Imagine being able to create completely custom SEO Optimized URLs for your web pages just as easily as you can edit a product name or an article title. Now you can, with the release of our Ultimate SEO URLs plugin for the North Star Content Manager. Ultimate SEO URLs gives you total control of your web page address for all your CMS managed content pages. This addon allows you to convert dynamic urls to static urls, and improve your search engine rankings.

To see the plugin in action, check out the recently upgraded Oak Tree Preschool website which takes full advantage of the Ultimate SEO URL AddOn. The web site urls now look clean and professional, and most importantly they help to increase click through rates and improve search engine rankings.

Pages that used to look like this http://www.oaktreepreschool.com/program.htm?summer-camp-4/ now look clean like this http://www.oaktreepreschool.com/summer-camp/. No longer do your web site dynamic listing pages need to end with an ugly parameter number. 

Having the ability to optimize your page urls, allows you to take advantage of higher click-through rates in search results, in emails, and wherever else your urls appear. Ultimate SEO URLs are easier to share, copy and paste, online or offline. They also have a higher keyword prominence and relevancy, helping to promote your page visibility in search results.

Ultimate SEO URLs Key Features Include:

• Users can optionally enter custom SEO optimized links
• Automatically have SEO Optimized links generated from field content
• Enforce optional link “prefixes” for each section
• Ultimate SEO Optimized URL links never break, always redirect to the latest one if renamed
• Completely customizable  404 ”Not Found” error page
• Automatic SEO rule-filtering including removal of SEO-unfriendly words (a, as, an, the, etc)

Want to improve your search engine rankings?
Add Ultimate SEO URLs to your North Star managed web site.

Call 973-726-0003 for pricing or contact us online. 

Yesterday, we launched the completely re-designed website for Tilcon New York, Inc. The previous award winning web site was designed by Northern Pride in 2006 and has performed pleasingly throughout the years.

However, since it’s original design the internet has significantly changed, no longer are websites coded with tables but div tags, 800 pixel wide websites are no longer the norm, MySpace has been replaced by FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter, the list goes on and on. Needless to say, it was time to redesign the Tilcon website with a new look, develop the site with cleaner code and power it with the latest tools.

We are proud to present the professionally redesigned Tilcon website. Keeping the website up to date will be quick and easy, now that the Tilcon web site is controlled by our powerful North Star Content Manager. The new web site is programmed utilizing the latest HTML, CSS and Java script codes. Some of the many new site features include interactive Google location maps, image slideshows, an automated site map generator, scrolling marquee, seo friendly urls, social media integration including direct posting to the client’s FaceBook and Twitter accounts, and most importantly the client managed North Star CMS. Not only can the client remove, hide, add, edit pages, they can post news and events and also optimize web site pages with the SEO (search engine optimization) fields provided.

Northern Pride Design has equipped the Tilcon web site with all the latest bells and whistles to hopefully withstand another six years. Be sure to visit the Tilcon website at http://www.tilconny.com

Over the years, we have witnessed the social media phenomenon Twitter acquire several third party client platforms such as the iPhone app Tweetie, and in 2011 the very popular Tweetdeck acquired for over $40 million dollars. In March of 20111, Twitter warned developers not to “build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience.”  Hence, API  (application program interface) version 1.1 was recently released, to limit and control third party client software development in order for Twitter to secure its future and regain control of its consumer client space.

With API 1.1, Twitter is closing the door on the community of web developers that had in the past helped to shape the Twitter platform and contributed to their success.  The new API rules restrict how often and how much of Twitter’s data can be accessed by third party clients, limited and in some cases crippling the client platforms.

Lets take a look at some of the new regulations. The new Twitter rules limit the number of users to 100,000 for new client applications and existing platforms with a user base larger than 100,000 like Tweetbot and Tweetcaster will be capped at twice their current base.  By imposing user limits, Twitter is making sure no third party applications will obtain a significant portion of it’s growing client base. The new limit has already forced the Tweetbot application to remove its alpha/beta download link, and applications like Twimbow and Bonfire built on top of the Twitter API have opted to call in the game.

Along with limiting the number of users, Twitter has made several changes to the way developers use Twitter’s data. When it comes to presenting Tweets, they must be appear in a manner consistent with Twitter’s display requirements, if not Twitter may revoke the developer’s API key.

Twitter has also made changes to its rate limit methodology on a per endpoint basis. Twitter limits how often applications can access the Twitter servers and pull data. Previously, Twitter had a rate limit of 350 requests per hour, regardless of whether your were calling one API or several, if you exceeded that limit you would be blocked for a period of time. The new API will allow for 60 requests per hour per endpoint; and 720 requests per hour for high-volume endpoints such as tweet display, profile display, user lookup and user search. If you call multiple API’s this should be beneficial to you; however, if you only call one, this could create a problem and you may be seeing the “rate limit exceeded error” more often, especially if you are using two Twitter clients at the same time, or reload often or access user profiles often.

API ver 1.1 requires all API requests to be authenticated via OAuth. This rule went into effect last week, rendering a number of our client’s web site Tweeter feeds empty. We have since re coded all our client’s web sites with code that conforms to the new authentication API rules and our client’s sites are once again streaming their timeline tweets. This restriction should help Twitter improve security and cut down on scraping and bots.

This summer, Twitter took action to prevent Instagram users from finding their Twitter contacts through its application, and we saw Twitter terminate the ability to display user tweets within the popular LinkedIn platform. One has to wonder will Flipboard be the next victim? The Rules of the Road are changing, some may say Twitter is no longer being social, erecting walls to protect the fortress, controlling how other platforms make use of its data, while other say they are just protecting their investment.

What I have trouble understanding, is why Twitter is taking such a hostile approach against developers, instead of going to school on the success of the numerous third party applications and improving its own platform. Lets face it, if Twitter was as user friendly and started offering some of the additional features we enjoy when using apps like Hootsuite, Seesmic, Echofon and UberSocial, we would no longer have reason to use their platforms. Soon the estimated 23% of us that use third party Twitter clients would be gravitating back to Twitter. For years our favorite third party Twitter client was Tweetdeck, but since Twitter bought them out, very little has been done to improve this application, which is why we are using Hootsuite these days. an application which is currently exempt from the API rules since Twitter does not consider them a consumer client, yet! Creative third party developments should be viewed as an incentive for Twitter to improve its platform and grow its business.

Twitter API 1.1 is a business move to protect it’s profit margins by directing Twitter users to its website where it can display its advertisers and control the experience across different platforms. No doubt, the future of third party Twitter clients appears uncertain and for this reason developers should never bank their future on one API platform. One thing is for certain, if Twitter does not take this opportunity to improve its platform and services, we will all be at a loss.

Last week we launched a website for our new client McKinley Scientific. McKinley Scientific is an asset management company that buys, sells, and provides leasing for scientific instrumentation in both pharmaceutical and bio-tech organizations.

The new web site is thoughtfully laid out, creatively appealing and easy to navigate. Managing the new web site is also a walk in the park, as it is powered by our popular North Star Content Management System. The staff at McKinley Scientific can now easily add new products, change copy,  upload images, add new site pages, the list goes on and on. What it comes down to, is they can pretty much control the entire web site without our assistance and without any coding experience.

As with most new sites we develop, this site integrates social media by automatically updating McKinley Scientific’s social networks including FaceBook, Twitter, and Google Feedburner RSS with their latest news. Incorporated into the footer of the web site is their latest Twitter Tweet and a Constant Contact Newsletter subscribe form, as well as other ways to stay connected. Throughout the website there are several forms to easily communicate with McKinley Scientific via Request a Quote, Consignment Form or the popular Contact Form. Right from the launch of the new site, these forms have been consistently active in facilitating product inquiries.

Additional Site Features incorporated into the web site include:

• Site Search Tool
• Client Login Portal
• Home Page Javascript Slideshow – Anything Slider
• Photo Gallery Slideshow – PrettyPhoto
• Interactive Location Map – Powered by Google
• Language Translator including Chinese, French, Spanish & Italian – Powered by Google Translate
• Sitemap Generator
• SEO Friendly URLs
• Social Media Automation – Facebook, Twitter & Feedburner
• Marquee Banner
• Scrolling Testimonials

Whether you are are looking to lease, buy, sell, or trade-in your equipment…McKinley Scientific has all the products required to maintain a state-of-the-art laboratory! Visit their website for more information at www.McKScientific.com.

Has your business website become disorganized and confusing?
Contact Northern Pride to see how we can make your online presence exceptional.

We are proud to announce the re-launch of one of Northern Pride’s original clients – Flower Brook Pottery of Dorset, Vermont, www.FlowerBrookPottery.com.  After years of operating on a dated shopping cart platform it was time to upgrade the technology, and incorporate a leading edge design. Site improvements include improved security, SEO friendly product URLs, jQuery slideshow, automatic image re-sizing and unlimited products. Customers will find the new eCommerce site easier to navigate, stylish and most of all more enjoyable to shop.

The new eCommerce website is powered by opencart which is a fully functional, robust eCommerce solution for internet merchants giving clients the ability to create simple, functional, online stores and particpate in eCommerce at minimal cost. Opencart is feature rich, easy to use, with a visually appealing interface.

The new site makes it easy for customers to shop in stock pottery for quick delivery, or either custom pottery pieces or special order pottery. Flower Brook’s personalized pottery pieces can be found in the Birth Pieces and Celebration categories of the web site and make wonderful keepsakes for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, new home, or any other memorable celebration. In addition to the personalized pottery that can be ordered online, customers can also special order any one of Flower Brook’s varied pieces and choose a pattern of their liking. No longer will you have to drive North to the charming Dorset Vermont shop to be able to purchase hand crafted pottery, unique jewelry, shoes, bags and more, these products are all now available on the website, but if you do find yourself in Vermont be sure to stop by the shop and tell Janno we sent you.

Next time you find yourself shopping for kitchenware, home goods or a gift for that special occasion, visit FlowerBrookPottery.com

If Feedburner eventually drops the Socialize feature entirely, here are a number of alternative solutions that can be used:

1. Twitter Feed – publish your news / blog feed to Facebook, Twitter (multiple accounts), and even LinkedIn. Powered by the URL shortener service - Bitly.
2. Dlvr.it  – Deliver It helps publishers feed their content to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other popular social networks. Features like trickle for scheduling, keyword filtering, and tracking make this a fantastic free solution.
3. FaceBook Application – If you are automatically updating your FaceBook page with an application like Networked Blogs, then you could link your Facebook Page to your Twitter account with the help of this app. Every time your FaceBook page gets updated, a tweet is sent out automatically. The only down side with this application is you may not want every FaceBook post to be Tweeted.

Why we prefer Feedburner?

Because we already use Feedburner to handle our clients’ RSS feeds for its tracking abilities.

How can you access the hidden Socialize feature ?

Login to your Feedburner account and select your feed. Then click on the Publicize tab. The url of the page you are on will look like this: http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/publicize?id=(combination of letters and numbers). Replace the word “publicize” with the word “socialize” in the url and strike enter. You should now see the familiar Socialize page.

Now that you have found the Socialize page, you can click here to read our previously written guide called “Automatically Tweet Your Blog With Feedburner” to configure and activate your Tweets.

I hope this article was helpful. Just wish we knew what Google was thinking ! Why would you want to drop the Twitter integration? Come on Google, show some love for Feedburner.

When Sparta Education Foundation approached Northern Pride requesting help with their web site presence, we felt good about donating $2,000 to the organization to cover the web site re-design costs. This donation would provide the organization with a highly functional and effectively presented new website, a site which would be significantly more informative, more visible, more interactive and user friendly for both visitors and site administrators. The creative new design would incorporate the latest coding techniques and would be cross browser, cross platform compatible. Being able to donate our services to directly benefit the children of our community is important to Northern Pride llc. Some of our programmers have children which are going through the Sparta school systems and we all want to be a part of supporting their bright futures.

In addition to the new website design, the project also included the incorporation of our North Star Content Management System (CMS), a social media package for FaceBook, Twitter and Feedburner RSS, domain administration and hosting services. The custom CMS makes it easy for the SEF organization to control all aspects of their new site, from posting upcoming events, informing site visitors of recent grants, broadcasting SEF news, displaying sponsors and being able to change any content within the site as needed.  The Social Media Package we provided is fully  automated to update the SEF’s social media networks on Facebook, Twitter and RSS, simplifying the process of informing its followers.

Since the launch of the new web site in late October of 2011, the Sparta Education Foundation has seen its average traffic of 5.45 visitors a day (average over 12 month period prior to re-design) soar to an average of 113 visitors a day in Nov. 2011 compared to avg. of 24 in Nov. 2010, and 79 average visitors a day in Dec 2011 compared to avg. of 8 visitors a day in Dec. 2010. This increased exposure will provide the Sparta Education Foundation with future rewards. The combination of a new site design loaded with new features, gives the Sparta Education Foundation the power to be more informative and prosperous, benefiting the public school children of Sparta New Jersey.

Our children are our future … attend an upcoming SEF event or make a donation to the Sparta Education Foundation, and watch our students blossom.

The key components to the site redesign included:

• Design - Site design to precisely meet the conceptual page layouts provided by the client.
• Content Management - Back-end content management system allows Exceptional Risk Advisors to easily manage all content on the site.
• Search Engine Optimization - Site is well optimized for search engines as our North Star Content Manager gives ERA complete control over urls, meta tags, headings and content.
• 301 Redirects & Maintaining URL Structure – A very important factor when redesigning a website. A website redesign could render you website invisible to Google and other search engines. To insure continued search engine rankings, we maintained the existing URL structure when possible and scripted 301 redirects for most renamed pages.
• Internal Linking & 404 Error Pages – Often when a website is redesigned many internal content links become broken and may send the user to the wrong page or even worse a dead end. We conducted a careful review of all internal content links to avoid dead links. Looking forward, since the client now has the power to remove site pages, we set in place a custom 404 error page to capture any pages which may no longer exist on the server, providing the user with an explanation, a current navigation menu and an automatic redirect to the website homepage after 10 seconds.

Below is a screen capture of the new Exceptional Risk Advisor’s home page:

Exceptional Risk Advisors is an experienced team of insurance professionals that specializes in developing, underwriting, and processing insurance products for advisors with prosperous clients including Entertainers, Athletes, Corporate Executives, and Professionals. http://www.ExceptionalRiskAdvisors.com

The custom site design showcases the new logo Northern Pride designed for Shoe Box Self Storage. The site homepage features an accordion style slideshow, plus scrolling specials and the latest news headlines, as well as a live Twitter feed in the site footer. The new web site has been professionally hand coded and enjoys cross browser compatibility.  As with all web sites Northern Pride designs, we automatically include optimization of design code which directly results in faster page load times. The News section has been programmed to automatically posts all new articles to the clients Twitter account and Facebook page. Shoe Box Storage’s Twitter and FaceBook page have been designed to compliment the web site look and feel as well.

When the project was completed, the client was extremely happy with the results of their business re-branding, and as usual, we are very proud of our creative work.

For all your self storage needs in northern New Jersey, be sure to visit ShoeBoxStorage.com

But with Cufon font replacement, it is now easy to replace web safe fonts with custom fonts, and best of all, it works in all browsers. Cufon is super fast and not dependent on a server side language. Cufon uses javascript jQuery technology.

For overall site content, web safe fonts should still be used as the standard, but for customizing heading tags and other special text, we especially like using Cufon font replacement.

To use Cufon on your website:

1. Download the latest jQuery code from http://jquery.com/  Download the jquery-1.6.4.min.js  into your websites directory folder called /js
2. Download the latest Cufon code File from http://cufon.shoqolate.com/ – Download cufon-yui.js into your websites directory folder called /js
3. Generate your Cufon font javascript file on the Cufon website http://cufon.shoqolate.com/ , by clicking on the Regular Typeface button and uploading your font for conversion. You can also create optional boldface and italic fonts.  Acceptable font formats are TTF, OTF and PFB.  Windows users should move the font file out of the “Font” folder first in order to upload to Cufon. If desired, also upload the italic and bold files as well. Select the following glyphs: Uppercase, Lowercase, Numerals and Punctuation. Acknowledge the terms and click “Let’s do this!” When complete download the js files into your websites directory folder /js
4. Upload the 3 js files to your live server.

Now you are ready to install the code:

1. Add the following code between your <header></header> tags. Replace “yourfontname.font.js” with the name of your js file generated on the cufon site. The example code below replaces Heading Tags 1 through 5. This can be modified as desired to replace other tags. Alternatively: The Cufon.replace function could be added to an attached js file instead of writing it into the header of all site pages. :
   <!– Begin Cufon Font Replacement –>
   <script type=”text/javascript” src=”js/cufon-yui.js”></script>
   <script type=”text/javascript” src=”js/yourfontname.font.js“></script>
   <script type=”text/javascript”>
   Cufon.replace(‘h1, h2, h3, h4, h5′, { hover: ‘true’ });</script>
   <!– End Cufon Font Replacement –>
2. In order to avoid a flicker/delay in IE,  add the following code just before your closing body tag </body>:
   <script type=”text/javascript”> Cufon.now(); </script>

Note: Always load the jquery code before Cufon.

There are 2 disadvantage with Cufon: 1.) the text can not be selected and 2.) those surfing the web with javascripts disabled will see the default web safe fonts instead of your custom font. I would also like to point out that it is extremely important that you ensure that you have the proper privileges to use a font.

Get creative with Cufon ! To use Cufon fonts on your website, give us a call at 973-726-0003 and a member of our design team would be glad to assist you.

Northern Pride redesigned the website to help the soup kitchen become more visible and improve it’s online presence. Now the Soup kitchen can easily manage and maintain their site utilizing our signature SEO friendly North Star Content Management System. The newly designed site is fully W3C compliant to ensure maximum accessibility for all users across a wide range of platforms. With a new logo, improved graphics, and integrated social media widgets, the Saint John’s Soup Kitchen is now more informative than ever and much easier to navigate.

The new site will help the soup kitchen increase its site traffic and to better inform the public, making it easier for visitors to get involved through volunteering and raising donations.

The Saint John’s Soup Kitchen has been feeding the hungry and helping the homeless for over 30 years, serving over 700 meals a day.  St. John’s is supported by free-will donations.  They do not receive government funds of any kind.

“Northern Pride is proud to support non-profit organizations such as Saint John’s Soup Kitchen. Last year we donated our web design services to help the Sussex County Interfaith Hospitality Network HelpNJHomeless.org, and this year we are all excited to be able to help the Saint John’s Soup Kitchen. We believe in their mission of helping to feed the hungry, and we are happy to have had the opportunity to volunteer our expertise for their web design,” said Rodney Calafati, principal at Northern Pride.

You can help make a difference, visit NJSoupKitchen.org and get involved! They can use your help.

Gold Shield Private Home Management needed a clean and easy to use brochure style informational website, and they were very pleased with the solution we came up with. Anxious to launch it’s web site presence, Northern Pride completed the design project within a 4 week period.

The Gold Shield Private Home Management web site is a Web 2.0 design, completely powered by our user friendly North Star Content Management System. The site is coded with the latest web standards including XHTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, PHP and MySQL. Their site design has been validated to work on most browsers, optimized for speed, organized for maintainability, and tested for usability. We’ve incorporated code to show the current local weather and to display on all web site pages Gold Shield’s latest Twitter Tweets, making it easy for Gold Shield PHM to stay in touch with it’s client base.

Besides web site design and development, Northern Pride provided graphic design services including a custom business logo and business card layouts. Northern Pride also created and launched Gold Shield’s social media presence on FaceBook and Twitter.

Protect and care for your home while your away, contact Gold Shield Private Home Management to see how they can make your life as a home owner easier, The designers at Northern Pride would like to wish Gold Shield Private Home Management great success with their new web site presence.

Is your corporation in need of experienced web professionals?  Find out how we can design your website today.

ShoeBox Storage, Oak Ridge, NJ

Soon we will be unveiling the re-designed website for ShoeBox Self Storage complete with online storage unit reservations, secure payment processing, live chat support and social media networking. ShoeBox Self Storage will be able to easily maintain their new site with our easy to use North Star Content Management System. Look for the new website coming soon at www.shoeboxstorage.com

With that said, if you are reading this article in hopes of getting step by step instructions on how to use this hacking application, leave now. In fact this article is being written for the complete opposite reason, and to hopefully help protect some of our dedicated followers who were unaware of this vulnerability.

By now you are probably asking yourself, is there a safe way to connect to public wifi hotspots and still log into your social media accounts without becoming hijacked. And the answer is definitely, YES.

It is actually very easy to protect your accounts when using a public wireless network, you just need to access your social media platforms via a secure HTTPS connection. With an HTTPS connection a hacker is unable to hijack your account with the FaceNiff application because HTTPS encrypts the data sent and received with SSL, thus making it impossible to access your account.

Social media sites like FaceBook and Twitter have settings to enable this security feature. By default, Facebook’s and Twitter’s https browsing is disabled, but it only takes a minute to setup. You must enable it manually from it’s settings page. Within FaceBook you can activate the security feature in your account settings-> choose account security -> and check the box “Secure Browsing (https)”. In Twitter you can enable HTTPS on the settings page. Once you have activated the FaceBook and Twitter security feature you will be safe. There is no more need to panic and dial 911 the next time you are in Starbucks and the kid across from you reaches for his Droid smart phone.

So for now on protect yourself against hackers and only use the HTTPS protocol for FaceBook and Twitter, and for all online services that allow you to use it. Now, if only someone could develop a counter application to alert us when an Android user with the FaceNiff application is nearby and point them out.

Not only have we re-packaged and updated the site, we have also expanded the site content with a client managed news section and projects section powered by our signature North Star Content Manager. There is also an RSS (really simple syndication) feed with email subscription on the right hand side of every page providing the latest news and events to the visitor. Social media is now an important part of the website with links to the businesses’ Facebook page and Twitter page, including a live Twitter feed in the footer of all site page. The Facebook and Twitter accounts have all been customized by Northern Pride.

For all your residential construction needs in Northern New Jersey check out BChaneyImprovements.com

Here are the instructions to burn your feed with Feedburner:

1. Sign in to your Google Account at http://www.feedburner.google.com
2. Copy and paste the url of your RSS feed into the text box under Burn a feed right this instant. Click the Next button.
3. You will see a screen with 2 pre-filled fields recommending your Feed Title and Feed Address. Modify as desired. For Feed Address we suggest using a name similar to your domain name. Click the Next button when finished.
   
4. On the next screen you will see Congrats! Your Feedburner feed is now live. Click Next.
   
5. Select all Additional Features. This will track clickthroughs; individual item views and resyndication; and reach (number of people who viewed or clicked the content in your feed).  Click Next.
   

   How To Setup Feedburner

6. Don’t forget to link to your new Feedburner feed page throughout your website wherever you use the RSS icon. Your link should look like this http://feeds.feedburner.com/yourbusinessname.

To take full advantage of Feedburner, we suggest you add code to your web site to allow visitors to subscribe to your feed via email.  To set this up, click here and follow our online guide. At Northern Pride we make it easy for visitors to our client’s web sites to stay current. If you need assistance with your feeds contact us, we are here to help.

Summer Background

Last Friday, Northern Pride launched a new web site for Advanced Land Management (ALM) of Towaco, New Jersey. The web site is fully accessible, table-less, valid XHTML strict code compliant and built with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Our North Star Content Management System (CMS) is incorporated to allow our client to easily update and expand their web site content. Our CMS goes way beyond the basics of simply editing, adding and deleting content pages, for example ALM will be able to modify meta tags to enhance their search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. As the seasons change in northern New Jersey, they will be able to change their web site background design to match the weather, by just placing a check next to the desired season. Some other exciting features our web developers programmed into this site include Cufon Font Replacements for text headings, jQuery Cycle for the homepage slideshow and CSS Sliding Door Buttons for the navigation menu.

Along with the creative web site design services provided to Advanced Land Management of NJ, we also provided ALM with a robust social media package, which included setup and customization of both their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Not only does their web site display their latest tweets, but best of all, their news section  updates their Facebook fan page and Twitter accounts automatically, each time they post a new news article.

To experience the new web site visit Advanced Land Management at www.AdvancedLandManagement.com

If you are looking to launch a web site for your business, or to get your business involved in the social network scene, contact Northern Pride.

Recently, a client of ours which specializes in landscape management inquired about being able to change their web site background image with the seasons. This is a wonderful idea and great way to keep a site looking fresh and current. So, our graphic designers went to work designing four seasonal web site backgrounds and when completed we uploaded the images to our servers, that was the easy part. Next our developers wrote the code which would allow the CSS rules to be modified from within the Clients North Star Content Management System control panel. Lastly, we configured the server .htacess file and all css files to parse php in the css files.

Spring Background

Summer Background

Two Steps To Parse PHP In CSS

To run the (server-side) executable code in the CSS files you need to make Apache treat CSS files as PHP.

1. Place the following directive code in a .htaccess file in the directory where the CSS file are stored. Depending on your server configuration, one of the 2 directive codes below should do the trick.

   AddType application/x-httpd-php .css

   or

   AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .css

2. Add the following code to the top of ALL of your css files located in the folder or subfolders where you uploaded the .htaccess file, even if you don’t use PHP within them!

   <?php header("Content-type: text/css"); ?>

That’s it. You are ready to start adding php code into your css files. Being able to process php code in css files eliminates the need for maintaining duplicate css files and makes it much easier to manage your web site.

So if you would like greater flexibility with your web site, and want the ability to change your site backgrounds, site colors, heading fonts, menu positions, or anything else on your web site that is currently defined in your css files, ask your webmaster to “Incorporate PHP in your CSS, and then add it to your CMS”. If your webmaster acts clueless to what you just requested, give us a call and we will be happy to add our North Star CMS to your web site and give you the control you deserve. With the right code anything is possible!

To start using Google Calendar Sync, download the software and run the application to install it. You will need a Google account or Gmail account to use the application. When prompted enter your Google account and password. Select the 2 Way Sync Option to allow the full synchronization to work and to be able to sync Outlook calendars on more than one computer.

The last step is to set your desired time for the software to automatically synchronize. The default time is 120 minutes but I prefer 30 minutes. Strike Save and the application will begin to sync with Outlook for the first time.

Close the application and Google Calendar Sync is now enabled and running in the background. To edit the application settings or to manually force a synchronization, you can access the application in your taskbar icon tray.

Google Calendar works with a number of desktop applications and mobile devices including iCal, iPhone and iPad, Blackberry, Android, Nokia/Symbian, and Windows Mobile phones.

I have been using the application for several days now and it works like a charm. You do not even know it is running. I should have been using this application a long time ago.