Google has recently updated their PR status to all the websites. As usual, when such as thing happens, there are some websites who got penalized (PR dropped) and some websites who got the prize (PR increases, YAHOO!)
What's PR? PR stands for Page Rank and it is the heart of Google search engine. Basically, when you search for something through a search engine, the search engine simply looks at the content of the website and determine the relevancy of the website to your search and serves it to you. This method allows webmaster to easily tamper with the search engine's ranking as the content is controlled by them.
Hence, Google's ingenious way to counter this is to allow the web to vote for the website. Every time a website receives a link from another website, Google will take that as a vote and calculates that in their ranking of the website. The number of votes that a website has is recorded by Google and Google will assign a rank to the website known as Page Rank. Page Rank is upon a scale of 10 so the higher your page rank, the better Google thinks your website is and the higher the chance of your website appearing in the Google search results.
Of course, that is a grossly oversimplification of the real methodology of assigning a page rank to a website but that is the core idea. That's why you have SEO experts who always talk about getting backlinks backlinks and backlinks for your website!
Just for the record, my company website http://www.futureworkz.com is PR5 and this blog that you are reading is PR4. Not bad for a one-month-old blog! However, my own personal blog http://stevenyap.blogspot.com is still PR zero.
So you might be asking: What is a good PR value for my website? For a starter, achieving PR4 is a good status. That would be a good boost to your search engine ranking for the keywords that you are targeting. However, one should not be overly obsessed with PR. We must always remember that at the end of the day, what really matters for SEO is conversion of web visitors to real customers. PR plays a part but ultimately it is the right ranking in the right market that matters.
Finally, the reason that this blog is able to get PR4 in such a short time is that my company website has a link on the homepage to this blog. This is a PR5 link to this blog and that is a big vote for this website. Hence, in such a short time, this blog is able to get PR4. However, for my personal Steven Yap blog, I have not done anything for it and probably no ones in the world knows about it until I have said something about it or someone searches for it explicitly. That's why it is PR zero. (but now that a PR4 blog is linking to it, there should be at least a PR1 for my blog)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
PHP Setting Configuration Through .htaccess
Many components in Joomla give you exciting functionalities to your website. Most components can be configured properly through the Joomla backend and you are set to use it. However, there are situations (quite often!) that demands configuration at the server level. There situations are generally solved by configuring the PHP setting.
To configure it properly, there are 2 things you have to know:
1) Unless you are the administrator of the server, you cannot directly edit the php.ini file which contains the PHP settings. The way to configure it is to do it throught the .htaccess method. At the root of your web directory (ie. /public_html or /httpdocs or /var/www/html or whatever), there is a file named .htaccess which Apache uses for configuring setting for your website to run. Yes, I said Apache... if you are using IIS, then my post is not going to help you. We will add changes to this file to configure the PHP settings.
2) Know what to change. You can't have a solution without knowing what's the problem, right? Common sense 101. Anyway, that's why I have prepared a list for you to check out if you experienced some of the common problems that most other people will encounter. Here it is:
Problem: Blank screen when Joomla loads up
Analysis: This is a huge one. There are hundreds of reasons why it is blank... database failed, website down, domain not pointing correctly, your internet connection is down, PHP coding errors, blah blah blah... However, Joomla will generally at least throw a notice/warning/error to you if it is loaded to your browser and some server PHP setting is set to NOT display any error messages. Hence, you can try this solution.
Solution: Add "php_flag display_errors on" to your .htaccess file. It will make the server throw error messages on the screen if there is an error with the codes.
Problem: Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 8388608 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 1200 bytes) in /public_html/components/whatever/phpthumb.functions.php on line 334
Analysis: This is a php error message. Note the particular file and line number. This message tells you that the code in the script needs more memory to run. Now, generally well-written scripts do not need extra memories to run. Note the word generally. There are cases where more memory is really needed such as loading and processing a huge file or database. My advice will be to google the problem to see if it is a configuration problem or something like before you use my solution below to increase your PHP memory allocation to the script.
Solution: Give more memory for your script to run. Add "php_value memory_limit 10M" to your .htaccess file. Change 10M to your desired amount. Care!
Problem: Uploading a large file causes problem
Analysis: This is from my own experience. For example, I am using the forum component Fireboard for one of my client's website and we need to let users upload a 5MB music files to the forum. 1MB music file is ok but > 3MB is a big problem. After some time trying to find the solution, I realized that file upload is limited by PHP setting. Hence, you would need to increase the file upload if you want users to upload a bigger size file.
Solution: Add "php_value upload_max_filesize 7M" and "php_value post_max_size 7M" to your .htaccess file. Put the 2 codes in separate lines (ie. don't put them in a single sentence/line). You can change 7M to your desired size.
An explanation here for the 2 codes: upload_max_filesize determine the maximum size of the file that can be uploaded to your server. post_max_size is the maximum size that your server can receive from a form post request. Hence, post_max_size is the sum of all post variables plus the file which means strictly speaking post_max_size should be larger than upload_max_filesize. However, most other post variables are small in size and we do not expect the uploaded file to be larger than 5MB (the limit is set in the Fireboard forum), we just leave the 2 values the same. If you don't understand what I am talking about, just use the code.
Once you are done adding the extra codes to .htaccess, upload them to your web directory and check it out. If it works, I am happy for you. =) There are various other PHP settings that you can use for the .htaccess and here's a short list of the common ones that I use for my Joomla websites:
php_flag register_globals off (Solves the Joomla backend error warning)
php_flag magic_quotes_gpc on (Solves the Joomla backend error warning)
php_value session.save_path '/tmp/' (Solves session problems - sometimes)
To configure it properly, there are 2 things you have to know:
1) Unless you are the administrator of the server, you cannot directly edit the php.ini file which contains the PHP settings. The way to configure it is to do it throught the .htaccess method. At the root of your web directory (ie. /public_html or /httpdocs or /var/www/html or whatever), there is a file named .htaccess which Apache uses for configuring setting for your website to run. Yes, I said Apache... if you are using IIS, then my post is not going to help you. We will add changes to this file to configure the PHP settings.
2) Know what to change. You can't have a solution without knowing what's the problem, right? Common sense 101. Anyway, that's why I have prepared a list for you to check out if you experienced some of the common problems that most other people will encounter. Here it is:
Problem: Blank screen when Joomla loads up
Analysis: This is a huge one. There are hundreds of reasons why it is blank... database failed, website down, domain not pointing correctly, your internet connection is down, PHP coding errors, blah blah blah... However, Joomla will generally at least throw a notice/warning/error to you if it is loaded to your browser and some server PHP setting is set to NOT display any error messages. Hence, you can try this solution.
Solution: Add "php_flag display_errors on" to your .htaccess file. It will make the server throw error messages on the screen if there is an error with the codes.
Problem: Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 8388608 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 1200 bytes) in /public_html/components/whatever/phpthumb.functions.php on line 334
Analysis: This is a php error message. Note the particular file and line number. This message tells you that the code in the script needs more memory to run. Now, generally well-written scripts do not need extra memories to run. Note the word generally. There are cases where more memory is really needed such as loading and processing a huge file or database. My advice will be to google the problem to see if it is a configuration problem or something like before you use my solution below to increase your PHP memory allocation to the script.
Solution: Give more memory for your script to run. Add "php_value memory_limit 10M" to your .htaccess file. Change 10M to your desired amount. Care!
Problem: Uploading a large file causes problem
Analysis: This is from my own experience. For example, I am using the forum component Fireboard for one of my client's website and we need to let users upload a 5MB music files to the forum. 1MB music file is ok but > 3MB is a big problem. After some time trying to find the solution, I realized that file upload is limited by PHP setting. Hence, you would need to increase the file upload if you want users to upload a bigger size file.
Solution: Add "php_value upload_max_filesize 7M" and "php_value post_max_size 7M" to your .htaccess file. Put the 2 codes in separate lines (ie. don't put them in a single sentence/line). You can change 7M to your desired size.
An explanation here for the 2 codes: upload_max_filesize determine the maximum size of the file that can be uploaded to your server. post_max_size is the maximum size that your server can receive from a form post request. Hence, post_max_size is the sum of all post variables plus the file which means strictly speaking post_max_size should be larger than upload_max_filesize. However, most other post variables are small in size and we do not expect the uploaded file to be larger than 5MB (the limit is set in the Fireboard forum), we just leave the 2 values the same. If you don't understand what I am talking about, just use the code.
Once you are done adding the extra codes to .htaccess, upload them to your web directory and check it out. If it works, I am happy for you. =) There are various other PHP settings that you can use for the .htaccess and here's a short list of the common ones that I use for my Joomla websites:
php_flag register_globals off (Solves the Joomla backend error warning)
php_flag magic_quotes_gpc on (Solves the Joomla backend error warning)
php_value session.save_path '/tmp/' (Solves session problems - sometimes)
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Zoom 2.5.1 RC 4 Lightbox Popup Error in IE7
One of the best media gallery component for Joomla! is the Zoom Media Gallery. Their website is at http://www.zoomfactory.org/
One of my client website needs to implement a gallery function on the website and of course, I choose the best for my client - Zoom Gallery. The current version is 2.5.1 RC4 as of the time of this writing. Zoom has a great display animation using Lightbox Javascript and the best way for you to see it is to go here: http://www.theartofmusic.com.sg/component/option,com_zoom/Itemid,97/catid,2/
Nice animation? However, out of RC4 Zoom installation, that effect does not work well for IE6 and IE7. In fact, it does not work at all... =_(
Luckily, I am paid to make it work and hence here's the hack that will make it work:
Yup! That's about all the hacking. There are actually 2 cross-browser problems in the code that prevent the lightbox effect from working in IE7:
Anyway, I hope the great guys at Zoom will be able to stablise the code at Zoom more. I have a couple of gitches too in the component. However, all in all, this is definitely a WONDERFUL gallery component and I really appreciate the efforts that all the current and past developers have put in.
Anyone reading this post and is still not able to make the lightbox work in your website, I am sure you will email me but please add more details for the error. Don't like just "My lightbox still doesn't work even though I follow your instructions. Please help." and expect me to auto-magically guess where-the-hell-is-wrong-with-your-setup. Really appreciate. =)
One of my client website needs to implement a gallery function on the website and of course, I choose the best for my client - Zoom Gallery. The current version is 2.5.1 RC4 as of the time of this writing. Zoom has a great display animation using Lightbox Javascript and the best way for you to see it is to go here: http://www.theartofmusic.com.sg/component/option,com_zoom/Itemid,97/catid,2/
Nice animation? However, out of RC4 Zoom installation, that effect does not work well for IE6 and IE7. In fact, it does not work at all... =_(
Luckily, I am paid to make it work and hence here's the hack that will make it work:
| Line Number | Original Code | Replaced With |
|---|---|---|
| 254 | objPrevLink.setAttribute('href', '#'); | objPrevLink.setAttribute('href', location.href + '#'); |
| 259 | objNextLink.setAttribute('href', '#'); | objNextLink.setAttribute('href', location.href + '#'); |
| 303 | objBottomNavCloseLink.setAttribute('href', '#'); | objBottomNavCloseLink.setAttribute('href', location.href + '#'); |
| 182 | if (anchor.getAttribute('href') && (relAttribute.toLowerCase().match('lightbox'))){ | if (anchor.getAttribute('rev') && (relAttribute.toLowerCase().match('lightbox'))){ |
| 334 | imageArray.push(new Array(imageLink.getAttribute('href'), imageLink.getAttribute('title'))); | imageArray.push(new Array(imageLink.getAttribute('rev'), imageLink.getAttribute('title'))); |
| 341 | if (anchor.getAttribute('href') && (anchor.getAttribute('rel') == imageLink.getAttribute('rel'))){ | if (anchor.getAttribute('rev') && (anchor.getAttribute('rel') == imageLink.getAttribute('rel'))){ |
| 342 | imageArray.push(new Array(anchor.getAttribute('href'), anchor.getAttribute('title'))); | imageArray.push(new Array(anchor.getAttribute('rev'), anchor.getAttribute('title'))); |
| 346 | while(imageArray[imageNum][0] != imageLink.getAttribute('href')) { imageNum++;} | while(imageArray[imageNum][0] != imageLink.getAttribute('rev')) { imageNum++;} |
| Line Number | Original Code | Replaced With |
|---|---|---|
| 395 | $link .= " href=\"".$zoom->hotlinkImage ($zoom->_gallery->_id, '0', $ided, null)."\""; | $link .= " href=\"javascript: void(0);\""; $link .= " rev=\"".$zoom->hotlinkImage ($zoom->_gallery->_id, '0', $ided, null)."\""; |
Yup! That's about all the hacking. There are actually 2 cross-browser problems in the code that prevent the lightbox effect from working in IE7:
- <a href="#"> does not work well in IE. If your current URL is at http://www.yourwebsite.com/somedirectory/somemoredirectory/page.html and when you click on the link above, it will cause you to go to http://www.youwebsite.com/# even though BY RIGHT it should be http://www.yourwebsite.com/somedirectory/somemoredirectory/page.html#. Hence, we have to change all href="#" in the <a> tag to href="javascript: void(0);" or href="{current URL}#", the latter {current URL} being created dynamically by Javascript.
- Image's link is done by <a> with its href set to the image's src. What this means is that the image is linked to its exact file location on the web. This <a> link is used to trigger the lightbox effect. The <a> is actually something like this: <a href="{image file url}" onclick="{trigger lightbox effect}">.
This causes problem in IE because for some unknown reasons, when you click on the link, IE will immediately go to the link's location, bypassing in the onclick event and hence, did not launch the lightbox effect. What you see is being directed to another web page.
Therefore, we have to change all the href="javascript: void(0);" and set another attribute (in this case, I used the rev attribute) for the lightbox script to use for referencing the image URL.
Anyway, I hope the great guys at Zoom will be able to stablise the code at Zoom more. I have a couple of gitches too in the component. However, all in all, this is definitely a WONDERFUL gallery component and I really appreciate the efforts that all the current and past developers have put in.
Anyone reading this post and is still not able to make the lightbox work in your website, I am sure you will email me but please add more details for the error. Don't like just "My lightbox still doesn't work even though I follow your instructions. Please help." and expect me to auto-magically guess where-the-hell-is-wrong-with-your-setup. Really appreciate. =)
Monday, October 22, 2007
Adding Google Analytics to your Joomla CMS
There is a saying that goes "If you can measure, you can manage".
That could be the number one rule in management: You must be able to measure what you are going to manage.
If you are launching campaigns to attract visitors to your website, how do you know how successfully (or how badly you failed) in the campaigns? Just by looking at the number of sales enquiries via the website might be a good indication but you can do more - at the cost of nothing.
Yes, you can do detailed analysis of your website and campaign's results for free. Simply by adding Google Analytics to your Joomla website. And it's just sooooooo easy to do it. Here's a tutorial to add Googly Analytics to Joomla website:
Anyway, now that the Google Analytics is set up, you are able to track who, when and how your visitors come to your website. This will give you invaluable tips to optimize your SEO positioning or your campaigns or your website or almost everything that you can do with your website.
That could be the number one rule in management: You must be able to measure what you are going to manage.
If you are launching campaigns to attract visitors to your website, how do you know how successfully (or how badly you failed) in the campaigns? Just by looking at the number of sales enquiries via the website might be a good indication but you can do more - at the cost of nothing.
Yes, you can do detailed analysis of your website and campaign's results for free. Simply by adding Google Analytics to your Joomla website. And it's just sooooooo easy to do it. Here's a tutorial to add Googly Analytics to Joomla website:
- Go to Google Analytics and create a account
- Add a website profile in Google Analytics, follow their forms to the dot and enter everything you can about your website
- You will finally arrive at a page where you will given a Javascript code that looks something like this:
<script type="text/javascript">
_uacct = "UA-123456-7";
urchinTracker();
</script> - Go to you Joomla administration panel
- From the menu, select "Site" > "Template Manager" > "Site Templates"
- Click on the radio button beside your default chosen template (Your default chosen template has a tick icon besides it)
- Click on the "Edit HTML" button on the top right corner
- You will now see a chunk of HTML/PHP/WHATEVER codes. No fear, just try your best to look for this text ""... You should be able to find it at the bottom of the codes.
- Cut and paste the code that was given by Google Analytics before the "" text. The end result should look something like:
...
<script type="text/javascript">
_uacct = "UA-123456-7";
urchinTracker();
</script>
</body>
... - Click on "Save" button located at the top right corner and you are done!
Anyway, now that the Google Analytics is set up, you are able to track who, when and how your visitors come to your website. This will give you invaluable tips to optimize your SEO positioning or your campaigns or your website or almost everything that you can do with your website.
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