Rather than sit and reflect on the problems and challenges faced by those who need to live with so little, we are going to help take action. Josh and I have agreed to donate 10 percent of our next contracted job towards a charity to help fight poverty.

The charity we have chosen is Feeding America. Feeding America is the nation’s leading charitable hunger-relief organization with a network of more than 200 member food banks and food-rescue organizations that serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Per Feeding America’s Web site:

Each year, the Feeding America network provides food assistance to more than 25 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.

While our charitable act may pale in comparison to donations made by large corporations, we believe in the motto that “every little bit helps”.

Hopefully other design and development firms will follow our example and donate to help those that live with so little.

What Should I Backup?
The first step to creating a backup is to decide what you are actually going to backup. Depending on your purposes this can mean a few files or an entire hard drive. If you are constantly changing files and have a lot of them it is a good idea to use an incremental backup so you aren’t taking up so much space for the backup files. Again this depends on what you are going to be backing up. In the event that you would like to backup your entire computer, operating system and all you can create an image file of your hard drive which will allow you to burn it to a DVD and restore your computer back to the time of the backup. The main issue here though is that if you intend to restore the data on another computer it most likely will not work due to the hardware changes, but you could still retrieve your document files.

How Do I Backup My Data?
Next you will want to find a good software tool to help you out. There are too many options to count, and thankfully you don’t have to pay a dime for some of the best ones. I won’t waste any time re-iterating some other great posts from Lifehacker.com, so here are a couple links:

• Personal Backup (via Lifehacker.com)
• AceBackup (via Lifehacker.com)

Where Do I Put It?
You have a few options of where to store your data. External hard drives are a great option that won’t break the bank. I recently purchased a 1 Terabyte hard drive for under $100 which is an amazing deal. The last place you want to store your backup is on the hard drive that you have the data stored! If you hard drive becomes corrupt or damaged then the backup is useless sitting on the dead drive. An external hard drive is a great choice because you have your data right next to you in case your computer crashes. The only disadvantage however is if your house is destroyed in an emergency (fire, flood, tornado or other act of God) you are out of luck.

Another choice is to backup your data to a Web server in a remote location. If you have an FTP server set up through a company or a friend this can be a great option since it is off-site yet always accessible. Unfortunately not many people just have Web server’s laying around so this can end up being a costly choice if you are not already using one.

The last option is storing your data through an online service. There are a lot of sites that provide a set amount of storage space and provide unlimited access to your files. While this is a great option it does have some disadvantages. For one, your data is stored remotely so in the event your Internet connection is extremely slow (or dead) you may have to wait to finally download your files. Also the uploading process can be very time consuming if you are uploading large files. PC World has an extensive list of some of the best services.

If your data is crucial and it will ruin you if it were ever lost then you will definitely want to consider backing up your data using at least two methods above to cover all possibilities. Also remember that even backup drives can fail so having two or more backups of the backups themselves may also be necessary (known as a RAID array). This may be overkill for some, but for others it is a necessity including financial institutions, divisions of the government, and online services such as Google.

How Often?
If you work on your files every day then a daily backup during the off-hours (backing up can take a lot of your computer’s processing power) is the best bet. Space is cheap so having “too many” backups aren’t always an issue. If you are only backing up personal items such as music and photos then you may only need to create a backup when you purchase new songs or upload new photos. I think the best way to determine the frequency of the backups is asking “if I had to restore my last backup, would I be upset that I lost the most recent files?” Most likely your answer is “yes”.

Mother Always Said, “Better Safe Than Sorry”
There is no good excuse for not having your data backed up in a place where it is not vulnerable to a complete loss. Space is cheap these days so break open your piggy banks and get to stores early this November for Black Friday. Losing your data is more than losing some files - it is losing hours/weeks/years of your time, important memories and maybe even your job!

Jordan Wolfe, founder of Uwemp says, “Uwemp is an open-source, online community focused on building out a network of interesting and inspirational people to share their success stories and accomplishments with an emphasis on ‘The Journey’ and the wisdom and insight people have gained from their experiences. The content can touch on any topic that you find interesting. We are excited about changing lives every day, and what better forum to do it then through inspirational stories that provides others with the necessary support and resources to fulfill their dreams and goals in life.”

“Identify someone you find interesting (mom, dad, boss, co-worker, clergyman, athlete, movie star), chat with them and log his/her story on the website in a well-written, short-form format. The featured story on the home page is the exact type of content we are looking for. We have an editing team so do not be shy and post whatever you would like (including videos).

My goal for www.uwemp.com is for it to become a worldwide movement where we can help individuals go for their dreams by providing them with the necessary inspiration and resources. Our mission broadly identified on the website is: ‘Utilize technology alongside personal interaction to foster innovation and enable the public to do extraordinary things that shape the world we live in today.’”

Development Features of Uwemp

We have integrated many design and developmental features into the Uwemp Web site. They include:

• Custom design and color scheme
• Complete content management system integration using open-source Drupal
• Video uploads automatically converted into flash-compatible format
• User-submitted articles
• Article rating system
• Voting system to recommend a featured article
• Full-featured blog
• RSS feeds by category and site-wide
• User memberships/registrations
• Contact form

Screenshots and Feedback

Some screenshots of Uwemp.com have been included below. As always, comments and feedback are most welcome!

Propose a problem and ask for the solution.
Programmers of any type are constantly solving analytical problems during development, but the way they handle real-world issues is just as important. Giving them a situational issue and listening to their solution may key you in on their ability to work around hurdles. This can be anything from handling a tight deadline, decreasing overhead on a project or an instance of learning a new language. If you can’t think of anything creative just ask them to give an example of a situation where they encountered a problem and how they solved it.

How many programming languages they are fluent in?
Web development is a combination of many different languages. Some of the most common ones I use daily include XHTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, ASP.NET, SQL and MySQL, XML and XSL. On top of these there are more including Python, Ruby/Ruby on Rails, and PERL.

What was the last language or system they learned and when?
Having a developer that is current on new languages and standards is important. If they haven’t learned anything new in their field in over a year then it may be a good idea to look elsewhere. That doesn’t necessarily mean a completely new language, but a good developer should always be trying out new frameworks and methods to find the most efficient system or best fit for a potential new project.

What are their favorite frameworks or open source systems?
Using a framework can greatly reduce a project’s turnaround time, and the same goes for an open source system such as Drupal or WordPress. The cliche “don’t reinvent the wheel” holds true in the Web industry because many sites use the same modules. There are many systems already out there than can handle the non-custom parts of a site (membership, e-commerce, etc.) while you concentrate on the site-specific items.

What other development skills do they have (design, database optimization, networking, etc)?
Apart from client relations and estimating I end up actually developing for only 40% of the time. Of this 40% another 10% is usually spent completing tasks such as server administration, database optimizations and handling other IT related procedures. Having a diverse knowledge can be very helpful down the road if you need help with other aspects of your Web site. E-mail configurations, hosting troubleshooting, domain name changes or redirects, and PTR records for e-mails are just a few common examples.

What blogs do they regularly follow (Web or non-Web design related)?
A Web developer should stay current on the industry becuase it is changing every day. However, you also want to know what type of person they are and what they do in their free time. You will be working with this person for weeks, months and maybe years to come so they should be easy to talk to. Listening to their hobbies may give you a better idea of their interests and if they are truly involved in the industry (or if it is just a hobby).

What was the largest project they have ever worked on?
Managing a large project can be an incredible learning experience if you have never had the opportunity. It can test your organization skills and the ability to properly plan and think ahead. If your project has a small scope this may not be important at first, but you should be trying to build a long-term relationship with your developer. This means that down the road you may have a larger project and you want to be sure they can handle a site that will take over six months to develop and hundres of work hours.

This isn’t really a question, but ask them to show their most accessible site - then disable CSS in the browser you are using.
Developers tout their accessibility skills use of standards, but this does not mean they always know what accessibility and standards are. Disabling the CSS in your browser (using a tool such as Firefox’s Web Developer plugin) will give you an idea of what the site looks like to a blind visitor. If all of the major content suddenly disappears that is a red flag that they have not provided alternative text for the images. Also if the content of the site is suddenly jumbled together and cannot be read in a linear fashion, the screen reader they are using (which will read the text out loud) will not make much sense.

The are just a few examples of some questions you may want to ask a developer before making your decision to hire them. There are also many more general questions you can ask and About.com has some very useful tips that can help make your interview more effective.

Design, Layout and Structure

The Web site for the church was unveiled yesterday at http://www.LivingHopeGBC.com. The church is located in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, so it was important that the site’s design reflect a rustic theme with rural and forestry imagery. The site’s main purpose is to provide information to those in the area looking for a new church to join, so basic information about the church is indicated throughout the site, as well as a standard contact form.

Here are some screen shots:

Easily Editable Through WordPress

We chose WordPress as the content management system as it is a great free third-party tool that is easily integrated with our custom developed code. Using the All in One Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Pack (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/) allowed us to increase the church’s site visibility through various search engines, while the Yoast’s Enhanced WP Contact Form (http://yoast.com/code/enhanced-wp-contactform/) let us easily integrate and customize the contact form.

The sidebars within the site automatically list any pages created within each section in order to create a dynamic navigational system. Also, a WordPress “widget” was placed on the home page for the calendar of events allowing the church staff to indicate their upcoming social activities. For flexibility we also provided the ability to place other widgets throughout the site’s sidebars in case there is a future need for other special announcements.

As with all of our Web site projects, special attention was given to SEO and site accessibility, resulting in a completely W3C and Section 508 site compliant with the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines (http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livinghopegbc.com&charset=(detect+automatically)&doctype=Inline&group=0).

Here are some screen shots of the WordPress content management interface:

Do You Need Something Similar?

Are you in need of a similar Web site project? Contact us today and we can discuss building a customized Web site integrated with WordPress for your business or organization.

In addition, please feel free to leave your comments and feedback below.

Last year, we blogged about the environment as a unified voice. Get involved and help spread the word! We look forward to contributing on October 15.

Content Tagging
With such a simple idea as tagging content it is a wonder why it took so many years to become widespread. Go back 10 years and say “Tag Cloud” and people will pull out their umbrellas. Until search engines are able to accurately decipher exactly what you are looking for and filter out the bad, tagging your content will remain an important aspect of organization and SEO.

Communication
I did not want to say “Social Networking” because I did not want the misconception that I mean friends lists, private messaging, personal news feeds, etc. Instead I feel that as time and technology progresses we will see more sites that allow you to network and share, but without having to create Yet Another Profile (YAP). Too many sites have every feature possible which just leads to site bloat and unused features. Rather I think sites will either integrate a global networking API (such as Google’s Open Social), limit features to a simple method of sharing data within the site, or limit the features available to what is really necessary (or sellable). In my opinion the idea of global networking API is a great option as long as it remains open source and independent of other sites (sorry Facebook). The option to link profile information between sites (or even gaming consoles) might be quite appealing to users that have a well-known tag name. We are also seeing a lot more open API’s to a site’s resources with newer sites to allow sharing of data between other services which will most likely become a common practice for all new Web apps.

Emphasis on Usability
With Web 2.0 I feel sites really started to make user interaction a #1 priority. Some sites failed miserably while others had a two-second learning curve. Yes, AJAX was a part of this with decreased load times and some delightful eye candy animations. The use of space and color is prominent in any modern site classified as “2.0″. With the next generation of sites the usability factor will definitely remain a high priority with any profession Web application, and only continue to improve with further research and new technology.

The Advertising Model
Many popular sites do not charge users to use their services and have made billions doing so. A large ad on YouTube or Facebook is like a Super Bowl commercial for the Web these days, so paying top dollar is nothing to shrug at for those who can afford it. This model has proven to be successful and will continue to be a large part of the Web. Even video games have considered employing this model by dropping prices for games and putting a few real-life company billboards or ads in the game. The discussion of the pros and cons for this idea is for another time, but for advertising it is a brilliant idea.

These are educated predictions of what I foresee being familiar aspects in the upcoming years of the Web and most likely other fields of New Media. With new technology some will fade and others become obsolete, but in one way or another the underlying principles remain an integral part of our connected lives.

If you use Gmail for your primary email provider I would suggest scheduling your own backup if you do not already do so. Lifehacker.com has a great tutorial to get you started on a Windows machine as well as a Linux-based machine (you can just follow the command line steps to configure and run fetchmail). Better safe than sorry.

As an aside - does anyone know of a PHP-based script that can accomplish this same task? Being a Web developer it would be great to run this from our Web server without installing Cygwin.

Add Relevant Content
This is the first recommendation simply because it is the first option you should consider. Adding relevant, well-written content is vital in acquiring new visitors and keeping the current ones. Simply adding a few pages works, but you should definitely consider adding a blog if you are able to update it consistently. Just throwing a blog on your site and writing two posts is going to do more harm than good. However if you love to write and have a lot of great information on your industry then this is a great opportunity to showcase your knowledge. Also this will greatly increase traffic to your site through new subscribers and more indexed content in search engines.

Hire a Copywriter
A site with bad copy is a great way to turn visitors away. Unfortunately copywriters seem to be extremely under-appreciated these days. Just think of your favorite brands and I’m sure a slogan sticks out in your head for most of them. Do “Reach Out and Touch Someone” (AT&T), “We Love to See You Smile” (McDonalds), and “Don’t Leave Home Without It” (American Express) sound familiar? I guarantee they didn’t write them on a whim; most likely these slogans were created after months of creative meetings and thousands of rejected ideas. Every word on your site is an opportunity to entice visitors into reading more so don’t hesitate on spending the money to get every word right. We work with a lot of great copywriters so contact us if you are interested in a recommendation.

Start a Maintenance Contract
If you have a reliable and trusted Web designer company or freelancer then congratulations. They are hard to find, but once you do they are easy to keep. Rather than redesigning your entire site you may want to create a retainer contract with your designer in order to update the problem areas and/or pages. Making the site a bit easier to read, less crowded and easier to navigate can make a world of difference in gaining your customer’s trust. You may want to have your design team go through your site and make some recommendations on improving your site, and then give them the go-ahead on making those changes (or the ones you feel are most important).

Additional Advertising
I will assume you already have some online or print advertising for your site already. If not then stop reading and go buy some. Increasing your advertising funds seems like common sense, however many people underestimate the affects. Depending on your budget and your business you may want to run some new print ads, but most likely online advertising is going to be the easiest and “budget-friendly” way to go. Google Adwords and other advertising sites/tools allow you to set a monthly budget so putting a few extra bucks towards your budget will definitely get you some more traffic. You could also dedicate some time towards a new campaign or promotional event for your site.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
This one is important, but can also be just as expensive as a redesign depending on how your site was built originally. If you have an older site, or a new site that was not built following W3C standards then you may be out of luck and should stick to the above items. However if you hired a good developer then you may be able make a few small tweaks to your site and significantly improve your site’s search engine ranking.  Most professionals know the ins-and-outs of SEO because it is usually a top priority on everybody’s list. I am not going to list the technicalities of how your listings are improved, but you should definitely put this on your to-do list. Oh and most importantly, don’t let any SEO companies try to take you for a ride. I have seen thousands of dollars put into SEO just to improve rankings by a place or two, only to lose it the next month when the search engine changed their algorithms. And even worse, some companies will neglect usability and design while making the changes (SEO is completely independent of how your site appears to a visitor so don’t be fooled). I would recommend having a Web designer you trust or have a long term relationship with take care of these updates rather than hiring a new/dedicated agency.

In conclusion, I hope are helpful and turned you in the right direction. Sometimes a redesign is the most important item on your agenda, but stepping back and thinking about how it is actually going to help you acquire new business is just as important. Just because your site looks pretty doesn’t mean it is doing a good job in promoting your business. But at least it looks pretty.

The post can be found here over at the blog Pointy Haired Dilbert:

http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/08/01/15-fun-things-with-excel/

I hope this helps bring the designer and business owner within you closer together as well. Maybe one day they will create a program that is Adobe InDesign and Excel all rolled into one!