Archive for Issue 26 - November 2009
Lunar Picks – What Gadget Are You Thankful For?
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This time of year, we all start to think about what we are thankful for, because Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Taking a geekier look at the situation, I wanted to know what gadgets the Lunarpages support team, management and supervisors found most handy to have around.
Here are some of the favorite gadgets from our trusty Lunar Crew:
Daniel – “Daniel – My new EeePC. It is small and I can run Linux on it.”
Greg – “The Tiagra A, because it turns an angler into a human wench! I never go to Cabo without it!”
Renee – “My cell phone, because it let me stay in touch with my family and my best friend.”
Katie – My laptop, because I can take it with me for work, on vacation or anywhere else!”
Joe - “I am thankful for my computer, and the Internet that brought me to meet the coolest company ever! ”
Monty - “My cell phone. Thanks to it, I can never get lost again.”
Roy – “The gadget that I am VERY thankful for is my TiVo. I am able to watch all episodes of Cheer’s, 2 & 1/2 Men, Sports and all the late night shows when I want. Thank you TiVo gods.”
MichaelT – “I would have to go with the USB Flash Drive followed closely by the wireless mouse.”
Aon – “It’s a little bit difficult to own a nice PC because not much space available to place it in my house. My HP Laptop is great. I can use it on small desk. It also comes in handy to play games, work on projects, listen music and watch movies.”
Katrina – “3G wireless and my air card, it lets me work (and play) from almost anywhere.”
Orlando – “My iPhone, because I don’t have to carry my iPod and my laptop and there is an app for everything!”
Ben – “I am grateful for my stereo system because I love slappin’ da bass.”
Shawn – “Isn’t it obvious – its the spork. I don’t know where I would be without my trusty spork. I can stab my peas, or I can scoop them up… Oh, the wonders.”
Tommy – “My second monitor. Without it, I would never be able to view the 20+ windows/applications I have opened.”
Randy – “My favorite gadget would have to be my camera because I love taking pics to capture those moments in time not to mention catching people off guard so I can upload the pics online to embarrass them later MUHAHAHAHAHA! ”
Flora – “My MP3 player, because it’s compact and portable – enables me to listen to music wherever I go.”
Deb – “My cell phone is my favorite gadget because it’s my business lifeline. It does everything except the dishes, and I hear the new model is supposed to take care of those!”
Mitch – “My Nintendo DS, cause I can get my Mario-fix anywhere I go”
KrisA – “iPhone – Because it is the combination of what I need ( GPS / Games / Community / Internet / Alarm Clock / Radio / Stock ) .”
So now that you know our picks, what are some of your own gadgets you are thankful for having? Do you love your portable gaming device? What about your GPS in your car, or perhaps your own cell phone of choice? Leave a comment and let us know what gadget just makes your life better.
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Setup Your Own Share on Facebook Button
Posted by: | CommentsFacebook is quickly becoming the most popular social network out there today. With that said, many people are looking for ways to mix the interactivity of Facebook with their own web sites. One easy way to get that done would be to add the Share Button they provide to your own layout.
The first thing you will want to do is point your browser towards the Facebook widgets page for the share button. Next, select the style of button you want – the button type or just the link.
Now, because we want to use the coolest one – let us continue to customize the button one (the one to your left, in the two pictures above). Now you can select to include the counter (which tells you how many people shared this page) and if you want the counter to be to the side (as seen above) or on top, like this:
Pretty nifty, right? Now, all you have to do is copy and paste the code they give you into your web site layout. When a user shares your content, they look at your page to find a relevant title and image, and media if you specify it. You should add <meta> tags to your page to help them find this information.
For more help on how to get it tweaked up or customized even more, check out the Facebook Share documentation. Also, do not forget to meet up with all the Lunarpages clients, fans and staff on the Lunarpages Facebook group!
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How to Password Protect Your Hosted Folders
Posted by: | CommentsWhat happens when you want to setup a folder that has secret information in it, and you want to make sure only a select group of people have access to what is in that directory? You can simply set up password protection for that folder, so anybody you give a user name and password to can access that folder in question.
First, you will want to click on the Password Protect Directories menu link, under Your Site in the LPCP control panel.
Next, you should see all the folders you have created within your public_html folder. Navigate through the folders by clicking on the folder icon, and once you find the one you want to protect, click on the lock icon next to the folder icon.
This takes you to the password protection options for that specific folder that you selected to password protect. Now, you have several text boxes options and other things you must setup to password protect the folder in question.
How to Setup the Password Protection
Here is what you need to know when setting up your password protected folder:
- Activate Password Protection: By checking this check mark box, you are activating password protection for this specific folder.
- Resource Name: Whatever message to type here will display as the title for the password login box, when somebody tries to login to that directory.
Once you are done, click on the button labeled, “Save”.
In this section, you can add or remove users. Each login you create here will give that specific user name and password combination access to the folder you are protecting. You will need to fill out the following:
- User Name: the user name they will user to sign on
- Password: the password they will use to get access
- Confirm Password: the same password, typed again
Once you are done, click the button labeled, “Add authorized user”. Now that user will have access to your password protected folder.
Please Note: Before testing make sure to upload or create an index file in the folder. If you do not have an index file, you will receive a forbidden error when logging into the folder.
Now you see how easy it is to setup password protection using LPCP in your own hosting account. For those of you who use cPanel, and want to do the same – you can follow the advice in this tutorial. For many more tips, walkthroughs and guides be sure to check out our fantastic web hosting wiki.
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3 Fool Proof Ways to Advertise Any Web Site
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When somebody asks me how to get their web site, “out there” there are several different routes you can go. Depending on the type of web site you run or operate, the rules might be a little different, however I have three fool proof ways you can get it done.
Word of Mouth
You have a friend, that tells a friend, then that friend tells two more friends, so on and so forth. That would be your word of mouth advertising in a nutshell. It is possibly the best form of marketing you can do. Just tell your friends, family members and neighbors to check out your site and be sure to tell them why it would be helpful to them, or somebody they might know.
Like-Minded Web Sites
Go out and find other web sites like your own, and see if you can exchange links and audiences. For example, if you have a blog about being a pet lover, you might contact a pet store’s web site and ask if they can link to you, if you do a few blog posts for them. Always make sure you try to give something back to those other people or like-minded web sites that support your own.
Advertising Services
The last fool proof way of getting your name out there is to use a service like Google AdWords to advertise your web site to the masses. You don’t have to have a million dollar budget to get started. Actually, Google AdWords makes it pretty simple to setup a budget to help you get the most bang for your buck. Of course, every Lunarpages client gets a way to try Google AdWords and Facebook Ads for free, so you have no reason not to try it out.
What other ways have you found to be good to help a new web site get off the ground? I have listed some of my favorite fool proof ways here, but there are many more. Be sure to list your favorite method in the comments.
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View Your Page in Multiple Browsers Online!
Posted by: | CommentsWant quickly to test your web site’s design in a number of different browsers? Adobe’s BrowserLab will get the job done.
While hardcore designers may rather test the real browsers in real running environments, this tool provides you a quick and easy way to check out your domain without having to install numerous browsers. It does it all from the Web. Right now you can test in:
- Firefox 2.0 – Windows XP or OS X
- Firefox 3.0 – Windows XP or OS X
- Internet Explorer 6.0 – Windows XP
- Internet Explorer 7.0 – Windows XP
- Internet Explorer 8.0 – Windows XP
- Safari 3.0 – OS X
- Safari 4.0 OS X
Another cool feature is the Onion Skin view, which will lay one browser preview over on top of another one, to give you a real side by side comparison between the two, to help you fix and glitches there might be.
So sign up and give it a shot at browserlab.adobe.com.
Bonus: Looking for an alternative? Check out BrowserShots.org!
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Over 20 Links for Statistical Stats
Posted by: | CommentsReady to get a little statistical?
Nine times out of ten, one hundred percent of the time, I can promise you’ll find at least one jewel you never knew about before in this pile of analytical links. Each is ready to help you dive deeper and measure out how your web site is being viewed, consumed and used in a number of different ways.
- Google Analytics
By far, one of the most in-depth free web site statistic tools out there today. - Quantcast.com
Open Internet Ratings Service! - Compete.com
follow traffic trends about of your site in comparison with other sites from all around the Web. - WebsiteGrader.com
Website Grader is a free SEO tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. - GoStats.com
a great web site stats and hit counter!
- SEO Rush
SEOrush is a one touch resource which provides you a FREE SEO report for your URL or a competitors URL. - whos.amung.us
Widgets to know who’s on your site and where they came from. - SiteMeter.com
web site statistics and counter, all in one! - PostRank Analytics
Track Your Social Engagement! - SerpRush.com
SERPrush is a free SERP checker which will enable you to check your search engine position in Google, Yahoo and MSN for the .COM and UK versions. - TubeMogul.com
Online Video Tracking and Analytics - TweetStats
In ur Tweets, Graphin’ Your Stats! - Abouthisite.com
Gather simple domain information about any web site out there. - Mint
Mint is an extensible web site analytics program. - RankBuzz.com
a domain name/web site popularity ranking tool. - Clicky.com
Real time web analytics! - Feed Analysis
get more stats on your FeedBurner powered feed. - Online Charts Builder
An online chart builder, based on the Google Charts API. - SurveyGizmo.com
online survey software! - W3Counter.com
Web site analytics, real time web stats and web counter. - WhoisBucket.com
WhoisBucket is a tool for performing whois lookups and provides you with additional domain information.
There you have it, over twenty links to help you track, sort and learn more about your web site your hosting here at Lunarpages. If you know of another, please feel free to leave it in the comments and share with the rest of us stat lovin’ fools.