OBwiki.net

[News] Paid Backlinking Is Now Dead?

healme — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:15:48 +0000

If you're into SEO for sometime, you should know that backlinks has been a major element to the whole strategy. That results in a lot of people willing to pay for backlinking services.

The 'model' was working well for quite a while until recently when Google has made several moves to 'invalidate' such a tactic. It means sites that are found to employ paid backlinking services were denied good ranking or totally de-indexed from Google's search result.

Consequences can be a damaging one for many! At least, we are seeing a major player retreating from the game (see link at the bottom).

My comment - The playing field is levelled yet again... (but its unlikely will last for long ).

[ Link: It’s Been a Great Run!! ]

How to Install and Use VQMOD on Opencart 1.5

healme — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:11:01 +0000

In OpenCart (OC), extending your site's features usually results in modifying the program core codes. There are many reasons why this practise in not favorable - a major one is that it is not easily reversible. Say when you modified some codes and wanted to reinstate the original for some reason, it can be quite tedious.

This is due to the nature how OC handles extensions. Its normally done by overwriting existing codes instead of using plugin or module concepts employed in WordPress or Drupal. Honestly, this has been one of my top gripes about OC. I quit using OsCommerce for this very same reason years ago. Well, I love most of what OC has to offer so I have to live with it for the time being .

But all is not lost - there is a rescue!

Recently I notice a lot of people were talking about vQmod and OC ver 1.5 supports it. Interestingly, vQmod was originally developed for OC! But due to "openess" of the design, it has been used by other systems too.

So What Is vQmod?

Nobody can offer a better answer to this question other than the people at vQmod and this is what they have to say:

"vQmod™" (aka Virtual Quick Mod) is an override system designed to avoid having to change core files. The concept is quite simple... Instead of making changes to the core files directly, the changes are created as xml search/replace script files. These script files are parsed during page load as each "source" core file is loaded with the "include" or "require" php functions. The source is then patched with the script file changes, and saved to a temp file. That temp file is then substituted for the original during execution. The original source file is never altered. This results in a "virtual" change to the core during execution without any actual modification to the core files.

In a nutshell, you don't mess up with the core files while doing modifications but the same result is achieved at the end. According to the developers, the impact to the overall site performance is negligible. You can read more details at vQmod.

Installing vQmod on Opencart 1.5

Download the latest version that has "OpenCart" in the title from vQmod Installation
Unzip using 7zip or your favorite zipper
Using FTP, upload the "vqmod" folder to the root of your Opencart store
Be sure the vQmod folder and the vqmod/vqcache folders are writable (755)
Enter http://www.yoursite.com/vqmod/install into your internet browser
You should get a success message. If not, check permissions above and try again
Load your store homepage and verify if it works
Using FTP, verify that there are new "vq" files in the "vqmod/vqcache" folder. This folder is empty before installation

Using vQmod

Typically this step is easier than the installation above. Please note that NOT all OC Extensions are meant for vQmod so those that are compatible are marked as such. While you're at OC Extension page try exploring the "vQmod" category and you'd see a list of extensions with vQmod version.

The steps:

Upload file you want to install, upgrade or update, the file shall be under c://vqmod/xml/ (should be unzipped).
Look for /xml directory and move entire /xml directory to root directory (/www/) or select the files and move to /www/xml/ directory.
In most cases, you need to assign "permission". Do this in "systems/users/user groups".
Look in the dashboard for your new feature.

While Vqmod is somewhat helpful, OC still doesn't support full "auto-install & auto-upgrade" of extensions as seen in WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and many others. There are still "manual" file handling tasks to be carried out using FTP etc. My hope is that OC will be more at par comparing to other platform in this respect so that we all can be more productive.

Finally, while the are benefits in using vQmod, it might not be suitable to all your needs so use it with care .

Anything you'd like to point out? Just leave us a comment below.

Tag2:

install vqmod opencart

use vqmod

use vqmod opencart

A Free Tool To Help You Manage Your Tasks Better

healme — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:31:50 +0000

Download your free tool from here:

http://www.thefocusmaster.com/

Tag:

time manager

focusmaster

tools

[News] Domain Name Registration Price Goes Up Again

healme — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:07:01 +0000

Not long ago domain name registration has gone up in price from $7.99 region to that of $9.99. By January 2012, it will go up again and for the first time crossing $10 barrier.

The actual price depends on which registrar you buy or renew your domain from but the hike is quite like around 5% compared to the past.

So if you buy and own domain in bulk, perhaps it's good to grab them while they're still at old prices.

Common Issues With Drupal Sites And Multisites

healme — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 10:11:21 +0000

There are several issues that usually plaque a Drupal installation and here is a list to some of them below. Please note that this article mainly refers to Drupal 7 and it may or may not relate to other Drupal releases.

1. Search Not Functioning

If you find the search returns nothing then see this post for some pointers.

2. XML Sitemap Setup for Drupal Multisite

While multisite configuration has numerous benefits to make it a very attractive option, it has some important points to address for your sites to work correctly. One area is how you organize your files and folders.

This is done under "File System" setup. It is best to keep your files for different domains and sub-domains in separate folders. This will most likely save you from unnecessary headaches if you were to re-organize your sites later. If you were to lump all files for several domains into one big folder, it will be very tedious for you to pick the ones that are relevant to any site of yours. Say, when you're moving a domain to another hosting server for example.

Even if you're not moving any domain around, getting your file location organized is crucial in getting XML Sitemap to work properly.

Get started by enabling XML Sitemap for content type(s) of your choice. Say, do this at "Content types" > Blog > Edit > XML Sitemap > Inclusion > Included.

If a node is excluded, it won't appear in the sitemap cache file. This setting will be kept as the default setting. However, you can also change the setting at post level.

In this Drupal 7 case, let's assume your domain was "example.com" for simplicity sake. So you assinged it a unique folder named "example" for all files to be kept in.

First, install XML Sitemap module from here.

Then go to XML Sitemap Setting > Advanced Settings.

This is to assign a unique folder for a sitemap per domain. You do not want this folder shared with other domains of yours as everytime a sitemap is built, it will overwrite one created before it which is wrong!

In most likelihood the sitemap cache directory should have been defined. If not enter the one that reflects your system. You need to copy this location into our next screen in Google Webmaster Tools:

This step may not be too necessary but can serve as a way to verify that your sitemap setup correctness. If all is well and good you should see something like a "YES" tick as below after you hit "Submit Sitemap" and waited for a little while (minutes):

Verify your other sites too especially if they are managed under a multisite environment using the steps as shown above.

How To Create A Sub Theme For Drupal 7

healme — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:13:30 +0000

One of the quickest and safest way to customize a drupal theme is to go via subtheme route.

Safest? Because even if the base theme get updated in the future all your modifications will remain intact unless there was a major change put in place by the author.

Firstly, let's assume the base theme name is "base" and "sub" is your new subtheme. In your case, replace each name accordingly.

Here are some steps needed to create a subtheme in Drupal 7:

Make a copy of the "base" theme folder and rename it to "sub".
Delete most folders and files within it that you don't need as most will be inherited from the base theme. Typically you only need to keep "style.css" and "base.info" files. Remember to keep the base and subtheme in the same folder.
Rename "base.info" to "sub.info". To be on the safe side, use all alphanumerics only and not special characters to avoid unexpected results. One time, I used a hyphen ("-") to name this file, example "my-sub.info" only to make my new subtheme disappear from the Appearance dashboard. It took me quite a while to realize this was the cause of the problem - ergh! very frustrating..
Edit "sub.info" to relect the changes and insert a new row with this line: base theme = base
Activate your new subtheme as default.

Also beware of your Drupal and browser's cache. A lot of times they can play a havoc by not showing your latest style changes in the active theme be it base or subtheme. If you're experiencing this kind of issue it's worth trying to empty the cache as it's usually the culprit. Sometimes you'll have to wait for some time to pass for the changes to appear.

That's basically there is to it.

From now on just use the subtheme to customize the look and feel of your Drupal site. This way whenever the base theme got upgraded hopefully there's no unwanted surprise on the horizon. Even if there is, it can be just minimal at most.

If you need a more detailed instructions, watch this video:

You have anything to share? Just leave us a note down here..

How To Change Text Format For Comments In Drupal 7

healme — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:25:42 +0000

Have you ever wanted to change text formats for your site's comments?

In my case, I wanted all comments done only in plain text no matter if it is a signed in user (authenticated) or just an anonymous one. Formats for contents still depend on the original settings - this only affects text formats for comments only.

So how to force a plain text comment? Here's how to do it:

Firstly, enable Field and Field UI modules
In your Drupal dashboard, goto "Content Types", select "comment fields" tab
Click "Edit" for Comment label
Change to Text Format to "Plain Text"
"Save"

That's all there is to it!

Now whenever a user needs to drop a comment for your blog post, he/she can only do it in plain text only..

Do the same for your other content types such as book type etc as you desire..

Tag:

drupal

comment

how to

Adding Taxonomy To Drupal 7 Contents

healme — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:03:30 +0000

For reasons that I am not aware of, Drupal 7 does not come with taxonomy field as default and that means you have to "insert" it into a content type of your choice.

I noticed that whenever I was creating a blog or book content, there no way to enter the categories or tags into it.

A little search leads me to the method how to do it.

First, enable Field and Field UI Modules.

Next go to Content Types and select "manage fields" for content type of your choice.

Then enter all parameters as shown above.

Hope this helps!!

Drupal Search Not Working | It Shows No Results?

healme — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:06:04 +0000

If search feature on your Drupal site refused to work, just check the following things:

If Permission or User Control settings have been correctly done.

Indexing of your site has completed. If not, go to “Admin-Search Settings-Re-index Site”.

If nothing seems to be wrong, just do “Re-index Site” might cure the problem.

Who's The First Independently Published Author of Kindle Million Club?

healme — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 07:04:43 +0000

To qualify for the Million Club you have to sell (not give away) one million Kindle books on Amazon.com and John Locke has achieved that by last June 19th. Exactly he has sold 1,010,370 Kindle books using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

The Kindle Million Club awarded authors whose books sold over 1 million paid copies in the Kindle Store.

John Locke, of Louisville, KY., is the internationally bestselling author of nine novels including "Vegas Moon,” "Wish List,” "A Girl Like You,” "Follow the Stone,” "Don't Poke the Bear!" and the New York Times bestselling eBook, "Saving Rachel." Locke's latest book, "How I sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months”, is a how-to marketing guide for self-published authors.

[Info: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/816983/6c085894f0/1497574065/2ef176c508/]