Say goodbye to Cpanel X
by Brian TurnerCpanel X was the theme that brought webhosting admin panels out from the dark ages. However, this iconic and easy to use interface is on it’s way out due to security issues.
Cpanel X was an admin interface that made managing the backend of a website fun and funky. With its sleek silver and blue design, [...]
March 29, 2008
Mystery: Google indexing site searches
by Brian TurnerGoogle appears to be indexing keyword searches on Wordpress installs without any normal cue being given. Are we looking at an indexing error, or is the data coming from Google Analytics?
Was searching through one of my sites on Google last night – Wordpress driven and running GA -
when I found a whole load of keyword [...]
November 2, 2007
Google announces OpenSocial APIs
by Jan HarrisGoogle is announcing a Web standard called OpenSocial which will enable programmers to build social applications for multiple Web sites at once.
OpenSocial is a set of common APIs (application programming interfaces), with which Web developers will be able to create applications for any sites that accept the OpenSocial code, including social networking sites and blogs. [...]
October 12, 2007
Belfast Telegraph to go offline though inept IT
by Brian TurnerThe Belfast Telegraph website is in danger of going offline in a matter of days – because they failed to renew their domain name in July.
After noticing this, Britecorp contacted their IT dept offering to help use their specialise domain capture service and grab the domain and return it – all free of charge.
Instead, the [...]
September 28, 2007
How to publish RSS feeds
by Brian TurnerThere are a load of different reasons why you may want to publish a RSS feed on your site.
Commonly you may want to publish specific items to a certain page on your site, or else publish latest posts or similar in your navigation for human users and search engines.
Certainly Platinax uses a couple of different [...]
September 26, 2007
7 Wordpress plugins for better indexing
by Brian TurnerWordpress offers a potentially great solution for building a CMS.
However, as the site grows, ensuring that search engines and human users can properly find your content can become a challenge.
Luckily, there are a couple of great Wordpress Plugins already available which can help resolve this issue.
When implemented, they should be able to help improve your [...]
September 12, 2007
How paid bloggers can protect their blogs
by Brian TurnerPaid blog? Protect your site!
Whether you agree with services that pay for blog posts or not, the fact is that these have now become an integral feature of the internet.
The market in paid or sponsored blogging has reached a point that entrepreneurial bloggers can balance earning money while maintaining a valued audience.
What many bloggers taking [...]
July 16, 2007
Google to launch new webmaster tag
by Brian TurnerGoogle have revealed that they are introducing a new tag for webmasters to use, to prevent Google displaying temporary webpages.
Dan Crow, director of crawl systems at Google, while speaking at a presentation in New England, revealed that Google planned to launch the new tag – currently known as “unavailable_after†which will allow people to tell [...]
July 5, 2007
Jelsoft sold as vbulletin blogs go live
by Brian TurnerJelsoft – the developers of popular community messageboard software vbulletin – has announced that it has been sold to US company Internet Brands.
Closely following the announcement came news that Jelsoft has released Project Tools – a Project Management tool integrated into vbulletin.
Jelsoft also have a beta version of vbulletin blogs – a blog software platform [...]
June 27, 2007
Google Adsense offers rounded corner ads
by Brian TurnerGoogle has announced that it’s Google Adsense contextual advertising program now offers ads in a rounded corner box.
Previously, ads were served up as squares or rectangles with sharp angular corners. However, now ads can be selected to have rounded corners.
The aim is to allow Google Adsense ads to blend in more suitably with websites which [...]
June 26, 2007
Paypal to get new website design
by Brian TurnerWith Paypal having recently moved to Luxembourg, and with Google Checkout chasing on their heels, Paypal are now applying a new redesign to their website.
Interestingly enough, after their last redesign in September 2004, it seems Paypal are going retro, with their new design reclaiming the silvered login box that used to help define their site [...]
June 24, 2007
Moderator Guidelines
by Brian TurnerThe following is a standard set of guidelines I post up in my forums for new moderators and supermoderators to reference.
The guideline provides specific technical information on vbulletin moderator tools, but the principles can apply to any forum.
Importantly, I always create a private section for staff to access, which comprises at least a Staff Room, [...]
June 18, 2007
Tradedoubler affiliate sales hit by tracking errors
by Brian TurnerA number of popular affiliate programs in the insurance market have been hit by sitewide tracking errors, preventing affiliates from being credited with sales they generated.
The affiliate programs involved include those for major insurance companies, such as Directline, Prudential, Privilege, and Churchill, who run popular affiliate schemes through Tradedoubler for a range of insurance products, [...]
May 2, 2007
Basic install and optimisation of a vbulletin forum
by Brian TurnerBasic install and optimisation of a vbulletin forum
When it comes to online messageboards, vBulletin Forum Software offers the most powerful solution out there.
It not only looks professional, it also offers the most comprehensive set of administrator and user controls across the range of software options out there.
It’s also naturally search engine friendly – something [...]
April 16, 2007
.eu domain is third in Europe
by Jan HarrisThe .eu domain celebrated its first birthday by notching up over 2.5 million registrations, a large majority of them from businesses.
According to the European Registry of Internet Domain Names (EURid), the not-for-profit organisation which controls the domain, .eu is now Europe’s third most popular top-level domain and the seventh most popular in the world. [...]
March 30, 2007
Paypal goes Pro in the UK
by Brian TurnerPaypal have announced the launch of their Website Payments Pro system into the UK.
The system integrates a combination of merchant account as well as payment processor, and offers three main integration options: Express Checkout, Direct Payment API and Virtual Terminal.
While Paypal have received bad publicity in the past, not least because it is so commonly [...]
March 23, 2007
Dell develops virtualisation-capable server
by Jan HarrisDell’s PowerEdge division is developing a server optimised to run virtualisation software.
Virtualisation allows a single computer to run multiple operating systems in compartments called virtual machines. This both increases efficiency and reduces costs.
The technology can be combined with multicore processors which let a single chip handle the work of two or four single-core [...]
Yahoo provides OneSearch for mobile users
by Jan HarrisYahoo has launched an Internet search system for users of internet-enabled mobile phones.
The service will start in the US, but will be rolled-out to international markets later in 2007.
The service, called OneSearch, which was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics show in January, will focus on providing local information rather than just a list [...]
March 9, 2007
Adobe developing photo-authentication tools
by Brian TurnerAdobe researchers are developing two plug-ins for PhotoShop which could detect whether or not a photo has been retouched. Demand for photo-authentication tools is growing in response to the increase in news being spread via blogs and photo-sharing websites.
Adobe is collaborating with Professor Hani Farid, an expert in photo and image fraud detection, on [...]
Wikia to build search engine
by Brian TurnerWikia, the commercial version of non-profit online encyclopedia Wikipedia, is planning to build a search engine which could capture up to 5% of the Internet search market. The search engine would aim to compete with market leaders Google and Yahoo.
The news was revealed by Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, at a news conference in [...]