Will Bontrager Blogs Web Site Techniques
WebSite Automation Articles
Real Time Reader Feedback Within Your Articles
This article describes a way to enhance understanding of a reading audience. Understanding an audience is key to writing content the audience easily understands.
Publishing Information Collected by Web Form Directly To A Web Page
Content submitted with a form can automatically be added to a web page. The example in this article adds member contact information to a web page when a form is submitted.
Directory Zip is such a useful tool. Every Saturday, it compresses our sites into a ZIP file and sends us an email. The email has a one-click download link.
Using Changing Content With Tab Panels
Tab Panels are an attractive method of organizing a lot of material on your web page in an accessible format. Changing the content with one or more these methods makes maintenance easy.
Your Form Knows URL Of Previous Page
You have a web page with a recommend form or a form to request more information. You have links to the form at various web pages. And you want the form to know which web page the user came from. This article shows you how to give the form the URL of the web page where the link was clicked.
Unsubscribe Link With Master Form V4
When you need to publish an unsubscribe link in emails, the Master Form V4 form handler can be used to record the unsubscribing addresses. The addresses can be put into a database file and/or emailed to you.
Now, Go Short URL software makes short URLs with your own domain name in the URL.
Mari created a software vending machine and it is now live. Ten software titles are available.
Automating DNS Change Propagation Check
Today, I changed the DNS settings for a client's web site. I wanted to do a thorough check of the site's blog, scripts, and links as soon as I could after the change. So, I automated it instead of manually checking it from time to time.
Recommend forms on web sites can hold privacy concerns for your site visitor. This article presents a practical option, the affordable Email .This. Link software.
When web pages are moved or their files remaned, it is good to put a "redirect 301" line into the .htaccess file of site's directory where the web pages are moved from. This gives visitor's browsers and search engines the information they need to determine the web page was permanently moved to the new location.
The Information You Want, When You Want It
Let the reader control when (and if) the next email in a sequence will be sent -- instead of sending the entire series at pre-determined intervals.
Automatic Copyright Year Updating
Soon, the new year will be here. And there will be a scramble to update the copyright year printed on web pages. Would you like to update your web pages' copyright line for one last time? No more yearly chore?
Many feel certain a secure server connection means information is secure. But that's not so. With a secure server connection, only the transmission of information between browser and server is secure.
For link checking, I found Integrity from http://peacockmedia.co.uk/ (for Max OSX) to be better than Xenu from http://home.snafu.de/tilman/ (for Windows). Not that you have a choice, unless you use both operating systems.
How Can Forms Make Sure JavaScript Is Turned On?
Many forms use JavaScript to validate user input, prevent double-clicking, prevent auto-submission, and dynamically change field values. Among other things. Without JavaScript, those forms don't work right.
Running Many With One cron Command
It is possible to run many scripts -- CGI, PHP scripts, anything with an http://... URL that can be loaded into a web browser window -- on one or more domains with one cron command.
Automatic PayPal Payment Email Response
Today, I'll show you how to set up an automatic response to payment received notification email from PayPal.
The main article shows you how to make a one-click poll for plain text (or HTML) email.
When you need to log certain activity on a web page, consider using JavaScript. A JavaScript call with parameters to a CGI Perl or PHP script can log the parameter information.
Inserting Images Into HTML Email
Images can be displayed within HTML email without physically inserting them.
Troubleshooting Email Sent From Scripts
Your script is supposed to send an email to you. Yet, you never receive it. What's the problem?
Meta Description Content Instead Of Title In Search Results
For a freebie, Master Search does a pretty good job. There is no keyword or pre-crawled content database. Any changes on web pages are available instantly as each search scans the web pages anew.
Set Up Once for Repeat Visitors Forever
Setting up a service as described in this article, or variations thereof, can automatically and with near-zero maintenance, bring people back to your site, again and again, for as long as you make the service available.
Automatic Subscription Submission On Survey Results Page
Now you can collect email address (and other information) in conjunction with a survey and automatically subscribe the email address to your ezine or autoresponder.
Master Survey and Mailing Lists
Master Survey version 2.6 (Jul7 17, 2006) can automatically send subscription email to list servers.
If you could give your visitors their preferred link style choice, would you?
Creating Alternate Ads for AdSense and Clicksor
PPC ads like Google AdSense and Clicksor are a great source of income for many web site publishers.
If It Can Be Automated, You Shouldn't Be Doing It
If it can be automated, you shouldn't be doing it.
Master Survey Upgrade Facilitates Display of Results from Many Surveys On One Page
The latest upgrade of Master Survey (version 2.5) lets site owners specify the URL of an alternate web page -- instead of the usual custom-generated acknowledgement/results page.
Pro.Rate(TM) has a near instant feedback mechanism. It allows site visitors to rate an idea or story or product with minimum interruption.
The "no page reload, instant gratification, minimum interruption, easy to implement" rating system is here!
It is easier and faster to just click a link to answer a survey question than to use a traditional form. This type of one-click survey is excellent for plain text (and HTML) emailed newsletters and autoresponder messages.
I've long avoided participating with "rate this" features at web sites because they required a page to reload after providing my vote. Same with surveys and other web page interactions.
Rate the New Rating Software Blog Post
New software running at WillMaster.com lets you provide your rating of blog posts *without* causing a page reload. JavaScript and CGI is combined to make it a pleasure to provide your opinion.
Should you wish to send a WillMaster blog post to a friend (or to yourself) a handy "email this" link is at the bottom of every post. It's safe. It's easy.
'Roll Your Own' JavaScript and PHP Syndication
When you have content on your web site that you wish to make available for others to publish, yet want control of what is published, it can be syndicated with JavaScript or with PHP. Let me stress that you can control *what* is published, not *if* it is published.
FormJobber(TM) was built so forms can submit to more than one CGI program.
Form Info Attached To 'Thank You' Page URL
A friend wanted to send a gift to those who recommend his site. The gift requires the form user be redirected to a third party site along with the user's email address. Question: How do I insert the email address into the URL?
Printer-Friendly Results Page with Master Form V4
We noticed a problem during testing of the new http://TellThePresident.US/ site. In the printer-friendly letter page, paragraphs were all globbed together in one big block.
It's easy to start a blog. But effort and consistency are required to maintain one.
Quick 'n Easy Deception Spoiler
There is a risk associated with linking to other people's web sites in mediums where you can't maintain control. These would be such things as ezines that get mailed out or ebooks that are distributed.
What Exactly Are You Recommending?
One "recommend this web site/page" form can be used to recommend any number of individual web sites, web pages, products, services, and ideas.
Master Merry-Go-Round has been updated so content can be inserted with with JavaScript and with PHP, in addition to the SSI and popup methods the earlier version was limited to.
The Infinite Autoresponder Loop
A user of the free Master Autoresponder asked what could be done to prevent an infinite loop when someone subscribes an autoresponder address to the autoresponder.
Dynamic External JavaScript Files
Dynamic external JavaScript generation, customizable with parameters used to access the web page. The article will explain it :)
Context Sensitive Link Box for Stock Ticker Symbols
If your blog or other web site content includes stock ticker symbols, you'll want this. "This" is Stock Ticker Box, a system that causes a link box to appear when your site visitor's mouse hovers over a stock ticker symbol.
Dropdown Selects Email, But Hides Address From Harvesters
Let's suppose you have a contact/feedback form with a dropdown list of people the form user can send messages to.
Unique Style Sheet For Printer-Friendly Page
Web pages that look good in a browser aren't always ideal for printing.
Downloading and Redirecting From the Same Link
Yesterday, I was asked if it would be easy to make a script that starts a download and then redirects the browser to a different web page.
B-Mailer is awesome and easy to use.
When you're on a Unix/Linux server and you want server software to launch at certain times and dates, you use cron.
Are In-Form(TM) Subscriptions Too Low?
There has been some suggestion that the claims we make might be unbelievable in view of the low price for the service.