Pacweb Internet http://www.pacweb.co.uk web design and development resources, services and discussion Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:28:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 Mobile Phone Applications http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2010/03/mobile-phone-applications/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2010/03/mobile-phone-applications/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:16:53 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=219 I have recently been looking for applications to increase the productivity of my mobile phone. Although an iPhone would be ideal I will have to make do with my current java phone until my contract comes to an end and I can upgrade.

By far the best app I found to breathe a new lease of life to my ageing mobile is Opera Mini which is a decent full page web browser with zoom which makes the web useable on the mobile instead of being limited to good wap sites like e-bay and facebook.

As far as finding other useful apps goes you cant go wrong with a visit to getjar.

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2010/03/mobile-phone-applications/feed/ Windows Live http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/09/windows-live/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/09/windows-live/#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:47:00 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/09/windows-live/ I have just installed some new windows live applications that you may be interested in.

http://download.live.com/wlmail

Probably the most useful one for me is the outlook connector for live mail.  I am often late answering e-mails sent to my live account as I need to log in to hotmail to see them.

In the past hotmail has supported pop3 but then dropped support for it.  With the connector I can now access my hotmail account through outlook 2003.  - Just downloading the last 12 years of e-mails that I haven’t managed properly.

Another handy tool is the Windows Live Writer which allows me to write and publish my blog posts from a desktop application.  I am writing this article in Windows Live Writer now as a test.  All I had to do was set the xml publishing option in Wordpress settings to allow the application to publish blogs to my website.

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/09/windows-live/feed/ Free Color Scheme Designer http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/09/color-scheme-designer/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/09/color-scheme-designer/#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:51:24 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=206 This is just a quick post linking to the best color scheme designer I have found on the web.

I used to use it a lot and then couldn’t find it when I needed it again.

So now it is here I shouldn’t loose it again.

Check it out - its a great way to apply color theory and ensure your websites look nice.

color scheme designer

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/09/color-scheme-designer/feed/ Booking Availability Calendar http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/05/booking-availability-calendar/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/05/booking-availability-calendar/#comments Sun, 17 May 2009 19:29:13 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=189 AmR Clearskys Availability modification for 2.7

I have recently been looking at availability calendars for use on Word Press and found this great little plugin that has been adapted for Word Press 2.7 by Anmari.

The plugin allows you to manage bookings on 1 or more properties via the Word Press admin panel and allows you to display the availability in a neat calendar as shown below in my test booking calendar.

March 2010
SMTWTFS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   
April 2010
SMTWTFS
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 
May 2010
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
June 2010
SMTWTFS
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930   
July 2010
SMTWTFS
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
August 2010
SMTWTFS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    
September 2010
SMTWTFS
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
October 2010
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
November 2010
SMTWTFS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    
December 2010
SMTWTFS
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
January 2011
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
February 2011
SMTWTFS
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728     

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/05/booking-availability-calendar/feed/ CSS Image Rollovers with No Javascript http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/02/css-image-rollovers-with-no-javascript/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/02/css-image-rollovers-with-no-javascript/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:46:30 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=162 .my-rollover { display: block; height: 25px; width: 100px; border: solid 1px black; background-image: url('http://www.pacweb.co.uk/Images/CSSRollover/Btn-Bikes.png'); } a.my-rollover:hover { background-position: -100px 0; }

Up until recently I have always relied on javascript to create image replacement and
image rollover techniques and haven’t really thought about alternatives. As far as I was
concerned javascript was just the way it was done.

The problem with javascript is that the rollover image has to be preloaded for it to
create a smooth effect and it doesn’t work in all browsers, especially with many people turning javascript support off for security reasons

This is why I have been converted to the use of CSS for all my image rollovers from now on.
They are supported in any browser that renders css and they even work with javascript disabled creating an instant smooth effect

OK, enough with the background lets look at an example CSS image rollover:

So how is it done?

Start by preparing your image for your rollover, I have used photoshop CS2 but you can create the image with any image editing software.

First of all create the standard button with these settings

I have filled in the background and applied a gradient, added text with a bevel and a small bike graphic.

When you have finished creating the standard button, group it into a folder then increase the size of your canvas to double it’s width, such as:

You should end up with a canvas similar to this:

Now duplicate your group and position it to the right of your standard button graphic

Make changes to the second group, this will act as the rollover state

Here I have changed the background gradient and used a colour overlay on the bike graphic

You should end up with an image similar to this

Save it for the web, I have saved as a png

Lets make it work

Armed with our prepared rollover image it just takes a simple bit of coding to get it working

Place the following html inside the <body> tag where you want your rollover to appear.


<a class="my-rollover" target="_blank" href="http://www.iwanttoridemybicycle.co.uk"></a>

Then in your stylesheet add the following style for my-rollover, make sure you change the background-image url to point to your own rollover image


.my-rollover {
  display: block;
  height: 25px; width: 100px;
  border: solid 1px black;
  background-image: url('Images/Btn-Bikes.png');
}
a.my-rollover:hover { background-position: -100px 0; }

This will set up the a tag to only show the first 100px of your image. When the mouse rolls over the image the :hover style will move the background image 100px to the left which brings your over state into view. No javascript, no preloading, no mess, what more could you want in a rollover?

This technique can be modified for any size of image, just change the height, width and background-position values

This technique was introduced to me by Rob at Swansea Digital Web Design

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/02/css-image-rollovers-with-no-javascript/feed/ ASP.NET 2 LoginView Inside FormView Data Binding Problem http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/01/aspnet-2-loginview-inside-formview-data-binding-problem/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/01/aspnet-2-loginview-inside-formview-data-binding-problem/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:46:15 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=146 I was recently working on an ASP.NET 2 application which uses the SQL Membership Provider for User Role Management.  While customising the output of the forms in the admin area using the LoginView I encountered a bug in asp.net 2.  This bug wasted a lot of time debugging and scratching my head wondering what was wrong.

For some reason all the controls that I had moved into a LoginView were no longer binding to the DataSource used by the FormView.  I spent a lot of time looking for an answer on Google and the only post I could find about this problem is:

LoginView not showing databound controls
http://social.expression.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/web/thread/676ca185-6ff6-4419-b79b-102cbd1a7314/

This post identifies the problem occurs when an edit, delete or insert operation is performed on the FormView.

This led to to my work around for the problem:

Instead of using the command buttons provided by the FormView to change its mode I replaced the form view command buttons with standard buttons with the following code behind:

Protected Sub EditButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
    Dim strURL As String = “EditScript.aspx”
    If Request.QueryString(“sid”) <> “” Then
      strURL &= “?sid=” & Request.QueryString(“sid”) & “&method=edit”
    End If
    Response.Redirect(strURL)
End Sub

Instead of just changing the FormViews CurrentMode the button handler redirects to the script with a couple of query string parameters to tell the form what behaviour is required.

The page_load event then checks these query strings and modifies the FormView accordingly, when using this method to change the FormViews mode the databndings will display the data bound to them inside the LoginView controls.

Because the two-way binding is also affected for controls inside the LoginView, the next step is to intercept the FormViews updating, inserting, deleting events etc to load the value from the LoginViews into the DataSources parameters.

I haven’t had time to experiment with alternatives such as changing the FormView.CurrentMode in the handler instead of redirecting but if anyone knows of a neater solution then please post comments.

If you need code samples for the rest of my work around then please let me know.

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2009/01/aspnet-2-loginview-inside-formview-data-binding-problem/feed/ Free Flash Charting Control for ASP.NET, PHP and More http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/12/free-flash-charting-control-for-aspnet-php-and-more/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/12/free-flash-charting-control-for-aspnet-php-and-more/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:25:32 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=78

I have recently been working on a management dashboard for an e-commerce website and needed a good charting control to display an overview of sales, registrations etc.

After a brief crawl on the web I came across Fusion Charts. The controls are as neat and easy to use as any of the premium solutions I could find, but best of all, the basic package is completely free, even for commercial use.

The free version of Fusion Charts is not lacking in functionality either, with a huge range of charts and good examples of code for multiple platforms you will be suprised how quickly you can get a really professional and useful chart integrated with your application. Below is a simple example of Fusion Charts in action:

Integration of the charts is as simple as copying the chart folder to the root of your application, creating the required xml data then embedding your chart in your html page. A sample of the xml data can be seen below:

<graph caption='Monthly Unit Sales' xAxisName='Month' yAxisName='Units' showNames='1' decimalPrecision='0' formatNumberScale='0'>
<set name='Jan' value='462' color='AFD8F8' />
<set name='Feb' value='857' color='F6BD0F' />
<set name='Mar' value='671' color='8BBA00' />
<set name='Apr' value='494' color='FF8E46' />
<set name='May' value='761' color='008E8E' />
<set name='Jun' value='960' color='D64646' />
<set name='Jul' value='629' color='8E468E' />
<set name='Aug' value='622' color='588526' />
<set name='Sep' value='376' color='B3AA00' />
<set name='Oct' value='494' color='008ED6' />
<set name='Nov' value='761' color='9D080D' />
<set name='Dec' value='960' color='A186BE' />
</graph>

Fusion charts have now appeared all over my applications and I still haven’t run out of options, but I know that if I do need more charting power I can easily upgrade to their premium charting controls which have all the charting functionality you could think of.

Fusion charts have great examples for chart integration with PHP, ASP, VB.NET (ASP.NET) and C# (ASP.NET) you can find out more at http://www.fusioncharts.com/Free/

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/12/free-flash-charting-control-for-aspnet-php-and-more/feed/ Free Directory Submission Software http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/11/free-directory-submission-software/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/11/free-directory-submission-software/#comments Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:51:12 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=51

Pacweb Directory Submitter Pro

Thanks to IMBuzz Pacweb can now offer Free Directory Submission Software to help you gain those all important back links to your web sites.

  • 200 Directories Included
  • Add, Edit and Delete Directories
  • Manage Multiple SEO Back Link Building Projects
  • Gain one way back links to your web site
  • Alternate Title and Description to target multiple keywords and avoid spamming the same term
  • Simple to use interface

Pacweb Directory Submitter Pro Offers all the funtionailty found in similar paid for products and even some advanced features like maintaining your own lists of directories which are hard to find in even some of the most well known directory submission applications.

By maintaining your own directory list you will never need another directory submission program, and best of all its free.

DSP Screen 1

Directory Submitter Pro - Full Screen

Directory Submitter Pro - Directory

Directory Submitter Pro - Directory

Directory Submitter Pro - Directories

Directory Submitter Pro - Directories

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/11/free-directory-submission-software/feed/ ie6 png transparency http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/10/ie6-png-transparency/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/10/ie6-png-transparency/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:56:58 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=40 ie6 png transparency problem example image

ie6 png transparency problem example image

I recently encountered an issue regarding png transparency on older browsers whilst developing a website targeted at schools.

The web site used png transparency to display rounded corders and tabs over a sky background.  It worked well in all modern browsers but in ie6 and lower the png transparency was replaced by an ugly grey box.

Due to the project specifications identifying ie6 in the browser compatibility list it was necessary to find a solution to the problem.

I spent some time researching possible solutions and tried a few out, some worked, some were difficult to implement and others just didn’t seem to work at all.  After some time I settled upon a solution and have documented it with the following example:

ie6 png transparency problem

The solution involves 2 methods for dealing with png transparency, one to handle img tags in the html and one to handle css background images.  I have also documented how to overcome the issue with non clickable links after implementing the css only png transparency solution.

]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/10/ie6-png-transparency/feed/ Google de-indexing BANS web sites http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/09/google-de-indexing-bans-web-sites/ http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/09/google-de-indexing-bans-web-sites/#comments Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:57:28 +0000 The Mod http://www.pacweb.co.uk/?p=20 For those of you who aren’t familiar with BANS it is a great php script that makes it very easy to Build A Niche Store (BANS) and works with the eBay Affiliate program.  You can find out more about BANS at http://www.buildanichestore.com/.

Unfortunately it appears that Google is currently targeting these stores and removing them from their index.  This is because in the growing popularity of the BANS system there has been a huge influx of BANS stores, many of which are regarded as “Thin Affiliate Sites” or “SPAM Sites”.

A close friend of mine has heard from a Google engineer that they have hard coded the removal of BANS stores from the index and are asking BANS store owners to request re-inclusion via Googles Web Master Tools.  This enables Google to remove all “Thin Affiliate” web sites and only consider re-inclusion for genuine BANS store owners who have put the extra effort in to creating an eBay Affiliate store with something else to offer.

In my opinion it is an unfair way for Google to deal with these stores and feel that legitimate BANS users should not be punished for the SPAMMERS creating thin affiliate stores, however, I can also understand that for Google to vet every BANS store fully would be a tall order even for Google.

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]]> http://www.pacweb.co.uk/2008/09/google-de-indexing-bans-web-sites/feed/