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for peer-to-peer support of the FileMaker Platform and related products and services.
[ Edit: 3/16/2016 - With the help of some other people, we have been able to recover, or recreate some of the original images from original thread. ]
Security is always a big topic when it involves data, or people, or possessions. Recently, over on the FileMaker Community, there was a very beneficial discussion regarding security. Unfortunately, that discussion was the victim of a necessary action...and was deleted. It was deleted, because the discussion was tied to a video that, as was det
Free webinar introducing Karbon our free application framework for building ambitious custom business applications. If you are interested in using the FileMaker Workplace Innovation Platform at a high level you'll probably want to see what we have cooked up.
The post Karbon Webinar – Getting Started appeared first on Geist Interactive.
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In the past year and a half here at Geist Interactive, I’ve been tasked with some development work that involves connecting to various APIs. I’ve written modules for clients that get definitions, other forms, synonyms and antonyms, hypernyms and hyponyms of a term from the client’s internal dictionary and such public dictionaries such as Oxford […]
The post HTTP Request: I don’t know how, but it works appeared first on Geist Interactive.
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For the first time, DB Services has been ranked #3494 on the annual Inc. 5000 list, which ranks the country’s “fastest-growing innovators” based on overall revenue growth over a three-year period. The Inc. 5000 list has brought attention to America’s growing private businesses since 1982.
DB Services now joins the ranks of other Inc. 5000 list alumni such as Facebook, Zappos, Pandora, and others. DB Services is top ranked FileMaker Platinum Business Alliance Partner on the 2019 Inc. 5000 li
FileMaker offers many different options for charting, but if you need a chart that is not available in FileMaker, you should consider using Google Charts. Google Charts is a free Javascript framework that can be used in conjunction with web viewers in FileMaker to extend your charting capabilities: https://dbservices.com/articles/google-charts-in-filemaker/
dbservices.com
As you gain experience with FileMaker, you may find yourself taking on projects that ask more of you as a developer. Maybe you’re working with a complex solution, connecting FileMaker to other systems, or trying to understand a database someone else built. At some point, knowing the fundamentals is not enough. You need opportunities to practice more advanced skills and guidance from people who understand the work.
Productive Computing University’s Advanced Certification program is designed t
You have your agent set up, connected to your solution, and ready to work. Yet the seemingly minor choice of which model and effort level to run quietly decides whether agentic coding saves you money or drains it. The names providers use are designed to push you toward the most expensive option, and the more powerful a setting sounds, the more you pay for it. But most FileMaker work, from everyday scripts to schema changes to small enhancements, does not demand the deepest thinking model in exis
Agentic coding has arrived, and there is no version of the future where it stays outside your FileMaker workflow, yet for most FileMaker developers it currently looks like a wall. Most every LLM ("agent") you can point at a project today works within a mental model of folders, plain text files, and version control, while everything you've built in FileMaker, your scripts, layouts, fields, and data, sits sealed inside a file that no model can simply open and inspect. This first video in the serie
When you open your FileMaker solution, you may expect it to display the correct company logo, use your company’s time zone, or open a window at a familiar size.
Those settings do not appear by accident. Your developer must give the solution a way to retain the information and retrieve it when it is needed.
FileMaker 2026 provides a new option for doing this with the persistent data store.
Settings and preferences your solution may need
Most of the information in your FileMaker so
Technical SEO Meets AI: How LLMs Read (and Cite) Your Website
Why does the same technical foundation that wins Google rankings now decide whether ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity cite your business at all.
The digital landscape has shifted from a library of links to an engine of answers. As large language models (LLMs) like GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini (and many others) become the primary way people consume information, the goal of SEO has changed with them. It’s no longer just about ranking #1 on
WordPress eXplained: Why Millions Still Build on the Platform
Everything Small- and Medium-sized Businesses Need to Know About WordPress in 2026 (Without the Tech-Speak)
Search “best website builder” and you’ll find yourself standing smack in the middle of a digital carnival with one booth shouting about drag-and-drop simplicity, while another promises jaw-dropping templates, and yet another claims it can launch your site lickety-split, before your coffee goes lukewarm.
In the midst of all
Here are links to articles and resources related to my August 8 [Full Access] presentation, “JSON Nuances and Gotchas”. Session Description JSON in FileMaker seems pretty straight-forward… until it isn’t. We will explore a number of traps lurking for the unwary and how to avoid them, a couple tricks to dramatically speed up JSON creation,… Continue reading August 2026 Full Access Resource PageView the full article
Learning the fundamentals of Claris FileMaker is an important first step, but many developers eventually reach a point where they’re ready to build more capable and robust business applications. That’s often when new questions begin to surface.
How do you connect FileMaker with external services? How do you automate common business processes? What’s the best way to organize a growing solution and keep it maintainable over time?
Developing these skills requires more than learning new feat
The Plain-English Guide to Technical SEO
The term “SEO” gets tossed around a lot. Maybe a vendor has pitched it to you. Maybe a competitor mentioned they were “doing SEO.” Maybe your nephew told you at Thanksgiving that your website “needs better SEO.” Everyone agrees you need SEO but few can actually eXplain what it is, especially the technical SEO, or behind-the-scenes work that helps search engines understand your website.
Let’s fix that.
SEO 101 (In Case you Need a Refresher)
SEO stan
In the video for this article I take a deep dive into FileMaker 26's new field and table metadata features, and the big picture is: Claris is prepping your databases for AI agents. I show how you can pack your field comments with structured JSON—things like enumerations ("colors must be one of: blue, orange, red")—and pull that out via the Get Table DDL function so AI tools have enough schema context to generate scripts or build equivalent tables in other databases. It builds on functionality th
What FileMaker Developers and Business Owners Need to Know
If your FileMaker solution integrates with QuickBooks Desktop, now is a good time to understand how Intuit’s evolving product lineup could affect your business.
For users of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Premier, support will eventually come to an end. While QuickBooks Enterprise remains available for businesses that want to continue using a desktop solution, many organizations are evaluating QuickBooks Online as their next step.
HubSpot helps you convert leads and close customers, but running it alongside FileMaker often means entering the same data twice. Learn how to integrate FileMaker with HubSpot's API to sync records automatically. Includes a video and a sample file. dbservices.com
Behind the Curtain: What It’s Really Like to Build Custom Software (Without the Hidden Traps)
By Rick Middleton,
eXcelisys Solutions Consultant
If you’ve ever hired a software development firm—or even just thought about it—you probably have some scar tissue. Maybe you’ve dealt with an aggressive sales rep who promised the moon, a developer who spoke entirely in tech-jargon riddles, or a project that stalled moments before the promised launch.
We get it.
Custom software can feel like a high
Demo File: all-countries-by-region.zip Introduction [Note: In this article I use the term “Replace” as shorthand for Replace Field Contents.] This is a follow-up to a technique we looked at a couple years ago in Replace + GetNthRecord to Fill Down. At the time I had just imported some data from Excel and now that the… Continue reading More Fun With ReplaceView the full article
Plan Before You Build
Connecting FileMaker with QuickBooks can reduce duplicate entry, improve access to accounting information, and give your team better visibility into the information they need to do their jobs.
Before writing scripts or exchanging data, it is worth taking time to decide what information should move between systems and which application should manage it.
The most effective integrations give each application a clear role. FileMaker manages customer-facing and oper
If you have ever tried to bundle a hefty JavaScript library into a FileMaker solution, you already know the quiet frustration of it. You tuck the code into an insert text step or a custom function, you bump into arbitrary character limits, and you end up with the same content duplicated in places that were never really meant to hold it. The result works, but it always feels like a workaround rather than a home. FileMaker 26 finally addresses this head on, and it changes how you think about the a
Your FileMaker Solution Has Been Running for Years. Time for a Check-Up!
How to Protect, Maintain and Future-Proof Your Database Investment
We launch custom Claris FileMaker solutions all the time and enjoy watching our clients go from glum to giddy once their manual processes are automated, their data is organized into slick layouts, and the whole operation runs smoother thanks to workflows built around the way they actually work.
Then something interesting happens.
The FileMaker solution
Artificial intelligence continues to evolve rapidly, and keeping your FileMaker AI projects aligned with current technologies can be a challenge. To help you stay up to date, we’ve refreshed the AI Essentials for FileMaker Developers course with revised lessons, enhanced demo files, and support for the latest AI models from OpenAI and Google Gemini.
Whether you’re new to AI or revisiting the course to expand your skills, you’ll find practical examples and techniques that reflect today’s AI l
Let’s Look Under the Hood
Most FileMaker systems do not become difficult to maintain overnight.
They evolve over time as new features are added, business processes change, and development priorities shift. A layout created for a special project may remain in the file long after the project is finished. Scripts are modified, reports are duplicated, and old ideas are abandoned before they are completed. The system continues to work, so there is little reason to question what is happening b
Shopify vs. WordPress: Which is Best for Your Online Storefront?
By Michael Suhrbier,
eXcelisys Web App Developer
Ever ask a developer this prickly question – Shopify or WordPress?
In answering, most will discuss these online storefront platforms as if they’re standing in the power tools aisle comparing battery-powered drills vs. corded drills, arguing over performance, convenience and cost.
But our developers ask a different question – sure, we will discuss features with you but we will a
Check Out New Features, Video Overview, and Free Sample Files
Claris has officially released FileMaker 2026, introducing new capabilities designed to help you work with AI, improve solution organization, and simplify everyday development tasks.
Highlights in FileMaker 2026 include:
AI capabilities that make it easier to work with documents, external services, and modern data sources
Enhancements to improve solution organization and make development projects easier to manage ove
WordPress 7.0 Didn’t Break the Internet — And That’s the Real Story
By Shane Glover,
eXcelisys WordPress Guru
When WordPress 5.0 launched in 2018, it felt less like an update and more like a forced migration.
The Gutenberg editor completely changed how content was created inside WordPress. For developers, agencies and anyone maintaining production sites, it was chaos for a while. Themes broke. Plugins conflicted. Custom workflows stopped working overnight. Countless site owners delayed updat
[Some of the text in today’s article has been recycled from earlier articles.] Demo file: virtual-list-with-window-uuids.zip (requires FM 26 or later) Introduction As the whole world — or the whole FileMaker world at any rate — knows by now, last week saw the release of FileMaker 2026 with a number of compelling new features, as well… Continue reading FM 26: Virtual List with Window UUIDsView the full article
