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Sausage Sizzler - Crumby Computer |
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G'day Sizzlers!
Well the solution for the Sausage font is still not clear. If
anyone out there is good at creating fonts let me know! One avid
HotDog user, Michelle Carney, has had a play around and created
something in Photoshop. However needs to be created as a font so
that it is easily used. It has been interesting to read everyone's
feedback on this matter, as it shows how many knowledgeable people
read this newsletter.
As for your feedback on my Spam problem I have also had lots of
suggestions. The two I have tried so far are MailWasher and Spam
Killer. As some of you noted MailWasher is a bit slow but at least
it didn't entrench itself on my system like Spam Killer has! I
uninstalled Spam Killer after my computer started going whacky
after running it, however it still is somewhere as it is asking
me if I want to continue with my trial. As for MailWasher you can
read my review in this issue.
Feedback on the latest point release of HotDog Professional is
positive. No major changes in this one just a lot of little bug
fixes. The majority of the programing teams efforts are going
into version 7.
New Release - HotDog Professional 6.6
Download it here:
ftp://ftp.sausage.com/pub/hotdog/hotdog6/hotdog66install.exe
Here is the fixed bug list for those of you who are interested:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=460
Keep on sizzling!
Nathan Allan
Sausage Sizzler Editor
editor@sausage.com
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Date and Time Functions in PHP
There are a few ways to deal with storing dates and times in a
database. The most obvious way would be to use the
databases date/time field. Some databases have decent functions
for formatting the date and time to your preferences, and others are
just plain lousy.
I prefer to store the data in an integer field as a UNIX time
stamp. By doing this I can use the PHP Date and Time Functions
to manipulate the formatting.
The date function lets you format a UNIX Time Stamp. The
mktimestamp function lets you create a UNIX time stamp from a
date and time. You can also get the current time by using the
Time function. All kinds of fun... enjoy!
For examples see:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.datetime.php
Tip by Roger Ramirez
PHP Programmer, Web Designer, Amateur Photographer
Forms
We covered the simple "mailto:" last issue. I was surprised by the many
responses that I got on this subject. Apparently many of you really do like
to keep your Web pages fairly
basic.
If you want to get more precise information from your Web site visitors, a
form is probably the way to go.
The first thing to do is figure out if your
host runs the appropriate CGI (Common Gateway Interface) script.
This CGI acts as a medium between your form and your e-mail.
The majority of hosts will give you access to a CGI called formmail.pl. This
is a script written in Perl (hence the "pl" file extension). If
your host does not run this type of script, you will need
to consider an external solution such as:
http://www.response-o-matic.com
Once you have decided upon your medium it is easy to set up a form! We will
start looking at your options next issue... stay tuned!
Tip by Nathan Allan
MailWasher 1.32.9 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP Shareware
http://www.mailwasher.net
http://www.mailwasher.net/download.php
I received a lot of positive feedback from people that suggested MailWasher
to kill spam. I decided to downloaded it and try it out.
It works as a "pre-filter" for your mail client. You need to
run MailWasher and your client (but not necessarily at the same
time). This can either be seen as is a necessary evil or a pain, since most
people would rather run both programs simultaneously, however this
negatively effects system resources.
What MailWasher does is keep a couple of lists. Pre-approved
"friends" and a pre-dumped "blacklist." You then simply label what
you consider spam (based on the subject and sender), then it is deleted off
the server. As you build you blacklist, screening your e-mail becomes less
time consuming. Blacklisted mail will be "bounced" back to the spammer.
Some of your warned me of one downside to this program... it is slow. It
seems to take forever to process mail.
My final verdict? This isn't the perfect solution, however I will use it
until something better comes along.
If you want learn about other suggestions, go to:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=438
Review by Nathan Allan
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Web design for the visually impaired
In re-focusing the "Designed for Browsing" section, I have asked for
requests and suggestions. This week, I received an
interesting one. I am not entirely sure how to address
this situation. My ignorance stems from simply never having
considered the segment addressed in the e-mail. Why have I never
addressed that segment? Well, for one thing, I just never thought of it!
In one of my positions, the content director hadn't considered designing the
site for the visually impaired. Funny as she does most everything else!
So for this remains a "non-issue." For those people, the focus would be
browser compatibility.
In a different position, our clients barely understood what
"browser compatibility" meant and just wanted things to look good.
What does "Web design for the visually impaired" really mean? It
could be any one or a combination of many things. To make your site more
friendly, you could make sure your ALT tags are filled in, configure pages
to a set browser width, allow for your design to be stretched and
scaled, AND still look as you had intended... while also getting the message
across.
Sadly, I did not feel like an expert on this subject, so I consulted Joe who
has previous experience on these sites.
Joe S. wrote the following to me. After reading this, in
combination with my thoughts above, tell me which of you have
designed for the visually impaired and in which ways you find
yourself either limited in creativity, inspired to be more
creative so as to work around "limitations", or both.
"please try to include layout and formatting that will
sound like it reads when played on a voice synthesizer
for the visually impaired. You really get an
appreciation for the difficulty faced by the visually
impaired, when you turn off all the lights and listen
to the voice synthesizer read HTML. I did, and it
was like getting hit in the face with a wet towel. I
am now writing HTML with visually impaired users in
mind, and it has also improved the communication value for
those with full sight. We have eliminated
backward references because visually impaired can't
scroll back up the text. And we try to be more
descriptive when explaining photos or graphics. If you
think any of my ramblings are worth considering, I'll
be glad to contribute a list of points we are using
that conform to W3C without the 500 pages of dialogue."
Chime in!
Discuss your experiences with Bram Leland Scolnick
Assembling the List
I guess (and hope) that a lot of people were (or are) on vacation... because
I didn't get much feedback last week.
This week I am opting to continue building a solid list of
criteria for reviewing a Web site. Some of the requests for a
list of criteria are:
- Load Time
- Browser Compatibility
- Color Usage
- Page Layout
- Navigation *
- Overall Design
- Use of Images and Text, and the Balance
- Designing for Impairments - *** statistics for the visually impaired
- Use of Frames
- iFrames
- CSS, JavaScript and DHTML
* Pay special attention to navigation; look for catchy ones to share
**Switch between commercial and personal.
*** See Gear Grinders this week.
Part of the plan is to also switch between "nit-picking" one site
and making comparisons to several sites at a time.
Discuss with Bram Leland Scolnick
To read the Sizzler Forums you do not need to be a member.
However to take full advantage of this resource it will only take
you a few seconds to sign up!
- Go to: http://www.sizzlerforums.com
- Read the information and click on the REGISTER button
- Fill out the form
- You will receive an email that you simply reply to
- Hey presto! Your a fully fledged Sizzler Forums member!
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