Quackit Blog

Website Templates

2011-06-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I added anything to this blog. You could say I've been a bit slack in that regard. But that doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything!

One area of Quackit that I've seen a lot of interest in over the last year or so is in the website templates section. It seems that many web publishers prefer to download a template than to create their website from scratch. And why wouldn't you?

What exactly are Website Templates?

Website templates are basically a pre-built website that you can use as a foundation for building your own website. The hardest parts of website design and development have been taken care of. All you need to do is customise your template (if you wish) and add content.

Free Templates and Paid Templates

Quackit offers free templates as well as paid ones. The paid ones are labeled "Premium Templates", and are available for those who want to take their website design to the next level.

If you think your website is due for a fresh look, take a look at these website templates now.

More Scroll Box Codes

2008-08-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

One of the more popular pages on Quackit is the MySpace Scroll Box Codes page, where you can get copy/paste codes for your MySpace page. Given the popularity of this page, I recently decided to add a few more scroll box related pages. These are:

Scroll Box Colors - Copy/paste codes for creating colored scroll boxes.
Scroll Box with Pictures - Codes for adding images to your scroll boxes. This includes images as actual content in the scroll box, as well as background images. Background images allow you to type text over the top of the image.
Scroll Box with Borders - Copy/paste codes for creating borders around your scroll boxes.

And don't forget, you can make it easy on yourself by using the Scroll Box Generator.

Downloadable HTML Frames Templates

2008-07-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Although HTML frames are not normally the best way to build a website, they can be very useful in some circumstances.

For example, if you need to provide lots of reference information, frames can help immensely with navigation. Frames enable the user to scroll through the navigation independently of the main content.

Frames also enable a second (or third, etc) menu to be populated based on a selection from the first menu.

Because frames can be a bit tricky to get your head around at times, I recently added some downloadable frames templates to the Quackit website. These will fast track the development of your frames-based website. You can download selected templates, or download the whole lot in one go. You can also copy/paste the code directly from Quackit if you prefer.

So, if you need to build a website using HTML frames, check out these frames templates.

4 Essential Web Building Skills

2008-03-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

The web has come a long way since it's inception. In the early days, most web pages were static HTML files, each file organized into different levels of headings (i.e. H1, H2, H3...) and a bunch of other markup.

Now, although there are still many static websites around, most medium to large organizations have dynamic websites. These are websites that draw their content from databases. These websites often use scores of different technologies. Large websites often have many different teams working on them, all with different skillsets.

Whether you plan to build large complex websites or smaller and static websites, I can think of 4 skills that stand out as being pretty much essential. Without these skills, you will have a hard time creating and publishing your website or getting a job doing so.

The Skills

HTML - HTML is the language that allows you to create each web page on your website. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language and is responsible for the various elements that you see on websites - elements such as headings, paragraphs, hyperlinks, bullet lists, embedded images, embedded music/video files and more.
CSS - determines how your website looks. For example, for each HTML element on your website, you can use CSS to determine its width, color, alignment, size etc. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets.
Understanding of web hosting and domain names - to make your website available for the world to see, you need to host it on a web server. Web hosting providers make this their business, so you don't need to know all the details about web servers, firewalls etc. All you need to know is how choose the most suitable hosting provider for your website.
FTP - this is only required when you need to upload your website to a web server (your hosting provider's web server). Doing this allows the world to view it. This is quite a simple thing to learn. Technically, FTP is a protocol (it stands for File Transfer Protocol), but all you need to know is how to operate FTP software.

Don't get me wrong - there are many other skills to learn if you want to become a professional web developer. But these are the main ones you should learn first. These should enable you to get your "foot in the door" so to speak.

One other skill that I recommend learning is how to use web graphics software. Even if you don't see yourself as a graphic designer, a basic understanding of web graphics will assist you a lot in your web development efforts.

To learn more about these skills and other web development skills, check out the web building skills tutorial.

Is Your Website Available 24/7?

2008-03-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

One of the main benefits of outsourcing your web hosting is for availability reasons.

Sure, you may have your own web hosting equipment - web server, firewall, high speed internet connection etc. You may also have the necessary skills for hosting your own website. But do you have the inclination to be available to bring your website back online at any hour of the day?

If you host your own website, what would you do in the following scenarios:

You're at the beach on a Sunday afternoon, relaxing with your partner. Suddenly your pager goes off indicating that your website is down.
You've just arrived at the supermarket (after waiting in traffic for half an hour). You're about to go shopping. Suddenly your beeper goes off.
You've decided to take a well-earned break. You're currently on a 3 day bush walk through the beautiful southern alps in New Zealand. Then... your beeper goes off!

And, all of the above scenarios assume that you have a reliable website monitor set up. If you didn't have monitoring, you wouldn't know that your website went down... until you were able to get online and check your website.

If you take your website seriously, then you should be serious about web hosting. I wrote about website availability in my web hosting tutorial. This includes some of the things that can impact the availability of your website.

If you don't already use an external hosting provider, I encourage you to consider it. Hosting is so cheap these days.

Can you afford not to have someone looking after your website 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year?

Is a Domain Name Really Worth it?

2008-02-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

If you're just starting out, creating your website for the first time, you might have wondered whether you need a domain name. And if you're trying to build a free website, a domain name wouldn't even be an option.

My thoughts on this? Well, if you really can't afford a domain name, do what you need to do. But, as long as you understand the benefits of having your own domain name. That way, in the future (when you can eventually afford your own domain name), you will know what to do.

Here's a snippet from the FAQ section of Quackit's Create a Website tutorial.

Although it is possible to have a website without it's own domain name, I wouldn't recommend it. Apart from making your site appear "amateurish", there are disadvantages to not having your own domain name.

One key benefit of having a domain name is that it will ensure that your website address doesn't change unexpectedly in the future. Even if you change hosting providers, your domain name will remain the same.

A domain name can also help your listings in search engines and directories. For the small cost of registering your own domain name, the benefits are well worth it.

If you can't afford a domain name, then you would need to either, host your website in a sub-folder of another website (eg, www.othersite.com/yoursite) or tell people to access it using its IP address (eg, http://74.125.19.104). Not all hosting plans will allow you to do this. The best (and easiest) way to go is to simply register a domain name.

So, if you really can't afford a domain name, don't let that stop you from building your website for now. But you should definitely keep in mind the benefits to be had from registering your own domain name.

And remember, once you register your domain name, nobody else in the world can.

HTML Subscript

2008-01-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

In my last post, I explained what superscript is and how to specify it in HTML. In this post, we'll look at Subscript.

Subscript is very similar to superscript. You might remember that superscript text is rendered small and above the baseline.

Subscript text, on the other hand, is rendered below the baseline. Subscript text is just as small as superscript.

Subscript text is often used chemical formulas. For example, here's the chemical formula for water:

H₂O

You'll notice the "2" was rendered in a smaller font and below the baseline.

Subscripts can also be used in mathematics to represent the number's base (or radix). For example, if you're displaying a hexadecimal value, you could render the letters "hex" in subscript:

CCCFED_hex

To learn how to specify subscripts, check out this page which explains how to render HTML subscripts.

HTML Superscript

2008-01-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

You might occasionally find yourself needing to use superscript within your HTML documents. Fortunately, HTML provides you a tag for rendering superscript. First, let's look at what superscript is.

What is Superscript?

Superscript is text that is rendered at a smaller size, and is raised from the baseline of the normal flow of text. Superscript is often used in mathematical expressions, but can have many other uses.

For example, you could surround a registered trademark symbol within HTML superscript tags to render the trademark symbol in superscript text.

The HTML Superscript Tag

In HTML, to render text in superscript, you use the sup tag. For information on HTML superscript usage, check out Quackit's page on the HTML 'sup' tag.

Send Email Directly from your Website

2008-01-18T04:36:00.000-08:00

As you build better and more functional websites, you might find yourself thinking about how cool it would be to be able to send emails directly from your website. Or you might find that it's more of a requirement than a novelty.

Most business related websites automatically generate emails at certain times. There are plenty of reasons why you might want to generate emails directly from your website. Here are some examples:

You might send users a welcome message when they register with your website.
Your website might automatically send a regular newsletter to subscribers.
Your website could have a feedback form that enables users to contact you. This form could automatically generate an email to you the user submits it.
You could configure a notification/alert email to be sent to you whenever an error that requires urgent attention is generated.
Your website might have an "Email this article" button.

There are many more reasons you might need to send email directly from your website. Whatever the reason, you'll need to build a script to generate these emails.

Both ColdFusion and PHP make sending mail extremely easy. ColdFusion's CFMail tag makes sending email a breeze, whilst PHP's mail() function is what you need to use on a PHP platform.

If your website still doesn't have any mail functionality, perhaps now's the time to change that!

Cellpadding with CSS

2008-01-13T06:38:00.000-08:00

Padding the cells of a table used to be done using the HTML 'cellpadding' attribute. Now, the W3C has deprecated the 'cellpadding' attribute in favor of CSS.

But, as you may be aware, there isn't an equivalent property in CSS. CSS doesn't have a 'cellpadding' property. It has the 'padding' property. Only catch is, the 'padding' property only adds padding to the element that it has been applied against.

For example, if you apply padding to the 'table' element, it will pad the border around the outside of the table, but not the individual cells. Therefore, you need to apply the property in a way that will pad all cells within a table.

This is very easy to do - as long as you know how. That's why I created this article on how to apply padding to your tables using CSS.

Advantages of AJAX

2008-01-11T04:29:00.000-08:00

AJAX (also referred to as "remote scripting") stands for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML. AJAX is being used quite extensively these days, particularly on a lot of "web 2" websites.

AJAX is perfect for when you need to call a server process without reloading the page. Often this server process would be called based on user input. Traditionally, this would result in the page having to reload in order to call a server side script. But with AJAX, this doesn't have to be the case - you can call the server side script without reloading the page.

For example, based on the user's input, you might need to call the database so that you can display a list of options. Using AJAX, you can combine XML, JavaScript, your favorite server side language, and your database to provide a seamless experience for your user.

Quackit has a quick AJAX tutorial that shows you how to dynamically populate a drop down list from the database - based on the user's input. Using this example, I'm hoping you'll be able to see the potential of AJAX in providing usable interfaces on today's websites.

How SWiSH is your Website?

2008-01-09T21:36:00.000-08:00

There's no doubt that websites built with Adobe Flash are generally more usable nowadays than they were in the early days of the web. Back then, Flash was typically seen as a way to add visual effects to a website, often with little regard to usability.

Fast-forward to the current day. Flash has risen to a whole new level with SWiSH Max2.

SWiSH Max2 lets you to create powerful, user friendly Flash based websites with incredible ease. If you haven't heard of SWiSH Max2, check out the SWiSHzone website.

As SWiSHzone say... "With SWiSH Max2 you can build anything from flash websites, animated menus, banner ads, text effects, presentations, cartoons, slideshows, applications to video productions".

If you'd like to try SWiSH (or if you already use it), check out these SWiSH templates. These templates are basically pre-built professional websites built with SWiSH. After downloading a SWiSH template, you can use SWiSH Max2 to modify it as you wish (along with Photoshop and Dreamweaver).

Imagine how quickly you could whip together a professional looking website for your clients using SWiSH Max2 combined with a SWiSH template.

By using a SWiSH template, you could pass the savings on to your client. Or if you'd prefer, you could keep all the profit to yourself!

Create Professional Looking Flash Intros - Fast

2008-01-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm the first person to say how I despise most Flash intros. So many Flash intros just seem to get in my way to finding the info I'm looking for.

That being said, I recognize the value that a good Flash intro can bring to a website - especially from a branding perspective (as long as it's positive!). And if you're a web developer, you might not have much choice. Your client might simply be telling you "I want a Flash intro".

And if you don't exactly consider yourself a Flash guru, you might become a little stumped after your client demands a Flash intro. After all, you don't want to turn your client away just because you don't feel confident with Flash, right?

What you need is a Flash intro template.

A Flash intro template is a template (as the name suggests!) that comes with it's own pre-built Flash intro. All you need to do is open the template and modify it as required. You do need Flash to modify the template, but you don't need to be a Flash guru or anything like that. Flash templates are designed to make editing easy.

You can browse a huge range of Flash intro templates at the Quackit template store.

So, the next time your client asks you for a Flash intro, maybe you can surprise him/her with a professional looking template that you can put together within hours!

Ever wonder what !DOCTYPE means?

2008-01-05T02:23:00.000-08:00

Maybe you've seen it many times but not noticed it. Or maybe you've noticed it and wondered what it actually means. Of course, it could be that you know exactly what it is and what it does!

Anyway, what I'm referring to is a doctype declaration. Most web pages being created today include a doctype declaration.

For example, if you've been creating XHTML files, you would use a line similar to this at the top of your XHTML documents:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

The purpose of a doctype declaration is to declare the Document Type Definition (DTD). A DTD is used in XML to determine the rules that make up that XML application. In this example, XHTML is the XML application - it's an application that is based on the XML syntax and rules etc.

To learn more about DTDs and DOCTYPE declarations, check out the DTD section of Quackit's XML tutorial (or more specifically, the DOCTYPE page demonstrates how to use DOCTYPE).

Even better, why not start at the beginning of the tutorial? Either way, there's a wealth of information about DTDs, DOCTYPES, and XML in general!

XSLT before/after example

2008-01-04T04:27:00.000-08:00

XML has become a major technology for organizations who need to share data between often disparate applications.

Many web developers are familiar with what an XML file looks like. In fact, many of these developers probably uses XML to store within their application and/or transfer data to another (perhaps remote) application.

Despite this, many developers are unaware of how these XML documents can be transformed using XSLT.

XSLT (which stands for Extensible Styles Language Transformations) allows you to transform the contents of your XML document so that they look more presentable. For example, you could use XSLT to output the contents into an HTML table. Or, you could simply use XSLT to apply some CSS so that it just looks different (and you can lose those XML tags if you like!)

Quackit's XSLT tutorial (which is part of the larger XML tutorial) contains a simple XSLT example. From there, you can follow the XSLT tutorial through to see how you can transform your XML documents using the various XSLT tags.

Hopefully, it might get you thinking about how XSLT could benefit your own applications and web development.

Displaying date/time in JavaScript

2008-01-03T22:20:00.000-08:00

For JavaScript beginners, getting/displaying the current time can be a little more involved than expected. This is because JavaScript contains a bunch of date/time functions that you can use depending on what part of the date you need.

For example, the getDate() function retrieves the day of the month. It doesn't retrieve the whole date - just the day of the month (i.e. 1 - 31). getDay() on the other hand, retrieves the day of the week.

These are just two of many date/time functions. What you need to do is use whichever JavaScript date/time function suits your purpose, then (still using JavaScript), massage the output as necessary.

Quackit's JavaScript tutorial demonstrates how you can display the date and time using JavaScript. So, you can simply copy and paste the code if you like. After all, displaying the date and time shouldn't be so hard!

Specifying colors using RGB functional notation

2008-01-03T05:07:00.000-08:00

You might know that in HTML/CSS, you can specify colors using hexadecimal values or the color name.

Well, there is another way of specifying colors that many web developers are completely unaware of.

In addition to using the hexadecimal notation or the color name, you can also use the RGB functional notation. The RGB notation represents the different amounts of red, green and blue that make up the final color. Actually, the hexadecimal notation also represents an RGB value. It's just expressed using hexadecimal instead of decimal.

So, to see how you can use RGB notation in your CSS code, check out Quackit's CSS color property page.

Changing font on MySpace

2008-01-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

There's been a heap of people asking how to change the font on their MySpace profile page (or if they can even change the font at all).

Well, the good news is that yes, you can change your font on your MySpace profile page. Even better news - it's really easy!

The easiest way to change your MySpace font is to use Quackit's MySpace Text Generator.

Or if you prefer, you can check out these MySpace Font Codes.

Now, one thing to remember is that font codes depend on the user's computer having that font installed on their computer. If they don't have the font you specify, things will look different. That's how font code works in HTML/CSS. That's why it's always good to supply 3 options when specifying which font to use. That way, the user's computer will pick the first one that matches.

The difference between HTML and XHTML

2007-12-29T22:13:00.001-08:00

XHTML was introduced by the W3C at the time XML was becoming a huge buzzword. XHTML is actually an XML application. If you've read my XML tutorial, you would see exactly what I mean.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. If you don't feel like reading the whole XML tutorial just yet, you can check out this XHTML tutorial instead. Because XHTML is an XML application you just need to ensure you write valid XML.

Anyway, the XHTML tutorial explains the difference between HTML and XHTML. There's not really a lot of difference between the two, but if you intend to write XHTML, you need to adhere to the XML rules.

How your MySpace page is different to a normal website

2007-12-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

Writing HTML code for your MySpace profile page can be a bit different to writing for a normal web page. This is because MySpace place certain limitations on the code you can upload.

For example, you can't upload JavaScript or anything like that. This is mainly for security reasons. Plus, just think of the mess MySpace would be if every second MySpace profile generated a JavaScript error!

These limitations have meant that not all HTML codes are suitable for your MySpace profile page.

That's why I've put together a collection of MySpace HTML codes that you can copy and paste straight onto your profile page. There are even some HTML generators that allow you to customize your codes.

So, those are the main differences between a MySpace profile page and a normal website (at least from a coding perspective). Of course, there's nothing to stop you from copy/pasting the MySpace codes into a normal website, as it won't have the same limitations.

Exporting data from Access to Excel

2007-12-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

Exporting data from Microsoft Access might seem like a strange topic for a blog based on website development. After all, Microsoft Access is not usually associated with database driven websites.

Sure, MS Access is a database management system. But, it's not suitable for serving multiple users simultaneously. That's why database systems such as SQL Server, Oracle, and MySQL are so popular with websites.

But, if you're like me, you've had occasions where you've been asked how to "convert from Access to Excel".

For example, one of my clients use to build his own little survey forms, then store the data in an Access database. Then, one day he asked me how to "convert the Access database to an Excel spreadsheet". Well, what really wanted to do was export the data to an Excel spreadsheet, so that he could send it to his colleagues (who didn't have Access).

Because this seems to be quite a common occurrence, I explain how to export data from Access to Excel in Quackit's Microsoft Access tutorial.

ColdFusion - a PHP alternative

2007-12-27T05:50:00.000-08:00

There's no doubt about the popularity of PHP. It seems that most new developers go straight from HTML to PHP. I don't know, maybe they skip the HTML and go straight to PHP!

I think it's great that PHP has become so popular. It enables developers to create advanced functionality for their websites without having to build a mammoth Windows-style standalone application.

A similar (but often overlooked) technology is ColdFusion. ColdFusion is an advanced web programming environment that enables you to create advanced websites quickly and efficiently. Many ColdFusion developers argue that ColdFusion is easier to use than PHP, while allowing developers to do just as much, or even more than PHP.

ColdFusion has many benefits, but a key benefit is it's integration with other Adobe technologies such as Flash and PDF. If you're familiar with Adobe products I definitely recommend that you learn ColdFusion (if you haven't already done so!). You'll then see how easy it is to build advanced, database driven, websites.

Why you should diversify your skillset

2007-12-27T05:20:00.000-08:00

Many people make the mistake of specializing in one area of web development far too early on in their career.

For example, a new developer might learn PHP, then from that point on, become fanatical about PHP without learning anything else. Doing this will only limit the developer's skillset.

You'll learn more about web development if you gain knowledge in a broader range of technologies. You don't need to become a guru in each technology. There's a lot to be learned by following a simple tutorial, then trying some of the basics yourself.

I've met a lot of web programmers who don't know the first thing about graphics. This is unfortunate given graphics are a major part of the web. A little knowledge of web graphics can help a web programmer look at the bigger picture. At the same time, a little knowledge of HTML and/or programming can help a graphic designer.

And, once you start looking at the bigger picture, you might find your creative juices starting to run. You start to see all sorts of possibilities that you couldn't see before. And who knows, you could even make yourself more employable in the process!

How do you create your database tables?

2007-12-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

These days, most database management systems come fully equipped with a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI allows you to easily do things like create tables, alter them, add new columns, enter data etc.

Creating new tables is a very common database task and I've used a GUI countless times for doing just that.

However, despite the many advantages that a GUI can bring, there are occasions where you shouldn't rely on your GUI. You see, any task you can perform using a GUI can also be done programatically (using a SQL script).

So, when should you use a SQL script to create your tables?
If you use multiple copies of your database (for example, you might have a development environment, a test environment, and a production environment), a script is the perfect way to ensure your table is created exactly the same throughout all copies of your database. Not only this, your script will save you time too. Once created, a script will usually take less than a second to run.

SQL CREATE commands
The actual commands available to you will vary from one database system to the next. Here are some common create commands available to you in SQL Server:

CREATE ACTION
CREATE CACHE
CREATE CELL CALCULATION
CREATE CUBE
CREATE DATABASE
CREATE DEFAULT
CREATE FUNCTION
CREATE INDEX
CREATE MEMBER
CREATE MINING MODEL
CREATE PROCEDURE
CREATE RULE
CREATE SCHEMA
CREATE SET
CREATE STATISTICS
CREATE TABLE
CREATE TRIGGER
CREATE UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX
CREATE VIEW

So, to create a new database table, you can simply use the CREATE TABLE command. And if you need to create a whole new database, use the CREATE DATABASE command.

How many HTML tags are there?

2007-12-26T05:46:00.000-08:00

The other day I posted about the full list of CSS properties.

Well, now that we've established how many CSS properties there are, let's not forget those poor little HTML tags.

As well as a complete list of CSS properties, Quackit contains a list of HTML tags (otherwise known as HTML elements) . This is a complete list of HTML tags from the HTML 4.01 specification.

You can even try many of the tags straight from the Quackit website. For example, check out the HTML li tag or the HTML b tag.

So check out the full list and see if there are any HTML tags you don't know!

Eating too much over Christmas?

2007-12-25T20:17:00.001-08:00

First of all merry Christmas (to those who celebrate Christmas anyway!)

And, depending on where you live, you've probably already had your Christmas day!

Christmas time can typically be a time for eating and drinking too much. It's great at the time but then you start feeling unhealthy after eating so much trifle, cake, roast meat, or whatever you usually like to get stuck into!

So, if you're one of those people who feel bad for eating so much, maybe it's time to do some exercise? Maybe you already have an exercise routine. If so, good on you. You'll know how good it can feel to be fit and healthy.

But if you aren't really sure what exercises you should be doing, and you don't know what food you should be eating, check out the Great Workout website.

This website provides information on the best exercise routines to keep fit and healthy. It also provides lots of nutritional information to help complement your exercise routine.

So, if you're guilty of being a little too festive this Christmas, now is a great time to get into a fitness routine!

Jump-start your logo designs

2007-12-24T01:35:00.000-08:00

Have you ever created a new website, only to think "hmmm, I wish I could come up with a better logo".

OK, in many cases, if you're building a site for an established client, they will already have a logo. But, what if your client has asked you to also create a logo?

This can be a bit like staring at a blank piece of paper. Designing a logo can be harder than it sounds. Sure, you can find a nice font, then add some squiggly lines, add a bit of color etc But if you're like me, you'll probably spend hours just "fine tuning" your logo. Then, when you look at the next day, it's "Yuck!". Plus, you really want to design something unique that represents what the company is all about. Sometimes it can be difficult coming up with new ideas for logos.

Well, if this is the case, a logoset could be just what you're looking for.

A logoset is a set of pre-made logo templates that provide a starting place for your logos. It can help you come up with new ideas for logos. All you need to do is choose and download a logoset, then modify any of the logos contained within that logoset.

Using Quackit's template store, you can browse logosets by keywords, category, and even author. So, Quackit's website template store could be all you need to jump-start your logo designs!

How many CSS properties are there?

2007-12-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

How many CSS properties are there? Well, you can count them yourself by checking out this CSS properties reference.

This reference lists all CSS properties from the CSS2 specification. It also has an online CSS editor ,so you can try out most properties right there on the page!

For example, you can try changing the background colors, images etc using the CSS background property. Or, you could experiment with different borders using the CSS border property.

So, check it out. Hope you find it useful!

How good is your hosting provider?

2007-12-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

If you're like many of us, you probably don't think too much about your hosting provider. (Well, not until something goes wrong!). After all, once you've uploaded your website it generally just runs itself, right?

Well, not exactly.

There are many things you need to look for in a hosting provider. Here are some that come to mind:

uptime
support
maintenance
security
availability of bandwidth

As to be expected, you're better off checking for these things before you sign up with a hosting provider. It's not so nice to sign up with a hosting provider, only to be disappointed with their performance. Or even worse, if you don't monitor their performance your website could be having problems that you're not even aware of!

That is why I created this web hosting tutorial. It provides an overview of the things you should look for when selecting a hosting provider.

By following the steps outlined in this tutorial, you will ensure you're covering off all the important points when selecting your web hosting provider.

Do you know your XML?

2007-12-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

If you know how to create database driven websites using technologies such as SQL Server and ColdFusion or PHP, you'll realize how powerful your web applications can be.

XML can take this a step further by allowing you to store and transmit data that can be read by remote applications, regardless of their technology.

Quackit's free XML tutorial guides you through XML, starting from the basics (such as what an XML document looks like), moving to more advanced topics (such as XSLT and XPath).

If you've always wanted to learn XML but never got around to it, perhaps nows the time!

How much for that domain name?

2007-12-18T04:04:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how much money people are prepared to pay for a domain name. If you run a business, and you already have a well established name, spending a bit extra a matching domain name might make sense.

As you might know, once a domain name has been registered by someone, nobody else can use that as long as it's registered. The only way to register it, is either:

wait until it expires (assuming the owner let's it expire - they probably won't!)
offer the owner something in return for the domain name (usually an exorbitant amount of money!)

Usually, you will need to offer the owner a large sum of cash to persuade them to hand their domain name over to you. Many businesses simply will not hand over a domain name unless they are well compensated for it.

Expensive Domain Names...
Take business.com for example. In 1999, it sold for $7.5 million. Then in 2006, sex.com sold for $14 million. You'll need deep pockets if you're trying to snap up a domain name like these ones! OK, these examples are extreme cases, but you will usually find companies will not give away their domain name unless you pay them thousands of dollars.

Cheap Domain Names...
But what if you can't afford to pay thousands for a domain name? And what if you're just starting out with your business?

Try a different business name!

Now hold on - this may not be as ridiculous as it may seem. It could make sense to base your business name around an available domain name. By "available domain name", I mean one that hasn't already been registered. You see, domain names that haven't been registered can cost around $10 - $15 per year. This could save you thousands of dollars that would otherwise go into the pockets of another company.

All you need to do is be creative when thinking about a domain name. Company names don't need to make sense. Look at Yahoo! and Google or example!

Also, if you use ZappyHost to search for your domain name, you will be provided with alternatives in the event that your preferred domain name has already been registered.

So, if you're thinking of a name for your business or website, get creative!

Do you use a web server?

2007-12-17T04:59:00.000-08:00

When someone first learns how to code HTML, they usually get taught to create a file with HTML code and save it with a .html or .htm extension. Then when they double-click on the file, it automatically opens in their web browser.

This is fine when you're starting out. It's a great way to get up and running quickly. Once you've gotten yourself past the basics though, you try running your website through a web server.

Running your website through a web server enables you to do much more. A web server enables you to create a development environment that replicates your production (live) environment.

If you're not sure if you need a web server, check out this web server tutorial. It explains what a web server is and what benefits you'll get from using one. It also provides links to some popular free web servers.

New to web design?

2007-12-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

If you need to build a website but don't know where to start, check out this article on how to create a website.

That article shows you 3 options for creating a website. The option you choose will depend on your goals. If you simply want to get a website up and running quickly without knowing all the technical stuff, there's an option for you.

On the other hand, if you'd like to learn the technical aspects of building a website, there's an option for you too. Quackit has a large number of tutorials that will walk you through the technical side of creating a website.

There are also pre-built templates that can assist you in building your website if required.

Create a website now!

Fast-track your web design

2007-12-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

Quackit now has professionally designed website templates available.

Why use these?

Well, here's one good reason...

If you're like many web developers, you prefer not to spend too much time on the visual aspect of your websites. Designing a website can soak up lots of your time. Besides, there are so many great web designers out there who specialize in designing websites that work across multiple browsers etc.

As a web developer, you have a number of choices. Here are the most common ones:

Design your own websites
Hire a web designer
Use pre-built templates

The first option will only work if you're a good designer. But remember that, for every hour you're spending on web design, that's an hour you could be charging for stuff like database development, or PHP programming etc. You need to decide which tasks you prefer.

The second option will require that you find a good web designer. Hiring a web designer can be quite expensive too.

The third option can be a great cost effective way to developing a great looking website. Using professionally developed templates can save you lots of time, and eliminate the costs of sourcing a web designer.

So check out the Quackit template store now!

Swicki for HTML code

2007-04-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Swickis (by Eurekster) have been touted as the future of search engines.

Using a community approach, swickis enable users to create and configure their own search engine, then allow other users to place votes against the search results.

The ease in which you can do this makes me confident that swickis will become much more popular than they already are.

Here's a swicki I created which focuses on those searching for HTML code

This swicki searches through websites that are based on this topic. This means your search results won't be clouded by unnecessary search results.

Take a look, and if you're not happy with the search results, change them!

http://htmlcode-swicki.eurekster.com/

Find a good web host

2007-04-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

One of the best ways of finding a good hosting provider is by finding out from other people's experiences.

I've just partnered with Realmetrics to bring you real, unbiased hosting reviews, based on real data and experience.

Realmetrics actually sign up using real hosting accounts with real hosting providers. Realmetrics also continuously monitor the servers of each hosting provider in order to measure the availability of each provider.

The performance of each web host is added to a report which compares the hosting providers against each other. You can access these hosting reports here:

http://hosting-reviews.quackit.com

I hope you find these hosting reviews useful :)

Generate HTML with the Code Generator

2007-04-16T05:06:00.000-07:00

Last year I decided to build a website that enables users to automatically generate HTML code for use on their own websites.

It currently has quite a heavy MySpace lean. This is mainly due to the high demand of MySpace users needing a quick way of adding HTML to their profile page.

Having said this, all of these could be incorporated into a normal website. The site includes a table generator, music code generator, various text generators and generators for marquee related tricks.

Anyway, if you need to create HTML in a flash, try the Code Generator.

Do you monitor your website?

2007-04-15T02:40:00.000-07:00

Choosing a hosting provider for your website can be quite a task. First, you need to find one that provides the products and services you require. Then, once you realize there are thousands that fit the bill, you need to figure out which one to choose.

Regardless of the products/services you require, there's probably one thing that we all look for in a hosting provider - Uptime!

Most hosting providers will give you an uptime guarantee - something like 99.9% or 99.99% availability. This is all very well, but how do you know your web host is actually living up to their promise?

This is where website monitoring comes in. To learn about website monitoring, first read about website availability, then learn what you can do to ensure your web host is providing you with their guaranteed availability with the website monitoring article.

Up to speed with your SQL?

2007-04-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

Know your inner joins? What about your outer joins?

Don't know what I'm talking about?

If that's the case, you need to check out the SQL tutorial

Quackit's SQL Tutorial guides you through the most commonly used SQL statements, functions and keywords. If you need to build a database driven website, learning SQL is essential. SQL is the industry standard for performing database queries and various other database activities.

http://www.quackit.com/sql/tutorial

Create your first website

2007-04-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Ever wanted to create a website but didn't know where to start?

Creating a website is very easy. But creating a website is not everything. Do you know about web hosting or domain names? And do you know what FTP means?

Quackit will walk you through, step by step, what's involved in creating a website, as well as give you advice on web hosting, domain names, FTP and other technologies.

Best place to start is with the create a website tutorial.

Learn about databases

2007-04-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

New at Quackit, is a database tutorial. This database tutorial provides a definition of databases, an overview of database management systems, as well as what's normally involved in creating a database, and adding data to it.

http://www.quackit.com/database/tutorial

Benefits of Learning HTML

2007-04-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

Lately, more and more people are starting up their own blogs or websites. Given the software available these days, you don't even need to know how to write code for a website. The blog or CMS software pretty much does most of it for you.

There are definite benefits to learning HTML though.

By learning HTML, you are better equipped to be able to change how your blog or website is presented. And doing this can help you stand out from the rest. Also, HTML is very easy to learn, and once you've learned it you don't need to keep relearning it (like many software products).

If you're looking to learn HTML, check out Quackit's HTML tutorial.