20 Jan

Update to WordPress 5.3.2

After some waiting to see WordPress 5 bed in

I updated to WordPress 5.3.2 so far so good, I had to update a number of plugins including shortcodes for the WordPress theme. Installed both the old classic editor and have used the new “blocks” editor Gutenberg which for me the jury is still out on.

As it had been a few months since a full CMS update I had to update translations,  and themes as well.

Microsoft stopping support for Windows 7

This is something which annoys me, while I am not a user of it, I have had a number of friends ask me what to do, the simple answer I give is you need to update if you are sticking with it and if you are confident try and install Linux, Ubuntu or Linux Mint I would suggest.

Perhaps if a software provider stop support for a platform, then it should be released as some sort of open source (ok not to copy but to maintain)

 

29 Oct

Try the Brave Browser

Brave BrowserI have been using the Brave Browser for some time now and I am impressed. It does seem fast, which is my initial thoughts, but I have not done an in-depth comparison with say Opera or Chrome or Firefox or Safari.

One thing which annoys me when surfing the net (a phrase which seems to be dated) is when popups come up, but also when tracking software is being run on your computer after you have visited a site, Brave is a great way of handling this, blocking or managing it as you please.

I also like the way it is opensource, based on chromium and using the Mozilla licence, and dovetails in with the duckduckgo search engine.

While I haven’t engaged in the BAT system yet it is an interesting idea.

www.brave.com

23 Jan

Tools for the Very Security Conscience

Data is money, but there is a trade off  in security, when using online services. However there are a number of tools/services for those who want that extra bit of secrecy.

DuckDuckGo Search EngineDuckDuckGo.com – Search Engine (www.duckduckgo.com)

DuckDuckgo is great, if you want to search (I nearly typed google) for something and you didn’t google, or perhaps the company or site you are searching for to know that you are visiting their site. Even as an alternative to Google search it is well worth using.

SpiderOak File Sharing Storage MessengerSpiderOak (www.spideroak.com)

SpiderOak is an alternative to Box, Dropbox, iCloud, Copy, OneDrive, and Google Drive. Just like the other services it is a backup, file sharing and messaging platform, with additional security that the other platforms.

Tor Project Browser (www.torproject.org)

While surfing the web, you do leave a trail, perhaps a bit obsessive but the Tor Browser is a way to hide your surfing. Other browsers have their incognito, or browse in secret options but Tor is that extra level of secrecy.

Personally the benefits in using Google and Microsoft software online outweigh the price you pay in data secrecy. It is beneficial,  for the search engine to have access to data about you, making the search results more relevant.

19 Jan

Email Setup and Website Optimization

This past week or so Email and website optimization duties covered a lot of time.

EmailOutlook Email Office SuiteGoogle Gmail

To me it seems more people are using Outlook to access their work email, rather than Gmail of late, not really a scientific survey just my recent experience. When asked which one I would recommend I say there is no right answer, better to use which ever you are use to and which ever other technology you are using, i.e. if you are using Microsoft Office using outlook is more straightforward, and if you use Gmail and google products stick with it.

Optimization

I do recommend anyone wishing to test their website for page loading speed, and for mobile compatibility to use googles tools, such as Page Speed Insights and Test My Site. Your website needs to load fast, and needs to be mobile friendly.

  • Email Setup new host and domain
  • Email configuration for importing to cloud hosted email
  • Website Optimization for Mobile and Speed
  • Update WordPress CMS Updates to 4.9.2
  • WordPress plugin updates
  • WordPress plugins for optimization
  • Website Image changes, and additional banner added new image and page link
  • Blog posts for New Year campaigns
  • Tidy up websites remove redundant content
14 Jan

Email configuring using your own domain

This week I have been doing some work for clients regarding their email. Both have come round to the pestering (by me) that they should use their email with their domain name, and not their gmail or outlook email, it just looks more professional. So here is a number of options or solutions for small businesses or sole traders who want to use their domain email.

Most hosting packages will offer a number of emails, so set up a personalised one, firstname, or firstname.surname, also set up some generic ones info, sales, support, etc., even if these are forwarded to the one email.

Often your domain email can be forward to your gmail or outlook email address so you can get them using your phone etc. However I still recommend configuring outlook and gmail, so as you can respond to emails using the domains.

There are a variety of ways of accessing your email, webmail, email client and forwarding  or importing to another email provider.

Roundcube emailWebmail

There are a variety of ways to access your email, via the web using webmail, normally, webmail.yourdomain.ie, www.yourdomain.ie/webmail etc., this will give you an online email application RoundCube, Horde or Squirrel and you can use this process your emails. Personally I like RoundCube but it is really personal preference. Which ever you use I would recommend setting up an email signature with your business contact details.

Email Client

In setting up your email you will be given POP and IMAP settings. These can be used to configure an email Client e.g. MS-Outlook, evolution or Thunderbird on your laptop or desktop (n.b. Always use SSL settings)  but also lets  you configure an email client on your mobile phone.

Hosted by Google

Google has a product offering where you can configure your email domain to be hosted on gmail at a cost.

Importing into Outlook or Gmail

For small business who would have a website and hosting package I would advocate importing into your outlook or gmail, your domain emails, and reply with your domain email address, for this you would have to configure it, and configure your online email with separate email signatures one for yourself, and one for your work guise.

Personally I like and use Gmail, however from an unscientific sample I find more clients like Outlook, particularly those who use Microsoft products.

03 Jan

Happy New Year – resolutions, certificates, etc

Happy New Year, I hope 2018 will be a good one. Over the Christmas I did get some time to  look back on the year and at a few things I put off until the christmas down time.

Bing Ads Accredited ProfessionalLast year I resolved to do or re-do some of those online certifications in 2017, I had done the Digital Garage/Google Cert., so I worked my way through Google Analytics Cert.,  then the Google Adwords Certs (Search, Display, Video, Shopping and Mobile), and Mobile Sites, I also did the Bing Ads. Cert., I had also done the HubSpot Email and Content Marketing Certs. which I found quite useful.

Google Adwords Profile

Google Certifications Conor Gilmer

I suppose this years resolution will be to renew the google certs., as they come up for renewal, and perhaps do a few of the other HubSpot.  I actually started when i noticed the Digital Garage had a few extra badges so I spent a few hours doing them, I do notice the latest Certificate from them has Google more prominent on it. I encourage people who have a website to do this course it is not that technical and the videos are excellent.

Google Digital Garage Certificate

Dashboard Digital Garage Google Profile

Digital Garage Google Certificate Online Marketing

22 Jul

Social Media and Blogging Tutorial

This week involved creating and delivering Social Media and Blogging Tutorial, to a client. It does take some discipline to regularly, post and blog. I advocate having a Social Media / Blogging Schedule and policy. For example, post one blog entry each month, and maybe one social media posting per week. It requires allocating time to compose content, and content which is suitable for one platform may require to be tailored for another, e.g. LinkedIn is more a professional than facebook, instagram or twitter, so you can be more casual on these platforms.

Having a social media strategy and blogging policy is essential. Often clients believe they don’t have anything (any content) to post or blog about. The trick is to recognise what you actually have to blog or post about.

Tasks
  • Posting to your Blog (using the WordPress CMS)
  • Twitter for your Business (using hashtags and tweeting)
  • Facebook for your Business (creating a business page)
  • LinkedIn for your Business (creating a business page)
  • Instagram for your Business

 

03 Jun

Website Technologies Used

Website Technologies Used

I took a look at the technologies used on website I have been working on in recent years. The main change for me, I suppose is that more and more are WordPress and less Java or HTML/CSS(which includes static website generators), I would expect the big CMS’s(Drupal and WordPress) to grow and other technologies to diminish some what, but who knows.

 

 

22 May

Some adventures with Payment Systems and general updates

I had a few adventures with various payment systems, traditionally I have used Realex Payments which I always had a good experience of, but in recent years have used PayPal and Stripe more in many cases due to their processing without the client requiring a Merchant Account. Each of the Payment gateways I used were fine but it was horses for courses depending on your circumstances, for which one to choose. I did have a look at Skrill (formerly MoneyBookers) and after a cursory look at it, it looks fine, on the Irish version they do still have Laser cards icon! I am not sure how the payments charges relate to the other providers, but we went with PayPal for this project

General Updates

  • Piwik Update
  • WordPress Version and Plugin Updates
07 May

Microsoft Decoded Conference

I was at the Microsoft Decoded conference (#DecodedConf) there over the past three days, in UCD. Mainly looking at Azure, but also seeing some cool ideas, I was impressed. I am also happy to see, Microsoft is embracing Open Source, seeing the value of engaging with developers and facilitating them using their technology and ultimately using their services it is a win win.

As with many of these conferences, some talks suited me, were interesting and salient to our work, some were perhaps not relevent and some were very interesting and while not something work related, do expand your thoughts and horizons and as with everything you are always learning. Originally focused on Azure, talks on JSon, Databases, Mobile Development, Security were particularly Interesting as was a talk on IoT perhaps less relevant but cool to see.

I also valued some of the chats with some fellow technologists…, some interesting some even pointed work im doing in new directions, some maybe helped rethink projects, directly and indirectly. One thing Graph and Document databases will be in my thinking in the coming days, so all good.

Also it was good to see three people whom I had working with in the past, sadly distant past as we tried to count back to when we worked together.

 

 

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