Website Tips, Resources

Safety on the Net

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Tip: Saving A Web Graphic
You have been surfing around, looking for a background to use on your page.  You finally found what you want to use, what do you do now?  First, make sure that the graphic is okay to use ~ if you are at a site that offers free graphics, check to see what their Terms of Use are.  Many sites simply ask for a link back to their site.   Do the right thing - give them credit for their artwork that you like so much!   So, what is the next step?  Download the graphic.  Some sites have special methods that you need to use, others let you use the right-click method.   Simply right click with your mouse on the graphic.  You will get the option to "Save Picture As..." Click on this and save it to your computer. 

Tip: What is Bandwidth Theft?
Most web servers have a limit on how much "Bandwidth"a site can use.  For those that don't know what Bandwidth is, the easiest way to explain it is through an example: If you have a webpage that has a file size of 10k and you have 1 graphic on it that is 10k, every time that page is opened, it will use 20k of Bandwidth.   While this is a simplistic way of explaining it, hopefully it will give you at least a basic idea. 

A graphics site can have pretty high bandwidth usage.  If you link to a graphic on someone elses site, they end up getting charged for that bandwidth every time someone views your page.  This can cause both you and them many problems.  

Some servers will shut a site down for the rest of the month if they exceed their bandwidth useage.  That is bad for them but also bad for you ~ with their site shut down, you will get a blank graphic.  Other servers will simply charge the site more money because of the overage in bandwidth. 

If you have linked to someones site, at some point, your site address will probably show up in their logs.  If they identify that you have linked to one of their graphics, they will do one of a few things.  They may contact you, contact your webserver or put a different graphic on their site so that, instead of seeing the graphic you "stole" your visitors will see something different. 

The graphic I often use to replace a stolen background is a tiny little one that has a black background and the word "yuck" written in white!  At times I have used a larger graphic that tells every visitor to their site that they have stolen my graphic.  What I do usually depends on the response I receive when I write them and ask them to please put the graphic on their  site instead of linking to mine.  For more information on this, see my section on Bandwidth Theft.

Tip: The Browser Wars!
Many people don't realize that Netscape and Internet Explorer don't always see things eye to eye... meaning that they don't always display a page the same way.  There are other browsers out there as well and they also tend to see things a bit differently (though I will focus on the 2 big ones here).  Not all JavaScripts will work with both Netscape and IE either.  So, what do you do?  Simple, take a look at your page using each browser!  I test my pages out before I upload them to the web - and then once they are on the web I test them again.  The process for this is basically the same on both browsers.  In your browser, go to "file" and "open" then navigate to the file on your computer and open it up.  You will see how the page presents itself in each browser when you do this. Note: Some of the page maker programs (like Front Page) give you a preview but I have found that these do not always give an accurate preview.  The browser method does.

Tip: Check Your Page
You have finally finished your first web page and put it up on your website, now what?  Before you utter that sigh of tremendous relief, go and look at your page.  Click on your links.  Make sure the graphics look the way you expected and make sure your links work!  If this advice sounds like simple common sense, it is because it IS common sense... but unfortunately, it is something that many people DON'T do.  We all make mistakes and we all miss things ~ the point is to do your best to check it out and catch those mistakes. 

Tip: No Background Scrolling
This will make the background "stay put" ~ when someone scrolls the page, the text (etc) moves. To see an example, click here.  To achieve this effect, take the regular background code:
<body background="goldgreen.gif" text="#004000" link="#008000" vlink="#AF8D27"alink="#00FF00" >
and add this:
bgproperties="fixed
the code will then look like this:
<body background="goldgreen.gif" text="#004000" link="#008000" vlink="#AF8D27"alink="#00FF00" bgproperties="fixed">

Tip: Opening Another Browser Window
I love clicking on links but I hate loosing track of where I started because I have followed multiple links.  I appreciate it when sites have the links open up in a seperate browser ~ even though it means I often have many browser windows up and running.  To have your links open up a seperate browser window, start with your regular code:
<a href="http://www.melodief.com/" >
and add this:
target="_blank"
the code will then look like this:
<a href="http://www.melodief.com/" target="_blank">

Original Artists Unite...To Protect Our Copyright
No Right Click Code
I use this code on some of my pages and have had alot of requests for the code.  This code disables the right click to help cut down on people downloading graphics on that page.  This is a great page that gives other ways to protect your graphics (etc) as well as copyright information.

The Java Script Source
Want to find some totally awesome scripts?  Then make this site your first stop!  The scripts are grouped into convienient catagories and each one has a sample so you can see what it actually does and what it looks like. The setup also makes getting and using the scripts pretty easy.  They also have a newsletter you can subscribe to which makes it easy to find out what new scripts they have added!

Learn JavaScript!
HTML Goodies
Want to learn JavaScript?  This site is wonderful! It is done in an easy to understand manner and contains a wealth of other information as well!

1001 Free Fonts
This is my favorite font resource.  Of course, it can take quite a while to go through all of the fonts they have listed (plus they are constantly adding more fonts!).   One of the good things about this site is that each font indicates its creator and whether it is freeware or shareware.  An example of each font is shown but the number of fonts per page are limited which makes each page's downloads pretty quick.

Free Tutorials
This site links to many free tutorials.  Catagories include: applications, general programming, graphics, internet, operating systems, web design and web programing.

TheFreeSite
No resource listing would be complete without adding this site.  TheFreeSite has be around for a long time and just keeps growing!  They have many catagories to choose from and wonderful links within each catagory.  Definately a place to bookmark and return to time and time again!

Web Guard
This is a wonderful organization that I have belonged to for a few years now.  They offer a tremendous amount of information and help dealing with copyright and Bandwidth Theft.  Membership is free and well worth it!

Paint Shop Pro
If you are looking for a professional graphics program that is very reasonably priced, this is the best around!  I have used it for years and each new upgrade just makes it more and more amazing!

The Gibson Research Center
Test your computer for free!
GRC has been around for a long time and is considered an excellent and safe site.   They have developed a small program that can be used in conjunction with their site to test your computer... is your computer open to hackers?  You might be surprised.   Most computers get "scanned" on a fairly frequent basis - this is not a specifically focused attack, it is an "information gathering" exercise (so-to-speak).  Your computer ports can be wide open (which allows easy access to hackers), closed (meaning the scan has shown that these ports exist at this location) or stealth (which means nothing showed up at all).  Stealth mode is definitely what each internet user should be aiming at.  You owe it to yourself to find out what the status of your computer is.  This is a very small download and is FREE.  The instructions are pretty easy to follow and well worth it!

This site also has a tremendous number of other things that are well worth looking at!

Also at this site is a program called "OptOut" which is due to be free until July.  It will scan your system for "Spyware" to see if anything has been hidden on your system by a website, company or program in order to gather information on you, your interests, your purchases, etc.  It is a very small program and even if you don't decide to try it out, at least read some of the information that led to its creation. 

ZoneAlarm
This is a very impressive and FREE program that creates a strong firewall around your computer.  It protects you in a couple of ways: 1) If somehow a "trojan horse" (or Back Orifice) program (basically a "hacking" program that has been hidden inside another program) has found its way onto your computer, at some point it will attempt to contact the net.  This program BLOCKS any attempts for any program on your computer to contact the net.  When you first set it up, you have to give permission for different programs (like your browser) to interact with the net. 2) It makes your ports "stealth" so that they can not be detected by scanning.   It also notifies you when it has blocked access. 3) The most recent upgrade has included some excellent additions - including scanning for email virus's (like the recent "I Love You" virus. I know many people that swear by this program - including myself!!!  Better to be safe then sorry.  Check it out!  You may be surprised at the number of times it blocks access to your computer.

Note: Try going to GRC and testing your ports then go and download and install ZoneAlarm.  Return to GRC to do another test and you will see the difference!!!

Microsoft "Fixes"
Microsoft puts "fixes" to their software here.  This is a good place to check once in a while to keep your computer safe.  Did you know there is a "hole"in IE5.0 that allows certain email virus's to work (without you opening an attachment).  It is due to an Active X hole.  MS does have a fix for this which can be found here.   The download area also has updated software and other "fixes"- the fixes are free of charge and can be important for the safety of your computer.

Internet ScamBusters - A Free e-Zine to Avoid Internet Fraud
Internet Scambusters
This site will help keep you informed of scams, fraud, new virus's and more. 
Stay safe by staying informed!
They have a FREE Newsletter that is very informative and many resources available on their site.  Definitely worth visiting, bookmarking and subscribing!

Web Bugs that track visitors
Did you know that some websites can track you?  These web bugs can be found in some emails as well as on some websites ~ get the facts here!