Ant
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Posts posted by Ant
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My company had their site designed using Joomla. We are currently using the system etc. ( I tried asking this on Joomlas site but nobody ever answers questions over there)
I was told by the designer that we would have all sorts of stats available to us using Joomla. Especially when it comes to our advertisers. We would be able to offer advertisers a full detailed look at how their advertising was doing.
However currently the only thing we can see is hits to all the content. Hits for banner ads and the articles etc. (our co.'s chosen web designer cant explain why theres no full web stats, ridiculous I know)
However what I really need is FULL STATS for all articles, banner ads (for advertisers), pages etc. I want to be able to see what parts of the website are generating what kind of traffic, daily, weekly, monthly
Can someone point me in the right direction at understanding the world of web stats and what my options are either in using Joomla or using an outside source. I cant find a concise location on the web that explains the world of web stats to me.
So far godaddy has been the closest to offering our site full site stats. However a lot of their "site analytics" products do not work properly and are missing alot of the options. I was told, by godaddy, it's because of our CMS which does not allow their software to work properly.
So what are my options? Does Joomla have plugins or something like that. Is that not an option? Do I need to use something like Google Analytics, Mint etc..
I'm just trying to understand the different levels of site anayltics and what my options are.
Thanks
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Ben, before I go and search 30 different "open source shopping carts" and take a close look at all of them are there any you know of that offer an automatic or preset product entry that handle the photos etc?
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Eddie thanks.
I have not looked at it yet but do the "open source shopping carts"
allow for an interface to add products like a shopify etc or is it just the shopping cart payment end that it takes care of?
Thus do I need to add all the products manually like I would using html/css. ie. image, description and then the shopping cart system drops in the payment end?
If so thats a lot of manual coding for a lot of products? Of course if so I assume thats why it's free unlike enstore or shopify.
Thanks
Ant.
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Ok I just spent half the day researching how to create an online store.
How transactions work, fees associated with all the options I came across. i.e monthly fees and transaction fees etc etc.
Maybe someone can shed some light on what my options are, based on the specs needed for my friends website.
Currently I created my friends website using html and css and some php. So I do not have the knowledge to create my own store using php etc etc.
I need the online store part of the site to be easy to add and manage products by the store owner. They are familiar with ebay practices so I assume something comparable. I can create the start of the products etc but I need them to take control after that to some extent. I just don't want to be called every day and asked to update product qnty, image changes, price changes etc.
The amount of products will probably range from 20-100 products. (in the beginning)
So far I have seen these sort of options and cannot decide whats the right course to take for this:
foxycart (mentioned here) I assume this is simply a shopping cart and best used for limited unchanging products???Monthly fee only.
shopify: seems to do it all but has transaction fees and monthly fees
enstore: seems to do it all but has transaction fees and monthly fees
yahoo: seems to do it all but has transaction fees and monthly fees
etc
etc
I know some of them just have monthly fees but it seems like those require a lot of work on my end to add all the products.
The others also have the monthly fee but they also have a transaction fee. So doesnt that mean my friend will incur a monthly fee, their transaction fee and then the cc companies fees they already pay in the brick and mortar shop(if people choose cc payment option)?
I know theres a lot of questions in here but I'm starting from scratch and don't want to make the wrong choice and cause my friend to pay all these fees when it wasn't necessary.
As always any direction is appreciated.
Thanks
Ant
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Thanks for the direction, it's a little more clear as to what I can expect etc.
A.
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Thanks Stefan, I will look into your advice.
One question, is the use of those "systems" i.e. wordpress etc considered a shortcut?
BTW, am i right in assuming your book was what I used when in college in 1997 for web design?
Thanks
A.
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I am at a point in learning web design that I have an ok grasp on html and css.(still learning though) Aside from that I have not delved into any other languages,aside from a PHP include function. (which is awesome BTW)
My question is what should I be looking to learn to be a well rounded web designer? Keep in mind the "well rounded web designer" is a broad term to ME right now.
For example, right now I'm researching how to create and integrate an online store into my friends website. Is it common practice to implement a service like "shopify" etc into the site or is that considered to be a "cheat" in the web design world.
The same goes for a blog. If my friend wants a blog I am more then likely going to look for something I can integrate into the existing site to give him that option, like a WordPress blog. Is that the shortcut way of doing things? Is it normal practice or is that the equivalent of trying to use dreamweaver without learning html?
After looking at some javascript tutorials I cant imagine I will be able to fully teach myself the language IN COMPLETE in addition to all the other languages, i.e. AJAX etc etc that I keep seeing. I am wondering if it's a necessity of a web designer or if that is entering the realm of a web programmer.
My main goal is to be able to offer people all the parts of a website they want without cheating to do it thus giving them a hack version of a site. I'm hoping I don't need to be a web programmer to do it right or do it acceptably.
A.
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The best way for me to show you is to post a link to the company that I believe is behind our current digital edition. (one we pay to have completed by an outside source)
http://www.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=2237&l=1 (done using http://www.bluetoad.com/BlueToad/)
I want to do this myself for my newspaper, but so far I am running into issues. One of them being the flash based options are not compatable with the ipad,
This company http://www.yudu.com/ is less expensive then Blue Toad BUT it won't work with the Ipad, Bluetoad apparently does... apparently.
I don't think I can complete the task myself,(through coding etc) but my goal is to find the best option using companies like these for the best price etc.
It needs:
plain text options
linkable text
archive ability
searchable through all archives
viewable without needing to be downloaded
ipad compatable
etc
etc
So far it seems paying a source(like companies above) a monthly fee and doing it myself is the easiest /cost effective option. I guess I was hoping for a downloadable program I could learn to do it and post them to our site myself etc.. without paying a monthly fee.
Ant
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Thanks.
The options I need cannot be done using straight PDF's.
I cannot have all the bells and whistles etc using them alone.
I just checked out yudu's site, but thats a flash based option and won't work on the ipad. As far as i can tell.
Ant
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I wasn't sure where to post this. I'm not even sure this is the appropriate site to ask. Since everyone here has been very helpful in getting me going on web design, I figured I would give it a shot.
I want to take my companies pdf files and turn them into a digital edition, epub or whatever the proper terminology is.
I need a whole list of options. Searchable across every issue. All issues archived and available. Links, etc etc.
The problem is I cannot find any clear answers in my searches. Maybe the terminology I'm using is incorrect. i.e. "turning pdf's into digital editons" etc..
It's something like this: http://page-flip.com/products/publisher/
HOWEVER I cannot use this because it's for PC's only. I need a mac based option.
One note, I assume I DO NOT want this flash based??
Any help is appreciated. Even pointing me in the right direction to research it, i.e proper terminology is helpful.
Thanks
Ant
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Andrea, my question concerns having a static header without the use of frames.
I was wondering if it can be done without frames and if so is it a good practice in terms of good design etc..
I do not need to know how it's done, just if it can be done and if it's an exceptable practice.
I just don't want to sound misinformed/stupid when I tell the web designer it can be done without frames etc.
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Is it possible to create a static header and have the content below scroll underneath the header?
If so, is it possible to do without frames.
In learning to design websites I thought all that was needed was a container with a position of (X) (possibly :static, not sure ) to accomplish this effect.
My company's web designer is telling me it cant be done without frames and frames are outdated and not to be used.
Thus he's telling me I cant have that option on our company's website.
Thanks
A.
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Can someone explain to me what software tracks the clicks to a banner ad.
I am trying to learn all about clicktags etc. This question still lingers after my initial post in this forum about some other questions I had about clicktags.
I know flash files have clicktags embedded in them. But what is it that takes the click information from the clicktag embedded in the flash banner and calculates it and then generates a readable document. What are "clients" looking at when they get a report from an ad agency about their advertisement and it's performance?
I have searched all over and cant find a straight answer on all this.
Thanks
Ant
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I see what your talking about.
I guess you thought I was adding double spaces at the end of sentences like people used to be taught years ago.
What thats from is I copied and pasted my friends email to me for that description of the trip that I asked him to write up for me. So somehow DW picked up the formatting and I didn't even see it. Or maybe I pasted the email into textedit and then made it plain text and it somehow created double spaces that DW carried over.
I'll remove them. Thanks for noticing it.
Ant
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Can anyone comment on this question I had:
One thing I noticed is Google still has old pages from the previous site. So when you do a search for streams of dreams fly shop it brings up old pages that lead to a dead end. Do I need to contact google and have them remove those results??
Thanks
Ant
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I was going to say the exact same thing.
I haven't been around often because I've been pretty busy, so I haven't seen this website take shape. But I have to say I like it. Great job!
Thanks Susie.
Ant
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I think it looks pretty good. I won't point out the aspects I like, rather those that could be improved upon. With that, keep in mind, sometimes it's a pure subjective POV - but sometimes, it's just fact.
I find the headers a bit too large.
The Casa Blanca logo is very blurry, I can't even exactly read what year it was established.
All that white space under 'Thomas and Thomas fly rod blanks" does not look right - looks like something is missing.
In your footer, the orange on black(ish) is VERY hard to read, and it gets even worse once the hover turns it red.
Why not doctype strict? (and still validation errors)
<p> </p> - is never needed
In the code, I think you could have streamlined things a bit more - example: instead of an empty div to clear,
just add the clear to the footer division. You could probably get rid of all those empty divs. There's also no need to add the non-breaking space into the text. just one space after periods on computers is perfectly good.
WHY IS THIS LINE NOT BREAKING (the one I'm typing right here)??
Using non-descriptive id or class names, like "style1", will haunt you a week from now, when you can't remember what that means.
Thanks for the critique Andrea. I can handle it, I spent a lot of time in fine art classes in college and critique hour could get pretty brutal. Your right, you cant please everyone.
The logo is from the site where the trip is taking place. I looked for a better quality one but couldn't find it. I'll look again.
The white space under the rod section is there because the content in the left column is not long enough to meet the amount of content in the right column. I don't see a way around that unless I force content in that area to always be equal to the right side. Which is not always possible.
Why not doctype strict? (and still validation errors) When I read up on the DTD I saw multiple different options available. I probably just chose that because it seemed popular and did not seem "scary" like the strict moniker implies. Make sense?
<p> </p> - is never needed. Probably laziness and I missed some that were buried in my code. Also it's so easy to hit return and get a nice space. ( again laziness and frustration towards spacing)
Maybe you can explain the non breaking space question better. For instance an example would help.
The style1 class creates itself in DW when you add style to text but don't then define the style or forget to do so. The style 1 is probably a one time style I used on some text that I didn't feel needed a renaming. Either way I totally understand what your saying. I tried to use the best names possible but sometimes it took 5 words to explain it. Like, photo_no_border_float_left.
I will watch out for that and be more aware of it.
Ant
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I like your site. You did a great job on it. The only thing I can see tweaking a little is the menu text styling. I would keep the text bold on the normal state and roll over state. It jumpy when you mouse over it. You already have the background go from black to grey. I would leave that alone, and make all the text stay bold. Other than that, I like it.
Thanks Sarina.
I noticed the jumping a little bit.
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Ant, I'm a beginner, so I just wanted to pop in and say I love your design and you can tell, that you know what you are doing there. Web Design is partly about creating the design, you know, so I'm sure you could help beginners like me with the design end of things. Oh, and I'll let experts comment on your code though
Oh and just curious, did you make a Photoshop mock-up before you started?LenaCa, thank you. I would be happy to help you any way I can.
I mocked up the home page of the site in illustrator. I could have used PS, but something like this seemed easier in illustrator since I wasn't doing any photo effects etc. Plus Illustrator is easier to place boxes, type etc.
The most challenging part of the site, besides all the code etc, was trying to figure out how to handle all the content and present it in a meaningful way. I asked myself what was the point of this site?. What did I want to accomplish? What are the most important elements of the business that were going to make up my navigation? etc etc.
Ant
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After a billion annoying questions from me
and the generous help I have received from this site and it's members I have finally finished the site.http://www.streamsofdreams.com/
I still have to fix some things in terms of validation.
I guess I should have done that on my first page before I duplicated it to make my others. Now I have to go and validate each page separately. Unless theres a way to do the whole site at once.
Anyway,theres still plenty of content to fill and correct etc but I have to wait to receive all the info from my friend. Although thats a tough one to accomplish.
I still need to learn how to set up a content management system etc and a whole bunch of other things. I never did learn how to create a photo page where I can upload new photos on the fly.
Is there anything anyone would like to comment on in terms of BIG things I may have done wrong with the site.
Is it easy to navigate? Should I have made links at the top of each page so you don't have to use the back button. i.e like on this site :
* KillerSites.com
* > Killersites Community
* > Web Design
* > Beginners Web Design
Did I handle the content well?
Is it clean and clear?
One thing it's lacking, besides FULL complete content(copy), is the ability to purchase things. I cant make that happen unless my friends shop is organized properly etc.. So for now every page says "call for info" etc. Which is poor but I cant help that.
Coming from a print design background, the closest thing I have done to something like this is a magazine layout with multiple pages etc where things need to meld together well and have a complete look etc. Otherwise it's a completely different animal to ads, logos etc. Its a real challenge to be able to accomplish all the design ideas in my mind when it takes forever to get things to do what I wanted them to do. I'm not satisfied with the design end of things but I'm just happy I was able to learn how to design a site.
One thing I noticed is Google still has old pages from the previous site. So when you do a search for streams of dreams fly shop it brings up old pages that lead to a dead end. Do I need to contact google and have them remove those results??
Thanks for the help as always,
Maybe in about 10 years I'll be able to help out someone else asking for help on these forums.
Ant
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Thanks guys.
I called verio and they are setting up a Linux virtual server.
Once I transfer all my files etc and am happy with the new server I will need to cancel the service on the old windows server where the site presently resides.
I hope this all works.
Thanks again,
Ant
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I'm trying to get my index.php file to be recognized on what Verio(web host company) told me is presently a windows based server.
After trying I was told windows based servers don't handle php files very well and sometimes not at all.
They told me to call sales and have my server changed to a unix or linux based system.
Can anyone confirm this is correct before I go about trying to get my friends service on Verio changed to a different type of server.
Thanks
Ant
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So far it seems like all these "scripts" clients are receiving from other companies are just INSTRUCTIONS on how to embed the click-tag in flash. I still don't see anything in the click script that looks "specific" to the companies websites. It all looks like generic code.
Ant
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You mention an iframe which loads another page on the main page or pages but you say the table of contents page is house inside an iframe on my photo_video.php page. Could you do the opposite, have a table of contents and a series of links which open every photo page in the same iframe below the table? See itme 2 here:-
http://www.wickham43.net/framesets.php
and the example using target="..." to load the iframe from the links.
You could do the reverse, have a series of pages for each individual photo page and then use PHP "includes" to load the same table or anything else that repeats on every page. The repeating code is put in a separate "include" file and inserted into every photo page with PHP code.
See http://www.wickham43.net/serversideincludes.shtml first para and item 2.
Thanks Wickham.
I never thought about that. I should have used the INCLUDE like I did in my other areas.
For now I just placed the table of contents (links) on ever page.
I just completed the site. Unfortunately my server I ASSUME is not setup to recognize index.php as my homepage. Now I need to contact VERIO and ask them what I have to do to accomplish that. I searched on the subject but got a lot of answers which were beyond me. apache, installing php4 etc.
Thanks
Ant
Web Stats help Joomla etc
in Beginners Web Design
Posted
Bee, thanks.
I took a look at the site. Unfortunately I will have to forward this to the web designer as a point of reference.
I am not comfortable adding these things to our co. site since I do not know the joomla system.
Either way, why do you suggest that google analytics is probably best in the end?
Can google analytics offer stats for all the banner ads on my site?
I was told the joomla system was going to have ad server software etc. I assumed this was a system that would allow me to give our clients a breakdown of how their advertising was doing on our site. Is that the norm? Is that something I should offer clients or is it up to the advertiser to somehow keep track on their end?
Sometimes I get questions from potential advertisers wanting to know the stats on a certain banner position on our site. I need to know how to give them those stats. Same thing goes for sections of the site. My boss wants to know how well a certain area on the site is doing. For instance our digital edition. Up till now I cannot tell him how effective it is or if people are actually viewing it. Those are the type of things I need to figure out in terms of stats.