I found a link to a local user group and thought I would have a look.
I ended up going the other night to the Devevening group's 2nd meeting and was dropped straight into LINQ and SQL business intelligence presentations (slides and code).
The night was really good, there were around a dozen or so developers, some freelance, some 9-5ers, a really good mix of age and skill levels too.
If anyone is interested in coming along (details for evenings) drop me a mail or contact Alex mackey via his blog or you can register directly.
There are also social gatherings at a local pub on alternate months too!
cheers,craig
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, June 05, 2008
dynamic CSS - its a start
Thanks to Christophe @ (http://cfouquet.blogspot.com/2006/06/making-dynamic-css-content-with-aspnet.html) for making my afternoon a little more productive. His blog post about injecting variables into CSS is simplicity at its best.
I had to add one addition to the sample to get it to work on the CSS page (css.aspx) I changed :
<%@ Page Language="VB" %>
to
<%@ Page Language="VB" ContentType="text/css" %>
the full source code for my VB version is here:
--> css.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" ContentType="text/css" %>
* { padding:0; margin:0;}
body { font-size:62.5%; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); font-family:verdana,arial,sans-serif;}
h1{ color:red;}
H1 { background-color:<%= ColourManager.Color %> ; }
--> default.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeFile="Default.aspx.vb" Inherits="dynamicCSS_Default" %>
< script runat="server">
Protected Sub Bt1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
ColourManager.Color = IIf((ColourManager.Color = "red"), "blue", "red")
End Sub
< html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
< head runat="server">
< title>Untitled Page
< link href="css.aspx" type="text/css" rel="Stylesheet">
< /head>
< body>
< form id="form1" runat="server">
< div id="header">
header
< /div>
< h1 class="tit">hello world
< asp:button runat="server" id="Bt1" onclick="Bt1_Click" text="Change Color">
< asp:hyperlink text="See CSS" runat="server" id="ToCSS" navigateurl="css.aspx">
< /form>
< /body>
< /html>
-->colourchanger (in app_code folder)
Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
Public Class ColourManager
Public Shared Property Color() As String
Get
If HttpContext.Current.Session("H1COLOR") = Nothing Then
Return "red"
End If
Return DirectCast(HttpContext.Current.Session("H1COLOR"), String)
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
HttpContext.Current.Session("H1COLOR") = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
I had to add one addition to the sample to get it to work on the CSS page (css.aspx) I changed :
<%@ Page Language="VB" %>
to
<%@ Page Language="VB" ContentType="text/css" %>
the full source code for my VB version is here:
--> css.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" ContentType="text/css" %>
* { padding:0; margin:0;}
body { font-size:62.5%; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); font-family:verdana,arial,sans-serif;}
h1{ color:red;}
H1 { background-color:<%= ColourManager.Color %> ; }
--> default.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeFile="Default.aspx.vb" Inherits="dynamicCSS_Default" %>
< script runat="server">
Protected Sub Bt1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
ColourManager.Color = IIf((ColourManager.Color = "red"), "blue", "red")
End Sub
< html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
< head runat="server">
< title>Untitled Page
< link href="css.aspx" type="text/css" rel="Stylesheet">
< /head>
< body>
< form id="form1" runat="server">
< div id="header">
header
< /div>
< h1 class="tit">hello world
< asp:button runat="server" id="Bt1" onclick="Bt1_Click" text="Change Color">
< asp:hyperlink text="See CSS" runat="server" id="ToCSS" navigateurl="css.aspx">
< /form>
< /body>
< /html>
-->colourchanger (in app_code folder)
Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
Public Class ColourManager
Public Shared Property Color() As String
Get
If HttpContext.Current.Session("H1COLOR") = Nothing Then
Return "red"
End If
Return DirectCast(HttpContext.Current.Session("H1COLOR"), String)
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
HttpContext.Current.Session("H1COLOR") = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
Thursday, May 01, 2008
I have never been a fan but now - Identity 'at risk' on Facebook
ANyone who has asked me about facebook has probably heard me say at some stage or other that I am not a big fan of Facebook/myspace etc, I dont know but I like to 'meet' people, not get poked by them and throwing sheep at a mate?
Anyway, it seems the BBC have found a hole in the facebook security, this article is well worth reading if you are a big facebooker (is that a word) as you will be the type of person who adds application to your page without thinking about your personal information....
Advice: only put up the information you wouldn't mind a complete stranger knowing about you.
* Identity 'at risk' on Facebook **
Personal details of Facebook users could potentially be stolen by malicious hackers, BBC's Click discovers.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7375772.stm >
** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail <>
Anyway, it seems the BBC have found a hole in the facebook security, this article is well worth reading if you are a big facebooker (is that a word) as you will be the type of person who adds application to your page without thinking about your personal information....
Advice: only put up the information you wouldn't mind a complete stranger knowing about you.
* Identity 'at risk' on Facebook **
Personal details of Facebook users could potentially be stolen by malicious hackers, BBC's Click discovers.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7375772.stm >
** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail <>
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Many changes afoot
Its been awhile since I sat down to write about whats going on at chillfire, well in short 'heaps' of work has taken place.
Ocre 3.1 development has slowed (see below) a little as we have launched 7 new sites using ocre 2.1 (see the top of the portfolio list on the left. They are a mixture of new builds, skinned static sites which now have a CMS and 2 are sites that have been moved from a php opensource CMS to the ocre cms platform.
Its been a long few months, but the all new ocre-cart will be going live shortly on www.nelsonshomeopathy.com its fully integrated with HSBC's e-payment gateway and it looks like there will be approx 1500+ products being uploaded into the cart in the near future.
Ocre-cart will be ported to ProTx for the new ski-link site which is on the drawing board for development, we are looking at releasing this for Gavin and the team during the summer ready for the 08-09 ski season.
The flagship project at visalogic running Ocre 3.0, we recently added support for google web optimiser so they can test adsense campaigns/content etc.
I think the whole marketing management system will be split from out as a standalone system as its extremely powerful and is slowing eclipsing the CMS itself as a strong contender for a fully blown product of its own.
If you are interested in any of the products of have feedback/ideas on any of the chillfire suite please feel free to contact us via chillfire.co.uk.
cheers,
the chillfire team
Ocre 3.1 development has slowed (see below) a little as we have launched 7 new sites using ocre 2.1 (see the top of the portfolio list on the left. They are a mixture of new builds, skinned static sites which now have a CMS and 2 are sites that have been moved from a php opensource CMS to the ocre cms platform.
Its been a long few months, but the all new ocre-cart will be going live shortly on www.nelsonshomeopathy.com its fully integrated with HSBC's e-payment gateway and it looks like there will be approx 1500+ products being uploaded into the cart in the near future.
Ocre-cart will be ported to ProTx for the new ski-link site which is on the drawing board for development, we are looking at releasing this for Gavin and the team during the summer ready for the 08-09 ski season.
The flagship project at visalogic running Ocre 3.0, we recently added support for google web optimiser so they can test adsense campaigns/content etc.
I think the whole marketing management system will be split from out as a standalone system as its extremely powerful and is slowing eclipsing the CMS itself as a strong contender for a fully blown product of its own.
If you are interested in any of the products of have feedback/ideas on any of the chillfire suite please feel free to contact us via chillfire.co.uk.
cheers,
the chillfire team
microsoft.co.uk - live to code?
I check the microsoft site regularily, but this morning i went to http://microsoft.co.uk and something big had changed....
This may be a DNS problem, but the live to code thing is part of channel9/Josh holmes' world.
Its an interesting move by microsoft, or maybe bill is playing a joke on them as he leaves?
any ideas?
This may be a DNS problem, but the live to code thing is part of channel9/Josh holmes' world.
Its an interesting move by microsoft, or maybe bill is playing a joke on them as he leaves?
any ideas?
Saturday, December 29, 2007
New christmas mobo issue
Merry Christmas everyone,
There is nothing like treating yourself to a new motherboard for Christmas…. Remember it’s always worth checking the legacy hardware you have to make sure its compatible, even when the manufacturer says yes it is… things can still go wrong. As Steve found out;
Message: After I upgraded my mo/bo to asus extreme striker all the h/w seems to be good, but I can't repair windows xp or even get a new installation of it to talk to the modem. Given that this has put me offline maybe calling me would be a good idea...
- I recommended changing the RAM out one by one, as I have had dodgy RAM do all sorts of weird and wonderful things…
Thanks for your reply - I stayed up all night last night and fixed it... It was bad hardware but it was the sound card from my old system that was the problem. When repairing windows xp it would try to find drivers for it but then hang so I couldn't tell it to skip it. I ripped the old card out and put the new one from asus in. The old mobo was foxconn with a creative soundblaster sound card. the new mobo is asus extreme striker and a new q6600 processor. Then windows repaired itself - I got all my old stuff back and was able to go on the net as before. Your ram point is also good - an early prob was a bad mixture of ram so I pulled all but the newest stick. It ran like shit but at least it ran. 2Gig of OCZ fixed that. I learned a helluva lot last night... Steve.
Old hardware can always be a pain, if you are upgrading a large piece of hardware (or even to a new OS) its always a good idea to start with a barebones machine and add the bits and bobs after you get it to boot. It will take longer this way but it will narrow down the bugs as they happen…
Happy computing..
//craig
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Mitel Your Assistant Error on XP SP2
This is the error
System.ArgumentException: Delegate to an instance method cannot have null 'this'.
at System.MulticastDelegate.ThrowNullThisInDelegateToInstance()
at NewHeights.YA3.MainWindowController.OnBootProgress(ProgressEventArgs args)
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.ProgressEventHandler.Invoke(ProgressEventArgs args)
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.OnProgress(ProgressEventArgs args)
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.Shutdown(ArrayList bootables, BootableType bootableType)
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.ShutdownImpl()
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.Boot()
at NewHeights.YA3.MainClass.Start(BootManager bootman)
My PC is XP SP2, after a Restore to factory settings I installed Mitel Your Assistant, it wouldn't even load up.
Simple fix, install .net Framework 1.1!
Why this is needed as the product states .net 1.1 and later, it should say you can runany version of the .net framework, as long as you install 1.1 as well.
System.ArgumentException: Delegate to an instance method cannot have null 'this'.
at System.MulticastDelegate.ThrowNullThisInDelegateToInstance()
at NewHeights.YA3.MainWindowController.OnBootProgress(ProgressEventArgs args)
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.ProgressEventHandler.Invoke(ProgressEventArgs args)
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.OnProgress(ProgressEventArgs args)
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.Shutdown(ArrayList bootables, BootableType bootableType)
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.ShutdownImpl()
at NewHeights.BootStrapper.BootManager.Boot()
at NewHeights.YA3.MainClass.Start(BootManager bootman)
My PC is XP SP2, after a Restore to factory settings I installed Mitel Your Assistant, it wouldn't even load up.
Simple fix, install .net Framework 1.1!
Why this is needed as the product states .net 1.1 and later, it should say you can runany version of the .net framework, as long as you install 1.1 as well.
Google Earth easter egg
If you have google earth (version 4.2) and have a few minutes to spare.
danger this could be addictive.
open google earth, hold down CTRL + Windows + A
then goto here for more instructions, its very cool, great idea, microsoft did this once in Excel from memory!
danger this could be addictive.
open google earth, hold down CTRL + Windows + A
then goto here for more instructions, its very cool, great idea, microsoft did this once in Excel from memory!
Friday, October 05, 2007
aquent financial scam!!
I just recieved this sms text message:
You have recieved J30 from a friend! To collect them go to AqueuntFinance.com/login, temporary username: a571tnk password: gh2x3
best regards, Aquent Financial
The site is very new although it says copyright 2002 on the bottom, and apparently I had £30 in my account, lucky me!
ALl I had to do was leave my personal details and login in to my bank account via their Flash player widget....so easy......
The best bit is this - http://aquentfinance.com/fastcash/test-esl.swf just before they take your login details....
I smelt a rat so did a few google searches, and came up with aquent UK (http://www.aquent.co.uk/Contact/Locations/Europe/london.html) . They offer services to freelance/IT professionals. So the scammers are being dumb and targeting geeks...
I called Aquent UK and they said it was a fraudulent sms and to ignore it, there is an Aquent Finance in th eUSA but it is not the company running the aquentfinancial.co.uk site.
Aquent UK are investigating the scam, so drop them a lime if you get the sms.
Scamming is now coming to a mobile phone near you.
update: 13:51 BST - WHOIS details for anyone looking to find these guys
Domain Name: aquentfinance.com
Status: ok
Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
Whois Server: whois.melbourneit.com
Referral URL: http://www.melbourneit.com
Expiration Date: 2008-10-04
Creation Date: 2007-10-04
Last Update Date: 2007-10-04
Name Servers:
ns1.aquentfinance.com
ns2.aquentfinance.com
IP Address: 72.232.255.59
Website Status: active
Server Type: Apache 3
Cache Date: 2007-10-05 12:49:05 MST
You have recieved J30 from a friend! To collect them go to AqueuntFinance.com/login, temporary username: a571tnk password: gh2x3
best regards, Aquent Financial
The site is very new although it says copyright 2002 on the bottom, and apparently I had £30 in my account, lucky me!
ALl I had to do was leave my personal details and login in to my bank account via their Flash player widget....so easy......
The best bit is this - http://aquentfinance.com/fastcash/test-esl.swf just before they take your login details....
I smelt a rat so did a few google searches, and came up with aquent UK (http://www.aquent.co.uk/Contact/Locations/Europe/london.html) . They offer services to freelance/IT professionals. So the scammers are being dumb and targeting geeks...
I called Aquent UK and they said it was a fraudulent sms and to ignore it, there is an Aquent Finance in th eUSA but it is not the company running the aquentfinancial.co.uk site.
Aquent UK are investigating the scam, so drop them a lime if you get the sms.
Scamming is now coming to a mobile phone near you.
update: 13:51 BST - WHOIS details for anyone looking to find these guys
Domain Name: aquentfinance.com
Status: ok
Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
Whois Server: whois.melbourneit.com
Referral URL: http://www.melbourneit.com
Expiration Date: 2008-10-04
Creation Date: 2007-10-04
Last Update Date: 2007-10-04
Name Servers:
ns1.aquentfinance.com
ns2.aquentfinance.com
IP Address: 72.232.255.59
Website Status: active
Server Type: Apache 3
Cache Date: 2007-10-05 12:49:05 MST
Thursday, September 27, 2007
After being asked everyday 'how to find a good immigration company/consultant?'
I have put together a PDF of a few things to look out for, a checklist if you want to call it that.
How to find a good immigration consultant (pdf download)
its free, there is no advertising, and best of all it will hopefully stop you from being ripped off by dodgy visa companies.
we aren't OISC registered, but then we dont give visa advice make sure they are!!
good luck with the visa!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
touch local Woking / Guildford, keeping it local
If you live in Woking/Guildford have a look at what we can do for you
http://www.touchguildford.com/business/list/bid/5614098
http://www.touchguildford.com/business/list/bid/5614098
Friday, September 21, 2007
Honest IT support
Well the need ageek service has started, my aim is simple, to make your IT lives easy.
I get calls from friends and customers everyday asking for help doing what I would call the simple IT stuff, but I do this day in and day out, know most of the shortcuts and generally know how it works inside.
So need a geek was setup to break the barriers of IT mysticism, I dont use techie talk with customers, everything is in plain english. ANd we educate you to make it easier next time.
We deal with all of LOndon and most of surrey, offering IT support, training, Home worker support, networking advice, wireless networking security/setup, home cinema help, virus removal, broadband setup etc etc etc, basically if it plugs in and has buttons on the front we can deal with it.
So dont be afraid, book your date with a geek (we promise they wont turn up with tape holding the middle of their specs toghether) at www.chillfire.co.uk/geek
I get calls from friends and customers everyday asking for help doing what I would call the simple IT stuff, but I do this day in and day out, know most of the shortcuts and generally know how it works inside.
So need a geek was setup to break the barriers of IT mysticism, I dont use techie talk with customers, everything is in plain english. ANd we educate you to make it easier next time.
We deal with all of LOndon and most of surrey, offering IT support, training, Home worker support, networking advice, wireless networking security/setup, home cinema help, virus removal, broadband setup etc etc etc, basically if it plugs in and has buttons on the front we can deal with it.
So dont be afraid, book your date with a geek (we promise they wont turn up with tape holding the middle of their specs toghether) at www.chillfire.co.uk/geek
Thursday, September 13, 2007
following on from Outlook via HTTPS://
I missed something off the earlier posts regarding setting up Outlook to connect to your exchange server via https;
When you try and connect (after it asks for your login details) this message appears in a pop up;
There is a problem with the proxy servers security certificate.
The security certificate is not from a trusted certifying authority.
Outlook is unavailable to connect to the proxy server
mail.xxxxxxxxx.net (error code 8)
I forgot to add the certificate that the mail server creates to the trusted certifcates on my laptop. There is probably a fix so this is not a required step, but for me it makes sense as I dont want 'public' access anyway, I can control which PC/laptop/user has access this way.
so to fix: (thanks to some info here: http://www.thebitguru.com/articles/13-Importing+a+Trusted+Root+Certification+Authority+in+Windows+Vista/188-Installing+the+Certificate )
save rar file attachment, extract content (1 file) to c:\
hold windows key and hit the 'R' key
type certmgr.msc
right click on 'Trusted Root Certification Authority' - click 'All Tasks' then 'import'
Click next
click browse - find the .crt file from the mail server
click next
click next
click finish
then ok if it asks you if you are sure you want to do this.
bingo!
When you try and connect (after it asks for your login details) this message appears in a pop up;
There is a problem with the proxy servers security certificate.
The security certificate is not from a trusted certifying authority.
Outlook is unavailable to connect to the proxy server
mail.xxxxxxxxx.net (error code 8)
I forgot to add the certificate that the mail server creates to the trusted certifcates on my laptop. There is probably a fix so this is not a required step, but for me it makes sense as I dont want 'public' access anyway, I can control which PC/laptop/user has access this way.
so to fix: (thanks to some info here: http://www.thebitguru.com/articles/13-Importing+a+Trusted+Root+Certification+Authority+in+Windows+Vista/188-Installing+the+Certificate )
save rar file attachment, extract content (1 file) to c:\
hold windows key and hit the 'R' key
type certmgr.msc
right click on 'Trusted Root Certification Authority' - click 'All Tasks' then 'import'
Click next
click browse - find the .crt file from the mail server
click next
click next
click finish
then ok if it asks you if you are sure you want to do this.
bingo!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Pounds SHillings and Sense
A New OCRE site launched - Pounds Shillings and Sense for Cascade Resources Ltd.
This site will form the basis of our new "Small Business Site", please email us at ocresmb@chillfire.co.uk for more information regarding pricing.
Lead time at the moment is approximately 3days/
This site will form the basis of our new "Small Business Site", please email us at ocresmb@chillfire.co.uk for more information regarding pricing.
Lead time at the moment is approximately 3days/
No access to hotmail from outlook
After 3 days of hotmail and outlook not talking I deceided to find out why and found this
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7aad7e6a-931e-438a-950c-5e9ea66322d4&displaylang=en
Micrsoft have released their office connector plugin for Outllook 2007/2003. I ahve been using the beta version for quite a while now and it looks like it just stops working without telling you it has.
After downloading th plugin install it, follow all the prompts, then restart outlook.
Got to tools -> options -> mail setup -> email accounts
(your hotmail may have been removed but you have to add it again)
Clcik new, then select the tick box for 'Microsoft Office Connector', on the next screen fill in your hotmail details.
Done.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7aad7e6a-931e-438a-950c-5e9ea66322d4&displaylang=en
Micrsoft have released their office connector plugin for Outllook 2007/2003. I ahve been using the beta version for quite a while now and it looks like it just stops working without telling you it has.
After downloading th plugin install it, follow all the prompts, then restart outlook.
Got to tools -> options -> mail setup -> email accounts
(your hotmail may have been removed but you have to add it again)
Clcik new, then select the tick box for 'Microsoft Office Connector', on the next screen fill in your hotmail details.
Done.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
linkedin Q & A transcript; - linked.com - moving site to CMS/wordpress
RE: Converting 5mil pageviews site to Wordpress. Question: Adsense
Hi Tom,
Right I have had a look at the vbSEO site, and it looks like most of what it does you can probably do yourself, although it may take a bit longer.
Quick question what do you mena by static url? All urls are static event he dynamic ones ie: http://www.tier1-workpermit.com/tier-2-work-permits_ocre4.aspx is a dynamic page, but the URL is static - it will never change during the life of the page.
Secondly I am not big on ad revenues, I know there are people that make money with ads and banners etc, but the times I have been involved the return is small, with 5mil pages though you might be alright if you can get the volume through.
Most CMSes are pretty much the same, its apersonal preference on which one you go with, my own one OCRE is live on a number of sites, so far no complaints.
I generally steer clear of any 'big corporate' system ie word press and write my own. So I cant really comment on them.
Structure is really important, using folders for example is a good way to give the site URL structure, my.com/news and my.com/new/uk for example are a guide to the user as well of where they are in the site. Although not everyone uses the URL like this web/technical people do as they know how it works.
I use _ instead of folders sometimes as its an easy way to parse sections out of urls ie: http://www.visalogic.net/United-Kingdom_Immigration-Compliance_pie.aspx?t=4&t2=22
where Immigration Compliance is the page title (and meta title and H1 title etc etc), and United Kingdom is the section.
Before the site is changed site down and pencil out a URL structure that makes sense to you and hopefully makes sense to the client. then try and stick to it.
Remember to set up the redirects for any pages you are moving to point to the new page correctly.
goodluck, and fire any questions you have and I will ahve a go at answering them.
//craig
On 8/14/07 6:22 AM, Tom Goh wrote:
--------------------
Hi Craig
I'm not exactly trying to convert the whole site. I must have not put down my question properly.
I am looking at converting the news/features/content part of the site to a wordpress version or something like that, which could easily solve my problems on search engine friendliness, user friendliness and ease of managing and developing content.
I have VBSeo which apparently is claimed to boost search engine optimisation with static urls and some tweaks that also includes sitemaps creation and notification.
the 5mil pagviews comes from the forums which includes discussions and classifieds section.
I agree with the speed being a problem. In fact, i have a huge problem with speed and processing power. The current servers just can't keep up with the traffic and possibly the sql queries increased with these search engine optimising features. I am looking at moving the site to a much better server(s)
What do you think? regarding the adsense revenues from wordpress based sites or other CMSes and possibly your though on the structure of the site, which you may be able to give me some pointers?
Thanks so much for your reply!
Tom
On 8/14/07 5:42 AM, Craig Hogan wrote:
--------------------
I agree with Stuart, google (and other search engines) doesn't really care about what CMS/ content engine you use to generate your page.
It does look at lots of variables, ie speed of display, traffic volumes, links to pages etc.
With that many pages some of them will be old and out of date? Because google spider your pages for new content all the time it may be worth looking into adding a sitemap (XML) that shows the newest pages at the top so older pages are spidered last.
I dont think you should worry about changing the sites back end system too much as if it upsets the structure of any of the site all your PR/value will be lost. I always advise 'tweaking' the current site before trying to start from scratch - better the devil you know.
If you need a hand feel free to contact me
Question Details:
--------------------
Converting 5mil pageviews site to Wordpress. Question: Adsense
I currently run an automotive website that is based of vbulletin. The CMS i used is Vbadvanced.
I am looking to convert the CMS main page into a Wordpress based one.
Why:
-Realised the advantages of wordpress being google-friendliest
-Ease of use for me my contributors
-Limitles plugins
-Expandability
-Extremely well designed piece of software
-Loads very well
-End-User Friendly
I need to know, from all web publishers and people who's have similar experiences:
-How does it score with Google Adsense with the classic placements:
----Top link unit.
----Adsense units within and between 3 latest articles
----Adsense units within full articles
Do high traffic wordpress based sites get better revenues when converted from say custom main pages, cms, drupal, joomla and etc?
Or do any web publishers forsee greater revenues from Wordpress sites?
Thanks!
Tom
Hi Tom,
Right I have had a look at the vbSEO site, and it looks like most of what it does you can probably do yourself, although it may take a bit longer.
Quick question what do you mena by static url? All urls are static event he dynamic ones ie: http://www.tier1-workpermit.com/tier-2-work-permits_ocre4.aspx is a dynamic page, but the URL is static - it will never change during the life of the page.
Secondly I am not big on ad revenues, I know there are people that make money with ads and banners etc, but the times I have been involved the return is small, with 5mil pages though you might be alright if you can get the volume through.
Most CMSes are pretty much the same, its apersonal preference on which one you go with, my own one OCRE is live on a number of sites, so far no complaints.
I generally steer clear of any 'big corporate' system ie word press and write my own. So I cant really comment on them.
Structure is really important, using folders for example is a good way to give the site URL structure, my.com/news and my.com/new/uk for example are a guide to the user as well of where they are in the site. Although not everyone uses the URL like this web/technical people do as they know how it works.
I use _ instead of folders sometimes as its an easy way to parse sections out of urls ie: http://www.visalogic.net/United-Kingdom_Immigration-Compliance_pie.aspx?t=4&t2=22
where Immigration Compliance is the page title (and meta title and H1 title etc etc), and United Kingdom is the section.
Before the site is changed site down and pencil out a URL structure that makes sense to you and hopefully makes sense to the client. then try and stick to it.
Remember to set up the redirects for any pages you are moving to point to the new page correctly.
goodluck, and fire any questions you have and I will ahve a go at answering them.
//craig
On 8/14/07 6:22 AM, Tom Goh wrote:
--------------------
Hi Craig
I'm not exactly trying to convert the whole site. I must have not put down my question properly.
I am looking at converting the news/features/content part of the site to a wordpress version or something like that, which could easily solve my problems on search engine friendliness, user friendliness and ease of managing and developing content.
I have VBSeo which apparently is claimed to boost search engine optimisation with static urls and some tweaks that also includes sitemaps creation and notification.
the 5mil pagviews comes from the forums which includes discussions and classifieds section.
I agree with the speed being a problem. In fact, i have a huge problem with speed and processing power. The current servers just can't keep up with the traffic and possibly the sql queries increased with these search engine optimising features. I am looking at moving the site to a much better server(s)
What do you think? regarding the adsense revenues from wordpress based sites or other CMSes and possibly your though on the structure of the site, which you may be able to give me some pointers?
Thanks so much for your reply!
Tom
On 8/14/07 5:42 AM, Craig Hogan wrote:
--------------------
I agree with Stuart, google (and other search engines) doesn't really care about what CMS/ content engine you use to generate your page.
It does look at lots of variables, ie speed of display, traffic volumes, links to pages etc.
With that many pages some of them will be old and out of date? Because google spider your pages for new content all the time it may be worth looking into adding a sitemap (XML) that shows the newest pages at the top so older pages are spidered last.
I dont think you should worry about changing the sites back end system too much as if it upsets the structure of any of the site all your PR/value will be lost. I always advise 'tweaking' the current site before trying to start from scratch - better the devil you know.
If you need a hand feel free to contact me
Question Details:
--------------------
Converting 5mil pageviews site to Wordpress. Question: Adsense
I currently run an automotive website that is based of vbulletin. The CMS i used is Vbadvanced.
I am looking to convert the CMS main page into a Wordpress based one.
Why:
-Realised the advantages of wordpress being google-friendliest
-Ease of use for me my contributors
-Limitles plugins
-Expandability
-Extremely well designed piece of software
-Loads very well
-End-User Friendly
I need to know, from all web publishers and people who's have similar experiences:
-How does it score with Google Adsense with the classic placements:
----Top link unit.
----Adsense units within and between 3 latest articles
----Adsense units within full articles
Do high traffic wordpress based sites get better revenues when converted from say custom main pages, cms, drupal, joomla and etc?
Or do any web publishers forsee greater revenues from Wordpress sites?
Thanks!
Tom
Friday, August 10, 2007
Compiler Error Message: BC30456: 'InitializeCulture'
This error:
Compiler Error Message: BC30456: 'InitializeCulture'
just arrived on our live server?
It was only affecting the home page, a page that hadn't achnaged for over 4 weeks.
The site is not a compiled site, ie all code behind files are on the live server, (not the best way, however we change the code alot so its quicker to make chanegs).
The error was not found, but I am sure it is caused by a multiple files with the same class name, ie default.
Fixed it by removing the codebehind reference, I was lucky this page has no requirement for code as all content is driven by web user controls, not the page itself.
Compiler Error Message: BC30456: 'InitializeCulture'
just arrived on our live server?
It was only affecting the home page, a page that hadn't achnaged for over 4 weeks.
The site is not a compiled site, ie all code behind files are on the live server, (not the best way, however we change the code alot so its quicker to make chanegs).
The error was not found, but I am sure it is caused by a multiple files with the same class name, ie default.
Fixed it by removing the codebehind reference, I was lucky this page has no requirement for code as all content is driven by web user controls, not the page itself.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Google index and PR (Page Rank)
I am going to go out on a limb.
After much debate and discussion in the office I have come up with a hypothesis on googles index updates and PR updates.
Many of you would have seen your sites lisings change in the last few weeks on your key keywords. Some good changes and some not so good probably, keep those meta tags up to date and change them to be current with your content.
These changes happen when google (and other search engines) decide to rollout their new index of sites/pages they have found while spidering the internet.
This is normally done every few months to keep the results they show you when you do a search up to date and 'real'.
They all have secret algorithms they use to generate this list and these are tweaked to adapt to to the way the web is used/searched etc.
The last update seemed to take a long time, actually we have seen pages from some of our sites move up and down the search lists continuously for the last month or so. Some on a daily basis.
So I am guessing that the index changes are going to continue all the time and the days of big index updates may be a thing of the past.
As an SEO person this is good and bad. Good it makes it harder for 'black hat' search engine companies to achieve faked/forced ranking, Bad I have to work harder and more efficiantly to amke sure all of your sites are stabile.
Remember there is no 100% guaruntee with search engine listings, they can go down as well as up, with these changes it just menas the time they stay where they are is not set in stone anymore, a year or so ago you could have said it would stay put for a month maybe 2 in the same palce, now well, its like watching the tide come in and go out over a piecec of driftwood.
I could be completely wrong, it may just be a really big update and algorithm change, I cant be sure.
Check it yourself, this is a good idea to do anyway irrespective of this scenario, open a spreadsheet, add a column with your keywords in it and a nother with todays date. Do a search in google (or any other search engine), count how many sites are listed before your and chuck that number in the corresponding cell.
Next week do the same, and so on and so on.
Please leave any results here (or email me) as I am really keen to see what the results will be.
goodluck with the SEO results
After much debate and discussion in the office I have come up with a hypothesis on googles index updates and PR updates.
Many of you would have seen your sites lisings change in the last few weeks on your key keywords. Some good changes and some not so good probably, keep those meta tags up to date and change them to be current with your content.
These changes happen when google (and other search engines) decide to rollout their new index of sites/pages they have found while spidering the internet.
This is normally done every few months to keep the results they show you when you do a search up to date and 'real'.
They all have secret algorithms they use to generate this list and these are tweaked to adapt to to the way the web is used/searched etc.
The last update seemed to take a long time, actually we have seen pages from some of our sites move up and down the search lists continuously for the last month or so. Some on a daily basis.
So I am guessing that the index changes are going to continue all the time and the days of big index updates may be a thing of the past.
As an SEO person this is good and bad. Good it makes it harder for 'black hat' search engine companies to achieve faked/forced ranking, Bad I have to work harder and more efficiantly to amke sure all of your sites are stabile.
Remember there is no 100% guaruntee with search engine listings, they can go down as well as up, with these changes it just menas the time they stay where they are is not set in stone anymore, a year or so ago you could have said it would stay put for a month maybe 2 in the same palce, now well, its like watching the tide come in and go out over a piecec of driftwood.
I could be completely wrong, it may just be a really big update and algorithm change, I cant be sure.
Check it yourself, this is a good idea to do anyway irrespective of this scenario, open a spreadsheet, add a column with your keywords in it and a nother with todays date. Do a search in google (or any other search engine), count how many sites are listed before your and chuck that number in the corresponding cell.
Next week do the same, and so on and so on.
Please leave any results here (or email me) as I am really keen to see what the results will be.
goodluck with the SEO results
August
It has been a while since I have added anything here, it has been a busy month, with moving house and getting ready for a wedding, not long now.
I have updated (at last) my Linked In profile
Please leave any feedback here for me and my future customers to read and review.
Ocre CMS has had number of additons, mainly to fix external problems with search engines spidering bad urls. The 404 page not found system if finished and will be rolled in to the next release.
Lambert Howarth Plc - has gone live recently, thanks to Darren and Ian for the help over there with the issues.
The new chillfire site is on the drawing board (up to v5 now, cant make my mind up), I am looking to have a full customer support system, tickets, forum etc built in and an online crm, once its done I will post the screenshots of the new additions.
Thanks to everyone who has helpeed with Ocre, a new interface will be available in the next few months, I know the black and orange can be a bit depressing, if anyone has ideas for colour schems please drop me a mail.
I have updated (at last) my Linked In profile
Please leave any feedback here for me and my future customers to read and review.
Ocre CMS has had number of additons, mainly to fix external problems with search engines spidering bad urls. The 404 page not found system if finished and will be rolled in to the next release.
Lambert Howarth Plc - has gone live recently, thanks to Darren and Ian for the help over there with the issues.
The new chillfire site is on the drawing board (up to v5 now, cant make my mind up), I am looking to have a full customer support system, tickets, forum etc built in and an online crm, once its done I will post the screenshots of the new additions.
Thanks to everyone who has helpeed with Ocre, a new interface will be available in the next few months, I know the black and orange can be a bit depressing, if anyone has ideas for colour schems please drop me a mail.
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