Just in case matuszek's useful comment gets deleted from the post:
If you don't want to sit through Forbes's horrible slideshow format and Unemployed Mom Makes $77/Hr Not Bleaching Teeth ads, here is the list:
15. employmentguide.com
14. governmentjobs.com
13. salary.com (no listings)
12. theladders.com
11. beyond.com
10. kenexa.com (no listings)
9. snagajob.com
8. about.com (no listings)
7. job.com
6. usajobs.gov
5. indeed.com
4. simplyhired.com
3. monster.com
2. jobs.yahoo.com
1. careerbuilder.com
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
How to find a website's page rank, popularity
1. Google Toolbar, pagerank meter while viewing the site. Simple view such as 4/10. Vastly different sites can have the same rank.
2. http://www.who.is/website-information/example.com/
3. http://siteanalytics.compete.com/example.com/
4. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/example.com
2. http://www.who.is/website-information/example.com/
3. http://siteanalytics.compete.com/example.com/
4. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/example.com
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Host loading times
Moved a client site from Thinkhost to Dreamhost.
Here's an image of a ping test before the move,
and another afterwards.
Here's an image of a ping test before the move,
and another afterwards.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
How to find who links into a website
1. Google Webmaster Tools -- "Your site on the web": "Links to your site" screen.
2. Google search for "link:webdevelopersstudio.com" (narrow) or links:webdevelopersstudio.com (broader)
3. http://altavista.com/web/webmaster
4. http://www.alexa.com/site/linksin/example.com
2. Google search for "link:webdevelopersstudio.com" (narrow) or links:webdevelopersstudio.com (broader)
3. http://altavista.com/web/webmaster
4. http://www.alexa.com/site/linksin/example.com
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Can't login to Joomla admin area
with the known username and password.
In phpmyadmin, go to the table jos_plugins.
Edit "User - Joomla!"
Change published from 0 to 1
Fixed the probem that began out of nowhere.
Answer found here and reposted in case it gets lost cause I'll never remember on my own.
In phpmyadmin, go to the table jos_plugins.
Edit "User - Joomla!"
Change published from 0 to 1
Fixed the probem that began out of nowhere.
Answer found here and reposted in case it gets lost cause I'll never remember on my own.
Friday, October 16, 2009
To change the title tag for a Joomla 1.5 page
In the administrator area, click on Menus then choose the proper menu.
In the list of menu items, choose the one to change.
Click on Paramaters (System) and there will be a variable "Page Title".
In the list of menu items, choose the one to change.
Click on Paramaters (System) and there will be a variable "Page Title".
Monday, October 12, 2009
One way to see if you're compliant
In Firefox, right-click on a page and click "View Page Info". The default "General" tab shows Render Mode which should read "Standards compliance mode", not "Quirks mode".
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Gmail gives error?
Yesterday one of my business emails from Terri@WebDevelopersStudio.com kicked back with this error:
I think I notice that it happens when someone is using an unsophisticated email service. Potential clients who are emailing me are often in this category.
Could the problem be that I have my business email address being sent via my personal Gmail account with this option specified?
Perhaps the client's mail server is thinking there is some malicious cloaking involved? The next time this happens, I think I'll just try to resend the email directly from my personal gmail account and see if that gets through. (Rather than scaring the potential client with ominous warnings about their email glitches.)
"Technical details of permanent failure:Google tried to deliver your message,
but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other
email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error
that the other server returned was: 554 554 The message was rejected because it
contains prohibited virus or spam content (state 18)."
I think I notice that it happens when someone is using an unsophisticated email service. Potential clients who are emailing me are often in this category.
Could the problem be that I have my business email address being sent via my personal Gmail account with this option specified?
"When receiving a message:Reply from the same address the message was sent to"?
Perhaps the client's mail server is thinking there is some malicious cloaking involved? The next time this happens, I think I'll just try to resend the email directly from my personal gmail account and see if that gets through. (Rather than scaring the potential client with ominous warnings about their email glitches.)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Anchor tags and SEO
<a href="example.html" title="Put keywords in a natural language phrase" target="_blank">What people see </a>
Don't get confused that http://www.w3schools.com/HTML/html_links.asp doesn't include the title attribute; the offical spec does.
To stop the search engines from following add:
rel="nofollow"
Don't get confused that http://www.w3schools.com/HTML/html_links.asp doesn't include the title attribute; the offical spec does.
To stop the search engines from following add:
rel="nofollow"
Monday, September 7, 2009
pngfix for ie6 (Seems I try a new one each time)
______________________________________________________
Latest favorite used on ElisabethLindberg.com is just added to the ie6.css. Add class="png" to the element that has the background image. Needed to slide the div 30 px to the left for some reason. Then needed to skew the contents of the div to the right.
_______________________________________________________
If the PNG isn't large or complicated:
Forget PNG24 altogether. Use an PNG 8, "Adaptive", 256 colors, 0% Dither with Alpha transparency set in Fireworks and save using File, Export (regular save doesn't work).
The image looks ok in IE6 and fine in modern browsers.
See http://www.communitymx.com/content/article.cfm?cid=E4024 and http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2007/09/18/png8-the-clear-winner/ for details.
_______________________________________________________
No, not a transparency fix, this just discusses getting consistant color fooling around with Photoshop settings:
http://www.swiss-miss.com/2009/10/consistent-png-quality-across-browsers.html
Note the commentor, Kevin, who gave the clue that "the “Convert to sRBB” option is in the little arrow dropdown on the right-hand side (above the “Interlaced” checkbox)"
_______________________________________________________
http://www.twinhelix.com/css/iepngfix/demo/
(Had unexpected trouble with this. Maybe didn't upzip properly? Grasping...)
Best aspect: Works with html "img" tags and css background images.
Most important downside: Doesn't work with background positioning. Not great to need the two little files in the root directory.
Usage notes: Put the css code inside the ie6.css file and don't forget to set proper tag that has the background image. (Never thought about it before, but it's weird how the css is still needed if taking care of it for an html image tag. The demo code includes img { behavior: url(iepngfix.htc) } after all.
_______________________________________________________
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bobosola/pnghowto.htm (pngfix.js)
Most important downside: Doesn't work for css background images. This is such a common need, I've really stopped using this solution.
Oh for the day I stop supporting IE6 for my sites.
Latest favorite used on ElisabethLindberg.com is just added to the ie6.css. Add class="png" to the element that has the background image. Needed to slide the div 30 px to the left for some reason. Then needed to skew the contents of the div to the right.
_______________________________________________________
If the PNG isn't large or complicated:
Forget PNG24 altogether. Use an PNG 8, "Adaptive", 256 colors, 0% Dither with Alpha transparency set in Fireworks and save using File, Export (regular save doesn't work).
The image looks ok in IE6 and fine in modern browsers.
See http://www.communitymx.com/content/article.cfm?cid=E4024 and http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2007/09/18/png8-the-clear-winner/ for details.
_______________________________________________________
No, not a transparency fix, this just discusses getting consistant color fooling around with Photoshop settings:
http://www.swiss-miss.com/2009/10/consistent-png-quality-across-browsers.html
Note the commentor, Kevin, who gave the clue that "the “Convert to sRBB” option is in the little arrow dropdown on the right-hand side (above the “Interlaced” checkbox)"
_______________________________________________________
http://www.twinhelix.com/css/iepngfix/demo/
(Had unexpected trouble with this. Maybe didn't upzip properly? Grasping...)
Best aspect: Works with html "img" tags and css background images.
Most important downside: Doesn't work with background positioning. Not great to need the two little files in the root directory.
Usage notes: Put the css code inside the ie6.css file and don't forget to set proper tag that has the background image. (Never thought about it before, but it's weird how the css is still needed if taking care of it for an html image tag. The demo code includes img { behavior: url(iepngfix.htc) } after all.
_______________________________________________________
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bobosola/pnghowto.htm (pngfix.js)
Most important downside: Doesn't work for css background images. This is such a common need, I've really stopped using this solution.
Oh for the day I stop supporting IE6 for my sites.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Wireframeing
iPLOTZ sent junk mail this morning (something about a contest) and they got me to log back in. Sneaky devils! I had forgotten how good this looked.
Will use it on the next new project
Will use it on the next new project
Monday, August 17, 2009
Proposal Postmortem; Ask "Why Not?"
Web Developers Studio bid for a new contract and was not selected to do the job. Although it's discouraging after having worked diligently on the proposal to be rejected, I resisted the urge to drop the subject.
To better understand the missed opportunity, I emailed the prospective client this (with the particulars removed):
"Thanks for the opportunity to bid on the project. Good luck with your ....
I wonder if you would take a few moments to give me some professional feedback regarding my proposal. What were the factors that made you go with http://xyz/? Was my pricing on the high side? Did I omit requested features? Was my proposed solution set unworkable? I'd appreciate any information you'd offer to help me better respond to my clients in the future.
Please keep me in mind for future projects and if you require any assistance on the current one, I'm available on an ad hoc basis.
Best regards,
-Terri
Within a few hours I received this most gracious and informative reply:
"Hi Terri,
I’m not at all surprised that you ask that, since “professionalism” is one of the key words that came to mind in reviewing your proposal. But I can honestly say that none of the concerns you list played a part. Your price was well within range and every aspect of the proposal was sterling.
In fact, in the end, we narrowed our choices to Web Developers Studio and xyz. Among the seven bidders, your two proposals were in a class by themselves, and I agonized for days. After long discussion with the rest of the Board, it finally came down to a slight preference for stylistic intangibles – a feeling that xyz’s portfolio reflected a somewhat better fit with the eventual design elements we envision for the ... site. Even this was a difficult call – your work is extraordinarily elegant and creative. I have also developed a philosophical attraction to Drupal (which xyz uses) and have worked with it before.
I am very glad to have been made aware of your work. I occasionally have friends and colleagues in need of web development and design work, and I will recommend you without hesitation.
Kind regards and thanks,"
Well, that was nice and I know much more than if I hadn't asked: the price I quoted was reasonable, but my suggested solution of Joomla happened to be off the mark. Regarding the stylistic concerns, well -- better luck next time.
In the future, I'll be sure to always ask for reasons.
To better understand the missed opportunity, I emailed the prospective client this (with the particulars removed):
"Thanks for the opportunity to bid on the project. Good luck with your ....
I wonder if you would take a few moments to give me some professional feedback regarding my proposal. What were the factors that made you go with http://xyz/? Was my pricing on the high side? Did I omit requested features? Was my proposed solution set unworkable? I'd appreciate any information you'd offer to help me better respond to my clients in the future.
Please keep me in mind for future projects and if you require any assistance on the current one, I'm available on an ad hoc basis.
Best regards,
-Terri
Within a few hours I received this most gracious and informative reply:
"Hi Terri,
I’m not at all surprised that you ask that, since “professionalism” is one of the key words that came to mind in reviewing your proposal. But I can honestly say that none of the concerns you list played a part. Your price was well within range and every aspect of the proposal was sterling.
In fact, in the end, we narrowed our choices to Web Developers Studio and xyz. Among the seven bidders, your two proposals were in a class by themselves, and I agonized for days. After long discussion with the rest of the Board, it finally came down to a slight preference for stylistic intangibles – a feeling that xyz’s portfolio reflected a somewhat better fit with the eventual design elements we envision for the ... site. Even this was a difficult call – your work is extraordinarily elegant and creative. I have also developed a philosophical attraction to Drupal (which xyz uses) and have worked with it before.
I am very glad to have been made aware of your work. I occasionally have friends and colleagues in need of web development and design work, and I will recommend you without hesitation.
Kind regards and thanks,"
Well, that was nice and I know much more than if I hadn't asked: the price I quoted was reasonable, but my suggested solution of Joomla happened to be off the mark. Regarding the stylistic concerns, well -- better luck next time.
In the future, I'll be sure to always ask for reasons.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
FireFTP and Omeka
I love FireFTP (I did donate), but recently this convienent little tool cost me quite a bit of time.
Trying to upgrade an Omeka installation with large, deep directory folders, I didn't notice that apparently FireFTP just gets tired and skips files, but continues on so you don't notice. Spent more hours than I care to tell debugging what was just missing modules.
My bad, not checking the logs, but rather than be paranoid, I'll just try to remember to use FileZilla when it's gotta be right.
Update 8/16/2009:
Oh, now I remember what I don't like about Filezilla...it acts very weird about .htaccess files. Recently I uploaded a directory using it and it all uploaded fine, except for the critical .htaccess file.
When I google around about this, the top forums claim that the .htaccess is just not showing or "hidden". But this was not so in my case unless "hidden" also means "not working". As soon as I uploaded the .htaccess using FireFTP, the site began working properly.
So, pick your free file transfer program poision. Then again...hey, wadda ya want for free?
Trying to upgrade an Omeka installation with large, deep directory folders, I didn't notice that apparently FireFTP just gets tired and skips files, but continues on so you don't notice. Spent more hours than I care to tell debugging what was just missing modules.
My bad, not checking the logs, but rather than be paranoid, I'll just try to remember to use FileZilla when it's gotta be right.
Update 8/16/2009:
Oh, now I remember what I don't like about Filezilla...it acts very weird about .htaccess files. Recently I uploaded a directory using it and it all uploaded fine, except for the critical .htaccess file.
When I google around about this, the top forums claim that the .htaccess is just not showing or "hidden". But this was not so in my case unless "hidden" also means "not working". As soon as I uploaded the .htaccess using FireFTP, the site began working properly.
So, pick your free file transfer program poision. Then again...hey, wadda ya want for free?
Finally added a robots.txt
A bit too late added a robots.txt disallowing indexing to a site in test.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Popular days for doctor website
According to Google Analytics, the most popular days for visits to cindyparnesmd.com are on Monday's and Wednesdays. Monday's I get, you're sick over the weekend and call first thing. But Wed's?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Springtime for Landscape Design Website
Sasha Newman of http://littlemiraclesdesigns.com/ needed some help attracting attention to his landscape design business based in Bergen County, NJ.
To minimize costs WDS recommended keeping the old site intact, but added headings and text to his image-laden site. We also corrected some misused heading tags that should help too. Need to work on getting Mr. Newman signed up for social networking, then monitor his site's stats.
The site looks quite refreshed, so go take a look. And if you need a landscape designer or contractor, contact Sasha!
P.S. Not so sure about the music; might recommend silencing this!
To minimize costs WDS recommended keeping the old site intact, but added headings and text to his image-laden site. We also corrected some misused heading tags that should help too. Need to work on getting Mr. Newman signed up for social networking, then monitor his site's stats.
The site looks quite refreshed, so go take a look. And if you need a landscape designer or contractor, contact Sasha!
P.S. Not so sure about the music; might recommend silencing this!
Monday, July 13, 2009
CindyParnesMD.com - number 7 "gynecologist nj"
Being number 7 for a state wide search is pretty good. Notice that the only other individual doctor topping us is a celebrity doctor seen on CBS News and Fox.
If you would like to visit with one of the best gynecologists in New Jersey, Dr. Parnes would be a great choice.
If you would like to visit with one of the best gynecologists in New Jersey, Dr. Parnes would be a great choice.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Docs and Spreadsheets Keyboard Shortcut for Date and Time not working in Chrome
In Firefox I can hit Ctl + ; within a Google spreadsheet cell and in pops today's date. Or Ctl + : and I get current time. Why not in Chrome? In IE8, date seems to work if the field is formatted as a date.
Is it Firefox natural goodness? I don't see these in the official keyboard shortcut list.
Or do I have a sneaky Firefox AddOn helping out?
Is it Firefox natural goodness? I don't see these in the official keyboard shortcut list.
Or do I have a sneaky Firefox AddOn helping out?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Possible font for the new Ethical Focus site?
http://www.dafont.com/font.php?file=nilland&page=1&nb_ppp_old=10&text=Ethical+Culture+Society&nb_ppp=10&psize=m&classt=alpha
http://www.dafont.com/font.php?file=nilland&page=1&nb_ppp_old=10&text=Ethical+Culture+Society&nb_ppp=10&psize=m&classt=alpha
River Vale libery closing for renovations; needed an alert box
Although the River Vale Library has one of Web Developers Studios' limited content management systems, it didn't accomodate changes to the home page. So now that the library is closing for a renovation (sounds like it will be nice), we needed to add that as a custom item.
The director expressed interst in going with a full blown content managment system in 2010.
The director expressed interst in going with a full blown content managment system in 2010.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Yahoo doesn't send the authorization code for domain transfers -- go get it!
Yahoo is none to eager to have you leave their overpriced domain management service. When transfering a domain to another registrar, I waited patiently for the authoriziation from Yahoo. After a few days, I logged in with my old Yahoo id (thankfully I keep my records pretty tidy), and needed to hunt around their panels to find the "authorization code from the current registar".
Thursday, January 29, 2009
New client online
Rosemary Dreger Carey is a copywriter in Bergen County who needed a new website. She contacted us and we have a brand new website to represent her business and her clients.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
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