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The massive increase in the amount of information being uploaded to the Internet has created a proportionately greater need for content management systems. However, with the thousands of choices one has among those offering CMS solutions such as model dotnetnuke, which is the most popular, it can be quite tough deciding which one is best.

Most of the time, businessmen make the mistake of choosing a solution because of its technological features without necessarily considering how useful they will be for the specific type of business they’re engaged in. The result can be anything from the CMS turning out to be too difficult to maintain to downright ineffective as far as delivering on a business’ specific objectives is concerned.

There could be many parameters to look into when figuring out the best CMS solution to use, but which one, indeed, will be the best choice? A lot of people will make price and feature comparisons while others would ask for first-hand opinion from relatives or friends who may suggest a good brand. At the outset, this may be helpful. But a deeper view into these CMS would usually bring better, more targeted results.

First of all, a CMS must allow both users and administrators to be comfortable using it, whether or not they have prior knowledge about its technical aspect. This means that even a person who has no background on computers apart from basic operations must be able to manage it effectively and satisfactorily. The same goes for administrators who must find the system easy enough for them to manipulate. There must also be less emphasis on the price of the CMS and more on the costs of actually managing and maintaining such solution while it’s being used. The time it takes to configure the system is also directly related to the cost of implementing it. This means that the longer it takes for this process to be completed, the higher its ongoing costs will be. Hence, this should be taken into account when choosing which to use.

WordPress is an open source blogging platform that anyone can use for free. You can use it to host your blog or website. You only need to make a few simple tweaks to change your site from a blog to an ordinary website. WordPress will then become the CMS that you use to manage your content.

WordPress is a very versatile CMS. It works with templates – which means that you can change designs very quickly and easily. There are tons of free templates that are available for download. If you are looking for a general template, then a free one will do just fine. But there will be situations when you need better templates. Here are some reasons why you need premium WordPress templates.

1) Duplicate designs.

Free templates mean that the same template may be used by other webmasters. So there is a chance that your website will look similar to other websites. For a greater sense of identity on the Internet, it’s always better to use a unique template.

2) Branding concerns.

It’s almost impossible to brand a Company if you are using a free template. For one, there is no uniqueness. When it comes to branding, you want your customers to recognize your brand and associate your brand with quality. It’s hard to do that if you are using free templates.

3) Functionality issues.

Most free templates are meant for general use. They are not customized to suit the specific needs of any particular group. So if you are an Internet marketer, you may find that you need more advertising space on your blog so that you can generate more revenue. Premium templates will be able to provide such additional functionality.

4) Creating a more positive experience.

Many of the free templates look nice, but you may be unhappy with the experience that these templates offer. For instance, you find that the designs are generally too simple, and the font sizes and colors are not quite right. You can always install a premium template to correct all these issues. By giving a more positive user experience, you are encouraging the visitors to stay longer on your blog, which is always a good thing. You don’t want to chase away all your visitors by having bad designs!

5) Better support.

What happens if you encounter some problems with your template? If you are using a free template, there is no one you can turn to for help. But if you are using a premium template, you can always get support from the designer. This is an important aspect if you are serious about your blog. You want your blog to be working correctly. A blog that is buggy may not be worthwhile visiting.

So is it worth paying good money for premium templates? The answer is a resounding yes! A high quality premium template can give your blog greater functionality and a greater sense of identity on the Internet. In the faceless world of cyber space, a strong sense of identity is very valuable.

If you are using a self-hosted WordPress script as the CMS for your web site you might be wondering: How can I customize the look of this blog? It is easy to change the look and feel of WordPress using Free WordPress themes. Free Themes are available from a number of different sites on the web. A simple Google search for “Free WordPress Themes” should turn out a fair number of good results. There is also the official WordPress (download) web site, WordPress.Org, not to be confused with WP.com, the remote-hosted network of blogs. On the.org site you will find the extend area has a plethora of free themes.

Once you have chosen a theme you like and have it downloaded to your computer you need to unzip the theme and upload it to your WordPress themes directory via FTP. For an FTP upload you will need an FTP client. This is a program that uploads files to your web site. I recommend Leech FTP as it is easy to use and is a free download. Upload the unzipped theme folder to yoursite.com/WordPressdirectory/wp-content/themes/ and log in to your WP admin panel. Go to the side menu and select “Themes” under “Appearance”. Here you will be able to find any themes you have in your themes folder.

Select the one you want to use and check “Activate”. Your new theme should be working. If the page does not show up properly or at all, go back to WP-Admin, deactivate the theme and re-upload the files checking to make sure the directories and identical on the site and on your computer. If it doesn’t work after that I am afraid you will have to move on to the next free theme. Congratulations on installing a WordPress theme.

There may come a time where you need to move the contents of one site to another site. Reasons typically vary from a new domain name, new host, a shadow site, etc. Fortunately, WordPress makes this very easy with the Export and Import tools. Follow these easy steps to transfer your content from one WordPress site to another.

Exporting The Contents

1. Go the admin dashboard of the WordPress site you would like to export.
2. Find the ‘Tools’ menu along the left menu bar.
3. Click ‘Export’.
4. You will be presented with one option ‘Restrict Author’. From this drop down menu select ‘All Authors’ (default selection) or a specific individual.
5. Click “Download Export File”.
6. A prompt will appear asking what to do with the file, select ‘Save File’.
7. The file is saved to the downloads directory set in your browser.
8. Your content including posts, pages, comments, custom fields, categories, and tags is saved in a special WordPress format on your hard drive.

Importing The Contents To The New Site

1. In the admin dashboard of your new site, go to ‘Tools’ and click ‘Import’.
2. Select ‘WordPress’ at the bottom of the list.
3. Click ‘Browse…’ to locate the file you just exported.
4. Click “Upload file and import”.
5. The next screen allows you to change author names for the posts. You can either keep as original, create a name, or map an existing author name.
6. Select the checkbox if you want to “Download and import file attachments” (default is deselected).
7. Click ‘Submit’.
8. The site you exported is not full imported into a different site.

There you have it, the contents of one site are mirrored on another site. I highly suggest after importing verify everything exists as it should. You may need to do some modifications to get everything just you want them especially if you are using a different theme on the new site.

WordPress is one of the leading web publishing platforms currently available. Its is free software so to actually download and install the software on your web server will cost absolutely nothing. WordPress comes in two distinct formats both look the same and are in affect exactly the same but with some subtle differences.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a complete wordpress publishing environment that is actually hosted by the company behind the WordPress software. This means that you do not have to worry about hosting fees, backups or system upgrades as that is all taken care of for you. All of this is offered completely free of charge, simply sign up, pick a name for your blog or use a name that is already not in use and away you go. Within a matter of minutes you will be writing content and publishing to your blog all free and hassle free. As WordPress.com is heavily trafficked you will find that the major search engines will soon notice your blog and start indexing your site very quickly, which is ideal for improving your web presence.

As part of the service your blog will have the following installed:

• Askimet anti-spam (prevents comment SPAM)
• Stats – Full stats engine so you can monitor the traffic to your site
• Fully mobile optimized – Ideal for blog readers using iPhone or Android mobile devices
• Backups – All handled by WordPress themselves

WordPress do impose some constraints on the type of blog that you can run on wordpress.com they are as follows:

Allowed

• Personal
• Business
• Schools
• Non-profits
• Politics
• Military
• Private
• Sports
• How-to, tips and reviews

Not Allowed

• Scraper blogs:
• SEO blogs:
• Affiliate marketing blogs:
• Warez blogs:
• Automated blogs:

On the downside, you will not be able to add many custom features to your blog, other than those listed and you cannot on the free programme use a custom domain name which could be a little limiting if you want to brand the blog in line with your business. Its very much a horses for courses approach. Less hassle to manage but limited in functionality and you will need to weigh this up when making a choice.

So in summary WordPress.com is a quick, cheap and easy way to get your blog site up and running real quick.

WordPress.org

WordPress.org is the self hosted version of WordPress. This requires you to supply your own web hosting and before you rush in and order up some web hosting please check that the hosting provider meets the minimum requirements for a WordPress blog. The requirements are listed on the WordPress.org site along with some recommended web hosts.

To install the WordPress software you can either download the package from the site and install manually using the instructions on the wordpress.org site, it is very simple and quick to do, having said that it does require a rudimentary knowledge of FTP and editing text files, so I would suggest that if you are not comfortable with doing this seek advice from a somebody who has the required knowledge. Alternatively some web hosts offer a 1 click install utility from within the hosting control panel which will auto install WordPress for you. Check with your web host to see if this functionality is available.

Once installed you have full control over the look and feel of your blog site so you can change themes or add specific functionality onto your blog as you see fit. You are not restricted to the type of content you upload to the Blog (assuming it does not breach the Web hosts TOS) and you can run advertising as well with no restrictions.

The basic WordPress.org install does not include the stats or askimet plug-ins, you will need to install these and activate them yourself (I would recommend that you do this) and you will find a whole raft of other plug-ins that will enable you to personalise the blog to your desires.

To summarize WordPress.com is a little like renting a house whereby you have limitations as to what you can actually do with the site and wordpress.org is like owning a house you can pretty much do what you want with it.

AdSense ads are in fact a few lines of JavaScript code that we can embed anywhere on the webpage. If you have static pages then this is pretty easy. You simply paste AdSense code where you want ads to appear. Of course, you have to paste each ad unit individually unless you have some template for the website. Things are not so simple when you are using some content management system like Joomla.

Joomla uses a template system which defines the website layout and module positions. Module positions are places where you can insert page elements like menus, tag clouds, search boxes, social bookmarking widgets or ads. To include AdSense ads in Joomla you can install a dedicated AdSense module or a general purpose code insertion module. Each solution has some advantages and disadvantages.

Dedicated AdSense module is very simple to use. You simply enter your publisher ID, select ad type and size, define channel number, colors, publish module at the desired position and your ad is online. The disadvantage of this approach is that you have no control over the generated code. Google explicitly prohibits any changes to the ad code. In general, AdSense modules accurately regenerate the code defined by Google and there shouldn’t be a problem. However, if for some reason this code changes you will have a problem. You should periodically (once in a month or so) check the source code of your website. Not just because of the ads, simply to be sure that all on-page SEO elements are present. When you add new modules and plugins to the Joomla website you may inadvertently cause some changes in page layout, header or at some other not so visible place.

The second approach to include AdSense ads is to use a general module like CustomCode. This type of modules inserts arbitrary code at any module position. This is very convenient where you would like to have total control over the inserted code. The disadvantage of this method is that you must be very careful when changing colors or ad format. It is very easy to change code at wrong place. Of course, you will use this approach if you are an advanced Joomla user and you know exactly what you are doing. With this approach you have also the possibility to add some custom PHP script like displaying advertising only to unregistered visitors or to randomly change ad colors.

Both approaches to insert AdSense ads into Joomla website are pretty simple with appropriate module. And for each module you can select pages where the ads will appear. This way you have a very powerful control over the appearance of ads on your website.

This article shall cover the essential tools offered through the Gmail client. Gmail is Google’s personal email client, which can also build anyone a virtual office accessible from any computer with Internet access. People are given a Google account with email. This account allows the user to send / receive emails as usual however; any other email accounts can be routed to Gmail as well. This means the user can check all their mail in one location, as well as send mail from different email accounts also from the same location. However Gmail has many other great features besides receiving and sending emails, which allows anyone to build a virtual office. iGoogle, Contacts, Calendars, Documents and a personal profile all accessible from any computer connected to the Internet.

iGoogle:
The first step is to sign up for a google account. This is your desk, so to speak, your main online interface. When a user logs into their Gmail account they are directed to this page- iGoogle.

Contacts:
Instead of having the traditional paper written contact info, which must be carried around at all times one can use the contacts feature in Google. This gives the user complete access to any contact information wherever there is access to the Internet. No more worrying about computers dying out and losing all your personal data, or having to carry your laptop around everywhere. Located in full Gmail client.

Documents:
The Documents feature is very useful for many types of business. Google makes available three important programs: Word, Excel, and Power Point. These programs are accessible online from the Gmail client (full Gmail client- upper left). Anyone can use these programs to create files which can be stored online, and again accessible from anywhere. A great feature is the sharing option. This allows the file creator to share their work with others by sending them a link to read or edit the files. This is a great feature for colleagues to collaborate on a document together without being in the same space.

Calendar:
Calendar is exactly what is sounds like, the user schedules their work, budget, bills etc. This program allows the user to have multiple calendars visible on the main window of the program. The user can color code different calendars for easier separation. Also any or all calendars can be shared with outside people by emails. Other workers can see schedules, timelines, or receive updated schedules all on the Internet. This makes it easier to keep a group of people well informed without having to send constant emails to all parties. Calendar automatically sends an email to pre-selected emails every time an update is made.

Profile:
This area is where the user fills in all pertinent information about themselves or business. If all the fields are filled Google will place the information in their search engine database for others to find. This profile also can be accessed by a web address Google will provide once the profile is filled. If you are doing any web business, traffic is the key, which means people must find your page easily. By filling in the Google profile your business is submitted to the biggest search engine in the world. If you have other web pages make sure to create links off of your Google profile page to them. This will establish a network. The more links any web page has coming back to it raises its ranking in the search engines. This means higher traffic conversions.

Joomla is a very powerful open-source content management system that is used for many commercial and non-commercial websites. There are thousands of extensions that can add functionality for almost anything imaginable. While the original installation provides basic functionality and many users only install a suitable template, there are some simple extensions that make life with Joomla much easier and pleasant.

The first required extension is JoomlaPack. It is an elegant solution for complete backup, from files to the database. This is a component every Joomla website should have installed. The second very useful extension is the “eXtplorer” component. This is a complete file manager for Joomla. With eXtplorer you can browse the directory structure, download, upload, view and edit files. The user interface of eXtplorer is very similar to typical FTP software. You have a total access to all the files and directories.

In general, Joomla provides user interfaces for uploading image files. In most cases this is enough. But in some cases you need to upload a file to a different directory, to edit a file that belongs to some extension or otherwise access the Joomla installation. A common approach to do this is to use a FTP client software which is usually used to upload the files to the web server. This is a standalone application that must be installed and configured. If you are accessing your website from a public computer then it is very likely that you will be only able to use the browser. In such cases a file manager extension is a great solution to have all the files under total control without any additional software. The security aspect of this relies on the security of the website. If you are not using the default user name and your password is long and complex enough, then you should not be worried.

The second advantage of Joomla file explorer is the ability to unpack archives. You can simply upload a zip file containing many small files and then from the file explorer interface unzip this archive. This is a much faster way that uploading individual files.

Joomla can access its files in two ways. Directly or by a FTP account. FTP access is a convenient way to solve issues with file permissions. Usually, for security reasons the account is configured to access only the website directory. However, it can be configured to access the whole hosting directory. If this is the case then you have a very elegant way too access all the files, not just those that belong to Joomla. This means that with only one Joomla component you can have web access to every single file. This is a great advantage when you need to transfer some files and all you have is a web browser.

Joomla is a great web content management system. With a simple file explorer extension you can make it even greater.

Joomla is a free content management system. It has a huge number of developers and users. It is used for almost any type of website, including small corporate sites. For any additional functionality that you would like to have you can find at least one extension. Installing and managing Joomla website is easy and needs no expert knowledge. One of the most important aspects of any website is its optimization for search engines (SEO). This means that the website should not be only intended for human visitors, search engines should also find relevant data. In general, SEO elements are divided into two groups, on-page and off-page. There is one on-page element that is many times neglected. This is the format of the uniform resource locators (URLs), or in other words, the address of individual pages.

If we have a small site with static HTML pages we can name them according to their content or title and the same applies to directories. Joomla CMS is different. The pages are not static, they are dynamically created. This means that the web address of any page is in general a series of various parameters that tell Joomla what content to create. For a normal human visitor this is of minor importance because he is focused on the page content. Unfortunately, search engines look also at other parts of the website, they take into account also not so visible elements like meta tags and URLs. Therefore, it make sense to name pages according to the content or title of the page. This naming should not be some manual process, it should automatically reflect some existing parameter suitable to create URL. This applies in particular to content management systems where most tasks are or should be automated.

Joomla does not allow users to name page URLs arbitrary. The only possibility is to enable the setting “Search Engine Friendly URLs”. This feature converts “unreadable” page addresses to meaningful names. Having search engine friendly (SEF) URLs means having page addresses that clearly represent section, category and page names. This built-in functionality is somehow limited. You have no control over the creation of the new URLs. This is many times an annoying and limiting factor. Of course, there are solutions to this problem.

You can install one of the many SEF extensions that do the same job but have many parameters where you can adjust the look of page addresses according to your needs and taste. One of the very popular Joomla SEF extensions is the sh404sef. This is a component that rewrites Joomla URLs to a more friendly format. It also has the possibility to create custom meta tags. This means that sh404sef is also a SEO component. Its features do not end there. This component provides also some security features like prevention of flooding. In fact, sh404sef is a very complex Joomla extension. You need some time to make it work according to your wishes. But the end effect is well worth this effort.

Having friendly URLs is important for search engines, but also human visitors can benefit from clearly named web addresses. Therefore, using SEF URLs is recommended for every Joomla installation.

Considering the benefits of using content management systems to create website pages provokes me to wonder why more small business owners don’t take advantage of CMS for the creation of their websites. Despite of an intricate technical setup for content management systems, the benefits of using CMS far outweigh the effort needed to put into the setup.

Using a content management system allows the website owner to have more control over the look and content of a well-functioning website. This allows your small business website to rise in most search engine rankings without hiring someone else to add content.

A content management system also allows you to add webpages in plain text which is automatically translated into perfect to near perfect HTML code without errors. Having a website without code errors allows the small business website owner to reap the rewards.

Valid code with no errors eliminates browsers from auto-correcting your code, and having a layout that is not broken may enhance your load time and search engine indexing. Valid code also allows your website to display properly today and on future devices as well.

Valid coded websites are considered accessible to most types of browsers, platforms and screen readers, and websites with valid code tend to become indexed more efficiently by search engines.

Content management systems allow business owners to add content as often as desired to keep their websites up-to-date. By allowing new content to be added easily without hiring a webdesigner, you can invest your time instead of your money to add, edit or delete pages.

Even if you don’t have the time to write content, with a content management system, the option is still there for you to hire someone else to do so. When you use a content management system for your small business website, adding more pages is so easy that you may want to write them on a regular basis.

Knowing that the more pages a website has is a good way to get indexed by search engines could encourage you to add content often. The more subcategories of your business niche that you write about means that your website could be indexed for more page titles and keywords.

You can get traffic to your website if you have an aged domain that could be considered to have more authority than newer websites online. Older websites are usually considered more reliable and trustworthy to search engines.

Another great way to get more traffic to your website and get indexed by search engines is with backlinks from other websites that have a good page rank. You can submit your website to free directories for inbound links, submit your blog to services such as Zimbio and Blogflux, and write articles to get more inbound links to your website. Have a look in the “Resources” section and on my blog about more information on what services I found as some of the best online for your small business website.

Get the professional edge of writing your own website without having to know a single line of code, in perfect to near perfect HTML, translated from plain text, with a custom content management system. Contact me for more information on how I can get you started with your own customized look that is unique and impressive for your small business website visitors.