Information Technology

PHP code Snippet : How can I change the collation for my current MySQL database to UTF-8?

Changing the collation for all tables in a MySQL database can be time consuming depending on how many tables you have. That’s why we recommend using the following PHP script for changing the collation for all tables at a time: <?php $db = mysql_connect(‘localhost’,’DBUserName’,’DBPassword’); if(!$db) echo "Cannot connect to the database – incorrect details"; mysql_select_db(‘DBName’); $result=mysql_query(‘show tables’); while($tables = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { foreach ($tables as $key => $value) { mysql_query("ALTER TABLE $value COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci"); }} echo "The collation of your database has been successfully changed!"; ?> Make sure to substitute in the above script: DBName with your database name; DBUserName with your Database User Name; Password with your password for the mysqldatabase user; utf8-general_ci with your new collation if different; NOTE: MySQL user must have administrative rights to do this.

Open Source Applications : How they can be Beneficial ?

With the advent of learning has taken various forms. One can now learn new skills and acquire new knowledge regardless of where one is and when one wants. What used to be a dream is now coming true with e-learning. In fact, e-learning has brought many learning avenues for a large number of people. With advancements in e-learning technologies, learning has become fun. Commercial software developers are vying with one another to create top-notch e-learning software applications. Many a time, such software applications are not, however, easily accessible to the vast majority of people. This blocks them out from accessing and profiting from e-learning opportunities. This is where open resource software comes in handy. Though some critics say that open source software applications have not yet been fully developed to cater to complex learning situations which commercial software applications can, we cannot overlook its advantages. Minimal or no Cost: Courses offered through open source e-learning technologies come with either a minimal cost or are absolutely free of cost. Wide Reaching: With open source software, knowledge-sharing has become an easy and quick process. Besides, learners can have a continuous and unhindered accessibility to the learning resources since there are no payment procedures. Easy to Customize or Upgrade: Open source e-learning software comes in an easily-customizable fashion. A programmer can access the source code and make necessary modifications to the program so that it functions as per their requirements. Open source applications have great advantages, especially for the disadvantaged sections including support, dependability and proper maintenance. All it needs is a team of amateur programmers who can enrich software applications to provide an authentic and enduring virtual learning experience. source: Commlab India Blog

Tips : How to check Personal Firewall Status on Windows

How can you check the status of the connection and the firewall? Simply open Control Panel from the Start Menu, open Internet and Network Connections, then Network Connections. By default the view is of large icons. Click the View Menu, and choose "details" in order to reveal several more columns of information about the connections that your computer has. Check the Status column to see if your connection is currently connected, and whether or not it is "firewalled." You can even drag the column headings around (I like to slide the Status column right next to the Name column. You can even remove entire columns by right-clicking the column heading and unchecking it.

Best free blogging platforms

If you don’t yet have a blog, some good blogging platforms to check out are: WordPress: The darling of the blogosphere, WordPress features two versions; WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Though built on the same platform; WordPress.com offers free and ready-made templates, while WordPress.org supplies a great deal of customization features and website integration. If you are going to go the.ORG route, you better know how to do a little programming, or hire someone who does. Both versions offer good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) options. Blogger: After Google acquired Blogspot, the name was shortened to Blogger. The great thing about Blogger is that it is very highly searchable and Google-friendly. It is also very easy to get started and easy to monetize (make money) with Google AdSense features built in (if you want Google ads on your blog). The less appealing part is that Blogger’s templates are very generic and limited. Both WordPress.com and Blogger are great options for beginning bloggers. TypePad or Movable Type: Solid blogging platforms from parent company Six Apart, and like WordPress, both versions are built on the same platform. TypePad is targeted at a less technical market, and does not allow the customization that Movable Type does. Movable Type requires some technical skills. Tumblr: A relative newcomer compared to the other blog services; Tumblr is easy to use, progressive, the hippest and best looking of the free platforms. Tumblr is also optimized for mobile phone use, is designed to be part of the newer social media experience and has some good customizability. It is is designed more for the social aspect of the web and has yet to truly target businesses. Each of these services provide templates that you can use and [...]

SEO Articles : Facts about Search Engine Optimization Services

Finding the right SEO Company today is not easy. Today, there are thousand of SEO firms offering the same services. Some are very experienced at what they do while others just want to make money without offering any tangible services. Actually, most of these companies are just scam and one should be careful when sourcing their services. Some interesting pointers about SEO companies are detailed below: They may not even understand more than you do. It is necessary to have basic knowledge on these companies. When hunting for a good company, ask them about some of the SEO techniques they use. You will be surprised to find out that most of them have never heard of the terms. Some of them do not even know the rates and costs of submitting websites to the various such engines. They may give you a vague price, proof enough that they are scam. Most of them offer directory submissions which are considered of less value in website rankings. If they charge you a hefty price, then it means that they are not experienced to venture into other marketing strategies. The reason is that directory submission can be done by anyone who has customized software for the job. If an SEO claims to offer directory submission as a major service then do not bother negotiating about any deal. A great percentage of them create unnecessary traffic in the website. Most of them are misguided when it comes to link quantity. They spam across the networks to get more links for the client, yet link quantity does not matter to them. Such companies can cause damage to a business. Some websites have been penalized and others banned because of this. [...]

Web Development : importance of CSS in Web development

CSS style sheets have made it easier to handle web pages during web development. CSS or Cascading Style Sheets as the name suggests is a style sheet that allows you to easily link to other documents in your website. It allows you to retain control over the various elements in different web pages of your website. CSS only defines the structure and content presentation of a website it has nothing to do with the design of a website. A single CSS sheet can control the font, positioning, color and style information of an entire website. 9 advantages of using CSS Web pages are easier to load and uses less bandwidth CSS style sheets are preferred by web developers for website development because they are lighter than table layouts, which consumes lots of bandwidth. The style sheet is downloaded only once and stored in the cache memory, so subsequent pages load faster. A CSS style sheet compliments well with HTML HTML is insufficient when used independently in website development, but when combined with CSS they can result in technically stronger web pages. CSS allows you to position your element anywhere in the webpage Web developers love to use CSS because it allows them to position their element where ever they want in the web page. If during any phase of web development the developer feels that particular links or columns are not going well with the situation then it becomes easier for them to position them easily using CSS. CSS reduces the risks associated with maintenance of the website. CSS is compatible with all web browsers CSS is combined with HTML or XHTML by web developers for web application development because it is compatible with all [...]

Points to remember while developing website design for travel and tourism based business

Travel marketing websites are as diverse as the destinations they serve. Some feature seductive images of beautiful people in alluring locations. Some are all about the transaction; helping users find the best deal and book their vacations online. Others are all facts and figures: number of rooms, restaurants, pools, floor plans, lists of services. Still others present a swirling environment of multimedia, virtual tours, streaming video and flashing buttons. But of all these different approaches, which is the most effective travel website design for tourism and destination brands? Effective Travel / Tourism Website Design The truth is that, upon closer inspection, very few travel websites actually do what the web does best. The Internet is an extremely effective medium for two travel marketing missions: Delivering a variety of content that supports the consumers’ interests; and Moving prospects through the buying process to become customers. The few successful travel websites deliver content that answers the consumer’s need for information and motivates them to take action. This doesn’t happen by accident – it’s the result of a strategic approach to web content and the travel website design. Best Practices of Travel Websites After studying travel and tourism websites and industry best practices for more than a decade, We have developed a unique web design process that is founded on the web content strategy. A solid content strategy helps us plan, create and leverage web content that inspires your consumers, increases your destination travel website traffic and converts shoppers into buyers. Delivering the Resort Internet Marketing Message Like no other medium, the Web 2.0 Internet facilitates an exchange of information and ideas – words, pictures, video, data, feedback and reviews – in other words, web content. If you’ve [...]

Reasons Google may not consider the anchor text in the links to any website

The text that is used in the links that point to your website has a major effect on the position of your website in Google’s search results. For example, if many people use the text “buy blue widgets” to link to your website, then it is very likely that the linked web page will get high rankings for the keyphrase “buy blue widgets” in Google’s search results. The link text (also called anchor text) is the text that is used in text links. Example: <a href=”http://www.example.com“>this is the link text</a> Unfortunately, not all anchor texts will be used by Google. Check the following things to make sure that the links to your website pass the correct anchor tag: The nofollow attribute This is a no-brainer. Links to your website that use the rel=”nofollow” attribute don’t pass the link text to Google. Example: <a href=”http://www.example.com” rel=”nofollow”>great keyword</a> Invalid characters in the URL If an URL contains invalid extra characters then chances are that search engines won’t be able to index the link correctly. Example: <a href=”http://www.example.com “>great keyword</a> In this example, there’s a space at the end of the URL. Some webmasters found out that anchor text is not passed to Google if the link contains an extra space character. Note that most browsers are able to correct this link and they will display the web page correctly. Unfortunately, search engine spiders seem to have more difficulty with malformed links (or they take them as a signal of low quality). The links use 301 redirects Google’s Matt Cutts recently confirmed that Google won’t consider all anchor texts that are used in 301 redirected links. Example: <a href=”http://www.example.com/page.htm“>great keyword</a> The web server redirects “http://www.example.com/page.htm” to “http://www.example.com” with [...]

Importance of web presence for a newly establish business

A business without a website is equivalent to a person without an identity. The World Wide Web is a huge encyclopedia of information, but it has also become a way to validate your business. If you currently have a business, whether it is online or offline, you will need a website to advertise effectively. The best designed websites will promote your business on the internet, to everyone from your point of view. A good website will also highlight the reasons a customer should choose you over your competitors. You can also announce sales and build a newsletter mailing list for all of your loyal customers. The internet is full of marketing possibilities that are not available offline. Another thing that the internet can do is provide new ideas of how to market your business by allowing you the ability to view your competitor’s websites. The information you acquire from spying on your competition can be used to enhance your marketing efforts. Business owners that are against building a website are missing a big piece of the pie. Marketing your business online can be just as successful as offline marketing. If your business is well optimized, your business will show up when using popular search engines. There are many companies currently enjoying large amounts of sales as a result of marketing online. The internet is responsible for the majority of business brought in for some offline businesses. The ability for consumers to complete sales from the comforts of their home is increasing sales for many companies. Web presence can make small businesses more competitive from any angle, allowing you to understand new trends, as well as discover opportunities and problems without wasting time. A small business [...]

Tips & Tricks – GTalk chat shortcut

If you chat very frequently with one of your friend then now you can make GTalk chat shortcut on your desktop. It will initiate a chat with only one click. On click it opens a chat window where you can chat with your friend. But unfortunately this trick works only in window XP, NT in window vista. Here are steps to follow: Right click on your desktop and go to New > Shortcut. In create shortcut window, type gtalk:chat?jid= username@ gmail.com. Where username is gmail id of your friend. Click ok. Its done. You can also make shortcut to call your friend for that you have to write gtalk:call?jid= username@ gmail.com.