PROJECTS & RESEARCH
Working prototypes,
looking for the funding that puts them online.
Mentora Labs is a small studio in Sanremo, Italy, that builds WordPress plugins and web apps.
The plugins are our products, and each one has a page that says whether it is ready or still in development. The web apps are working prototypes: they run, and they are waiting for a partner, a funding programme or an investor to go online. This page is what we send when we apply.
Two areas, chosen on purpose
Both are places where a small tool, used by someone without a technical team, changes the day to day.
Digital accessibility
Most accessibility problems on a small website are a handful of recurring mistakes: text too pale on its background, type too small, a button that is only a colour. The people running those sites rarely have a way to spot them.
Mentora Accessibility analyses a page and suggests what to change. It does not certify a site, and it does not make one compliant: no automated tool can. What it does is show the problems a person can fix, and where.
The site you are reading is held to the standard we ask of others: WCAG 2.1 AA, with contrast and target sizes measured rather than declared.
[Screenshot: the Mentora Accessibility report on a real page, with the contrast warnings visible]
Small businesses and digitalisation
A shop, a studio or a guesthouse rarely needs a platform. It needs bookings that work, a map that loads, a screen in the window that shows the right thing: tools that one person can install and keep running.
Every plugin has a free version, meant for the WordPress plugin directory, so trying it costs nothing and the decision to pay comes later.
[Photo: a real place that runs one of the plugins. A shop, a studio, a guesthouse]
How we build
Few dependencies, nothing loaded from third parties on the sites we build, and code that one developer can still read in two years.
What we do
- WordPress plugins, with a free version and a Pro version sold through Freemius
- Web apps for businesses that need more than a website
- Accessibility analysis, with practical advice on what to fix
- Multilingual sites in English, Italian and French
[Screenshot: one of the plugins at work inside the WordPress admin]
Technologies
- WordPress: block themes, full site editing,
theme.json - PHP 8.4, kept on the current security patch
- Vanilla JavaScript on the front end, without frameworks or jQuery
- MySQL, and Docker for every development environment
- For the web apps: React, Next.js, Supabase on PostgreSQL, and Flutter for the mobile player
- No external resources on our sites: fonts, scripts and images are served by us
[Photo or screenshot: the bench. Code, the terminal, the containers running]
Projects under way
The state of each project is the state we would defend in a meeting. A working prototype is not “almost online”.
M.DOOH
Prototipo funzionante
Screens already on inside shops become bookable advertising space, and every campaign pays a share to the venue and to the people watching.
Avanzamento 99%
M.BEACON
In sviluppo
A shared map of real venues, built and kept current by the shops, brands and organisers who own them.
Avanzamento 60%
M.BODYCOUNT
Prototipo funzionante
A private archive of your intimate relationships, where what describes the other person stays hidden until that person allows it.
Avanzamento 90%
The plugins have a page each, with features, pricing and documentation.
FUNDING & PARTNERSHIPS
What we are looking for
We are looking for a funding programme, a European call or an investor who wants to take the prototypes to market. We are also open to partnerships with agencies and trade associations that work with small businesses.