CyberCrafts NewsLetter: many news articles for webmasters, including a review of a new 10c-per-click sponsor offer!

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Hello fellow webmasters, and welcome to the first issue of the CyberCrafts NewsLetter (CCNL01)! This newsletter is mostly dedicated to all topics involved in maintaining a website. This includes web-design, popularity boosting, sponsor / affiliate facts, scripts (client-side & server-side), web graphics, HTTP technology in general, Internet news, and more. In addition, we seldom cover major BBS and programming news. We hope you'll enjoy this newsletter. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have questions related to your subscription to the CyberCrafts NewsLetter, please read the footer of this message first. This issue includes several articles that we hope you will find interesting. Plus webmaster-related tips, news, stats, links, and more. But first: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HEADLINES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Urgent Newsflash Of Great Importance: We have some thrilling good news for all webmasters on the web: the oldest pay-per-click sponsor on the Internet just got better! Electronic Advertisements (eAds) now pays 10c per click! If you ever considered making money through your website, and you don't qualify for ValueClick, this offer is a MUST for you! ValueClick (http://TTOS.com/17cPerClick) pays more, but they are a lot stricter. Even though their requirement to apply is 200 hits a day, over 80% of their applicants are rejected. They are very picky about the quality of the site, and even if you are accepted, you are only paid 12c/click unless you get 10,000+ clicks a month! E-Ads pays almost as much (just two pennies difference), accepts anyone and everyone willing to follow the rules, and has a referrer offer which is 5 times better then ValueClick! Anyone who can put up a website can join: there are no age or location restrictions, and checks are sent to you whenever you reach the low payment minimum of $10.00 (which can be accumulated over several months)! In addition to getting $0.10 every time someone clicks their ad banner on your site, they have an excellent referrer program which pays you a FIVE CENTS every time someone clicks the ad banner on the website of a webmaster referred by you (Not Multi-Level Marketing), while that webmaster still gets the same 10c/click! This new offer was announced just a few hours ago, so if this is your chance to take the same opportunity we took, and be the first to notify other webmasters about this unbelievable offer! We urge you to visit "http://ttos.com/10cPerClick" for more info about eAds. Please mention the referrer ID of "CN00659" if you decide to sign up. Write down this code: if you use it, not only will you get faster setup; but at no loss to yourself, you’ll also be showing your support for this free newsletter. And in addition to that, just for entering our ID when you sign up, "ThinkTank Online Services" will add a link from our site to yours, and will offer other rewards in the future! (E-Mail "Webmaster@ttos.com" for more info). * Yahoo is to acquire "Broadcast.com", for more info visit "http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,34502,00.html". * Browser Usage Stats: - (1) MS Explorer: 44.96% - (2) NS Navigator: 41.64% - (3) America Online: 11.59% - (4) All Others: 1.81% [The above stats are updated LIVE at "http://www.whichbrowser.com/".] * IE5: Is the upgrade hassle worth it? [CONs] Most people frown upon the idea of spending hours downloading a huge "version ?.00 release" of a Microsoft product which doesn't even look that much different from the old version. The file size for the setup application is 17.2MB, and it downloads the rest of itself during the installation. Too much wasted time for too little gain. And many believe that while Microsoft was trying to cut out the fat, it ended up cutting out muscle and bone as well. For example, the "Channels" folder which many surfers enjoyed using is gone with the wind. [PROs] Even though most of it's components look almost identical to the ones shipped with the previous version; there were many "behind the scenes" modifications made to Internet Explorer, which made it faster and more reliable. The new version is faster and slimmer in every way, including Java. You can now customize the toolbar, there are many new streaming audio features, and the DHTML is better then ever! If you are a webmaster who likes to include "cool but not always practical" DHTML features which are only supported by a fraction of the browsers, our advice is: unless you want to wait for better-tested v5.01 (no one knows how long it could be), go ahead and download now. There currently no major known bugs in IE5. If you like your website %100 compatible with all of the not-so-new browsers, and you have a 100MB free hard drive space, forget about it. The final decision is yours. For more information about Microsoft Internet Explorer v5.0, you can visit "http://www.download.com/pc/software/0,332,0-29842-g,1000.html". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEBMASTER'S OPINIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this block, we will place several select responses to our survey questions. Please send your views to CyberCrafts@TTOS.com with the subject line of "OPINION SURVEY". Our current topics are: 1) For years, the preferred tool of most webmasters was a simple text editor (EDIT.COM, pico, NOTEPAD.EXE, etc); but now there are many HTML editors which instead of targetting beginners, now appeal to the professional web designers, saying that their products are the way to go. Has "Notepad" become redundant? Let us know what you think. 2) What do you think of the offer by "http://www.eAds.com"? [Reminder: please don't forget to use the referrer ID of "CN00659" if you decide to sign up, it will benefit both us and you!] 3) If you tried IE5, please tell us about your experience. 4) What do you think of this newsletter? How can we make it better? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEBMASTER Q AND A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This section will contain answers to questions asked by webmasters like yourself! We welcome all kinds of webmaster related questions, from HTML/JavaScript questions to the ones related to an advertising strategy of a huge website. To submit a question, please e-mail "CyberCrafts@TTOS.com" with the subject line starting with "Q&A". If we can’t fit our answer into the next issue, we will e-mail them to you personally. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPONSORED MESSAGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The "Internet World" magazine is the only source you'll need for your Internet business and enterprise activities! This FREE weekly print publication puts all the news into perspective; and that saves you valuable time and gives you an edge on breaking trends and technologies. Regular features include: e-Commerce, Infrastructure, Web Development; plus columns from leading reporters and journalists. Don't miss it! Sign up NOW at "http://ttos.com/InternetWorld" (an absolutely free publication). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEBMASTER SITES OF THE WEEK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * DOCUMENATION & HOW-TO DIRECTIONS: - "http://www.WebDeveloper.com" - From Internet.com, this site provides full text articles and documentation on all parts of web page design. Everything from html coding to java to graphic design and program reviews. - "http://www.stars.com" - Web Developers Virtual Library - This site has tons of how to documentation for both beginners and experienced web designers. - "http://www.lightlink.com/xine/graphics.html" - Graphics Design Resource. Includes Web Design Tools & Guidelines, Image Collections, Sound Libraries, CGI scripts, Fonts & More. - "http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/" - HTML Guide * SERVER-SIDE SCRIPTS (CGI, PERL, ETC): - "http://cgi-resources.com" - Has 1000's of scripts for all languages and platforms. Also has lots of good documentation and many other features. - "http://www.freecode.com" - Large CGI resource for many different categories. Great source for site counters, search engines for your site, and much more. * CLIPART, BACKGROUNDS AND OTHER GRAPHICS: - "http://www.nzwwa.com/mirror/clipart/" - The Clip Art Universe has all sorts of graphics, everything from Animated GIFs, Backgrounds, Buttons and Dividers to Graphic Software. - "http://www.dewa.com/3D" - Good Collection of 3D Clipart, 3D Letters. * STATISTICS AND POLL DATA: - "http://www.net-consultant.com/resources.html" - has interesting data on the number and type of people who use the net, and how they use it. - "http://www.euromktg.com/globstats/" - Up-to-date information on the estimated number of people online. Broken down by language spoken and displayed in charts and graphs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DESIGN TIPS OF THE WEEK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * The #1 rule of web-design: always test your page under different surcumstances. This includes installing a bunch of older web browsers to test it. If you want your website to look practical, ALWAYS make sure that each page of your site works (and remains attractive and easy-to-navigate) under *all* IE3+ browsers; both NS, IE, and perhaps a few others. It is also recommended that you view your website under Lynx, a popular text-only browser. If your site looks good under that, this is an indicator that it is designed by a practical experiences webmaster. Here are some basic guidelines to follow. a. Make as much of your scripting server-side as possible. Wherever you can, use CGI in place of JavaScript. Not only does it make your site faster and more accessible, it also makes it look more professional. b. If you are going to use features that are not supported by all browsers, always consider "what if the user's browser cannot execute this"? If you have a ... on your page, you should have a as well. The same rule applies to frames, layers, plug-ins, Java applets, etc. c. Make sure all your images have a HEIGHT and a WIDTH parameters. Not only would they load faster, but your site will look better while it is still loading. Always use an ALT="alternative text" parameter for all your tags. This improves the look of your site under Lynx, provides additional information about an image, and qualifies your site to be indexed by a graphics search engine. * You must also always consider your website's loading time for other users. If you are on a 33.6 modem and your page loads in 10 seconds, it would take about 25-30 seconds to load under a 14400 modem. Even though the connection speeds are increasing every day, it is important to have your pages load as fast as possible. A cute interface feature rarely justifies waiting for the next page to load, and most users will simply get annoyed and go surf elsewhere. When stuffing your pages with graphics and other interface-enhancing features, don't forget that the most popular page on the Internet (yahoooooo) has a while background, black text, blue links; and requires no client-side features other then basic HTML interpretation. * Visit the following sites for more design tips: - "http://www.earth.com/bad-style/" Examples of poorly designed websites. - "http://www.ddgweb.com/webstyle.htm" Top ten web-design DOs and DONTs. - "http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Provider/Style/Etiquette" This text contains even more web-design DOs and DONTs. * Now that you've read the rules, feel free to brake them. The Internet is the best place to express yourself the way you want to, not the way the rule-book dictates. Those suggestions are based practical criteria of quality expected from a professional website, but that does not mean there is no room for originality. So, bend that advice if you wish, but to so at your own risk =). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PROMOTION TIPS OF THE WEEK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Always register with Yahoo manually. * Many search engines penalize you for submitting the same URL more then once a month, or for repeating the same words inside the .../HEAD> too often. It is also important not to add characters like "!" in the beginning of the in hopes of getting a better position due to alphabetical sorting. * Face it, for most keywords, putting your site in the TOP10 position is an unrealistic fantasy. Many webmasters try to include more popular search keywords (like "chat" or "free"). The chances are, at best, your site will be #893234 of 2903476 sites found. Consider using rare keywords which describe your site best. That way people who know what they are looking for will find your website easier. Those people who "surf on" while looking for something else are usually just "waste of bandwidth". * Consider quantity over quality. Some websites have many branches, each on a topic which is a bit different then the others; yet they only submit their *main* page to the search engines, and try to stuff it's "description" and "keywords" META tags to include the things covered by all branches of their large site. The more specific your META tags are, the better. Also, common sense dictates: the more different pages of your site you submit to a search engine, the greater the chance of one of them coming up during search. * The best way to promote your website is to get someone else to do it for you: your visitors. Adding a "recommend us" feature is a very easy and effective step toward helping your website create a positive feedback cycle of self-promotion. You can add a free "Recommend-It" button to your site via "http://recommend-it.com/". If you don't want to use a 3rd party service, you can simply create a link which points to "mailto:?Subject=Check out blah blah blah website!". The user would click that link, and his/her mail client would pop up, displaying the message editor window, with the subject line already filled in; and the user can then type in the e-mail address(es) to recommend your site to, put in his/her own description of your site, and hit "send". * I, the editor of this newsletter, Alex Libman, will now reveal a very personal truth - of all search engines out there, I prefer "http://www.aj.com/". Check it out. You probably never even heard of it until now, but it is one of *the* *fastest* growing search engines on the web. It uses a very unique way of sorting data, and for that reason it is not included in any of the automatic submission tools, however it is possible for webmasters to submit their websites to that database, as long as the webpage answers a question. Ask Jeeves (AJ) lets the visitors type in their search criteria in a question format, like "Where was Albert Einstein born?", and then searches it's database of links, looking for the one which answers that question. If your site qualifies, consider adding your site to AJ. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OTHER INTERNET NEWS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * VIRUS WARNING: In case you haven't heard, there is a new e-mail virus on the net nicknamed "Melissa", which is believed to have originated as a scheme to promote a pornographic website. When received by a mail client capable of interpreting it's scripting (MS Word and some versions of Outlook) it, unless stopped in time, tries to access the mail client's address book, and redirects a copy of itself to as many people as it can. There are several mutations of "Melissa", some of which limits number of the addresses it tried to duplicate to, but they all work in a similar way. Our advice is, if you are using Outlook or Word as your e-mail client, switch to something else for the next few days. That virus doesn't pose any risk to your data, but due to its rapid rate of expansion, it causes bandwidth problems for the entire World Wide Web. For more info about "Melissa", visit "http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2233627,00.html" * Have you seen the results of the 1999 Webby Awards, which honor the best websites on the Internet as the result of votes by both IADAS judges and "the people"? The "Webbies" are considered to be "The Oscars of the web". Their categories include: Arts, Commerce, Community, Education, Fashion, Film, Finance, Games, Health, Humor, Living, Music, News, "Politics & Law", "Print & Zines", Radio, Science, Sports, "Technical Achievement", Travel, TV, and "Weird". See the complete results of that momentous event, at "http://www.webbyawards.com/best/index.html". * The next versions of Microsoft database software will support XML, an emerging Web standard, according to company executives. Four months after releasing SQL Server 7.0, Microsoft is designing its next-generation database, code-named Shiloh, with several new features including XML, a standard that simplifies the exchange of data over the Web and corporate networks, said Dave Wascha, Microsoft's XML product manager. "We're now looking at how to fit XML in SQL Server, and how it will be used. But obviously it is on the radar screen for the next release," Wascha said. "XML in SQL Server will make it easier for people to work with our data store, in addition to [data access interfaces] like OLE DB, ODBC, etc." Microsoft has jumped onto the XML bandwagon with both feet. The company has already integrated XML into Microsoft Office 2000. Continued on "http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,34518,00.html", By Wylie Wong and Mike Ricciuti Staff Writers, CNET News.com * For centuries, letter writers have pained to get everything from the salutation to the John Hancock as perfect as possible. But the rules for e-mail have yet to be written. Now, Harvard Business School Publishing is proposing a first draft called The Ten Commandments of E-Mail. It's high time, says Philadelphia-based communications coach Nick Morgan, who wrote the list in the March issue of Harvard Communications Update. "More and more companies today live in an e-mail culture," Morgan says. "That has meant real losses and gains." Drawing on his own experience and that of clients, he says, high volumes of e-mail are one of the biggest problems for workers today. "It's getting to the point where we show up at work read our e-mail, respond to it, and then go home," he says. According to estimates by International Data Corporation, about 2.1 billion e-mail messages are sent each day in the United States. By 2002 that number is expected to jump to 8 billion. For the complete story, surf over to "http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9903/31/commandments.idg/". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BBS NEWS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Tornado BBS v1.7a was released on 3/14/99: Over the mast several months, Tornado is one of the most overlooked BBS servers out there; but with the gradual introduction of it's new TCP/IP features, it's popularity is expected to quickly accelerate. This version includes a Telnet client, which allows users to connect to other hosts directly from BBS. Konstantin Klyagin, the programmer of this daemon, says that the Internet features of Tornado are still at a very early stage, but he plans to add a Telnet server (among other TCP/IP features) in the near future. Konstantin is also planning to start working on a Linux version of Tornado, which is currently available for Win32, OS/2, and DOS. For more info, visit "http://adel.telecom.nov.ru/konst/tornado.htm". * RemoteAccess BBS update: Bruce Morse, who took over RemoteAccess in late 1997, is making an upgrade version for RA DOS 2.50; which has been the latest release of this product since it was delivered by the original author, over 2.5 years ago. The main goal of this update is to make RemoteAccess for DOS Y2K compliant. After he is finished with that upgrade, Bruce will begin working on RA3 for windows. For more info, visit "http://www.rapro.com/" * EleBBS 0.04g1, a "buggy yet promising" RemoteAccess clone, was released for public gamma testing over a month ago. This version of EleBBS offers many innovative features, such as Internet support (Telnet + Newsgroup + IRC), 32-bit Windows and OS/2 versions; plus light-bar menus and an improved scripting language. For more info, visit "http://home.wxs.nl/~elevator". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ !!NOTES!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unless otherwise stated for individual blocks of this message, all content is (c) copyrighted by ThinkTank Online Services, 1999. This message is brought to you as a subscriber to "CyberCrafts" NewsLetter. Well, that's all for this issue. The next one is expected to be bigger (but still no more than 35K) due to articles submitted by thousands of new readers that were moved to our subscriptions list. Those subscriptions came from two other webmaster-related mailing lists. Both newsletters were recently deactivated, and the subscribers were moved to this one at the solicitation of the list-masters (owners of those subscription lists). Please consider forwarding this newsletter to some of your friends or co-workers. To subscribe, send an e-mail to "CyberCrafts@TTOS.com" with the words "SUBSCRIBE CCNL your_email_adderss@isp.com" in the Subject. To stop receiving our newsletter, put the words "UNSUBSCRIBE CCNL your_email_adderss@isp.com" in the subject line. If you would like to change the e-mail address to which this newsletter is sent, please use the words "RESUBSCRIBE CCNL old_email@isp.com new_email@isp.com". Newsletter by Alex Libman. Distribution, database maintenance, and response management by "ThinkTank Online Services" (TTOS). If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail CyberCrafts@TTOS.com with the subject line "Feedback".

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