Posts Tagged ‘help’

Quick guide to installing WordPress

Posted on November 11, 2010 by The Forge
Filed under: How To
Tags: , ,

WordPress has become one of the most popular content management systems available to site owners. With its powerful features, ease of use and thousands of themes on offer, more and more people are turning to WordPress to create and manage their websites.

This has led to a frequently asked question – How do I setup WordPress?

Fortunately, WordPress has one of the easiest setup processes; however, there are still a few things that need to be understood before you get to it. Some of the tasks you’ll be required to perform are:

  1. Organising a hosting account
  2. Setting up a database
  3. Updating files
  4. Using File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Before you can do anything, you need to have a hosting account and domain name – The domain name is your http://www.yourname.com, which points to your hosting account where all your files are stored on the Internet. Hosting accounts are available through a number of service providers – we recommend Hetzner and their affordable package called “Basic”. Once you’ve arranged the hosting package, we’re ready to look at creating a database.

With most hosting companies, you will receive access to a Control Panel or Konsole, or some sort of administrative area which allows you to manage your hosting account. Inside the Control Panel will be a tool that allows you to create a MySQL database. When creating a database, make sure that you write down the host name, database name, username and password, as you’ll be using these again when installing WordPress.

Your next step is to download a copy of WordPress and you can do so by clicking here. Once you have downloaded WordPress, you will need to unzip the files and look for a file called wp-config-sample.php – This file needs to be opened, you can do this with Notepad (Win) or Textedit (Mac). Once the file is opened, the following lines need to be changed to match the host name, database name, username and password you wrote down in the previous step:

/** The name of the database for WordPress */

define(’DB_NAME’, ‘database_name_here’);

/** MySQL database username */

define(’DB_USER’, ‘username_here’);

/** MySQL database password */

define(’DB_PASSWORD’, ‘password_here’);

/** MySQL hostname */

define(’DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’);

Once you have made these changes, save the file, close it and rename it to wp-config.php.

The next step is to make use of an FTP program to upload your files to your host. A free FTP program called FileZilla can be downloaded here. If you aren’t sure on how to use an FTP client, click here to read a comprehensive guide about uploading your files to your host or have a watch of this video tutorial:

At this point, you should have uploaded all the WordPress files that came in the .zip file that you downloaded to your host.

All that is left now is to navigate to your domain, for example, http://www.yourname.com and follow the instructions given to you on screen.

If you get stuck, please click here and read a more comprehensive guide to installing WordPress.

How to create an email signature – Part I

Posted on April 20, 2009 by The Forge
Filed under: How To
Tags: , , , , ,

Please note: This tutorial is based on Microsoft Outlook, part of the Microsoft Office 2003 suite.

An email siganture or signature block, is a block of text, which is appended to the end of an email. This block of text usually contains information about the sender or the sender’s company.

Adding a signature to your emails has many advantages, two of which are: branding and contact detail distribution. A signature allows you to send out a virtual business card each time you send an email.

Creating a signature is not tricky if you follow these simple steps:

STEP 1

The first step is to open up Microsoft Outlook, it should look like this..

tutorial-email-signature-screen1(click to enlarge the image)

STEP 2

Move your mouse to the top of Microsoft Outlook and select the ‘Tools’ menu by left-clicking, followed by left-clicking on ‘Options’.

tutorial-email-sig-screen-2STEP 3

At this point, a window will have popped up, which looks like the example below. At this point, you want to left-click on the ‘Mail Format’ tab, as indicated below:

tutorial-email-signature-screen3(click to enlarge the image)

STEP 4

The last step before creating your new email signature is to select the ‘Signatures’ option, as highlighted below..

tutorial-email-signature-screen4(click to enlarge the image)

STEP 5

It’s time to create your signature. On the window which popped up after completing STEP 4, you need to left click on the ‘New’ button, as shown below. Once again, a window will pop up and you will be able to give your signature a name by replacing the highlighted ‘Untitled’ text. It would be suggested that you name is something along the lines of ‘Company Name ‘ Signature’, replacing ‘Company Nam’ with your companies name (Please don’t include the quotes). Once you have done this, left-click on the ‘Next >’ button.

tutorial-email-signature-screen5

tutorial-email-signature-screen6

Click here to continue..

How to create an email signature – Part II

Posted on by The Forge
Filed under: How To
Tags: , , , , ,

STEP 6

At this stage, you should have a pop up window on your screen, which allows you to type in your Signature text, as seen in the example below. Once you have typed in your signature text, please left click the ‘Finish’ button, followed by a left-click on the ‘OK’ button, which appears on the window after you’ve clicked the ‘Finish’ button.

tutorial-email-signature-screen7

STEP 7

The final step is assigning the signature to your emails. This can be done by using the drop down menus provided, please see the image below. Note: You can choose to include your signature in new emails as well as replies and forwards – This is your choice. Personally, I use both options. Once you have done this, left click the ‘Apply’ button followed by a left click on the ‘OK’ button“ you will now be back at STEP 1.

tutorial-email-signature-screen8

STEP 8

To test your signature, simple click on ‘New’ as you would usually do to write an email. You will now see your signature in your email.

tutorial-email-signature-screen9

It’s as simple as that, enjoy your new email signature!

What is a blog and should your business have one?

Posted on April 16, 2009 by The Forge
Filed under: Understanding The Web
Tags: , , , , , ,

Before looking into what a blog is, what it can be used for and whether or not your business should have a blog, it’s important to look at some definitions.

A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. ~ Source

A weblog (usually shortened to blog, but occasionally spelled web log) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order). Although most early weblogs were manually updated, tools to automate the maintenance of such sites made them accessible to a much larger population, and the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of “blogging”. ~ Source

A corporate weblog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads. Currently, all major browsers (including Firefox, Opera, Safari and Internet Explorer 7) support RSS technology, which enables readers to easily read recent posts without actually visiting the blog, which is very useful for low-volume blogs. ~ Source

In its simplest form, a blog is a publishing tool maintained by an individual or team and is used to communicate news to interested parties as well as engage with interested parties. In comparison to a conventional website, a blog is far more dynamic and interactive.

Corporate blogging has fast become an essential marketing tool for most businesses due to the fast nature in which news can be distributed as well as the ability to allow readers to leave comments and receive feedback. A corporate blog gives a business the ability to ‘talk’ to readers apposed to the one-way communication of traditional media.

There are 2 main types of recognised corporate blogs:

  • Internal Blogs
  • External Blogs

Internal Blogs

An internal blog is much like a memo, the difference being that the information is located on a website, which is only accessible by employees, via an intranet. The advantages behind this are:

  • Easy to update
  • Distributed quickly
  • Save on printing costs
  • Allows employees to leave responses, if required
  • Available to staff who work remotely

An Internal blog could also be used for the following:

  • Setting up meetings
  • Staff Discussions
  • Event Management

External Blogs

Probably the more popular of the two types of corporate blogs is the External Blog. An External Blog is a publically viewable blog, which allows businesses to communicate information to the public. New product or service releases would be a good example of such information. An External Blog could also be used for:

  • Business announcements
  • Press releases
  • Public Opinion management
  • Increasing business transparency
  • Interacting with a target market on a more personal level

Advantages of an external blog:

  • Easy distribution of news, press releases and announcements
  • Low running costs
  • Public engagement
  • Low cost engagement with target audience

To get a better idea of what blogs are available on the Internet, here are some examples:

Converse Blog – http://www.converseblog.co.za/
Photography Blog – http://www.photographyblog.com/
Business Blog – http://www.sabusiness.co.za/
Interior Design Blog – http://www.designspongeonline.com/
Animal Rescue Blog – http://animalrescue.typepad.com/

Regardless of the industry you operate in, a blog will provide you with a new means to marketing, communicating and interacting with clients and/or potential clients.

If you’re interested in exploring the possibility of a blog for your business, please feel free to contact us by clicking here.

Web jargon explained – Part II

Posted on April 7, 2009 by The Forge
Filed under: Understanding The Web
Tags: , , , ,

MySQL
Is a database server. This database is ideal for both small and large applications.

MPEG
Stands for Moving Picture Experts Group and refers to a compression standard.

Meta Tags
Meta Tags are used by search engine spiders to help understand website content.

Microblogging
Microblogging is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, E-mail, digital audio or the web.

Mockup
This is how your website designer will give you an idea of what the finished website will look like. This is normally achieved by using a graphics program, so it is a representation of the finished item. Generally depicting the look of the home or index page.

Navigation
A navigation bar or navigation buttons are normally placed on each web page so you can navigate through the contents of the website.

Perl
Perl is a programming language and can be used for a variety of tasks.

PHP
Is a server-side scripting language similar in ways to ASP. PHP stands for: Hypertext Preprocessor.

PNG
Portable Network Graphics. PNG is a graphics file format endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium that is expected to eventually replace the GIF format. PNGs are not restricted to the 256 color limitation of GIF files, support better transparency options and have better compression but do not support the multiple frames and simple animation that GIF files have.

Resolution
Resolution is about the clarity of an image. The higher dpi (dots per inch), the higher the quality of an image, whether it be an image on a web page or our computer monitor.

RSS
There are two definitions for this, Rich Site Summary and Really Simple Syndication. RSS is an automated way of transmitting and updating news. As a user, you allow the automated transmission by subscribing to the feed or source. To use the service you need a RSS reader installed on your computer, or you can use an online reader such as Google Reader.

SEM
SEM is the acronym for Search Engine Marketing. SEM is the process whereby a website is marketed online using the means of Google Adwords, for example. Costs are measured on Cost per Click (CPC) or Cost per 1000 Impressions (CPM).

SEO
SEO is the acronym for Search Engine Optimisation and by definition this means “the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines.

This includes, but is not limited to, optimising your website pages by using appropriate source code throughout the website so that search engines can easily index your website and improve the website’s ranking. SEO techniques are used for improving your position when a search is carried out on a specific keyword or keyword phrase.

Site map
The site map is a visual illustration of the various aspects of your site. It shows the structure and layout of the pages on your website. A site map is also a tool used for SEO.

SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. This protocol is used to send e-mail messages.
Spam: Is an unsolicited electronic message.

Social Networking
A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

Template
In web design a template is usually a website that is pre-made. You can get your website designer to modify a template so it has your own look and feel. Using a template can help reduce overall cost.

URL
Uniform Resource Locator. Put very simply a URL is an address of a resource or web page.

Usability
A measure of how easy it is for a user to complete a task. In the context of Web pages this concerns how easy it is for a user to find the information they require from a given Web site.

Stickiness
The ability of your website to gain and retain visitors.

Web Designer
A person who designs Web pages. Usually a designer will produce a mock-up of a page in a graphics application (for example, Adobe Photoshop or The GIMP). Once a design has been approved by a client the designer will produce an HTML template, CSS files and all of the images needed to produce the Web site. These files will then be passed to a Web developer or directly to the client.

Web Page
A web page is a document created with HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) that is part of a group of hypertext documents or resources available on the World Wide Web. Collectively, these documents and resources form what is known as a website.

Web pages can contain hypertext links to other places within the same document, to other documents at the same website, or to documents at other websites. They can also contain fill-in forms, photos, large clickable images, sounds, and videos for downloading.

Web Server
A term often used to describe a computer that hosts a Web site. In actual fact the term refers to software running on that computer allowing Web pages to be requested and then sent to a user’s Web browser.

Web Statistics
Statistics produced by analysing the log files for a Web server that may include information such as page views, unique visitors, referring URL’s and browser software used.

Wireframes
Wireframes are visual representations of proposed elements to be included in the website interface. A wireframe is typically produced before design and development commences and may include important elements such as the location of elements (header, footer, navigation, content), the grouping of elements (side bars, navigation bars), labeling and placeholders. Wireframes help to familiarize all relevant parties with the proposed site structure.

WYSIWYG
What you see is what you get. WYSIWYG is a website editor. Best described as a word processor that converts your text, image and graphic layout into HTML. Most content management systems utilize a WYSIWYG editor.

Click here to read Part I

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