The Thrills of Web Development

Web development is a term which encompasses a variety of activities to make websites more appealing, more consumer-friendly and possibly to enhance productivity of a company, a small business, a government website or even a non-profit site. When you speak of web development, there are many things that are considered like web designing, updating web content, improving network security and many other marketing and e-commerce development strategies. Now that the web is as popular as other media like television, radio and print, there is a need for constant online development for company sites, official sites, informative sites, marketing websites and blogs to keep at par with consumer preferences.

You may choose to do web developing yourself if you have a company website to manage or if you have a business website since there are tons of helpful resources on the web. As you search for web development options, you will be directed to a variety of downloadable techniques, tips, e books and many other helpful strategies for you and your business to survive the web.

However, as appealing as it may seem, a do- it - yourself web development project for your site is incomparable to a professionally done online development technique. Only a company that makes use of new strategies and better consumer research can make web development for your website matter. Here are some more benefits of letting an expert develop your website for you:

1. As mentioned, web developing encompasses several strategies to improve your overall website appeal. From marketing strategies to consumer research, an expert will do more than just paint your official site a new color. All the factors that can make your product, service and your company stand out will be kept in mind.
2. Latest strategies like social network sites (Facebook and Twitter) are also added with guaranteed effective marketing strategies to make consumers instantly like or follow your product around.
Website design Essex
3. An expanded target market will surely drive more traffic to your site potentially increasing sales. This is done through creating keyword and search engine optimization that will incredibly make your product stand out.
Website design Essex
4. Surely you click on the first link a search engine gives you and you can also take advantage of this too. Online development companies can help you make it to the top of the search page making more consumers and potential customers.
Website design Essex
5. Web development also uses better marketing techniques like YouTube videos, back linking, amazing graphics, wonderful sounds and even interactive tools if your business or service calls for it. Only an expert company can help develop your site this way.

Website design Essex

If you want websites that can make a difference and drive more traffic, potential customers and sales then do some due diligence to seek out the better web development options. With the right people, your company will truly find its place under the search engine sun with a site that focuses on what really matters, you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6711124

Benefits of CMS-Based Websites

They always say two heads are better than one. This can be exemplified throughout history. Today, websites do not have to have a single webmaster. CMS based websites hold many advantages over this old system. CMS stands for content management system. Simply speaking, it is a collection of procedures to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. In other terms, it is more minds working together to create a website.

The procedures are designed to make things flow easier and quicker. The most important aspect of the system is to improve the communication ability between users, and improve the access to the data and how it is manipulated. A large number of people can add content, contribute and share stored data simultaneously. This means that the content that is stored in the database is dynamic and can be reviewed and changed quickly.

The whole system is designed for non technical content writers. That means for all the people on the forums, all they have to know is how to use a word processor, no knowledge of HTML is required. Since you have so many people contributing to the system, moderators can set access restrictions for certain members or on certain forums. With having so many people on these sites, the CMS allows to preserve uniformity in the formatting and design.

These are all great, but do not seem spectacular. Of course, having one person do all of that would not only be time consuming, but probably drive the webmaster insane. Another great advantage to a CMS is automatic navigation menu generation. Every time a new post or new content is added, the menus are adjusted. This alone saves precious time and resources for a webmaster. Having a CMS also promote cooperation among users.

The essential structure of a CMS allows it to operate so fluidly. For each website you have three essential parts. Those parts are design, structure and content. With a static webmaster driven site, you almost have to take the entire site down to adjust anything. CMS takes the three layers and separates them. The content can be updated at any time with the same structure and design. The design can be modified without losing content or changing the structure.

It is a very fluid system. It is also a very user friendly system. You can do this with minimal programming or design experience. The eCommerce website allows the editor to work with the site in a lot of ways. Going back to the access, a backend administration panel can be used with several tools. That means you can have a group for control that helps moderate the other users. It also lets you add in several functions like polls, shopping carts and news management.

CMS has so many benefits it is hard to name them all. The separation of design, content, and structure is the essential strength of this website format. It has webmasters beat hands down. Not to say that it is always the way to go. It just takes knowing your audience and knowing your goals for the website. A CMS puts more control in your hands, to create the site that you have always wanted.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vlad_Orlenko

Home Remodeling: Tips on Finding the Right Interior Designer

When it comes to remodeling, it can be extremely beneficial to hire a professional who specializes in interior design, architecture and so forth. An interior designer can help ensure that the space is remodeled in a way that is both visually appealing, functional and can do it on almost any type of budget. Of course, finding the right designer can be a bit difficult if you're not sure what you're looking for. Here are a few tips and tricks on how to find the right designer for your home remodeling project.

Ask Questions

Designers often have access to materials, items and services that a contractor or the homeowner may not necessarily have access to. Therefore, it's important to ask questions when looking to hire an designer, no matter what room you're remodeling from kitchen designs to bedroom designs and everything in between.

Ask For References

No matter who you're hiring, when it comes to your home, you should always ask for references. An interior designer who isn't willing to give references is likely hiding something: they're not that great at their job. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that you not only ask for references, but also follow up on them. This is true no matter who the designer is, whether it's a big-shot New York interior designer or Los Angeles designers, to the designer right up the street with their own little shop. You have a right to know that past clients are satisfied with the work.

Do They Have a Portfolio?

All designers have a portfolio. This should include photographs from a variety of angles of all of their past designs. Some interior designers may specialize in certain rooms, so ask to see these. This can include bedroom, living room, den, kitchen, bathroom and just about every other room in the home. A good interior designer will have a portfolio and be eager to share their past designs with you.

What are the Fees?

If you didn't think of it already, be sure to ask what the fees are. Some interior designers may charge a flat hourly fee, plus fees for handling the purchase and assembly of the materials in the room.

Other designers may charge different fees based on the room they are working in. For example, working on a bedroom design may cost less than working on bathroom designs or kitchen designs. This pay scale may include a base rate plus fees to cover the handling and assembly of the materials in the space.

Many designers will charge you the cost of the retainer up front. Basically, a retainer is like a deposit. It is the amount of money paid to the interior designer at the beginning of the project and is applied to the balance of the total project. In some instances, there may be a refund but in other instances, there may still be additional fees to be paid at the end of the project.

A professional designer can be extremely beneficial to a home remodeling project, saving you time and money. However, always be sure that you are satisfied with your choice in interior designer before you begin investing that time and money.

Website design Essex

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6752603

How to Increase Your Faith and Success In Your New Business

I received an email message which said, "Hope is an Evil Word in Business," it caught my attention. This is the message I received from one of the million dollar marketing gurus. (Even when you are a certified Internet Marketing professional, you still like to keep in touch with online Gorilla marketing professionals -- they command respect because of their success record, after all they have accomplished what I'm in the process of dong)

But when I heard him say, on his training video, that "hope was an evil word in business" I froze for a second. While searching for a rebuttal that would hold up in "spiritual court," much to my surprise, I could not find one. Hope without faith is somewhat worthless. Prayer without faith is worthless.

The above two statements are a given and have been repeated millions of times by religious leaders, so they must be true, right?

The problem is, not many of these religious leaders have laid out a successful plan to help the rest of us gain more faith. Yea, yea, we are suppose, to read the book and listen to the sermons. Yet in the back of our minds we are still trying to figure out our to pay the mortgage or rent next month. We fully realize that our job could end at any moment and that we could have a relationship with the unemployment office inside of a week.

Wise thinking, tells us to prepare for such an emergency and have faith that this will not happen.

So we start out to prepare ourselves for a brighter future for ourselves and our families. And that's when we say a prayer and hope for the best. Ups, we used that word again, "hope" Where is the word faith? And how do we increase our faith?

If you want to increase your faith, increase your knowledge on a subject. Learn everything you can about the subject or business project you have selected. Learn until you are blue or red in the face. Learn until the subject shows up in your dreams. Learn. Than pray.

And your faith will have increased beyond any hope you could have had. You will go pass hope, to a feeling of knowingness. You will just know that your project will be a success. There will be no doubt in your mind, on any level. Success will be the only option.

Website design Essex


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6752600

How to Open New Window in Java script

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<script type="text/javascript">
// Popup window code
function newPopup(url) {
popupWindow = window.open(
"http://www.developmentbucket.com",'popUpWindow','height=500,width=500,left=10,top=10,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=yes,menubar=no,
location=no,directories=no,status=yes')
}
</script>
</div>

How Designing best software metrics?

Effective software metrics help a software engineer to identify shortcoming in the software development life cycle, so that software can be developed as per user requirements, within estimated schedule and cost estimate, required quality level, and so on. For defining software metrics, a number of steps are followed, which are definition of entities and attributes to be measured, defining a model, establishing counting criteria, deciding what is good , reporting metrics and additional qualifiers. To develop effective software metrics, a number of steps are followed, namely:

1. Definitions: To develop effective metrics, it is necessary to have a clear and concise definition of entities and their attributes that are to be measured. Terms like defect, size, quality, maintainability, user-friendly, and so on should be well defined so that no issues relating to ambiguity occur.
2. Define a Model: A model for the metrics is derived. This model is helpful in defining how metrics are calculated. The model should be easy to modify according to future requirement. While defining a model, the following question should be addressed:

·        Does the model provide more information than is available?

·        Is the information practical?

·        Does it provide the desired information?

      

      3.    Establish counting criteria: The model is broken down into its lowest level metric entities and the counting criteria (which are used to measure each entity) are defined. This specifies the method for the measurement of each metric primitive. For example, to estimate the size of a software project, line of code(LOC) is a commonly used metric. Before measuring size in LOC, clear and specific counting criteria should be defined.

4. Decide what is good: once it is decided what to measure and how to measure it, it is necessary to determine whether action is needed or not. For example, if software is meeting the quality standards, no corrective action is necessary. However, if this is not true, then goals can be established to help the software conform to the quality standards laid down. Note that the goals should be reasonable, within the time frame, and based on supporting action. 

5. Reposrt data: Once all the data for metrics are collected, the data should be reported to the concerned person. This involves defining report format, data extraction and reporting cycle, reporting mechanisms, and so on.

6. Determine additional qualifiers: Additional metric qualifiers that are generic in nature should be determined.  In other words, metrics that are valid for several additional extraction qualifiers should be determined.

The selection and development of software metrics is not complete until the effect of measurement and people on each other is known. The success of metric in an organization depends on the attitudes of the people involved in collecting the data, calculating and reporting the metrics.

Although many software metrics have been proposed over a period of time, ideal software metric is one which is easy to understand, effective and efficient. In order to develop an ideal metrics, software metrics should be validated and characterized effectively.

How to extract email id from text in JavaScript: Java Script

Just copy and paste in HTML file......

<HEAD>

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">

function findEmailAddresses(StrObj) {

var separateEmailsBy = ", ";

var emailsArray = StrObj.match(/([a-zA-Z0-9._-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+)/gi);

if (emailsArray) {

for (var i = 0; i < emailsArray.length; i++) {

if (i != 0) email += separateEmailsBy;

 emailsArray[i];

document.getElementById("gg").innerHTML+='<br>'+ emailsArray[i];

      }

   }

return email;

}

</script>

</HEAD>

<BODY>

<center>

<form>

<textarea name=comments name="cc" rows=10 cols=50 onBlur="this.form.email.value=findEmailAddresses(this.value);"></textarea>

<br>

Email:  <input type=button value="Find Emails" onClick="findEmailAddresses( document.getElementsByName('cc');">

</form>

<span id="gg"></span>

</center>

</BODY>

Leverage the power of Zend framework today!

As a small business owner, if you are looking to maximize enterprise efficiency by deploying an open source solution that will not only be fast, easy to use and can be easily scaled up according to the needs of your business, then you have come to the right place. In our view, the Zend Framework will be quite suitable for your business as it not only retains the simplified spirit of PHP programming but also incorporates some great concepts like design patterns, unit testing, loose coupling and OOP concepts. What the Zend framework actually does is that it offers a lightweight, loosely-coupled component library that can provide nearly 80% of the functionality and the rest of the application can be customized as per the unique business needs of the organization. The extensible architecture of the Zend framework ensures that developers can build their own custom modules to develop the remaining 20% of the functionality.
Another important tool from the Zend family is the Zend Studio, a professional grade development environment that includes powerful features like PHP code editing, debugging, profiling, unit testing and diagnostic utilities which enhance developer productivity resulting in a shorter turn-around time for developing applications.Zend Studio's integration with VMWare workstation helps developers in running and debugging applications quickly. Other notable features of Zend Studio like re-factoring, code generation, code assist and semantic analysis help in rapid application development both on the server side (in PHP) and on the browser side (in javascript). Besides this, Zend Studio also offers support for both local and remote debugging, integrated PHP and Javascript debugging, profiling, code inspection, quick fix, test-generation, and reporting.

Another important tool from the Zend stable that can prove to be very useful for developers is the Zend Debugger, a PHP extension that allows users to debug PHP scripts via the web server. PHP experts who have tested the Zend Debugger functionality confess that it is the best Integrated Development Environment they have ever used.
To use the Zend Debugger users need to install the Zend Debugger on their web server in order to perform optimal remote debugging. By using powerful PHP extension one can test files and detect errors in your code. The debugger helps developers to control the execution of their programs by using a variety of options like setting breakpoints, inspecting variables and parameters etc.
After reading the above passages, you would now have an idea of the powerful features which the Zend Framework offers and how critical it can be to ensure reliability of enterprise applications. No wonder it has emerged as the platform of choice amongst small and large businesses worldwide for developing business- critical applications.
With PHP gaining prominence as a server- side scripting language, open source products like the Zend Debugger and Zend Studio are in high demand amongst developers all across the globe. These products can be used for the most demanding applications and even deliver excellent performance at high traffic loads. Moreover, the extensible architecture of the Zend Framework makes it a hot favourite amongst developers as they can build their own custom modules catering to their unique business needs.

HTML and PHPcontact form with CAPTCHA

in CONTACT FORMS

Using a contact form on your website is very useful as it helps your web site visitors to communicate with you in an easy and simple way. But, there are spammers and hackers who are looking for exploitable web forms. It is essential to secure your form against all 'holes' that those hackers are searching for.

How does the spammers/hackers exploit HTML forms?

Spammers exploit web forms for two purposes:

a) As a relay for sending bulk unsolicited emails

If you are not validating your form fields (on the serve side) before sending the emails, then hackers can alter your email headers to send the bulk unsolicited emails. (also known as email injection) For example, hackers can place the following code in one of your form fields and make your form processor script send an email to an unintended recipient:

sender@theirdomain.com%0ABcc:NewRecipient@anotherdomain.com

The code above is adding another email address to the CC list of the email. Spammers can send thousands of emails using this exploit. Your host will not be happy with this and may warn you or even ban your web site.

The best way to prevent this spammer exploit is to validate the fields used in the mail() function(fields like email, subject of the email, name etc). Check for the presence of any "new line" (\r\n) in those fields. The email form article contains sample code that does the same.

b) For Sending spam messages to you

There are programs known as 'spam-bots' that leech through the web pages looking for web forms. When found, those 'bots' just fills the fields with a spam message and submits. Eventually you will start getting many hundred submissions send by those spam bots and you will find it difficult to separate genuine submissions from spam messages.

The solution for this problem is to use a mechanism to identify human submitters from 'bots'. CAPTCHA is one of such tests.

Adding Captcha to the form

Captcha is an image with a code written on it. The website visitor is required to read the code on the image and enter the value in a text field. If the word entered is wrong, the form submission is not processed. As CAPTCHA is a smartly blurred image, the spam bot can't read it. So the form cannot be auto-submitted by a 'bot'.

The contact form with CAPTCHA

Here is the HTML code for the contact form:

<form method="POST" name="contact_form"

action="<?php echo htmlentities($_SERVER['PHP_SELF']); ?>">

<label for="name">Name: </label>

<input type="text" name="name"

value="<?php echo htmlentities($name) ?>">

<label for="email">Email: </label>

<input type="text" name="email"

value="<?php echo htmlentities($visitor_email) ?>">

<label for="message">Message:</label>

<textarea name="message" rows=8 cols=30

><?php echo htmlentities($user_message) ?></textarea>

<img src="captcha_code_file.php?rand=<?php echo rand(); ?>"

id="captchaimg" >

<label for="message">Enter the code above here :</label>

<input id="6_letters_code" name="6_letters_code" type="text">

<input type="submit" value="Submit" name="submit">

</form>

The HTML form above contains the fields for name, email and message. In addition, we have the CAPTCHA image. The <img> tag for the CAPTCHA image points to the script captcha_code_file.php. The PHP script in 'captcha_code_file.php' creates the image for the captcha and saves the code in a session variable named '6_letters_code'.

Validating the CAPTCHA

When the form is submitted, we compare the value in the session variable(6_letters_code) with the submitted CAPTCHA code( the value in the text field 6_letters_code). If the codes match, then we proceed with emailing the form submission. Else we display an error.

Here is the code that does the server side processing:

if(isset($_POST['submit']))

{

if(empty($_SESSION['6_letters_code'] ) ||

strcasecmp($_SESSION['6_letters_code'], $_POST['6_letters_code']) != 0)

{

//Note: the captcha code is compared case insensitively.

//if you want case sensitive match, update the check above to

// strcmp()

$errors .= "\n The captcha code does not match!";

}

if(empty($errors))

{

//send the email

$to = $your_email;

$subject="New form submission";

$from = $your_email;

$ip = isset($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']) ? $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] : '';

$body = "A user  $name submitted the contact form:\n".

"Name: $name\n".

"Email: $visitor_email \n".

"Message: \n ".

"$user_message\n".

"IP: $ip\n";

$headers = "From: $from \r\n";

$headers .= "Reply-To: $visitor_email \r\n";

mail($to, $subject, $body,$headers);

header('Location: thank-you.html');

}

}

Customizing the CAPTCHA

The CAPTCHA script in the sample code download can be customized. If you open the script, you can see the first few lines of the code as shown below:

$image_width = 120;

$image_height = 40;

$characters_on_image = 6;

$font = './monofont.ttf';

//The characters that can be used in the CAPTCHA code.

//avoid confusing characters (l 1 and i for example)

$possible_letters = '23456789bcdfghjkmnpqrstvwxyz';

$random_dots = 0;

$random_lines = 20;

$captcha_text_color="0x142864";

$captcha_noise_color = "0x142864";

You can change the size of the CAPTCHA by changing $image_width & $image_height. The number of characters in the CAPTCHA can be changed by updating $characters_on_image. Similarly, the text color of the CAPTCHA can be customized by updating $captcha_text_color. The code adds some 'noise' in the image by adding random lines and dots. you can increase or decrease the noise. Please note that increasing the noise may make it difficult for your genuine visitors to read the code.

Download the code

Click here to download html-contact-form-captcha.zip