Satisfaction with LAMP and Web Open Source

Many computer users complain about Microsoft products, even about the mostly used product of Microsoft: WINDOWS. Familiar complaints include, “they don’t let the user alter his own settings,” and “they don’t leave us free to do whatever we want.” We see the same concept in the for-sale templates and in the servers which are built for lowest user input (like Microsoft Servers, ASP, etc.). The executable binary – .exe – is all you get from closed-source proprietary sources.

Don’t you think the user deserves to see the source files, to understand the error message that keeps on popping up, to learn how to make that widget default to a different directory, or how to add a cool new function? Don’t you think the user should be in charge of his or her own product instead of the monopolizing producer of the program? Once you see the code, you already started down the path of becoming an Open Source programmer. That’s the beauty of Open Source.

Do you really think LINUX was built by a big corporation? Or that the APACHE server was a side tool to newly released software? Or that the PHP language was invented by a group of scientists and licensed for free? All of them were created by some intelligent student or a professional coder who wanted something specific for their needs. After the core was created and released, all interested programmers or those who were in need of new functions contributed to the program somehow. Then in time, they became the foundations of the web as we know it today.

The philosophy of Open Source software among other things is that many hands and eyes make for good software, unlike too many cooks spoiling the soup. Bugs are more likely to be caught, and more importantly, fixed, if everyone has access to the source. As in cryptography, closed systems cannot be proven to be free of flaws or errors. While it’s no guarantee that bugs exist, open systems can be examined for flaws; closed systems can only be tested against known bugs (security through obscurity). It is the “unknown unknowns” that can bite you.

So briefly, it is quite obvious that LAMP (LINUX, APACHE, MySQL, PHP, PERL) dominates the Internet web. The reason is that LAMP gives value to the user input and this makes it easily adaptable for different purposes and very flexible for different usages. If you want programs to use for web purposes which you can easily modify and for which you can learn a lot from and thusly turn into a developer yourself, then do not give up using LAMP or other open source software.

Content Management Systems Beneficial to Dynamic Web Programming

One of the most innovative benefits of dynamic web programming is content management systems that make the life of internet content editors easy and their work visually attractive.

Imagine that you are the editor of an online newspaper or magazine. You are creative in your writings and very knowledgeable about the content you write about. However, these skills alone are not good enough to be able to work in an online “news” source. You must have at least the very basic knowledge on the functions and the tags of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). You must be able to create codes for the presentations of your articles. This process of writing web articles can be very frustrating (and exhausting) if you have never heard about CMS’s (Content Management Systems).

Content Management Systems are almost like personal automated web page authors. You write your articles, surveys, and rating systems as if you are using a word processor or a visual editing program. Driven by the data you put in, the CMS stores all of these in a database and then translates them into HTML. CMS basically acts like a translator between you and the browsers by creating very user friendly graphical interfaces.

CMS generally have a front-end and a back-end. The front-end obviously refers to the face of the site that each visitor sees. The back-end is the user-friendly graphical interface where you can edit your content or the template with the help of the many wizards that are supplied by these systems. Let’s say you needed to write a code for a user-upload function in the site, or a survey system that would enable users to vote on your articles; you don’t even need to touch Dreamweaver, Frontpage, or any kind of HTML editor; there are already hundreds of modules that are written for different CMS’s. You just download the module to your server and install it.

There are loads of CM systems online that are presented as freeware. However, below are two suggestions for different user groups;

Typo3: If you think yourself a professional and think that you can deal with some PHP coding, this robust and very flexible system is just for you.

Mambo: If you say “No, thanks. I don’t want to deal with PHP coding, I am doing this as a hobby”, then Mambo should be your choice since it does not require the user to change much and is already supported by many ready-to-install modules and templates.

In summary, CMS makes our life much easier then before and our sites much more attractive. They are the “operating systems”, personal coders and free translators of the web.

Philippine Web Designer

If you have a business then you must a website and that is why cebu web design comes in. Even how small your business are in todays business competition, if you don’t have a website you are considered to loss. Powerful-web-designs has so simple designs, but most of our clients has an edge over their competitor due to their presence in the web.

According to new study from the most popular business experts, during years of 2004 down below, making websites is just an option for business owners if they want to have it or not but, in year 2005 up to present having a website is mandatory for all business owners otherwise they will loose, so web design portfolio, is the company that offers a web design not only in Cebu, Philippines but also in other countries worlwide.

In Asia, philippine web design has gained an edge from their counterparts in europe due to low cost of living, and not only that it can cater also not only local clients but also international clients as matter of fact philippine web designer become more lucrative job now in the Philippines than before 2 years ago because, you can earn dollars even you just work at home.

Clean and Simple Web Design Secrets

We live in a technologically-exciting world. Even brand new webmasters today can make use of easy to master web design tools that add functionality only a web programmer could have dreamed of just a couple of years ago.

And that is great, right? Wrong! Quite the opposite is true.

The accessibility of such web mastering tools has resulted in hundreds of “junk” websites that have so much going on at every page that the web surfer is completely overwhelmed.

Some of these web pages have as many as 7 or 8 distinct content areas contained on an 800 by 600 pixel screen… a flashing header graphic, several paragraphs of text, an opt in form, Google ads, Amazon ads, affiliate links, audio and/or video buttons to push, and sometimes even more.

Don’t be tempted to make such glaring mistakes. It is unlikely that most web visitors will successfully navigate such a site. There are too many decisions to make, too many distractions. And the content is completely lost among all the technology and advertising.

So, what is the answer? Most successful webmasters today–that is webmasters who have visitors coming back over and over to their site and who are making money and/or getting some other desired response–will tell you that the answer is clean and simple web design. Usability is the key.

Great website designs focus on 3 basic values: simplicity, clarity, and speed. In other words, you need a site that is visually appealing, but at the same time downloads quickly and is easy to navigate.

To design a site that has visual appeal, you can make use of simple graphics, color, and graphical text. At all costs, stay away from flashing animations and busy backgrounds. In fact, a white, cream, or light yellow background with black or dark blue text is best, if you want the majority of visitors to be able to read your text easily.

It isn’t necessary to be an accomplished graphic artist to design a visually pleasing content site. Grab a photo or two from a free stock photo site such as http://www.sxc.hu, add some colored text and a tagline using a graphics program like Windows Paint or Paint Shop Pro, and that’s all that is needed for a header.

Navigation should be simple text links or buttons, either across the top, right under the header, or down the left or right side of the screen. Make sure the text labels clearly indicate what the user will find when he or she clicks on them.

An optin form and one or two simple ads can also be placed in the left or right panes, with your content in the main center panel. Your content pane should be the largest area on the screen, so that it draws the reader’s focus.

Clean and simple web design extends to the layout of your content too. Text is most readable when it is in “chunks.” This means short sentences and paragraphs of no more than 2 to 4 sentences each. Make liberal use of colored subheadings and bullets. Sprinkle a graphic or two per page to break up the text and add visual interest. Use margins (padding) around your text, so that it doesn’t bump up against the edges of your navigation and ad panels. Lots of white space is crucial.

In summary, many beginning webmasters (and even some more experienced ones!) think that squeezing as much functionality into every page as possible is the right approach. It is not. What will keep people on your site and keep them coming back as well, is a clean, simple, easy to navigate design.