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Free, Customizable Flash Image Viewer

Mitch — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:54:57 +0000

Need a simple flash gallery tool? Look no further than SimpleViewer. It can take any bundle of online photos and make it into a gallery that somebody could spend hours upon hours browsing through.

This free online script will allow you to have a beautiful flash-powered image gallery in no time at all. This is a great free script for any photographers who wish to highlight their own pictures, or artists who want to show off their most recent creations.

Here are some of the features:

Intelligent image pre-loading.
Intuitive image navigation
Lightweight (17k).
Customizable interface – Set text color, frame color and width, navigation position.
Resizable interface – Interface scales to fit browser window.
Cross platform – Windows/Macintosh/Linux (requires Flash 8 or higher).

Check out some of the examples here:

Hi-Res Example – Full-browser, no captions.
Lo-Res Example – Full-browser, captions, background image.
Small Format Example - Embedded in HTML page.

Want to give it a shot? You can learn more about this great free script over at SimpleViewer.net. It is free to use, and if you like it – you could always purchase the pro version for a few more perks and services.

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Better AdSense Optimization with WordPress

Mitch — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:22:25 +0000

Looking through Google AdSense advice and suggested places to put your advertisements, I often see it suggested to put the ads between your posts on the index page. Having searched around for ways to get it done, I found none that were easy – until I found this page.

This is the guide I followed from tamba2.org.uk’s page on this issue. I hope this comes in as handy for you as it did for me, because it took me forever to find a code combination that worked exactly like I wanted it to.

Copying from above, you would use this instead:

$postnum = 1;
$showadsense1 = 1;
$showadsense2 = 2;
?>

which would go at the top.
Again copying from the above, you already have this:

echo ‘
Your adsense code goes here
‘;
} ?>

and you would add another block below the first ad, but above the counter at the bottom. Here it is all together:

echo ‘
Your adsense code goes here
‘;
} ?>
echo ‘
Your adsense code goes here
‘;
} ?>

The first bit says the values, then the values are checked each time WP goes through The Loop. If the counter matches what your value is, the ad is shown. Changing the numbers lets you change the placement.

Hope that helps, and many thanks to the tamba2.org.uk site. Be sure to check out this page for more help on AdSense optimization within WordPress.

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BidVertiser – Favorite Web Development Freebies (Part 2 of 5)

Mitch — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

In need of a way to do a little advertising online for your Lunarpages hosted web site? My second favorite freebie that you can get with Lunarpages is the BidVertiser credit.

You see, BidVertiser runs what is called a “site targeted PPC network”, which just means you choose where your advertising ads are displayed, how much they cost, and even where users are located to get the most out of your advertising dollar. BidVertiser is one of the most respected names in online advertising, with a portal of thousands of relevant sites you can place your ad on, so you’re assure quality and quantity.

Anybody who wants it, can get $20.00 in FREE advertising clicks from BidVertiser.

How do you get it? To redeem, simply login to your Customer Account Page and select the Specials Tab and then click on the big banner that says “Click her for your $775 Free Bonus”. It is just that easy!

Want more Freebies? Stay Tuned!
All this week I am going to be covering my favorite fee tools, applications services and more that we deliver to our Lunarpages web hosting customers. Want to check out what your missing – sign up, and join in on the fun.

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Typewriter for the Web?

Mitch — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:48:16 +0000

By Mitch “Monochrome” Keeler

Move over Google Docs and Zoho Writer, there is a new word processing application online. Feast your eyes on Writer, the Internet typewriter.

No logging in, complicated menus or any of that jazz. This is the first lightweight online word processor I have run across. Just because it is lightweight doesn’t mean it is short on features though. You can setup a new document, save, get word count, send it to others, download and print your written words.

So is this just one out of many more to come like it? I’ve always been a big fan of your lightweight writing programs and this online counterpart looks very compelling as well.

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Easy Form Creation

Mitch — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:17:13 +0000

By Mitch “WYSIWYG” Keeler

Need help creating a new form for your web site that both is functional and looks pretty too? pForm is one resource I just happened to stumble across that I really like.

All you have to do is pick the design you like and then walk through the steps designing how you exactly want the form to look. You have all kinds of different options from radio boxes to text fields. There is just about every option you could ask for.

Related Tips and Tricks:

Lunarforums Site of the Month

Mitch — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:36:36 +0000

By Mitch “Forum Plugger” Keeler

We are in the middle of bringing back an old favorite that many seemed to enjoy the Web Site of the Month. The Web site of the month forum is back open and running over at Lunarforums.com and now all we need is your vote. Here are the stipulations and rules:

1. You can submit your entries in for the web site of the month to me, via a PM here on the forums.
2. The web site in question must be hosted here at Lunarpages, either as a primary, subdomain or addon domain.
3. The final week of the month, I will put up a poll where you can vote out of 5 randomly drawn submissions.
4. Whoever has the most votes at the end of that week, will be our winner for that month!

Remember, if you submit one month – and don’t win, you can submit again the next month! Also, once you have won you won’t be able to re-submit yourself so you can win again. We want to have as many winners as we can!

Winners will get a special badge to display on their site, the honor of being our choice for a month and also a mention in our Lunarpages Newsletter.

Read more about it on the Lunarforums thread about it, and be sure to submit your own Lunarpages hosted site to me via the board’s personal message system or drop me an e-mail.

Related Tips and Tricks:

Design Inspiration at Best Web Gallery

Mitch — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:10:25 +0000

by Mitch “Ain’t No Picasso“ Keeler

When working on your web site and trying to see what you could do to make it better, there is nothing at all wrong with looking at others styles and techniques to see if it inspires you to create a better look and feel for your own project.

Once of my new favorite resources to do just that is Best Web Design:

It is an “inspirational gallery site where we collect a wide range of quality design websites (Flash & CSS).” Translation? They have a lot of pretty layouts to go drool over.

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Game Reviews from TheGameReviews.com

Tiara — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:47:58 +0000

by Tiara Rea

These days, I’d say it’s nearly impossible to find people who aren’t interested in gaming. Even here at Lunarpages, nearly everybody is a closet-WOW nerd, Guitar Hero rock star, or a Mario fanatic, and though most people might be put off by our heated debates over PS3 Vs Wii or the constant pressure to join the WOWers at 2am, we like to think it’s pretty cool.

Okay, we realize we’re all nerds, but that’s half the fun. ;)

Personally, I like to take my nerdtacularness (that’s right, I went there) to the next level by going online to read gaming reviews and find out what others think about new and upcoming releases and just to see what’s new in the world of gaming. So I’d like to share an awesome new gaming site with you guys: The Game Reviews is a land of “unbiased thoughts by a community of gamers”. In other words, the biggest and smartest dorks gather to talk games. While it’s a new community, it has incredible potential and I find myself checking it daily.

Their Forums are setup to be an awesome place to connect with fellow gamers, and since the site is fairly new, you can expect it to grow rapidly too! But what I really love about this site is the reviews, interviews, and thoughts on upcoming releases. This is the site that brought Rock Band into my frame of mine…and it’s the same site that made me want the game so bad I’m considering buying PS3 just to get it sooner. They also offer game cheat codes…not that I need them… *cough*… as well as videos, screenshots, lists of top 10s, and a ton more.

TheGameReviews.com is really set up to be an awesome community of fabulous gamers who know their stuff, and it’s always a pleasure checking their site out, so I’d recommend any LP gamers should check it out when you get a chance and bask in gamer Heaven.

Related Tips and Tricks:

MindSmack.com wins the 1st annual DesignFirms.org web site design award.

Amy Armitage — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:17:33 +0000

Doritos Party Featuring Black Eyed Peas!

Where’s the party at? http://www.MindSmack.com was contracted to design and develop this high-impact flash website complete with After Effects video animation and a media player that showcases the awesome FLAVOR TRIP video. MindSmack.com President & CEO, Samuel Feuer, Chief Creative Officer, Marcelo Moyano and senior animator, Mike Feuer handcrafted all of the animation and effects. We have edited and animated all of the video for Fergie, Will i am, Taboo and Apl.de.Ap so they have a cool flow of animation and effects for each and are consistent with the site feel. The Doritos product is the coolest and tastiest imaginable. You have to experience it to believe how awesome this flavor trip chip actually is! This was a truly exciting project since there was so much room to explore ideas and demonstrate creativity. The team we put together for this project has won countless major awards including FWA awards and Macromedia (now Adobe) Site of the Day awards.

For more information regarding this award, please visit www.doritosparty.com or www.MindSmack.com

Also check out http://designfirms.org/awards/competition/2007/ for full coverage on the award.

Random Posts

Having fun with the Bestuff.com

Mitch — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:50:48 +0000

Author: Mitch Keeler

So it is raining outside, you have no important work to do and you don’t particularly find lolcats all that funny. What is a person to do? Well you could sit there like a bump on a log – or you could fire up your browser and check out some of the best “stuff” out there in the world today.

Could one place actually have all the best stuff out there that has ever existed under any category of my wild and wacky imagination? Sure! Bestuff.com is the solution you have been looking for.

Like many of the new social tools out there you would never have imagined this web site would be as addicting as it is. Since checking it out – I just feel the urge to search for awesome things and to find others who might enjoy them.

They also have a set of user forums too so if you have any feedback or issues, you can report and discuss them right there. This web site is definitely one to keep bookmarked in any browser.

Random Posts

List-O-Matic: Make Pretty Lists

Mitch — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:08:15 +0000

Author: Mitch Keeler

When it comes to creating pretty lists via a little HTML here and a little CSS there, a lot of the design ideas and techniques can go over many heads out there. That is why I am happy to see tools like List-O-Matic have made this process a heck of a lot easier.

No matter if you are a CSS web design master or just a guy with your first web site you should be able to use this tool with no issues at all. All you need to do is visit the web site, follow the steps, pick a design and you are good to go.

Once you are finished, you are given both the list HTML code that you can copy and paste into your web site and the CSS needed to make it all look right. Now this tool is not just a cheap way out of a difficult process, oh no. You could also use what it exports as a learning tool so that you can see how all of these features come together and work.

For your Lunar-homework – try creating a list, and then change around a few elements of the CSS it gave you to see how that changes the appearance of the list. Keep doing this and hey – who knows. You might not even need the good ol’ List-O-Matic any longer.

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Got Background Patterns, Will Travel

Mitch — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:44:09 +0000

Author: Mitch Keeler

Having a nice background for your web site can go a long way. It seems like here recently more and more web sites are using designs and patterns for their backgrounds. The question is, where can you find a neat one to use?

If you find yourself asking this question, check out Pattern4u. They have loads of background and patterns that you can use. As far as copyright goes and the “rights” you have to use them – this is what they have to say.

All the Pattern can be used for private and commercial Websites. Please note that all the Pattern are sent to us by the Users.

This is a resource I’ve got saved to use for my next big project, I think you should hold on to it as well. They have loads of different styles, shapes and sizes so you should have no problem finding one that will work best for you.

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Helpful Web Dev Forum Links

Mitch — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:04:15 +0000

Author: Mitch Keeler

I spend a lot of my day browsing through the Lunarpages Lunarforums and I have to say there is more than just a handful of smart customers and staff on hand there. Every single place I turn on that web site it seems there is yet another helpful tip or tool to use.

Need an example? Well for starters here you have an easy way to change from the Fantastico WordPress install to your own WordPress upgrade. Following up with the suggested advice will allow you to stop being bugged by Fantastico after you do so.

Oh you want more? How about a beginner’s guide to creating your first .Net web site? Pretty neat reading.

Not enough? Here’s an unofficial guide to getting the most out of Spam Assassin at Lunarpages.

So what are you waiting for? The Lunarforums are for any and all Lunarpages customers to use and if you haven’t yet – you might be missing out on a plethora of information, tools and tips.

Random Posts

MindSmack launches web design blog! BlogSmack!

Amy Armitage — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 02:06:56 +0000

By Samuel Feuer

Starting out with high impact web design project releases and exciting company news. There are not enough blogs on the Internet so we felt compelled to make our blog public!

http://www.MindSmack.com/blog

Time to make the donuts… :) Is it doughnuts or donuts?…

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Real Time Viewer Stats

Mitch — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:30:40 +0000

Author: Mitch Keeler

We have all seen statistical trackers that give you data about people who have been to your web site, but what about data on people on your web site right now? The second might be a neater trick to pull off I think. There is a service out there that promises to give you real time numbers when it comes to tracking who is on your web site right now.

Whos.amung.us is the service in question, and I have to say this does look pretty neat from top to bottom. All you need to do is post some code on your web pages in question – and you will be given a counter to see who is on your web site right now.

There’s no need to sign up or register either – everything just works. Give it a shot and let us know what you think. If you know of another solution for this problem out there as well let us know. Always like checking out new and interesting resources from the Web.

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Great Web Site Review Tool

Mitch — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:33:58 +0000

Author: Mitch Keeler

So how does your web site stand up to some of the biggest ones out on the Web? It doesn’t matter if your coming in first or last, this web site review tool is a great one to use not only to figure out where you stand – but how to make your web site rank even higher out there.

WebsiteGrader.com gives you more output options than you could ever want or need. It tells you how you rank in just about every way, shape or form out there on the Web.

Here is a little more about the web site from the creators themselves.

Website Grader is a tool that helps measure the effectiveness of a website, from a marketing perspective. It assigns a numerical score from (a “grade”) to a given website. The score ranges from 0-100 (technically, 0-99 as 100 is not possible). It is based on a variety of data points about the website including the structure of the site, popularity, traffic, search engine optimization, marketing features and a slew of other things.

It covers search rankings, digg submissions, readability, Alexa traffic ranking, del.icio.us bookmarks, Technorati ranking, inbound links, page rank and a whole lot more.

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Web design, flash, animation and custom web development at its best.

Amy Armitage — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:46:43 +0000

Author: Samuel Feuer

We have just launched a new site that I wanted to showcase on this here blog. The site is dedicated to exclusive members only and was 100% custom built from the ground up by the MindSmack.com crew. Check it out!

http://www.privatepass.citi.com

Yahoo!

You can also check out some of our latest creations @ http://www.MindSmack.com

For those of you who are into the whole affiliate marketing thing or just love the web and feel you have some interest in meeting other web gurus who are into marketing and the like check out the eComXpo @ http://www.ecomxpo.com/home.htm

Now back to your regularly scheduled website programming…

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The Best Stuff in the World

Tiara — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 01:06:36 +0000

By Tiara
So you all know Lunarpages Web Hosting is the Best Web Hosting Company in the World, but there’s a site out there that proves it! No bluff. Check out The Best Stuff in the World, one of the most incredible, interactive, and creative websites in the world.

I actually contacted Adrian, one of the BSITW gurus, a couple months ago, just to tell him how awesome his site was. Our conversation went as follows:

Me: Like, omg Adrian, your site is totally cool!

Adrian: Like, omg, I totally know, for serial.

Me: :D

Adrian: :D

Okay, maybe it went down a little more professionally and with less Valley Girl talk, but in essence, I was psyched about Adrian’s site and he was psyched that I worked for a web hosting company because as it turns out, he needed some top-notch hosting! It’s pretty amazing how coincidences come about and work themselves out.

At any rate, Lunarpages is uber proud to be hosting The Best Stuff in the World. With TBSITW, you vote on what you think is the best, whether that’s freshly cut grass, French Fries, or even The Familiar Odour of Someone You Love Afer a Long Absence. And if it’s not listed, you can easily add a category yourself! I’ve personally added a few, but unfortunately, nobody agrees that Weiss Kreuz is the best anime in the world. Whatev, watch it and you’ll see. *pushes up nerd specs* And if you don’t agree that Weiss Kreuz is the best anime in the world, you can vote for what’s better, add comments, and even get amazing widgets for your site. Take a look at my best stuff!

One of the best parts of The Best Stuff in the World is how easy and addictive it is. When I first found it, I think I was on it for 2 hours (not during work hours, of course…), and since then I have been an avid user and BSITW Ambassador, spreading the word on the site to everyone who’ll listen.

So what’s the best? Comment with your favs and include links so we can agree (or not)! ;)

And everyone give a warm welcome to the BSITW team – Adrian and his gang are great people. We love having them on board.

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Web design evolution. Flashy, functional coolness. Flawless integration. MindSmack, soon.

Amy Armitage — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 03:47:33 +0000

Author: Samuel Feuer

Web design has now truly evolved into an awesome “tool” on the Internet. We can create any type of visual experience for any type of genre. Using flash and sometimes incorporating video with cutting-edge software packages, we can make the highest level of interactive web experiences imaginable. Stuff ya dream about :).

The coolest part about it is that we are still very much in the infancy of the Internet. We continuously work to harness its fascinating power and reach for a connection with everyone in the world . Our newest site, which we hope to launch by Jan 1, 2007, will demonstrate the use of flash, video, Maya and After Effects (and some other cool programs) to create a sick cool, surreal visual and interactive experience that flows with heart pounding sound. Stunning visual effects are quickly followed by cool and even funny movements to make you laugh, and voice overs that we had done by the brilliant Jack Dennis (who many will recognize from hollywood trailers and a ton of commercials – yeah, he’s THAT guy).

Once we launch I will advise on this blog and of course we will give the user the option of entering the new site OR our current site and we will be offering a toned down, basic html site so any user can see what we do, even via cell phone.

All this and a bag of doritos (and a coke or pepsi) are in the works and on the way soon to a computer screen near you. SO GET TICKETS! Front row seats still available…

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Just launched our new MindSmack web design site!

Amy Armitage — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:20:27 +0000

Author: Samuel Feuer

Been awhile since we last updated the full site so it was needed. Feel free to check it out and post up some comments/thoughts and the like.

Click Here – MindSmack.com

With the new launch we are moving over to a LunarPages dedicated server for good measure!

We are also about to launch “THE MINDSMACK BEAST” site which we feel will be the absolute coolest interactive web experience the world has encountered online (so far). This BEAST site will take about 1 full minute to download because we are using the highest level of design software and animation techniques that are a bit heavy on the file size but well worth it in our opinion.

I look forward to being an active participant on this blog, feel free to ask me anything regarding web design, animation, web programming or anything else. I am an expert in many fields and truly enjoy answering random questions about just about anything.