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Archive for the ‘web development’


ggis Subscribe Plugin

What is it?

ggis Subscribe gives authors an easy way to insert a form that performs emailing list subscription management.

Features and Requirements

  • Wordpress 2.5 or greater
  • An email list to subscribe to. Currently supports:
    • ezmlm lists – subscribe by sending email to listname-subscribe-your=address.com@domain.com
  • Designation of success page

Setup

Using ggisSubscribe is a very simple matter of performing a short setup and then inserting a simple code in your post.

  1. Download and install plugin using standard means. Download here.
  2. View the ggisSubscribe options from the Settings menu.
  3. Add the email address of your mailing list. If you have more than one list, use commas between each address.
  4. Enter the URL of your thank you page (next page)
  5. Enter the URL of you main subscription management page.
    • Yes. Create and publish your subscription management first and then finish with your ggisSubscribe options.

Usage

The subscription form may be inserted on a post, page, or text widget by including the following code in your text.

[-%ggis-subscribe %formtype "%listname"-]

Here is an explanation of the fields:

  • ggis-subscribe – identifies the code (required)
  • formtype – identifies the form type
    • 0, default – full subscription management form
    • 1 – subscribe only form , requires “listname”
  • listname – identifies the list to include in a subscription only form

See the demonstration forms.

In a Widget?

A subscription form may be placed into the standard text widget using the methods above. For widget use, I suggest using only formtype=1, the short form.

To Do

  1. Add template tag output
  2. Add other list manager types

Theory of Addictive Web Design

Interesting presentation on what makes a web site more than compelling for viewers. Link to ‘Discover is the New Cocaine‘.

Testing Credit Card Numbers

In development work, you must always test your functions or expressions for proper results. For credit cards, there are some numbers that are NOT REAL numbers but will verify properly in developmental tests.

Testable Credit Card Numbers

Card Type Card Number
Master Card (16 Digits) 5105105105105100
Master Card (16 Digits) 5555555555554444
Visa (13 Digits) 4222222222222
Visa (16 Digits) 4111111111111111
Visa (16 Digits) 4012888888881881
American Express (15 Digits) 378282246310005
American Express (15 Digits) 371449635398431
Amex Corporate (15 Digits) 378734493671000
Dinners Club (14 Digits) 38520000023237
Dinners Club (14 Digits) 30569309025904
Discover (16 Digits) 6011111111111117
Discover (16 Digits) 6011000990139424
JCB (16 Digits) 3530111333300000
JCB (16 Digits) 3566002020360505


* Thanks to http://www.crazysquirrel.com/finance/test-cc.jspx

Online ticket sales

On occasion, I am asked to set up online ticket sales for various clients. This is usually for a client that does not have an online store for other products. Sometimes the client wishes to highlight or feature the event as well.

There are many services available to help you sell your tickets online. All that I have found charge a fee. For many of my clients, holding small events, these fees make the service cost-prohibitive. Instead, they choose to go with a self-hosted and processed solution that relies on their current capabilities. This leaves the possibilities nearly endless for a developer like me.

Here, I review the information needed to start developing online ticket sales for small clients with special events. This information could also be applied to larger clients, though it may be appropriate to develop a more robust online store that includes the ability to sell tickets.

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Don’t Fight the System

This article introduces experienced and novice web designers to WordPress. WordPress has its own way of structuring data and it is much easier to adjust yourself to the natural structure of WordPress than it is to twist WordPress to your way of thinking. Adjusting yourself will make WordPress a surprisingly effective and efficient means of fulfilling your needs.

WordPress has extensive documentation that covers all aspects of creating, populating, and maintaining your blog or website. Please do view that documentation as it is always the most complete and current.

Don’t start your design with presentation, start with the structure and come back to the presentation later. First, make certain that everything you wish to do can be done by WordPress. WordPress is an advanced blogging system but it is not a Content Management System. A CMS offers far more flexibility to build the structure but it pays with added complexity.
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Easy shared calendars

This is a simple overview of taking advantage of calendar sharing. Calendar sharing is available from many services but I will limit discussion here to the big 3. Part II of this article covers the details of subscribing to a calendar in Outlook.
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Gifts of Stock or Other Securities

Donations of stocks or other securities benefit both the donor and the non profit. The nonprofit gains another avenue to accepting donations and these are potentially large donations. The donor receives the donation tax benefits of the appreciated security without the capital gains hit from the appreciated security.

Read more on npexchange.org

Campaign Web Site Features

I was recently asked to create a campaign web site for local mayoral campaign. After doing a little research, here are some features that likely should be required on such a site.

  1. Welcome
  2. Election information
  3. Why you
  4. Biography (your story)
  5. Issues
  6. Donations
  7. Volunteer
  8. Other ways to help
  9. Email list
  10. Bulk emailer
  11. Events
  12. Endorsements
  13. Local News
  14. RSS News feed
  15. Speeches
  16. News releases
  17. Campaign disclosures
  18. Contact us

These additional features may be included on a campaign site:

  1. Surveys
  2. Blog
  3. Photo gallery
  4. Calendar