Web Developer

Basic HTML Document

2015-08-18T00:07:56Z

In this HTML 5 Tutorial we will look at a very basic HTML document. These three HTML tags are required in each HTML document.

Google Analytics

2014-07-22T20:23:48Z

At work we are having a discussion about Google Analytics referencing information by page titles and URL changes (where the node id turns into the permalink we specify).
If you add a minor correction to the title of a Drupal page, GA will treat it as a new page and start the counter all over again.
If the person in charge of doing the reports is not aware of the title changes, it will mess up her reports.

Is it possible to track GA information by Drupal node id's? Most systems will track by ID by default, but maybe there are some configurations that need to be completed in GA or Drupal before you can do that?

We are considering implementing a procedure where titles and URLs are finalized even before the page is published, but this seems like really poor practice in my opinion because clients will still come back with title changes, or will ask to re-use the same page year after year with new content on it. There must be some other solution!

Any help you provide would be greatly appreciated.

Drupal blocks, beans, etc.

2014-05-12T14:07:29Z

Hi
I need to create "hub pages" (pages with multiple blocks to different areas of a Drupal site) but I have limited access to what I can modify.

Right now the pages that are supposed to be "hub pages" are just simple content pages with a series of divs and inline CSS as blocks, which IMO is a really bad way of coding pages when we can use Drupal to its full potential. And we're also wasting a lot of time tweaking the inline CSS which is being overwritten by the Drupal css...

I think what we should be doing for browser compatibility is to use the "Drupal Blocks" area of the site to create blocks that can easily be added to multiple pages but I don't fully understand how Drupal blocks work.

I'm not really sure what I should be doing and with limited access to most of the block types (the only blocks I can create are "beans"), I need to understand this more before I can get the access I need from the other team who installed the site.

There are several other types of blocks already created so I added some HTML content to it, but I don't know how to add that block to a bean page or if it should be added to a content page?

Please help.

Thanks.

Wordpress migration from dev to production

2013-09-02T19:57:25Z

Hi,

I downloaded the Wordpress source files to my development environment, where I am playing around with new features and adding content.
Now that I have a better comfort level with Wordpress, I'd like to migrate my blog content to my production server through FTP.

I understand I also would have to migrate the database too, since that's where all my content is stored.

Should I go through the installation process on my production server, and then copy the modified databases over to production? Or should I just paste all of my PHP source files from dev into a new folder on my server and assume that things will work (I guess that is kind of a silly question?)

Is there anything I should be aware of when pasting the files in Production and logging into it? My biggest concern is while I am going through the installation again, someone else could be trying to go through the Wordpress files as I am configuring my blog environment for the first time.

I can't change the database names on my server, since it is going through a web hosting company, so perhaps it is better to go through the installation again in production, and then migrate the content from the databases.

Your help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

SQL injection .NET

2013-03-13T15:14:22Z

The pentesters told use that the following code is vulnerable to SQL injection in our e-store:

create procedure dbo.uspBeAfraidBeVeryAfraid ( @p1 varchar(64) )
AS
SET NOCOUNT ON
declare @sql varchar(512)
set @sql = 'select * from ' + @p1
exec(@sql)
GO

How I should fix the issue?

Event on closing browser window

2013-03-11T20:33:43Z

Hi,
I am working on a web site (ASP.NET, FW4) which has a secure section (login required).
I would like to clear the session variables when customer closes the browser.
To achieve that I have placed a hidden button on the MasterPage (have tested, it works) and then trying to call the ASP method using JavaScript.

    <script type="text/javascript">
      window.onbeforeunload = function()
      {
         CustomLogoff();
      }
      function CustomLogoff()
      {
         var button1 = document.getElementById('<%=hiddenLogoutButton.ClientID %>');
         button1.click();
      }
    </script>
    <asp:Button runat="server" ID="hiddenLogoutButton" 
         Text="Invisible Logout Button" Visible="false" 
         onclick="hiddenLogoutButton_Click" />

(Also tried to put this call into body tag: <body onbeforeunload='CustomLogoff()'>)

CustomLogoff is not being called. Thought when calling it like this:

<input type="buton" onClick="CustomLogoff()" value="logoff">

It works fine (on button click of course).

Is there a way to make it work on browser closing too?

web content accessibility and web forms

2012-10-05T19:59:56Z

I have to validate pages for web content accessibility standards, and I have to explain to the client why in certain cases having a radio button is more acceptable than a checkbox; but I can't seem to find anything to back this up.

The website form uses labels, and is created by the client with some of the following options:

Gender: Female: [] Male: []

Languages spoken: English: [] French: [] Both: []

The page does not validate server-side because the idea is you're supposed to fill out the form and click the "Print" button at the bottom, then send. Why they didn't create a fillable form in Adobe is beyond me, but that is the not the point right now...

I do not think there is anything in the WCAG standards about using checkboxes or radio buttons but it seems this is often overlooked by web publishers. But if someone helps me find some good information to bring forward to the client, then that should be enough evidence to change the form.

I tried doing a google search but I don't think I am choosing the search words, or something...so please help me out

Thanks!

Catch undefined method calls in JS

2012-07-20T21:51:47Z

Hi!

There is an interesting task. I need to catch any undefined calls in my JS code. Is there a solution?

Imagine:

    function a() {
        alert('Hi, I'm a function!');
    }

    a(); // works great

    a.b(); // call undefined function

So, are there any ways to catch calls a.b() in my function a()?

ARGH, any way I can find a anti spam guestbook?

2012-02-23T19:19:31Z

Ok, if you didn't know, HTML Gear is closing. I'd used them for guestbooks on my personal pages for a long time.

However they're closing, so I took them off. The service I switched to said they were anti spam but..

First entry I get is spam. It's proly time to start hosting the guestbook on my own server since I can. Mind, I have access to recapatcha which seems to stop most spammers. Is there any scripts out there that'd allow that?

Coding book recs?

2011-12-05T17:50:06Z

Hello everyone. I was wondering if anyone out there could give me some recommendations on current html 5.0 books? Or even sites. Many thanks in advance.

embedding fonts on livejournal

2011-11-10T16:56:08Z

I've spent a lot of time knowing the ins and outs of my lj theme 'tranquility ii'. One of the things I have never been able to figure out is how to embed a font from my own personal font library so that that anybody viewing my blog will see my entries with my selected font, regardless whether they have a copy of it on their computer.

The font in question here is called Chandler, a vintage typewriter style font. From what I understand, embedding requires that a true type font be used. Is there a quick and easy way to convert a bitmap font to the required format? If so, would I be pursuing this objective in vain seeing as I don't know where to begin to embed a font for my livejournal entries?

Writer's Block: International Skeptics Day

2011-10-13T18:21:08Z

About my Ex and friend.

Xfbdev startup on customize Linux kernel

2011-10-12T20:00:50Z

Hi All,
I just finished working on Xserver startup on Linux machine along with configuring kernel for that. I hope this would be helpful to guys, who hold less experience in Linux world.

Before I begin, I just want to have some words with you guys that this blog is NOT a step by step guide to do things. It's just a list of my experiments I have done with development board. So this will provide an insight to people who are facing same problems as I did. But they must know some basics of Linux.

Personally I never liked spoon feeding, some answers need to be dig up by yourself.

So let's begin with Xservers. Xservers are most important thing for Linux GUI. In Linux environment, almost all Xclients (any GUI application) request to Xserver for Screen draw and other graphical operations(like Windows, button checkbox draw/movement on screen). The idea behind Xserver and Xclient is to run a light weight server which can process and send request to graphics hardware on Host machine. Now the Xclients can run on same machine or other and request to Xserver for graphical operations.

One can find more details about X system on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System.

So Xervers can be said of two types. One is Xorg, full featured Xserver.
Second one is Xfbdev, which has some limited functionality as compared to Xorg. It is a generic Xserver, which does not know about the particular hardware and uses framebuffer provided by Linux framebuffer device.

Now let's move on to kernel configuration required for kernel.
The linux kernel must have support for framebuffer device and VESA driver support for framebuffer.
following options should be enabled in kernel config:
CONFIG_FB
CONFIG_FB_VESA
For Sandy Bridge architecture based boards, enable CONFIG_ACPI option too, to avoid DSDT table error.

After building the kernel, all you need to do is to copy the kernel image under /boot directory with name like 'vmlinuz-<kernel-local-version>' and make relevant entries in grub configuration.
In grub entry for the kernel, add 'vga=0x318' (or any other suitable vga mode) in kernel boot option. [0x318 represents standard resolution of 1028x768x32]
Now install the modules under /lib directory.

Also u may need to build an initramfs/initrd, required for RHEL/ubuntu file systems.
You can use dracut/mkinitramfs utility to build one.

Place it under /boot directory and add it to grub entry.

Under /boot/grub/grub.conf file, remove or comment out the line 'hiddenmenu' and set some time out.
Now reboot the system.

Select your custom kernel, and press enter. Kernel should boot and give you log in prompt. I have tried it with custom file system which does not belong to redhat/ubuntu. so i got command prompt. In order to have the same, one can add 'single' in boot option for custom kernel grub entry.
Ensure the enumeration of framebuffer device nodes, like /dev/fb*
Now execute 'export DISPLAY=:0'.
Run 'Xfbdev'.
Xserver should start and give you a graphical pattern with a X on it. X represents mouse pointer.

JS/CSS load order incoherency

2011-07-11T06:15:00Z

[Edit: fixed CSS syntax in these examples. The development code is fine in that regard.]

Using Firefox 5 on Windows 7, I ran into two related problems that must be common enough for there to be standard workarounds.

1. CSS is not applied until after Javascript runs. Given the CSS:

#id { width: 50px; }

document.getElementById("id").style.width is undefined. This is using jquery's $(document).ready() which runs after everything else is supposed to be loaded. The standard body onload will run even earlier, with less of a chance that the CSS will be loaded if the problem is due to a race.

Javascript can see the CSS style if it is set in the contents of an HTML style="" attribute, but you lose the benefits of CSS if you have multiple tags sharing the same style.

~~2. Previously defined CSS does not apply to new nodes created by Javascript.~~ [Edit #2: This does work. I had a typo in my code.]

div.myclass { width: 50px; }  /* CSS */

var node = document.createElement("div"); // JS
node.setAttribute("class", myclass"); // CSS is not applied.
node.className = "myclass"; // CSS is not applied.

One solution to this one is to code every single CSS style change in Javascript using the DOM, but I would prefer not to have to do that.

What are the best practices in these situations?

RSS channel icon

2011-03-06T01:37:59Z

Hi!

Can somebody explain me how to change my RSS channel's
default icon to personal logo (like those shown at the screenshot)?

Thank you!

Spammer problem on Vbull. Anyone know how to program a challenge question?

2011-02-28T18:44:53Z

Ok. This is a odd question guys but hopefully someone knows enough about Vbull so I can tell the admin.

I'm a moderator (just a member moderator, mind you) on a gaming forum. The trouble is we've been hit very very hard by spammers. Which is annoying the mods and admins to distraction.

We've added a mod called Spam-O-Matic that auto denies spammers from reging tho it's not perfect.

What I'd like to see done is (since the head admin does not like capatchas, she has trouble solving them) adding a challenge question on reging.(Like a game question that most should know, "Are you human?” or “Do you have a heartbeat above 0?”) The thing is we'd need to obscure the answer like a password. (We wouldn't want spambots to be able to figure it out easily!) The board itself is Vbull 4.03 if that helps..does anyone know a mod that could allow us to do that, and maybe randomize the question so it’d be more than one to further confuse spammers? Or could make one?

Aesthetics vs Functionality

2011-02-11T22:24:19Z

Where do you draw the line between looking good and working well? I feel obligated to give my clients as much control over the content of their website, but in doing so I think I subtract from what is visually possible.

How do you work around giving the client the freedom to update the content while still maintaining a visually pleasing site? I sometimes struggle keeping the creative juice flowing when [almost] every aspect of the site can be editable.

Inkwell Creative Hiring Web Developer

2011-02-11T01:31:04Z

Inkwell Creative, a growing Portland, Oregon company focusing on web design, graphic design, interactive media, video and branding, is looking to hire a web developer. We are seeking a hard working team player and someone who is forward thinking when it comes to technology. You must be able to work with us in a collaborative team setting, know many coding and web programming languages and have a strong portfolio.

Requirements:
5+ years of experience
Strong portfolio
Must be collaborative
Knowledge of many coding/web development languages
Knowledge of CSS and HTML 5, Content Management Systems, Flash, SEO programming, Integration into Databases
Knowledge of iPhone apps a plus

Compensation:
DOE. Benefits and paid-for parking. This is a salary position.

TO APPLY:
Email a cover letter, resume and link to your online portfolio to hr@inkwellgroup.com. Please include in your cover letter any outside hobbies, passions and interests. We kindly request no phone calls and no employment agencies.

APPLICANTS WITHOUT A COVER LETTER, RESUME AND PORTFOLIO WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED

Hide Things From Google?

2011-01-04T02:03:47Z

I'll be the first to admit I only know minimal HTML and use WYSIWYG feature of Dreamweaver to edit most of the website, I'm working on. Sadly I'm the only one in an organization I'm involved with that knows the most about HTML/web development. I didn't create this website, but I know it was made by another graphic designer that probably cared more about the looks than coding.

Anyway, she made a portion only viewable if you log-in with a password and we host several documents like a phone tree up there. Someone found out about that you can access these without logging in if you searched for them on Google or other search engines. I'm wondering if there's anyway to hide these documents from Google/other search engines in Dreamweaver? Any information would be much appreciated, thanks!

Using Tags

2010-12-28T19:10:12Z

I want to create a database of information, and I want to be able to support multiple tags to improve search capabilities.
I'm not sure what is the best way to implement such a (tag) system.
Wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction?

PHP_Class_Code::pageList

2010-12-24T20:08:45Z

One of a few things I've put together to help on some projects I've been working on. Hopefully you can make use of this, or tear it to pieces if you think it demonstrates poor coding practices. I've tried to keep the documentation as short and concise as possible.

This started out as a jQuery plugin, but I prefer to use the PHP one in normal operation rather than populating post-DOM load. The jQuery one has been relegated to creating pages for AJAX calls only.

My normal output is << First < Previous 7 8 [9] 10 11 Next > Last >>

    /*    PHP Paginator
        Usage    : $var=new pageList(array('link'=>'http://linktouse.com/index.php?page=#' [,opt page=x [,opt perpage=x [,opt results=x [,opt display=x [,opt javascript=false [,opt regex='/pattern/']]]]]]));
                : (or) $var=new pageList(array('link'=>'jsfunction("page=#")' [,opt page=x [,opt perpage=x [,opt results=x [,opt display=x [,opt javascript=true [,opt regex='/pattern/']]]]]]));
                : The # in the link is the default regex for page numbers. If you include a |, for example, be sure to modify the optional regex variable in order for this to work
        Return    : $var->firstPage = <a href=[link]>«« First</a>
                : $var->previousPage = <a href=[link]>« Previous [current-1]</a>
                : $var->currentPresent = [<a href=[link]>[current]</a>
                : $var->nextPage = <a href=[link]>Next »[current+1]</a>
                : $var->lastPage = <a href=[link]>Last »»</a>
                : $var->previousPresent = <a href=[link]>[x]</a> (number shown depends on the current page and 'display' variable)
                : $var->nextPresent = <a href=[link]>[x]</a> (number shown depends on the current page vs total pages and 'display' variable)
                : $var->errorMessage = Returns which variable failed. Only present when an error occurs
        Notes    : The link variable is not escaped. Note that on output the link is enclosed in single quotes (').
                : If using javascript links, use double quotes (") to contain your variables.
    */

    class pageList {
        public function __construct($arrayList) {
            $this->defaultConfig=array('page'=>'0','perpage'=>'15','results'=>'15','display'=>'5','link'=>'default','javascript'=>false,'regex'=>'/\#/i');
            $this->numberVariables=array('page','perpage','results','display');
            if($this->verifyConfig($arrayList)) {
                $this->firstPage='«« First'; $this->previousPage='« Previous'; $this->nextPage='Next »'; $this->lastPage='Last »»';

                $this->lowerDisplay=(($this->defaultConfig['display']-1)/2); $this->higherDisplay=($this->defaultConfig['display']-1);
                $this->numberPages=ceil($this->defaultConfig['results']/$this->defaultConfig['perpage']);
                $this->preCap=$this->defaultConfig['page']; if($this->preCap>$this->lowerDisplay) { $this->preCap=$this->lowerDisplay; }
                $this->postOffset=($this->higherDisplay-$this->preCap); $this->postOffset=$this->postOffset>(($this->numberPages-1)-$this->defaultConfig['page'])?(($this->numberPages-1)-$this->defaultConfig['page']):$this->postOffset;
                $this->javascript=''; if($this->defaultConfig['javascript']==true) { $this->javascript='javascript:'; }
                $this->previousPresent=''; $this->nextPresent=''; $this->currentPresent="[<a href='".$this->javascript.preg_replace($this->defaultConfig[regex],$this->defaultConfig['page'], $this->defaultConfig['link'])."'>".($this->defaultConfig['page']+1)."</a>]";

                if($this->defaultConfig['page']>0) {
                    $this->firstPage="<a href='".$this->javascript.preg_replace($this->defaultConfig['regex'],"0", $this->defaultConfig['link'])."'>".$this->firstPage."</a>";
                    $this->previousPage="<a href='".$this->javascript.preg_replace($this->defaultConfig['regex'],($this->defaultConfig['page']-1), $this->defaultConfig['link'])."'>".$this->previousPage."</a>";
                    for($i=(($this->defaultConfig['page']-$this->lowerDisplay)-($this->lowerDisplay-$this->postOffset)); $i<$this->defaultConfig['page']; $i++) {
                        if($i>=0) { $this->previousPresent.="<a href='".$this->javascript.preg_replace($this->defaultConfig['regex'],$i,$this->defaultConfig['link'])."'>".($i+1)."</a> "; }
                    }
                }

                if(($this->numberPages-1)>$this->defaultConfig['page']) {
                    $this->lastPage="<a href='".$this->javascript.preg_replace($this->defaultConfig['regex'],($this->numberPages-1), $this->defaultConfig['link'])."'>".$this->lastPage."</a>";
                    $this->nextPage="<a href='".$this->javascript.preg_replace($this->defaultConfig['regex'],($this->defaultConfig['page']+1), $this->defaultConfig['link'])."'>".$this->nextPage."</a>";
                    for($i=($this->defaultConfig['page']+1); $i<=($this->defaultConfig['page']+$this->postOffset); $i++) {
                        if($i<$this->numberPages) { $this->nextPresent.=" <a href='".$this->javascript.preg_replace($this->defaultConfig['regex'],$i, $this->defaultConfig['link'])."'>".($i+1)."</a>"; }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        public function verifyConfig($arrayList) {
            $this->defaultConfig=array_merge($this->defaultConfig,$arrayList);
            foreach($this->defaultConfig as $key => $value) {
                if(in_array($key,$this->numberVariables)) { $this->defaultConfig[$key]=intval($this->defaultConfig[$key]); if(is_nan($this->defaultConfig[$key])) { $this->errorMessage=$key.' failed.'; return false; } }
                else if($this->defaultConfig[$key]=='default') { $this->errorMessage=$key.' failed.'; return false; }
            }
            return true;
        }
    }

WebDAV / Exchange 2003 OWA / PHP

2010-12-19T17:37:57Z

There is very little reference for this anywhere on the internet that I can find. MSDN has the properties listed with what data type the property is expected to be.

I'm hoping someone here may be able to help? My head has been scratched.

My three main points of reference are:

    #    Content Classes                http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa486257%28v=EXCHG.65%29.aspx
    #    Content Classes:Message        http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa123730%28v=EXCHG.65%29.aspx
    #    Properties by Namespace        http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa486269%28v=EXCHG.65%29.aspx

I have also looked at the MAPI references.

Outgoing mail XML
<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>
<a:propertyupdate
    xmlns:a=\"DAV:\"
    xmlns:b=\"urn:uuid:c2f41010-65b3-11d1-a29f-00aa00c14882/\"
    xmlns:c=\"xml:\"
    xmlns:d=\"urn:schemas:mailheader:\"
    xmlns:e=\"urn:schemas:httpmail:\"
    xmlns:f=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/\"
    xmlns:g=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/\"
    xmlns:h=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/\"
    xmlns:i=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office\"
    xmlns:j=\"urn:schemas:calendar:\"
    xmlns:k=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/repl/\"
    xmlns:l=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:exch-data:\"
    >
    <a:set>
        <a:prop>
            <a:contentclass>urn:content-classes:message</a:contentclass>
            <d:content-base>http://localhost/exchange/</d:content-base>
            <d:content-disposition>attachment; filename=test.txt</d:content-disposition>
            <h:outlookmessageclass>IPM.Note</h:outlookmessageclass>
            <h:autoaddsignature>1</h:autoaddsignature>
            <h:signaturehtml>2</h:signaturehtml>
            <h:signaturetext>3</h:signaturetext>
            <d:to>".$toEmail."</d:to>
            <e:subject>".$messageSubject."</e:subject>
            <e:htmldescription>Test email</e:htmldescription>
            <e:attachmentfilename>test.txt</e:attachmentfilename>
        </a:prop>
    </a:set>
</a:propertyupdate>

I cannot get the signature, nor the attachment to send. I have tried with/without content-base, content-disposition, attachmentfilename, signaturehtml, signaturetext and autoaddsignature in all combinations.

1. Is it possible to add signatures to outgoing messages through WebDAV with PHP? If so, how? I <i>could</i>] set the signatures up in my script, but I would like the user to be able to edit them via Outlook Web Access (OWA).

2. Is it possible to add attachment to outgoing messages through WebDAV with PHP? If so, how? A report will be generated before the mail functions are called. The report will be saved locally (e.g., http://localhost/report/2010-12-19.pdf) and not on the Exchange server (http://server.com/Exchange) -- I assume this is what content-base is for.

I know there are name spaces in the code that are unused. The emails send fine, but do not come with attachments or signatures.

Ecommerce integration

2010-12-10T17:14:20Z

I’ve been asked to identify an Ecommerce solution for my office.

Despite what the sales people think (an exaggerating bunch) we’ll likely be low volume, but product prices can range from $5 to $20,000.
Like something scalable.

Thought we might use some of the Free/Cheap Solutions (ZenCart PayQuake) offered with our hosting site, but I’m having reservations.

Quickbooks integration a plus.
Any and All thoughts on topic would be helpful. Thanks!

(A little more information might be helpful-- We only require one storefront, we'll put it on a sub-domain, and we would like reseller and discount/coupon options)

webdev @ 2010-11-29T22:22:00

2010-11-30T04:22:05Z

Getting Zen Cart functioning with Yahoo's* hosting- can it happen? It's not allowing me to upload the .htaccess files.

If no, is there another half decent free cart that will work?

(* Yes, I know. Not my site.)

N00blet soup

2010-11-29T18:43:23Z

Hello! Long time lurker first time poster. I am just beginning my adventures with web programming, and am trying to make an application within the Netbeans IDE that says "Hello World!"

My code is
package bigjava;
public class HelloPrinter
    {
        public static void main(String[] args)
        {
            // Display a greeting in the console window

              System.out.println("Hello, World!");
        }
    }

I just created a project called BigJava after the textbook Big Java 3rd edition. Java is case sensitive and my subfolder is in all lower case. When I run it the application doesn't have any errors, but it also doesn't print out the "Hello, World" that I desire.

Any thoughts? If this isn't appropriate for the community let me know. Thanks for any advice or thoughts!