All posts tagged website
Fast control panel script installation
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Uncategorized
As the web hosting industry becomes more competitive, web hosting providers need to provide extra services and features to stand out from the rest. One common service that numerous hosts offer is script installation. Usually managed in the host’s control panel, users can use the service to automatically install content management systems, photo galleries, forums, and other web-based software.
Ideally, script installation should be fast, easy to use, and should be simple and direct, avoiding any hacks that make the installations incompatible with normal installations (in case the user ever needs to move their data to another server). But not all hosts are equal in these areas.
Go Daddy, for example, is a well known and highly advertised host, but their control panel scripts installation is mediocre at best. When a user sets up an installation of a script, Go Daddy’s control panel will queue it and make the user wait an undetermined amount of time before the script is actually installed. It is very slow and can be frustrating to a website owner who purchased an account expecting clean and fast script installation.
Privacy policies and terms of service agreements
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Web Hosting
Even if you did not pay attention to them, you have probably seen privacy policies and terms of service statements on multiple websites, especially those owned by major businesses. If you are just starting out with a new web hosting account, do you really need to worry about such things?
One strand of thinking would say that there is really no reason to bother with such formalities on a small website and that only big businesses that collect a lot of user data need to be concerned with it. On the other hand, many small websites still collect user data, particularly small online stores, and those stores are as vulnerable to lawsuits as any major corporation.
There are many websites and free services that offer privacy policy generators and terms of service templates. If for no other reason, having those statements on your website provides clarify if a user is ever unsure about your purpose and what you do with their information.
Photo: Flickr
Continue reading: Privacy policies and terms of service agreements
How to redirect a web page without .htaccess
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Web Hosting
Question: I have a shared hosting account, but my web host has disabled my ability to make .htaccess files. How can I create redirects on my site?
Answer: First of all, it is a bad practice for a web hosting provider to completely disable .htaccess. You should probably consider getting a new host, but if that is not an immediate option, you can use PHP to redirect.
First, replace all of the code in the file you want to redirect to this:
< ?php
header( 'Location: http://www.domainname.com/new-page.html' ) ;
?>
Change the address to reflect your real domain and the correct filename for your new page.
That’s it! There is no second step. You need to make sure that there is no text before the PHP code, not even the <html> tag. Now, every time users visit the old page, they will be automatically redirected to the new one.
Continue reading: How to redirect a web page without .htaccess
Building websites with usability in mind
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Web Design
Whether you are a multi-national corporation or an individual with dreams of having a popular fan website about your favorite actor, you have undoubtedly invested a good percentage of your money and time into your website.
Although the assumption has long been that a good-looking website and some good marketing is enough, that really only takes care of half of the equation: getting people to your website. Once users are there, will they flop around like fish out of water or swim smoothly through your site and find exactly what they need? For this you need to build a website with good usability.
Usability entails five factors:
- Ease of learning
- Efficiency of use
- Memorability
- Error frequency and severity
- Subjective satisfaction
Usereffect.com provides a 25-point website usability checklist. It is worth a read, and if your financial budget permits, it is a good idea to hire a usability expert to make your website a success.
Enterprise content management with eZ Publish
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Web Hosting Software
At one time, managing a website meant manually updating dozens of HTML pages or using some type of local site management software like Netscape Composer, Microsoft Frontpage, or Adobe Dreamweaver. There are now a plethora of content systems available that include web-based backends. Pages are now actually dynamic representations of database content, and the market is thick with options.
When speaking of enterprise-quality CMS options, a few names come to mind immediately: Joomla, Drupal, and eZ Publish. Voted by many as the number one CMS, eZ Publish is known for its ease of use (as the name implies) and its scalability for small, medium, and major enterprise sites.
Some of the major websites now using eZ Publish include: Vogue, Elle, National Geographic, Virgin, and Marie Claire. It includes features such as multiple file uploading, the ability to publish from Microsoft Word, multimedia publishing, and multiple user and site management tools. Best of all, like Joomla and Drupal, eZ Publish is free and open source software released under the GNU General Public License.
Source: eZ
Continue reading: Enterprise content management with eZ Publish
Test your server load with curl-loader
By Tavis J. Hampton in: VPS & Dedicated Web servers Software
It is very difficult to test a server’s real-world performance under stress. While you could hire a company or individual to bombard your server, the cost involved may not be worth the results. The open source application called curl-loader simulates load and application behavior of thousands of HTTP/HTTPS and FTP/FTPS clients.
Imagine having your website visited by thousands of visitors at once. Will your website hold up to the stress? Curl-loader allows you to test it and find out. Some of the features include:
- GET, POST, and PUT tests
- Web and proxy authentication
- Cookies and DNS caches
- URL fetching probability
- and much more.
Curl-loader is free and open source software released under the GNU GPL, available for download from the sourceforge.net.
Source: curl-loader
DNS Evaluation with intoDNS
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Web Hosting Web Services
Part of managing a server or even a single website is making sure the DNS is sound and in compliance with established networking and Internet standards. While you can evaluate each of your DNS entries manually, there are many services out there that make evaluation very easy.
One such service is called intoDNS, which is currently still listed as beta, but it functions very well. To use it, simply visit intodns.com and type your full domain name (excluding the “www”). Then, click “Report”. It will then scan your domain and report on a number of important issues: Domain Nameserver records, TLD parent check, CNAMEs, etc.
When your domain passes one of the tests, the service will give you a green circle with a check next to it. When there is an area of concern, you will receive a blue circle with an “i” in it. When you have an error, it will give you a red circle with an exclamation mark. All of the information is displayed in basic HTML so that you can easily print or save it.
3 tools to keep your website secure, accessible, and fast
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Security Web Services Web servers
Whenever you start a new website, you want to make sure everyone can see it, that it loads quickly, and that hackers can’t bring it to its knees. Here are a few useful web tools to make sure you cover all three:
1. Accessibility. A-Checker - An accessibility testing tool. Simply enter the URL or upload the html file of the site page you want to evaluate, and it will test it according to HTML standards and accessibility standards.
2. Speed. Pingdom Full Page Test - This complete tester will load your entire web page, including images, CSS, flash, and anything else you might have stuck in there. It then evaluates the overall speed as well as each item.
3. Security. Zero Day Scan - An online service that tests your website for security vulnerabilities such as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and more. It then generates a report of the test results. Domain ownership verification is required.
Continue reading: 3 tools to keep your website secure, accessible, and fast
Speed up Google Analytics on your server
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Web Hosting Web Services
The Problem: You have a frequently visited website and use Google Analytics to gather important statistical information about your users. Unfortunately, every time a user accesses your main page, it takes longer load whenever they have to download the urchin.js file that Google’s server sends.
The essentially technical problem is that the user not only has to connect to your server to download your content but also has to contact Google’s server to download urchin.js. This takes more time and increases your page load time.
The Solution:Host urchin.js locally on your server. That way, the user never has to connect to Google’s server for anything. The only issue to resolve is what to do when Google updates their urchin.js. Fortunately, a thoughtful user has created a script, complete with instructions, that will periodically get the new urchin.js file from Google. Now you will have a faster site and still know whether or not people are actually visiting it.
Photo: Flickr
Create an XML sitemap for your website
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Web Hosting Web Services Web servers
A site map is a single document that links to all other documents within a website. Essentially, it provides an overview of all of the site’s content. Over the years, as website sizes have increased, sitemaps have become instrument in search engine optimization (SEO). Google introduced a tool called Google Sitemaps that allows Web content providers to publish their sitemaps. Other search engines now also support these sitemaps.
The standard format for a sitemap is XML, which lists the data in a format both browsers and other software can interpret. It is also common to provide an HTML version and possibly even a visual representation for human users who actually want to browse the sitemap. Many times it is useful to users if they have trouble finding something on a site or are not even sure what they want to find.
There are many sitemap generators on the market that automate their creation. Some content management systems also have user-created extensions or plugins for sitemap generators. Furthermore, there are some free sitemap generators on the web, such as XML-Sitemaps.com. These typically also include submission instructions so that you can make your sitemap available through Google.
Photo: Wikipedia
Tips for using web templates
By Daniel Foster in: Web Design
Templates are a great way to give your website a professional look without hiring a professional designer, but can do more harm than good if used improperly. Here are three important tips to keep in mind when using an HTML template:
1. Change the logo.
Chances are good the template designer did not intend for you to use the default logo. The right logo can turn any cookie-cutter template into something that looks original. If you don’t know how to design a logo yourself, learn how on a site like Good-Tutorials.com or hire a designer. This can often be done for as little as $20.
Adding "last modified" code to your PHP website
By Tavis J. Hampton in: Web Hosting Software
Question: How can I use PHP to display the “last modified” date on my website’s main page?
Answer: For any type of website that includes factual information, it is important to tell users when the information was added to the site. Information that was relevant five years ago might not be so today. Using a “last modified” line at the bottom of the page is a standard way of accomplishing this.
If you are running PHP and have a content management system, it is sufficient to put the “last modified” code at the bottom of the index.php page or its corresponding template. That way, every time someone accesses any page on the site, the last modified code will be executed.
Edit your PHP file, and enter the following code:
< ?php
// outputs e.g. 'Last modified: March 04 1998 20:43:59.'
echo "Last modified: " . date ("F d Y H:i:s.", getlastmod());
?>
The information after “//” is just a comment to remind you of what the code does. Save the file and re-upload it to your server (if necessary), and you are all done.
Photo: Flickr
Continue reading: Adding "last modified" code to your PHP website
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