Convert PDF to DOC

Here is an amazing free converter for your pdf files to Word document or rich text format. I had a particularly complex 18-page pdf file I needed to edit. Converting it to a .doc meant that I could import it into NeoOffice, edit it, and export to pdf again. All easy and free; no expensive software needed! Thanks to the clever people at http://www.pdftoword.com. Thank you!

Your Future on the Web

I’m not into crystal ball gazing, but there are others who are. So, web developer, if you want to know which way the World Wide Web is going to move so you don’t get left behind, have a read of articles published especially around the end of each year. For example:

The future of web apps
A glimpse of future web technologies by W3C
readwriteweb.com’s predictions
The future of the social web

It’s all about integrated social communities, online business communities and web applications, internet television and online newspapers, and everyone is going mobile!

Let’s take a look of the more immediate future of web developers. Who are you? Are you a software engineer who is into web development, or are you a little guy who has recently completed some web development training and now you want to make a living from developing websites? The software engineer has it made, because future corporate websites will be more about web applications than traditional brochure websites.

There is still a need for the more traditional websites, so I am going to outline a few tips for the ordinary web developer to help him or her along the way to building a successful web design business.

1. Line up your tools and know how to use them

• HTML Editor
• CSS: Get to know smart things to do with CSS, for example a static vertical menu not using frames abilityadventures.co.nz or rounded corners not using images donaldbeasley.org.nz
• Sound and Video
• Webmaster online resources
• Photo, graphics, video, sound, flash editing software
• HTML, CSS and Accessibility validation tools
• MySQL/PHP admin interface provided by the web hosting service
• Teach yourself MySQL and PHP because sooner or later you are going to need it for an online store freezyfoods.co.nz
• FTP software, or use the online file management interface provided by the web hosting service
• Content Management System (CMS)
• Open Source software and free online services available for integration into websites, for example booking systems, mailing list managers, shopping cart and order processing, bulleting boards, wikis, blogs
• Domain name registration and web hosting service
• Google Webmaster Central
• Membership of your local web developers’ association, for example Web Developers Association of New Zealand.

2. Terms and conditions

Before you talk to any potential client you need to document your business terms and conditions, including payment schedule. It is normal to require a 30 to 50 % payment up front with the remainder due upon delivery, or progress payments at certain points along the project.

3. Pricing model

Make a list of all the aspects of building a website and decide how much you are going to charge for each. Use this model to quickly work out a quote for a new project. Be sure to provide an itemised quote so that the client can get a better understanding of the work involved. However, it’s a very competitive market and if you are greedy you won’t get the work. For example, here’s a list of the basics:

• Website design layout in XHTML 1.0 Strict and one Cascading Style Sheet
• Build x content web pages with image and image file size optimised for fast loading, and email address links added using a Javascript anti-spam technique
• Pages are optimised for accessibility, including Accessibility information page, Sitemap page (etc. as required)
• Online enquiry form, including Create form, Configure form handling script, Add privacy policy statement page, Add follow-up page, Add AJAX anti-spam protection (the “Safer Forms” AJAX technique uses a combination of Javascript and PHP)
• Search engine optimisation, including
  • Keywords, description and title meta tags on every page
  • Title meta tag matches main heading on page
  • Keywords in content are optimised for every page
  • Internal links can be followed by indexing robots
  • Outbound links are to relevant websites
  • Install robots.txt file
  • Search engine robot sitemap in 3 formats (urllist.txt for Yahoo; sitemap.xml for Google; ror.xml for other search engine robots)
  • Create Google account, do website verification in Google Webmaster Central and add the Google verification code to the website, submit sitemap.xml to Google
• Final development tasks, including Test and validate to XHTML 1.0 Strict, CSS 2, and WAI Accessibility standards to at least Priority levels 1 and 2; Publish the new website to the world wide web; Create and add static and scrolling favicon.ico files
• Search engine marketing – Write headline text in different versions (different lengths required for different submissions). Submit website to search engines and online directories that accept free submissions. Some directories will require a link back from the website to the directory, which is advisable only if the directory is very specific and relevant.
• Blog setup, customization and submission (using for example Blogger or WordPress, customised to match the website)
• Maintenance and updates after delivery.

4. The client interview

Make sure that your client understands the effort involved in designing and building a good standards-compliant website. Clients are not fools – they recognise quality work when they see it. Do not underestimate your client – most people out there have some inkling of what goes into publishing a website, even if in your opinion they have the wrong idea. Provide the client with written background information, as for example in this article “Websites Made Easy”.

You need to understand the client’s requirements for the new or re-developed website. Clients often have only a vague idea of what they want, so you will need to prompt them and get the ball rolling by asking specific questions, for example:

• What is the purpose of the website?
• What information or other content (photos, videos) needs to be displayed on the website?
• What must the website visitor be able to do on this website?
• Should there be an online form (for contact, booking, feedback, etc.)?
• Does the client have any ideas about menu systems, layout and colours that he prefers?
• Is there a company logo that needs to be incorporated in the design?
• Would you be required to design a logo or other graphics or Flash elements?
• Who is going to update the website?

And so forth. Spend some time discussing the actual content and organisation of the content on pages with the client so that you can make an estimate of how many pages need to be created. This will have a direct bearing on the quote. More and more clients demand to be able to update their websites themselves. You need to consider the best platform for the proposed website – traditional, implementing a CMS, or using a free or nearly free online service like WordPress or Wetpaint Wiki?

5. The quote

You should never charge a potential client for providing a quote. Give a fixed price quote for the design and build phase. The quote should include documentation of the client’s requirements in the form of an outline of the site structure. The client must understand that deviation from the documented requirements may incur additional cost. Be very clear on what is included in the price, and what is not. Provide an opportunity for the client to review the requirements and quote and to suggest amendments before the work is started. Maintenance and updates can be a per hour fee.

6. Manage the project

Your quote has been accepted! What now?

Build one page to illustrate the design, layout and colours and get the client’s approval before continuing. Clients often have new thoughts when they see that first screen. This may save you a lot of time and remember, time is money.

Start checking compatibility of your design in different browsers and versions of browsers now, before you go too far with the project.

Never ever design a Flash-only website, since search engine optimisation and accessibility is virtually impossible to achieve. Feel free to include Flash elements, but make sure your page still validates!

Be honest with the client. If something does not work or if the client proposes something that you believe is not a good idea, say so, but politely and with good reasons.

Manage the timeline – most clients take longer to provide the web developer with the content than it takes the developer to put it all together. You cannot blame the client, but you can manage the process. Give advance warning of when you will need what for reasonable progress. Get the client’s approval at each major phase of the project.

Submit your invoices as per your terms and conditions.

Be ready to correct any bugs free of charge for a specified period after delivery – usually about 60 days.

7. Good luck!

You never stop learning when you play the web development game. Every day brings a new challenge, but you are not alone. Join the web developers’ online communities and learn from those who have gone before.

Google Map and XHTML 1.0 Strict

The technique to embed a Google Map on your website uses an <iframe> tag, which has been deprecated in the XHTML 1.0 Strict document type definition (also not allowed in HTML 4.1 Strict). For more information, see http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/tag_iframe.asp

Here’s a Javascript technique to circumvent that gnarly problem. It results in a page that validates to XHTML 1.0, even though you could say it’s a bit of a cheat. It also ensures the map can be viewed in Opera.


//<![CDATA[
var ie = document.all && navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Opera")==-1;
var dom = document.getElementById && navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Opera")==-1;
var iframedim='width=590 height=410 marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"';
if (ie||dom)
document.write('<iframe id="ep" src="http://maps.google.com/maps XXX &iwloc=addr&output=embed" '+iframedim+'></iframe>');
//]]>


You would substitute the XXX for the code pointing to the location of the map you want to display, as provided by Google. You could adjust the display size of the map by adjusting the values in the framedim variable. For an example in action see this website page: http://bridalspecialists.co.nz/contact.html

In case you wonder, yes, I’ve tried using the object tag to embed the Google map, but it does not work. Anyway, I could not get it to work.

Read more about embedding a Google map on your web page: http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=72644

MP3 Audio Pseudo-streaming with Stub Files

Streaming audio on the web is quite hard if you don’t have access to a special audio server. Here is an easy way to stream audio via ordinary http:

1. Create a simple text stub file
   The stub file contains the absolute URL to the location of the audio file on the HTTP server, e.g. http://rdmc.org.nz/audio/summerwine.mp3
   Save the file with the extension .m3u, e.g. summerwine.m3u
2. Link to the stub file in the HTML
   For example, <a href="summerwine.m3u">Last of the Summer Wine</a>
3. Playlist
   You could include the URLs for a playlist in the stub file, each absolute URL to a different audio file on a new line. Audio files will be played one after the other.

Listen to this: http://rdmc.org.nz/audio/summerwine.m3u

So what happens?
When the user clicks the link on the web page, the browser downloads the entire file, as usual. But in this case, it’s just the .m3u file - which is just a few bytes and downloads lightning fast.

Next, the browser launches the MP3 player application, and hands it the file.

The MP3 player gets the file. It detects (by looking in it) that this isn't an actual audio file, but a stub file.

The player then by itself opens a Network Connection, and starts downloading the actual .mp3 file, playing it as it is being downloaded! This downloading across-the-net is done completely by the player, and does not go through the browser at all.

How to do a simple edit of AIFF audio files with GarageBand (Mac)

1. Launch GarageBand, click New Project, name it, select folder to save it in, click Create. The project is saved as a .band file.
2. Find the .aiff audio file you want to edit in Finder, and drag it onto the workspace (close the wee piano dialog box that opens by default). The stereo sound track appears as a yellow bar across the time line.
3. Use the controls at the bottom of the window to play the track. Note the red line showing point of play. You can stop play and move the red line manually (grab the triangle at the top of the line) to position it where you want it, for example to cut the track. Use Edit/Split to cut, then select either side of the split (by clicking it once) and press Delete to discard that section.
4. Create a fade-out effect by using the Master Volume control (select Track/Show Master Track). Find the point in the track where the fade should start. Click once on the 0 dB line (note purple dot appears). Click once where the fade should end. Drag the second purple dot down as far as it will go. This will create a linear fade. Click further points in between and drag the dots down in whatever shape you want the fade to adopt. The dots can also be dragged left and right if you did not get it right the first time.
5. Listen until you are happy with the effect, then split and cut the tail end off the track.
6. Save!

Convert AIFF to MP3

1. Send the track to iTunes: From the open GarageBand project, click Share/Send Song to iTunes
2. Launch iTunes and change the import settings to the MP3 encoder:
   Go to iTunes/Preferences/General and click Import Settings
   Import using: MP3 Encoder
   Setting: select the bit rate required (higher quality means larger file size; click the Custom option to select lower bit rates; even down to 64 kbps sounds OK on the web)
3. Find the track in iTunes - it will appear in the UserName Playlist (this is still a .aif file)
4. Edit the file metadata: Control/Click on the file, select Get Info/Info and edit the song title, name of album, artist, composer, etc.
5. Select the track (or multiple tracks) in the iTunes playlist that need to be converted to MP3 and Control/Click and select Create MP3 Version.
6. The .mp3 file(s) will be saved to the /Music / iTunes / iTunes Music / UserName / UserName's Album / directory.
7. Remember to restore the iTunes import settings to AAC Encoder at High Quality (for importing music CDs).

References
Thank you to these sources for helping me figure this out.
http://www.petethomas.co.uk/web-streaming.html
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~zap/tutorial/ra.html
http://www.petethomas.co.uk/web-embedding.html – also discusses a Javascript method, and the embed/object method
http://www.interfluence.com/tutorials/audio.htm