Daniel Felice

WordPress 2.6.1

// August 16th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

For those of you using WordPress you should have noticed that there has been a “maintenance” update released for WordPress 2.6. If you are currently happy with WordPress 2.6 there is no need to run the update, however it does fix the following bugs.

Styling of the admin for right-to-left languages is much improved thanks to the efforts of the Farsi and Hebrew translation teams, and a mysterious gettext bug caused by certain PHP configurations is now fixed. For IIS users, 2.6.1 fixes several permalink problems. Image insertion problems in the Press This feature experienced by IE users are also fixed. Of note to everyone is a fix for a performance bug in the admin where those with a lot of plugins would experience slowness on some pages.

So if you feel the need to download the update, you can from here

Importance of Networking

// August 14th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

Since I began my online projects I have joined numerous forums and networking websites, creating relationships with people from all over the world who have the same interests, goals and online dreams.

These relationships are important in the early stages of your blog or website – not only from the traffic point of view, but also in terms of advice and ideas. For example, if you are a member of a blogger forum, then most likely those users are in the same position you are, or have been at some stage or another.

It is great to share ideas with people who are in the same position as yourself, and it is even better to know what other people can do and how they can help you. At first you might not know it, but at some point in time you are going to you are going to come across someone who can help you in more ways than one.

Over the past two weeks I have met a few people online who have managed to influence a few big decisions I have had to make, and one of those people may have opened up numerous opportunities to me – not just online but also in the “real world”.

The point I am trying to get across is – network. Be sociable online just as you would in real life. In life there are many people who can teach you a thing or two, and with the growth of the internet over the past decade or so, there are now even more opportunities to take advantage of.

There are thousands of opportunities the internet can create, and there are also thousands of people online who can create those opportunities for you. You never know who that person with that weird nickname on some random internet forum can do for you. They might have that something you need and you might have something they need. Together you might be the perfect business partner and just because they are “online” doesn’t mean they can’t offer you the same opportunities someone in the real world can.

WordPress 2.6

// July 16th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

The new version of WordPress was released today. WordPress 2.6 a number of new features that “make WordPress a more powerful CMS”. The new version allows users to track changes to every post, and also includes updates to features that were introduced in the previous version 2.5.

As explained on the WordPress website, the follow updates have been made to version 2.6:

Post Revisions: Wiki-like tracking of edits

With the power of modern computers, it’s silly that we still use save and editing metaphors from the time when the most common method of storage was floppy disks. WordPress has always respected the importance of your writing with auto-save, and now we’re taking that to another level by allowing you to view who made what changes when to any post or page through a super-easy interface, much like Wikipedia or a version control system.

This is handy on any blog in case you make a mistake and want to go back to an older version of a post, and it’s super handy for multi-author blogs where you can see every change tracked by person.

Press This!: Post from wherever you are on the web

A few months ago on my blog we started a conversation about the posting bookmarklet in WordPress and which systems we should look to for inspiration, like Flock, FriendFeed, Facebook, Tumblr, and Delicious. From these suggestions and the Quick Post plugin by Josh Kenzer, we developed a Press This bookmark you can add to your toolbar that provides a fast and smart popup to do posts to your WordPress blog:

For example, if you click “Press This” from a Youtube page it’ll magically extract the video embed code, and if you do it from a Flickr page it’ll make it easy for you to put the image in your post. On my blog I’ve been experimenting with using different categories and the in_category() function — such as video, quote, aside, et cetera — to create a more tumblelog-like format.

Shift Gears: Turbo-speed your blogging

Gears is an open source browser extension project started by Google that developers like us can use to give you features we wouldn’t normally be able to. There are a lot of things we can do with Gears in the future, but in this release we’ve stuck to using what’s called a “Local Server” to cache or keep a copy of commonly-used Javascript and CSS files on your computer, which can speed up the loading of some pages by several seconds (they just pop right up!). You can install Gears for Firefox or Internet Explorer, with support for Safari and Opera pending. WordPress works just fine without it, you just get a little extra juice when you have it installed.

Theme Previews: See it before your audience does

Now when you select a theme it pops up a window that shows the theme live with all your content, instead of immediately making it active on your site. This is great for just test driving themes before making a switch over publicly, and it is also helpful when you are developing a theme and need to test it but don’t want everybody to see your ongoing mistakes development.

Here are some of the smaller features and improvements in 2.6:

• Word count! Never guess how many words are in your post anymore.
• Image captions, so you can add sweet captions like Political Ticker does under your images.
• Bulk management of plugins.
• A completely revamped image control to allow for easier inserting, floating, and resizing. It’s now fully integrated with the WYSIWYG.
• Drag-and-drop reordering of Galleries.
• Plugin update notification bubble.
• Customizable default avatars.
• You can now upload media when in full-screen mode.
• Remote publishing via XML-RPC and APP is now secure (off) by default, but you can turn it on easily through the options screen.
• Full SSL support in the core, and the ability to force SSL for security.
• You can now have many thousands of pages or categories with no interface issues.
• Ability to move your wp-config file and wp-content directories to a custom location, for “clean” SVN checkouts.
• Select a range of checkboxes with “shift-click.”
• You can toggle between the Flash uploader and the classic one.
• A number of proactive security enhancements, including cookies and database interactions.
• Stronger better faster versions of TinyMCE, jQuery, and jQuery UI.
• Version 2.6 fixes approximately 194 bugs.

This is my first post using the new version, so I cannot comment on whether the changes worth the upgrade, but I cannot see any reason not to.

The upgrade to version 2.6 is fairly simple. It just requires FTP access so you can upload the new files, and then the first time you log into your admin account, it will prompt you to upgrade the database. Just make sure you backup your existing version just in case you have any issues!

Happy blogging!

Smart PageRank

// July 12th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

I came across a website today that I think is a great resource for any webmaster – Smart PageRank. As you can guess by the name of the website, Smart PageRank tells you the PageRank of your domain name, or any other you choose to search on for that matter.

Not only does it tell you a websites PageRank, you can also get valuable information about how your website is seen by the search engines for both the www and non-www version of the domain name that is being searched.

Smart PageRank will tell you:

• Page Rank: Checks whether a PageRank is fake or valid, and also lets you enter your e-mail address to be notified when the PageRank gets updated.
• Age of the domain name: When the domain name was first registered. Age shown in YY/MM/WW/DD format.
• Directories: This will tell you whether the domain name has been submitted to directories such as DMOZ and Yahoo.
• Traffic: Traffic is determined by your Alex site ranking.
• Backlinks: Provides the number of pages that have backlinks to the domain name that is being searched.
• Indexed Pages: How many pages are indexed in search engines.
• Website Value: This tells you how much the domain name is worth based on all of the above statistics and also “other items that are not shown”. I am not sure what formula is used for this calculation.

As well as being a great resource for webmasters, domainers can also benefit from Smart PageRank. If you are looking and buying domain names and want to verify information given by the seller then this one website will tell you everything you need to know about the domain name.

I don’t think I would trust the “website value”, however the rest of the statistics shown are very valuable. Best of all is that it’s free!

http://www.smartpagerank.com

How Accurate is Alexa?

// July 9th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

Over the past few weeks I have been keeping a close eye on my Alexa site ranking for both danielfelice.com and Nameseek. Both websites are constantly improving by big margins according to Alexa, however my hits are only steadily on the increase week to week.

At the moment my site rankings are 1,909,005 (98,257 in Australia) for danielfelice.com and 1,944,328 (15,804) for Nameseek. Last week both sites were over 2,000,000 in the site rankings, and outside the top 100,000 in Australia.

Even though hits have been increasing over the past few weeks, it seems hard to believe that both websites are ranked so good, even if it does bring a smile to my face. My hits just simply do not reflect that big of an increase.

Alexa site ranking is used by many webmasters to judge a websites performance, along with Google PageRank. Alot of domainers and webmasters who are trying to sell websites/domains are increasingly using Alexa site rankings to justify the price they are asking, and many potential buyers are using this a guide as to whether a domain or website is actually worth the asking price or not.

But how accurate are Alexa site rankings?

How Does Alexa Measure Traffic?

Alexa statistics are based on users who visit a particular website using the Alexa toolbar and other data collected from various sources. A site’s ranking is based on a combined measure of reach and pageviews. Reach is determined by the number of unique Alexa users who visit a site on a given day. Pageviews are the total number of Alexa user URL requests for a site. However, multiple requests for the same URL on the same day by the same user are counted as a single pageview.

What is Traffic Rank?

Alexa’s explaination is as follows. The traffic rank is based on three months of aggregated historical traffic data from millions of Alexa Toolbar users and data obtained from other, diverse traffic data sources, and is a combined measure of page views and users (reach). As a first step, Alexa computes the reach and number of page views for all sites on the Web on a daily basis. The main Alexa traffic rank is based on a value derived from these two quantities averaged over time (so that the rank of a site reflects both the number of users who visit that site as well as the number of pages on the site viewed by those users). The three-month change is determined by comparing the site’s current rank with its rank from three months ago. For example, on July 1, the three-month change would show the difference between the rank based on traffic during the first quarter of the year and the rank based on traffic during the second quarter.

So in short, Alexa bases your websites traffic rank on a small sample of the internet population over a three month period. I found a great quote on a webmaster forum that compares Alexa site rankings to television ratings.

Think of Alexa as a rating system much like TV. They are using a small sample of the population and showing you stats.

I still have not made up my mind as to whether I should trust the rankings or not, as the statistics are based on only a sample of internet users. However, it is widely accepted as a way of measuring a sites appeal, and Alexa and Google PageRank seem to go hand in hand for webmasters as together they determine a sites success.

For now, I’ll keep looking at my sites ranking and smiling as they continue to increase!

Welcome to the New Internet

// June 26th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

Gone are the days of .com, .net and .org being prime internet real estate. As of today the face of the internet has changed forever. The ICANN board have “approved a recommendation that could see a whole range of new names introduced to the Internet’s addressing system” at a meeting in Paris today.

In a nutshell “this proposal allows applicants for new names to self-select their domain name so that choices are most appropriate for their customers or potentially the most marketable. It is expected that applicants will apply for targeted community strings such as (the existing) .travel for the travel industry and .cat for the Catalan community (as well as generic strings like .brandname or .yournamehere). There are already interested consortiums wanting to establish city-based top level domain, like .nyc (for New York City), .berlin and .paris.”

So if I wish, I could submit an application for .danielfelice, which I could use to create blog.danielfelice.com or iam.danielfelice, or whatever I like really. It would most probably be approved providing that it I can prove I have a viable need for it and that it is not a trademark – oh and if I can afford it. It is expected that large organisations and Governments are going to claim their stake on names such as .city, .hotel, .sex, .food. and potentially enter a bidding war for them. Names up to 64 characters will be considered. If I wish I could register .iamdanielfeliceandthisismyblogandihopeyoulikeitthanksforvisiting – a bit too long isn’t it?

So how much will it cost me to register my own ”dot” I can hear you ask? Well it is thought that the names will cost somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000. ICANN will start accepting proposals in the first quarter of 2009.

I have not made up my mind as to whether I agree or not. I quite like it the way it is. The endless possibilities will definitely affect the current domain name market. However it might open an entirely new domain name market – imagine the price of newyork.city? Though with so many possibilities and combinations, surely “premium” domain names will be worth significantly less no matter what they end in.

Or will they?

Nameseek.com.au

// May 15th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

As mentioned in the last post, I have been working on my new domain name auction website over the past few weeks – Nameseek. I am currently testing the script, and will aim to launch on June 1.

You can visit the site at the moment as I have not locked it down while testing so at the moment it is free to add a item.  Actually if you do have a domain you are looking to buy/sell check it out and it might even help me with the testing!

At the moment I have not set up any advertising, text link ads or affilate programmes. I will worry about getting the site functional and working and spend the first month or two driving some traffic to the site. I don’t have a plan of attack yet, but I think I might aim at some web and domain message boards and forums to try and spread the word, and even target domain registrars.

The target audience to begin with will be users who are looking to buy/sell the .au domain name. I will use this as the basis of promoting the site, even though the site will allow users to sell websites and sripts.

As the site hopefully gains some interest and hits, I will find a decent domain name reseller and sell domains on the site, as well as hosting and use my own skills to offer web design services for users who are looking for a complete package – though that is a few months down the line! For now lets just concentrate on one thing at a time!

So don’t be affraid to check it out – http://www.nameseek.com.au!

My New Project

// May 8th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

Over the past few weeks I have been working my new internet project. Earlier this year it was announced that the Australian Domain Name Administrator would be allowing the sale of the .au domain names for the first time.

Having been buying and trying to sell .com domain names for a while I thought it might be a good idea to attempt to get into the selling and brokering of the .au domain names.

With over 1 million Australian Domain’s registered there will definately be a market for the trading of domains so hopefully if I get in early enough it might be a bit of a winner.

There doesn’t seem to be anyone selling the .au domains at the moment, so I think it will be a niche market and getting in early will be the key to some success hopefully!

So the site will be launched in the next few weeks. I have called it Name Seek: The Australian Domain Name Aftermarket and it will be available at http://www.nameseek.com.au.

Phishing Scams Exposed

// April 8th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

I just read an interesting report issued by Symantec Australia about the current rate of internet fraud carried out via social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.

The report stated that for the last six months of 2007, there were nearly 90,000 cases of “phishing” found, which increased by more than 150% on the first half of the year.

What is a “phishing host”?

A phishing host is a fake website that is setup in order to fool people into thinking that they are entering their login or personal details into their e-mail account, bank account, etc. You all have probably come across a phishing scam telling you to confirm your bank account details or something similar.

Why are social networking sites dangerous?

These kind of website are dangerous because of what people enter into them. If you look on some people’s profile, they have their name, location, age, date of birth, school, workplace, relationship status and their list of friends. I have even seen some Facebook profiles with mobile phone numbers.

Organisations are collecting your private information and selling it on the internet black market for about US$1.

Most of the money made from stolen information is then put back into the organisation to develop new ways of creating attacks on users. Professional programmers are being employed to develop these new threats.

The new threats come in the form of viruses and worms, mostly being developed in the United States, Russia and China. The next generation of malicious code will be aimed at attacking portable media such as USB keys, MP3 players and even mobile phones.

So if you have a profile on a social networking website, don’t give out too much information as it may be stolen and the proceeds used to develop new ways of attacking us users.

What is Google PR?

// April 6th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

Since I started this blog last week I have been doing alot reading about Search Engine Optimization and trying to get my blog listed in Google’s search results. A word that keeps on popping onto my screen is Page Rank, or PR.

Being new to blogging and website marketing, I had no idea what it meant, and even less of an idea of how to improve my Page Rank.

If you’re like me and want to trying improve your Page Rank to try to drive hits to your site, then here is a quick explanation for us dummies.

So what is Page Rank?

Page Rank is a numeric value that Google places on your site. The value represents how important your site is, and how it will appear in search results. When one page links to another, Google considers it as a “vote”. The more votes a page has, the more important it must be. Aside from looking at votes, Google analyses the page that casts the vote, and the more important the casting vote is, will be taking into account when determining that pages Page Rank.

How do I improve my PR?

• Links to and from other sites: Try and get your site linked other as many other sites as possible. The Googlebot moves from page to page by following links, so if your page is linked from other sites it will be found easier.
• Internal Links: The easier your site is to navigate, the easier GoogleBot will be able to move around your site. Make sure you have no dead links, and your pages aren’t hidden away in deep directories.
• Update Content: Try to update your content as often as possible. The creation of new pages will keep sending the GoogleBot back to your site for indexing.
• Keywords: Include search keywords within the content of your pages and in your tags. This will help your pages be indexed quicker.
• Images: Google also looks at the ALT tags that are attached to your images. I for one don’t normally use ALT pages, I will be now!

So over the next week or so I am going to be working on trying to build some contacts with other bloggers to hopefully try to get a page linked. Hopefully this will impove my current PR of -1.

If you want to check your current Google Page Rank, visit http://www.whatsmypagerank.com