Month: March 2007

Categories
My Personal Reviews Web Applications & Online Software

Check broken links on your site with this free tool

Xenu‘s the program(for windows) I’m talking about. I’ve tried a bunch of link checkers including those pretentiously online ones. This is the one that’s really working to solve your problem. And free!

Download it from here, or you might also want to check its page for FAQs and other instructions.

Install and run it. “File” -> “Check URL…”, then configure the starting point of your website, usually this could be your website URL, and click OK. You are now on it.

Xenu

Done! You are asked if you want a report or not. Of course. And Xenu opens it in the form of a web page. It then prompts you for an orphan check on your FTP site, simply ignore it by clicking Cancel. Ok, you should be in front of the report page now.

Other decent web-based link checkers include:

  1. W3C Link Checker: only the specified page is checked, no hopping interpagely.
  2. SiteOwner.com Link Checker: the famous Microsoft bCentral toolkit, one page at a time.
  3. Link Valet: a link checker since long long ago, in a galaxy far far away … It gives you the answer after all the checking is done, so be patient while your browser’s loading like forever.
  4. The hawknest Basic Link Check: one page at a time, and neatly presents only the faulty links.
  5. 2bone Link Checker: very fast link checker, you can choose to receive results in a single page or dozens of pages.
  6. Ranks.nl Link Checker : a modification of W3C Link Checker.

Aside from these online link checkers, you can also find a FireFox addon, LinkChecker to do the job for you. It checks all links on the page you are visiting and distinguish them with different colors to tell which ones are broken.

Categories
CSS & HTML Tips

Create your first web page – Learn XHTML and Make Web pages

Aboslutely!

If you are a total rookie in manipulating web pages, never having the chance to know how web pages work and wanting to learn about it or even trying to spin some out. Listen to this. Everything here you are told, in this naive article, is pure gold. And everything else, other than those on this site, is pure rubbish! Don’t listen to them, they are stupid.

OOOOkay, a good starter. Now let’s get down to work, assuming that you know how to navigate around the web using a computer and what are web pages.

  1. All web pages on this planet are text files, which you can create or read by any normal text editors like Windows Notepad or Notepad++. However, unlike the memo you put down as a plain text file on your computer desktop this morning, a web page needs more standardized text called HTML to tell what’s what.
  2. Open your favorite text editor, type these in just as they appear:<html>
    <head>
    <title>The Donkey Reloaded</title>
    </head>
    <body>
    <h1>The Donkey Reloaded</h1>
    <p>I have a donkey.</p>
    <h2>Donkey lazes</h2>
    <p>He is very lazy.</p>
    <h2>Donkey doodles</h2>
    <p>He once drawed a circle while he was working.</p>
    <h2>Donkey heehaws</h2>
     <p>And he seemed quite satisfied with his masterpiece.</p>
    </body>
    </html>

    Nonononono, stop copying and pasting! Do it yourself and type them onto the screen with your bare hands!
  3. Cool! Save this text file, name it whatever you please, but make sure it has the extension of .html. Now open it in your favorite browser. See, you made it! Your first web page!

So WTH does these weird-looking tags doing in there, like <html> and <p>? Follow me to investigate in them one by one below.

  • <html> : indicates that this is a HTML file, or static web page, and things followed or embraced in it are HTMLized(HTML tagged) content.
  • <head> : makes room for the head section of a HTML file.
  • <body> : makes room for the body section of a HTML file.

Up to here, we know that every web page consists of 2 essential parts, the head part and the body part, which, are indicated respectively by the <head> tag and the <body> tag.

  • <title> : indicates the title of this page that is usually displayed on the caption of the browser window.
  • <h1> : means Header 1, or the 1st header or headline that governs the overall story of the page.
  • <h2> : means Header 2, or the 2nd header that governs part of the overall story of the page.
  • <p> : indicates a paragraph, the main text flow should go in here. Web pages live with content, die with bullshit. And content goes in <p>. So it is pretty much the essence of every web page.
    Browsers render 2 paragraphs wider apart than they do with 2 lines within one paragraph. Using <p> makes your pages pretty.

In fact, there are as much as 4 more headers, namely h3, h4, h5, h6 at your control. Well-structured web pages cannot go without them. Use them wisely, so you are a good web page creator.

More things you may have noticed:

  1. None of the tags have the privilege to go without a corresponding closing tag. E.g. Every <p> has to end with a </p>. That’s right! Every tag in a web page closes in this manner, that is:
    <p>…</p>
    <h4>…</h4>
    wherein ellipsis are the placeholders of text content in between them.
  2. Certain tags can only be placed in certain tags. E.g. <title> tag can only be positioned within the <head> section, and either an error occurs or things don’t go as expected if you put it in the <body> section. It’s the same with <hx> and <p>, they are never supposed to appear in the <head> section.
  3. Tags pile up like they box(seal, or completely envelope) each other. Small boxes are boxed by medium boxes, medium boxes by big boxes, and big boxes by a single gigantic box that is <html>. There’s no such thing as:
    <h1>a header<p>a paragraph</h1> goes.</p>

This is it! You are on your way to becoming a great web designer! Cheers!

Categories
Hosting Tips & Deals Linux Server Administration Tips

Essential SSH – 19 Linux SSH Commands You Simply Cannot Live Without

More and more web hosting providers are offering SSH(Secure Shell) access to their customers now, if you are one of them, put this advantage to good use will make your online life a lot easier. Don’t worry, we are just going to deal with just a few more than 15 shell commands, pretty much those used most frequently, with the most favored switch options by most people.

We have assumed that you are normally computer- and internet- literate, at least aware of directories and files that facilitate the organization of data on computers, knowing what it is like to travel within a file system tree structure.

First off, you are to log in to the host with your SSH privilege by means of a SSH client, like Putty. Download and launch it on your local machine. The interface should look like this:

SSH client

Enter the host name or IP address supplied by your hosting provider in the Host Name box and click Open.

Supply your SSH account username and password so as to be logged in. Once acknowledged by the remote system, it is ready to accept your commands, and you should be in your home directory which can be referred to as ‘~’ or ‘/home/username’ (username here is a placeholder for your own SSH username) in SSH commands. Now let’s see in detail what you can do in this tiny terminal window.

  1. ls -o : List files and directories in the current directory. 
    ls -ao : List files and directories in the current directory, including hidden ones.
  2. cd [dir-path] : Change to, or change current directory to the directory indicated by [dir-path].
    cd ~ : Change to your home directory, which in most cases would be /home/yourusername.
    cd .. : Change to the parent directory of the current one.
    cd – : Change to the last directory you are in.
  3. pwd : Show the full path to the current directory.
  4. mkdir [dir-path] : Create an empty directory in the specified directory indicated by [dir-path].
  5. rmdir [dir-path] : Delete an empty directory in the specified directory indicated by [dir-path].
  6. rm [file-path] : Delete a file indicated by [file-path]. 
    rm -f [file-path] : Forcibly delete a file indicated by [file-path], that is, without having to confirm before deletion.
    rm -r [dir-path] : Delete a directory indicated by [dir-path] and everything underneath it.
    rm -rf [dir-path] : Delete a directory indicated by [dir-path] and everything underneath it, without having to confirm before deletion.
  7. mv [file-path]/[dir-path] [dir-path] : Move a file or directory indicated by [file-path] or [dir-path] to the directory indicated by the latter [dir-path]. 
    mv [file-path] [file-path] : Rename the file indicated by the first [file-path] to another indicated by [file-path]. Or. Move the first file to a different location and rename it as specified in the second [file-path].
  8. cp [file-path] [dir-path] : Copy the file indicated by [file-path] to the directory indicated by [dir-path]. 
    cp [file-path] [file-path] : Duplicate the same file indicated by [file-path] with another name indicated by the second [file-path]. Or. Copy the first file to another location and rename it as specified in the second [file-path].
    cp -r [dir-path] [dir-path] : Copy a whole directory including everything underneath it indicated by the first [dir-path] to another directory indicated by the second [dir-path].
  9. tar -zxf [file-path] : Extract all things in an archive extensioned with .tar.gz indicated by [file-path] to the current directory. 
    tar -xf [file-path] : Extract all things in an archive extensioned with .tar indicated by [file-path] to the current directory.
    tar -cf [file-path] ([file-path]/[dir-path], … ) : Create an archive indicated by the first [file-path] of the files indicated by [file-path]s or/and directories indicated by [dir-path]s.
  10. gunzip [file-path] : Decompress a zipped file extensioned with .gz to the current directory.
    unzip [file-path] : Decompress a zipped file extensioned with .zip to the current directory.
  11. chmod [xxx] [file-path]/[dir-path] : Change the privileges of a given file or directory indicated respectively by [file-path] and [dir-path] to xxx. 
    chmod -r [xxx] [dir-path] : Change the privileges of a given directory indicated by [dir-path] to xxx.
  12. more [file-path] : Display the content of the given file indicated by [file-path], one screen at a time.
  13. ln -s [file-path] [file-path] : Create a symbol link for the first file, so that everything you do to the symbol link, a.k.a the second fake file, is reflected to the real file, except for when you delete the symbol link, the real file remains intact.
  14. touch [file-path] : Create an empty file indicated by [file-path].
  15. du -sh : Show disk usage of the current directory. 
    du -sh * : Show disk usage of the current directory plus the statistics of all the files and directories underneath it.
  16. grep [text] [file-path] : Search the file indicated by [file-path] with the text in [text].
  17. mysqldump -h [hostname] -u [username] -p [password] [database] > [databasefile.sql] : Dump or backup the selected database on the selected host privileged by selected user identified by corresponding password to a SQL file. 
    mysql -h [hostname] -u [username] -p [password] [database] < [databasefile.sql] : Restore the data in a SQL file to the selected database on the selected host privileged by selected user identified by corresponding password.
  18. clear : Clear the screen so that you feel neat.
  19. exit : Terminate the SSH dialogue and close the Putty window.

Note: When something is specified in brackets, such as [file-path] or [dir-path], it is used to indicate that you must input your desired information here, which, in this case, are the path to a file or a path to a directory respectively. NO brackets in your command.

Categories
.htaccess Tutorials & Tips

12 Most Used .htaccess Examples, Tips – Commands & Directives

Updated: added a 301 redirect directive.

Whatever you wanto call this, a cheat sheet, a real thin manual, or anything, we simplify the use of .htaccess as much as possible and make it do more for you with less hassle.

  1. Unify kavoir.com and www.kavoir.com! 
    # Use a 301 redirect from kavoir.com to www.kavoir.com to tell SEs that the 2 domains are the same thing so there's no PageRank leakage.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^kavoir\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.kavoir.com/$1 [R=301]
  2. Block spammers! 
    # This blocks 218.1.132.177 and *.spammers.com from accessing your site.
<limit GET POST PUT>
order deny,allow
deny from 218.1.132.177
deny from .spammers.com
allow from all
</limit>
  3. Change default page! 
    # The order is followed as specified:
DirectoryIndex default.htm default.php index.html index.php
  4. Enable directory browsing! 
    Options +Indexes
# block a few types of files from showing:
IndexIgnore *.wmv *.mp4 *.avi
  5. Disable directory browsing! 
    Options All -Indexes
  6. Customize error messages! 
    ErrorDocument 403 /forbidden.html
ErrorDocument 404 /notfound.html
ErrorDocument 500 /servererror.html
  7. Get SSI working with HTML/SHTML! 
    AddType text/html .html
AddType text/html .shtml
AddHandler server-parsed .html
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml
  8. Redirect it! 
    Redirect oldpage.html http://www.domainname.com/newpage.html
  9. Block visits or leeches from specific referers! 
    RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} site-to-block\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} site-to-block-2\.com [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F]
  10. Stop a file from being viewed! 
    # mycontacts.txt cannot be accessed by any means:
<files mycontacts.txt>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</files>
  11. Password-protect a directory! 
    See http://thejackol.com/scripts/htpasswdgen.php
  12. Change script extensions! 
    # anyfile.kv will be treated like a PHP script:
AddType application/x-httpd-php .kv
# anyfile.kvcgi will be treated like a CGI script:
AddType application/x-httpd-cgi .kvcgi
Categories
Kavoir & Whatever

You are powering the web, get noticed today!

The quickest way to get started on publishing on the web, 8 out of 10 people would agree, is blogging. Blogging is very effective in communicating, especially after the entry into the era of web 2.0. People have come together to urge a global community to form. Ideas are more easy than ever to share and spread. Most bloggers are happy blogging, showing off their personalities, writing for the world to read, and reaching to an audience that’s interested in him or her. Content put online has exploded to its double, triple, and even more. These are exactly the essence of web 2.0. That is.

We power the Web.

Money is being made through blogging, too. A considerable small portion of those who blog are earning a decent living by blogging alone. Yes. Many are full time bloggers, like dear Darren Rowse. Although most of us can’t afford giving up daily job and maintain a career like this, blogging in your spare time does make your life better. And others.

Only connect.

Everyone is unique. Everyone has something to offer to the community. Contribute what you know, help others as you can, and you’ll be rewarded. Web is the best boss I know of as of now. He’s smart, unbiased, knows the answers to almost all your questions; rewards hard work and creativity. Work for him, and you won’t regret it.

Get noticed today, if you don’t have a blog yet, start one! Talk anything you like, your newly bought climbing gear, your annoying little brother or the book you just read. As you keep reading other people’s blogs and writing your own, you will be more clear in where you are heading. What to express, what your blog is going to be like and how to make people excited about what excites you!

Blogging systems I would recommend to first time bloggers, are Google Blogger and WordPress.com. As 2 maturely developed blogging systems, they are both free, and justify their incredible popularity with full-fledged features and easy to use functionalities. Signing up is as simple as 3 steps, very probably in 5 minutes, you will be struggling to figure out what to say in your first post that declares your presence to the online world. Don’t panic in case you can rarely put together enough to talk about, and don’t worry about what other people might think of it. It’s normal. However, sticking on it will eventually pay off, both socially and financially.

Just speak out!

Writing is a good way to organize your thought, it keeps you smart along with discussion with other people. Your thoughts are precious. Write them down, and be confident of them. In this way, you grow and your blog develops.

More inspirations:

  1. WordPress Codex: Introduction to Blogging
  2. Start Blogging Online: How To Start a Blog – A Complete Beginner’s Guide
  3. Wikipedia: Blog
  4. M. Sean Gilligan’s Introduction to Blogging
  5. Darren Rowse and his ProBlogger