Resources

Set up an Ecommerce Shopping Cart

Creating a Web Site Catalog

You have two basic options when it comes to designing your web site: simple and basic or intricate and complicated. If you are a novice at web site design, you might want to consider using a hosting service that will help you to set up your site with little technical input from you.

If you want to save money, you can use a website builder that allows you to create everything on your own. Website builders work simply with text and image input. This is the best option for a novice web site designer. For those who are either more ambitious or skilled with some web site design background, website design software will allow for the creation of more sophisticated web sites. Adobe Dreamweaver or ColdFusion are two of these more sophisticated programs that can be used to design a web site.

In particular, web site design software for eCommerce sites will be your best bet to assist you with creating the catalog. Before you purchase any software, make a list of all of the features that you want for your web site and look for software that offers all of this.

Creating a Shopping Cart

Designing a shopping cart for a web site is necessary when you aren’t using a hosting plan that features shopping cart program. Several software packages are available for purchase to help you with this task. Additionally, several tutorials are available at the following link that will show you how to build your cart: Shopping Cart Tutorials.

Creating a Shopping Cart with PayPal

If you do not want to go about setting up a merchant account, you can use PayPal’s shopping cart software. With a merchant account, you need to set up a business license so that you can accept credit cards. PayPal’s service processes the customer’s credit card for billing and deposits the money into your PayPal account. A small percentage of each order is charged by PayPal. The checkout for your web site will be set up on PayPal’s servers and you won’t need to install any software. Set up is minimal and involves a small amount of HTML.

Drawing Traffic to a Web Site through the Web Site

Increasing traffic to your web site can be accomplished in several ways. Incorporate strong Meta Tags for your website using keywords that have relevance to your web site. Meta Tags are used by search engines as well as people who are browsing the Internet.

Use SEO practices specific to the content of your web site. Important keywords can be used in your labels and descriptions of your products. Use a descriptive Title. Avoid overuse of keywords since this will go against you.

Register your web site with the major search engines: Google, AltaVista, Lycos, and Yahoo. The instructions to do so can be found on each search engine’s website.

Create links with other websites. This can be accomplished by trading ads, banners, and more.

Drawing Traffic to a Web Site outside the Web Site

Compose a newsletter to send to customers who sign up so that you can develop an ongoing interest in your products.

Advertise your website wherever you can, but in a legitimate way. Visit forums to see if anyone is looking to purchase any of the products that you sell. If they are, then you can point them in the direction of your web site.

Create a customized signature for your email and include the name and web address of your web site. Post business cards on public bulletin boards.

 As it seems that only these two social networking sites are affected, the problem is most likely with something that you are running, either on your computer or with your Internet Service Provider. If you are receiving specific error messages, it might be easier to pinpoint problems with the websites themselves. Here are some suggestions that have worked with other users experiencing the same problems:

1. Switch computers or change your web browser. If you can access MySpace and Facebook from another system, it will confirm that the problem is with something you are running. Several users have reported an error called Transport Error #400 when using Firefox that disappears when they switch to Internet Explorer.
2. Delete your history and your cookies for both websites. To clear your history, log onto the Internet. From the toolbar, select Tools, then Clear Private Data. Make sure Cache is the only thing that is checked and then click on the Clear Private Data button. To clear your cookies for both MySpace and Facebook, log onto the Internet and click on Tools. Click on Options, then Privacy and then Show Cookies. Remove the cookies for Facebook and MySpace - don’t click on Remove All Cookies, because there is no way to undo it once they are removed.
3. Check your security software. This could be the result of java script being blocked by your security software, particularly Norton Internet Security. You can test for this by temporarily disabling your security software and see if you can access the websites without problems. Make sure that you only disable this temporarily because if you leave it off, you are vulnerable to many problems that will make your situation worse. You can set most systems to drop for a limited amount of time - an hour is probably the longest you want to go without protection. If this works, we can research ways to work around NIS permanently so that you don’t leave yourself vulnerable.
4. Check Parental Controls. You parental controls may have been set to block aspects of Facebook and MySpace - either on accident or on purpose by someone who is parental. IF you have access and can change the parental controls settings (such as if you are the parent), here is how to do it on Windows Vista. If you can’t change your parental controls, it’s time to go and talk to your parents about responsibility. Go to the Start button on your computer. Click on Control Panel, then User Accounts and then Family Safety. Click on Parental Controls. In the User Account Control Window, click Continue. Click on Parental Controls. Your Current Settings and Restrictions will appear on the right side of the screen. See if any of these include MySpace or Facebook. To check Parental Controls in Windows, go to My Computer then Control Panel and then Internet Options. Click on Content. Under the Content Advisor tab, click on Enable. Here you can adjust for acceptable exposure. It will prompt you to enter a password to save the controls.

I think that one of these solutions will work for your problem. If not, feel free to come back to us with specific errors, or contact tech support at: www.filetonic.com/support .

Myspace.com (Myspace) is a popular social networking website giving registered users the chance to share information through uploaded files, chat, and email message formats. The communication between members is all conducted through the Myspace website, and therefore the information is stored on server computers. There is very little, if anything, stored on the user’s personal computer other than a cookie to remember log in information.

If you need communications you deleted, try contacting Myspace’s technical support team. The message or chat log may or may not be recovered depending on if it even still exists on the server and the reasoning behind the request. For legal proceedings, you should have appropriate documentation from an authority or court. Don’t count on cooperation without a court order for civil proceedings, like a divorce, especially if a profile is private.

One way to keep a “back-up” of your chats and messages is to use a key logging type program to “record” your keystrokes and other information sent across your Internet connection. However, the value of these files is questionable. The files are great if you just need a reference, but they may or may not be admissible in any formal proceedings. Also, the storage of these files on your computer open you up to others stealing any personal information you typed.

Parents can use monitoring programs to see what children are transferring across the family’s Internet connection. For problems related to Myspace accounts of those under the age of 18, Myspace now has a special section for parents. Any parent can request a removal of their teen’s account, and work with Myspace staff to block any future attempts at registering with the site. While Myspace is able to give parents access to a teen’s account by resetting the password to one of the parent’s choosing, the site may not be able to recover any messages or chat logs the teen deleted.

Overall, unless the data or messages are yours and needed for non-legal reasons, like say an old friend gave you their new cell phone number in a chat and you didn’t get to write it down, don’t expect Myspace to cooperate. For one, it is not easy to recover anything from a server, and especially not for a site as large and global as Myspace. In fact, there is nothing in Myspace’s FAQ or Technical Help section that gives any indication data recovery is possible. So the chief reason Myspace may not recover your message or chat log is simply an inability to do so.

Assuming Myspace could recover the lost communication, even with a court subpoena, Myspace will probably try to fight the order since it jeopardizes their business. Myspace is free to users, but the site still makes a great deal of income from advertisers and endorsements. If users think their personal communications, and chat and email are generally thought of as private, are overly monitored or turned over to be used against them, they won’t participate. Without users to participate, Myspace loses advertising revenue. This is the chief reason why social networking sites, and even search engines, have fought recent court orders with crack legal teams, not as a protection of privacy, but as a protection of profit.

Increasing traffic to websites seems to be on a lot of minds these days. In fact, most people have made it a priority. Several different techniques can be used to boost the number of visitors to my website.

Perhaps, the most well known method for increasing traffic to your website is to utilize SEO practices. SEO stands for search engine optimization. It involves the use of specific keywords that people would use to search for the content that you offer on your website. The idea is to use words that people would use while searching online for specific content. It is important not to use too many key words, which is referred to as overstuffing, as this will lower the ranking for the website.

Adding Meta Tags that incorporate your key words is another technique that can be used to drive more traffic to your website. Meta tags are not visible to the people who are browsing the Internet, but they are seen by search engines. Meta tags are actually software codes that should incorporate my key words into them.

I should also register with search engines. This can be done free of charge and usually involves providing basic information per the instructions. Quite a bit of your web traffic will result from search engine referrals, so this is extremely important.

Keep your content fresh. If I want to boost my website traffic, I need to continually post new content that is original and of high quality status.

One very important technique involves getting linked with other websites. It’s important to link to legitimate websites with content that is related to the content on my website. I need to avoid linking to low quality websites as this will bring my websites ranking down. In addition to linking with other websites, I can also trade a variety of ads including classified ads, banner ads, and more.

Perhaps one of the most useful methods to increase traffic to my website is to advertise it. This can be done in a variety of simple ways. I can submit articles from my website to websites, ezines, and writing sites that allow the practice and include my web address at the bottom of my article. I can also compose an ezine and generate each issue with reminders to visit my website.

Plus, I can also make use of small business cards that I can post on bulletin boards or exchange with other professionals.

Answering posts in public forums is another way to get my website noticed. If I do take this route, however, I need to make sure that my posts are relevant to the topic or question to which I am replying.

Including my website address with my email signature might not be the most proactive method, but it certainly cannot hurt. I can also advertise in local newspapers, brochures, and mailings for businesses to local consumers, as well as other types of publications.

 Facebook incorporates numerous networks as a means of facilitating social communication among people who live, work, or play in the same general area or location. Each of these individual networks is based upon a single theme such as a school, a specific company, or location. Facebook is designed to enable people to get to know those they interact with on a deeper level.

In addition to text communication, Facebook offers the opportunity to share links and videos among its users. Plus, each user can upload an unlimited number of photos onto the site.

Individuals who decide to use Facebook can decide to join one or more participating network. No membership fees are charged no matter how many networks a person joins.

Facebook began in 2004 and has continued to grow in popularity, becoming the sixth most trafficked website in the United States. The only requirement to join Facebook is a valid email address. Of course, you will also need to provide your full name and birth date. When you sign up, you will be asked to create a password and you should make sure to create a strong one.

When you sign up, you will be given instructions on how to join a supported network such as the school that you attend or your place of employment. It might even be useful to use the email address affiliated with your school or workplace. For example, individuals wishing to join a school network should use their school email. If you aren’t interested in an established network for one of those, you can also sign up to become a member of a regional network.

Connecting with people in your area is simplified with an active use of the website. In fact, Facebook features a handy search tool to locate individuals that you are associated with outside of the site. You can search by college, Aim buddy list, company, and more. It’s easy and allows you to locate active members more easily.

Facebook’s platform provides a number of applications that can be used by its members to enhance their time on the website. Among these, members will find the ability to chat, poke, write on members’ walls, join groups, view videos and photos, access social ads, access new feeds, and more.

Facebook’s help center is informative and easy to read, providing members with all they need to now in order to browse and use all of the site’s features. Plus, an informative and user friendly tutorial on how to get started is supplied as well.

Privacy is one of the advantages of this particular website. Facebook has incorporated privacy settings that are accessible to any member who wishes to edit them. Members have complete control over the manner in which their information is shared. Members can decide who can access their information by confirming friends. Once confirmed, these friends can then access the member’s profile. Members within a specific network can also access the profiles of other network members.

Privacy policies are legal notices posted on a Web site detailing how the Web site will use personal information. Privacy policy requirements vary depending on the privacy laws governing the Web site. For example, privacy laws are different in Canada, the United States, and the European Union. Since you may visit Web sites from around the globe, you can’t be sure that your privacy is being protected according to your country’s laws.

While various laws or even an absence of laws dictate privacy policies, most contain similar information. Privacy policies generally tell you whether the Web site uses cookies or other data mining items, what personal information is collected, how they will use the information, who will receive the information, and how they will protect the information.

Most privacy policies are readily available through a link on the home page, often at the bottom of the page. For example, the Filetonic Web site provides a link to our privacy policy in the “footer” area located at the bottom of all pages. This privacy policy, like many privacy policies on the Internet, is based on US Safe Harbor principles.

US Safe Harbor for Privacy is a framework of data protection principles covering: notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access, and enforcement. The safe harbor addresses the stricter privacy requirements of the EU and provides a means of providing privacy protection that meets these requirements. You can read more about Safe Harbor here.

It’s important to ready privacy policies so that you completely understand how your personal information is being used and protected. For example, if you purchase a product, you must reveal your credit card number as well as other personal information. Does the Web site have security measures in place to prevent someone accessing their servers and stealing their data?

Even if you aren’t going to purchase products from the Web site, you may be giving up personal information simply by landing on their home page. It’s not uncommon for IP addresses to be collected and recorded. While not necessarily personally identifiable, some users object to this.

If you can’t find a privacy policy posted on a web site, try Googling the Web site’s name followed by “privacy policy.” For example, typing in “Amazon privacy policy” immediately displays a link to Amazon’s privacy notice. Of course, had you scrolled to the bottom of the Amazon home page, you would have found a privacy notice link right next to the copyright notice.

Your assignment as you browse the Internet over the next few days is to start reading privacy policies. These are good measures of a Web site’s credibility. As you learn more about privacy issues, come back to Filetonic.com for advice covering protecting your privacy.