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Monthly Archives: May 2014

When you combine personal emails with your business emails, there’s a good chance that you probably look at and send thousands of them every week. Every email has one thing in common: the signature at the end of the message that provides contact information. You could have a pretty basic email signature that gives everyone the essentials… or you could jazz it up with one of these cool email signature templates that will help you express yourself in a fun way.

1. CompanySig.com – http://www.companysig.com/

Tested with the major email clients already, this platform takes the template out of the equation and lets you create something great with just a few clicks. You just enter in your details, upload your company logo if you want, and then paste the result into your preferred email platform. You have multiple color options, can provide links to websites, a map to your agency, or your v-card so people can keep your business details on hand. It’s fast and it’s free.

CompanySig

2. Pearltrees – http://www.pearltrees.com/

If you want the full use of your email, then Pearltrees is the place to go. Not only will you find a very handy [and very free] email signature generator, but you’ll also find a wide variety of other handy tools to help your email really stand out. You can focus on logo design, the design of your email buttons, and get lots of examples from forum connections of cool email signature templates that could help you get the fully customized options that you want.

Pearltrees

3. Microsoft Office – http://office.microsoft.com/

Many businesses today utilize Outlook as their primary email client, which means that using Microsoft Office for the cool email signature templates is simple and easy to do. You just choose the template that makes sense for you, paste it into the automatically generated signature menu, and you’re ready to go! There are options that include tables and photographs, plus you can incorporate logos and other graphics if you prefer.

Microsoft Office

4. Sigwich – http://www.sigwich.com/

How cool would it be to create a custom email signature from a template that has a patent pending on the process? That’s what you’ll get with this browser-based template program that will provide you with all of the contact essentials that are needed in a good signature. You can even include a legal disclosure as one of the options, plus there’s even full social networking integration for your company’s Facebook pages or Twitter account. The one downside of this template program is that it doesn’t support any Apple integration.

Sigwich

5. Wise Stamp – http://www.wisestamp.com/

With their cool email signature templates and other apps, you can create a powerful tool with every message you send. You can put in feeds from your company’s blog or even posts from your LinkedIn profile. You can incorporate random quotes as a fun variation to your signature and there’s even an option to include eBay listings. There are plenty of free templates available and some premium ones that can add even more power to your messages if you don’t mind the small investment.

Wise Stamp

In order to reach out to their community and the world at large, churches are creating an effective web presence thanks to the Joomla templates that are available today. The very best template designs will help a church tell potential worshipers what their beliefs happen to be, offer regular members the chance to download sermons or services, and provide the church with a medium to offer their faith perspective to the world. Here are some of the very best that are available right now.

1. Hot Church – http://www.hotjoomlatemplates.com/churchly

Using the really good Sparky Framework, Hot Church as three styles that are pre-defined that offer churches different backgrounds and font colors. The graphics dominate the pages, creating an attractive user interface that encourages people to explore the website. It also works very well across all mobile platforms and devices, so anyone can pull up the site in a pinch to check on directions to the church or service times. With deep menu systems and dropdown panes, an unlimited number of module positions can be added anywhere within the template.

Hot Church

2. Epic – http://www.joomlashine.com/

Although it isn’t necessarily a dedicated church template, Epic is based off of the Warp Framework and is a very elegant, clean site. The menu options are very attractive and the sliding framework is fluid and interactive. Integrating social media is really easy to do and there are a lot of ways to help people get connected with your church. There are different color formats available as well, so you can have a cool or warm visual presence based on your personal preference.

Epic

3. Praise – http://www.bestofjoomla.com/

If you’re looking for a visually stunning template for your church, then you can’t go wrong with the Praise template. Using the right-hand sliding menus that are interactive, there are also ways to get to interior pages through visual block menus that invite people to click on them based on their preferences. The design is incredibly responsive and there is also rapid content that is included free with the template so that the site can be up and running in just a couple hours max.

Praise

4. Touch of Soul – http://www.shape5.com/touchofsoul

Incorporating warm backgrounds and relaxing colors, this Joomla church template is designed to help put the information people need right in front of them. Upcoming events, worship times, and places to include online sermons are all part of the package. You can also use your own custom backgrounds if you wish, chance the width of the columns, and include a pastor’s blog if wanted as well. You can event stream MP3′s of any kind on the template, letting visitors listen to your worship team’s original compositions.

Touch of Soul

5. Duoplate – http://www.shape5.com/duoplate

If you’re looking for something that doesn’t have any bells or whistles, then this is the Joomla church template for you. It’s multifunctional and offers menus that can be jam-packed full of information. It allows for customized polls as well, membership log-ins, and plenty of compatibility so that anyone can access the site at any time to get the info they might need.

Duoplate

In the world of social media, taking fun quizzes is one of the hottest ways for people to share parts of their personality with their friends. In practical terms, however, a good quiz can also be a way to gain some immeasurable feedback from your customers or website visitors so you can improve your overall processes. If you’re not using quizzes yet, then here are the best PHP quiz maker scripts to start using as soon as today.

1. Proquiz – http://proquiz.softon.org/

Proquiz has a really simple interface that will let you generate all different kinds of quizzes in not time at all. It supports a variety of question categories, including multiple choice questions. It’s also fully customizable and will deliver a detailed summary report of the quiz results when you want them. There is also a timing chart display and you can track online users.

ProQuiz

2. Savsoft – http://savsoftquiz.com/

Although it is designed more as a test interface, Savsoft is also a really great application that helps to create an online quiz for fun or feedback. Short answer questions are available in this format, as are true/false questions and multiple choice. You can also put in negative marks and the multiple choice questions can be answered with radio buttons or check boxes.

SavSoftQuiz

3. GooQuiz – http://sourceforge.net/

This is a pretty small tool that is web based. It requires a bit of technical know-how to get it to work since it isn’t completed, but it does have a lot of benefits if you can get it to work for you. It has open MySQL interfaces so that it can be used in a traditional business intranet format. The admin panel is handy and you can set the different configurations you need through the .config file.

GooQuiz

4. Els PHP Web Quiz – http://aspnetpower.com/elsphpwebquiz/

This is an open source piece of software that is web based. It will help you create quizzes or surveys if you prefer and then help you migrate them to your system. It’s really easy to use, works with Google Chrome, and also integrates with MySQL 5, PHP 5, or Apache. You’ll get all of the options you need without any of the bells and whistles, which makes it perfect for the average user.

Els PHP Web Quiz

5. MultiWebQuiz – http://www.phpkode.com/

Available to run on any server with PHP 4 or higher, this is a freeware online quiz management system that features multiple choice questions. All you’ve got to do to install the file is to download it and follow the instructions that are included, so anyone can really get it done in just a few minutes. In return, you’ll get up to 6 answering options per question and there’s a quick quiz area where you can create up to 20 questions in just moments. There’s even automated table creation and data configuration available that easily integrates with your existing tables and databases.

MultiWebQuiz

Having mobile tech is awesome for portable productivity, but every so often you can run into a snag. One of those common snags that people face every day is the fact that Adobe Flash isn’t necessarily enabled on their Android tablet. That means when the Dolphin browser is used to access the internet, you’re just going to get a frustrating error that says you need to install Flash. You might get the little sad puzzle piece too.

Is there a way that this can be fixed?

The Problem Is the Lack of Adobe Support

The reason why Flash and Android aren’t the best of friends is because Adobe stopped supporting Flash content on Android devices that are 4.1+. Before getting rid of Dolphin for something else, however, it is possible to get Flash support within the browser itself instead. You must manually enable Flash support from within the browser. Dolphin Jetpack will then work to stabilize the viewed content that requires Flash.

The first thing you’ve got to do is install the Flash Player app onto your device. That can be done in a couple minutes and just put that exact thought into a search string: Flash Player app for Android. Once you’ve installed that, you simply go to the Settings command in Dolphin. Select “Web Content,” and then select “Flash Player.” Then you’re ready to use the Jetpack plugin.

But I Did This And I Got an Error! What Gives?

So not every Android device actually allows for you to enable the Flash settings within the Dolphin browser, even though it says that it does. You can go through the above steps, attempt to enable Flash, and you’ll get an error message that says Flash can’t work on devices such as yours. If that’s you, then you need to go deal with the root access on your device.

What you’ve got to do is delete the setting’s preferences file that Dolphin uses. When this happens, you’ll force Dolphin to recreate the file with the default values. That means you’ll also have to go back and reset all of your personal preferences, but there’s a good chance that you’ll have the ability to access Adobe Flash through Dolphin once again.

And here’s a final tip for consideration: Adobe offers archived versions of Flash to download on their website. Go into the Android 4.0 archives and make sure that you’re downloading the version that was created to be compatible with your device. When you do that, you’ll automatically activate Jetpack and get all the Flash content you love from the browser without having to download zillions of apps to be productive.

Whether you’re trying to sell tickets for an upcoming gig that you’re producing or you just have a company event that you want to promote for some internal fun, having tickets printed is a great way to kick things off right. You could purchase pre-made tickets or pay someone for customized tickets, but why do that when you could create your own? The best ticket PSD templates will help you do that quickly and affordably. Lets’ take a look.

1. 4OVER4 – http://www.4over4.com/

With a free, blank PSD template, this Photoshop design will help you put in the best elements of your event without any effort at all. For that extra touch, you can even personalize the tickets with names for those special events like prom. Personalization of the tickets also helps to add an extra measure of security for large-scale events because you’ll be able to create an attendee list. This simple PSD template works for any event, however, and is very easy to use for a free download.

4Over4

2. Uprinting – http://www.uprinting.com/

With the ticket PSD templates that you’ll find on this site, you’ll get the chance to full customize the actual appearance of the ticket. With options for perforation points, vertical and horizontal landcapes, and corner folding and finishing, you can directly replicate on the template the look and feel of a real ticket you’d buy elsewhere. The template is the standard 2”x5.5” size and the template works with Adobe Photoshop so you can spread your message.

Uprinting

3. FreePik – http://www.freepik.com/

If you’re looking for ticket PSD templates that incorporate images with them, then there is a wide variety of free and paid graphic resources that you’ll find on this site. Many of these tickets can be used with the graphics alone if you wish, but the information can be customized to create the specific message that you need. That makes it the perfect option for your upcoming event… or your next social media marketing campaign if you add in a concise call to action on your ticket graphic.

FreePik

4. Print Firm – http://www.printfirm.com/

If you’re looking for different sizes of tickets beyond the standard size in a ticket PSD template, then you’ll have a few extra choices available to your on this size. Going up to a 3”x7” size, the template is pretty basic, but you’ll get the change in size that you want. Incorporate your own graphics if you wish while using these free templates on Photoshop.

PrintFirm

5. 48 Hour Print – https://www.48hourprint.com/

With a good variety of Photoshop templates, you’ll get the chance to fully customize your tickets on this site. As an added benefit, you can also get a custom quote on their printing services in case you’ve decided that you don’t really want to print out all the tickets on your own. Samples are available from the site as well so that you can see what the final product may look like after you finish designed your ticket PSD template. There’s also Publisher, CorelDraw, Illustrator, and other program templates if you prefer.

48 Hour Print

To maximize your business presence, you need a quality website to deliver results. Squarespace is able to deliver those results for you when you incorporate one of the good ecommerce templates that can get your business going. Whether you’re a photographer, a fashion store, or you run a restaurant, these are the good Squarespace ecommerce templates that will get your going, expand your customer base, and help you achieve better results.

1. Peak – http://www.squarespace.com/templates/peak

One of the best Squarespace themes out there right now is Peak. This template helps you to put your best foot forward in a visual way while backing it up with good text that will encourage people to further explore. It integrates well onto mobile devices in a scalable way while keeping the appearance of your site consistent. It’s easy to get set up, even easier to customize, and you’ll have the perfect professional online presence you want.

Peak Theme

2. Wexley – http://www.squarespace.com/templates/wexley

If images are your business, then Wexley is your Squarespace ecommerce template. The images that you have in your portfolio are placed in a modern way, front and center, and you can let your images speak more volumes than your words. Although it is the natural ecommerce platform for a photographer, any business from fashion to the restaurant industry can utilize this template to their advantage. Each image is featured on mobile platforms, giving you a good impression no matter what device a visitor is using.

Wexley Theme

3. Momentum – http://www.squarespace.com/templates/momentum

Do you have a stunning image that reflects your business in a nutshell? A quality image is worth a thousand words and Momentum will help to bring that image to live in an effective way. The menu options in this template are below the primary image, but still within the visitor’s point of view so that the UX isn’t affected. You can place navigation buttons within this top image as well to encourage views of deeper links and is a perfect way to introduce a new product or service.

Momentum Theme

4. Hudson – http://www.squarespace.com/templates/hudson

If information is your product, then Hudson is your Squarespace ecommerce template. This template offers a retro look in some ways, but can also provide a contemporary look at the information you want to display. The standard format is three columns of info that are headed by a graphic, but the design can be customized to put images as the primary header or it can be converted into a single image that displays you quality design.

Hudson Theme

5. Beatrice – http://www.squarespace.com/templates/beatrice

When you think of the classic, modern website that effectively combines information and graphics, you’re thinking of Beatrice. This template puts elegance and style into the user experience while providing an effective method of getting your point across. Ecommerce integration is seamless and you’ll create a stunning first impression that will have everyone coming back for more of what you’ve got to offer.

Beatrice Theme

Being a missionary is a tough gig. It’s rewarding on many different levels, of course, but you’ve also got some challenges. Many missionaries must learn new languages, serve in difficult conditions, and raise the money they need every year to do their work. One of the most effective ways to keep the donations coming in is by updating contributing churches and individuals about the good work you’re doing through the use of a newsletter. These exceptional missionary newsletter templates will help you get the message across effectively.

1. Share Faith – http://www.sharefaith.com/

Many missionaries send updates either once a month or once a quarter to those who support them. Having templates that reflect something going on in that month can help to create a realism about the content that adds another level of emphasis and importance to what is being shared. You’ll find a wide variety of templates to use with lots of places for announcements, devotionals, and testimonials from the field that your supporters will find to be meaningful.

Share Faith

2. Missions Linked – http://missionslinked.com/

Newsletters are a key resource for missionaries and this agency provides an effective newsletter service that will provide you with a solid, custom design that is ready for printing in as little as 72 hours. You get 3 rounds of revisions to help finalize the design for a fair, competitive price. You simply upload all of your photos and resources and your content and Missions Linked does the rest for you so that you can keep on doing the work you need to do. There are also flyers, prayer cards, and even magnets to use as resources as well.

Mission Linked

3. Doc Stoc – http://www.docstoc.com/

This website is designed to help make business be better through free newsletter documents and like it or not, being a missionary also means that you’re running a family business. You’ll find a tremendous amount of attractive newsletter designs on this site that will help you achieve the results that you need to keep working in the field. It’s simple, easy to use, and there are millions of templates and documents from which to choose.

Doc Stac

4. Microsoft Word – http://office.microsoft.com/

If you’re out in the field a lot, then there’s a good chance that you’re staying connected with home every so often by computer, right? If you’re looking for an easy template to use with your MS Office suite, then there are some decent free templates that can be used through Microsoft Word. This eliminates an extra expense while still being able to incorporate the images you have that show off the work that you’re doing every day. With holiday templates and a wide variety of different styles available, you can choose something new every time you need to write something.

Microsoft Word Templates

5. Mormon Share – http://www.mormonshare.com/

Sometimes an effective witnessing tool is a newsletter. Instead of sending it to supporters, dropping off a newsletter at a home can help people see the good work that you’re doing and encourage them to come along for the journey. You’ll find plenty of resources to help you get this accomplished on Mormon Share, from newsletter templates to images that bring joy to the expression of faith being shared.

Mormon Share

Even though you might have a face for radio, your website still needs to have a smiling presence on the internet today. Modern radio isn’t just about listening to the songs or content that come over the airways. It also involves providing an interactive medium for listeners to engage your on-air talent, find out what the info of the song was that just played, or just learn more about events that are coming up in the community. These are the best Joomla radio station templates that can help you achieve all of this… and so much more.

1. Rio Journal – http://www.joomzilla.com/

This Joomla template is perfect for those who are in media and it is completely responsive. It utilizes the Boostrap Framework and includes jQuery to help provide slider components to your site if you want them. It does a great job at incorporating social media platforms into the site and you don’t have to install any extensions because everything you need is right there. Different color options help provide a higher level of customization and the quickstart package is pretty comprehensive if you just want to get going quickly.

Rio Journal

2. Dominator – http://www.bestofjoomla.com/

One of the aspects of the modern media website is that there is just tons of information on the home page for a visitor to find. Dominator provides this information in an aggressive way that isn’t unfriendly, but instead puts all of the highlights of your website together in a glance. There is plenty of room for advertising integration, membership capabilities for exclusive content, and plenty of ways to invite users to listen to your live stream.

Dominator

3. Equalizer – http://www.youjoomla.com

This three column radio station Joomla template has 13 collapsible module positions and 3 color options to get your web design off on the right foot. There are also font and width switchers to give you an added level of customized and image reflections for a classy look. It’s also one of the fastest loading templates available, offers font resising automatically, and can be adapted to both 1 and 2 column layouts if you prefer as well. It’s 100% tableless too.

Equalizer

4. Radiostation – http://www.themesbase.com/

If you want a decent free radio station template, then this one has the goods to deliver the results you want. Menus are on the right-hand side and graphics dominate the header of this template. The information you want is right up front, there’s membership options available, and plenty of other good stuff that will help you fully customize this template to meet all your needs.

Radiostation

Most of the time, you’re going to be able to backup your MySQL database using the control panels. Sometimes that process just doesn’t work. It can just fail outright. Sometimes it times out if you’ve got a pretty big database. To get around these issues, having a PHP script in place that will help you invoke a MySQL dump to give you a backup file in your private directory is the solution that you need. You can also set up the PHP to dump one or more of your tables or just a select number of your databases if you have more than one on a server.

1. A Simple, Basic Script

One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to just add your own script to the existing PHP file that you have so that you can get the backup done. No matter what platform you’re using for MySQL, the following line can be added to your PHP file so that you can run the backup by visiting the PHP URL through your browser.

/user/local/www/vhosts/YOURDOMAIN.COM/private/BACKUPFILENAME.sql”);
?>

2. Use MySQL Hotcopy

If you are performing a backup on your server and the tables that you have on that server are all MyISAM tables, then you can use MySQL Hotcopy in order to do the backup as well. This process gives you a number of different options to backup the tables, including the ability to keep the target direct name intact, insert checkpoint entries, or even reset the binary log after you lock all of the tables.

If you have anything on your server besides the MyISAM tables, however, you won’t be able to use this process.

3. Use Exec() For External Commands

Depending on the system that you are using, you may need to utilize an execute command in your scripts to be able to successfully get the file dump to start. That’s typically seen in Linux systems and it would also allow you to run it directly from the internet. In this instance, your script would look like this instead.

exec(‘mysqldump -user= –password= –host= DATABASE_NAME > /path/to/output/file.sql’);

4. Use Shell Commands

In the open source MySQL system, you might want to setup the option of being able to download something specific instead of having to download the entire server. This is especially beneficial if certain tables are updated daily, while others might be updated weekly, monthly, or on a different timing system. To do so, you might consider utilizing the Shell commands with your script, as you can see below.

shell> mysqldump [options] database_name [table_name]
shell> mysqldump [options] -databases name
shell> mysqldump [options] -all-databases

If you want to dump an entire database, then just don’t name any tables following the database name. You can also use the all-databases option if you prefer. It is important to note that the mysqldum won’t include the information-schema database unless you specifically name it in the command line and you’ve got to use the skip/lock/tables option to do it.

You’re in the middle of a status update on your favorite social media site and then BOOM! It happens faster than you can blink. Your browser freezes up and you get that yellow drop-down message of death: Shockwave has crashed on you. Why does this happen so often and especially when you’re using Chrome? Is there any way to fix it?

The Problem is the Relationship With Adobe Flash

Unlike other web browsers, Google Chrome and Adobe flash would never be considered BFFs. When using Flash, you’re subjecting yourself to slow downs and crashes that can leave you so annoyed that you’d be willing to stop using all Google products forever. It happens because Chrome calls upon the internal installation of Flash within its browser, whereas the other browsers call upon the installation of the operating system.

On a good day, you can’t tell the difference. The problem starts when Chrome tries to use both installations of Flash that are on your system. Yeah that’s right… Chrome has Flash and your O/S has Flash and when both are used, you don’t get supersonic speed. You get a locked-up internet browser that crashes all of your active windows.

How Can This Get Fixed?

It’s important to note that the Shockwave warning you get doesn’t have anything to do with the Shockwave program. The resolution of this problem is pretty simple. You just need to get into the plugin settings for Chrome and disable the browser’s internal installation of Flash manually. It’s very important that you disable the AppData folder one and not the installation that acts as the one for the O/S.

Once you’ve done this, then you just need to close your browser windows. Don’t refresh the closed tabs if you get the option when you restart Chrome. From there, all you’ve got to do is resume your normal browsing and it should happen in real-time for you.

Are there any consequences to this action? The only real problem that you’ll have is that you’ll need to manually check for updates of Flash because the browser won’t automatically update.

What About Software Conflicts?

The other issue with this Shockwave error is that sometimes software or malware can make Chrome conflict with your computer. You can check if this is going on by going to the Chrome conflicts page [chrome://conflicts] to see if you’ve got any warnings going on. Update the software as necessary, remove the malware, and you should be set. Worst case scenario? Turn off your O/S Flash anyway and see what happens.

The Shockwave crash can be pretty irritating, but it can also be fixed in just a couple minutes. Now stop being annoyed and get back to being productive.