The Blog at EMWD

Server1 has been in used for many years and we have felt the need to replace it with a more modern and robust server. We will be migrating clients off of this server starting today to a new server. You will be contacted by EMWD to let you know the migration is taking place for your account. We don’t anticipate any down-time and the migration process should be seamless for most, if not all, accounts.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Tags: Web Hosting Support, Web Hosting Talk // Add Comment »

We will be switching from Courier to the Dovecot imap server on host10.emwd.com on Friday evening . The reasons for this are:

1. Dovecot utilizes less cpu and memory resources than Courier
2. Dovecot has better support for imap-idle which should allow mail to show up on your mobile device the instant it shows up in your inbox on the server
3. Better IMAP performance
4. BlackBerry^® Fastmail support

The only down side is it does not support automatic expunging of your trash folder.

There should be no interruption in mail delivery when we do this, but you may experience a re-downloading of your mail once the server switch has been made. Though the chances of this happening is rare,  we would like to request that if you store your mail on the server,  you go ahead and clean up your mail folders, empty out your trash folder, and delete all unnecessary mail. This will make the migration process go quicker.

As always, thank you for using EMWD.

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EMWD has deployed a new auto-installer called Softaculous to our web hosting servers. Softaculous is an auto-installer very similar to Fantastico but has more software and features that will be beneficial to our hosting clients. Here is a list of some of the new functionality that Softaculous has over Fantastico:

1. Comes with 173 scripts that you can install vs the 50 that comes with Fantastico.
2. Includes user ratings and reviews.
3. Includes live demos that allow you to test the features of a script without having to install it.
4. One step install vs the three step install process with Fantastico.
5. Gzip compression of all installed scripts.

Softaculous can be access via the Softaculous icon in the Software/Services section of your hosting control panel (cPanel).

Let us know what you think of Softaculous.

Tags: Fantastico, Web Hosting Talk // Add Comment »

Someone is having a birthday

Brian Carpenter, the owner and founder of EMWD.com is having a birthday this Monday, the 15th of November. He is turning 43 and is starting to worry about his good looks fading away. To help ease his worries, we have decided to put on a birthday sale to cheer him up.

The details

EMWD is offering a generous 40% discount on NEW Basic, Standard, and Ecommerce web hosting signups and on all NEW domain name registrations or transfers. This sale is for one day only so please take advantage of this event.

You will need to use the codes listed below during the ordering process. We recommend that you publicize this one time sales event and the coupon codes to your friends, clients, and family via Facebook, your blog, your forum, or any other social media application at your disposal.

Here are the codes:

B-DAY01 — To receive 40% off on all new domain registration/transfers. This code cannot be used to renew an existing domain name.

B-DAY02 — To receive 40% off on our Basic, Standard, and Ecommerce hosting packages. This code cannot be used to renew an existing hosting package.

EMWD has been building and hosting web sites for over 12 years now. The journey has been fun, and we appreciate all of our clients. Our growth has mostly come from the referrals of our clients, and we hope (and pray!) that you use this one time sales event to encourage your friends, family, colleagues, and anyone else you can think of to use EMWD for their web site needs.

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Your Web Site Footer: Site Real Estate Matters

Beware of the Myth of Scrolling

People tend to believe in the web design myth that people don’t scroll. That may have been true back in the 90′s but current user trends reveal that scrolling a web site is now a very important part of a user’s experience at any web site. So what happens when a user gets to the bottom of your web site? The footer is your last hope to help convince a site visitor to stay on your web site and explore further.

The Little Stuff Matters

A footer does not only have to contain the usual boring elements of site copyright and ownership. Your footer should contain elements that call your visitors to take further action when visiting your web site. The problem is how to choose what element to use to keep your visitor’s attention. There are a few ways that you can choose to get the most out of your footer, and they will be pointed out below. Just keep in mind that the small stuff matters when you approach a redesign of your footer. Typography, colors, graphics or even smart text can all become the reason why your visitor chooses to stay longer.

The Main Idea

The idea that frames an awesome footer is to combine usability with styling ideas, current web standards, and popular web design trends. It is very important that your footers makes the most out of providing useful information and various options for the site visitor.

Some ideas for creating an awesome footer

• Make it a powerful navigation tool which will improve your website’s usability.
• Add your contact information AND a contact form to make it more informative.
• Add social media links and icons that link to your Facebook and/or Twitter account.
• Fill it with interesting and original content and update it periodically.
• Consider putting in a creative advertisement that will entertain your visitors.
• Recap the main highlights or ideas of your website.
• Use your footer instead of a sidebar.
• Large footer, bold colors, and vivid boundaries will grab your visitor’s attention a hundred times faster than a small piece of boring text.

Here are some URLs that point to a web site using some of the above ideas:

http://stonelab.osu.edu/ (uses their footer as a site map)

http://en.lafraise.com/ (uses their footer to include social media links)

http://midnightersclub.com/blog/ (an example of a stylish footer)

The Bottom Line

With all the competition that is on the web, you cannot afford not to make the most out of every part of your site real estate. Contact your web designer today and get them to work on your site footer. If you don’t have one, remember that EMWD is a web development company and we can get your footer into shape in no time.

Tags: Sales, Web Design // Add Comment »

We are looking to upgrade MySQL from version 5.0 to 5.1 for all of our production servers within a week. MySQL 5.1 improves overall performance and offers plugin architecture for table types. This upgrade process will also upgrade phpMyAdmin to version 3.

Since there are some core changes to MySQL this upgrade could adversely affect any php/mysql scripts you may be running. Please make sure your scripts are updated to the latest version AND it is compatible with MySQL 5.1.

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Hank of JHenry Video services contacted us regarding a redesign of his web site.  After speaking about what EMWD could offer him and quoting a great price, Hank hired us and the project was started.

Now three weeks later, Hank has a great looking web site that presents his information in an easy to find and attractive manner. Hank’s web site is also now compliant with existing web standards which will allow his site to be viewed in a consistent manner in a variety of browsers and on a number of Internet accessible devices.

We also installed EMWD’s new solution on Hank’s project: EMWD CMS. EMWD CMS is a php application that will allow a design client to maintain their own web site once EMWD is finished with their project. EMWD CMS will allow changes to be made to the main content areas of a site without the client having to worry about inadvertently harming the design/layout of their web site.

Here is a before and after shot of Hank’s web site:

T

JHenry's Old Site

JHenry's New Site

So if you are in the market for a DVD/Video service, make sure you pay Hank’s web site a visit at www.jhenryvideo.com.

Tags: Web Design // Add Comment »

Need a New Web Site?

With a New Year upon us, some of you may be thinking that last year’s model may not be enough for this year. Well being the beginning of new year, this may be a great time to take advantage of EMWD’s web design services.

A Design to meet any Budget.

EMWD’s design packages are affordable and will not break your bank. All of our design packages include a great looking color scheme, a user friendly layout, and a web standard compliant web site that will insure your web site will look great in any browser on any platform. You can view our web design packages at http://www.emwd.com/design.php.

EMWD, a Webmaster you can depend upon.

If you are just needing some modifications or updates done to your site that does not require a full blown redesign, then look no further. EMWD can be your Webmaster on the spot. We can do just about anything went it comes to web site development. Image design, page layouts, database setup, installation/updates of php/cgi scripts, and much more. Just contact us at sales@emwd.com if you need a small project completed.

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EMWD has deployed a new server running php 5. 3.1. Php 5.3 comes with a number of great new features that cutting edge php developers will want to take advantage of. You can read more about the some of these new features of php 5.3 at

http://php.net/releases/5_3_0.php

Many hosting companies have not deployed this version of php due to the fact it will break a large number of popular php applications. This is why we decided to just deploy a new server running apache 2.2 and php 5.3.1. We have also seen a need in the web developer community for this version to be available to them. We believe we can now meet those needs of web developers that need a stable and reliable hosting platform that supports their latest applications.

Hosting special: To celebrate this new offering, EMWD is now offering a 5 gig hosting package for $6 per month to those who wish to take advantage of php 5.3.1. Please contact us at sales@emwd.com if you are interested. This offer is for new sign-ups only and will only be available for a limited time.

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We have just completed the development of a new site for an  Import Car Service in the Oak Harbor, Washington area. Check it out at http://kaisersgarage.com.

Let us know if you are in the market for a new site or redesign. You can read more about our design services at http://www.emwd.com/design.php.

Be on the lookout for a new EMWD web site in the next month or so.

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