I don't know why I feel out of place. Maybe it's because I suddenly realized that the site I've been downloading ringtones from is run by a 20-year-old college student. Shouldn't really bother me. The girl I'm trying to emulate isn't even that old, and she's much more successful than he. Must be easier, though, for someone in school to learn something new. I'm a salesman that works 45, sometimes 50 hours a week, and comes home to a wonderful girlfriend who asks only that I spend time with her. With all these irons in the fire, that seems like a lot more than she knows, but I'm happy to give her that.
So where do you find the time, if you're grown, and out of school, to do all of this? Treat it like school. Remember when each class was an hour a day, sometimes half an hour of homework? Same goes for all of these projects. If you naturally find yourself getting so busy that you just don't know what to do with yourself, then you have a scheduling problem. I know this sounds a lot more like a diary entry today, but bear with me.
Part of being successful is moderation. How rich do you want to be? If that's you're biggest motivation, you're in for a long road, because nothing... and I mean nothing, is ever going to satisfy you. So, if you find yourself in this position, and you don't want to get burned out, seek out a time for JUST your project, and stick to it. Even if it seems small, you WILL be making progress, and your loved ones won't want to throw it out the window. Personally, I'm at it with all of these projects for about an hour and a half each day, and whatever I can squeeze in on the weekend. Tonight, that's going to change.
I'm sticking with an hour and a half each day, but the weekends belong to me, not my business. Instead of "whatever I can fit in", I'm limiting myself to the same hour and a half that's more than enough during the week. If you worry about getting burned out, I'm suggesting the same for you.
Take care of yourselves, and if you find yourself starting to wonder if your site will ever take off.... I'm right there with you.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Just in time!!!
Yeah, I bet you thought you had just gotten in under the wire. You posted a metric ton of St. Patrick's Day comments just before the holiday so that people could nab a few throughout the day. Sure, your site is indexed, and you're on all the search engines, but unless you've given google, yahoo, and the msn bots time to crawl your pages, you're not going to turn up anything in the searches.
How much time? That depends on when the bots last crawled your site, but average time is 48 hours to two weeks. This means you really need to consider planning well ahead, and giving time for these engines to have your stuff up and running. I speak from hindsight, because I was extremely frustrated to find out that my holiday comments, which I had spent hours putting onto the site, couldn't be found anywhere, unless you were already coming to the site (laughable, if you'd seen my last month's traffic).
So take your time, plan ahead, and most of all, if you realize a holiday is upon you, don't pull your hair out to get the content up. Make it count, and put some quality stuff up there for next year.
Have fun, and good luck!
How much time? That depends on when the bots last crawled your site, but average time is 48 hours to two weeks. This means you really need to consider planning well ahead, and giving time for these engines to have your stuff up and running. I speak from hindsight, because I was extremely frustrated to find out that my holiday comments, which I had spent hours putting onto the site, couldn't be found anywhere, unless you were already coming to the site (laughable, if you'd seen my last month's traffic).
So take your time, plan ahead, and most of all, if you realize a holiday is upon you, don't pull your hair out to get the content up. Make it count, and put some quality stuff up there for next year.
Have fun, and good luck!
Friday, March 21, 2008
NMS Scripts
Safe, easy, and user-friendly. Wait, did you say there was a script out there that was user friendly?
Uh huh.
NMS scripts, available at sourceforge.net are well known as being safe and user friendly. I know first hand, now, because I just edited the PERL script used in my own contact form to make it work for me, and to not only send the mail from contact forms to my admin account at MyspaceSpiceShop, but to also send a copy of the email to my gmail account. Not bad, huh? I'd say it's awesomesauce, because I still don't know a lick of PERL.
Let's get specific, though. Step one, download your script here. Why? because they always have the most updated version.
Second, one Lunarpages member was nice enough to put a How To up for other people to use it. It can be found here. I printed it out and went line by line to make sure I set it up right. In case the post ever gets moved, deleted, or archived, I'm going to paste it here. I have a handful of issues with this, because everything else I give on advice is my own, but I really want this to be available to other people. I want to stress this, this is NOT my advice, but the sound advice of someone I heeded to set up my contact page.
*******************************************************************
If you need your results saved to a db or text file, or need file upload/attachment capabilities, then use the TFMail script.
If you just need the results of your form emailed to you, then the NMS FormMail script is a much simpler and faster script to configure.
*******************************************************************
Make sure you have the latest version of the NMS FormMail script. Here's the link to download the file (it's the first one that says "compat") --> Click here
Here's the changes/customizations you need to make to your configs (I recommend that you print out these instructions so you can follow it step-by-step, checkmarking each step as you finish them, so you do not miss anything):
THE FormMail.pl SCRIPT:
Step 1) Change the name of the script from "FormMail.pl" to anything else you want (you MUST change the name and DO NOT use the words "form", "mail" or "contact" at all in the name, otherwise the script may be disabled by LP due to those words being used).
Step 2) Change the following configs (located at the beginning part of the script with the heading # USER CONFIGURATION SECTION):
* NOTE: "yourdomain.com" and "user" should be replaced with whatever your domain name and email addy would be.
(If you are on a Windows Server click on this following link --> Click here and change your shebang line and $mailprog configs to what it says in the post - if you're NOT on Windows Server, DO NOT click on that link, cuz it will only confuse you and if you change those settings it will be incorrect
)
DO NOT touch anything below the CONFIGURATION section (if you do not know perl) and DO NOT remove ANY portion of the coding in the script!!!!!! You need all that stuff after the CONFIGURATION too, so just make the changes shown above, but NO erasing/deleting anything!!
Step 3) Upload the .pl file to your cgi-bin in ASCII (text mode) and chmod (set permissions) to 755 (to set permission via cPanel, follow these instructions --> Click here)
THE HTML FORM:
Step 1) the "action" tag should look like this:
* NOTE: Replace "scriptname" with whatever you named your formmail script to.
Step 2) The field where you want your visitors to enter their email addy must be written as --> email
- this is due to having the sender's email addy in the "From:" section of the email that gets sent to you. If you write it any other way (ex: Email, e-mail, e_mail, etc.) the script will put "nobody@server.lunarpages.com" in the "From:" header of the email.
So, the source code for the form for that tag should look like:
You might also want to make that field "required" so that the Submitter doesn't leave it blank (see Step 3 below for details).
If you are not using separate "first" and "last" names fields, you might want to use "realname" instead of just "name" for the following tag, like so:
The script uses "realname" in its code which will then put the person's name in the "From:" section of the emailed results instead of just their email addy (their email will still be available to view in the properties and if you do a "reply" it will email to their email addy). Having their name show up instead of only the email addy has its advantages/benefits, especially for referencing purposes.
Step 3) Other hidden tags you may want to add (put these below the "action" tag):
* NOTE: You replace the values with whatever applicable.
For the "redirect", you can use either a relative path (as shown), or an absolute path (ex: http://yourdomain.com/thankyou.htm). This is the page that the submitter will be taken to once they hit the "submit" button. If you do not put this tag in your form, the script will use their default "Thank You" (it's kinda plain).
For the "required", if you want to have other fields included as well, add to the value string using commas (ex: "email,realname,phone"). This tag is used so the submitter can't leave the field blank.
Step 4) If you've used a previous version of formmail, DO NOT put your email addy in the form under the "recipient" hidden tag, because it's a vulnerability for spam email harvesting (the recipient of the form submissions is in your script under the "@allow_mail_to").
So I repeat, REMOVE the "recipient" hidden tag if you have your email addy in it.
However, if you want to send the form results to multiple email addys or assign different forms to certain email addys, then follow these instructions for the "recipient" hidden tag --> Click here
* Also, scroll down to talloth_endill's post, as he shows how to use it with a drop-down menu/list
TO CONCLUDE ...
If you have successfully tested your script and all is working (no error messages), then you should go back into the CONFIGURATION section of the .pl script and change the following from "1" to "0" as shown below:
What this does is restrict the amount of information that a malicious person attacking your site can obtain.
If you receive errors after you have configured your script and html file, then:
1) Make sure that you have followed the above instructions EXACTLY, going through each step again to double-check.
2) Read my post in the following thread and check for those problems --> Click here
MISCELLANEOUS ...
If you're new at this, the above configs are all you need to modify for the script and html. However, if you're a little more adventurous/experienced, the "README" file will have other "optional" modifications that can be used/made for various needs. Also, read the "EXAMPLES" file, as well.
IMPORTANT ...
If you have any problems, DO NOT contact LP tech support. LP's tech support cannot help you (they are not obligated to do so with scripts), due to this is NOT a server-side/web hosting issue, and you will just add unnecessary support tickets to their workload which then puts other customers who really need tech support to wait longer in the queue.
If you need any further help, please DO NOT post in this thread and DO NOT send me a IM/PM (Private Message), because if I'm not available to help you right away, others will be able to, so you need to post in the C++ / PERL / CGI (<-- click on that to go there now) section of the forums. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated ... THANK YOU!
)
Okay, that's it
************************
I hope this helps!
Uh huh.
NMS scripts, available at sourceforge.net are well known as being safe and user friendly. I know first hand, now, because I just edited the PERL script used in my own contact form to make it work for me, and to not only send the mail from contact forms to my admin account at MyspaceSpiceShop, but to also send a copy of the email to my gmail account. Not bad, huh? I'd say it's awesomesauce, because I still don't know a lick of PERL.
Let's get specific, though. Step one, download your script here. Why? because they always have the most updated version.
Second, one Lunarpages member was nice enough to put a How To up for other people to use it. It can be found here. I printed it out and went line by line to make sure I set it up right. In case the post ever gets moved, deleted, or archived, I'm going to paste it here. I have a handful of issues with this, because everything else I give on advice is my own, but I really want this to be available to other people. I want to stress this, this is NOT my advice, but the sound advice of someone I heeded to set up my contact page.
*******************************************************************
If you need your results saved to a db or text file, or need file upload/attachment capabilities, then use the TFMail script.
If you just need the results of your form emailed to you, then the NMS FormMail script is a much simpler and faster script to configure.
*******************************************************************
Make sure you have the latest version of the NMS FormMail script. Here's the link to download the file (it's the first one that says "compat") --> Click here
Here's the changes/customizations you need to make to your configs (I recommend that you print out these instructions so you can follow it step-by-step, checkmarking each step as you finish them, so you do not miss anything):
THE FormMail.pl SCRIPT:
Step 1) Change the name of the script from "FormMail.pl" to anything else you want (you MUST change the name and DO NOT use the words "form", "mail" or "contact" at all in the name, otherwise the script may be disabled by LP due to those words being used).
Step 2) Change the following configs (located at the beginning part of the script with the heading # USER CONFIGURATION SECTION):
Code:
Code:
Code:
Code:
* NOTE: "yourdomain.com" and "user" should be replaced with whatever your domain name and email addy would be.
(If you are on a Windows Server click on this following link --> Click here and change your shebang line and $mailprog configs to what it says in the post - if you're NOT on Windows Server, DO NOT click on that link, cuz it will only confuse you and if you change those settings it will be incorrect
)DO NOT touch anything below the CONFIGURATION section (if you do not know perl) and DO NOT remove ANY portion of the coding in the script!!!!!! You need all that stuff after the CONFIGURATION too, so just make the changes shown above, but NO erasing/deleting anything!!
Step 3) Upload the .pl file to your cgi-bin in ASCII (text mode) and chmod (set permissions) to 755 (to set permission via cPanel, follow these instructions --> Click here)
THE HTML FORM:
Step 1) the "action" tag should look like this:
Code:
* NOTE: Replace "scriptname" with whatever you named your formmail script to.
Step 2) The field where you want your visitors to enter their email addy must be written as --> email
- this is due to having the sender's email addy in the "From:" section of the email that gets sent to you. If you write it any other way (ex: Email, e-mail, e_mail, etc.) the script will put "nobody@server.lunarpages.com" in the "From:" header of the email.
So, the source code for the form for that tag should look like:
Code:
You might also want to make that field "required" so that the Submitter doesn't leave it blank (see Step 3 below for details).
If you are not using separate "first" and "last" names fields, you might want to use "realname" instead of just "name" for the following tag, like so:
Code:
The script uses "realname" in its code which will then put the person's name in the "From:" section of the emailed results instead of just their email addy (their email will still be available to view in the properties and if you do a "reply" it will email to their email addy). Having their name show up instead of only the email addy has its advantages/benefits, especially for referencing purposes.
Step 3) Other hidden tags you may want to add (put these below the "action" tag):
Code:
* NOTE: You replace the values with whatever applicable.
For the "redirect", you can use either a relative path (as shown), or an absolute path (ex: http://yourdomain.com/thankyou.htm). This is the page that the submitter will be taken to once they hit the "submit" button. If you do not put this tag in your form, the script will use their default "Thank You" (it's kinda plain).
For the "required", if you want to have other fields included as well, add to the value string using commas (ex: "email,realname,phone"). This tag is used so the submitter can't leave the field blank.
Step 4) If you've used a previous version of formmail, DO NOT put your email addy in the form under the "recipient" hidden tag, because it's a vulnerability for spam email harvesting (the recipient of the form submissions is in your script under the "@allow_mail_to").
So I repeat, REMOVE the "recipient" hidden tag if you have your email addy in it.
However, if you want to send the form results to multiple email addys or assign different forms to certain email addys, then follow these instructions for the "recipient" hidden tag --> Click here
* Also, scroll down to talloth_endill's post, as he shows how to use it with a drop-down menu/list
TO CONCLUDE ...
If you have successfully tested your script and all is working (no error messages), then you should go back into the CONFIGURATION section of the .pl script and change the following from "1" to "0" as shown below:
Code:
What this does is restrict the amount of information that a malicious person attacking your site can obtain.
If you receive errors after you have configured your script and html file, then:
1) Make sure that you have followed the above instructions EXACTLY, going through each step again to double-check.
2) Read my post in the following thread and check for those problems --> Click here
MISCELLANEOUS ...
If you're new at this, the above configs are all you need to modify for the script and html. However, if you're a little more adventurous/experienced, the "README" file will have other "optional" modifications that can be used/made for various needs. Also, read the "EXAMPLES" file, as well.
IMPORTANT ...
If you have any problems, DO NOT contact LP tech support. LP's tech support cannot help you (they are not obligated to do so with scripts), due to this is NOT a server-side/web hosting issue, and you will just add unnecessary support tickets to their workload which then puts other customers who really need tech support to wait longer in the queue.
If you need any further help, please DO NOT post in this thread and DO NOT send me a IM/PM (Private Message), because if I'm not available to help you right away, others will be able to, so you need to post in the C++ / PERL / CGI (<-- click on that to go there now) section of the forums. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated ... THANK YOU!
)Okay, that's it
************************
I hope this helps!
Revamping, and where did the time go?
Has it really been a week? Time escapes me, but at least I've been busy. The latest news is that I've got a contact page on my site working (YAY!) and I'm taking advantage of a day off (Good Friday) to dig in and redo EVERYTHING. How does one go about doing that, and why? you may ask...
Well, I've had some issues, mostly with the articles I've been reading. They say that making webpages with tables are messy, problematic, and generally unprofessional. Instead, they say, we should all be using css, because once you get the hang of it, it's really the easier way to make webpages. I don't know, but by the end of the day... I sure hope something good can come of it. So how do I go about doing that? Well, the first stop is the one stop that's always done me right- getcsstemplates.com
It's a really good source for when I needed a quick page to put together, and before I got my copy of Macromedia Dreamweaver 9. They have a really good selection of templates, and with a little research (I hope) I'll be able to tweak the pages into something I like.
The second stop is to find some good, free pictures to help with the links. Since the name of the site is MyspaceSpiceShop, I went to morguefile.com for some royalty free pictures. The problem with morguefile is that these pictures are high resolution, so you'd better be prepared to do some resizing and slicing if you want them to load quickly onto a page.
Finally, before I even open my site design program, I've drawn a site map, which basically lists where everything I have should be. It looks much like an outline that you might have done in English classes, but if you prefer, you can make it family-tree-style.
All of this should go into your site before you start designing pages, because otherwise, you'll get halfway through, saying "Oh, yeah, I was supposed to add a link to this page, so now I have to edit the menu bars in ALL the pages." Lol... trust me, I've done it, and it's a minor pain, but one I hope I have helped you to avoid.
Good luck, and happy hosting, everyone!
Happy Easter, too! Check out this unusual site. I love the way they used their menu at the top. It's a bunny for a mouse cursor, and he goes around to the eggs. As you scroll over an egg, it hatches, with the name of the link popping out of the egg. Tres drole, n'est-ce pas?
Well, I've had some issues, mostly with the articles I've been reading. They say that making webpages with tables are messy, problematic, and generally unprofessional. Instead, they say, we should all be using css, because once you get the hang of it, it's really the easier way to make webpages. I don't know, but by the end of the day... I sure hope something good can come of it. So how do I go about doing that? Well, the first stop is the one stop that's always done me right- getcsstemplates.com
It's a really good source for when I needed a quick page to put together, and before I got my copy of Macromedia Dreamweaver 9. They have a really good selection of templates, and with a little research (I hope) I'll be able to tweak the pages into something I like.
The second stop is to find some good, free pictures to help with the links. Since the name of the site is MyspaceSpiceShop, I went to morguefile.com for some royalty free pictures. The problem with morguefile is that these pictures are high resolution, so you'd better be prepared to do some resizing and slicing if you want them to load quickly onto a page.
Finally, before I even open my site design program, I've drawn a site map, which basically lists where everything I have should be. It looks much like an outline that you might have done in English classes, but if you prefer, you can make it family-tree-style.
All of this should go into your site before you start designing pages, because otherwise, you'll get halfway through, saying "Oh, yeah, I was supposed to add a link to this page, so now I have to edit the menu bars in ALL the pages." Lol... trust me, I've done it, and it's a minor pain, but one I hope I have helped you to avoid.
Good luck, and happy hosting, everyone!
Happy Easter, too! Check out this unusual site. I love the way they used their menu at the top. It's a bunny for a mouse cursor, and he goes around to the eggs. As you scroll over an egg, it hatches, with the name of the link popping out of the egg. Tres drole, n'est-ce pas?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tags (myspace comments) that don't suck
What separates the pretty from the mundane? How can I make something that other people will want to use on their site? It's an ever-evolving answer that I can only answer based on what's good now, and what's NOT appealing. A few hints, as you make your own tags:
1) Be sure to give your background a smooth look. My early tags all had this sharp, poor texture to it, because the image was just TOO clear. Remember, when you're adding something to a picture that's really well done (i.e. stock photography) you might want to tone down the sharpness, just a smidge. Blur tools, color adjustment (curves tool in Fireworks 8 is my current favorite) and sparkles all go a long way to giving your "picture" a more "comment" feel to it.
2) Text by itself isn't just boring, it's hard to read! Use outlines, glow, or bevel effects to distinguish text from background. If you don't, the text will either be too difficult to read, if it closely matches the background, or it will appear to just "sit" on top of your photograph, without looking like it belongs there.
3) If it's going on myspace, you'll most likely be making it animated. It sounds cliche, but that's myspace for you. Short attention spans, gaudy profiles, and pages that make most w3c members scream in agony are just par for the course, but hey, the customer's always right, right?
4) I know I already mentioned it, but for your own sakes, if you're making money off of it (ads on your site count) then you might be in copyright violation. If you're making your buddy look like superman holding a mcburger in front of disneyland... you're good. These images are perfectly fine for personal use.
Lastly, have fun with it! If you're not in it for fun, then what are you really doing?
1) Be sure to give your background a smooth look. My early tags all had this sharp, poor texture to it, because the image was just TOO clear. Remember, when you're adding something to a picture that's really well done (i.e. stock photography) you might want to tone down the sharpness, just a smidge. Blur tools, color adjustment (curves tool in Fireworks 8 is my current favorite) and sparkles all go a long way to giving your "picture" a more "comment" feel to it.
2) Text by itself isn't just boring, it's hard to read! Use outlines, glow, or bevel effects to distinguish text from background. If you don't, the text will either be too difficult to read, if it closely matches the background, or it will appear to just "sit" on top of your photograph, without looking like it belongs there.
3) If it's going on myspace, you'll most likely be making it animated. It sounds cliche, but that's myspace for you. Short attention spans, gaudy profiles, and pages that make most w3c members scream in agony are just par for the course, but hey, the customer's always right, right?
4) I know I already mentioned it, but for your own sakes, if you're making money off of it (ads on your site count) then you might be in copyright violation. If you're making your buddy look like superman holding a mcburger in front of disneyland... you're good. These images are perfectly fine for personal use.
Lastly, have fun with it! If you're not in it for fun, then what are you really doing?
Investing in something worthwhile.
My friends hear me say it all the time: "People will charge you for what you can find for free, because they can." While this is true, some things are just worth the money. If you're doing something full time (and making a living off of it) you might want to weigh the cost of professional-grade software. Ugh... I hate having to eat my words, but I must admit that it's really refreshing to see what Photoshop cs3 can do for me. Scalable fonts, morph tools, and a burn function is the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and I don't even know what I'm getting into, yet.
Was it worth it? Time will tell, but I must admit that some things just cannot be done on free software. There, I said it. While trying to design a logo for a friend's cd cover, I noticed (with no small degree of disappointment) at my inability to scale his font for smaller icons.
While not complete, or perfect, this website was able to offer some help with GIMP. I was disappointed that Fireworks had so little available to me... at least after a brief search. Fireworks 8, my primary image manipulation tool, is typically more than enough for whatever I needed, but after buying photoshop, I'm amazed at what is now possible. Would you like some sauce with that crow?
Was it worth it? Time will tell, but I must admit that some things just cannot be done on free software. There, I said it. While trying to design a logo for a friend's cd cover, I noticed (with no small degree of disappointment) at my inability to scale his font for smaller icons.
While not complete, or perfect, this website was able to offer some help with GIMP. I was disappointed that Fireworks had so little available to me... at least after a brief search. Fireworks 8, my primary image manipulation tool, is typically more than enough for whatever I needed, but after buying photoshop, I'm amazed at what is now possible. Would you like some sauce with that crow?
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The problem with photo copyrights
Half the stuff out there, showing up on everyone's profile, making people return to these websites... it's all copy-written. So, if everyone else is doing it, why won't I? Maybe it's stubbornness, and a general willingness to keep things as honest as possible. Part of it, though, is much simpler. Who wants to host a comment you can get at a thousand other sites?
I'll tell you who, it's the same people that got into the business thinking that they could get rich without showing any personal talent or creativity. Is this any different than getting used scripts to make a webpage work? By degrees, to be sure. When someone comes to my site, I want them to know that the comments are original. If they see that I didn't put my own website code together, I'll be okay. That's not what I'm going for. I want to take what's already out there, *esp. stuff that's not specifically copywritten and use that to create a website that people will use.
I wish every day that I had a little more experience. For sure, it would make things much more my own, and less like everything else that's out there, but when it comes to images and comments, there's too much that's a part of me to let something copy-written slip through.
If you're like everyone else out there, though, in that you're either not artist or webmaster, relax! It's enough to just put yourself out there, and show your personality using what you've got. Who knows... maybe there's an artist out there that would team up with us webmasters- I would certainly enjoy the opportunity to team up with like-minded artists. I'm sure the final product would be worth the collaboration.
I'll tell you who, it's the same people that got into the business thinking that they could get rich without showing any personal talent or creativity. Is this any different than getting used scripts to make a webpage work? By degrees, to be sure. When someone comes to my site, I want them to know that the comments are original. If they see that I didn't put my own website code together, I'll be okay. That's not what I'm going for. I want to take what's already out there, *esp. stuff that's not specifically copywritten and use that to create a website that people will use.
I wish every day that I had a little more experience. For sure, it would make things much more my own, and less like everything else that's out there, but when it comes to images and comments, there's too much that's a part of me to let something copy-written slip through.
If you're like everyone else out there, though, in that you're either not artist or webmaster, relax! It's enough to just put yourself out there, and show your personality using what you've got. Who knows... maybe there's an artist out there that would team up with us webmasters- I would certainly enjoy the opportunity to team up with like-minded artists. I'm sure the final product would be worth the collaboration.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Finding Software to make your website work for you.
GoDaddy, Lunarpages... doesn't really matter WHO you're dealing with, odds are, they've got a list of programs available to you that would make any programmer envious. PhPBB, simplemachines forum, Xango, Moodle... you name it, and it's out there at any web developer's disposal... at least, with the main hosts out there.
So how can you make it work for you? Research, and lots of it. A week spent learning what Joomla can do for you will save you YEARS in programming. A day's research on forum products (the most user-friendly, in my opinion) will put together a site that one person could never do on their own.
These tools are available to you, and I recommend using them, as I have, because along with it comes teams of developers who will help you with any problem you encounter. Communities come together on these boards to solve your problems and get your site back up and running. It's probably not as dependable as some of the pay sites' customer service, but if you give them a chance, you'll soon see what these open source products have to offer, and I'm sure you'll be impressed.
On a similar note, I was impressed with the one-click installation options on both of my webhosts, GoDaddy and Lunarpages. Each of them have a tool (for GoDaddy, it's GoDaddy Hosting Connection, for Lunarpages, Fantastico) that make adding software easier than signing up for the account.
It goes something like this: Oh, you wanted simplemachines forum? Ok. What do you want your password to be? Come back in a few minutes to the directory you wanted it to be under, and you can start labeling everything....
and bam. I've got my own forum up and running (yes, lol, I put up TWO different forums, one of which is a glorious wasteland... come to think of it, the second isn't doing so fabulous, either).
Even better, once your website is up and running, you can have access to their scripts as well, for mail forms PERL scripts, and more.
So how can you make it work for you? Research, and lots of it. A week spent learning what Joomla can do for you will save you YEARS in programming. A day's research on forum products (the most user-friendly, in my opinion) will put together a site that one person could never do on their own.
These tools are available to you, and I recommend using them, as I have, because along with it comes teams of developers who will help you with any problem you encounter. Communities come together on these boards to solve your problems and get your site back up and running. It's probably not as dependable as some of the pay sites' customer service, but if you give them a chance, you'll soon see what these open source products have to offer, and I'm sure you'll be impressed.
On a similar note, I was impressed with the one-click installation options on both of my webhosts, GoDaddy and Lunarpages. Each of them have a tool (for GoDaddy, it's GoDaddy Hosting Connection, for Lunarpages, Fantastico) that make adding software easier than signing up for the account.
It goes something like this: Oh, you wanted simplemachines forum? Ok. What do you want your password to be? Come back in a few minutes to the directory you wanted it to be under, and you can start labeling everything....
and bam. I've got my own forum up and running (yes, lol, I put up TWO different forums, one of which is a glorious wasteland... come to think of it, the second isn't doing so fabulous, either).
Even better, once your website is up and running, you can have access to their scripts as well, for mail forms PERL scripts, and more.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Finding the web host that's right for you
Okay, the game plan is set. You want to put a website up that provides content that other people would use? Well, you need to start talking bandwidth. If you've never hosted a website before, then you should start looking at cheap options. I'm not saying you won't be the next gazillionare on Forbes. I'm saying the kind of traffic that produces real money doesn't come quickly.
Step one, consider the type of files you'll be posting. In my case, this was easy because I'm only hosting gif and jpg files, and a bunch of text. Most run-of-the-mill hosting plans for under $10 should be plenty for what I need, and if you're in the business I am, then you should expect nothing fancier.
Who needs a better site?
You do, if you're hosting video files, which require more bandwidth. If you're buying and selling on a large scale, you should consider upgrading in a different direction, including buying certificates, which basically proves that you're not scamming people's credit card numbers. In my opinion, you should stick with Paypal, as it's becoming more and more widely recognized as an outside provider that people trust.
But what about the free sites out there?
Consider if you're doing a smaller project. Let's say the local French club needs a site that they can keep in touch on, or you want to have a blog site that only family accesses. The free sites would definitely be for you, because you're not going to be experiencing the traffic that would require any money at all, so you're probably not getting paid for it, anyway.
Most of all, don't lock yourself into a two year contract until you're sure you've got what you want. If you end up with a different outlook, you may want to try a different domain name, and who wants to get stuck with a domain name like "ManIReallyWishICouldSellMeADaschund.com"?
Step one, consider the type of files you'll be posting. In my case, this was easy because I'm only hosting gif and jpg files, and a bunch of text. Most run-of-the-mill hosting plans for under $10 should be plenty for what I need, and if you're in the business I am, then you should expect nothing fancier.
Who needs a better site?
You do, if you're hosting video files, which require more bandwidth. If you're buying and selling on a large scale, you should consider upgrading in a different direction, including buying certificates, which basically proves that you're not scamming people's credit card numbers. In my opinion, you should stick with Paypal, as it's becoming more and more widely recognized as an outside provider that people trust.
But what about the free sites out there?
Consider if you're doing a smaller project. Let's say the local French club needs a site that they can keep in touch on, or you want to have a blog site that only family accesses. The free sites would definitely be for you, because you're not going to be experiencing the traffic that would require any money at all, so you're probably not getting paid for it, anyway.
Most of all, don't lock yourself into a two year contract until you're sure you've got what you want. If you end up with a different outlook, you may want to try a different domain name, and who wants to get stuck with a domain name like "ManIReallyWishICouldSellMeADaschund.com"?
Following Alice down the rabbit hole
How did I get here? Alice showed me the way, or more specifically, AshBo. Whateverlife.com has created a huge following of people jumping on the bandwagon hoping for riches, or (in my case) a way to pay my car note so I can rest a little easier at night.
Whateverlife.com was created by Ashbo, and if you haven't heard about her yet, she's all over the place, one article in particular can be found here:
http://www.doshdosh.com/case-study-of-teenage-millionaire-ashley-qualls/
Who am I? Well, in this case, I'll define it by what I am NOT. I'm not the kid in high school who was hacking into the school computers to change his grades. I'm not the guy you read about who was an internet prodigy before there was internet. I'm a regular guy using the tools out there to make a website that other people would want to use.
I have never taken a single programming course. I've never sat through the html book. I never learned css or javascript. I pick up as I go, using snippets of what other people have put together to make it work for me. My websites are all made using dreamweaver. My images are all manipulated using adobe fireworks. My codes are nabbed from everywhere.
Why am I telling you this? Simple, because you can do it too! I encourage anyone following this blog to take a look around. I want to leave detailed instructions on how to make it work for you, as well.
If you ever have any questions, I'll be checking comments here, or you can join our forum at myspacespiceshop.com/community
Whateverlife.com was created by Ashbo, and if you haven't heard about her yet, she's all over the place, one article in particular can be found here:
http://www.doshdosh.com/case-study-of-teenage-millionaire-ashley-qualls/
Who am I? Well, in this case, I'll define it by what I am NOT. I'm not the kid in high school who was hacking into the school computers to change his grades. I'm not the guy you read about who was an internet prodigy before there was internet. I'm a regular guy using the tools out there to make a website that other people would want to use.
I have never taken a single programming course. I've never sat through the html book. I never learned css or javascript. I pick up as I go, using snippets of what other people have put together to make it work for me. My websites are all made using dreamweaver. My images are all manipulated using adobe fireworks. My codes are nabbed from everywhere.
Why am I telling you this? Simple, because you can do it too! I encourage anyone following this blog to take a look around. I want to leave detailed instructions on how to make it work for you, as well.
If you ever have any questions, I'll be checking comments here, or you can join our forum at myspacespiceshop.com/community
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