Webmaster Blog

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Popularity: 3%

Check PHP files for minimum PHP version requirement

A very useful tool for many of you looking to release your scrips to the public, will be this PHP minimum version requirement checker.

If you ever plan on selling or distributing scripts, it’s vital that you let your customers know the server requirements of your scripts.  Whilst telling them that your script might use the mod_rewrite Apache Module, or that it requires MySQL database, will be fairly easy to know, figuring out the PHP version requirements of your script is not straight forward, and certainly not an easy task if your script is quite complex.

Doing so would require that you write down EVERY PHP function that you use in your script, and then cross-reference to php.net to see what versions can use each function.

Well, say goodbye to that idea thanks to PHPduck!  These amazing folks have created the script for the job!

Find out all about it here: http://phpduck.com/minimum-php-version-script/

And view an example results page here: http://phpduck.com/resources/minVersion_vBulletin401.html

Popularity: 9%

A lot of people are getting confused here, so I thought I’d offer a hand.

You will all have seen that due to recent scams going on on DigitalPoint Forums; you can now ‘Verify Domain Ownership’ when selling domains on the DigitalPoint Marketplace.

Whilst this sounds like a great idea, most people do not know about Total DNS control, or how to use it.  Which isn’t surprising – it can be confusing if you’ve never used it before!

So here’s a walk-through for verifying your domain on DigitalPoint.

Firstly, you need to set up your sales thread for your domain.   Be sure to enter your domain into the bidding system not just in your post otherwise you will not be able to verify your domain!

Once you have done this, view your sales thread.  You will see on the right hand side of the bidding section of your thread, a line that says “Verfied Owner: No“.  Click on it!

This will bring you to a page which says something like:

Add the following TXT record to your DNS configuration:    digitalpoint-site-verify:ab12345cd12345ef12345gh12345

How many people does this make sense to? – Not many.  Hence why nobody verifies!

So here’s what you do!

Go to your domain manager with whoever your domain registrar is.  Find your total DNS control panel.  This may be entitled MX control, or refer to C-Names, A-Names, MX management.

You should see a long list of names and values under different categories such as “A Names” “C Names” MX – Mail” etc.. Look for the one that is titled TXT.

You then want to click “Add TXT Record”

This is where most people get stuck.  They don’t know where to put in the ‘code’ they got from digitalpoint!

Well here’s what you need to put in.

Name: @
Value: digitalpoint-site-verify:ab12345cd12345ef12345gh12345  (replaced with your actual DP verification)
TTL: Default (leave as it is)

And that’s it!  Now go back to the screen where you were given the code by DP, and click Verify!  It might take a few minutes (up to an hour actually but it wont take that long xD) to work..

If you need further assistance just leave a comment!

Popularity: 25%

Need an SEO analysis done on your website but can’t afford to pay for it?  Well I have the perfect solution for you!

I recently discovered a perfect All-In-One SEO Analysis tool, handy for any level webmaster looking to perfect their website for the almighty search engines!

The tool is by PineBerry, and can be found here.

This SEO analysis tool provides you, the webmaster, a complete run-down of your websites SEO properties.  It shows you in simple, easy to understand terminology, how to improve your Search Engine recognition.

What I really love about this tool is that it gives you a “points” system, which makes it easy to determine which factors of the analysis are most important, and which ones you can focus on at a later date once you’ve consulted the more severe parts which have deducted you the most “points”.

So go ahead and get a completely free analysis of your websites SEO situation now.

http://www.pineberry.com/en/skills/seo/analysis-tool

Popularity: 11%

Everybody is under the impression that Hostgator are the best, or atleast in the top 5.  But why?  I often wonder if people actually understand whether or not they deserve their reputation or not.  Or do people just trust other people’s judgement and hop on the band-wagon?  Surely a ridiculous idea when you’re looking for a hosting plan to suit you; not anybody else..?

The answer to that proposition is; Actually, it’s not such a ridiculous idea.  It doesnt take a genius to work out that purchasing shared hosting from ANYONE – including Hostgator is going to mean you’re restricted as to what websites and services you can run.  Anything highly demanding like proxies and major image hosts (which are disallowed by Hostgator) should never in a million years be run on a shared server.  For many reasons other than just the server load.

So baring in mind that you can’t go running internationally demanded, heavy scripts on such hosting, you can indeed hop onto the ‘gator-wagon’.  Their hosting packages are so flexible, especially since going “UNLIMITED”, that they will cater for the majority of wabmasters looking to run several personal or even modest commercial websites.

I have been using Hostgator for a while now, and I will now highlight a few aspects of their superiority over most other hosts.

Support – Their support is truly the best I’ve seen.  Admittedly I do not require support often, so I can’t say I’m the best qualified person to make judgement, but I can garauntee that their support is excellent, where others’ will more than likely fall short of such a label.  You will be talking live to a member of staff in SECONDS and they answer immediately, and really understand what you’re asking for, and understand their service well enough to provide you with a full, extensive answer to cater all of your enquiries. Perfect.

Uptime - I use several methods of monitoring my websites’ uptimes.  I have yet to receive a single report of any down time at all.  I have never experienced lag-spikes, high server loads, or any signs of overselling.  The uptime garauntee they provide really is a garauntee!!

Prices – Their prices are tremendously competative.  I have scoured the internet looking for a quality webhost at as low a cost as humanly possible, and thus; I have had nothing but downers untill I used Hostgator: downtime, servers breaking down, my earnings going down, and ultimately; letdown.  Hostgators prices are amazingly low, and so I distrusted their opting into the “UNLIMITED” scheme, but I can honestly say for Hostgator; THE PRICE IS RIGHT!

HOSTGATOR IS IDEAL FOR BEGINNERS, EXPERIENCED WEBMASTERS, AND PROFESSIONALS!

What’s more; Hostgator’s datacentre is completely environmentally friendly! That’s right, their servers are both powered AND cooled by wind turbine generated power based in Texas, US.

Whether you’re after a simple, single-core shared server, or perhaps a duel core beast of a server; Hostgator can cater for your needs!

Get started with Hostgator! - You won’t be sorry!

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Popularity: 19%