Should you file a copyright for your website?

If you design a website or write content for for it, you are entitled to all the benefits of the intellectual property. Although the vast majority of webmasters never become involved in copyright disputes, sometimes website owners ask if they should file a copyright for their work.

In short, no. There is no reason why you should file for a copyright. In the United States and most industrialized nations, all intellectual property is automatically copyrighted from the data of creation. So as long as you have proof that your content was created on a certain date– Google Search’s cache can often provide this– you’re good to go. Filing a copyright for something as quickly-changing as a website would be a needless hassle and expensive.

Accepting PayPal Payments

Having your own ecommerce website can be very exciting. The first time you make a sale is a memorable moment for any business. With any such site, you need to offer as many payment methods as possible. One popular payment method that is used by both users and businesses alike, is PayPal.

PayPal is not entirely a payment processor and is not classified as a bank. Nevertheless, it is a quick and easy way to receive payments that you can then transfer to your bank account or make purchases directly from the account. Because it may require some extra steps for payment verification, some users will prefer to use a regular credit card method, so make sure you accept other methods besides PayPal.

On their website, PayPal provides helpful tools to create shopping carts and payment links. It also provides you with data to track the payments and other transactions. Keep in mind that PayPal will take a percentage of each payment, so setup your prices accordingly. PayPal has its positives and negatives, but regardless of the various opinions on it, one cannot deny that many users like making online purchases with it. For that reason, it is worth the time to set it up on your website.

Photo Source: Flickr

E-mail Address vs Contact Form

You want to make sure your website visitors can contact you, and you have made every effort to make sure they can find the “Contact Us” page, but what do you want to include on the page? Should you list your email addresses, have only a contact form, or provide both?

Both can potentially present security issues. An email address presented in text can be harvested by spam bots. A contact form can be hacked and used to send spam or gain access to the server. But both can be prevented with extra security measures. Furthermore, both can be setup to point to the same email account on your server.

The real advantage for contact forms is that you can customize them and lead users to provide certain information. This could help them formulate ideas and come up with better questions. You can also gain certain useful data from them that might help determine how best to assist them. Finally, a contact form script that collects statistical data can help you when it’s time to evaluate your website. Ideally, it is probably best to provide both options, just in case a user prefers one over the other.

New Web Site Shopping List

You have purchased your domain and a hosting account. Now what do you do? You are ready to get your website started, so here are a few things you might need along the way.

1.Content Management System – Whether you have a blog or a shop, a CMS is pretty much the way to go these days. It is the easiest way to update your site and have a steady flow of dynamic content.

2.SSL certificate – If you are planning to make any sales, accept donations, require user logins, or anything else that involves the exchange of personal user information, SSL encryption is essential.

3.Support app – Unless your website is just a calling card, you will need to offer some type of support to your customers. The more methods of contact you make available to visitors, the better informed and willing to work with you they will be. A help desk and/or live chat app can go a long way in customer satisfaction.

4.Backup storage – You need to backup your data somewhere. There are many services that will handle this, or you can use a local computer.

5.Cloud services – If you would rather not manage your own email, groupware, or other systems, you can let a cloud computing service host those applications for you.

6.Web design – While a content management system gives you functionality, it will not give you style out of the box. You should hire a web designer or purchase a good template.

7.Site monitoring – Some web hosts will offer you decent web services monitoring. If not, you can find many free and paid for offerings on the web.

Photo Source: Flickr

Using Copyrighted Material

Previously, I explained some of the areas of concern regarding the copyright of one’s own website, but there is another important facet of copyright that you should consider. Excluding social media sites, the expectation for a website is that the content belongs to the website owner. While there are certain exceptions, this is usually the case.

Both website owners and web hosting companies need to be aware of the copyright laws of the countries where they do business. There have been notable news stories surrounding copyright infringement of music and movies, where web hosts were required to shut down the servers of file sharing sites and hand over their hard drives.

The general rule is that if a copyright notice is displayed, you cannot use content from someone else without permission. If no copyright notice is displayed, you should assume that the work is copyrighted and still avoid using it. The exceptions are works released to the Public Domain, under a Creative Commons licensed, or with some other license that permits reuse and redistribution.

Photo Source: Flickr

Creating Good Passwords

Whether you have a single small website or a data center filled with servers, security should always be at the top of your agenda. One of the most basic security holes that attackers often exploit is the weak password. It is important for you and any users on your server to use secure passwords.

There are certain practices you can use to make your passwords more secure:

• Use a mixture of letters and numbers
• Mix lowercase and uppercase letters
• Make the password at least 8 characters long
• Change default passwords given to you
• Do not use a real dictionary word in any language
• Do not use acronyms that are easily deciphered
• Never give your password to anyone, even someone claiming to be a web host or system administrator
• Do not use the same password you use for other things
• Do not use letters or numbers that relate to personal information (birthdays, names, etc.)
• Change your password often.

If you need help creating a password, consider using a password generator. PC Tools has a free online password generator that will allow you to specify length, types of characters, and similarities. Best of all, it will allow you to create multiple passwords at once. Now you have no excuses left for having a password that is easy to guess.

Please stop building these websites

Web comic guru The Oatmeal has published a hilarious piece entitled, “8 Websites You Need to Stop Building.” The list parodies all the hype behind social networking sites, Digg alternatives, and the like. My favorite inclusions:

5. Social media websites
Too many people claim to be “social media experts” and it’s amazing how many companies are recruiting employees with “social media experience.” Sorry guys, I really don’t want to become a fan of my orthodontist on Facebook and half the crap on Digg is self-promoted content no one ever reads. Just focus on creating useful content marketed appropriately and you will get the visitors you deserve.

8. Websites with Flash Intros
Soon to be replaced by some other standard I’m sure.

2. Websites whose sole is to share things
I’m especially annoyed by sites that think I want to email every page to a friend.

Why Browser Detection Fails

No matter what browser you use, there is a good chance you have come to a website that would not load. I am not referring to the sites that function incorrectly in a browser. I mean those websites that purposely deny your browser access because it is not the “right” browser. They usually come with cute messages telling you why you are not special enough to view their site.

Why am I ranting about this? The reason is simple. I do not want any of you who have websites or design sites for others to make the same mistake. Most HTML, CSS, and Javascript will function in any modern browser. If it does not for a particular user, they would be better off seeing what does not work and have a chance to fix it. Rather than making a site that may not work in some browsers, take the extra time to test your site, make it standards compliant, and ensure that it works in most browsers.

Browser detection fails because it usually relies on user agent data, which cannot be reliable. For example, a browser may be based on gecko (i.e. Firefox compatible) but may display a different name. The same may be true for any number of browsers, particularly those on mobile devices. You do not want to deny potential customers simply because their browser does not have a common name.

Photo Source: Flickr

User agent validity

One common usage analysis data tool you can use to get a snapshot of your website users is the “user agent” string provided by web browsers. Generally speaking, the user agent will tell you what browser and operating system the user is running. It should also give the versions of each. There are, however, some validity concerns.

The first problem is that some browsers are equipped with extensions that allow the user to mask their true user agent. They may even do this in order to get better functionality on sites that erroneously exclude them because of the browser they use. The next problem is that your data will be skewed by search engine bots. To correct this, you will have to exclude any known bots from your data before doing any calculations.

Finally, it is important to note that browser usage is subject to change, sometimes even several times within the same day. Some users may use different browsers on different computers or may switch between browsers, depending on the task they are trying to accomplish. To get valid statistical results, you need to keep all of these factors in mind and adjust your findings accordingly. Nevertheless, user agent data can go a long way in determining your audience and if that audience is the one you intended to have.

Photo Source: Flickr

Licensing Your Website

From the title of this blog, one might imagine having to stand in line at some type of bureau for websites to get the proper licensing needed, but it is actually not that complicated. In the most simplistic scenario, you are the owner of your website and thus own the copyright to all of the intellectual property you create.

If you want the copyright to content created by someone else, even if they write or take photos for your site, you must get their signed written permission. In other words, they must sign over their copyright to you. In either case, the copyright statement in the footer of your website should indicate that you or your business owns the rights. If you do not want anyone to use your content, you can leave the default copyright clause accepted in most countries: “All Rights Reserved.”

In some circumstances, however, you may want to give others certain permissions to use your work. In such a case, you can hire a lawyer to create your own complex license or use a Creative Commons license, which allows you to have “Some Rights Reserved” but also lend some rights to others for the usage you specify. This site, for example, is released under such a license.

Photo Source: Flickr