Archive for the ‘Tech’ Category

Almost Daily Drupal, versions 6 and 7

Monday, December 14th, 2009

These are just a few major highlights of things we gained in Drupal 6, and what we will gain in Drupal 7.

Improvements in Drupal 6:

  • Native draggable sortable fields, such as upload field and cck fields, including images.
  • Views 2, not available for Drupal 5, brings multiple displays per view, straightforward theming, and powerful relationships.
  • Menu groupings (not the one single giant long menu page). Menu item sorting by drag and drop.
  • A much improved theming system

Improvements in Drupal 7

  • Dashboard (a customizable control panel providing high-level access to content and configuration)
  • Fields in core, on everything (nodes, users, taxonomy)
  • Image handling in core
  • Admin theme called “Seven” in core
  • Toolbar and customizable shortcut bar
  • Overlays, lightbox-style modals for editing and configuring
  • Edit links on everything: menus, blocks, content.
  • #d7cx: a coordinated movement to have many contributed modules ready for use when Drupal 7 is released.

Tips to Avoid Domain Name Nightmares

Monday, February 16th, 2009

True story: Client calls BTM World Headquarters first thing Monday morning and states that over the weekend his company’s email and website suddenly went down! He called the company who hosted his website, email and domain name and the company is out of business. What to do?

First, I checked out the domain name for the client, and noticed that the registration was private so all it displayed in the WHOIS was the Go Daddy Private Registration information. Next, I called Go Daddy and for security purposes, they required that I had the Pin number or the last 4 digits of the credit card on file. Needless to say, I didn’t, so I asked him what to do next.

He directed me to the Go Daddy page to fill out a form Request for Change of Account / Email Update Form to begin the process to change ownership back to the true owner. Once the form is filled out Go Daddy requests a 72-hour turn-around because they get so many requests. Go Daddy will notify you through the e-mail address you provided on the form.

The next nightmare is trying to convince the Registrar that you really do own the domain name. Each Registrar is a little different, each have their own set of privacy rules, forms to fill out, proof of ownership, etc. During this time, your website is down, your email has stopped, and your business internet marketing has come to a complete halt!

This of course is a worst case scenario but nonetheless true. Registrars are usually very helpful as they want to retain your business. Here are a few steps you can take to prevent losing or letting your domain name expire.

  1. Registrant Information - If you purchased your domain name through a registrar make sure the Registrant information is in your company name, your address and your valid email address.
    Billing Contact – your name, address and a valid email address.
    Technical Contact – should be the company where your domain is hosted or your name, address with a valid email address.
  2. Registrar Account – Where did you buy your domain name? Make sure you have your account login ID and password in a safe place. If you do not have your login id call your registrar and retrieve it. By keeping the email address at your registrar valid you can easily retrieve your login ID/username and password through the email address you have listed in the account.
  3. Domain name expiration date – If you plan on keeping your domain name active for years to come invest in it and renew it for several years. Registrars usually will give you a better deal if you renew the domain for multi years. Or have auto renew enabled for your domain name with a valid credit card on file.
  4. Domain Name Managers – Many hosting companies are also domain name registrars. Managers will make sure your domain does not expire and will probably renew from year to year. With the slowing economy if you feel uncomfortable at all with your current hosting company I would suggest to follow steps 1-3 to ensure you are in control of your domain name.

WHOIS will give you all the information you need to know about your domain name. The Registrant, Contact information, the Registrar Company name where the domain was purchased and the domain name expiration date. Click on the link and see who is in control of your domain name: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp

Blue Tent Marketing is a Registered Domain Name Reseller. We have purchased hundreds of domains for our clients. We can help you transfer, purchase a new domain name, manage and renew your existing domains for you. Blue Tent Marketing has helped many clients who unexpectedly let their domain’s expire or who have experienced a bad registrar to help them retrieve lost login information or renew your domain name. Let us help you in securing you’re existing domain names or next domain name purchase.

Moira
Director of Technology

Could Google Apps Replace Your Exchange Server?

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Google Apps can provide an intriguing replacement for Microsoft Exchange server. Not only can you host your domain name, but all of your email will be stored off-site in Google’s redundant facilities unsusceptible to outages with your local ISP.

Google Apps provides solutions for small and large businesses by giving your employees the next-generation communication and collaboration tools they need to manage electronic communications, share and publish information and stay connected while on the go. Sharing calendars, docs and email from your reservation system or real estate contact forms all hosted by Google, so there’s no hardware or software to download, install or maintain. With Google Apps, you can afford to provide each and every employee with the tools they need to succeed. Google Apps gives everyone at your organization a custom email address, tools for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, a shared calendaring system and access to a flexible intranet system. Standalone security and compliance services are also available.

Google Apps currently has two available editions Standard and Premier. Standard Edition is Google Apps free edition and Google Apps Premier Edition is $50.00 / per user account / per year.

If you would like more information about Google Apps please contact us and we will follow-up with you soon. Or post a comment with any thoughts or questions about how Google Apps could work for your business or organization. I would love to hear from you.

My next blog post will compare the Google Apps Free Standard Edition and the Premier Edition. What’s involved to set up Google Apps for your domain – stay tuned …

- Moira Meyers
Director of Technology

Technology is your friend, get to know it…

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

I find it amazing sometimes, the number of people who fail to realize that a companies website is most often their largest office. In fact, it is usually the modern equivalent to the “first impression”. To be more specific, it is usually the companies online presence which serves as a first impression, be it a website, a targeted email campaign, a well timed and placed advertisement, or top 3 finish in a search result. The landscape as competitive as it is, can still be conquered, but how?

Today the U.S. faces many economic uncertainties. From all sides we hear “recession”, and conflicting reports on the economy’s health. Think about this for a minute, lots of companies do well when times are good. Really, chew on it for a few seconds, it has relevance. When consumers are short on time and long on cash, they are typically less discerning, and typically the opposite when times are uncertain. With the current situation in the U.S. economy, how can a business plan for success? The first step is to realize that the world has changed. The U.S. and international consumer is educated and commands a variety of very potent implements to weed out poor quality in products and services market wide. The next step is to realize and actualize a proactive and leveraged approach to online presence, though as we know, this by itself is not enough to guarantee success. The days of “build it and they will come” are long gone and we all know it.

Transparency, simplicity, engagement, and value wins consumers. Technology brings to market all that the market shall want for in a proverbial sense. The net is awash with independent ratings and reviews sites, over which typically a company has no control. And why? Because so many companies lack transparency, and therefore create a vacuum of trust with would be and existing consumers. I would argue that integrity, trust, and transparency are facets of perceived “value” in this day in age. These companies typically exude complacency and mediocrity, neither of which appeal to consumers, or clients. In an environment where consumers will spend more time validating a companies claims for its products, and services; transparency, trust, value, and the two way flow of information is vital.

How can you bring your product to market online with integrity and quality, in a way which builds trust and value for consumers? Hire an expert, hire someone with the experience, expertise and the technologies to keep you competitive and ahead of the game, even in times of economic uncertainty. Here at Blue Tent, we are constantly analyzing, comparing, and contrasting our own competitors as well as yours. Technology, tempered with the wisdom of experience, and an in-depth knowledge of vertical and audience can be leveraged in ways unimaginable. Whether it is our new content management platform, offerings in SEM, or our forth coming line of green products and services, we are always vying for new and engaging ways to empower our clients to bring transparency, simplicity, and value to their customers.

John Ensign
Chief Technical Officer