Blog

Services Revamp

Keith Storm — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Over the past couple of weeks we've been working to revamp our site to further showcase the services we provide. We thought it was a little out of date and we wanted to bring it up to speed with our current offerings. Take a look below for a quick overview.

First, you'll notice we created a services bar for the home page so customers could immediately see and navigate to our primary services.

Secondly, we redesigned our services page to display our four main services with illustrations and a brief summary. We also thought customers would like to see other clients we've worked with in the past so we have showcased a few of them here as well.

Web Design & Development

On our web design and development page, we started over and placed an illustration of our development process. We have used new CSS3 techniques to create a dynamic pop-up menu when you hover over a stage in the process. Below our process we have listed several of our niche markets that we specialize in.

Mobile Apps

Finally, we gave our mobile apps page a complete makeover. Since mobile apps are becoming a major part of our business, why not showcase it?

We're still in the process of working on our web apps and graphic design pages so we'll keep you updated when we get those wrapped up. Until then, feel free to take a look around the site and don't hesitate to contact us.

Tailored Software - Identity

Keith Storm — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Tailored software, previously known as Integrys IT, approached us to help them completely rebrand their company. They were looking to start fresh and refocus their service offerings.

Tailored Software offers custom software development services specializing in Microsoft Access and Microsoft .Net.

We helped Tailored software with a complete identity package including logo design, branding, marketing materials, and a CMS powered website.

Click here to check out their new site.

B2B Media - Website Development

Keith Storm — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT

B2B Media, a Vomela affiliated company specializing in fleet vehicle graphics, has launched a newly designed and developed website. They were looking for an easy to maintain system that was scalable for the future; LightningCMS was the answer. The site was designed in-house by B2B Media and developed by LightningHammer.

Check out the site here.

LightningCMS Update - Hidden, disabled, and linked pages

Keith Storm — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Good news! A commonly requested update has now been rolled into LightningCMS; hidden, disabled, and linked pages no longer count towards your page limit.

Often times a client would request a link in their site navigation to an external website or they wanted a parent category link that was not clickable. Before today these pages would count against the site's total page limit. This will allow much more flexibility with the LightningCMS navigation system.

More updates to LightningCMS will be coming next week. Keep the suggestions and comments coming!

Abbeville Chamber of Commerce - Website Development

Keith Storm — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Previously hosted on a Joomla! content management system, the Chamber was having a hard time keeping the site up to date.

LightningHammer designed and created a new site that would match the new branding for the City of Abbeville's new website. Along with an easy to use LightningCMS setup, the site is integrated with a ChamberMaster software solution.

We have very much enjoyed working on projects with the City of Abbeville. It is a truly majestic old town and if you're in the area, you should stop in. You won't be disappointed.

Take a look at the site here.

Abbeville, South Carolina - Website Development

Keith Storm — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

The City of Abbeville had been living with the limitations of their state hosted website for a while and they were ready for an update. They enlisted us to create a custom website design for them as well as provide a CMS (Content Management System) so they could keep the site updated and fresh.

The new fresh website the City has now is super user-friendly, beautiful easy-buttons, access to permits, an event calendar and so much more. Check it out and tell your friends! Check it out at: www.abbevillecitysc.com

Carolina Pride launches new website

Keith Storm — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Carolina Pride, a popular name in the food industry, has decided to use LightningHammer as their website provider. Customers can browse the many products offered by Carolina Pride including nutrition information and meal tips.

Plan your next meal with Carolina Pride!

Check out the website here.

Governor's School for the Arts site launched

Keith Storm — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:00:00 GMT

LightningHammer was selected by The Governor's School for the Arts Foundation to design and develop a new website. The foundation works in collaboration with the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities to create extraordinary experiences for students, teachers, donors and the state-wide community.

We enlisted the talents of artist Allison Reich to create the new design, while the site is powered by LightningCMS.

Click here to visit the site.

Four new websites launched

Keith Storm — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 05:00:00 GMT

We've been working like busy little bees around here the past few months. So busy we haven't had a chance you fill you in on what we've been up to. Over the past few months we have launched four new websites (and we have a couple more that are almost ready). Take a look below to see what we've been up to:

Laura Ashley, USA

In conjunction with The Bounce Agency, we upgraded Laura Ashley's USA website to a content management powered e-commerce system. Laura Ashley USA now has complete control over their website and are expanding their e-commerce offerings rapidly.

Visit the site:
http://www.lauraashley-usa.com

Frederica Living

Unique. Breathtaking. Unforgettable. These are some of the words that come to mind when asked to paint the picture of Frederica. Website design was provided by The Bounce Agency and the site is powered by LightningCMS

Visit the site: http://www.fredericaliving.com

ReturnMeTagz.com

ReturnMeTagz is an automated system to help honest people return lost items. If your item is lost, ReturnMeTagz provides a safe private method for people to contact you about your lost possession.

Visit the site: http://www.returnmetagz.com

Phillips Staffing

We upgraded Phillips Staffing a more robust content management system that allowed complete control over the website. We also facilitated the integration of social media services such as facebook and twitter.

Visit the site: http://www.phillipsstaffing.com

Introducing the Freedom Weekend Check-In Challenge

Keith Storm — Fri, 20 May 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Go out to Freedom Weekend Aloft over Memorial Day Weekend and you could win a FREE Xbox 360, Flip MinoHD, or iPod Shuffle. We've come up with the Freedom Weekend Check-In Challenge. When you "check in" to Freedom Weekend Aloft on Gowalla you'll be entered to win one of our great prizes.

Want to learn more? Click here to see the details.

Congratulations to Keith Storm on becoming an Appcelerator TCAD

LightningHammer — Wed, 04 May 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Congratulations to Keith Storm, our Lead Developer, on becoming an Appcelerator Titanium Certified App Developer (TCAD). Keith is now certified to create mobile apps using the Appcelerator Titanium platform for iOS and Android. We already have a couple of mobile apps showcased in our portfolio, but expect many more to come.

Do you have a mobile strategy? Contact us today to find out how we can help.

Come check in with us on Gowalla, and grab our custom stamp.

Keith Storm — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 05:00:00 GMT

At LightningHammer, we're big fans of the location based service Gowalla. So when we heard some more custom stamps were up for grabs, we jumped on the opportunity to snag one for ourselves.

The next time you're in the downtown Greenville area, feel free to add our stamp to your Gowalla passport. Not using Gowalla yet? It's FREE and it's a blast. Give it a try and let us know how you like it.

Cool and Easy Sketch/Cut-out Effect in Photoshop

Roger Frederick — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Sometimes I need to make some icons that have a unique look to them, but I am required to use some source photography to create it. For this project, I needed something that looked like a pen sketch, but had a nice "sticker-like" quality to it. I came up with a really simple and easy way to process each photo quickly to create the icons.

First, our source image:

It could be anything, but luckily this had a white background so I won't have to do a lot to actually cut it out.

Next, you want to duplicate your layer, and apply color dodge in the layer control.

Next, we want to invert our layer by going to Image-> Adjustments -> Invert.

Then, move up to Filter-> Other-> Minimum and create the sketch effect. A 1 or 2 should be fine, the larger the number the heavier the effect.

At this point you can see, our Layer 1 copy is making the sketch effect appear over Layer 1.

Next, we'll make an easy cutout of the picture. Since my background is all white, this next process will work well. If your background is busy, you may have to use the lasso tool or quick selection tool to make your cutout marquee.

First, select the Layer 1 copy (that had the sketch effect on). I then use the magic wand set at tolerance: 32 with antialias checked, and click on the background area.

Then, go up to Select-> Modify-> Contract

Set the Contract by to 3, and click OK.

You should now have a marquee around the background area that has a nice buffer around the image. Invert the selection by pressing Shift+Ctrl+I and then copy the selected visible area into a new layer by pressing Ctrl+Shift+C then Ctrl+V. You should now have a cutout of the image on the top layer.

Next, click the visibility icons on the layers we aren't using-- Layer1 copy and Layer1.

Then right click the Layer 2 and modify the Blending Options...

For my example, I'll set the Stroke to size 8 and color white, but you can adjust this as necessary.

Then I'll set the Drop Shadow to 120 degrees, 5px distance, 38% spread, and 18px for size. These will depend on your image and how deep you want the cutout to raise off the page.

At this point the icon is mostly set up. If you wanted it to appear in natural color, you could stop right here. However, I wanted mine to be black and white, so I'll add one more filter.

I'll add a Color Overlay and set the blend mode to Color, and pick black.

And there you have it! A nice sketch look from the photo, with a cutout effect. The effect of the sketch will change depending on the image size that you start with. The smaller the image, the more pronounced the sketch effect will look.

facePLANT - Windows Live Writer Facebook Plugin source code released

Keith Storm — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:00:00 GMT

I haven't had much time to keep up with facePLANT, the Windows Live Writer plug-in for Facebook, so I decided I would post the source code on here so any developer can download and extend as they please.

This code is provided as is and there is no implied warranty. It is free to use in personal and commercial applications. Thanks and sorry for the lack of updates on this project.

Opening native apps using Appcelerator Titanium

Keith Storm — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Ever needed to open a native app from your Appcelerator Titanium project? Read below for a simple method I put together.

The below method works for Android and iOS. My particular method was used to open the native twitter client.

// Enclose in Try / Catch in case of Android try { // canOpenURL only works in iOS if (Ti.Platform.canOpenURL(e.rowData.tweetUrl)){ // Open the native twitter client url: twitter://status?id=statusidnumber Ti.Platform.openURL(e.rowData.tweetUrl); } else { // If it can't open the twitter client open the twitter site: http://twitter.com/user/statuses/statusidnumber Ti.Platform.openURL(e.rowData.fallbackUrl); } } catch (err) { // Android will catch an error because it can't call canOpenURL Ti.API.error(err); Ti.Platform.openURL(e.rowData.fallbackUrl); }

Every app uses a unique URL scheme. If you don't know the URL scheme for the app you're trying to open, check out http://handleopenurl.com/ for a great reference of iOS URL schemes.

Design Tip: Let's Make Shiny Buttons in Illustrator

Allison Reich — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Shiny Buttons Tutorial

Ok, are you ready to learn some basic steps to create shiny looking vector buttons in Illustrator?

Let's get started. First you must have Illustrator! Now lets create a squarish blue button. Create a gradient square with no outline. You can choose any color you wish, I chose a nice blue.

Now, lets just select the square and copy and paste.

Next, place the copied square over the other one.. should 'snap' together. so now you have 2 squares laying on top of one another. Then, select both squares... in the Illustrator menu, go to EFFECT >STYLIZE>ROUND CORNERS. For this example I chose a size of .4 as you see below.

Next, lets draw a rectangle.. slightly wider than the square. Place the top of the rectangle to about center of the square, this would be the "shine". Now, select the top square and bring it forward over the rectangle, so now the rectangle sits between both squares, as you see below.

Now we join the 2 pieces. Select the rectangle and the top square... go to your PATHFINDER window and choose INTERSECT button under "Shape Modes". Your result should look something similar to the image below.

Now here is where we concentrate on the gradient placements. Lets select the main big square and flip it so the lighter gradient is on the top. I could've done this in step one, but you always seem to end up playing with the gradients to the correct colors and shades anyway. So we want a nice, pretty light shade at the very top... almost to white, but not quite.

Now, lets select the "shine" part, the bottom section of the button. We want the gradient of that to have a dark shade at the top to a lighter shade at the bottom. This will make it pop. As I said you will have to play and adjust the gradients. The example of this is below.

Now we are near the finish line. Its time to add your text for your button. I made mine big and bold so it will stand out.

Now, since the text is part of the button, it should reflect the shine as well so it look like it's part of the button. First select the bottom "shine" part of the button, COPY, then PASTE as below.

So now we don't really want the shine to be blue. We need to show a gradient shadow effect. So take the copied bottom piece and make it a gradient of a medium grey color to an opacity of 0. Now place the copied bottom grey gradient and lay it over top of the button over the text... so you see something like the image below:

Now, select that gradient and lower the transparency. I lowered mine to about a 9. Pretty low. All depends how dark your grey color is. So there you have it, a shiny button!

Next, you can add a border if you like or a shadow. I added a gradient border on my button. Now I just cheated and did it quickly by copying the large main square, then paste it.. create a slightly darker shade at the top.. maybe even a center shade and then a darker shade for the bottom of the square. Enlarge the square a bit to your desired border size. Place back over the button and select it, and ARRANGE it and SEND TO BACK. Y0u may have to play with centering it and sizing. But there you have it.. a shiny button with a border!

Try it out! Enjoy and Good luck!

Allison Reich of AllisonsBackstage.com and LightningHammer.com
Allison.Reich@lightninghammer.com

Joshua Jay gets Unreal

Keith Storm — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:00:00 GMT

We're back at it again with Allison's Backstage. This time we created a new site for Joshua Jay's Unreal. Allison worked with Joshua Jay and Vinny DePonto to create the sleek design, while we took care of the HTML, CSS, and ticket sales through EventBrite.

Interested in a site like this? Contact us and/or Allison at Allison@allisonsbackstage.com and we will build the site you have always wanted!

View the site.

Is your website mobile friendly?

Keith Storm — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:00:00 GMT

With the dawn of the smartphone, it is increasingly important that a website is usable not only on a desktop or laptop, but on a mobile device as well. Analysts are predicting that the future of web browsing will be dominated by mobile devices, with the personal computer taking a back seat.

Fortunately, LightningCMS is up to the challenge and easily lends itself to duplicating your website content and displaying it in a mobile friendly template. Take our site for example. If you visit our site with a standard web browser, you will see the standard website in all it's glory, including high resolution photos and animated javascripts.

That information is too heavy for mobile browsing. Therefore, when you navigate to our site using a mobile device it will automatically redirect you to a lightweight version of our site. The graphics are scaled down and the information is designed to quickly find the most important information. This makes the mobile browsing experience much easier for the visitor.

Not sure how many people are visiting your site with mobile devices? That information is easily viewable when using Google Analytics in conjunction with your website. You can see what screen resolutions visitors are using including what mobile browsers they are using.

Don't lose customers because of a mobile unfriendly site. Contact us today and see how we can help.

@MikeSuper gets a website upgrade courtesy of @LightningHammer and @Allie1138

Keith Storm — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:00:00 GMT

Mike Super, 2011 Entertainer of the Year and winner of NBC's hit series PHENOMENON, has given us the wonderful opportunity to develop his new website.

The new design was crafted by the talented Allison's Backstage Design. Behind the scenes the site is powered by LightningCMS along with custom integration of twitter and youtube. The new site has moved away from the use of Flash and now relies on modern CSS and Javascript.

Look for more exciting work with Mike Super including online interactive applications and mobile applications for iPhone and Android.

During development of the website, we had the pleasure of seeing Mike's show live at The Peace Center. Mike is a truly talented entertainer and if you ever get the chance, check out his show. You won't be disappointed.

Click here to view case study.

Celebrate @FreedomWeekend with the new website and mobile app.

Keith Storm — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:00:00 GMT

Spring is just around the corner and Freedom Weekend Aloft is drawing near. What better way to enjoy the event than with an updated website and FREE mobile app? For the first time, we have simultaneously released a website powered by LightningCMS and a supporting mobile phone application.

The website has a new streamlined design while allowing Freedom Weekend Aloft to maintain all website content.

The mobile app is an extension of the website, allowing users to keep up with Freedom Weekend Aloft news, weather updates, browse the event schedule, see what's being said about @FreedomWeekend on twitter, and get walking or driving directions to event locations. If you've got an iPhone or android device, why not download the FREE app so you can have all the information you need directly at your fingertips.

Freedom Weekend Aloft is a great event for couples, families, and anyone in between. The event will be held Friday, May 27th - Monday, May 30th 2011. Don't forget to mark it on your calendar!

Click here to view the site.

Launched: A trio of new websites

Keith Storm — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:00:00 GMT

Business has been constantly growing at LightningHammer since we opened up shop. We had a great holiday and we are pushing forward into 2011. We've been so busy designing and developing that we haven't had a chance to post a few of our recent projects.

JungWoo, USA

JungWoo, USA is an international designer and manufacturer of plastic injection mold tools.

View the site

Smoke Oil

Smoke Oil is a fueling company specializing in truck to truck and fleet fueling services.

View the site

First Health - Reid Heart Center

Reid Heart Center is the latest in a long legacy of innovation, from award-winning orthopedics, to the most advanced diagnostics, a wide variety of cancer treatment options, robotic surgery and the region’s only true open MRI.

View the site

UPDATED: It's Five O'Clock Somewhere! hits the App Store

Keith Storm — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 06:00:00 GMT

UPDATED: "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere!" is now available on the Android Market.

LightningHammer, in conjunction with SOTA Development, has released "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere!" to the Apple App Store. "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere!" is an application that will display locations where it is currently five o'clock from your current location. Not only does it display where it is five o'clock, it also displays featured drinks from each area.

See a drink you like? You can view the mixing instructions and add it to your favorite drinks so you can go back to it later. Users can also view a "most popular" list of drinks as well as browse drinks by city and keyword.

Stay tuned for future upgrades including Google Maps integration and user added content.

Version 1.1 is now available!

Check it out on the App Store. or click here to view more details and screen shots.

Holiday Hours

Admin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Our office will be closed from Noon on the 23rd of December to Monday, January 3rd. We will still be responding to emergency tickets and all scheduled projects will still follow their assigned milestones. If you have any emergency issues please go to our contact page and call our toll free number or submit a web form. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

United Tool and Mold website revamp

Keith Storm — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

LightningHammer has just released a new revamped website for United Tool and Mold. The website has a new updated look and feel along with new updated content, photos, and integrated google maps.

LightningCMS
Google maps integration

Swing by the site and take a look: http://www.utminc.com

LightningHammer serves up a CMS and Video Production for Kreative Kustom Motorsports

Keith Storm — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

We are back at it again with Rhem Galloway of Rhem Galloway Design, LLC. Rhem approached us to take her website design for Kreative Kustom Motorsports and turn it into a site with CMS capabilities. We customized LightningCMS to provide a back-end CMS to match and maintain Rhem's highly custom design.

On top of the website, Kreative Kustom Motorsports wanted to wow their customers with a 3D Logo introduction video. We converted their Logo to 3D and created all the animation with Lightwave 3D®. Once the animation was running smoothly we teamed up with Idryonis Studios where they added sound, music, and special effects.

Site Features include:

LightningCMS
Custom Photo Gallery mapped to LightningCMS back-end photo gallery editor
3D Logo Introduction

So if you're in the market to customize your car, or if you just want to see a pretty cool website check them out at http://www.kreativekustommotorsports.com

LightningHammer and Bounce launch two sites.

Keith Storm — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT

In the past few months we have had a wonderful opportunity to work with The Bounce Agency on a few web projects. The Bounce Agency provided their superb vision and we turned it into reality. Take a look below to see the first of many projects developed with The Bounce Agency.

Dare to Share - Piedmont Pride
Piedmont Pride is a website that was developed for employees of Piedmont Medical Center to share their experiences and well...pride.

The site is powered by LightningCMS and integrates several video testimonials captured by the employees. Don't forget the "Nurse Betty" video that was shot and produced by The Bounce Agency.

Fort Mill Medical Center
The Fort Mill Medical website is an online campaign to build a new Hospital / medical center in the Fort Mill community. If you live in Fort Mill or one of the surrounding communities, why don't you stop by and take a look.

http://www.OnlyFortMillMedicalCenter.com

Filter Real Estate launches new website

Keith Storm — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT

In conjunction with Rhem Galloway of Rhem Galloway Design, LLC, LightningHammer has launched a new website for Filter Real Estate.

Filter Real Estate offers various services and plans to serve as a hub for Real Estate news and information.

Site Features include:

LightningCMS
Social Media Integration
3rd Party RSS feed integration

Planned updates are a client login portal where files and correspondence will be shared between Filter and their clients.

View the site at: http://www.filter-inc.com

New Websites Launched

Keith Storm — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:50:26 GMT

We’ve been pretty busy the past few weeks and we haven’t had the opportunity to write about the latest sites we’ve been working on. Take a look to see the latest sites we have launched.

City of Fountain Inn

The site is powered by LightningCMS and has our dynamic weather and time of day system integrated. Soon the site design will update depending on the time of day and even the weather.

Launch Website: http://www.fountaininn.org

FindCarolinaDentists.com

We redesigned and upgraded FindCarolinaDentists.com with new features allowing dentists to sign up for premium memberships. The premium memberships allow for on-site advertising, photo galleries, promotions, and much more.

Launch Website: http://www.findcarolinadentists.com

Eversouth Development

Eversouth Development is a commercial real estate development company based in Greenville, South Carolina. They needed a new website to effectively showcase their development portfolio. The site is powered by LightningCMS and features a custom web design by LightningHammer.

Launch Website: http://www.eversouth.com

Rising Tide

Rising Tide offers Sports and Event Marketing. The site is powered by LightningCMS.

Launch Website: http://www.risingtideco.com

Hill Marketing and PR

Launch Website: http://www.hillmarketingpr.com

Virtual Sidekick

Launch Website: http://www.yourvirtualsidekick.com

facePLANT Windows Live Writer Plugin UPDATED

Keith Storm — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:00:00 GMT

** UPDATE ** I have released the source code for this project. Click Here.

DOWNLOAD: facePLANT.zip (264.68 kb)

It’s been a while since we touched upon the facePLANT plugin we created for Windows Live Writer. We had some people that had trouble getting it to work, so we did some testing of our own. We created some new facebook accounts, did some debugging and as it turns out facebook is now implementing some new permissions requirements when it comes to updating your status.

Facebook now requires all applications to get “Extended Permission” in order for them to update your facebook status. We did some tweaking of the code, and now it will prompt you to grant permission for the “Windows Live Writer” application to update your facebook status.

Once you have granted access, facePLANT should have no problems updating your status. So give it a download and let us know if you experience any problems.

Installation Instructions:

Download the Zip file from above.
Extract the DLL’s into your WLW Plugins directory (Ex. C:Program Files (x86)Windows LiveWriterPlugins)
Run Windows Live Writer
Optional: You may configure the default message by going to Tools > Options > Plugins > facePLANT > options button

DOWNLOAD: facePLANT.zip (264.68 kb)

We have a winner!

Keith Storm — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:36:03 GMT

We have a winner for our Halloween iTunes gift card giveaway!

Congratulations to GiraffeDiva (Dana), the winner of our $25 iTunes gift card.

Of course you’re curious of how we selected the winner. Well since we’re software developers after all, we decided we would write a program to do it. If you like you may take a look at the page we created here.

Here is how it works:

Input a list of names with each name on a new line.
Click the “Get Winner” button.

The page takes the list of names and sorts them into a random order, then it picks one of the names at random. Of course, with the more names the more random it will get.

Feel free to use our page to for your own contests, or if you would like to make your own page here is some code to get you going:

ASP.NET Code:



<asp:TextBox id="txtNames" runat="server" TextMode="multiline" validationgroup="winner" CssClass="field" /><br />

  



<asp:Button id="btnSubmit" runat="server" Text="Get Winner"  OnClick="btnSubmit_Click" validationgroup="winner" /><br /><br />

  



<asp:Label id="lblWinner" runat="Server" CssClass="winner" visible="false" />

C# Code:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Web;

using System.Web.UI;

using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

  

public partial class randomwinner : System.Web.UI.Page

{

    protected void btnSubmit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

    {

        // Get Random Winner        

        List<string> names = new List<string>();

        names.AddRange( txtNames.Text.Split('\n') );

  

        // shuffle list 

        names = MixList(names);

  

        // Now pick a random item from the shuffled list

        int count = names.Count;        

        Random RandomNumber = new Random();

        int x = RandomNumber.Next(0, count-1);

  

        lblWinner.Text = "And the winner is: " + names[x];

        lblWinner.Visible = true;

    }

  

    private List<string> MixList(List<string> inputList)

    {

         List<string> randomList = new List<string>();

         if (inputList.Count == 0)

              return randomList;

  

         Random r = new Random();

         int randomIndex = 0;

         while (inputList.Count > 0)

         {

              randomIndex = r.Next(0, inputList.Count); //Choose a random object in the list

              randomList.Add(inputList[randomIndex]); //add it to the new, random list<

              inputList.RemoveAt(randomIndex); //remove to avoid duplicates

         }

  

         //clean up

         inputList.Clear();

         inputList = null;

         r = null;

  

         return randomList; //return the new random list

    }

}

The code is pretty basic. There’s not a lot of error checking in there, but since we were the ones using it, it worked well.