The Internet is currently buzzing with a story of twins in Britain who met and married, only to be seperated by a judge. This story was passed around and no confirmation is forthcoming as to the validity of the story. Now comes the big question:
Is this a true story or an anecdote designed for advocacy purposes?
The details on the story state that two people (adopted) met later in life, fell in love and got married, only to have their marriage annulled by a judge.
The story is being spread by a Lord David Alton. This same Lord David Alton is currently pressing for the laws to be changed to allow for adopted children to have more rights in finding out who their parents are.
So I ask you, is this a true story being passed around or a clever anecdote designed to help him pass a law?
I am currently working on two web projects. One of them is a website for a co-worker's upcoming high school reunion and the other involves my local Girl Scout troop.
The reunion site will be up in a few days, just in time for their first meeting. I'll be writing articles based on its creation over the next few days.
The Girl Scout site is interesting. Last year I created a site for the Clatter Valley Day Camp and because the initials CVDC were not available with an applicable extension I went long form on the name. I still feel the domain is too long but, what can you do?
Today I got lucky. My town has a two word name and I managed to snag the four letter dot net domain name for my local Girl Scout troop. Yeah, I was pretty happy about that!
I'll be taking our existing site and creating a multi-troop site out of it via subdomains. This way each troop can have their own site off of the main site using their troop number as the subdomain. This also allows me to experiment with the multi-user version of WordPress, among other things.
What, who did I use to register my domain? Why GoDaddy of course!
As for hosting I'll be using my own server for this job until things get finalized, then it will move to the server the Girl Scouts currently use for their existing site.
This article is the third in a series of articles written to help you get online. This article does not require you to read any other article in the series (nor must they be read in order).
Now that you have some web space and some software you want to install how do you get it on the web? Some hosting companies do offer one-button installs for common web applications but even with that you will find yourself wanting to upload other files. for short runs you can use a web-based upload page but when you need to upload more than five files you need a dedicated FTP client.
What is FTP?
FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a very important tool in every webmaster's toolkit. There are many options for FTP clients but the one I use most is Filezilla. Why do I like it so much?
Easy to use
Supports FTP, FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS) and SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
Cross-platform. Runs on Windows, Linux, *BSD, OSX and more
Available in many languages
Supports resume and transfer of large files >4GB
Powerful Site Manager and transfer queue
Drag & drop support
Configurable Speed limits
Filename filters
Network configuration wizard
Now, you could be a masochist and use a console ftp client but why do that to yourself?
Permissions
Remember when you were a kid and you had to ask your parents for permission to stay out late or eat some junk food? Every file you have on your server has its own set of permissions. These permissions are stored in an octal format consisting of three digits.
As with console based ftp there is also a console based way to change a file's permissions: chmod. Filezilla has this functionality built-in and you need only right click on a file (or a group of files) to change their permissions.
Each of the three octal digits represents one of the following groups: Owner, Group and Public. Because each octal digit contains three bits each bit represents one of the following permissions: Read, Write and Execute.
Example 1: textfile.html -rwxrwxrwx (777) - This file is readable, writable and executable by everyone.
Example 2: otherfile.html -r--r--r-- (444) -- This file is readable by everyone and that is it.
Example 3: configfile.php -rw-r--r-- (644) -- This file is readable by everyone and writable only by the owner.
File permissions are very important and you need to be careful when making changes. Hackers and crackers can make short work of your site if they gain the ability to modify the files on your server due to the permissions set on your file. Usee 644 for most of your files and 777 only when you know the directory is secure or otherwise unable to allow a hacker to take control of your server.
Recommendations
For domain registration I suggest you use GoDaddy. I use them myself and have been very satisfied with them and their support staff. I have called them for account support (not a toll free number) and I talked to someone who spoke perfect English and lives in the USA. Many companies outsource their support call center to areas where English is not the native tongue. Notice I said the number was not toll free? Yeah, you pay for the call but it is worth it.
For hosting you could use GoDaddy but that would break my cardinal rule on keeping the two separate. The other thing is that I have never liked their website control panel. I have administered some sites in the past hosted through GoDaddy and I was never happy doing it. Instead I recommend going with ImHosted.com Web Hosting. They will register the domain for you when you sign up and they have some great plans in place. They also have some 'one-click' install tools in their control panel to get you up and running fast.
This article is the second in a series of articles written to help you get online. This article does not require you to read any other article in the series (nor must they be read in order).
Now that you have an idea and a place to host your idea the next step in getting yourself some web real estate is deciding what to put there.
You could break out a text editor and start writing some basic HTML pages or even use some sort of WYSIWYG HTML editor but those things require a lot of work and today there are easier ways to do these things.
HTML is for ...
Back in the day everyone built their site using HTML. The only variance was when a site decided to end their file names with .html instead of .htm. In the modern web world no one creates basic HTML pages anymore, most people use PHP or another scripting language to have their server generate the HTML pages sent to the reader's browser. Writing your own web site using PHP can be a very rewarding experience but odds are you can find an Open Source solution that will meet your needs and save you a lot of time coding.
What is Open Source?
Open Source is something new that is also quite old. In the early days of computing people eagerly shared their source code among their peers. Granted most of those peers wore pocket protectors and would laugh at the old "pie are squared" joke but the point is that they would share code because they wanted to show off their coding skills and they hoped that others would improve upon what they wrote. The idea of proprietary code did not come until later when people began to figure out that they could sell software to non-business customers.
Today Open Source is alive and well with the most popular Open Source package Linux. Many web servers run on Linux. I know you don't care much about that at this point so I will instead take this time to point out three Open Source solutions that you can use to help you get your website up and running fast.
Blogging
Blogging is the hottest thing these days. Everyone has a blog. This site is a blog! Now, i could sit down for a few months and write my own blogging software but why would I? it would be a waste of my time when the very useful (and free) WordPress software already exists.
Yes, there are other blogging software platforms but Wordpress is the best. It is also very widely used and has a ton of plugins that are easy to use.
When I first began my blogging career I used something other than WordPress and I paid the price. Every other blogger I knew and spoke with was using WordPress. when I had a problem I had no one to turn to as all they would say is, "I can't help you, I use WordPress."
WordPress is very easy to install (some hosting companies have a script that will install it for you), very customizable and best of all, 100% free. Yes, you need not spend a single red cent to use the software. Getting a custom skin designed and some plugins do cost money but those are optional things you can worry about later.
Once you upload the software to your server it is a simple matter of following the very simple install instructions and you will be blogging in minutes.
Content Management
For those who want to use their web space for something that is more than a blog I recommend looking into the multitude of content management solutions out there, one of the most popular is PHP-Nuke. Like WordPress it is free and customizable.
PHP-Nuke may be a little Web 1999 for some people but I have found it still holds up well over time. For those who want something a little more current you can feel free to look into drupal or mambo. These two software packages are also free but are of a level where you need a dedicated and knowledgeable person on staff to help you out.
Forums
A lot of people also like to run forums for discussion. There are a few free ones out there, the best of which is PHPBB. This Open Source forum software is very easy to setup and easy to skin. I have used it in the past but I have taken the next step and licensed some higher end forum software.
One Size Does Not Fit All
As good as Open Source software is it is not always a solution for everything. Sometimes you have to write the code for your own site because it does something special or unique. Some Open Source software is easy to modify to make it fit while others are written in such a way that only the truly tech savy can manipulate them.
If you would like to try out some pieces of Open Source software to see if something may be a good fit for you I highly suggest you take a look at OpenSourceCMS. They have a ton of software on there and they all have live demos that you can use to see if they are be right for you.
I played the Zelda games when i was a kid and I still play them now. If I had seen this video when they first came out I may not have!
Yes, I know I went and saw the live action Super Mario Brothers movie as well as the TV series but... OK, who am I to talk? Those were just as bad as the commercial above.
After fielding a number of questions on this subject from friends and family I have decided to sit down and write a series of articles on this subject. This is not a series about blogging but blogging will be discussed. I will attempt to answer as many questions as possible in each installment. Sit back and read part 1: Domains and Hosting.
Where To Begin
The very first thing you need to do when looking into getting a website is to ask yourself why. Why do you want a website?
Do you want a little personal space? Perhaps you are running a project for school which will require multiple people to work on. Do you want to add an online store to your home based business? Are you a budding photographer who wants to put their photographs online?
There are many reasons for going online and each one has its own series of answers, not all of which require you to get a website of your own. There are many free sites you can get for sharing photographs (flickr) or blogging (Wordpress) and so on. For purposes of this discussion we are going to assume that you do not want to use a free service but instead want your own space online.
Domain Name
Other than your content the domain name you pick is the single most important thing you need to think about. The domain should be as short as possible while still being descriptive enough for people to associate it with you and your content.
Take HMTK dot com for example. I have had this domain since June of 2002. I picked it out because HMCG dot com was already taken. Why would I do that you wonder? Because HMTK stands for HackMaster Tool Kit, a software package I wrote years ago. It was originally to be titled HackMaster Character Generator but some people wrote the HarnMaster Character Generator before me and took the name. I no longer maintain that software but I still have the domain and four letter domains are quite valuable these days.
Some domains are valuable not because of what they stand for but because of how they are written. The most well known example of this has to be del.icio.us, a very popular bookmarking site. In fact, all of the good three syllable words ending in us have already been registered. Well, the last two syllables have been registered as the first syllable is nothing more than a subdomain of the domain.
Domains and Subdomains
A domain is what you register, a subdomain is something you add to your domain name afterwards. In all domain names the www that comes first is a subdomain. If you leave it off most modern browsers will assume you are looking for the www subdomain and send you there.
There are differing viewpoints on when to use a subdomain and when to use a subdirectory but the one thing you need to keep in mind is that a subdomain does not have to be on the same server as your main (www) domain while a subdirectory does. I use a mixture of the two myself and I will cover this in more detail in the future.
Picking Your Domain Name
With all that out of the way you should be at the point where you are deciding on a domain name to use for your site. I can not stress enough how important it is not to check to see if your domain is already registered or not. There are some nefarious persons out there who setup servers that watch for domain lookups and report back on failed requests. These people then register the domain (they can register it for free for a few days to 'taste' it) in hopes of scoring some easy money. Then, when you go to register it, you find it has already been taken.
What I suggest you do is make a list of five to ten potential domain names and only check them when you are ready to buy. That way if all of them are already taken you can go back and try again. If one of them is not taken you can register it right away with no fear of a domain squatter sniffing it out and grabbing it out from under you.
How To Register
When it comes to registering your domain there are two options.
Option 1: Register the domain on its own.
Option 2: Register the domain when you buy your hosting package.
There are good and bad bits about both of those options and personally I choose to register my domains with a different company than the one I get my hosting from. I find that it costs a little more to do it this way but it gives you far more freedom and control.
When you register the domain on its own it is not tied to the company who provides your hosting. The reason this can be a good thing is that if your hosting company drops you for a TOS violation your domain name is not affected and you can quickly bring your site back up via another host. By having your domain in the same hands as your hosting you can easily lose both and clearly the domain is far more valuable than the hosting.
When you register the domain with your hosting provider you often save money as they will waive the domain registration fee. What this means in real terms is that the domain registration fee is built-in to the hosting price. in other words, you are already paying for the registration!
For your first site I recommend having your hosting company register the domain name for you. Yes, I know what I said above but, what I did not point out is that many website burn out within the first six months and stop maintaining their site. After you have been online for a year is the time to move your domain names to a registrar who does not provide hosting services to you.
Hosting
There are a ton of hosting companies out there. There also multiple levels of hosting:
Shared Hosting - Your site is on a server with a bunch of other sites. Some servers have a small number of sites on them while others may have hundreds. This sort of hosting is cheap but often subject to certain restrictions about bandwidth usage and CPU usage.
This level of service is good enough for most websites and a great place to start.
Dedicated Hosting - You have the entire server all to yourself. Bandwidth restrictions are in place but the server is yours with no one else on it.
This level of service is the best you can get but you may need to go with a managed dedicated server if you do not know how to maintain a server. Expect to pay a lot for this.
There are some graduations within those above two groups but the important thing to note is that one type of service is all yours while the other is not. For your first site it is best to go with shared hosting. Why spend a couple of thousand dollars for a dedicated server if paying $5 a month will suit you just as well?
Recommendations
For domain registration I suggest you use GoDaddy. I use them myself and have been very satisfied with them and their support staff. I have called them for account support (not a toll free number) and I talked to someone who spoke perfect English and lives in the USA. Many companies outsource their support call center to areas where English is not the native tongue. Notice I said the number was not toll free? Yeah, you pay for the call but it is worth it.
For hosting you could use GoDaddy but that would break my cardinal rule on keeping the two separate. The other thing is that I have never liked their website control panel. I have administered some sites in the past hosted through GoDaddy and I was never happy doing it. Instead I recommend going with ImHosted.com Web Hosting. They will register the domain for you when you sign up and they have some great plans in place. They also have some 'one-click' install tools in their control panel to get you up and running fast.
The 501st Legion’s Garrison will be making TWO appearances at this year’s “Festival For Kids, January 19th & 20th in Hartford , CT. This year, proceeds from the event will benefit the Fox 61 Family Fund. Come join the fun!
Apart from The 501st Legions CTG, other attractions will be:
• Amusement rides
• Games
• Hands-on exhibits
• Ride all day for one price
• Tons of kid related products
• Continuous weekend long entertainment
• Educational activities
FESTIVAL FOR KIDS
Date: 1/19/08 & 1/20/08
Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Place: CT Convention Center 100 Columbus Bvd
Hartford, CT
At least once every three months I get a solicitation in the mail asking me to send money to a company who will list me with search engines.
What year are these people living in? Do they expect me to believe that just because a new year has begun search engines will delete my sites from their index?
In their defense they do make it clear that they are soliciting an offer and this is not a bill, it just looks a lot like a bill.
So, what do they offer for a yearly fee of $35?
Domain name submission to 14 established search engines, quarterly search engine position and ranking reports for eight keyword/phrase listings from 14 major search engines.
Yep, not much. Domain name submission, I have never done that yet I get tons of traffic from the search engines out there every day. Quarterly reports? At least they are not trying to sell SEO services and top spot rankings for keywords.
Here is the list of the 14 search engines:
AllTheWeb
AOL
Google
LookSmart Inktomi
MSN
Northern Light
Search.com
AltaVista
Excite
HotBot
Lycos
Netscape Netcenter
Open Directory
Web Crawler
Wow! I see big bad Google on the list but no Yahoo? Some of these search engines I have never even heard of! Does Netscape Netcenter still exist? Isn't Web Crawler just a search engine that searches other search engines?
If you get one of these letters in the mail just do yourself a favor and tear it up and throw it away. I think I just wasted more time writing about it than it deserved.
Most search engines have a free way to add your site to their index. Try that route before you pay anyone for SEO services.
