Whenever posting documents to the internet (or emailing them) it is always best to use PDFs. Using a PDF ensures that the document will look exactly like you intended it. If you use Word or Excel or something similar, there is always the chance that someone else wont have the same version or same fonts and that the end result will look very different. And, not everyone has the same software programs--Microsoft Office is expensive. But, Adobe Acrobat Reader is free! Also, it is generally more professional to send documents in PDF, such as invoices or proposals.
So, how do you create these PDFs without dishing out all the cash for Adobe Acrobat, the not-so-free version? I have been using the free PDF creator PrimoPDF for some time now. I really like it and it has not given me any problems. It creates great looking PDFs very quickly. It installs a new printer on your computer so that you can create a PDF from any program. But instead of something being printed physically it creates a PDF file that you can save.
Works great and it is free. Two things I value, as is apparent by previous blog posts. :)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Images
Images are very important to the construction of an appealing website. I wrote before about the use of great image software, like GIMP. But, we still need to get those great stock photos to round of a site.
There are some great sites for this, even for free pics. Flickr, for instance, is one of these free picture sites. But not all pictures are available for all purposes. Use Flickr's advanced search to find those that you can use. On the bottom of their search page, you'll see options for creative commons licensed images. You can search multpile sites at once using everystockphoto.com. Or, if you want the easy and high-quality route and are willing to pay a small fee, check out iStockphoto.
There are some great sites for this, even for free pics. Flickr, for instance, is one of these free picture sites. But not all pictures are available for all purposes. Use Flickr's advanced search to find those that you can use. On the bottom of their search page, you'll see options for creative commons licensed images. You can search multpile sites at once using everystockphoto.com. Or, if you want the easy and high-quality route and are willing to pay a small fee, check out iStockphoto.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
New Site - Search Engine Submission
Do you have a new website? Is it time to let the world know about it? Then submit it to the major search engines! And don't be fooled, this is not something you have to pay for. There are a lot of people out there trying to make money by submitting your site to search engines for you. You don't need to do this because it is really easy and straight forward.
According to Hitwise.com, the top 4 used search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask. Almost 97% of all searches done on the internet are through one of these engines. So, these are the guys you will want to inform about your new website.
Visit each of the links, and you should be good to go:
According to Hitwise.com, the top 4 used search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask. Almost 97% of all searches done on the internet are through one of these engines. So, these are the guys you will want to inform about your new website.
Visit each of the links, and you should be good to go:
- Yahoo (you'll have to make an account)
- MSN Live UPDATE new URL for Bing
- Ask (you'll have to make a sitemap)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Site Search Engine
This is my last post about free Google services (for now). This one is about Custom Search by Google. Searching is a very important tool for a website to have, especially for sites with a large amount of content. You can not have visitors getting frustrated and leaving because they can not find what they are looking for.
The problem is, search engines are not easy things to create. If you have ever seriously thought about the prospect, you know it takes a lot of time and energy to implement a good one. Instead, why not use the great search technology that Google has created right on your site?
Google allows webmasters to install code that will allow your visitors to search your site. They constrain all search results to the domains you choose so the results are specific to you. And you can integrate the search results directly into your own template, so it all has a very coherent look and feel.
PS. "Custom Search" is similar to but not the same as "Site Search," a commercial (i.e., not free) service offered by Google.
The problem is, search engines are not easy things to create. If you have ever seriously thought about the prospect, you know it takes a lot of time and energy to implement a good one. Instead, why not use the great search technology that Google has created right on your site?
Google allows webmasters to install code that will allow your visitors to search your site. They constrain all search results to the domains you choose so the results are specific to you. And you can integrate the search results directly into your own template, so it all has a very coherent look and feel.
PS. "Custom Search" is similar to but not the same as "Site Search," a commercial (i.e., not free) service offered by Google.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Google Calendar
The third blog post in my series of great Google freebies is Google Calendar. Google calendar is great for my wife and I. We both share a calendar and we can setup events to remind each other of upcoming appointments. It helps us communicate about our shared schedule.
Beyond this, Google Calendar is great for non-profits for two big reasons. First, everyone involved with a non-profit can have a shared calendar. This way everyone is on the same page and they are totally up-to-date with what is going on. You can also manage assets and room reservations through it, if you wanted. Just like with Outlook exchange server, you can see the busy/free calendar of your invitees when you try to find a good meeting time. And it is all free!
The second reason is that you can embed your calendar in your webpage. This is great for web designers. It takes a lot of programing to get a good calendar back-end up and running. Why not use what Google has done instead? You can do a simple embed of html calendar code (like this one) or you can completely customize the front-end while using Google's back-end. There are just so many options!
Google Calendar has worked well for me and saved me a lot of time. It is worth considering, especially with its low price tag (its FREE, if you missed that).
Beyond this, Google Calendar is great for non-profits for two big reasons. First, everyone involved with a non-profit can have a shared calendar. This way everyone is on the same page and they are totally up-to-date with what is going on. You can also manage assets and room reservations through it, if you wanted. Just like with Outlook exchange server, you can see the busy/free calendar of your invitees when you try to find a good meeting time. And it is all free!
The second reason is that you can embed your calendar in your webpage. This is great for web designers. It takes a lot of programing to get a good calendar back-end up and running. Why not use what Google has done instead? You can do a simple embed of html calendar code (like this one) or you can completely customize the front-end while using Google's back-end. There are just so many options!
Google Calendar has worked well for me and saved me a lot of time. It is worth considering, especially with its low price tag (its FREE, if you missed that).
Friday, September 12, 2008
Free Email
The next Google service that I would like to highlight is hosted email. This is a lesser known service offered by Google, I believe. However, it is probably the most powerful and most beneficial free service available to non-profits! Google offers free email service for any domain. Non-profits also get enhanced services that businesses have to pay for. You can get as many email addresses as you want, the SPAM protection is amazing, and each account gets over 7 GB of space!!
Once you set it up you get an administrator panel where you can manage all account information. And even though it is Gmail, all of your email addresses will reflect your domain name (e.g., name@your-domain.org). You can also customize it a bit and use your own logo. Additionally, you will get chat and other Google applications automatically. It can really boost in-office communication and efficiency.
I have used this service on multiple domains. I have set it up for the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles, and it has been a dream for them. Major universities have also started using it. Fuller Seminary, for example, uses it for all their student accounts.
Check it out. I really think you'll like it.
Once you set it up you get an administrator panel where you can manage all account information. And even though it is Gmail, all of your email addresses will reflect your domain name (e.g., name@your-domain.org). You can also customize it a bit and use your own logo. Additionally, you will get chat and other Google applications automatically. It can really boost in-office communication and efficiency.
I have used this service on multiple domains. I have set it up for the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles, and it has been a dream for them. Major universities have also started using it. Fuller Seminary, for example, uses it for all their student accounts.
Check it out. I really think you'll like it.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Analyzing Traffic
Google has tons of great tools for webmasters. And the best part is that most of them are free! So, I decided to spend some time mentioning some of Google's free services. They are perfect for non-profits, ministries and whoever else is trying to save some money. This is the first post in a series on free Google resources.
The first Google service I want to mention in Google Analytics. It is a great statistics and web traffic analyzer available to the public. It has all kinds of nifty features and abilities. For instance, it will produce multiple world and country maps of your visitors, it outlines traffic flow, it details traffic sources, records visitor browser information and tons more. You can also set it up so that periodic PDF reports are sent to email addresses you provide--perfect for that monthly report.
It has one drawback: it is javascript based. This means you can only track web page hits, not image loading or anything else. It also means that anyone with javascript disabled will be invisible to the reports. However, with this in mind, Google Analytics is still an amazing resource that everyone should know about.
The first Google service I want to mention in Google Analytics. It is a great statistics and web traffic analyzer available to the public. It has all kinds of nifty features and abilities. For instance, it will produce multiple world and country maps of your visitors, it outlines traffic flow, it details traffic sources, records visitor browser information and tons more. You can also set it up so that periodic PDF reports are sent to email addresses you provide--perfect for that monthly report.
It has one drawback: it is javascript based. This means you can only track web page hits, not image loading or anything else. It also means that anyone with javascript disabled will be invisible to the reports. However, with this in mind, Google Analytics is still an amazing resource that everyone should know about.
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