Intergreen Resources Inc. (Philippines) is leading to be the premier recycler of used lead acid batteries in the asia pacific region.
We designed and developed their website using HTML, PHP and continues to provide them with superb web hosting and maintenance.
We also provided for mandarin chinese translation to make the website bilingual.
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Candelaria Properties (Hong Kong, Macau) is a leading property investment, management and development group with a growing portfolio in where it owns and manages both residential and retail property in Hong Kong and Macau.
We designed and developed the Candelaria Properties website with a professional and accomodating look that reflects this serviced apartment and residence provider.
We also provided for mandarin chinese translation to make the website bilingual.
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AI Associates (Singapore) designs and creates beautiful commercial, residential, hospitality and retail spaces. They tasked us to come up with a visually appealing design to showcase their design prowess.
We came up with a home page that featured their portfolio in a rotating slideshow. We also implemented a unique and sleek sliding navigation pane that reflects their simple sophistication.
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GTA Teleguam had an all-Flash website that was slow in responding and it was hard to find information a visitor was looking for. As part of their marketing strategy, they wanted to update their site’s look and gain more search engine exposure and make it easier to navigate.
We proposed, and subsequently developed, a dynamic website using PHP. We modularized the sidebar ad spaces for easy updating and maintenance on their part.
We also used URL rewriting techniques to have more user and search engine friendly URL’s (e.g. http://www.gta.net/customer-support/contact instead of http://www.gta.net/index.aspx?p=34). This resulted in better search engine ranking and exposure.
]]>Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat is software that creates quality, un-editable, printer friendly documents. Acrobat documents are recognized as PDF files. You can download the Acrobat PDF viewer plug-in at the adobe web site www.adobe.com.
Applet. A small program that can be downloaded from a web site and executed on the user’s computer. Usually a Java Applet.
Archive. A directory of related information, press releases, and other data.
ASP. Active Server Pages is a method of generating dynamic web pages. The ASP language was developed by Microsoft. The web hosting company that hosts the site must have a Windows OS servers.
B
B2B. B2B is an acronym for Business-to-Business eCommerce.
B2C. B2C is an acronym for Business-to-Consumer eCommerce.
Back-End. Anything that a website visitor does not see, such as a Content Management System.
Bandwidth. Bandwidth is how fast data transfers on a given transmission path. It is expresses in bits per second (bps). Web hosting businesses can provide you with summaries of bandwidth consumption.
Banner. A banner is a graphic image that is placed on a web site as an advertisement. The banner generally links to a web site that relates to the advertisement.
Bitmap. A graphic image that is composed of dots, or pixels. Web sites display bitmaps.
Browser. See Web Browser.
C
Captcha. A SPAM prevention system now standard amongst websites. It requires the user to read and type a word from a distorted image. This is what you encounter when you sign up with Yahoo! Mail for the first time. Click here to see what it looks like.
CGI. Common Gateway Interface is an interface that connects web sites to other software and databases.
CMS. See Content Management System.
Co-location. This word is commonly used to refer to a server that belongs to another person or group that is connected to a high-speed internet connection. Usually businesses tend to choose this method of web site hosting because it is more secure and faster.
Consultant. An individual who provides guidance and information to another individual. A professional that helps you plan that appropriate course of action.
Content Management System. Any system that allows the easy updating of website content. Popular CMS are WordPress and Joomla while some CMS are custom-made for more specific websites.
Cookie. Cookies are small data files that are saved when viewing certain types of web sites. Information is sent from the web server each time your browser logs on to a web page. Not all cookies are bad. Cookies remember form fields, group lists, item lists and other info that is a bother to enter.
Crawling. “Crawling” or “Indexing” is the process in which the search engines review and catalog a website.
D
Database. A database is a collection of information categorized by specific fields. Databases are usually searchable by keywords. MySQL is a popular databased used on the web.
Directory. A directory is list of web sites categorized into appropriate categories. A directory is not a search engine; however, directories can increase your chances of being found through search engines.
DNS. Domain Name System is a global network of servers that translate domain names (www.c7.ca) into IP addresses 192.124.111.40.
Domain Name. Domains identify one or more IP addresses, but with words. eg. www.yahoo.com
DPI. Dots per inch specifies the resolution of an output device, such as a scanner or printer. The higher the resolution, the finer the detail of the image.
DSL. A Digital Subscriber Line is a fast continuously available internet connection that uses a phone line and DSL modem. A DSL connection to the internet does not interfere with voice transmission.
Dynamic Content. This term describes web site content that can be altered or updated very easily.
F
FAQ. Frequently Asked Questions is a file or page that lists commonly asked questions and answers.
Flash. See Macromedia Flash.
Forms. Forms provide easy fill fields for collecting valuable marketing information from web site traffic.
Frames. Frames can be used to organize a site into sections. Frames are seldom used nowadays because usually it does more harm than good to a website.
Front-End. The interface of a web site or eCommerce shop is commonly referred to as “The Front-End”.
FTP. File Transfer Protocol is an agreed upon format for transferring data between two computers.
G
Gateway. A piece of hardware or software that translates between 2 dissimilar protocols
GIF. Graphic interchange format is a common format for an image file. Usually appropriate for large, few colour images. The file size of GIF’s are significantly smaller that JPEG’s.
Gigabyte. A GB is 1024 Megabytes
Gradient. A range of different colour tones. The transition of one colour to another.
Grayscale. A range of different shades of black. The transition of a shade of black to black.
H
Hit. This term is used to describe a user accessing a web site with their web browser. It describes how many individuals have viewed a particular web site,
Host. Any computer on a network that is repository for services available to other computers on the network.
HTML. HyperText Markup Language is the most basic language to create web design. It is a descendant of XML.
HTTP. Hypertext Transfer Protocol is used to format and transmit data over the Web.
Hyperlink. A hyperlink, or a Link, links a web page to another web page. When a user clicks on a hyperlink, it takes them to a new web page.
Hypertext. Is a system that links text, graphics, music, and software to each other in a non-linear manner. AKA Hypermedia.
I
Information Page. A static page that is designed to optimize search engine visibility.
Intellectual Property. Intellectual Property can be defined as Creative ideas and expressions of the human mind that have commercial value and receive the legal protection of a property right. The major legal mechanisms for protecting intellectual property rights are copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Intellectual property rights enable owners to select who may access and use their property and to protect it from unauthorized use.
Intranet. A private network inside an organization or company that uses the same kinds of software. An intranet is used for internal use.IP Address. Internet Protocol is a 32-bit numeric address that serves as an identifier for a computer on a TCP/IP network.
IRC. Internet Relay Chat is an application that allows users to participate in text based communication with multiple users.
ISDN. Integrated Services Digital Network is a system of all digital, high bandwidth telephone lines. Information travels at 128Kbps
ISP. an Internet Service Provider is a company that provides you with a connection to the internet via either a dial-up or broadband connection.
J
Java. Is a network-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the internet.
JPEG. Joint Photographic Experts Group is the most commonly used image file format for displaying photographic images.
K
Keyword. A keyword from the web site builder’s point of view is a carefully selected word that is targeted specificaly to what the site’s target market would type in a search engine.
Kilobyte. A KB is 1024 bytes
Keyphrase. A keyphrase is composed of multiple keywords. It is the phrase that a searcher uses on a search engine (e.g. “web developers in new york”).
L
LAN. A computer network limited to the immediate area of computers. Usually limited to a building or floor.
Leased Line. Refers to a phone line that is rented exclusively for an internet connection 24 hours a day, seven days a week. High speed connections tend to require a leased line.
Link. Please see Hyperlink.
Login. The account name used to gain access to a system, application, or web site.
M
Mailing List. A (usually automated) system that allows people to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied and sent to all of the other subscribers to the mail list. In this way, people who have many different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together.
Megabyte. 1024 kilobytes.
Meta-tag. Meta-tags are HTML tags that are used to identify the creators of web sites, HTML specifications, keywords and descriptions of the page. Search engines do not give much weighting to this anymore because it was being abused by SEO spammers.
MIME. Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions are the standard for attaching non-text files to standard Internet mail messages. Non-text files include graphics, spreadsheets, formatted word-processor documents, sound files, etc.
Modem. A device used that you connect to your computer and phone line to the internet.
Multi-Media. A method of communicating using text, graphics, animations, video, audio and layout.
Macromedia Flash. It is a vector based animation tool, commonly used on websites for welcome pages, advertisements, games and god forbid, using it for the whole website!
N
Netscape. A web browser developed by Netscape, AKA Netscape Navigator.
Network. When you have 2 or more computers connected to each other. Networking is used to share application files.
Newbie. An individual lacking the knowledge of application functions. Someone who has little or no knowledge of computer programs.
News Group. A news server posts information to bulletin board like environment. Each bulletin board is refereed to as a Newsgroup. E.g. http://groups.google.com
Node. Any single computer connected to a network.
P
Packet Switching. The method used to transfer data through the Internet. Data is disseminated into small packets and disbursed to an address, then reassembled at that address.
Password. A code used to gain access to a locked system or application.
PDF. AKA Adobe Acrobat File, it stands for Portable Document Format. PDF’s are viewable with the PDF viewer plug in developed by adobe. www.adobe.com
PHP. Is an abbreviation for Hypertext Pre-Processor. A scripting language commonly used on websites to create dynamic content.
Plug-in. A software extension that enables added capabilities. Plug-ins are usually available at software developers web sites.
POP. Post Office Protocol or Point of Presence – A Point of Presence usually means a city or location where a network can be connected to, often with dial up phone lines. Post Office Protocol refers to the way e-mail software such as outlook gets mail from a mail server.
Posting. When a message is sent or submitted to an individual or bulletin board.
Q
Query. A search request submitted to a database or search engine. Used to find specific content and files.
Quicktime. Is Apple video technology that allows video, digitized sound, 3D objects, and virtual reality.
R
Robot. AKA a spider, used to search html documents and web sites.
Router. A special purpose computer or application that handles the connection between 2 or more networks. Routers determine the appropriate destinations for packets.
S
Security Certificate. An encryption (often a text file) that is used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection.
Server. A computer or application, that provides a service to client software on other computers. Servers are used for web hosting and other web applications.
SMTP. Simple Mail Transport Protocol is the main protocol used to send electronic mail over the Internet.
SPAM. An obnoxious practice of mass advertising to clients through e-mail, IRC, a browser, or any other communication device.
SQL. Structured Query Language is a special programming language used for sending queries to a database.
SSL. A Secure Socket Layer is a protocol designed by netscape that enables encrypted communication over the Internet.
Streaming. Streaming media is when an audio or video file can be viewed even though it isn’t completely downloaded.
SEO. SEO or Search Engine Optimization or Search Engine Optimizers is a procedure in which a website is made “readable” to the search engine robots so your website are not just recognized by your visitors, but also the search engines. There abounds a lot of SEO companies claiming to catapault you to the top position but employ dirty tricks, which when exposed by the search engines, will get your website banned. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the methods of the company you are hiring. For more information visit Google’s page regarding search engine optimizers .
T
T1. A leased line connection capable of transferring data at 1,544,000 bits-per-second.
T3. A leased line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,00 bits-per-second. This type of connection is typically used to transfer high quality full screen video feeds.
TCP/IP. Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is the suite of protocols that define the Internet.
Terabyte. 1000 gigabytes.
Terminal. An application or device that allows you to send commands to a computer somewhere else.
Thumbnail. A small sample if a graphic image.
U
Unix. An operating system for a computer that is capable of handling activity from multiple users. It is the most common OS for servers on the Internet.
URL. This an alphanumeric address that replaces IP numbers. E.g. http://www.azurewebdesign.com/
V
Vector Image. A graphic image drawn in shapes and lines called paths. These images are usually developed using Macromedia and Adobe software.
VPN. A Virtual Private Network refers to a network in which some of devices are connected using the Internet, and data transfers are encrypted. Companies tend to use VPN’s to network offices in different cities.
Web Browser. It is the software that enables you to see this page that you are reading now. Popular browsers are Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari (Mac).
Website Contents. Website Contents are the text and images that constitute the information on the website. These are frequently updated to suit the needs of the website owner.
Website Design. The visual elements that make up the theme and style of the website.
Website Layout. The positioning of the various elements that make a website. The layout is the hardest to change and thus must be settled and agreed upon early on the development process.
]]>We came across a recent issue regarding multiple class selectors.
<div class="box featured"></div>
In this example, using the selectors .box.featured or .box or .featured would reference the DIV. However IE6 does not recognize .box.featured. Herein lies the problem. So the solution is to avoid multiple class selectors.
]]>There are limits to how many emails you can send per day, as imposed by your ISP, your hosting provider or your free email service provider. Mostly, these limits allow you to send 250 emails a day only.
With an email marketing service, email newsletters can be crafted, sent, and even tracked online, all in under ten minutes. Have a time-sensitive announcement to make? An email newsletter is waiting in your recipient’s inbox a second after you hit send.
You might ask what the difference is between sending an email and an email newsletter. On the surface, very little, but one of the common problems is that there are a wide variety of email handlers. Most accept html, but not all accept every tag, so testing your newsletter before it goes out is an important feature, and one common to newsletter applications. Getting your newsletter the way you want, no matter what email reader the receiver is using is just one of the benefits.
Online newsletter applications have a lengthy list of features, from how you can create them (html, css, design tools, and templates), how you send them (scheduled delivery, targeted audiences, address management), and how you track them (analytics and bounce lists). Newsletters can be cloned, adjusted, even catered to specific addresses (by zip code, for example). Subscriber and send lists can be managed (and imported), and adjusted for duplicates and bounced emails.
Beauty is in the Eyes of the Reader
HTML Email Newsletters are much like websites. The difference is that they are delivered via email instead of the visitor going to your website. As we develop for the web, we put careful attention to detail and make sure that the website looks consistent across all major web browsers, because each browser interprets HTML in a slightly different way. That is why you see some badly made websites that look good on one browser and messed up on the next.
There are hundreds of email readers that are widely used. Now imagine each email reader as a web browser. To be able to produce HTML that is of consistent quality across all email readers would be a very time consuming, expensive task. That is why we need an email marketing service.
Can’t I Just Use Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail Account?
Sure you can. If you have a small list of about 100 subscribers and is content on sending plain text emails, these email applications will do. However if you have more email accounts than you can manage manually, an email marketing service is necessary.
Email Marketing Service Providers
Constant Contact
Perhaps the best known name in email marketing, Constant Contact has been in the online marketing business since 1995. It offers a very comprehensive selection of design templates to choose from or the ability to design your own style from scratch. It’s also easy to integrate into your website, so you can encourage sign-ups in your web marketing.
Constant Contact’s pricing is also reasonable for most small businesses, and based on how big your subscriber list is. If your list includes less than 5,000 email addresses, you’ll be paying $50 per month or less. Even at 25,000 subscribers, the monthly fee is only $150.
Mad Mimi
If Constant Contact is the Microsoft of email marketing, think of Mad Mimi as the Google of the medium. As opposed to feature-rich, somewhat complex software (some might use the term “bloated”), Mad Mimi is lightweight and extremely quick and easy to get started with.
Mail Chimp
Like Constant Contact and Mad Mimi, MailChimp makes it relatively easy to design, send, and track an email newsletter. The difference is that it allows you to pull your content from an RSS feed. In other words, instead of needing to come up with new original content for your newsletter, you can simply have your newsletter automatically send out your most recent blog entries to email subscribers.
This approach isn’t for everyone, but if you have a highly segmented audience of customers, some of whom are Web savvy and follow you in social media and others who do little else on the Web besides email, it’s a good way to double up your efforts. Similar to other providers, MailChimp has tiered pricing based on how many subscribers are on your mailing list.
Comparing MailChimp, MadMimi and LetterPop
Please visit this review site for more information:
Price comparison and reviews of several email marketing services
]]>Aside from this website, here are 10 business websites that use WordPress.
- Feedback Audio
- fraai
- Future Snowboarding Magazine
- Ginger Restaurant
- Inbound Pass
- International Screening Solutions
- Kineda
- Little White Lies
- Miami Dating Coach
- ten24media
A website with its content stored on the file system is often referred to as a static website, whereas a database driven website is often referred to as a dynamic.
Content Management Systems
A website with dynamic content usually has a CMS (Content Management System) to assist the content providers in updating the website.
A CMS is usually provided in the form of an administration area where content providers need to log in before they can add content. Once logged in, they can create, update and delete articles. They may be able to upload files such as Word documents, PDF files etc. They might be able to upload images too.
All of this content can be stored in the database. Some may be stored on the file system too though. For example, although documents and images can be stored in the database, there are sometimes reasons to store them on the file system. Performance is often a key reason. Database size is another.
Discussion Forums and Blogs
Discussion forums and blogs have become a popular feature for many websites. Most, if not all, forums and blogs are database driven. Users can register their details, then add content. When the user clicks the “Submit” button, their details/content is inserted into the database. Then when someone decides to view this content, it is read from the database using SQL (Structured Query Language).
Combination of Static and Dynamic
Some websites have a combination of static content and dynamic content. There could be any number of reasons for this. Often, smaller websites will be static. There’s little need to configure a database just to store a handful of webpages – much easier and cheaper to keep them as files on the server. Even websites like this might contain some added functionality such as a discussion forum, or a blog. In this case, the discussion forum or blog will need its content stored in a database.
Benefits of a Database Driven Website
Database driven websites can provide much more functionality than a static site can. Extended functionality could include:
- Enabling many (potentially non-technical) users to provide content for the website. Users can publish articles on the website without needing to FTP them to a web server.
- You can provide advanced search functionality that enables users to filter the results based on a given field. They can then sort those results by a field – say “Most Viewed” or “Date”.
- Customized homepage
- You can allow your users to perform tasks such as registering for a newsletter, post questions to your forums, provide comments on a blog, update their profile, etc.
- Integration with corporate applications such as CRM systems, HR systems etc
- Much more