I installed Google Maps on my own website today just to try it out. It’s fairly simple and Google provides a lot of examples on how to do it.

1. API Key

First you have to sign up for an API key – a Google account is required. This key can only be used per domain and has to be used in the Javascript code to verify ownership.

2. The “Hello, World” of Google Maps

Next, create a new file on your server and copy and paste this code into that page. Make sure to use your API key.

3. Test your page on your server.

Link: Google Maps API and Examples

If you don’t have time to figure it out I can install it for you for a minimal fee.

Here is a breakdown of the web design and development process so you know what to expect:

Communication
This is the most crucial step of the whole project and needs to be documented correctly before any work is done on the site. It is important for us to listen to you and your needs as a client. It is important for you to accurately communicate your goals for the website. Sometimes clients don’t always know what they want, so we often ask some questions to help begin effective dialogue.

Website Quote and Pricing
Once we know what you do and don’t want, we can provide you with an accurate quote on how much the project will cost. Once the site budget is approved and all documentation has been signed and approved, we require 50% of the site cost up front. Pricing a website is sort of like buying a car, the more bells and whistles you want the more the car will cost. Therefore, the more information about the project we have and know up front, the more accurate the quote will be.

Web Design
Your website design speaks volumes about your business. Think of your website as the billboard on the side of the internet highway as thousands of web surfers cruise the internet on a daily basis. Will they stop and take a look or keep going? The quality of your site will determine if they stay or go. Be sure you have taken a look at the past work of the web design firm you choose and that they can produce the kind of quality your site deserves.

Web Coding and Programming
If your site requires any PHP programming, this is done once the design has been approved. PHP is a dynamic programming language we use to do tasks such as email contact forms, application form processing, content management, e-commerce and database development.

Delivery
Once the site is complete and has been approved by the client, we are ready to ‘go live’ and put the site up on the web for all to see and explore. To make a site live, you will need a domain name and someone to host the website. We recommend GoDaddy.com for purchasing domain names and we provide hosting for $15/month. Read more about our web hosting plan.

And then….
Well, the site is done, but the relationship is not. Many clients like to do site upgrades in the future, like to purchase other services like search engine optimization or will need technical support. We often check in with clients on a monthly basis to make sure things are still running smoothly and to offer any support they may need.

I recently designed and developed a website for AValive/Triangle Visual Interactive and the owner of the site was getting frustrated with all the comment spam he was receiving. The website has several forms and people were either wasting their time, visiting the site and putting in junk, or the site was being hit by a spam bot. Spam bots crawl the internet looking for sign up forms, comment forms, blogs, etc., and put in junk data and submit them. Junk data is usually in the form of some advertisement for Viagra, Real Estate deals and porn.

So I did some research on the net to try and find out how to prevent comment spam. I’ve often signed up for things on the net and been required to type in a text field some numbers or letters that I see in an image.

Luckily, I came across a great site that described how to implement this Captcha image in like 10 minutes. It also shows you how to do an audio clip so that site users could listen to a recording and then they would type in what they hear.

To use this technique, you need at least PHP 4 compiled with GD 1 or 2 (Image Generation) and FreeType text support. It should work fine with Linux, Mac OS X or Windows based systems although you will need to change the default temporary file storage directory specified when using with Windows. PHP session support is also required. The audio CAPTCHA requires the Flite text to speech synthesis engine – more details on set up below.

Some other features of this technique:

• Multiple random TrueType fonts
• Character rotation
• Optional chararacter shadow support
• Optional site owner display text
• Random custom background images
• Font size selection
• Greyscale or colour lines and characters
• Character set selection
• Integration of validation function for checking the user entered code with the generated code

Hope this helps somone else.

Link: Instructions on how to install Captcha image

Found out from a friend today that Dreamweaver 8 (Studio 8) is not fully compatible with Mac’s new Intel based computers yet but instead is using an emulation software called Rosetta. Rosetta allows software that is PowerPC compatible to be run on the new Intel based computers. Adobe’s next release of the Studio (and Photoshop3) should all be fully compatible but for now we have to make do until the new releases come out.

Been noticing my Dreamweaver has been kinda slow compared to my previous PC experience so thats why I did some research.

When buying software for Macs, look for the Universal symbol – that lets you know the application is using Apple’s Xcode and means it runs natively on both the new Intel-based Mac computers and on legacy PowerPC-based Mac systems.

This PDF might be helpful – I know it was for me.

PDF from Adobe

Hope this helps some other Mac newbies out there.

I normally require 50% of the project cost up front before starting any work. The final 50% is due upon project completion. I send invoices for you to keep for your records.

Payment is due as soon as possible but I normally give clients up to a month to make payments. After a month, there is a $100/month fee for late payments.

We accept the following methods of payment:

• Paypal
• Cash
• Check
• Visa
• Mastercard
• Discover
• American Express

Many clients come to me and want the ability to update all or some of the pages of the site on their own. Sometimes they may have changing prices, new sales events and specials, they want to display different ads in different seasons or they just want to have that sense of control over their site text.

Many tools are available on the market today for what are called Content Management Systems or CMS.

One method I use is to create a ‘backdoor’ for a client with a listing of pages. Each page has a content box and that content box is where text edits can be done. They hit ‘Update’, the data is sent to a database and then the site updated on the front end.

Another option is to purchase a copy of Contribute, a product by Adobe (formerly Macromedia). Contribute connects to your web server, where the files are stored, and lets you edit the content of the site pages using a nice GUI editor, similar to Microsoft Word.

These are just two examples, but I know there are many other type systems on the market today. If you are a web developer and know of another CMS system, please feel free to share your ideas here on this forum.

Link: Content Management System

Finally found a nice FTP client for my new Mac – Transmit.

If you came from a PC like me you are probably familiar with other FTP clients like Filezilla, WSFTP or IPSwitch.

Pros:
These all pretty look the same – your PC is on the left and the server you are connecting to is on the right. I like that, am use to it, and work faster that way. And that’s how Transmit is.

Other FTP clients for Mac like Fetch did not have the 2 panes and it was hard for me to adjust.

Cons:
However, Transmit is $29.95 so it is on the pricey side for an FTP client.

Link: Transmit by Panic