Web Concepts

This is the sentence that we all dread to hear ask.  Is Google down?  Now, you can always pull up Google in your browser, and check for yourself – however I have a better place for you to check and see what problems are going on with Google. 

The Google Apps Status Dashboard is the place to go.  Not only will this let you know if there are any issues with your Google Apps, but it will tell you if Google Mail, Google Calendar, Google Talk and more are having issues too.  Right from the front page, you can check on the status from 7 days back, and further if needed.

You can also get status updates for performance issues on:

• Google Docs
• Google Spreadsheets
• Google Presentations
• Google Video for Business
• and Google Groups

So go ahead and bookmark this resource now (or subscribe to the RSS feed for it), so you will have it handy next time one of your favorite Google services is having trouble. 

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don′t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Mitch

Google, through the Google Friend Connect service, give you a way to send out a very simple newsletter to your web site visitors.  If you just have a small update to send out – and you don’t need anything too fancy – this is a great alternative, that will also get your web site visitors to interact more with your web site. 

Now, how do you get started?

If you need help getting started with Google Friend Connect, check out our setup guide.

The first step would be to go to the Google Friend Connect page, and then click on the “Send a Newsletter” link.

Setting Up Your Newsletter Gadget

On the Newsletters page, click on the tab labeled, “Newsletter gadget”.  This will allow you to setup the basics of your newsletter and a gadget that people can use to sign up for it using Google Friend Connect.

Step 1 – Options – Here you give your headline for the gadget box, such as, “Sign up for the newsletter!”  You also give some text describing it, such as, “Get the latest updates for free!” and then you decide how large your want the gadget to be, by pixels.

Step 2 – Colors – In the “Choose Colors” section, you pick the colors and font you want to use in your gadget.  Leaving one of the values empty means it will be transparent.

Step 3 – Generate Code – To create the HTML code you will copy and pate into your own web site layout, click the “Generate Code” button.

Composing a Newsletter & Reading Archives

To compose your newsletter, all you need to do is click on the tab at the top labeled, “Compose Newsletter”.  You will then be taken to a WYSIWYG editor where you can write it up. To check out past newsletters, click on the tab labeled “Newsletter history”. 

Now this might not be for professional newsletters and updates, but for smaller scale businesses or groups – this could be perfect to help get the news out about updates or changes. 

Related Tips and Tricks:

• How to Setup Google Friend Connect
• Web Hosting Newsletter Gets New RSS Feed!
• Search More with SearchMerge

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don′t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Mitch

The Lunarpages community extends much further than this one blog.  Sure, the Lunartics blog highlights an important part of the network, however it is only one cog in the machine that is the Lunarpages community.

So what are the other parts of the Lunarpages community of sites? We have:

• Lunarforums.com – Our social stomping grounds where you can get to meet other Lunarpages clients, and share your stories and ask questions that might be troubling you.  It is both kid friendly, and mother approved.
• Lunarpages Web Hosting Newsletter – Check out the archives of our monthly client newsletter, which is always packed full of helpful tutorials, useful tips and other interesting aspects of the web hosting world.
• Lunarpages Web Hosting Wiki – Over 300+ guides and tutorials on every aspect of Lunarpages, web development, and account management.

Last, but not least – we can not forget our social profiles on the Web.

• Lunarpages on Twitter
• Lunarpages on Facebook

The Lunarpages Community? The Lunarmunity? The Kings and Queens of the Cosmos? You take your pick.  One thing though that can be said for sure is that Lunarpages has one of the best communities out there to date, by far. 

Related Tips and Tricks:

• Come Join the Lunar Community
• Go Get Web Dev Help on the Lunarforums!
• Lunarpages is on Twitter

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don′t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Mitch

Looking for something to add to your web site to add a little more interactivity?  How about the Twitter search widget?  This is a service I just found out about, and I do have to say it makes for an interesting web site highlight.

All you have to do is go to the Twitter Search Widget page, then customize the type of widget you would like to create.  Here is an example of the Lunarpages search widget I just created:

You can even use advanced Twitter search operators too, to make your results even more customized. Give this tool a shot, and give the Twitter-ers out there something to browse through.

Related Tips and Tricks:

• Get a TwitStamp!
• Cool Embeddable Widgets for Your Web Site
• 25 Most Popular Twitter Plugins for WordPress

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Mitch

What are your plans for this Labor Day weekend? 

I am willing to bet that web hosting didn’t have anything to do with your last barbeque of the Summer, or final trip to the beach, however after checking out Lunarpages web hosting special for the holiday weekend, I bet web hosting will be a BIG part of your weekend events.

Lunarpages is providing $50 off any new 12+ month Basic, Business, Windows, Quicksite, VPS or Dedicated plan orders.  What do you have to do to get the discount in question?  Just use the coupon code LaborDay when checking out.

What a great way to end the Summer!  This offer is only good for a limited time only, so be sure to check out Lunarpages web hosting to see what all the fuss is about.

Related Tips and Tricks:

• Get $50 Off Your Next Web Hosting Purchase!
• KeepIt PC Backups – Favorite Web Development Freebies (Part 4 of 5)
• Stopping Spam – Favorite Web Development Freebies (Part 3 of 5)

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Mitch

What are your plans for this Labor Day weekend? 

I am willing to bet that web hosting didn’t have anything to do with your last barbeque of the Summer, or final trip to the beach, however after checking out Lunarpages web hosting special for the holiday weekend, I bet web hosting will be a BIG part of your weekend events.

Lunarpages is providing $50 off any new 12+ month Basic, Business, Windows, Quicksite, VPS or Dedicated plan orders.  What do you have to do to get the discount in question?  Just use the coupon code LaborDay when checking out.

What a great way to end the Summer!  This offer is only good for a limited time only, so be sure to check out Lunarpages web hosting to see what all the fuss is about.

Related Tips and Tricks:

• Get $50 Off Your Next Web Hosting Purchase!
• KeepIt PC Backups – Favorite Web Development Freebies (Part 4 of 5)
• Stopping Spam – Favorite Web Development Freebies (Part 3 of 5)

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Mitch

Since football season is upon us, what better time to roll out the latest Lunarpages special?  Act fast, as we are only offering this deal for a limited time.  You can now get $50 off any 24 month Basic hosting plan if you use the coupon code T᫂. 

Here are just some the awesome features the Basic hosting plan provides:

• Free Domain Name is Included
• Disk Space and Bandwidth are Unlimited
• a 30 day Money Back Guarantee is Included
• Unlimited Addon Domain Hosting

The list of web hosting features go on and on from there.

Be sure to check out all the features of this plan on Lunarpages.com. So, the ball is now in your hands – are you ready to make the web hosting touchdown? Spike that ball and grab yourself a Lunarpages Basic hosting plan today. 

Related Tips and Tricks:

• KeepIt PC Backups – Favorite Web Development Freebies (Part 4 of 5)
• Stopping Spam – Favorite Web Development Freebies (Part 3 of 5)
• BidVertiser – Favorite Web Development Freebies (Part 2 of 5)

© Lunarpages Web Hosting - Also, don’t forget to follow @lunarpages on Twitter!

Original post by Mitch

By Mitch “The Human Coloring Book” Keeler

After checking out Kuler the other day, I started making a list of some of my other favorite Online tools for finding the right colors to use.&nbsp I do a lot of web design and digital art in my free time - so finding the right color to use is always something important to me.&nbsp Here are 25 of the best color tools for any webmaster out there…

1. 4096 Color Wheel
2. ColorExplorer
3. Color Combos
4. [ws] Color Scheme Generator 2
5. Color Wizard Ver. 3.0
6. colordb
7. Color Hunter
8. ColorSpire
9. Web 2.0 Colour Palette
10. colorjack
11. Accessibility Color Wheel
12. ColorToy 2.0
13. Sessions.edu
14. Colorbe.com
15. Color Palette Generator
16. Kuler
17. Cymbolism
18. COLOURlovers
19. 100 Random Colors
20. Color Tools
21. Pic2Color
22. Color Blender
23. colr.org
24. Color Schemer
25. GenoPal

Know of another that belongs on the list?&nbsp Be sure to drop in a comment and share with the rest of us.&nbsp Hopefully this list of color resources, charts and generators will be as handy to you as they have been to me.

&copy Lunarpages Web Hosting - Great web hosting with unlimited disk space and bandwith for only $4.95 per month? Check out the Fall Special!

Original post by Mitch

“This is a killer combination for anyone looking to build a community around a product, sell access to premium content, offer paid file downloads, and much much more!”, states Ubercart on their website. “Killer combination” is Drupal + Ubercart. And while almost everyone now know what is Drupal, let’s see what is Ubercart!

According to Ubercart […]

Original post by D.Avramov

The Drupal community has released security updates for several modules reported Drupal CMS developers today. The modules aren’t part of the Drupal core but all of them are available for download on Drupal.org web site.
Developers reported that module named “Brilliant Gallery” is vulnerable to an SQL injection attack, that can allow access to the administrator account. […]

Original post by D.Avramov