NuBlue Blog

Rate My Office

Ewan — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:21:03 +0000

To take a break from the usual blogging trend of writing about installing, reviewing, using, abusing and otherwise working in and around the Internet, we thought we’d post a few of the things that we’ve done over the last few months to lighten up the NuBlue office.

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Virtual Private Servers (VPS) - a guide

Ewan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:29:37 +0000

Web Hosting, if tarred with as broad a brush as possible, is split into Shared and Dedicated Hosting. There are those who purchase a space on a server for their own use, and then there are those who just buy the server. A bit like buying a plane ticket, or buying a plane (except the difference between a return to Oslo and a Cessna are a bit more pronounced).

There is a bridge over these troubled waters, however. It’s known as VPS (Virtual Private Server – it’s also known as VDS, Virtual Dedicated Server, but that’s not as common, presumably because it leads to confusion with old fashioned displays and sounds like something unsavoury you might catch on a night out in Calcutta*). VPS allows freedom from the constraints of Shared Hosting, without the expense or expertise of a Dedicated server. (more…)

Locked out of your Magento store? How to reset your login from phpmyadmin.

tom — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:04:53 +0000

Everyone loses their keys at some point in their life, and not being able to login to your Magento e-commerce store is just like losing your keys to you’re shop (especially if for some reason the email reminders are not getting through to you)! I recently discovered how to reset your Magento admin/user passwords through phpmyadmin, so thought I’d share it for anyone who is locked out of their store.

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Best Web Browser?

Ewan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:09:36 +0000

As a budding ‘surfer’ (back in the days when surfing the web still seemed mysterious and vaguely appropriate), I never took to Internet Explorer. I think it was because every time I opened a link in a new window it always managed to position it somewhere annoying on the monitor. Then again, maybe I just preferred the Netscape Communicator loading button. Either way, from the beginning I was a fan of using programs that didn’t come with Windows, and it’s a trend that I’ve followed to this very day. (more…)

Zero spam! - Prevention is better than cure

Tom — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:14:58 +0000

Spam. Everyone hates it, and it’s become a fact of life for personal and business users alike. Many accounts come with anti-spam programs that run the risk of cutting out genuine emails using overzealous filters; and many more users sift through mountains of spam in search of genuine emails (sound familiar?!). There has to be a better way – and guess what, there is.

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Web Hosting?… Part Two

Ewan — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:46:05 +0000

So now we carry on with Part Two of our guide to different kinds of Web Hosting, kindly illustrated by the adventures of a man called Dave*.

In the last part, Dave has had experience with Free and Shared Hosting, but he’s now looking at getting advanced Web Hosting to offer him greater control and performance from his eCommerce store. Below are several of the options available to Dave. (more…)

Magento Guide, Part 2 - Using Magento Connect

Ewan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:22:17 +0000

There have been more than a few updates to Magento in the last 2 months or so, and unless you’ve just installed it or haven’t worked on it, an update is going to be a bit of an annoyance. You certainly don’t want to reinstall Magento and copy or, even worse, add all your products and skin changes all over again.

The best way by far to update Magento is to use the Magento Downloader facility. To do that, all you need is a paper, pencil, a die… no, wait. You need Magento installed and an Internet connection. An FTP client and/or a helpful Web Host will come in handy as well. (more…)

Web Hosting?

Ewan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:28:27 +0000

Choosing the right Web Hosting package for you can be a bewildering task. With so many packages, prices, terms, conditions, companies and countries vying for your business, it’s important that you understand what you need, so you can choose a company who can give you what you want.

So here’s a list of the major types of Web Hosting available on the market – what they are, and what they’re suitable for. And to make it a bit easier, we’ll follow the career of Dave*, a budding web entrepreneur making his first forays into the world of Web Hosting. (more…)

7 Top Google AdWords Tips

Ewan — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:52:27 +0000

Google AdWords. Love it or hate it, there is no denying the potential marketing power that having an advert placed next to a given search term in the most popular search engine in the world can give you.

I’ve been running several campaigns myself for a few months, and it’s certainly been a learning process (not always positive, sadly). Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up from my recent experiences (more…)

PC Text Editors – Which team do you follow?

emily — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:18:21 +0000

For Web Developers, text editors are like football - you love your team even though in your heart of hearts you know they’re rubbish. So what happens when you are forced to pick a new team - how do you choose? This is my current predicament - when I’m developing at home I live on my Mac, but after failing to convince the guys here at NuBlue that Macs are superior, I need to find a text editor for Windows that does it for me.

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