Sigma Web Technologies

Make Default Text in Form Field Disappear on Focus

Larry Levenson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:31:42 +0000

It can be useful to prefill your input fields and textareas with little hints or reminders. For example if you have a general contact form and a textarea labeled “Message:”, you may want to prefill that textarea with something like “Your positive comments or constructive criticism here.”

You can do that just by including text within your tags:

Hint goes here.

You can add a little Javascript to clear that hint away when the user clicks inside that box. This little code snippet also only allows that to happen once, so if the user clicks away and then back in, they won’t lose what they have entered.

Hint goes here.

This tip came from Chris Coyer at CSS-Tricks.

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Understanding Hash Functions and Keeping Passwords Safe

Larry Levenson — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 04:53:15 +0000

Burak Guzel, a fellow Arizonan, wrote a great tutorial on hash functions, and provides an easy-to-use PHP class to implement them. Read the full article at http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/understanding-hash-functions-and-keeping-passwords-safe/

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A Huge Increase in Traffic and Exposure

Larry Levenson — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:04:06 +0000

Dear Larry,

I want to thank you for the many improvements you have made to our organization by the building of our website. We have experienced a huge increase in traffic and exposure. This has resulted in a significant increase in donations to our non-profit as PayPal is now available and information for mail-in donations is easily accessible. Posted videos have increased interest in our group and all links about our organization are quickly accessed.

Feedback from potential clients has been 100% positive. Our newsletter has accumulated 84 subscribers in only three months! We are now hearing from donors as far away as Connecticut.

Our website has allowed us to team up with local companies to conduct joint fundraising opportunities. Applications to become involved in our organization are coming in daily via the website. Clients quickly and easily are able to contact us. Much of this has resulted from the pleasing appearance of the website that encourages browsers to search the site further.

Larry, we certainly could not have grown so quickly or expanded our mission so completely without your assistance and expertise. You have been available to us when we have needed your support, and your patience in teaching me how to manage the site when I had NO experience has been amazing. Please feel free to use us a a reference as needed.

Sincerely,

Nancy Page
Board Member
Honor Flight Arizona

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Do This! (Not That) For Awesome Emails

Larry Levenson — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 12:16:41 +0000

The AWeber “Do This, Not That” approach was introduced when we realized that email marketing could use the equivalent to the food industry’s Eat This, Not That book. We started off with some tips to improve your deliverability.

Your deliverability might be better now, but that doesn’t mean your email campaign is mistake free. Perhaps the emails you’re creating are what’s hindering your path to success.

This is the second part of the series which deals with mistakes to avoid in the email creation process, and what you can do instead.

Don’t Use a “No Reply” From Address

What this is: Your subscribers see the emails are coming from an email address that has “noreply” in it.

If you’re approaching your email campaign as a one-way conversation, you’re on the wrong track.

A “noreply” address makes your emails sound distant and automated. You’re closed off from your subscribers and discourage developing a relationship with them.

Also consider the fact that your subscribers are getting tools to increase control over their inbox, and Gmail’s Priority Inbox bases its filtering process on your subscribers’ interaction with your emails.

Do this instead:

Encourage communication!
Ask your subscribers for feedback on how you’re doing. Let them know you’re available if they have any questions. People like to talk to people, so let your subscribers know there is a person behind the emails.

GreenAnswers encourages communication in their emails by including a question box that directs the reader back to their site to ask a question:

Remember, Not Everyone Can See Images

What this is: You have the ability to create your messages in both HTML and plain text formats. While some subscribers may have their email client set to display HTML messages, others may not.

HTML messages allow you to track open rates and create beautiful messages. However, if you send only HTML, it can make your messages more likely to be filtered. Some of your subscribers may not even accept HTML messages in their email client.

Plain text messages aren’t as likely to be blocked, but they lack the tracking and formatting capabilities that HTML has.

Do this instead:

Include both HTML and plain text versions
When you set up both and HTML and plain text version of your message, HTML is sent by default, but if the subscriber does not accept HTML emails it will revert to plain text. Since some subscribers may have trouble with HTML messages, you can include a link to view your broadcast message on a web page when your message is published on the AWeber archive.

Notice how Bon-Ton’s message includes a link to their web-based message:

No matter what you do, make sure you test your message by sending it to multiple email clients and checking that the message appears correctly

Don’t Treat Your Subscribers Like Numbers

What this is: Sending all your subscribers the same message.

You might think you don’t have the time to write personalized messages, so you just use the same campaign for everyone. Or maybe you’ve enabled campaign sharing to use messages someone you know already created and you’re afraid to stray from what you have.

What you’re doing is assuming all your subscribers are the same. This can prevent you from building a relationship with them, and they may be more likely to leave your list. Who likes getting generic messages?

Do this instead:

Use subscribers’ data to create personalized messages.
You have the ability to send broadcast messages to a segment within your list. This way you can separate subscribers into different groups, and each group gets messages that are best for them. You can also ask for email preferences at the time of sign up to make sure subscribers are getting emails they requested.

You can choose to send a message to a segment near the bottom of the message editing page:

What Else Belongs on This List?

Can you think of other mistakes email marketers make? What emails drive you nuts? What should be done instead?

This article was written by Aweber staff and originally appeared on Aweber.com. Used here with permission.

Do This, Not That, for Better Email Delivery

Larry Levenson — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 23:52:12 +0000

Do This! (Not That) For Better Email Delivery

Email marketing tactics and food have a few things in common. There’s the good, the bad, and the people that try to make the bad look good for you.

The food industry has resources like the Eat This, Not That book to guide you, but what about email marketing? With all the different tactics out there, it’s hard to know what will help you and what will hurt you.

That will be changing today with AWeber’s “Do This, Not That” approach to Email Marketing.

We’ll kick it off with some of the worst list management mistakes that could be hurting your email deliverability, and what you should be doing instead.

Send Only to Those Who Requested Your Information

What this is: You cannot use a list you’ve obtained through a third party service.

Some third party services will pitch the idea that these email address requested information about your industry, which can be appealing if you’re just starting out.

You need to realize these subscribers did NOT request YOUR information, and you don’t even know how their email addresses were originally obtained. You’d be spamming them.

Another danger is obtaining stale or invalid email addresses. Your message may be filtered because of this, reducing your deliverability rate.

Do this instead:

Build your list organically.
You can put up a web form on your website so subscribers can sign up if they want to be on your mailing list. You can also include links to sign up on social media sites like Facebook. And don’t forget if you have a store to include a sign up sheet at the register!

Check out how we invite people to subscribe on Facebook:

Don’t Assume Permission- Ask For It!

What this is: Subscribers skip the confirmation message and just start getting your emails.

There are some worries that confirmed opt-in makes the sign up process harder for the subscriber. But if you don’t have confirmed opt in on, you run the risk of again getting bad email addresses on your list. You’ll also open yourself up to more spam complaints, and subscribers who aren’t as interested in your company.

Do this instead:

Send a customized confirmation message.
Set up a customized confirmation that explains to subscribers what’s going on. You’ll have a list of subscribers who want your information and are much less likely to complain.

Here’s what a good confirmation message looks like:

Don’t Ignore Your Complaint Rate

What this is: A complaint is recorded when a subscriber marks one of your broadcast messages as spam.

A subscriber who complains will be automatically unsubscribed from your list in AWeber, which may lead to an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. However, consistent complaints hurt your reputation and your deliverability rate will go down.

Occasional complaints may be inevitable, but that’s never an excuse to look into what you could be doing better.

Do this instead:

Make sure you are properly setting expectations.
Does your web form clearly state what they are signing up for? Do you have a welcome message that details your email plans? You can lower your complaint rate by ensuring subscribers know what they will be getting from you and how often you will be sending them messages.

Here’s an example of a form that sets expectations:

Don’t Push Down the Unsubscribe Link

What this is: Using space or unnecessary text to push down the unsubscribe link. This makes the unsubscribe link hard to find.

If subscribers want to leave your list, you should let them! Otherwise you will run into spam complaints which can hurt your reputation and deliverability.

It will also mean your list contains subscribers who aren’t really interested in your emails. If they’re not interested, they won’t be interacting with your emails.

Don’t fall for the idea subscribers may “accidentally unsubscribe”. It’s not going to happen. The unsubscribe link takes subscribers to a new page where they will need to actually choose the unsubscribe option. Hiding the link is just not worth the risk.

Do this instead:

Put a link to unsubscribe at the TOP of your message.
Including some text such as “If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please click here to unsubscribe” is a much better approach. Subscribers will appreciate that you respect their time and attention.

Here’s what it can look like:

Coming Up Next: The “Do This! (Not That)” Approach to Creating Emails

In the next part of the series, you’ll learn the worst mistakes you can make when creating and sending emails. Find out if you’re doing one of these mistakes, and what you can do to fix it!

This article was written by Aweber staff and originally appeared on Aweber.com. Used here with permission.

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Add a Twitter Link to your WordPress Blog

Larry Levenson — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 17:07:51 +0000

If you’ve looked around at Twitter plugins that are available for WordPress, you probably had your eyes rolling around crazily in your head! Which one works? What plugin will best meet your needs? There are waaaaaayy too many Twitter plugins for WordPress.

Here’s favorite strategy of mine, cleverly disguised as a simple link:

Tweet This

This code inserts the RT and your Twitter account name, then uses the ID form of your post with the tweet. When people click the link in the tweet, they will then be redirected to the actual post using your blog’s selected permalink structure.

Adding a Favicon to Your Sub-site in WordPress Multisite

Larry Levenson — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:50:18 +0000

A favicon (short for favorites icon), also known as a shortcut icon, Web site icon, URL icon, or bookmark icon, is a file containing one or more small icons, most commonly 16×16 pixels, associated with a particular Web site or Web page.

Where does a visitor see the favicon?

These days, pretty much all browsers provide favicon support and typically display a page’s favicon in the browser’s address bar and next to the page’s name in a list of bookmarks. Browsers that support a tabbed document interface typically show a page’s favicon next to the page’s title on the tab.

How do I add a Favicon?

We use the Personal Favicon plugin to allow sub-site administrators to add their own.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/personal-favicon/

Upload your icon and copy the URL to it. Then go to Settings | Personal Favicon and paste that URL. Select Blog and Admin Pages, and click Save.

To see your new favicon, refresh your blog page.

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Using iFrames with WordPress

Larry Levenson — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 01:40:48 +0000

It’s a known issue that WordPress editor will remove the iFrame code as soon as the tab is changed from HTML to visual or vice versa.

function mytheme_tinymce_config( $init ) {

 $valid_iframe = 'iframe[id|class|title|style|align|frameborder|height|

longdesc|marginheight|marginwidth|

name|scrolling|src|width]';

 if ( isset( $init['extended_valid_elements'] ) ) {

  $init['extended_valid_elements'] .= ',' . $valid_iframe;

 } else {

  $init['extended_valid_elements'] = $valid_iframe;

 }

 return $init;

}

add_filter('tiny_mce_before_init', 'mytheme_tinymce_config');

Add this into the functions.php file, and you can embed HMTL iframes anywhere.

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Why You Don’t Want to Use Online Tools to Manage Your Passwords

Larry Levenson — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:41:13 +0000

Courtesy of Subcircle Creative

May 5 (Bloomberg) — LastPass, a company that offers to safeguard and simplify managing subscribers’ online passwords, said hackers may have broken into its database and stolen information on as many as 1.25 million accounts.

The company’s service allows customers to use one password with enhanced security features to access multiple password- protected accounts for online banking, Internet shopping, and other secure sites. Jeremy Conway, a researcher for the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, based cyber-security company NitroSecurity Inc., said the intrusion risks giving the hackers access to millions of different bank accounts, e-commerce sites and sensitive corporate networks.

Almost funny

This would almost be funny. . . unless you’re one of the 1.25 million (so far) whose data was stolen. Image someone having access to over a million usernames and passwords to things like corporate bank accounts, ecommerce sites, and internal corporate networks. This is seriously NOT GOOD!

Yes, you can (and probably should) question LastPass’ network security, and what their technology team was thinking, but then a thinking person would ask, “Why store this sensitive information (usernames and passwords) online?”

“Why?” indeed! This type of information should NOT be stored online. All of us struggle with usernames and passwords, all of us wonder how managing this mass of login data could be made easier. .. but folks, let me tell you. . . saving it online is NOT the solution!

What’s “online” and what’s not?

Let’s think about how most of us “store” our passwords to online resources. Mostly, we depend on our web browser to remember our usernames and passwords. The latest versions of Internet Explorer, FireFox and Chrome are all very good at this. In fact, when we return to a website that requires a username and password, these browsers insert that information for us with little or no prompting. Excellent! My online life is so much easier because of this!

So are these web browsers storing that information online? No. Web browsers are software that runs on your computer. They stored password information locally, on your computer. So merely using your web browser to enter this information for you is not much of a security risk.

EXCEPT. . . if you are backing up your computer to an online storage site. Using online storage is smart as a backup strategy, but you need to MAKE SURE that your data is encrypted before it leaves your computer. The good online backup tools, like Carbonite, take care of this for you. Make sure that any backup you do to an online storage facility encrypts the data before it leaves your computer!

Should I use a password management tool?

Some people use a local (lives on your own computer or USB key) password management tool like KeePass (there are several tools like this). The idea is that there is a small table listing the website, your username, and your password. This software is locked with a “master password”. All you have to do is remember your master password, and you can have access to all your usernames and passwords.

This seems like a reasonable solution, and is certainly better that putting usernames on sticky notes and sticking them on your monitor! If this sort of solution sounds like something you could use, explore the various password management tools and see which one you like. But make SURE your data stays on your computer and is NOT backed up to the management tool’s website!

What if I Use LastPass?

If you use LastPass. . . well, you have my condolences. Start with a careful read of their security notification. Then go to your critical websites (banking, ecommerce) and immediately change your password. Use a strong password. Use a password generator if you want. Then close your account with them. Call your insurance company and make sure you have identity theft coverage. It won’t solve all the problems if your identity is stolen, but it will at least help with the related expense.

If you feel like you need a password management tool, checkout some of the many tools available and see which one might fit your needs the best.

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Online Scams Grow in the Wake of Osama Bin Laden’s Death

Larry Levenson — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:49:40 +0000

(Prescott, AZ- May 4, 2011) In the aftermath of the death of Osama Bin Laden this past weekend, Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to watch out for a slew of cyber-scams that have popped up in the past few days.

According to Kaspersky Labs, an Internet security firm, malicious Web sites and links have been inundating Google Images search, Facebook, and other social media sites.

On Facebook, a fake video claiming to show the death of Bin Laden prompts users to input a malicious URL into their browsers, which then infects their computer with a virus. Kaspersky also reports that other Facebook scams lure victims to malicious Facebook Pages with promises of free airplane tickets, and other “free” offers to “celebrate Bin Laden’s death.”

Consumers should also be very wary of links to Bin Laden related Web sites that they find on Twitter, or any link with a URL that leads to an unfamiliar webpage. Often these links will lead consumers to Web sites with viruses, or forms that encourage consumers to enter personal information, which can be used to steal their identity, or for phishing scams.

BBB Tips

Be mindful about clicking on links that purport to show information that’s not widely available from respected news sources. In the case of Bin Laden, no photos or videos related to his death have been released. Be extremely skeptical of links that say otherwise.

Be wary of free offers “celebrating” any sort of occasion, especially if the offer comes from a company or Web site you haven’t heard of before. Often times all it takes for a scammer to infect your computer with a virus is clicking on one bad link.

For more information on how consumers can protect themselves against scams, or to find reputable businesses, visit arizonabbb.org.

For full details, go to https://local.nixle.com/alert/4686934/?sub_id=144005.

Contact Information:
Brandon Bonney
Town of Prescott Valley, Support Services Division bbonney@pvaz.net

Sigma Web Technologies

Make Default Text in Form Field Disappear on Focus

Random Posts

Understanding Hash Functions and Keeping Passwords Safe

Random Posts

A Huge Increase in Traffic and Exposure

Random Posts

Do This! (Not That) For Awesome Emails

Don’t Use a “No Reply” From Address

Do this instead:

Remember, Not Everyone Can See Images

Do this instead:

Don’t Treat Your Subscribers Like Numbers

Do this instead:

What Else Belongs on This List?

Related Articles

Do This, Not That, for Better Email Delivery

Do This! (Not That) For Better Email Delivery

Send Only to Those Who Requested Your Information

Do this instead:

Don’t Assume Permission- Ask For It!

Do this instead:

Don’t Ignore Your Complaint Rate

Do this instead:

Don’t Push Down the Unsubscribe Link

Do this instead:

Coming Up Next: The “Do This! (Not That)” Approach to Creating Emails

Random Posts

Add a Twitter Link to your WordPress Blog

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Adding a Favicon to Your Sub-site in WordPress Multisite

Where does a visitor see the favicon?

How do I add a Favicon?

Random Posts

Using iFrames with WordPress

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Why You Don’t Want to Use Online Tools to Manage Your Passwords

Almost funny

What’s “online” and what’s not?

Should I use a password management tool?

What if I Use LastPass?

Random Posts

Online Scams Grow in the Wake of Osama Bin Laden’s Death

BBB Tips

Random Posts