Essential Web Development Tools

Essential Web Development Tools

Developing a successful web site takes a great deal of planning and preparation. An important part of your preparation is obtaining the essential tools of the trade.

HTML Editors

An HTML editor is a software program used to create and edit HTML documents.

Although some Internet marketers prefer to write their own HTML code, most prefer to use an HTML editor, as it can greatly simplify a somewhat difficult process. However, using an HTML editor has its disadvantages, as some editors have a tendency to add a lot of unnecessary coding and may not support the latest technologies.

Whether you will be writing your own HTML or using an editor, taking the time to learn HTML is very important. Not only will you gain your independence, but you'll also have the ability to add special effects that many HTML editors don't support.

Here are some popular HTML editors:

Macromedia Dreamweaver
http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/
A popular WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) HTML editor. Great for beginners and advanced users alike.

Coffee Cup
http://www.coffeecup.com/html-editor/
A popular HTML editor that's great for beginners as well as advanced users. Includes a built in browser that will enable you to instantly preview your HTML as you go.

Hot Dog Professional
http://sausage.com/products/index.html
Three HTML editors, including HotDog Junior for children, PageWiz for the novice user and Professional for advanced and budding webmasters.

Text Editors

A text editor is a software program used for editing plain text that doesn't add any special formatting.

If you're considering writing your own HTML code, you'll need a good text editor. Although it will certainly be more time consuming, your code will be much cleaner and can reduce your file size considerably.

In addition to using a text editor to write HTML, it can also be used to edit scripts and write articles.

If you have a Windows operating system, Note Pad is the preferred text editor. It should already be installed on your computer.

Although Note Pad is a great little text editor, it can't handle large files and is much better suited for smaller jobs. You may find that you'd like an editor that is more powerful, such as:

NoteTab Pro http://www.notetab.com/
TextPad http://www.textpad.com/

FTP

File Transfer Protocol, better known as FTP, is a procedure used to upload and download files to and from your web server.

Although many HTML editors will enable you to edit and transfer pages to your server, an FTP program is still an essential tool, as you must have complete control over the files on your server.

An FTP program will enable you to upload scripts, set file permissions, create folders and transfer files to and from your server.

In order to use FTP, you'll need to download and install a software program on your computer. The most widely used FTP program is WS FTP Pro http://www.wsftp.com/

Graphics Editor

A graphics editor is a software program that will enable you to design and edit graphics.

Graphic design is an intimidating subject for many Internet entrepreneurs. However, most of us must learn some basic design techniques in order to avoid the high costs of hiring a professional designer.

The most popular program used by Internet marketers is Paint Shop Pro. This powerful program is the only program you'll need to design professional looking graphics.
http://www.jasc.com/

Zip/Unzip Software

A Zip file is an "archive" of one or more files compressed into one file for easy distribution.

Zip files are used to compress and transport file archives over the Internet. It is the preferred method used for electronic file distribution, as rather than downloading several different files, you can simply download one Zip file. In addition, the download time will be minimized, as the files within the Zip archive are compressed.

Once a Zip file is downloaded, it can be easily opened and extracted (unzipped) with a Zip/Unzip software program.

Although there are many Zip software programs available on the Internet, WinZip is the most popular. WinZip makes working with file archives simple. It features an easy point-and-click, drag-and-drop interface for viewing, extracting, adding, deleting and testing archived files.

You can download a fully functional evaluation version here:
http://www.winzip.com/download.htm

Email

Although most Internet Service Providers include email accounts for their customers, these accounts aren't adequate for an Internet business -- especially if you get a large amount of email. Not only do the email addresses contain your ISP's name, but they are also very limited on features and options.

The two most popular email clients used online are Outlook and Eudora. These programs will enable you to download email from your server and offer features, such as sorting and
filtering, and will enable you to easily organize your email messages. What's more, your email address will be your own domain -- not someone else's.

Eudora
http://www.eudora.com/
Outlook
http://www.microsoft.com/

Your webmaster toolbox will play an important part in your success. Take the time to ensure your toolbox contains these essential tools and you'll be well on your way to designing a professional web site.

10 tips for securing your PC

10 tips for securing your PC

1. Update / patch ALL your software every now and then!

2. Check / adjust ALL your settings so they are safe, since they ARENT by default!

3. Use firewall, like ZoneAlarm!

4. Use good passwords: at least 13marks long, containing both letters and numbers. Remember to chance your password every few months atleast!

5. Get good anti-virus & Spyware softwares and keep it updated!

6. Don’t open or execute files that you are not 100% sure are absolutely safe no matter where or how you get them.

7. Wipe your historyfiles (like cookies, internet history and temporary files, etc.), logs and personal files, with specific wiping program (like Eraser) instead of just deleting them.

8. Use encryption to enhance your privacy! Use encrypted email (like Hushmail or Ziplip) and encrypt sensitive files on your computer (PGP).

9. Don’t use public computers for anything you need to type in your logins, they usually have Trojan horses that capture your passwords.

10. Don’t assume anything. If you don’t know, find out! If you cant or don’t understand, ask someone who knows! There’s nothing more dangerous than doing something you don’t really know anything about. That’s the best way to cripple your system or get a Trojan horse on your computer!

Simple Shortcuts In Internet Explorer.

Simple Shortcuts In Internet Explorer.

-Adding Favorites in IE
While viewing the site, hold CTRL and press D to add it to your favorites.

-Search in IE
To Open the IE search utility use CTRL and E.
Searching On A Webpage Using Find in IE
To Open the FIND box to search the current document use CTRL and F.

-History in IE
To Open the History utility use CTRL and H.
-New Browser Window in IE
To Open a new Explorer window use CTRL and N.

-Refresh in IE
Press the F5 key.

-Free up Screen Space in IE
Want to view more of the screen? Get ride of toolbars by pressing the F11 key. To return the toolbars, press F11 again.

-Text Size in IE
Text too small to read. Click Edit...Text Size and choose large or larger to increase the size.

-Screen Capture
Want to capture what you're viewing on screen? Press the Prnt Scrn (Print Screen) key on the keyboard and open Word or PowerPoint. Click Edit...Paste (Ctrl + V).

-Hold Ctrl while using the scroll on the mouse wheel and enlarge the text.

-Holding Shift while using the scroll on the mouse wheel acts as the back arrow button in Internet Explorer.

Powering on the Computer With Your Mouse

Powering on the Computer With Your Mouse

Here's the method by which you can start your computer by clicking your mouse button.

If you have ATX Main Board, ATX case Award Bios, or any Bios that supports PS/2 Mouse Power On, then you can power on your computer with a double click.



To activate this feature:

Restart your computer

Then press Del when the BIOS message appears to enter your CMOS configuration Select Integrated Peripherals from main menu
If PS/2 mouse power on disabled, activate it by press page up/ page down key it will became Double-Click
Press Esc key to exit
Press F10 to save and exit Power off your PC
Now double-click the left mouse button,.. Your PC will turn on

Make your PC shutdown at a time you wish.

Make your PC shutdown at a time you wish.

There are two methods to make your computer shutdown at a time you wish.

METHOD 1:
1. Right click on your desktop and choose "New=>shortcuts".
2. In the box that says "Type the location of the shortcut",
type in "shutdown -s -t 3600" without the quotation marks and click next. Note: 3600 are the amount of seconds before your computer shuts down. So , 60secs*60mins=3600secs.
3. Make up a name for the shortcut and you're done.
You can change the icon by right clicking=>properities=>change icon=>browse
TO ABORT:
To make an abort key to stop the shutdown timer just create another shortcut and make
the "location of the shortcut" to " shutdown -a" without the quotes.

METHOD 2:
Here is another trick to shutdown at a specific time, for example you wish to shutdown at 11:35am. Type this in
start=>Run
Type Code: at 11:35 shutdown -s
TO ABORT:
Code:shutdown -a

Add Safe Mode to Boot menu.

Add Safe Mode to Boot menu.

Safe Mode is most commonly used for troubleshooting purposes. If you find yourself booting to safe mode often. You may find it helpful to include the option for safe mode in your boot menu. Below, is a method you can use to save yourself from having to press F8 during startup to access Safe Mode:

-Right click My Computer and click Properties.
-Click the Advanced tab.
-Under Start Up and Recovery, click the Settings button.
-Click Edit. The boot.ini file will open in Notepad.


-Copy the line that reads as follows: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WIND

OWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetect.

Paste the line you just copied after the original one.
Change the copied line from “Microsoft Windows XP Professional” to “Windows XP Safe Mode” or something similar.
At the end of this line add the following: /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog.
Save the boot.ini file by clicking File then Save.
Restart your computer and Safe Mode should be available at the boot menu.
Note: Your actual Boot.INI may vary to a small degree. The above is an example only. Be sure to copy your boot.ini file prior to making any changes to it.

Increasing XP shutdown speed

Increasing XP shutdown speed

Generally windows takes time to start and also it takes time to shutdown. I have already posted the method of increasing shutdown speed of computer. But, this is the easy way to fasten the shutdown speed.

Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait times:
Windows XP stores a couple of values in its registry which are responsible for determining how long to wait before shutting down (killing) open applications and services once the shutdown command has been given.
By editing these two settings and changing them to lower values, you can considerably decrease the amount of time that Windows XP needs to successfully shut itself down. The first part of this tweak deals with setting the amount of time Windows will take to kill open applications on shutdown.
Open REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Highlight the 'WaitToKillAppTimeout' value.
Set it to '1000' (the default should be 20000).
Now highlight the 'HungAppTimeout' value
Set it to '1000' also.