trio</code> file in the project's <code>io/axon/</code> folder.</p>
<p>For real world use, extra checks should be performed on the msg passed in, but to illustrate a working example, the function above is perfectly usable.</p>
<h2 id="theResult">The result</h2>
<p>Tag your Axon functions with <code>afFileSync</code> and every time you save it in the Code Editor, the Task will invoke <code>afDoFileSync</code>, which will save the changes to the project's <code>io/axon/</code> folder as a <code>.trio</code> file.</p>
<p>You can now commit and push your code to your favourite Version Control System (VCS) Hg (or a lesser system, <em><cough></em>, Git) repository as usual!</p>
<h2 id="theFuture">The future</h2>
<p>The above process is sound, but <code>afDoFileSync()</code> could be updated to handle:</p>
<ul><li>other records types (defs, views, apps, etc...)</li><li>record renames</li><li>customisable file name patterns</li><li>customisable directory patterns</li><li>saving multiple records into a single .trio file</li></ul>
<p>And then, what about re-syncing file updates back into Folio? Handling concurrent modifications between files and Folio?</p>
<blockquote><p>Hmm ...maybe you should consider our <a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afFolioFileSyncExt" target="_blank">Folio File Sync</a> extension after all!</p></blockquote>
<h2 id="references">References</h2>
<ul><li>Mercuial SCM (it just works) - <a href="https://www.mercurial-scm.org/" target="_blank">https://www.mercurial-scm.org/</a></li><li>Hitler uses Git - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDeG4S-mJts" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDeG4S-mJts</a></li><li>Git for Axon (SkyFoundry Forum) - <a href="https://skyfoundry.com/forum/topic/7164" target="_blank">https://skyfoundry.com/forum/topic/7164</a></li><li>SkySpark Task Lib - <a href="https://skyfoundry.com/doc/lib-task/doc" target="_blank">https://skyfoundry.com/doc/lib-task/doc</a></li><li>Haxall Observables - <a href="https://haxall.io/doc/docHaxall/Observables#obsCommits" target="_blank">https://haxall.io/doc/docHaxall/Observables#obsCommits</a></li></ul>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-09-25/stationers-awards-2023
Stationers' Awards 2023
2023-09-25T00:00:00+01:00
2023-09-25T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
Proud finalists for Innovation Excellence in Communications!
<p class="lead">Our <strong>Fantom Factory</strong> team had the absolute privilege to be finalists in the recent <strong>Innovation Excellence Awards</strong> held by the historic Stationers' Company in London.</p>
<p>We had a simply fantastic time at the breathtaking Stationers' Hall, located next door to St Paul's Cathedral no less!</p>
<p>Starting with an exhibition of our <strong>innovation for eLearning</strong>, we enjoyed a 3 course meal and plenty of wine as we celebrated all of the award winners.</p>
<h2 id="aTeamMeetingWithADifference">A team meeting with a difference!</h2>
<p>As a digital company, our team works from all over the United Kingdom (and beyond!) to maximise our time contributing at work. That being said, we also know it can get pretty lonely - especially for those living alone at home.</p>
<p>So, events like this are a fabulous time for our team to meet up and "let their hair down"!</p>
<p>We treated all of our colleagues to a 2 night stay in London so that we could all enjoy this amazing event. <em>Suffice it to say, we all had a great time!</em></p>
<p>Well, all except for our colleague Morgan who now lives the dream in France with his girlfriend. <em>(Let's face it, we don't feel sorry for him.)</em></p>
<h3 id="thePhotos">The photos</h3>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/k5imOg/article-assets/2023-09-25/images/master%20team.png" alt="meeting the master" loading="lazy"></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/1rNpuQ/article-assets/2023-09-25/images/master%20lunch.png" alt="lunch with the master" loading="lazy"></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/bMLsLw/article-assets/2023-09-25/images/london%20bros.png" alt="boys in London montage" loading="lazy"></p>
<blockquote><p>We even went out for an evening of axe throwing and noodles! (Although not at the same time!)</p></blockquote>
<h2 id="whatDoesThisAwardMeanToUs">What does this award mean to us?</h2>
<p>Events like this reward all of the hard work and effort that we put into our digital technologies and products. Being online, it can be hard to measure the "human" response.</p>
<p>This award recognises the innovation of our digital eLearning platform, which we've designed specifically to aid communication - for learning.</p>
<p class="lead">Not only that, it helps our team to recognise that they've done a fantastic job!</p>
<p>Our <strong>Alpha Colony</strong> eLearning platform uses storytelling in a unique way to immerse our learners into scenarios and training narratives. We integrate third party technology into the eLearning experience so they get to actually practise in the technology or product they're learning ABOUT.</p>
<blockquote><p>Even more exciting is that we're bringing this to educators as a <strong>white label technology</strong> in the new year!</p></blockquote>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p><strong>Let us know if you'd like to discuss the potential of using our innovative next-generation eLearning provision for your business.</strong></p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-09-22/new-folio-file-sync
New - Folio File Sync
2023-09-22T00:00:00+01:00
2023-09-22T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
Presenting our latest SkySpark developer tool!
<p class="lead">Folio File Sync is here!</p>
<p><strong>This new software is actually very exciting! <em>(Yes, really!)</em> </strong></p>
<p>Developing in SkySpark means writing and saving Axon functions by using the <strong>Code application</strong>. You need Axon functions for things like filtering your data and powering your dashboard displays.</p>
<p>But we all know that developers LOVE using code management systems, like GIT. It helps to work effectively as a team and control code contributions and changes from different members at different times.</p>
<p>This poses a problem then - these systems are <em>file based</em>! Developers normally work on files locally which are then "synchronised" with GIT (or other web based content management system).</p>
<blockquote><p>So, how then to use a system like GIT when all your code is stored in the Folio database inside SkySpark?</p></blockquote>
<h2 id="excitingNews">Exciting news!</h2>
<p>Now for the first time - your developers can HAVE IT ALL!</p>
<p>The <a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afFolioFileSyncExt" target="_blank">Folio File Sync</a> SkySpark extension enables your Folio files to be synchronised to a file system location!</p>
<p>And what's more, it will manage synchronisations from Folio, to your file system, AND with Git too! So your changes can be controlled and managed in all 3 locations!</p>
<h2 id="availableNowOnStackHub">Available now on StackHub</h2>
<p>All the juicy details are available on our StackHub page - take a look!</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="https://stackhub.org/package/afFolioFileSyncExt" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/xn43vQ/article-assets/2023-09-22/images/folio-file-sync-stackhub.png" alt="StackHub sales page" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h2 id="usingAxonAndGit">Using Axon and Git</h2>
<p>You can get more tips on using Axon with Git in our article <a href="/articles/2023-01-10/how-to-axon-git">How To := Axon + Git</a></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/articles/2023-01-10/how-to-axon-git"><img src="/coldFeet/_7bc8w/article-assets/2023-09-22/images/axonGit-feature.png" alt="git article jan 2023" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h2 id="saveMoreTimeAndMoneyWithOurFantomExpertise">Save more time and money with our Fantom expertise</h2>
<p>We do EVERYTHING in Fantom - so for any software development in SkySpark that requires Fantom knowledge, come talk to us!</p>
<p>We can create custom software or provide collaborative project help and guidance in SkySpark.</p>
<p><a href="/software-services">View our Software Services</a></p>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p><strong>Get in touch and let's arrange a chat.</strong></p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-09-14/istc-meets-emma-eynon
ISTC Meets ...Emma Eynon!
2023-09-14T00:00:00+01:00
2023-09-14T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
We shared our approach to creating engaging eLearning.
<p class="lead">How exactly do we create ENGAGING eLearning?</p>
<p>As a member of the ISTC (Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators) I (Emma Eynon) was absolutely delighted to be invited to give a web talk on this very subject!</p>
<p><strong>On the 14th September 2023, I delivered a live web presentation for an <a href="https://istc.org.uk/events/istc-meets/" target="_blank">ISTC MEETS</a> event to help anyone who may be interested in developing <em>engaging eLearning</em>. </strong></p>
<p>I was happy to share our own experience on how we set about lowering the barrier for learning while maintaining a high quality of digital content.</p>
<p>Creating <strong>engaging eLearning</strong> is a challenge that we set ourselves back in 2019, when we were faced with delivering training on difficult technical topics to a global audience.</p>
<blockquote><p>I'm happy to say that since then our eLearning has been a big success with our chosen audience. We have even been privileged to win many awards for our rather unique approach. <em>(Including a highly distinguished ISTC merit award!)</em></p></blockquote>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/f0DWPg/article-assets/2023-09-14/images/istc-merit-cert.png" alt="ISTC merit certificate" loading="lazy"></p>
<h2 id="whatIsELearningVsDigitallyPublishedMaterials">What is eLearning vs Digitally Published Materials?</h2>
<p>As the world turns to digital services for ...well, everything really! ...the experience of eLearning is still very much templated, and let's face it, dreary!</p>
<p>The trend is to simply publish online materials like articles or videos online and call this eLearning because they cover set learning topics.</p>
<p>So how to present online materials in such a way as to give more of a <strong>training experience</strong> instead?</p>
<p class="lead">The key word here is "experience"!</p>
<h2 id="anELearningExperience">An eLearning experience</h2>
<blockquote><p>Thinking about eLearning from the student's perspective as we build our courses is in fact the core of our entire approach.</p></blockquote>
<h4 id="weConsideredWhatKindOfBarriersMightPreventEffectiveELearningLike">We considered what kind of barriers might prevent effective eLearning, like:</h4>
<ul><li><strong>Individual learning styles (visual, textual, practical etc)</strong></li><li><strong>Existing knowledge and experience level</strong></li><li><strong>Languages</strong></li><li><strong>Time and scheduling availability</strong></li><li><strong>Ability to consolidate or practise the learning meaningfully</strong></li><li><strong>Help and support to understand key points</strong></li><li><strong>Accessibility (and even technical accessibility)</strong></li><li><strong>Age and gender differences</strong></li></ul>
<p>We (at Fantom Factory) were determined to produce professional eLearning to overcome as many of these perceived barriers as possible, simply through design.</p>
<p><em>In this (35 minute) presentation, I explain just how we do that!</em></p>
<div class="youtubeVideo"><div class="el-frame" style="--el-frame-width:16; --el-frame-height:9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5EfVk-jKpns?si=KmBHz7NaKkAhQNYK" allowfullscreen allow="fullscreen" style="border: none;" title="Youtube video ISTC meets Emma Eynon"></iframe></div></div>
<p><a href="https://istc.org.uk/events/istc-meets/" target="_blank">Visit the ISTC MEETS page to view this and more free events</a></p>
<p class="lead">Together, we can raise the bar for high quality eLearning across all industries!</p>
<hr>
<h4 id="whatKindOfExperienceDoesFantomFactoryDeliver">What kind of experience does Fantom Factory deliver?</h4>
<p><em>Find out what our students think!</em></p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/customer-reviews?tags=course" class="btn secondary">Read our eLearning reviews</a></p>
<hr>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p>Let us know if you'd like to discuss the potential of using our innovative next-generation eLearning provision for your business.</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-09-01/skyspark-dashboards-why
SkySpark Dashboards - why?
2023-09-01T00:00:00+01:00
2023-09-01T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
Our insight into the world of corporate dashboarding.
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/9yez5A/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/dashboard%20article%20image.png" alt="skyspark dashboard image" loading="lazy"></p>
<p class="lead">SkySpark dashboards are in demand - more than ever before. But why?</p>
<p>In this article, we'd like to share our thoughts on this topic and some ways to ensure you make the most of your time - and money!</p>
<h2 id="whatAreSkySparkDashboards">What are SkySpark dashboards?</h2>
<p>As you may already be aware, SkySpark is a data analytics platform which has many native applications and display options to show your data in all the salient ways.</p>
<p>We can do this with the <strong>Historian, Monitor, KPI, Spark, and Energy</strong> applications - "out of the box".</p>
<p>SkySpark is built for large data sets, which can handle incredibly large buildings and sites. However, this can also mean a lot of data on your screen!</p>
<p><strong>So, a dashboard is an easy way to look at your hot picks of data.</strong></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/_4RETQ/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/file-energy-view.png"><img src="/coldFeet/DzobtQ/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/energy-view.png" alt="energy view dashboard" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h4 id="someExamples">Some examples</h4>
<ul><li>Personalise graphics to display metrics like room temperature or occupancy?</li><li>Showcase something good, like the air quality score in a work space?</li><li>Compare reporting data online, perhaps monthly energy costs?</li></ul>
<p><strong>The fantastic thing about SkySpark is in how customisable it is, showing you any slice of your data you want to see. The difficulty is in presenting the uniqueness of your data in a way that is personalised to your business!</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>A dashboard is a uniquely personalised visual display in SkySpark which saves time and effort of drilling through large data sets.</p></blockquote>
<h2 id="skySparkViewbuilder">SkySpark Viewbuilder</h2>
<p><strong>SkySpark offers a "viewbuilder" feature to create your own SkySpark screens.</strong> Choose from a range of layouts, graphical displays, and filter options to display the data you need onto a personalised screen.</p>
<p>To do this, you will need some Axon programming knowledge and some training - which you would need to have in your SkySpark team anyway!</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/z75ynQ/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/file-cards.png"><img width="540" src="/coldFeet/eAL4Tw/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/cards.png" alt="sshot cards" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/igdcGA/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/file-box-tiles.png"><img width="540" src="/coldFeet/G9bhjA/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/box%20tiles.png" alt="sshot box tiles" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/Xd3Ocg/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/file-graphs.png"><img width="540" src="/coldFeet/WXoxgQ/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/graphs.png" alt="sshot graphs" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p class="lead">In fact, there are so many view building options to choose from we created a whole eLearning course about it!</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/learn/how-to-create-dashboards-and-views-in-skyspark"><img src="/coldFeet/1_a8RQ/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/viewbuilder-banner.png" alt="SkySpark Viewbuilder banner" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<h2 id="luxuryGraphics-WithFantom">Luxury graphics - with Fantom</h2>
<p>When you need high end graphics, you'll need to use the Fantom programming language. SkySpark itself was built in Fantom, so to truly customise your SkySpark instance, you'll need to develop at the platform level.</p>
<p>Sadly there aren't many professionals who can offer this service - but luckily as you read this, you'll realise that <strong>Fantom Factory</strong> can!</p>
<p>Our Fantom dashboards add a richer layer of graphics and functionality along with a responsive layout. So you can tailor the exact experience you're looking for - inside a SkySpark screen or in a third party application (like Sonrai)!</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/wOATiQ/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/file-dark.png"><img src="/coldFeet/2n96hg/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/dark%20dash.png" alt="dark dash ssht" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/Ac9zMw/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/file-data-centre.png"><img src="/coldFeet/BqdCBw/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/data%20centre.png" alt="data centre ssht" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/coldFeet/GkOv5g/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/file-sonrai.png"><img src="/coldFeet/qxRfEQ/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/sonrai%20tiles.png" alt="sonrai tiles ssht" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<hr>
<h2 id="watchOurDashboardShowreelVideo">Watch our dashboard showreel video!</h2>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="https://youtu.be/YcLfID_cusg?si=zrOLikMwMd4D4cVw" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/GTWp4w/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/dashboard-video-image.png" alt="Dashboard showcase 2023" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<hr>
<h2 id="dashboardConsiderations">Dashboard considerations</h2>
<p class="lead">Before you start work on your dashboard project, there are some key points to really consider first. These are the things we've found will save you time and money in the long run.</p>
<h3 id="thePurpose">The purpose</h3>
<ul><li>Internal use only?</li><li>To be sold as a product?</li><li>How many dashboard screens or widgets do you <strong>really need</strong>?</li></ul>
<p>Sometimes a dashboard which is "designed by committee" can mutate past its original purpose. Make sure that you are making something that will really save you time and effort - not just for the sake of creating something pretty!</p>
<blockquote><p>Our tip: Start small and basic and grow from there.</p></blockquote>
<h3 id="theAudience">The audience</h3>
<ul><li>For stakeholders and clients?</li><li>For engineering teams?</li><li>For domestic users or property landlords?</li></ul>
<p>The <strong>experience</strong> of using your dashboard needs to be excellent for ALL of your audiences. Remember, the best dashboards give your users EASY follow up actions to take!</p>
<p>You may need to consider different dashboards and options for different audiences if it makes the experience better. You want to spend your effort making something that will get used!</p>
<blockquote><p>Our tip: Plan out your user journeys to prepare any essential requirements in advance.</p></blockquote>
<h3 id="goodQualityData">Good quality data</h3>
<p>As they say often in our neighbourhood, "you can't polish a turd". A dashboard is simply an expedient way of viewing <strong>your data</strong>. If your data isn't available then your dashboard is...well, useless!</p>
<p>Good quality data is reliable and tagged up correctly. Poor quality data can also be caused by:</p>
<ul><li>networking infrastructure for data traffic</li><li>SkySpark server performance</li><li>SkySpark data query optimisation<blockquote><p>Our tip: Draft a basic dashboard first to test your data feeds.</p></blockquote></li></ul>
<h2 id="fantomFactorySupport">Fantom Factory support</h2>
<p>We continue to work with clients of all organisation sizes around the world on SkySpark development projects. While dashboards are often the end goal we often help with optimising the data quality first, including reviewing SkySpark data queries, Axon functions, and how the data is tagged.</p>
<p>We can help you to gather the best requirements and keep your dashboard project minimal and most effective.</p>
<blockquote><p>And what's more - we'll have more dashboard information on our website VERY SOON!</p></blockquote>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p><strong>Let us know if you'd like to discuss an approach for creating SkySpark dashboards in your business.</strong></p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
<hr>
<p><img src="/coldFeet/2wKZOg/article-assets/2023-09-01/images/steve%20dashboard%20meme.png" alt="steve dashboard meme" loading="lazy"> <em>Meme created by Morgan Hesmondhalgh, Fantom Factory!</em></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-08-20/skyspark-engineer-v-20
SkySpark Engineer v 2.0
2023-08-20T00:00:00+01:00
2023-08-20T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
The new version of SkySpark Engineer is out now!
<p class="lead"><strong>SkySpark Engineer</strong> has been upgraded and improved!</p>
<p>Now updated for SkySpark version 3.1.8 we've also implemented a whole round of customer feedback to improve a few tricky questions you told us about.</p>
<h2 id="ourBestsellingCourse">Our bestselling course</h2>
<p><strong><a href="/learn/how-to-build-out-skyspark-projects">SkySpark Engineer</a></strong> takes anyone new through building a SkySpark project for the first time. We use practical scenarios and walkthroughs to understand the most important aspects of setting up and managing SkySpark data.</p>
<ul><li>SkySpark data containers and hierarchy</li><li>Data queries and filter expressions</li><li>Tagging records with Project Haystack</li><li>Using connectors to bring in data</li><li>Integrating data and tuning polling frequencies</li><li>Managing data history and writing in values</li></ul>
<p>...and let's not forget one of the most important sections:</p>
<ul><li><strong>Creating Rules</strong></li></ul>
<p>We provide all of the Axon programming expressions and code so you can concentrate on the "SkySpark bits"!</p>
<h2 id="longTermAccess">Long term access</h2>
<p>We design our course content to be enjoyable and memorable, but unless you have a photographic memory, you won't remember EVERYTHING. That's why we also provide JOURNALS to summarise the key training points and references which you'll get to keep in your eLearning account - for good!</p>
<p>Even better news - we update the journals with new content too!</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/elearning-help" class="btn secondary">Read more about our eLearning features including Journals</a></p>
<h2 id="arcadiaToolkit">Arcadia Toolkit</h2>
<p>We provide free digital tools in SkySpark to accompany the training too - like our <a href="/articles/2022-08-05/the-arcadia-toolkit">Arcadia Toolkit</a>.</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="/articles/2022-08-05/the-arcadia-toolkit"><img src="/coldFeet/JBIxqg/article-assets/2023-08-20/images/arcadia-home.png" alt="Arcadia toolkit image" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p class="lead">SkySpark Engineer is perfect for onboarding new team members involved with installing or managing SkySpark projects.</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/learn/how-to-build-out-skyspark-projects" class="btn secondary">SkySpark Engineer eLearning</a></p>
<div class="youtubeVideo"><div class="el-frame" style="--el-frame-width:16; --el-frame-height:9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z9PlvwjDq2A" allowfullscreen allow="fullscreen" style="border: none;" title="Youtube video Engineer"></iframe></div></div>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p>Send us a message and we shall get in touch promptly!</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-08-10/visit-our-fantom-eggbox
Visit our Fantom Eggbox
2023-08-10T00:00:00+01:00
2023-08-10T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
Lots of open source Fantom tools and resources for developers!
<p>If you work with a system that uses the <strong>Fantom programming language</strong> then you may be very happy to learn about the <a href="http://eggbox.fantomfactory.org/" target="_blank">Fantom Pod Repository</a> aka <em>Eggbox</em>!</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="http://eggbox.fantomfactory.org/" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/bkWQOg/article-assets/2023-08-10/images/eggbox-home.png" alt="eggbox home page screenshot" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p>The Eggbox repository is a community website for anyone to contribute or download open source software for Fantom.</p>
<p><em>(Fantastic if you're working in systems like <strong>SkySpark</strong> or <strong>FIN Framework</strong>.)</em></p>
<p>Fantom Factory is happy to share many Fantom libraries and tools here to help the greater good! We take a lot of time and care to constantly update our libraries and respond to feedback whenever needed.</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="http://eggbox.fantomfactory.org/" class="btn secondary" target="_blank">Visit Eggbox now</a></p>
<p>You can also learn more about our latest software releases by reading our very own <a href="/tech-log">Tech Blog</a>.</p>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p>Send us a message and we shall get in touch promptly!</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-08-04/white-label-elearning-service
White Label eLearning service
2023-08-04T00:00:00+01:00
2023-08-04T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
Branded next-generation training for your own business!
<p class="lead">Would your organisation benefit from an eLearning platform like Fantom Factory's?</p>
<ul><li>Storytelling with a whole story universe</li><li>Gamification with awards and achievements</li><li>Integration with your own software or product</li><li>Digital certification on-demand</li><li>New varieties of questions and exercise features</li></ul>
<p>Our training platform is completely custom designed and hand crafted with code to deliver the exact website functionality to suit each course.</p>
<p><em>There's a reason we've been winning awards like these!</em> <img src="/coldFeet/RF_9fA/article-assets/2023-08-04/images/awards-banner.png" alt="awards banner image" loading="lazy"></p>
<h2 id="digitalELearningAcademy">Digital eLearning Academy</h2>
<p>We're working hard on a brand new service - the <strong>Digital eLearning Academy</strong>.</p>
<p>This is our innovative eLearning platform as a "white label" service so that you can create your own company branded training - with our amazing features!</p>
<p>As accredited providers of <strong>training excellence</strong> we can also help you to create the ideal eLearning for your audience to maximise the understanding and long term memory retention for your chosen subject!</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/essential-skyspark-training-you-can-trust" class="btn secondary">Read about our training standards</a></p>
<h2 id="availableSoon">Available soon</h2>
<p>Making such a sophisticated system available for you all to use takes time to do it right. We're working with some trusted partners to test the waters and help us to build out a platform that is flexible enough for any scenario!</p>
<p><em>And boy, we have lots of exciting news on this topic to come too!</em></p>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p>Let us know if you'd like to discuss the potential of using our eLearning provision for your business.</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-07-28/ambassadors-for-mars
Ambassadors for Mars
2023-07-28T00:00:00+01:00
2023-07-28T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
We are inspiring new generations of space travellers.
<p class="lead">Did you know that Steve and Emma Eynon are both officially Ambassadors for Mars?</p>
<p><em>And what exactly does that mean?</em></p>
<h2 id="theMarsSociety">The Mars Society</h2>
<blockquote><p>"The Mars Society is the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy organization dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. Established by Dr. Robert Zubrin and others in 1998, the group works to educate the public, the media and the government on the benefits of exploring Mars and creating a permanent human presence on the Red Planet."</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.marssociety.org/about/" target="_blank">Visit the Mars Society website</a></p>
<p><strong>We are proud to be members, and now Ambassadors, for the Mars Society - helping to generate awareness and inspiration about the space industry.</strong></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img width="300" src="/coldFeet/-lHyPA/article-assets/2023-07-28/images/mars-badge.png" alt="Mars badge" loading="lazy"></p>
<h2 id="whyMars">Why Mars?</h2>
<p>We work in the industry of using technology to monitor and control our living spaces, to save energy and to improve the quality of our environments.</p>
<p><em>So, guess what they'll need to do on Mars too?</em></p>
<p>We realised that whether we're here on Earth, or out exploring space, we'll be needing to innovate and develop these environmental technologies more than ever!</p>
<p>Fantom Factory is committed to our company vision:</p>
<blockquote><p>"Ensure advanced technology is accessible and understood by those who aspire to save our planet."</p></blockquote>
<p><em>(Although, perhaps we weren't thinking BIG enough when we established this!)</em></p>
<p>We want to help more people to get inspired and take up all kinds of exciting careers with DATA which will be required "universally" in everything we do.</p>
<h2 id="freeEducation">Free education</h2>
<p>As accredited STEM trainers <em>(Science, Technology, Engineering, & Maths)</em> it was only natural for us to use our next-generation eLearning platform to provide some free education to the public!</p>
<p><strong>Especially as we already use Mars in our central story universe to set training scenarios and exercises!</strong></p>
<p><em>For children:</em> <a href="https://www.stemfutures.uk/" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/KQ7Vtg/article-assets/2023-07-28/images/blast-off.png" alt="Blast off banner" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p><em>For adults:</em> <a href="https://www.stemfutures.uk/" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/NcjCgA/article-assets/2023-07-28/images/dest-mars.png" alt="Destination Mars banner" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p>We have made space education courses available to the wider public on our free <strong><a href="https://www.stemfutures.uk/" target="_blank">STEM Futures</a></strong> platform.</p>
<p><strong> <em>Blast Off!</em> is a bitesized version of our larger <em>Destination Mars!</em> eLearning course. A fantastic way to introduce the reasons and the efforts going into exploring space and colonising Mars.</strong></p>
<h2 id="aGlobalNetworkOfMarsAmbassadors">A global network of Mars Ambassadors</h2>
<p>Not only do these courses help with public education programs, like the <a href="https://blastoff.stemfutures.uk/spaceTour" target="_blank">UK Space tour</a> and school initiatives like the <a href="/articles/2023-07-07/space-academy-cardiff-2023">Cardiff Space Academy</a> - but they are helping our network of fellow Mars Ambassadors too!</p>
<p><strong>Mr Ronnie Dean</strong> who runs the San Antonio chapter of the Mars Society out in Texas loved our course so much, he added us to their website page on Facebook.</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100065630342894" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/XvoV-w/article-assets/2023-07-28/images/texas-mars-society.jpg" alt="Texas Mars Society banner" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p>We were so happy Ronnie was able to use our content to inspire his own presentations to audiences in Texas on the subject of colonising Mars and space exploration!</p>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p>If you'd like to talk to us about STEM or space education then contact us anytime.</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-07-18/custom-skyspark-dashboards
Custom SkySpark dashboards
2023-07-18T00:00:00+01:00
2023-07-18T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
How we are redesigning the face of SkySpark!
<p>As SkySpark developers we help many clients to customise SkySpark installations with unique displays and functionality.</p>
<p class="lead">As a leading authority in the Fantom programming language, we can take SkySpark further than anyone else!</p>
<p>This year we've had an increasing demand for customised SkySpark dashboards and reports which has led us to innovate further with SkySpark and Fantom!</p>
<div class="youtubeVideo"><div class="el-frame" style="--el-frame-width:16; --el-frame-height:9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WEf46szHCbw" allowfullscreen allow="fullscreen" style="border: none;" title="Youtube video on Dashboards"></iframe></div></div>
<h2 id="whyDoWeNeedFantom">Why do we need Fantom?</h2>
<p>SkySpark is built in Fantom but you really only need to know Axon to work natively with the data and analytical rules in the platform.</p>
<p>To introduce any kind of new functionality or web connectivity with SkySpark, you need to have a deep understanding of Fantom. This may be to create software extensions, new types of custom connectors, or to enhance reporting and graphical displays.</p>
<h2 id="innovatingWithSkySparkDisplays">Innovating with SkySpark displays</h2>
<p>We've been creating new Fantom libraries which enable PDF reports and new display layouts for SkySpark screens which aren't catered for natively.</p>
<p><strong>Take a look at some of our work:</strong></p>
<p><em>Using native SkySpark graphics with our styling</em> <img src="/coldFeet/xCe77w/article-assets/2023-07-18/images/dashboard-tiles.png" alt="dashboard racoon tiles" loading="lazy"> <img src="/coldFeet/I2TsLg/article-assets/2023-07-18/images/dashboard-charts.png" alt="dashboard racoon charts" loading="lazy"></p>
<p><em>Using more Fantom styling with our new in-house UI designer</em> <img src="/coldFeet/9QspXA/article-assets/2023-07-18/images/dashboard-table.png" alt="dashboard of table" loading="lazy"> <img src="/coldFeet/wgl7ww/article-assets/2023-07-18/images/dashboard-gauges.png" alt="dashboard of gauges" loading="lazy"></p>
<p><em>And of course, a cool dark theme!</em> <img src="/coldFeet/BqdCBw/article-assets/2023-07-18/images/dashboard-dark.png" alt="dashboard dark theme" loading="lazy"></p>
<h2 id="howAreTheseInstalled-IsItComplicated">How are these installed - is it complicated?</h2>
<p>Our custom dashboards and reports are developed as software extensions - or POD files. You simply drop them into your SkySpark installation folders like a plugin or addon.</p>
<h2 id="softwareEnhancementsAndLongevity">Software enhancements and longevity</h2>
<p>While it's always fantastic to purchase something new and shiny - we realise it is just as important to be able to look after it internally.</p>
<p>This is why we take extra care to develop our dashboard software extensions to give you as much control as possible.</p>
<p>While there may be Fantom code in the software pod you install, you can use Axon to change and manage the data you want to show. Think of us as simply extending the SkySpark Viewbuilder capabilities!</p>
<p><strong>Want to see more? Contact us for a live demo and a chat!</strong></p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>
https://www.fantomfactory.dev/articles/2023-07-07/space-academy-cardiff-2023
Space Academy Cardiff 2023
2023-07-07T00:00:00+01:00
2023-07-07T00:00:00+01:00
Emma Eynon
Sponsoring a space education event for underpriviledged kids.
<p class="lead">We were very proud to sponsor the <strong>Cardiff Space Academy</strong> this year working with Cardiff High School, Cardiff University, and Cardiff Commitment to deliver a fantastic space event.</p>
<p><strong>Space Academy</strong> is an initiative for underpriviledged children from around the Cardiff region to experience a week of specialist STEM and space education.</p>
<p>The aim is to connect and inspire children from all backgrounds to show them that a career in space or STEM is absolutely attainable and also interesting and desirable!</p>
<p>As accredited STEM trainers ourselves, we feel it is important to raise awareness of the need for more people to get involved with <strong>Science</strong>, <strong>Technology</strong>, <strong>Engineering</strong>, and <strong>Maths</strong> - especially from a younger age.</p>
<h2 id="blastOff">Blast Off!</h2>
<p>Our contribution to the event was a specially designed eLearning course - <strong>Blast Off!</strong> - to help consolidate the student learning from the whole week.</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><a href="https://www.stemfutures.uk/" target="_blank"><img src="/coldFeet/KQ7Vtg/article-assets/2023-07-07/images/blast-off.png" alt="Blast off banner" loading="lazy"></a></p>
<p>We have made <strong>Blast Off!</strong> available to the wider public on our free <strong><a href="https://www.stemfutures.uk/" target="_blank">STEM Futures</a></strong> platform. <strong>It is a bitesized eLearning course to introduce the reasons and the efforts going into exploring space and colonising Mars.</strong></p>
<p>We joined the Academy on the final day in the <strong><a href="https://www.cultvr.cymru/about-us/" target="_blank">CultVR Lab</a> </strong> in Cardiff. The main feature of this location is a dome projection screen which is perfect for space video topics!</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/T4G6UA/article-assets/2023-07-07/images/cultvr-inside.jpg" alt="cult vr inside" loading="lazy"></p>
<p>Throughout the day, as each group of children came into our "Mars Landing Area" we handed out Chromebooks to experience the training and helped them to complete the exercises in their small teams.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, each student was awarded their Space Academy certificate by the leader of Cardiff council and also an extra goody bag from us!</p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/Lcq7gQ/article-assets/2023-07-07/images/academy-cert.png" alt="space academy certificate" loading="lazy"></p>
<p>It was a fantastic experience and everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed the event. We hope to make a bigger contribution next year too!</p>
<h4 id="photos">Photos</h4>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/28HD3Q/article-assets/2023-07-07/images/mars%20prep.jpg" alt="photo of the mars prep work" loading="lazy"></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/gqyWMQ/article-assets/2023-07-07/images/mars%20stand.jpg" alt="photo of our stand" loading="lazy"></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/G2jHiQ/article-assets/2023-07-07/images/mars%20teachers.jpg" alt="photo of mars teachers" loading="lazy"></p>
<p class="imgOnly"><img src="/coldFeet/PeeCmQ/article-assets/2023-07-07/images/mars%20room.jpg" alt="photo of the room" loading="lazy"></p>
<h4 id="anyQuestions">Any questions?</h4>
<p>If you'd like to talk to us about STEM or space education then contact us anytime.</p>
<p class="textAlign-center"><a href="/talk-with-us" class="btn primary">Talk with us</a></p>