Don Lewis Designs

RSS feeds are a great way for you to keep up to date on your favorite websites. But they can be an even greater tool for a webmaster. You can syndicate RSS feeds on your own site, adding continuously updating content without any work of your own.

Use PHP to Parse an XML File and Syndicate the Feed

In order to syndicate an RSS feed on your site, you’ll need to read the XML file somehow. PHP is great for this.

Previously, you would have had to write your own XML parser to do this. This is possible – but it takes some time and it can get fairly complicated.

Thankfully, PHP now comes with SimpleXML built-in. You can use this great package to quickly and easily read XML files.

Since RSS feeds follow a standard structure, you can use SimpleXML to read the file, manipulate the data, and output a list of links and/or descriptions onto your website. All you need to know is how to use SimpleXML and how an RSS feed is structured.

Here’s a tutorial on how to syndicate an RSS feed in PHP, if you’re interested in learning how to do that.

Use Rel=’nofollow’ In the Links

If you do syndicate an RSS feed and reproduce it on each of your pages, you may want to consider using rel=’nofollow’ for the links.

Each of those links is an external link. Without the nofollow tag, you’d be bleeding a lot of pagerank from each of your pages. In the long run, this could be detrimental to your site – and it would probably outweigh any benefits from using the RSS feed in the first place.

You can fix this problem by placing the attribute rel=’nofollow’ in each of the links you create from the RSS feed.

If your website is a Wordpress blog, you’ll need to manually do this. Wordpress comes with a great built-in RSS Feed Widget – so you don’t have to manually parse the feed. However, it doesn’t give you an option to use ‘nofollow’ for the links.

You can read this guide to find out how to hack the Wordpress source to make the RSS Widget nofollow. You’ll need to know a bit of PHP, but it’s not too hard.

Remember: Don’t Steal Someone Else’s Copyrighted Work

Although articles are spread around the internet in RSS feeds, you still don’t own them.

It is acceptable to use an RSS feed to syndicate links back to the original source of an article. It would also be acceptable to include a short description of that link – based on the RSS feed it came from.

However, some users place entire articles in their RSS feeds. To reprint an entire article is copyright infringement. It is wrong, illegal, and could land you in a lot of trouble.

Use other people’s work fairly. It can add relevant links to your site – but try to steal whole articles.



By: Brian Rock

About the Author:

Website content

First, the sour grapes. Last year we entered a tender process with Defra for a new website contract for the Committee on Climate Change. We had created a logo and brand style, it was a cause we believed in, and we hoped designing and building the website would be a great portfolio piece for us. The process involved a tedious and time sapping questionnaire, a design element and a presentation to various members of the tender team including procurement and communications. We were given a timescale to prepare that included just 2 days to pull together an in-depth presentation AND designs.

Our final ’score’ was 68.34% – and the winning supplier scored 68.58%.

We were, naturally, bitterly disappointed, not least by the actual process (which included sending 4 printed copies – over 20 pages in each, a bizarre practice for a body so concerned with the depletion of our natural resources), the time scales, the nature of the presentation, the ’scoring system’ etc.

Would I be so upset had we won the contract? In all honesty – yes. I had already decided that I would voice my concerns following the tender, even had we been given the project.

I have since visited the final site, for various reasons: 1. out of curiosity, 2. to see if any of the designs we had submitted were used in any way, and 3. to see how the competition interpreted the brief, and used our initial branding.

The site is: Committee on Climate Change and here is a direct quote from the brief:

‘The website should use the latest digital technologies to ensure that it is interactive, dynamic and accessible for all audiences. It needs to look fresh, vibrant and creative.’

In no way am I here to judge another agency’s work, in fact I’d welcome their feedback on the process. I just have to ask how creativity and service driven work can be judged on a scoring system such as Defra’s.

Free pitching is, and always will be a hot topic in the industry. Agencies will continue to do it, and clients will always insist on it. It’s a vicious circle. The problem is that because it is SO ingrained in our culture, clients are dumbfounded when you refuse to do it. When large government agencies and global corporations insist on it, the notion trickles down through every level of business. We were recently approached by a prospective client looking to set up a one-man-band estate agency. He insisted on free pitching. I explained we couldn’t do that as it costs us time and money, and would not get the best out of our studio. To illustrate the point in his own sector, I asked him if he would ask 3 builders to build 3 different houses, and at the end of the process choose one, change it around a bit and tell the other two they could just knock theirs down. His reply? “Let’s just say I have not seen any buildings that you or the other agencies have built which amaze me.” Incredible – I would have to ask why you would approach an agency whose ‘houses’ you didn’t like in the first place!

My point here is that it is inherent in every level of business we encounter. Is it possible to stop it? I don’t think so. But maybe we’re just not shouting loudly enough about it. Maybe we could take a stand as an industry. The next time you’re in a 5-way pitch, try to find out who else is involved, perhaps the 5 agencies agree on submitting nothing but agency credentials and past case studies. The issue will always be that in a competitive industry such as ours, you’re always looking for an edge, and if that means submitting ideas when no-one else will, then it’s inevitable this will continue.

Perhaps we can make some effort though, and so I’m putting the case forward for a No Free Pitching Month. Every agency across the land should stand, shoulder to shoulder and refuse (for a month at least) to do any free pitches. Would it work? I don’t know. But it’s worth a try! If we can educate our clients, even a small degree, about the negative aspects of the practice, then we will have done some good.

Now, where’s the sugar for those grapes…..



By: Simon Harmer

About the Author:

Create a video blog…instantly.

Not so long ago, church members relied on pamphlets, church newsletters, or volunteers spending long nights with phone calls to keep each other informed about special events and assemblies. It wasn’t easy as schedule or venue changes would unexpectedly arise, but perseverance would be needed to adjust with the additional task.

Today, with technology and the internet, we now have a much more direct and immediate way to reach out to all our members and friends. Email and websites allow us to keep in touch with others, and to easily share our latest news and notices within our community, and beyond.

Churches have found how well an online presence can bring their followers and supporters even closer. It allows you to share your message with greater diversity, and a larger audience. Even when sick, or away, no member feels alone or left out. That is why so many churches now maintain their personal website Design with 519studio.com.

While the new media is wonderful for communication, 519studio.com sadly it is also beyond the means of some: in design, implementation, maintenance, and even financially. Custom websites, Flash website design can be very costly to build, and the technological requirements can be daunting. Even minor changes or updates become an economic challenge when we need to reply on outside programmers to maintain new contributions from our members.

Luckily, there is a very simple alternative that makes your own church’s website easily feasible. Design Templates require no programming or other technical skills, and are exceptionally inexpensive to implement. 519studio your website is created immediately and you simply insert your own message. You can also include your own photos, video, and other media for display in your web pages.

Administration is easy, and you can also control and assign new content access to specific members and organizers within your assembly. Again, no real technological skills are needed to contribute to the site: your member just types as they would in a word processor, and the web design template does the entire computer programming to bring it to life online.

Adding new pages and sections is handled without effort. Should you decide you would like to change the look of your whole website design, you just pick the template you wish to use, and all your content is seamlessly carried into the new look. If you have a youth group, or special committee; you can also assign a different template to fit their own theme and needs. Including special features such as event calendars and photo albums is just a matter of turning on the options you would like to display on your Website Design.

The events calendar is a wonderful tool, keeping everyone posted with a reminder of upcoming proceedings, changes, and special notices. You can even assign separate email groups to receive individual updates for their participation.

Your church is proud of all in attendance, and how generously they share their caring spirit with others. Now that you have access to your website design template, you can create your own custom website with ease, and extend your message for all to join in.



By: Gaurav Sharma

About the Author:

Create a video blog…instantly.

Portal solutions such as task management and automated sales support systems have changed the way business is done today.

A web portal is a highly beneficial access point to the web for individual as well as business users.  The information contained in a web content portal is categorized into links to topics such as news, business, finance, travel, sports and more.  The information contained in a content portal is categorized into links to topics such as news, business, finance, travel, sports and more.  Also initially used by the general public for purposes such as email, public forums, search engines, online shopping and more, web portals today provide a multitude of other functions.

With advances in technology, the usage of web portal software expanded to include interfaces for corporate databases, applications and many other business functions.  Termed as a business or enterprise portal, this development in online portal technology provides clients with user friendly, faster, easier access to products and services, as well as improved communication and response times.  Business web portals are becoming increasingly vital to organizations of all sizes.  Integrating this type of online portal application into your existing system has the power to significantly improve the productivity of your organization.

A business portal enables the integration of a number of functions in your website, including task management and workflow applications, search and navigation functions, content and data management systems, supply chain management systems, internal and external communication systems, automated sales support systems, ecommerce storefronts, notification systems, online forums, discussion boards and more.  A web portal will enable your employees and customers to be organized, streamlined and connected.  In addition, the management functions of businesses today are significantly aided by this technology.

Plaveb Corporation is an expert provider of architecture services for advanced web portal design, and allows you to lay down a foundation for a business driven approach to infrastructure architecture and management of IT related services.  The advanced portal architecture design services offered by Plaveb support you to manage increasingly complex service configurations.  The professionals at Plaveb will help you to understand the workings of these configurations, and plan a strategy to help you achieve your desired business goal.  Plaveb will lead you to accomplish your company’s goals faster with internationally accepted practices, proven methods, and expertise at designing the architecture of the portal.  Some of the major advantages of the portal architecture design developed by Plaveb are:

* Improved productivity- the productivity of your system will increase with proper architecture, as you avoid going down technical paths that are useless.

* Reduction in the technical risks- since the system architecture is designed in an appropriate way, it reduces the technical risks of overloading the system.

* Better communication- a high standard architecture model enables you to communicate more effectively regarding crucial business issues.

Plaveb’s Enterprise Portal Development Services offer state of the art portal development starting from requirement definition to deployment and training. We closely work with our clients to identify their domain and business specific objectives, and streamline the project requirements. Our interactive development process allows our representatives to work closely with the client, enabling 100 percent custom project development according to the client’s business requirements.

Plaveb can improve any site, from a very small scale static website, up to a large corporate level website that needs to have proper architecture design to manage a big project.  Plaveb offers a vast range of services to accomplish web portal site development for businesses of all sizes.  SAAS centric portal by Plaveb will help your organization accomplish your goals efficiently and effectively. Ranging from information management to high-end web services, custom portals by Plaveb will help your organization fulfill your growth target.

Some of the solutions provided with Plaveb’s strategic consulting for web portal development include:

* Enterprise web strategy consulting

* Requirement consulting and streamlining

* Advanced web portal architecture design

* Third-party web services consulting

* Legacy business application assessment

* Information architecture

* Scalability solutions

* Web portal database design

* Web portal user interface consulting

* Web portal administration, development and implementation consulting

If you are interested in finding out more about how Plaveb’s portal development services can help improve the productivity of your business, please contact us today.



By: Mark Spenser

About the Author:

Create a video blog

When it comes to cheap auto insurance, one of the best places to get some, or at least to get the information you need, is through online resources. Your choices are vast, with hundreds of insurance companies and you with the best possible cheap insurance rates and quotes. It can be had as long as you, as an educated consumer, are equipped with the full range of facts and knowledge about how insurance companies come up with quotes for car insurance.

You can go through the comprehensive Web resources of these insurers to learn in detail what the various insurers have to offer and what their comparative cheap auto insurance rates and quotes are. Those seeking auto insurance should be cognizant of the various types of coverage they will be offered and make a decision as to whether any of them are applicable to their situation. There are many different aspects of the business that come into play.

It pays to shop around for cheap auto insurance and there are things you can control when you ask for certain consideration in your price quotes. Some key factors when shopping for insurance is to first make sure you get at least three or four quotes since the price you pay for your insurance can vary by hundreds of dollars.

Choosing the right auto is very important to getting cheap insurance. One of the easiest, quickest, safest and cost efficient ways to save money is getting cheap insurance rates. The best way to get it is to be a good driver.

Other ways you can acquire a cheap auto insurance rate is to group all of your assets together. You can learn more about it policies offered by different insurers online. It definitely pays to do your homework, comparing them provided by different companies.

You can also look in the newspaper and see what companies are advertising it. Cheap auto insurance companies can have some of the best offers on car insurance for young drivers and also extend the best of their services to them. Therefore, auto insurance companies offer discounts and other flexible insurance plans based on driving records, the education level or the drivers, locality, and other areas.

Be on the lookout for advertisements on the radio or television concerning cheap auto insurance. Actually, it helps you to evaluate the insurance options available for your car. But you’re still wondering where to get cheap auto insurance for my son? There are many things to consider before taking out insurance policy.

The person can also check on the rates given by the state’s auto insurance department whether it is in good standing to make sure one will be able to process a claim. You need to know the rules which govern your state, with regard to it. Well, considering you don’t want to move to another state, and you already own a high risk vehicle that you just can’t part with, I suggest you go online and shop the numerous insurance carriers that are at your fingertips.

Once you have chosen the cheap insurance quote that works for you, go through the entire policy in detail. Multi-policy discount – if you have more than one policy with the same insurer, most insurance companies will offer a discount. If you are trying to save as much as possible on your insurance policy and are in search of cheap rates, comparing rate quotes can be very beneficial.



By: Tsuyoshi E. Suzuki

About the Author:

Kansieo.com

Web designs in Miami are well known for the originality and uniqueness in the site design. The field of site design has been developing in recent years. The Web design companies in Miami have introduced new ways and techniques in the field of web design. Web designing all over the world has been facilitated by the new techniques and methods which in turn has generated positive results. Every designing and development company anywhere in the world aims at providing quality services that satisfy and meets the clients’ need. Fulfilling client’s expectations is the main aim of the companies. Web design Miami has lead to a new era of development and advancements in the field.

The designing of site requires creativity and innovative ideas to generate better results and opportunities through sites. Web design companies in Miami keep implementing the innovative ideas for developing new methods and techniques in the field. These innovative ideas help every professional working in the field. Web companies must aim at creating opportunities for the clients. Personal site can create opportunities for the companies. Effective site requires continuous improvements, updates in the site; companies must assure proper and timely updates of the project undertaken by us. The web design companies in Miami have developed a new base for the professionals of the field to make them work easier and efficient in every way.

Additional features are being introduced in the field by the web design companies of Miami which has helped the web designers and developers all over the world. Companies are more interested in designing the websites of their own to attract the customers and inform them regarding the knowhow of the products and services provided by them. They also remain in contact with the customers and keep taking their feedback. These feedbacks have enabled them to understand the clients and customers in better way. The projects undertaken by the designing companies must be as per the requirement in the market and it must be assured that site never lack in advancement. It must be kept in mind that a company creates website to advertise itself and to provide the information to the customers and organizations regarding the services and products provided by the company. The main aim of creating and developing a site must be fulfilled.

The web design companies in Miami have proved themselves as the best in serving clients in a best way. Every company is enhanced by the updated and technology, along with the advancements as and when they occurs. Web designing has made things easier for the business persons and organizations to inform people regarding the services and products provided by them. Today it has become a compulsion to bring the business in the computer world for widening it up and generating the opportunities worldwide. For the purpose it is very important to create and develop a site that fulfills every requirement of the company to establish itself in the market. The site should provide detail information regarding the product or services provided by the company.



By: Pankaj Snv

About the Author:

Caffeinated Content

There are several competing web design firms today, given the continued growth of online businesses. Web design in Florida offers some of the most competitive services there is but at an affordable price. Choosing the right type of web design service firm could spell the difference on whether your business will succeed or flop in the market.

One of the biggest factors to influence your decision on which firm for web design in Illinois to opt for is the amount or cost. You must be able to create your own web design plan that clearly outlines what you want your website to look like once it is finished so you can also identify the essential items needed to build your website. So, when you are on a tight budget often your best bet are affordable web design firms that offer quality service.

Whether you’re from Florida or not, you can avail of the affordable but quality service that professional web designers in the area has to offer. You can get the most value out of your money by requesting for quotes from multiple firms of web design in Florida. This will give you a more clear basis on comparing competitive firms in terms of who is able to provide the best service for the least amount of money. After all, an affordable web design does not only refer to a low-cost web design but a cost-efficient web design. Hence, your main focus should be on finding a web design firm that can maximize whatever resource is available.

There are lots of booming firms in Chicago or all throughout the state, which explains why several online marketers go for web design in Florida. And the fact that there are several firms and companies that are offering this type of service makes it a competitive environment. The same goes with other areas within the country such web305 in Illinois or SYDCON Web Development in Chicago. These companies will try to lower their rates to compete with other  firms.

Another area you need to consider when choosing web design in Florida is the added services that you can get. Many firms employ this strategy to draw more customers in since these competing companies typically offer just about the same type of services. Some firms might not require you a setup charge, others offer free consultation with their web design experts. And then a few others offer free listings for their online directories.

Therefore, you need to be really keen on details when it comes to choosing the most affordable web design in Florida to make bigger savings and boost your potential profits.



By: Ernie Roque

About the Author:

Kansieo.com