WordPress is my absolute favourite Content Management System (CMS)

It’s simple, has an amazing range of free and low cost plugins that can provide amazing functionality and the core system is free. I typically use it in my own web space, but you can also use WordPress hosting if you choose including free options.

Unfortunately WordPress is not a set and forget type of website and there are a couple of important routine tasks that  need to be carried out, particularly to keep hackers at bay and.

Updates
WordPress is a sophisticated system which is continually evolving,  so there is a stream of regular updates to correct minor issues, to introduce new functionality and even to protect us all from hackers.

A typical WordPress installation also has plugins and a theme and these elements may have updates from their creators  from time to time as well.

In WordPress’ standard form, you’ll need to log into your WordPress site from time to time and check for any available updates.

Goto Dashboard | Updates to see a summary page of any outstanding updates

You can click on any or all to perform the updates quickly and easily

NB Its important that you backup your site before you perform updates so that if it all goes astray you can roll back to a working website

Smart Updates
Performing updates is made very easy with the use of the Plugin Central plugin which shows all updates in your Dashboard – nice!

If don’t login on a regular basis  the WP Updates Notifier Plugin is for you.
It will send you an email if there are any updates waiting for your site – Very handy indeed!

So updates are easy and can be made even easer with these smart plugins

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An American survey last year found that over 70% of respondents would rather die than speak in public (no, it doesn’t seem logical to us either). But what’s the worst that can happen ? Spontaneous combustion, loss of bowel control, frozenitis ?

Here’s a few quick public speaking tips to help to settle your nerves -

1 – the audience are as nervous as you are (that’s why hardly anyone sits at the front unless it’s full)

2 – most audience members can only absorb around 30% of what you present (this actually leaves plenty of room for error – and without being noticed)

3 -using a visual aid can avert attention from you (involving the audience is an even better way of moving the spotlight from you to them – done well it can also be great fun)

4 – the audience want you to succeed not fail (they want to be impressed not bored)

We hope these simple tips help.  But if you want to learn more or enrol in our corporate presentation workshops just send a message and we’ll forward some info.

Don’t let nerves get in the way of your inherent ability to communicate, educate and entertain – anyone can do it (ask Ricky Gervais !)

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• copy fonts from macintosh to mac formatted usb flash drive
• take usb drive and insert it into windows computer
• convert files using transmac program or do a font conversion using transtype pro (or could try cross font)

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1. Watch out for htaccess hacks Ive just stumbled across a couple of sites that have...

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A 2 Hour Workshop plus a 2 hour one-on-one session FREE!

OK, you know you need to write something good
but where do you start? And what info do you put where?
Come along to this workshop and find out.

This fun, interactive non-techie workshop has brainstorming,
working in pairs and time for Q&A.

In 2 hours we’ll cover –
• a basic site plan
• what to put on your home page
• what type of info to put on each page
• writing and design tips
• basic do’s and don’ts to hopefully keep you out of trouble!

Participants also get a 2 hour one-on-one follow-up brainstorming
session with Karen, VALUED at $264 for FREE – compliments of NWBDC.

When:    Tuesday 14th June 5:30pm-7:30pm
Where:   North West Business Development Centre
Todd Street Business Chambers
6 Todd Street, Port Adelaide

Cost:      $55 inc GST – email Karen and we’ll send you payment details.
Book:    karen@copywithcream.com.au

Seats are strictly limited for this June 14 session, so email Karen
to book your seat now! karen@copywithcream.com.au

Presented by: Karen Zaskolny, owner of Copy with Cream and
an NWBDC Approved Consultant.

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Due to a clash between Apple and Adobe, our beloved iphones, ipads and ipod touches can not display adobe flash files. That hasn’t changed but Adobe, owner of Flash, has created an application that will help website developers convert their flash files to html5 friendly files.

Here is an excerpt from Adobe

“Wallaby is an application to convert Adobe Flash Professional CS5 files (.FLA) to HTML5. Wallaby has a very simple UI which accepts as input a FLA file and exports HTML and support files to a user-selected folder.”

Here is a link to the Adobe site

http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Wallaby#Release_Notes

David Radzikiewicz
A7Designs

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Unfortunately many/most of the viable dot com domains have been snapped up, often by  ’domain sitters’ who speculate on exactly this situation. When you approach them to see if you can purchase the rights to the domain, the asking prices can seem to be astronomical, even when the Aussie dollar is on par with the US one

If you are unlucky enough to be seeking a domain that has already been claimed, and you would still like to buy the rights to it then the following might save you some angst and maybe even some cash.

Domains sitters do this for a living
They are unlikely to be persuaded by anything but money and they’ll try to get as much as possible.
So dont give them any reason to think that you are desperate to get the domain in question or the price will skyrocket

Don’t use your business email address
If you email the seller using your business  email address then you’re giving them information that might impact your ability to negotiate the domain price:

It helps them find out more about your business.
If your  business is linked to the domain, either directly via your website or through online tools that reveal who owns a domain
then the seller can find out more about you, the business and if they perceives the business is an established (i.e. cashed up) their domain pricing expectations might increase.

Are you already committed to the domain?
If your email is sent via an email address that uses the Australian version of the domain you’re trying to buy, then the buyer will see that you are committed to that specific domain. This will also change their perception of what you are prepared to pay.

Try creating an impression that you are considering several domain options, not just the one they have, and that you would consider purchasing their domain more seriously if the price was right.

Who ‘owns’ the domain?
You should be aware that no one ‘owns’ a domain, but you ‘lease’ the rights to use the domain until you don’t renew the lease anymore, or you transfer rights to someone else. Domains details including the current registered parties are stored in the domain details which are then managed/administrated and renewals invoiced by domain registrars.

The Australian Domain Name Administrator (AUDA)  is the self-regulated body that provides policy etc for Australian Domains. The AUDA website  provides a list of  Accredited Domain Registrars who are authorised by auDA to provide services to people who want to register a new domain name, renew their existing domain name, or make changes to their domain name record.

WhoIS
If you want to find the current registered owner of a domain you can use a Whois facility like the one at http://whois.domaintools.com

How much should you pay for a domain?
I have been involved in negotiating domain purchases for several thousand dollars, and while asking prices in the tens of thousands of dollars is not uncommon none of the succesful negotisations have cost quite this much.

Sedo also have a domain valuation service where for a small fee they valuate the domain you might be seeking while might be helpful input into your negotiation, although ultimately the purchase price must be struck between you and the seller.

How do you buy a domain?
I would strongly recommend you don’t deal directly with the seller for the actual financial/domain transfer transaction, but use a broker.
Sedo provides this along with an escrow facility  to ensure both parties get the outcome they seek and the costs are very modest indeed.

Ultimately if you want a particular domain the seller can dictate the price so as they say buyer beware…

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We’ve written these on the common issues and misunderstandings we find in our  small business mentoring programs; SEO presentations and client engagements.

We’ve done our best to keep these light and short (we’ve made them succinct i.e. less than 10 pages)  yet with enough relevant facts for business folks to understand how to get improved sales exposure online.

There’s whitepapers on:

• Discovering your target keywords
• Linking to success
• Is your website search engine friendly?
• Purposeful Blogging

There’s also our 100+ page How to DIY SEO eBook

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The Google Help on automate talks about this new facility being able to automate changes to a bid, budget, or status on part of your account (scoped/filtered lists of keywords, campaigns, ad groups, or ads) that are triggered at a particular time.

This will help to improve administrative productivity for simple campaign edits but I ‘d be concerned by inappropriately implemented bid or budget automations going wildly out of control…

The other potential issue is that automation  may distance users from their campaigns with a “set and forget” disregard which could also come unraveled.

Never the less a nice feature & Im keen to see how it can be applied… when we get it here anyway…

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Joomla and WordPress are popular Content Management Systems (CMS). They are popular for many reasons, such as they are easy to use and there are no subscription fees. As a website designer, I get many inquiries about clients that would like to have a CMS incorporated in their site. Many people like the idea of being able to update their own sites, which can be a good idea.

When Joomla and WordPress make sense to use:
If you are updating your site often, such as every week or two, it can be a cost effective way of managing a website. It also is a good way to become familiar with the CMS interface, which means it shouldn’t take you an excessive amount of time to remember how to make the changes to your site.

They are also good systems for promoting interaction with your clients as they may offer ways for people to leave comments on your site which can help enrich your site.

When using Joomla and WordPress may not make sense to use:
If you don’t need (or want) your website updated very often, such as every six months or a year, it may not make sense to have a CMS, like Joomla or WordPress. There are many reasons for this, first the cost, compared to a standard html site can be higher, as it may take the designer longer to tweak the CMS to set up, and as we all know, time is money.

Security; The Joomla and WordPress communities are dedicated to keeping their respective scripts as hacker resistant as possible. But the systems are targets for attack as there are many people who look to exploit weaknesses in code to mess up people’s sites. Website designers can keep the software up to date but they need to charge the client for the time it takes to update the scripts.

Backups: If you are updating your own site you need to make sure that you have a method in place to make backups of your site. If there is a website server failure or your site is hacked you need to make sure that you have a recent backup.

Remembering how to use the system: It’s like anything you use, if you use it a lot, it is easy. If you don’t, you may struggle to remember how to operate it, wasting your time and money (let alone the frustration!).

An advantage to having your webdesigner maintain your site is that the upfront costs may be lower using an html site, plus if there is a server failure, the web designer should have the most recent copy of your site.

David Radzikiewicz
www.a7designs.com.au

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