Tired of Sharing a Spreadsheet?

Somewhere in your organization there is a spreadsheet everyone shares. It gets emailed around, nobody is quite sure which version is current, and every week someone spends hours doing by hand what software should be doing automatically. That spreadsheet is the sign of a process that has outgrown its tools.

Since January 2000, Peter Otte Productions has built the software that takes over — secure, maintainable web applications on CodeIgniter 4 and PHP, tailored to how your organization actually works rather than how a platform vendor thinks you should work.

People come to us in one of two situations. Some are running a real operation on manual processes — rosters, approvals, scheduling, reporting — and they are tired of losing hours to them. Others see an opportunity: the idea is sketched out, and they need a partner who can take it from the drawing board to launch. We do both, and it is the same discipline either way: listen carefully, build only what is needed, and stand behind it after it ships.

What We Automate

The mundane tasks are where the hours go: retyping the same data into two systems, chasing the current version of a file, tallying by hand what a database should tally for you. This is the work we take off your plate:

Every engagement starts the same way: we listen first, then recommend the right tool for the job — and if that's an off-the-shelf platform rather than custom code, we'll say so.

From Drawing Board to Launch

Maybe the spreadsheet isn't your problem. Maybe you see an opportunity — a tool your industry needs, a service your clients keep asking for — and what you need is a partner who can carry it from idea to working product.

Every build starts as boxes on paper. Discovery turns the sketch into a plan; the plan becomes the product.

That is a different kind of engagement, and we have done it for ourselves as well as for clients: POPCMS and POP Members both began as sketches on our own whiteboard and now run real organizations every day. When we partner on a launch, you bring the idea and the domain knowledge; we bring everything else:

• Shaping the concept. We help you decide what the first version must do — and just as importantly, what it can wait on.
• Design and architecture. Interfaces people can use without a manual, on a database built to grow.
• The build itself. Iterative development with something clickable early and regular working previews after that.
• Launch, hosting, and support. We don't hand you a zip file and wish you luck. We deploy it, host it, monitor it, and improve it with you after it's live.

Selected Projects

Here are organizations that retired their spreadsheets — or launched their ideas — with software we built:

International Women's Forum - Chicago

Type: Custom nominations & committee portal

Replaced: Spreadsheets passed by email

HEERN

Type: Major association platform on POP Members

Depth: Custom cohort and program workflows that would be impossible on a fixed platform

TWC

Wednesday Club Finance Manager

Type: Standalone finance application, built from scratch

Scope: Purpose-built bookkeeping and reporting for a membership club

These projects span custom business applications, POPCMS sites, and POP Members platforms — all built and hosted by POP.

From Spreadsheets to Software: The IWF Portal

IWF Chicago — Nominations portal workflow

This is what retiring a spreadsheet looks like. International Women's Forum Chicago ran their member nominations exactly the way we described at the top of this page: an Excel file passed between committee members by email — confusing, error-prone, and a version-control nightmare that ate volunteer hours.

We built a custom web application that:

• Guides nominators step-by-step. An intuitive interface collects every required piece of information.
• Manages the review workflow. Committee members review, comment, and vote without spreadsheet confusion.
• Tracks status in real time. Everyone sees where each nomination stands — no more wondering which version is current.
• Integrates with Wild Apricot. Approved members flow directly into the membership platform, eliminating duplicate data entry.

The result: a membership expansion process that went from chaotic to streamlined, enabling IWF Chicago to grow more effectively.

The Phone That Answers Itself: Leo

POPCMS: Secure Content Management

southtexlawyer.com — POPCMS site with Leo answering the chat, bottom right

POPCMS is our proprietary content management system built on CodeIgniter 4. We created it because WordPress and similar platforms have become targets for hackers, and their plugin ecosystems create security vulnerabilities and performance problems. Then we tuned it for the way people find you now:

• Optimized for search — and for AI visibility. Clean URLs, fast pages, proper heading structure, and schema and structured data on every page, so your site is legible to Google and to the AI assistants that increasingly answer questions first.
• Forms management built in. Contact forms, intake forms, and submissions managed inside the platform — no third-party form plugins to patch or babysit.
• API integration built in. Payments (AffiniPay, Stripe), email, and outside services connect natively, because integration is part of the platform rather than an afterthought.
• Security by design. No public plugin repository means no attack vectors from third-party code. Every line is written and audited by our team.

POPCMS powers this website and southtexlawyer.com, where the platform and Leo — the intake assistant you met above — work as one system: the site brings the visitor in, and Leo answers the call. View more examples in our portfolio. And because being found is only half the job, our guide Making Your Website Work for Everyone covers accessibility — with a free scanner you can run on your own site.

POP Members: Association Management Platform

heern.org — Public site and admin dashboard

POP Members shares the POPCMS codebase but extends it into a full association management platform. We built it for organizations that have outgrown Wild Apricot or similar platforms and need complete control over their membership systems.

• Complete customization control. Every feature, workflow, and interface element can be tailored to your organization — not just the parts a platform vendor allows.
• Your data, your rules. No vendor lock-in. Your member database lives on your server, exported and backed up however you choose.
• Integration flexibility. Connect payment processors, accounting software, and email platforms without waiting for a vendor roadmap.
• Predictable costs. No per-member pricing that punishes growth. No surprise fee increases when a vendor changes its business model.

POP Members is ideal for associations with complex membership structures, custom workflows, or integration requirements that off-the-shelf platforms cannot accommodate. HEERN is the deepest example: we have customized cohort management, program workflows, and reporting to fit exactly how they operate — work that would be impossible on a fixed platform like Wild Apricot.

Our Development Process

Whether we are automating your operations or launching your idea, this is the road from drawing board to live system — and you will always know which mile marker we are at:

Why Organizations Choose POP

Organizations work with us because we combine technical depth with practical business sense. We have been building web applications since 2000, and we understand that technology exists to serve your mission — not the other way around.

• We listen first. Before proposing solutions, we take time to understand your actual needs and constraints.
• We write clean, documented code. Our applications are maintainable. If you ever need another developer to work on the system, they will be able to understand what we built.
• We communicate clearly. No jargon, no disappearing acts. You will always know where your project stands.
• We are pragmatic. We recommend the right tool for the job. Sometimes that is custom development; sometimes it is an off-the-shelf platform. We will tell you honestly.

Custom code is one tool in a larger kit. We also run a full Wild Apricot consulting practice and build on WordPress when it fits — so when a hosted platform is the smarter answer for your timeline or budget, we will say so and set it up properly.

Whether you need a complete custom application, want to rescue an existing PHP project, or are weighing whether to stay on your current platform, we are happy to talk through your options.

The Future Is Custom

For twenty years, custom software was the expensive road, and most organizations settled for a platform instead. That equation has flipped. Working with AI lets a small, senior team go further and deeper than ever before: dashboards, tools, and full applications that once took quarters now take weeks, without giving up the engineering judgment that keeps them secure and maintainable.

You can see it on this page. Leo answers a phone with a conversation. The IWF portal replaced a spreadsheet with a workflow. The next tool — the one your organization needs — is closer than you think. For more on where this shift is heading, read AI and the New Rules of Digital Engagement.