Profiled Designs Blog

Looking to add a classifieds section to your web site? Rapid Classifieds is a great solution. Easy to use, and quick to set up. K9Kloud9.com recently added this feature to their site with fantastic results. The software includes loads of features including; lots of templates and styles, email alerts, built-in e-commerce options, and many more. The one surprising and best feature was the support from the Rapid Classifieds team. On average, the questions we had were answered in minutes via email, which is by far the best response time I've experienced from anyone.

When looking to add such a feature to your site, your starting point should be knowing what your hosting package allows and what the new software is made from. Generally, I will look into at least 5 different companies and send them an email for more information on what their software will need to run. I'll then forward those criteria’s to my host to eliminate the possibility conflicts. Taking the time to do the initial homework can greatly reduce the frustration later on and one key thing to remember, like most software, there are no refunds regardless if it works with your hosting plan.

To view the new classifieds on K9Kloud9.com: click here

We are adding a new search feature to www.ProfiledDesigns.com. ZOOM Search Engine by Wrensoft is a great application and was quite easy to integrate on my site. I've tried the free version which allows indexing up to 50 pages, other versions offer more options, indexing and prices range from $0 to $299.00 USD. Compared to other search applications I've tried, this is by far the best and easiest. After ZOOM is uploaded to your site you can begin indexing via a desktop interface and upload the results through ftp, which is built in to the application. Quick and simple, which, for anyone running their own site, is exactly what you are looking for.

For more information visit their site: http://www.wrensoft.com/index.html

To see an example on my site: click here

So you've just paid top dollar to thrust your business to the online world but what now, what company can you trust to host your new investment? Choosing the right host to suite you web needs can be a overwhelming expirence and is a cost often overlooked when bugeting for your venture into the online world.

Two main questions you should ask your self when making such a descision; what do I need from my host and what can they provide. Web hosting companies provide multiple packages to choose that are usaully broken down by monthly traffic allownaces, web space, type of page support, etc. Due to the fact that your site will most likely expand in its first year, you should choose a package that allows such growth. The single most important factor for myself is customer support. Chances are you'll need it at one time or another and having a reliable, helpfull support team can make the differnce of having a couple hours of downtime or a couple days. A good way of checking out their customer support before you decide on a company is to simple ask them some simular questions to multiple companies and see how long did it take to get the a response and did they give you the answers you were looking for.

For more some more great tips on choosing a web host: click here

It's now possible to run IE6 and IE7 on the same computer with a Virtual PC 2004. Microsoft released Virtual PC 2004 as a free download, which works out for developers testing new sites across multiple browers. I found a great blog on msdn by Pete LePage that explains it further with the links to the downloads. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/ 2006/11/30/ie6-and-ie7-running-on-a-single-machine.aspx

The new site for the National Homeland Security Knowledgebase is underway. The new url will be www.theNHSK.com. Some of the improvements that will be added are; larger directories, first responders resources, products, user built news releases and more.