Gilmation - Articles

Automated Google Analytics reports with Google Spreadsheet

2016-11-02T11:15:48Z

We have often commented that accurate benchmarking is the key starting point in the process of optimizing a website. We need to be in a position to measure any changes that are made to know what, if any, impact they have had. It’s also important to normalise and reach consensus regarding our data sources and the metrics that we plan on analysing, as it’s easy to reach the wrong conclusions if different members of the same team query different data sources in slightly different ways, or when analyzing metrics and indicators on Google Analytics, we compare apples with oranges. It’s also true that most of the time, the default Google Analytics reports are not as granular as we would like them to be, in order to facilitate more profound analysis.

Install the vmod_header Varnish Module for Varnish 4.0 on Centos 7.1

2015-12-09T14:50:45Z

If you are using Varnish and need to access headers which appear more than once (i.e. multiple set-cookie headers) then you'll have to install the vmod_header Varnish Module.

Javascript event delegation for a horizontal swipe effect

2015-11-25T16:36:41Z

As front-end developers, there are times where we have to extend third party libraries or jQuery plugins in our applications. In this article I’ll show you a brief example of the javascript code that I used to extend the functionality of an image carousel in order to add a horizontal swipe effect using event delegation.

Utilities for Git and the Netdna CDN API in ruby

2014-07-03T19:30:14Z

This is the ruby script that we use to obtain information on the account or the zones that we have configured in the Netdna CDN and, when necessary, to invalidate all objects in the CDN or a subset of them based on the difference between selected commits in the local git history for a particular project. As always the best way to see how this works is to read the code !

Heriots Rugby Club win Scottish cup final 2014

2014-05-22T09:18:11Z

On the 19th of April, Gilmation sponsored the warmup jerseys for Heriot's Rugby Club when they played (and won !) the Scottish cup final at Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld. Thanks to everyone at the club we had a great day and this is our pick of the photos that we took to record the occasion.

A simple ruby script to check the HTTP response / redirect for multiple urls

2014-05-14T09:28:34Z

This is a simple script that we use as a resource and protocol check to make sure that the status codes and any redirects are as expected. If a redirect is returned then this URL is also checked to make sure that it exists (i.e. status = 200). As always the best way to see how this works is to read the code !

Three years, 6 new brands and over 15 million in online sales

2014-01-24T12:36:11Z

The 3 years since our last post is a long time but has gone past very quickly indeed. So while we've been bad at posting we have been very productive in other areas (honestly !). We started another company Cave 66 and created it's first brand (Solamante), we developed 5 new brands as part of our ongoing relationship and shareholding in AFG Media (Morphsuits), our websites have turned over more than £15 million and we've also done some consulting when we've been able to find the time !

Distributed source code management resources

2010-10-30T21:00:26Z

A list of the resources for Mercurial, Git and Bazaar that I put together when researching my talk for the PHP Barcelona Conference.

SQL delete at scale with Oracle

2010-10-15T16:00:09Z

If you are involved in a project based on a critical and extensively used database, or if you are involved in stress and load testing, data maintenance is an issue you'll come across sooner or later.

Install and test the PostgreSQL gem with Ruby Version Manager

2010-10-07T16:00:04Z

How to go about installing and testing the PostgreSQL gem using Ruby Version Manager, Ruby 1.9.2., Mac OS X 10.5.8 and Xcode 3.1.1.

Compile and configure PostgreSQL on Mac OS X

2010-10-01T16:00:55Z

The steps that I followed to compile, install and configure PostgreSQL 8.4.4 on Mac OS X 10.5.8 with Xcode 3.1.1.

LaTeX custom commands and figure inclusion

2010-09-24T13:35:01Z

One of the most compelling aspects of LaTeX is it's resemblance to a programming language. Here we demonstrate how to take advantage of LaTeX command definition in order to include figures in our documents and reuse code.

Install and configure Ruby Version Manager on Mac OS X

2010-09-17T20:36:15Z

How to go about installing and configuring Ruby Version Manager on OS X version 10.5.8.

Validate and submit Expression Engine comment forms with Ajax using jQuery

2010-09-07T17:00:10Z

On occasions it is useful to be able to “intercept” the normal submit behaviour of a form in order to validate it, send it to the server (via ajax) and then display the result to the user without reloading the page in the browser. In this article we outline one approach to achieving this with jquery for forms that have been generated dynamically within Expression Engine 1.6.X templates.

301 redirects with Apache virtual hosts

2010-08-18T15:26:33Z

A 301 redirect refers to the HTTP status code that is returned when a HTTP request for a specific resourse is redirected. Here we take a look at the difference between 301 and 302 redirects and show a simple way to implement a 301 redirect using the Apache server's virtual hosts directive.