December 2006 Archives

Blogging is huge. Lately it seems like anyone and everyone has a blog and more and more clients are asking for them. When building a blog for a client there are multiple platforms to choose from; TypePad, Movable Type, WordPress, Drupal, etc. Each has it's own pros and cons but debate over which is the best is not the purpose of this post.

I'm a Movable Type fan. That's what I use for Code Scene and whenever possible, for building client blogs. I find it intuitive to use, powerful, and easy to customize. It's main drawback though is in posting new articles. It gives you a textbox to enter your post but little in the way of formatting options other than bold, italics, and hyperlinks. If you want to add things like bulleted lists, you're stuck writing HTML. While I have no problem with that, it makes it difficult to turn the blog over to a non-developer client to manage.

Enter EnhancedEntryEditing, a mini-WYSIWYG editor plugin for Movable Type. You simply install this into your Movable Type plugins folder and you now have a much better editor when adding new posts. This makes it much easier for your clients to manage their blog and frees you up to do other work.

The site lists this plugin as free for personal users but if you find it useful (and you will) kick up a few bucks to the programmer and support the community.

More good Movable Type plugins at movalog.com

This is slightly off-topic but as web developers we often deal with multiple file types so I'm posting it. Zamzar is a relatively new website devoted to the sole purpose of allowing you to convert files online.

Whether you need PDF converted to a Word document or an Ogg Vorbis song converted to MP3, Zamzar has you covered.  You can even convert an MPG movie into a format you can take with you on your iPod. Just upload your file, enter your email, and a little while later Zamzar will send you a link to pick up your converted file.

It's quick, simple, and best of all free.

Zamzar – Free Online File Conversion

It's hard to believe it but it's been an entire year since I started the Code Scene blog. My goal was to catalog some of the tips and tricks I've picked up and share them with my friends, colleagues, and the web development community in general.

While I don't have as much time to dedicate to blogging as I'd like to, I hope that I've helped to contribute at least a little bit to the community I take so much from. For those of you new to Code Scene (and because I don't have much free time) I've compiled a list of my favorite articles from the past year.

Website Launch Checklist

Website Accessibility Checklist

The Problem with Content Management Systems – Part 1, Part 2

Search Engine Optimization

The Problems with AJAX

Missing the Point

Redirecting HTTP to HTTPS using IIS

Guidelines for Coding HTML Emails

The Design Triangle

Hopefully I'll have some more time in the next year to keep writing more of these. Until next time...

FLV is a relatively new file format used for Adobe Flash video files. This format is great for adding video to your website but if you're using a new Windows 2003 server you may find yourself spending a lot of time trying to figure out why your video doesn't work.

With IIS 6.0 on Windows 2003, Microsoft doesn't include the proper MIME type for FLVs to play by default. Here's how to add it so that your videos will stream properly.

Click New and enter the following information:

1. Open the site to configure in IIS. Right click and select "Properties"
2. Click the HTTP Headers Tab, select "File Types" under the MIME Map section, and then click "New Type". Enter the following:
• Associated Extension box: .flv
• MIME Type box: flv-application/octet-stream
3. Click "OK" and close the IIS Properties box
4. You may need to restart the WWW Publishing Service

That's all there is to it!