mastering your website: resources

From Pacific New Media class, Mastering Your Website:

Resize your photo: Picasa, Photoshop, and online

If you take a digital photo the size can be too large for a website. You’ll need to typically reduce it down to under 300 pixels.

In Picasa (picasa.google.com), the smallest is 320 pixels, but that might work:
1) highlight the image you wish to resize
2) click Export button
3) change the settings if needed (size and quality)
4) Picasa will export the resized image to the folder you specify

In Photoshop;
1) open the image you wish to resize
2) go to Image > Image Resize
3) enter in the pixel size you wish
4) Save for Web (or Save As in earlier versions)

If you own XP, here’s a “Power Toy” from Microsoft to do it:
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/

Or, try an online solution at: www.shrinkpictures.com

HTML Help

HMTL help — www.webmonkey.com
HTML Code check — www.netmechanic.com/ — check for download times, links, and valid HTML
AnyBrowser site checker for older HTML compliance.
Watchfire (formally Bobby) to help check with Section 508 compliance.

Web Hosting

CPanel example — http://www.bluehost.com –
$6.95/month; Host 6 Domains On 1 Account, Free Domain Name, 200Gb space, Fantastico script installer — automatically install and upgrade WordPress blog, osCommerce e-commerce, and more.

1&1 offers quality hosting of multiple domains, includes free domains; low cost, professional

Advertising On Your Site

Google Adsense — www.google.com/adsense

Amazon Associates — Amazon Affiliates

– Sign up, then paste a bit of HTML code into your site, and start earning some $$.

SEO

Keywords: Good Keywords program, Google Suggest, www.digitalpoint.com/tools/keywords
Domain names: www.godaddy.com, www.buydomains.com, and 1&1 low cost

Submit your site:
• Google — www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
• MSN — beta.search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx
• Yahoo — search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html (must be a registered user)
• WebCEO — www.webceo.com/ — free Windows software version available

Business promotion:
• Nice overview of various techniques — “The Web Marketing Checklist:32 Ways to Promote Your Website”
• SEO Information — www.seochat.com
• Newsletters / Email – www.whatcounts.com , www.mailermailer.com
• Wear Your Site Logo – www.promopeddler.com, www.4imprint.com
• TrafficSwarm — trafficswarm.com — generate traffic by visiting other people’s sites

Alternative Browsers

Firefox — www.getfirefox.com— highly recommended
Additional Add-ons/Extensions:

IE Tab — Internet Explorer inside Firefox
Web Developer — CSS control and more
FireBug — Additional HTML control

also; IE 6 and 7, Netscape, Opera.

Monitor Your Website

Having a company quickly tell you if your website is up and running can really help you. Here are some sample companies that provide that service:

Here’s a Windows application that runs on your computer to check your sites automatically:
http://www.robomagic.com/sitec.htm

mastering your website: resources