E-Commerce and Web Design

PHP programmer tools

Pinakin Patel — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:14:52 +0000

So you want to be a PHP programmer? Here are a list of the tools I have installed on my computer before I can start coding. Most of these apps can be installed using Ninite which is a multi installer and greater when you buy a new computer.

Code Editor

Notepad++

http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download

FTP

Filezilla
http://filezilla-project.org/

Database Editor (MYSQL)

Heidi
http://www.heidisql.com/

Internet Browsers

Firefox
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Web Developer Toolbar for firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60/

Firebug for firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1843/

Live HTTP Headers for Firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3829/

Password Manager

Keepass
http://keepass.info/

Remote Desktop

Logmein
http://www.logmein.com/

Teamviewer
http://www.teamviewer.com/

Skype
http://www.skype.com/

Compression

7-zip
http://www.7-zip.org/

Terminal Clients

Putty
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

Have Fun

Run your own News/Magazine website using Opensource software

Pinakin Patel — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:33:28 +0000

I have developed a lot of websites now using Drupal. Nearly any requirement thrown at me I have managed to code or build using Drupal 6. But life can be made a lot easier is someone has already done most of the work in terms of functionality but all I have to do is implement the theme and layout.

I came across Open Publish this morning via my google reader/Delicious bookmark for sites bookmarked as Drupal. I have yet to try it out but the screenshots and features look impressive. It is on version 2.2 so not in its early stages anymore.

Check it out at http://openpublishapp.com/

How to easily upgrade Drupal from one minor version to another with a patch file

Pinakin Patel — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:24:59 +0000

Upgrading Drupal to the latest version is always a pain. End to end it takes about an hour to upgrade the core code and all related modules.

Chris Shattuck’s blog explains how this can be done easily using using Drush

9 Easy Ways To Improve the SEO of Every Website You Design

Pinakin Patel — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:16:44 +0000

One of the biggest challenges that online businesses face today is maintaining relevance in the eyes of the search engines, especially Google. With Google controlling more than 90% of the search traffic in the US alone, it’s not surprising that the most important goal of any web-based marketing strategy is to be number one in Google.

It’s a well-established principle that on-site SEO is one of the most basic building blocks every business needs to have as they start on the road to search engine domination. So it makes sense to add another string to your own marketing bow as a web designer and incorporate some simple SEO strategies into every web design you deliver.

Here are nine ways to improve the SEO strength of every website you design.

Affordable Content managed websites from £499

Pinakin Patel — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:11:40 +0000

Websites you manage yourself for £499!

We design a custom banner, add your logo and customise the colours to match your branding!

What you get

We answer the call for small companies who wish to have an online presence without spending thousands of pounds.

Your logo added
Customised homepage banner
Toolbar colour and link colours matched to your branding
FREE Hosting for 1 year*
Full installation and set-up of website
info@yourwebsite.co.uk email set up
Enquiry form set-up to send to your email address

*You are free to transfer hosting if you wish at the end of the 1 year FREE term with no cancellation fees. Ongoing hosting is charged at £10.50 p.m. with unlimited bandwith, webspace and email addresses.

*All prices are exclusive of VAT.

How To Make The Right Keyword Analysis For Your Website

Pinakin Patel — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:59:54 +0000

keyword analysis guide

Nows the time before september to christmas rush to start reviewing your sites keywords. Here is a handy guide on what to do.

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/development/right-keyword-analysis-website/

Writing an API in PHP for your app

Pinakin Patel — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:47:00 +0000

Lately I have writing an API for Micro Site Manager a satellite site generator. This app is currently in Alpha stage and is being tested by a number of my clients.

If written a lot of bespoke PHP code to handle data transfer between the site and the satellite sites. So a Satellite makes a request for page information and this is return with JSON formatted information.

Now I have come across a site were all the hard work has been done for you. This code can generate JSON, XML, CSV and also limit usage per hour per user.

The code on costs $7, so a bargain. I could have coded this myself but this saves me time.

40+ Essential Drupal Modules

Pinakin Patel — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:18:52 +0000

Now this is an old article from April 2010 but a very useful checklist to see what modules you should have for every drupal install.

http://www.nicklewis.org/40-essential-drupal-6-modules

Experimenting with Node.js

Pinakin Patel — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:43:15 +0000

Now I know nothing about websockets and node.js. But this website is impressive. You will need a browser that supports web sockets like Google Chrome or Safari.

The goto this site and see ghostly cursors moving around your page. This is in fact others users on the same page realtime. Very impressive.

I guess you could use it to see how users read a page on your site

Bing Re-release webmaster tools

Pinakin Patel — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:41:13 +0000

Bing Webmaster Tools - Traffic Summary

Bimg/Microsoft have updated their webmaster tools suite to match Google’s offering this morning. A quick look at the features shows that they are now giving siomiliar information to what Google also provide but with the addition of fancy graphs using Microsoft silverlight.

Its a big jump from their previous offering, which did not provide webmasters with much feedback. This now leaves Yahoo way behind with their site explorer offering and Ask who have not even started to provide such features.