What is Jomsocial?

Jomsocial is a social network that you can customize for your likings. This system has a great back-end and is fully customizable for a programmer and designer.

What can you do with Jomsocial?

Build your own social network with your own logos, graphics and themes. Customize the look of your community through CSS edits; or use the included templates to get your community up and running in no time.

Create unlimited special-interest groups with Jomsocial and manage them all easily. Add more members to your groups by inviting your friends and hide any group you wish with our unique Privacy Settings.

Get real-time updates on friends’ daily activities through Jomsocial Activity Stream. Follow personal blogs and Twitter posts from one location.

Creating photo albums to share with friends is as easy as 1-2-3! Get your friends to comment on your photos, and as an admin, delete the community photos you deem inappropriate. You have total control over your community.

Process Book is attached.

flyprofiler_process_book

Great list of things to look at for making a Avatar

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090300513

More Java Information on creating a chat system.

http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-01-1997/jw-01-chat.html

Corporate Layout

I like how this site is structured.

http://www.hintongroup.com/

Another Chat Demonstration

http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/javascript-ajax/how-to-create-a-simple-web-based-chat-application/

XML vs JSON

JSON should be used instead of XML whenever you are transferring data to or from Javascript. The reason for this is that when you use XML in javascript, you must write script or use libraries to handle the DOM objects to extract the data you need, whereas with JSON, the data format creates a Javascript object directly. This keeps overhead down and requires less cpu usage when preparing the data, not to mention it also decreases the amount of code you must write. There are many libraries out there for all the widely used languages for handling JSON with ease. This is debatable, but I also believe that even in a non-native language, parsing JSON will be faster due simply to a more lightweight data structure. In XML there is a lot of bytes wasted and more memory required by the parser to keep track of tag names of varying sizes. Also, some languages such as PHP 5, actually have built-in libraries for handling JSON! Very cool!

JSON

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/383692/what-is-json-and-why-would-i-use-it

Second Life

Taking a look at www.secondlife.com

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims:_3d_Software_Guide

Making a Flash Avatar

Since I have gained research on creating an avatar. I was told flash would be best to create this system.
http://wiki.whirled.com/Simple_avatar_%28Flash_tutorial%29

Php Open Source Chat

Great php chats to preview and customize.
http://opensourcescripts.com/dir/PHP/Chat/

Making a Flash Avatar

Since Iv gained research on creating an avatar. I was told flash would be best to create this system.
http://wiki.whirled.com/Simple_avatar_%28Flash_tutorial%29

PHP Chat

I found this site use full for my chat system idea.

http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/PHP/Chat-Systems/

The power of Joomla

Rocketheme.com truely show joomlas potential in getting information out there. Since I really know wordpress and its functionality. I feel it’s time to go with joomla to increase my knowledge of the most popular cms systems.
http://demo.rockettheme.com/?template=quantive

Facebook’s Open Source

Booyah! If you like something that facebook offers as an application then here is their open source development .

http://developers.facebook.com/opensource/

Oh yeah this is it!

I found an awesome chat tutorial and it’s just like facebook!!!

http://gausarts.com/iblog/create-facebook-chat-panel-your-own-website

Tutorials!!!

Awesome tutorials on ajax.

http://designsadvice.com/ajax/30-of-the-best-ajax-tutorials

Chat Backbone.

http://www.devarticles.com/c/a/XML/Building-an-AJAXBased-Chat-The-Barebones-Structure/

News on IM Chat Bar

I am getting a little bit closer to on how to make a chat bar similar to Facebook or Myspace. When I am searching for how to create this chat bar, I am looking for other program languages and so far Ajax has came to mind.

http://anantgarg.com/2009/05/13/gmail-facebook-style-jquery-chat/comment-page-2/#comment-1108

Avatars vs Instant Messaging

I am still concerned about what I should do to make my senior project site pop out. I don’t have any 3d modeling skills so learning the tools and making characters to perfection will be very difficult for me. My main focus is to learn more about programming and other languages. I think I have to put the creativity aside and start developing some kind of application that is universal for a lot of users.

Myspace IM Review

Reading this article gave me some insight on the instant messenger that myspace uses. Still haven’t found out how it’s made.

http://im.about.com/od/imreviews/fr/myspaceim.htm

Example: Xbox Live Avatars

I found this article very useful for what I am wanting to do.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/engineeringblog/default.htm

WordPress vs. Joomla vs. Drupal

I did some research on what content management system is best for. So here are the pros and cons.

WordPress
Pros

• Simple to use – No need for modifications
• Excellent for blogging or sharing thoughts in a sequential manner
• Even the most elderly of users can get the hang of it quickly

Cons

• Not developer friendly
• The community seems to like to complain
• Upgrades bring more bugs than fixes sometimes

Joomla
Pros

• Extremely developer friendly. If I loved code more I would almost always pick this system.
• Strong community to help discern the dozens (hundreds) of functions and tags available.
• Can be used to create some really awesome websites that can outperform a majority of other sites out there.

Cons

• Not very designer and user-friendly. It’s hard for someone with little code knowledge to make the leaps required to do the very cool things that Drupal is becoming known for.
• Teeming of Drupal has been a huge case of fail (until recently). Probably because it has been developers, not designers, that are making the themes.
• Getting a Drupal website published could cost you more time, and thus more money, than WordPress or Joomla.

Drupal
Pros

• Extremely developer friendly. If I loved code more I would almost always pick this system.
• Strong community to help discern the dozens (hundreds) of functions and tags available.
• Can be used to create some really awesome websites that can outperform a majority of other sites out there.

Cons

• Not very designer and user-friendly. It’s hard for someone with little code knowledge to make the leaps required to do the very cool things that Drupal is becoming known for.
• Theming of Drupal has been a huge case of fail (until recently). Probably because it has been developers, not designers, that are making the themes.
• Getting a Drupal website published could cost you more time, and thus more money, than WordPress or Joomla.

http://www.goodwebpractices.com/other/wordpress-vs-joomla-vs-drupal.html

Creative Brief

Here is the link to the creative brief as a .pdf file.

Fly Profiler Creative Brief

Microformats are:

• A way of thinking about data
• Design principles for formats
• Adapted to current behaviors and usage patterns (“Pave the cow paths.”)
• Highly correlated with semantic XHTML, AKA the real world semantics, AKA lowercase semantic web, AKA
  lossless XHTML
• A set of simple open data format standards that many are actively developing and implementing for more/better structured blogging and web microcontent publishing in general.
• “An evolutionary revolution”
• All the above.

Microformats are not:

• A new language
• Infinitely extensible and open-ended
• An attempt to get everyone to change their behavior and rewrite their tools
• A whole new approach that throws away what already works today
• A panacea for all taxonomies, ontologies, and other such abstractions
• Defining the whole world, or even just boiling the ocean
• Any of the above

The microformats principles:

• Solve a specific problem
• Start as simple as possible
• Design for humans first, machines second
• Reuse building blocks from widely adopted standards
• Modularity / embeddability
• Enable and encourage decentralized development, content, services

Website Advertising Rates (Blogs – Text Links)

Biid amounts can range anywhere between $0.20 and $6.00 for displaying cost-per-click ads. The greater payments is also varied by how much traffic is coming from your website. Websites that are related to TV, magazines and newspapers are included in high traffic statistics.

Bids are likely to go up during events like holidays, elections, etc.

Forbes.com Home Page $1.50-5.51
ComputerWorld.com $3.00-4.03
InfoWorld.com $3.00-6.02
USATODAY.com Home Page $1.00-6.54
FoxNews.com $0.50-3.12
ABC News – Home Page $1.00-4.03
ABC News – Technology $0.40-1.53
chicagotribune.com $0.40-2.21
Los Angeles Times $0.40-2.16
SFGate.com Home Page $0.75-3.25
LonelyPlanet.com $0.50-1.30
JavaWorld.com $3.00-4.00
LinuxWorld.com $3.00-4.00
ESPN.com $0.75-1.68
SeattleTimes.com $0.75-4.54
Seattle Times Tech $0.30-2.34
Houston Chronicle $1.00-2.26

While the above numbers are a good indication of the ongoing adverting rates for content targeted ads, they nowhere match the high rates of keyword targeted ads. Some keywords like “Student Loans”, “Mesothelioma” or “tax attorney” are known to cost advertisers in excess of $20.00 per click.

Step 1) Open notepad or any text editing program.

Step 2) Copy and paste the given code below and save your document as sitemap.php

<?php
/*
Template name: Sitemap
*/
?>

<?php get_header(); ?>

<div id=”container”>
<br />
<h2 id=”post-<?php the_ID(); ?>”><?php the_title();?></h2><br />

<h4>Pages:</h4>

<ul>
<?php wp_list_pages(‘title_li=’); ?>
</ul>

<br />
<h4>Posts by category:</h4>

<?php $cats= get_categories(); ?>

<?php foreach ($cats as $cat) { ?>

<?php query_posts(‘cat=’ . $cat->cat_ID); ?>

<h6><?php echo $cat->cat_name; ?></h6>

<ul>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<li>
<a href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>/#content” title=”<?php the_title(); ?>”><?php the_title(); ?></a>
(<?php echo $post->comment_count ?> Comments)
</li>
<?php endwhile; ?>
</ul>

<?php } ?>

<br />
<h4>Posts:</h4>

<ul>
<?php $my_query = new WP_Query(‘showposts=1000000′); ?>
<?php while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post(); $do_not_duplicate = $post->ID; ?>
<li><a href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>/#content” title=”<?php the_title(); ?>” ><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
<?php endwhile; ?>
</ul>

</div>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

Step 3) Upload the sitemap.php file into your server under /wp_content/themes/”Your theme name”/

Step 4) Sign in into your wordpress and create a new page and call it sitemap.

Step 5) Once your page is fully setup, set the template to sitemap

Step 6) And your done! now it is time to edit and design

Yes, just go to www.google.com/analytics and register.

How do you install Google Analytics?

Once you register, you must submit your domain into your domain list. Once your domain is inserted, Google will give you an javascript code to embed into your site. You must place this code underneath your meta keys.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytic’s is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you’re more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.

Here is a tutorial on how to use Google Analytics:

1. The site document could be missing from your server.
2. The site’s server could be down.
3. Javascript redirection or any type of redirection is incorrect

404 Error Custimization

The default look of an Error 404 page is very simple and plain. The page is not very attractive and it is not a bad idea to customize it. The default view can push users away from the site and lower your traffic. Yes it is page that is not a regular page but it still affects your website. You can use html, php and javascript to create the error page.

Default Page:

Here are some things you can include onto the page while customizing:

1) Your Logo
2) Page cannot be found & a reason why the cause of the error.
3) A list of ways to refer back to your website. For example your would say “Hit the back button to go back”.
4) Provide your website link.
5) Have a search box to only search your website’s information. This will help get the user to the place they want to be.

Customized error 404 page:

http://cutandtaste.com/404

Utilizing emails to send your website news around is a great way to spread your name. This technique is commonly called Newsletters. Newsletters include information about your website and is emailed to the recipients. The look of your newsletter can be designed or put in a basic format. A great site that makes newsletters easy is www.mailchimp.com, they also have a newsletter subscriber plugin for WordPress. Mailchimp is free but your only limited to a certain amount of subscribers.

When designing your newsletter it is best to use tables because using divs requires external files, which wouldn’t work because your emailing your users. You must always include your business name, signature and logo. When sending your email to other always include the type of update and the name of your business in the subject bar. You should also have a relevant email address (johnb@usa.com).

My newsletter sample:

Here are some helpful suggestions when emailing your visitors:

Provided From: www.mendozadesigns.com/blog/category/email-marketing-techniques-andor-utilities/

Email Campaign:

When working on your emailing campaign, there is a couple things you should ask yourself before you get started.

Here is a list of things to check:

1. Are you using a good permission policy? Make sure you have a preexisting business relationship and/or affirmative consent.
   • Preexisting business relationship – The recipient of your email has made a purchase, requested information, responded to a questionnaire or a survey, or had offline contact with you.
   • Affirmative consent – The recipient of your email has been clearly and fully notified of the collection and use of his email address and has consented prior to such collection and use.
2. Your Subject” Lines
   • Does your “From” line include your company name or brand?
   • Is your “Subject” line the right length? (5-8 words, 40 characters including spaces)
   • Does your “Subject” line incorporate a specific benefit?
   • Does your “Subject” line include your brand (if for some reason your “From” line does not)?
   • Does your “Subject” line create a sense of urgency?
3. Your Email Copy:
   • Is your email targeted, relevant and timely?
   • Is your email personalized with the recipient’s first name, last name or both, if appropriate?
   • Is your email copy clear and concise?
   • Does it contain a strong call-to-action?
   • Does it focus on benefits?
   • Does it create a sense of urgency?
4. Important Details:
   • Are you prepared to handle inbound email responses and questions resulting from your outbound email campaigns? Follow through is as important as the first contact. Do not miss the opportunity to open a two-way dialogue
   • with these interested recipients.
   • Have you used appropriate graphics while also making good use of white space?
   • Have you proofread the “From” line, “Subject” line and email copy thoroughly?
   • Have you checked all links to be sure they work properly?
   • Have you previewed and sent yourself a test in both HTML, and text?
5. CAN-SPAM Compliance:
   • Does your email include a way for recipients to unsubscribe, e.g. an unsubscribe/opt-out link and/or instructions?
   • Are you prepared to handle all unsubscribe requests within 10 days of the request?
   • If you use multiple email products, or have multiple databases from which you send emails, are you prepared to process all unsubscribe requests across all lists?
   • Are you using good mailing practices? Have you been honest and truthful?
   • Have you used a legitimate header?
   • Have you used a valid “From” address?
   • Is your “Subject” line straightforward, vs. misleading?
   • Is your physical address included in your email campaign?

Email Campaign, By Ange Mandoza

Here is a brief list of very important ways to improve your website’s traffic and statistics. In this article I will briefly talk about ways to improve your very own website’s popularity or traffic.

1) Meta Tags – Meta tags are used to provide structured metadata about a Web page, such as who the designer is or a brief description of what the website is about. The most common used tags are author, description, keywords & copyright. The Meta tags are inserted in the back end of your website (HTML coded). Here are some examples of what meta tags look like.

Meta Tag break down: <meta name=”type of meta” content=”type in necessary information here” />

• <meta name=”description” content=”Andrew Nelson Leonberger’s Portfolio” />
• <meta name=”keywords” content=”Portfolio, Art, Digital Art, Grafitti, City Art, Abstract, Grunge, Web Designer, Graphic Designer” />
• <meta name=”author” content=”Andrew Nelson Leonberger” />
• <meta name=”copyright” content=”Copyright 2008 Andrew N.L. All Rights Reserved” />

2) Advertisements – Positions of effectiveness:

• Bottom (Good)
• Right (Good)
• Top (Medium)
• Left (Bad)

3) Having affiliates and partners

• Start meeting new people on forums and other blogs.
• The more you post your link the more people will go to your site.

4) Domain name – Always choose a domain that is easy to remember. No one want’s a sentence to remember for a website.

• www.google.com (Good)
• www.ura-nine-line.com (Bad)

Remember that the most powerful way to boost your website’s traffic is by show & tell. So tell tell tell!!!!