it‘s basically a batch file that connects to any FTP webspace and uploads files. The good thing about it is that you can give clients a means of uploading a file by just double-clicking. You can also schedule the batch file to run using Task Scheduler in Windows.

I have set it up on one of my dedicated servers as a Scheduled Task so that first a command-line zip utility zips my clients entire website, I then use this Scheduled batch file to upload/backup to webspace hosted with the same company, which means the webspace is on the same network and therefore the upload takes a 30 seconds for a 200Mb backup, and the files are on a completely different server - Great!

Batch file contents (FtpUpload.bat)
This is the file that you can schedule, it merely contains the location of the ftp instructions file that you wisdh to run (make sure you change the file path accordingly), and the ftp hostname.

ftp -s:
C:\PathofFiles\FtpAccountAndFiles.ftp
yourhostname.com

Ftp instructions file contents (FtpAccountAndFiles.ftp)
This is the file that contains your ftp username, password and the files you wish to upload, in this case an example file (stored in the same directory as the batch file).

yourftpusername
yourftppassword
put ExampleFile.txt
quit

Hey presto! There you go, a free upload or backup solution!

Here are the files (Zip, 1Kb)

Now to use it as a backup solution you will need compression software to make it easier! - my solution...

First you will have to download and install WinRar trial (version 3.71 at time of writing) from http://www.rarlabs.com/download.htm - This version hasn‘t changed for ages (years!?), if unregistered all you get is a small nag screen (no functionality is taken away). I think WinRar is the best archiving software availible! - Why? because of the simple context menu (right-click) operations for zipping and un-zipping and also many powerful yet easy to use functions such as the self-extracting executable setup and of course the command-line archiving functionality of which we are going to use..

When we have WinRar installed, the below code, when added to the top of your batch file will compress your files (into one file) so you can upload it with the above batch script.

c:\Program Files\WinRar\winrar a -r0 -x*.dll -x*.rws -x*.rar "D:\BackupsForUpload\YourWebsite.rar" "D:\home\yourwebsite.co.uk\htdocs\*.*"

(Note: the above is all on one line if it appears differently on the page)

Basically the aboveline is telling WinRar to create an archive and add all the files from the mentioned location to the rar file. Voila!

1. It‘s freeee.

2. It‘s reliable.

3. The layout is relatively easy to use, i.e. pretty standard, left-to-right drag and drop functionality.

4. It can store a (managable) directory of my sites.

5. It allows me to back up the many sites that I have stored.

Well Filezilla is the answer! The backup utility is great! - it exports all your sites into an xml file, ready for import or backup. No longer will I kick my computer because I‘ve lost all my FTP site entries, well done Tom Kosse!

Website: http://filezilla-project.org

For the home market I‘ve tried numerous antivirus software products and I‘ve found one that‘s free and I‘m happy to stick with. Avast Antivirus from Alwil Software.

All you have to do is download the home edition from the downloads section of the Avast website. (http://www.avast.com/eng/programs.html), register your email address and they send you a home license code. Presto!

Stock Exchange
Website: http://sxc.hu
Free pictures, vast collection - some pics need uploaders‘ concent.

Stock Expert
Website: www.stockexpert.com
Stock exchanges sister company, excellent quality pictures from $1 (Approx 50p) Just sign up an account and away you go!

Morgue File
Website: www.morguefile.com
Another free site for stock photography.

1. Each page will need to have an individual title tag. – This is the single most important aspect and the quickest way to get penalized in Google.
   
2. Each page will need to have an individual description tag. – This is very important and is another way of getting penalized in Google and MSN
   
3. Each page will need to have an individual keywords tag. – Not hugely important now but has been in the past and may well become important soon.
   
4. Each page needs a document structure that comprises of a series of H1, H2, and H3 tags. – This emphasises the key terms in a way that Google expects.
   
5. Each page needs to have individual alt tag information. – Important as it is a good way to get diversity of keywords.
   
6. Google site map, this will need code adding to pages.
   
7. I‘ve found it may also help if the key words that you want your site to be found by are also in the url of the page, I‘ve looked into this somewhat and have found that the folder structure or file name can be used e.g. www.wesdesign.co.uk/how-to-create-a-database/ would probably fair well when someone is searching for "how to create a database".
   
8. A resources page to enable linking strategy to be implemented. – Link popularity is a key part of Goggles ranking mechanism, this page will need regular editing as proposals are received for linking.
   
9. In addition it is advisable to create a mechanism for natural inbound linking to take place, we would look to add this mechanism to an internal dedicated page and reference it from the homepage if possible. This would provide the code and the text for other webmasters who may link to you.

To summarise, it seems that as long as you focus on promoting your site with some kind of linking strategy and you have well-structured content you‘re well on your way! On the same note, Google is forever changing the way their search engine works to enable the most accurate information to become closer to the top as developers catch on.

<script type="text/javascript">
//Below are the main browser appName strings..
//‘Microsoft Internet Explorer‘ (all versions)
//‘Netscape‘ (for Firefox)
//‘Opera‘
//‘Mozilla‘

var csshref

if(navigator.appName==‘Netscape‘){csshref=‘css/firefox.css‘}
else if(navigator.appName==‘Opera‘){csshref=‘css/opera.css‘}
else{csshref=‘css/normal.css‘}

csslink = document.createElement(‘link‘)
csslink.rel=‘stylesheet‘
csslink.href = csshref
document.getElementsByTagName(‘head‘)[0].appendChild(csslink)

</script>

All you have to do is send the email that you want to test to: spamcheck@sitesell.net

with a subject beginning “TEST”

..and the return address will receive a spam score/report on the message sent. Cool!

1. It‘s free.
   
2. It‘s hidden (you can choose an invisible counter so your visitors are un-aware you are using statcounter)
   
3. It‘s concise - you can see all you need - unique visitors, page loads, browsers and much, much more.
   
4. It has some great features like the facility to set up a "stats viewer" account which means you can give your clients access to the stats to their website only, while managing all your clints under one admin account.

OK, it‘s obviously statcounter branded when viewing the stats but for a free, easy to install instant solution to concise website statistics, it‘s a no brainer!

I believe they make their money from google ads on the stats pages.

The google maps API has absolutely loads of options e.g. multiple markers, journeys etc but all I‘m demonstrating is a simple map, with an address marker.

You have to put the following into the start tag of your <body> marker..

onload="load()"

..so it might look a bit like this..

<body onload="load()">

..all this does is load the google map.

You then need to paste the below code into your main page content area (or where you want the map to appear). Note will you have to change a couple of variables before your map will appear - listed below.

<script src="http://maps.google.com/maps?file=apiv=2key=YOURKEYHERE" type="text/javascript">
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">

var WINDOW_HTML = ‘<div style="width: 200px; padding-right: 10px"><strong>My Clients Company Name</strong><br>Address1<br>Address 2<br>Postcode etc.</div>‘;
//<![CDATA[
function load() {
if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {
var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map"));
map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());

map.setCenter(new GLatLng(51.36445,0.3698), 13);
var marker = new GMarker(new GLatLng(51.36445,0.3698));
map.addOverlay(marker);
GEvent.addListener(marker, "click", function() {
marker.openInfoWindowHtml(WINDOW_HTML);
});
marker.openInfoWindowHtml(WINDOW_HTML);
}
}
//]]>
</script>


<div id="map" style="border: 1px solid #979797; background-color: #e5e3df; width: 540px; height: 360px; margin: auto; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em">
<div style="padding: 1em; color: gray">Loading...</div>
</div>

1) get your API Key by visiting http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html all you have to do is tick a box and enter the URL of your website to get your key. You will need to paste your key OVER the YOURKEYHERE part of the above code.

2) Change the WINDOW_HTML value to the address (and maybe phone number) of your location (or anything you wish for that matter) - you can use html.

3) You see that there are two numerical values following the GLatLng(lat, and long) -in the code above. You need to do is replace these with the co-ordinates of the place you wish to center on the map. How do I get these? I hear you ask. The way I get these is go to www.multimap.com, type in the postcode and then scroll to the bottom of the page for the "lat" and "long" numbers.

4) You can set the height, width and border of your map by editing the last <div> of the above code.