Fixed issues and updates

A lot of people have been reporting recently that some of the links were not working. I though that is only a temporary thing with the server where they were hosted. It turns out that the domain is no more so I had to come up with something. Right now, I've moved all the files to a free file hosting service and you should have no problem in downloading them. The downside is that you will have to make it through some pop-ups and some banners. But quite clean, otherwise.

Also, people were complaining that they can't find the "Download" links for the classes. I've tried my best :) and I hope it's ok now.

The MySQL Database Wrapper and the HTML Forms Generation and Validation classes got updated the latter getting a very useful addition. Please do check it out!

HTML Forms Generation and Validation PHP Class 1.2

A new version of the HTML Forms Generation and Validation PHP Class has been released. Read further to see what is new in this version of the script.

What's new in this version:

• a new feature has been added: automatic output generation. if your form does not need any special output format, you can simply call the render() method without specifying a template name to let the script handle it, thus saving you some time as you are not needed to also code the form's layout.
• a new type of controls has been added: "html". with this you can insert arbitrary HTML code into your forms. This is usefull when you don't use templates but rather let the script generate your forms and you need to have some extra HTML in your forms (notes, descriptions, etc) - because letting the script to automatically generate your forms means that you don't have a template to insert your HTML code into
• arrays of custom rules can now be set for controls; up until now, only one custom rule per control could be set
• generated forms are now (more) W3C compliant
• CAPTCHA is now case insensitive
• default template is now nicer
• better error reporting
• fixed a few minor bugs
• many documentation refinements

• More about this PHP Class
• |
• Changelog
• |
• Download
• |
• Other PHP classes

MySQL Database Wrapper PHP Class 1.1.4

A new version of the MySQL Database Wrapper PHP Class has been released. Read further to see what is new in this version of the script.

What's new in this version:

• fixed a bug in the update() method when calling the method without the replacements argument
• fixed a bug where due to different indentations, the same query was considered different. this is a problem when you are relying on caching...
• fixed a bug that was causig an E_WARNING error when the caching folder could not be found
• fixed a minor issue that would trigger an error message if replacements were specified even though there was nothing to replace - now, in this case replacements are ignored and execution continues
• documentation is now clearer on how to define the caching folder

• More about this PHP Class
• |
• Changelog
• |
• Download
• |
• Other PHP classes

An alternative to SEO?

It's a known fact that promoting websites by placing banners on high traffic websites it's the most effective way of promotion. This can be much more expensive than SEO, but traffic will start pouring within hours (vs. months - as it is for SEO). We've looked for alternatives...

Almost a month ago, I was posting about how improbable is for a newly launched website to get noticed amongst thousands of daily launched websites. I've concluded that unless an important website makes a note about your website, chances are, your website will go unnoticed. But because we still want to promote our own websites, even though we don't get noticed by 'the big boys', I've spent almost an entire month trying to figure out the alternatives.

Again, I want to make clear that what I am talking about is not SEO - I am talking about what happens after your website is online and you want to promote it and drive traffic to it. If you have done your SEO right, sooner or, to be more precise, later, people will stumble on your website from web searches. I am talking about website promotion now. I am talking about website traffic the minute your website is online.

Here are some of the methods I have used to promote my websites and attract traffic:

• Yahoo Answers - Amazingly, this can be a real traffic magnet. Simply look for open questions related to the area of expertise of your website. Most probably (unless you have a website about some very particular topic) you will notice that different people will daily ask almost the same question with slight variation. Write a nice, relevant and to the point message in which you explain why users should refer to your website to find the answer to their questions. Save this message somewhere on your computer and whenever somebody asks the right question just paste your answer.
• User driven news websites (Digg, reddit, Newswine, Propeller, etc) - First of all, use these websites to publish the same message you use on Yahoo Answers. Make sure the title you use would inspire people to click on it and that people will not take it as spam! Make your message short and so that it will not reveal the entire story behind it - you want people to click on it in order to get to your website ans see what you are talking about. There's also another way you can use these user-driven news website: constantly look for hot news that are related to the area of expertise of your website (i.e. competitor's websites announcements, stories about the same services your website offers, etc) and post comment giving users the alternative to also check out your website. Don't abuse this, though!
• 2famo.us - A dedicated website for website promotion. This website provides an original way for website promotion - you can book links back to your website on the home page of 2famo.us. You upload your logo, write a description and start booking your websites on the home page. By booking, I mean that you can actually book on which days should your website appear on their home page. Of course, the trick is to book your website as high on the list as possible, in order to get more exposure. Once your website is booked, you can read all sorts of statistics about how many times your profile page was viewed, how many people actually visited your website, comments, ratings, etc.

If you know other methods for website promotion - the quick way - don't hesitate to post them!