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Do follow blog

arindra — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:37:55 +0000

What are Blogs good for if not comments and discussion . Yes , that is a thought … I have blogged about personal musings , php scripts, open source and commercial applications such as Wordpress, vBulletin, Magento , my life as a Dmoz editor, my web development company and it’s clients and sometimes even SEO. All this time, I have not written just for making sure i get pageviews, even though I do like to get client queries. But I typically don’t have time to write for every damn thing on the internet .

But sometimes, it does make you feel that talking to yourself alone does not justify writing – I wont deny that. Battling with that frame of mind against being stuck moderating thousands of junk posts every day – i used to keep all comments in the typical Wordpress scenario . But I want to give this DoFollow idea a try. I don’t know wether this will incite more people to initiate a discussion or dialogue , wether my musings are more boring or wether this will bring only incerasing amount of viagra and casino commenters.

But it is fixed that I have made this Blog a DoFollow blog as long as it makes sense.

upgrading wordpress 2.8.2

arindra — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:11:18 +0000

OK , so I have not only decided to get back to blogging again , but this time I hope to keep doing it more regularly. You have heard that before , eh ? I agree but what can we do … as your work grows almost all the day goes into serving clients … and hardly you would get much time to sit down and pen your thoughts. Heck, I bought a 32″ plasma and I don’t even get to watch that

Coming to the topic title – Upgrading Wordpress 2.8.2 , i am happy to say that this blog is now running the current Wordpress release . This sub version does not include much but a XSS fix , but the Wordpress 2.8.1 was from what i remember a more detailed upgrade.

The dashboard loading time was awful earlier which now seems much better.
The automatic upgrade no longer accidentally deletes files when cleaning up from a failed upgrade.
Extra security has been put in place to better protect you from plugins that do not do explicit permission checks.
Disabled code highlighting due to browser incompatibilities.
Switched back to curl as the default transport.

Although the auto upgrade feature is not new in these versions of Wordpress , but can’t get myself to write a Upgrade post without mentioning it. This single option has cut down some of our clients who often asked us to do a version upgrade for them as a charge. Now it is simply a breeze – whenever you see a message on your dashboard, all the next work is browser based – if you know your FTP password. Even the plugin upgrades hardly requires breaking a sweat.

choosing feed readers

arindra — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 09:21:07 +0000

After the recent catastrophe, things are settling down and i have decided to start reading more seo blogs. Not just seo blogs, i have also been using as much free time i am getting to read seo books, watch seo videos and catch up on the numerous webmaster and seo blogs , by subscribing to their feeds. Every day you learn something new – and it is necessary to keep one’s self updated with the industry. I am currently subscribed to Matt Cutts, Jill Whalen, Danny Sullivan , SeoMoz, Bill Slawski , Aaron Wall to name a few. I was truly not this organized in my reading before , even though i definitely checked those before too.
When i started thinking that i will do this, i wondered if I could do it with Outlook 2007 as thats something i use regularly to check for emails , so i might be able to check on these from time to time as well and not really have to open “any” site whatsoever for reading up.
MS @#!%^^# is hardly ever so rosy , that it will allow you to do what you want when you want it … ( and I am usually not a MS hater) . The first time added the feeds for seobook and mattcutts google only feed, i got
the items neatly in my inbox as i wanted, categorised by personal folder names . And ever since i tried downloading mails , after the mails got downloaded … outlook started generating errors – saying , Outlook 2007 can not download the feed as it can not reach / connect to server at www.mattcutts.com and such . I tried few many times, closing the app and restarting the machine even … with no joy. So i then decided to Google for it – using the language in the error , and in the first page i got my answer – more or less. As Mr. Bill wants every chance he gets , to try and push you to the not so pretty IE7 … , such actions like subscribing to feeds using Outlook 2007 is not possible with IE6.x and to properly fix it , you need to upgrade
So after looking around for various feed readers – client apps or web based , i decided to go for using iGoogle. Typically i always preferred using the basic Google homepage as was never really a news reader or spent any amount of time finding latest stock updates or sports news for that matter . But it has a pretty neat system in place for me to customize the stuff i want – not just on the homepage , but also allowing me to use / create tabs for categorizing the content . Below is a pic of how I have got my subscriptions setup . Previously i have also tried using simply Google reader , but this seems little more convenient .

scolded by my meta

arindra — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:18:06 +0000

Yesterday was suddenly an important day for my DMOZ editor life. I received feedback from a Meta editor, who started by saying “This is a unsolicited feedback…” . The exact contents of the full email is not something i should divulge here , but nevertheless i was critically questioned for my wrong grammar , however minimal it might have been.
Interestingly, I was also “promoted” , so to say and given wider privileges on the ODP and allowed to manage a full locality. I had actually applied for this category after being an editor for its sub-cat for some weeks. Considering the localities i edit in have considerably less webmaster submissions, and also relatively low number of sites to mine, this particular category is nothing large within the ODP … but truly what my meta scolded me for makes more meaning. An editor within such lesser number of sites should be even more meticulous in his editing style.
My additional category requests (mentioned above) were sitting for sometime, so I had opted to do some greenbusting (apply to help out in larger branches of the ODP without being a named editor ), and surprisingly I got that approved yesterday too.
For a visitor to this blog or a webmaster thinking about DMOZ : may take note about the ODP and its quality. People often ask why DMOZ says it has low resources , why the editors are not bothered with site submissions and things such as receiving reply for rejection and such. Surely it is evident that because the resources are used for maintaining the high quality of editing , wherever possible.

multiple cart in single oscommerce install

arindra — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:11:35 +0000

osCommerce is a versatile shopping cart script used by hundreds of websites. As a shopping cart script with numerous pre-built functions, plugins ( or user generated contributions) it is undoubtedly comprehensive. However , just to exemplify, some of the key features include :

web based install
supports unlimited products and categories
includes options for physical goods and e-products
includes taxation as an option
accounting and invoicing
customers and transaction reports
newsletter subscription module
product reviews
banner management and statistics
payment processing using several credit card and web payment options

and many many more .
In my opinion, it has too many options to be able to be listed , even though some of those functions or options might not be necessary for a website owner who requires a shopping cart system for his website. Now, not all of these are advantageous to a basic website operator / owner , and he may even be bit overwhelmed seeing so many options , and requiring to ensure that the ones which are not required are turned off / disabled. As the service provider / web developer / programmer , we often have to ensure that most of these options are turned off or in cases which can not be turned off from the Admin panel, are removed from the php files .
One of our recent osCommerce projects involved several customizations on the base script – one part of which was ensuring around 40-45% of the default osCommerce features be removed from being available in the admin panel , based on instructions given by our client. One of the major customizations we also did was , by default osCommerce allows one cart / shop inside it , but in this case the requirement was to setup 2 separate carts and ensuring that they be administered from one single admin panel. Now this is not a default feature , nor is any proper contribution could be found for this. So it had to be programmed totally from new. The end result was undoubtedly quite nice , as we gained quite a bit of experience in doing this. The end users / visitors to the site would login to the website and find a wine shop as well as a news and magazines shop and wherever they went or registered, they had to login only once and also on check out or buying, the admin would be able to track the customers or the orders from inside the same panel only.
below are screenshots .
Cart 1 and Cart 2.

Being a DMOZ editor

arindra — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 13:43:28 +0000

Yes , my life has changed quite a bit ever since i became a editor at the ODP . previously i have made a post on this blog , where i did already mention that I have this new identity , but i was rather little unsure if I should be mentioning that I am an editor , whether that would be breaking any protocol , whether I would be marked by others or will become a target for unfair advances . Well, no longer I have those confusions .
The protocol I was afraid of does not prohibit me from disclosing that I am editor, rather it is upto me whether I feel safe in disclosing that I am an editor at DMOZ, because there exists uncountable hostile elements , who blame DMOZ because they have nothing better to do .
Yes, there is always the undesirable feeling that I may be target of various kinds of underhanded and illegal advances – bribery or otherwise – but after being an editor over 2 months, i have come across incidents where largely guarded DMOZ editor’s identities have been unearthed and contacts made via – Email, roadside, over phone and what not . So it does not make any difference if your identity is guarded or not . Rather , it is of importance that one remains as indifferent as before and sensible and objective in their work .
What we surely are not allowed to disclose is the internal discussions, and reasons for discussions in open forums , there definitely remains a protocol for external communication.
While being an editor at the ODP , i have come across many discussions where there is an open conflict between various webmasters and individuals who volunteer at the ODP … and it has been stated that DMOZ does not like webmasters .
I am a webmaster myself , and I have come to understand what the above statement means …. which simply means DMOZ likes the regular layman web visitors more .
Google , MSN , Yahoo also seriously does not like webmasters ( to the same effect ) , and they try to make their search capabilities and index more cleaner for the regular web searcher and not the educated webmaster .

Search Open Directory
Arts Business Computers Games Health Home News	Recreation Reference Regional Science Shopping Society Sports

Disclaimer : All the statements above are comments made by me as an individual , and not endorsed by the DMOZ or AOL.

php to ajax

arindra — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:15:11 +0000

PHP is a impressive coding language, and is widely used in major part of our projects. Using the php language with mysql databases hugely successful websites around the world have been created. Every day newer developments are made to make PHP a more robust and secure solution for coders and website owners.
However , recently we have embarked upon converting / adding certain parts of older projects / websites into using AJAX – sometimes on request by the website owner , and sometimes we have offered to convert where we felt using AJAX would give better usability to the project.
One such project involves a Voting / Rating application which was made almost an year ago . The site featured a rating where the current AJAX enabled system would make the voting much more user friendly, instead of the form submit . This would allow the end user to participate in the voting / rating many more times than before – which is the theme of the website , thus keeping him more interested and loyal .
Another project involves enhancing a backend admin panel, which involves various options such as creation of categories, sub categories, and users . The admin backend page usually loads with little bit of time , and for an admin who needs to create around 65 categories , making 65 page loads / refresh was little painful. But the way it is being developed now , creating a new category would be somewhat like , as you find inside the Wordpress admin area . This would provide better usability – this time to an admin , not just an end user .

new wordpress blog design project

arindra — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:42:16 +0000

We have just started creating a custom template for wordpress for a client . The wordpress work involves creating his blog theme to suit and complement his existing website and website design. This is something i have mentioned before that many customers / blog owners will require their blog to look as close to their existing website as they would want their website visitors to feel that they are still on the same website.
The work also includes installing various wordpress plugins , primarily social bookmarking icons, tags and digg and stumbleupon extensions. I wish it would have also included logo design as well , as the logo the customer has looks pretty old and outdated and out of place both on his website as well on the blog header. But as of yet , he is quite adamant that he will keep that logo.
The social bookmarking this is a weird craze and some people have become too impressed with it . I agree it is a very essential plugin for sites as well as blogs , but in this particular case, the client has requested to insert the bookmark icons in the top and bottom of every post along with a additional Digg and Stumbleupon option just under it … which is surely a overkill … the visitor , who was early frustrated by excess Ads on the websites, will not get overwhelmed with these bunch of “social bookmarks” and would easily miss the main content IMO :p

bluhaze wordpress theme

arindra — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:36:59 +0000

I have a fascination with the color blue . Besides it being my favourite color , it also gives a nice and bright look to a blog . Also with this particular wordpress theme , i wanted to keep the design similar to the main website design , dimensions wise . The theme is developed for the latest version of wordpress i.e. 2.3 and supports the default widget options or sidebar and tags. It is also XHTML validated and W3C compliant and created using minimal graphics .

You can see a demo here : http://www.websys.co.in/designblog/ or

view a screenshot here
if you are interested in buying it , you can … for the low price of 20 USD.

how to prepare for a vacation

arindra — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:53:01 +0000

Since 17th October till 21st October , we have the biggest cultural / religious festival in kolkata / west bengal – DURGA PUJA. During this 5 day period most of the offices , shops, institutions and even banks and government departments remain closed and everyone spends a nice little holiday. Writing about Durga Puja / Dushera in detail would be totally beyond the scope of this blog and you can learn more about it from the Wikipedia link or just by typing it in Google.

However , explaining it to clients / employers is an important task , one should not forget. The American’s have the 4th of july / memorial day , the British have their Christmas / New Years day and many others have their own customary holidays , hence everyone more or less understands even if you have got some unfinished project during this time , but nevertheless it does not harm taking preparations for such a extended break if you have got a steady inflow of web designing / programming / outsourced web development work. Some of the measures one should take are :

Start mentioning about it casually to your regular clients and request the break
Surely you would not be able to chat with all your clients , so a email to all your existing clients or more specifically the one with current projects would help – explaining the reason and the time duration
If you have an active Elance or Guru profile , it would also be better if you change your screen identity to reflect your on Vacation Status – i put myself as “myname – on vacation till 22nd october ” . Yes , it does look odd and unprofessional but hey , i am actually helping them .
And of course there is the Vacation mail setting , on your email account – almost all ISP’s or hosting providers , allow you to create a vacation mail – which might be something like “Thank you for emailing me , I / We are on vacation till date MM/DD/YY . For emergencies , call Mr.Y at xxx xxx xxxx “
If the previous points were for what to do prior to the vacation , there are also things one should prepare for after the vacation – such as how to handle the backlog afterwards i.e when you return to work . A chart / list of works that needs to be resumed based on priority, would be a good thing to start with . This will help making the life easier and with less tension of “oh there’s so much to do , who to tackle first “
I don’t know about you but i am a computeholic hence my PC gets little or no rest or and even in office there’s hardly any chance for the computers to go on maintenance mode . So , thinking that way , this would be a good time to put the computers up for maintenance – things like running scandisk , anti-virus , defragment , disk cleanup , hardware check … basically the works.
buy postcards … if you are going on a trip and remember to put up a gallery on flickr after you return and blog it or send the link to your friends , clients even… get them interested in your culture . Since postcards are almost a lost tradition , especially with the new photo sharing websites coming up , if you have a digital camera , that might be good too.

Saying all this , if you are working on with very high valued clients, or customers who deserve some respect , you surely should not leave email accounts totally unattended … what with the rise of broadband , Gmail , Blackberry be sure to check once during the night – even if you don’t reply fully , it will make you feel good knowing that you have got some Puja Greetings back from that satisfied customer , whom you emailed about the request for leave.