Tuesday, May 21, 2013

eCommerce

Lately I've been testing out various different e-commerce platforms. Some of the notable ones are:

MAGENTO COMMUNITY EDITION v1.7.0.2
Admittedly, the best looking is the Magento e-commerce but certainly with the good looks, it demands more resource as well. However for most of the shared webhosting services out there, you're out of luck if you are looking to install Magento.

For all it's glory and rich features, there are also commercial editions available. Just as an advice before you jump into the Magento bandwagon, click on the link below to view installation tips and most importantly download the test php to check your webhosting service compatibility to install Magento.

  • Check out Magento eCommerce Community Edition - Click Here
  • Check your webhosting service compatibility - Click Here
PROS: Rich in features, easy to use functions, readily integrated plug-ins and add-ons. Suitable for various starter - semi big online store. It looks good.

CONS: Resource intensive sometimes, causing slowdown (especially when you are running on shared webhosting service).


OSCOMMERCE - v2.3.3
Comparatively, osCommerce is more robust and it has a huge community base contributing to the platform with over 7,000 add-ons. Thus you can make osCommerce as powerful as what you are capable to make of it. But the only downside is the learning curve maybe steep for some and easy for others.

Nonetheless once you understood the underlying structure, it becomes a very customisable platform. However, it's stock UI is pretty much dated and in need of a proper facelift. Every stock installation requires heavy duty to get it to a stage where it is a proper and presentable online store.

From the few years I've been working with osCommerce, the most challenging part would be to make each and every part work seamlessly together. When it is working, it is a great sense of achievement and relief at the same time.
PROS: Fast setup, huge add-on library, robust and many customisation available. Constant community contribution.

CONS: Time consuming integration of various add-on. Making sure everything works together perfectly. The stock UI is ugly.

As a summary, both the above is two of my favourite platforms. Well indeed there many more platforms out there that are equally as good. Just take your time and search them up and you may just find one that you are comfortable and confident in.

Good luck!
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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Random background image in a table cell

Been scouring the internet to look for this function: Making a table cell background to change randomly. There were many I came across but almost 80% were untested or too much work to integrate them into a website. By far the following script is the most simple and basic of them all.

The following is not my script is not written by me (I've forgotten which forum I found it..):

<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
window.addEventListener?window.addEventListener('load',function()
{
ray.rand('thisCell');
},false):
window.attachEvent('onload',function()
{
ray.rand('thisCell');
}); // FF : IE1

var ray=
{
bgArr:['url(bg1.jpg)','url(bg2.jpg)'], // Background you wish to show on the cell
rand:function(el)
{
var num = Math.floor(Math.random()*this.bgArr.length);
this.getID(el).style.background=this.bgArr[num];
},
getID:function(el){return document.getElementById(el);
}
</script>
<table>
<tr>
<td width="900" height="600" id="thisCell">This is the cell</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>


Happy Coding!
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Missing System Icons - Volume icon, Power icon, Network icon


This has been a problem for many Windows Vista users - The missing system icons:

Volume Icon
Power Icon
Network Icon

It happens every once in a while, and suddenly you're confronted with greyed out option boxes!

I've searched high and low for a solution on the WWW and there were many ridiculous methods out there that simply won't work.

I've found the following method that worked for me. It doesn't require a reboot.

====================================================================
Important Note: The following contains steps that requires editing/modifying of the windows registry. Please do a backup of the registry before proceeding - click here to learn how.

1.) On the keyboard hold Window Key+R > Type in "regedit" -> OK (Press OK if admin confirmation is prompted)

2.) Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify

*Make sure the key location is correct*

3.) In the Details Pane, delete the following registry keys:IconStreamsPastIconsStream

4.) Exit Registry Editor

5.) Return to the desktop -> Open the Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.

6.) Go to Processes tab -> Locate "explorer.exe" -> click on the "End Process" two times. You will now notice your Taskbar is now missing. No worries.

7.) On the Task Manager -> click File -> click New Tasks (Run) -> type "explorer.exe" -> OK

8.) Exit Task Manager. The taskbar is now back and the missing system icons should now be visible again. DONE!

====================================================================

Please take note that this fix may OR may not work for everyone. Have a try..at least it worked for me.


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Friday, May 14, 2010

QR Code

I've just did a bit of reading on the differences between conventional barcodes and QR code (Sema-Codes or 2-Dimensional Barcodes). I'm rather amazed by the differences and it's rather big potentials for .

Read it here : QR Codes - Why should Advertisers care about QR Codes?







Here are some interesting QR Code generator websites that generates actual working QR Codes.

http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Give it a try! I've personalized my very own website QR Code already and stuck it to my top right panels. Now it's time to get the barcode scanner apps in iTunes for my iPhone and check it out.


Have fun!
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Friday, October 30, 2009

Non-unicode program on Microsoft Windows Vista - PPStream

Characters not displaying properly on non-unicode programs such as PPStream

I've came across a problem when I installed PPStream on my laptop running on Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium. Apparently after having it installed, and eagerly waiting for it to launch...the PPS program displayed unrecognizable characters (as shown in the picture above) and nothing works.

At first i thought that this could have been due to my version of Vista doesn't have the Chinese language pack or LIP / MUI installed. After i tried searching for it on the Microsoft website and even tried a third party LIP / MUI...it did not work at all!

Eventually I found out that there's an easy and often OVERLOOKED easy way to solve my problem. It was just there all along! Ughh...Vista can sure be very user "FRIENDLY"....

What to do:
1) Go to your control panel. Access it through Start -> Control Panel. Double click on the Regional and Language Options (the icon of a globe with a clock).


2) It will open up with a few options, click on the Administrative tab. You will see the "Current language for non-Unicode programs". If it's in another language other than the intended language of the program you wish to run, in my case would be Chinese characters PPStream, change the option in the next step.


3) Click on the "Change system locale..." and select the appropriate language you need.


4) Once you have selected the correct language, click OK.


5) It will prompt for a system reboot. Just save up anything you're working on and click on "Restart now"


6) DONE! Your non-Unicode program should now display properly.

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Sunday, June 28, 2009

[RESOLVED] Brownish tint when viewing picture using Vista's Windows Photo Gallery

I've recently encountered a problem when trying to preview my pictures using Vista's Windows Photo Gallery program which is my default picture viewing program...until the problem started.

It seems like a brownish tint over my images and it looked awful and annoying...

Before the fix

To fix this just follow the steps below....(finally!..).

First of all, go to your control panel and double click on "Colour Management". Tick the "Use my setting for this device" box and remove the existing ICC profile.

Next, click on "Add..." and scroll down and locate a profile named sRGB IEC61966-2.1 and click OK.

Once it has been added, click on "Set as Default Profile". You can now close it.


Reboot your PC.

Now it should return to normal like above.

Please take note that this fix may OR may not work for everyone. Have a try..at least it worked for me.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Resolving unable to send email using dynamic domain

For those who own or have plans to buy a domain name with a different domain registrar and have a separate hosting service with another hosting company, you may face a problem with sending outgoing email using the hosting service smtp mail server (which normally is mail.yourdomainname.com etc).

The usual error message would be:

"Sending of message failed.
The message could not be sent because connecting to SMTP server mail.yourdomainname.com failed. The server may be unavailable or is refusing SMTP connections. Please verify that your SMTP server is correct and try again, or else contact your network administrator."



It's already been known that all outgoing SMTP port 25 been blocked by Telekom Malaysia Berhad, Telekom Malaysia Berhad had further revised and announced on 26th December 2007 that effective 15th Jan 2008, only outgoing SMTP port 587 is allowed for all outgoing SMTP email activities.

With this implementation, Streamyx customers or anyone else who have their own mail server will not be able to send e-mails. As an alternative, TM has provided an open relay server for these customers or anyone else who uses dynamic IP addresses.

But this doesn't seems to help even if you have set to port 587, should you have a separate domain registrar from your hosting service.

To go around this issue, I'm using Mozilla Thunderbird as my standard email client. Try the settings below:

For incoming POP mail server, you can use back the one that is provided by your web host. In this case it would usually be mail.yourdomainname.com

All you need to change is your outgoing SMTP server. Fill in the setting as shown.

You may notice that in the outgoing port, I have set it to port 25. It will still work because the TMnut has block out all others from using this port and only allowing their SMTP proxy server to use this port.

Should you need to setup and configure for other email clients, please refer the links below:

http://webmail.tm.net.my/info/proxy.html
http://webmail.tm.net.my/info/smtp-proxy.html
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