Ganda Craft Contact

Software. OJS. Plugins. Themes.

Software house

We build custom systems and websites, and we look after scholarly journals on Open Journal Systems: from the server to the plugin, from the plugin to the theme.

Get in touch Work

A rhinoceros in profile facing right, covered in armour-like plates, with scaly legs and a small extra horn on its back; at the top, the date 1515, the word RHINOCERVS and Dürer's monogram.
Albrecht Dürer, “Rhinocerus”, woodcut, 1515.

Hand-crafted software, with an engraver's care.

Work

Some Ganda Craft projects, from whole systems to the details.

  • The Olympo admin: the gallery for choosing a page's template, with a preview of each

    Olympo

    Platform

    A content management system for postgraduate programmes: one admin for many institutions, each with its own fast, static and accessible website. Revisions and undo, draft previews, scheduled publishing and built-in help.

    • Go
    • PostgreSQL
    • React
    • Astro
    Visit olympo.gandacraft.com
  • The History page of the UFPE programme site: highlighted numbers and a timeline

    UFPE Graduate Programme in History website

    Institutional website

    The new website of the Graduate Programme in History at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), built on Olympo: faculty, students and alumni, defences, events, curriculum and scholarships, with the Brazilian government bar, sign-language (VLibras) support and high contrast.

    • Astro
    • Accessibility
    • Olympo
    Visit ppgh.gandacraft.com
  • The Research output page: filters by faculty member, type and year, and publications by year

    Research output

    Plugin

    An Olympo plugin that collects the faculty's publications from OpenAlex, ORCID and the Lattes CV platform, merges duplicate records and publishes the programme's output with search and filters.

    • OpenAlex
    • ORCID
    • Lattes
    Visit olympo.gandacraft.com
  • CS Grundlage in dark mode: the question of the day answered, with the right answer marked

    csfundamental

    Web application

    A gamified platform for practising computer-science fundamentals, with a code-editor interface, answer streaks and a review of weak spots, in English, Portuguese and German.

    • Go
    • React
    • PostgreSQL
    Visit csfundamental.com

What we do

Four areas, one way of working: understand the problem before writing code, and leave everything documented for whoever comes next.

  • Custom software

    Web systems, APIs and websites built around your process, not the other way round.

    • Internal tools and admin dashboards
    • APIs and integrations between systems
    • Fast, accessible websites that are easy to edit

  • OJS servers

    We install, upgrade and keep Open Journal Systems running, securely and with backups.

    • Installation and configuration
    • Upgrades and version migrations
    • Monitoring, backups and tested restores

  • OJS plugins

    When OJS doesn't do what your journal needs, we write the plugin that does.

    • Generic, block and import/export plugins
    • Integrations with other systems and services
    • Open source, documented and ready for new versions

  • Themes and layouts

    OJS themes and websites in your journal's or institution's identity, readable on any screen.

    • Custom or adapted OJS themes
    • Accessibility (WCAG)
    • Well-designed article, issue and archive pages

Open Journal Systems

Your journal online, without surprises.

OJS is the Public Knowledge Project's open-source system, used by thousands of scholarly journals. It's powerful, but it needs ongoing care. That's what we offer.

  • Installation and hosting

    OJS set up properly from day one: server, database, e-mail, HTTPS and scheduled tasks.

  • Upgrades and migrations

    We upgrade OJS versions and move journals between servers, with a rehearsal first and a way back.

  • Security and backups

    Security fixes kept up to date, daily off-site backups and tested restores.

  • Performance

    Pages that load fast even for large issues: caching, database and server tuning.

  • Indexing

    OAI-PMH and metadata set up so indexers and Google Scholar find every article.

  • Support for editors

    Someone to answer when something doesn't work, in English, Portuguese or German.

We work with current OJS 3 releases and help journals on older versions get there.

How we work

  1. Conversation

    We learn what needs to be done, for whom, and within which time and budget.

  2. Proposal

    You get scope, timeline and price in writing, with no fine print.

  3. Building

    Small, frequent deliveries you can see and try along the way.

  4. Ongoing care

    Once it's live we stay close: maintenance, upgrades and improvements.

Why a rhinoceros?

In 1515 an Indian rhinoceros named Ganda arrived in Lisbon, a gift from the Sultan of Gujarat to King Manuel I. It was the first one seen alive in Europe in over a thousand years.

Albrecht Dürer never saw it. From a sketch and a letter, he cut the most famous rhinoceros in history into wood, armour plates and all.

We like that mix: patient craft, curiosity and good engineering from imperfect descriptions. That's how we build software.

  • Accessible

    Websites and systems everyone can use, screen readers included.

  • Durable

    Few dependencies, real tests and documentation, built to last for years.

Shall we talk?

Tell us a little about your project, your journal or your server. We reply in English, Portuguese or German.

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