Resources

Below is our response to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). If you cannot find the answer to your query here, please use the contact form for a quick response.

Free Firewall

If you're a broadband user, along with virus protection you'll need a good firewall. But don't worry; you don't have to spend a fortune buying an off-the-shelf package. Download a free version from ZoneAlarm or Sygate and protect your PC against hackers, for nothing.

Free Anti-Spyware programs

Protect your home PC from fraudsters by downloading one of the free, anti-spyware programs available. Check out Ad-Aware and Spyware Blaster 3.4 for their free downloads.

We also recommend that you never ever open attachments with double extensions, e.g. filename.exe.src or attachments you are not expecting, or from an unknown source. Please be aware that .exe files are 'executable' and run a program, often sent via email as a virus.

Along with installing the above and setting it up to make regular checks and updates, we recommend you run HouseCall: "Ease your mind and scan your PC for viruses".

Setting up an Email Account

The following gives a simple step-by-step guide on setting up an email account in Outlook or Outlook Express.

You will need to know just three things. Firstly the domain name (in this example we will use "mydomain.com"), the UserID that you setup in the Mail Manager (for this example we will pretend we set up "bob" as the UserID. Lastly you will need to know the password (we will use "password" in this example)

• Open Outlook
• Click on Tools on the menu bar
• Go down to "Account.."
• On the window that POPs up click on "Add >"
• Select "Mail..." and a wizard will start...
• Type in your Full Name or any name you want and click Next
• In the email box, type in the email address that you want people to write to you on. e.g. bob@mydomain.com
• Click next
• In the incoming box type in "mail.mydomain.com"
• In the outgoing box type in the SMTP server that your ISP provides (you will need to consult them if you are unsure what this is). If you are using AOL or another provider that do not offer this facility, or your ISP's service isn't up to scratch, then you can download a free tool from http://www.postcastserver.com. This will have the SMTP service on your own machine.
• For the account name type in the FULL email address of the mail account you had set up in the mail manager e.g. bob@mydomain.com
• For the password type in the password you specified when creating the account e.g. "password".
• Click Next, then Finish
• Click Close on the account window

And you're done!! :-) You will have to do all of the above for each email address you wish to use. Don't forget to use the FULL email address as the username -- this is a common mistake.

Setting up a Signature

A signature is some text that is automatically inserted into outgoing emails, such as your name, telephone and website address.

In Thunderbird:
Edit > Mail & Newsgroup Account Settings >
Tick 'Attach this signature file' and choose a text file you've saved with your desired signature.

In MS Outlook/Express:
Tools > Options > Signatures
The follw the instructions on this screen.

In Gmail:
Settings > scroll down to Signature, check the box and add your desired text.

Setting up Email Filters and Folders

It can be frustrating and confusing when all your email messages go directly into your Inbox. It is possible to make new folders and 'filter' certain keywords, email addresses, subject fields, etc. into these folders.

In Mozilla:
Creating new folders: With your mouse clicked on the Inbox, right-click and choose 'New Folder...'
Setting up rules/filters: Tools > Message Filters >

In MS Outlook/Express:
Creating new folders: With your mouse clicked on the Inbox, right-click and choose 'New Folder...'
Setting up rules/filters: Tools > Message Rules > Mail

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Since Search Engines (SEs) are constantly changing their algorithms to avoid cheats, Web Design Newcastle use the simple and proven best practices to gain good ranking in the SEs. All our websites are SE-friendly, written using clean and organised code and prominent key terms at no extra cost to the client.

We initially have to determine which keywords or phrases your clients or target-audience will use to search for you. We don't want highly competitive terms nor those rarely used in searches, but something unique and relevant to you or your business.

Once a short (approx 250words) description of your website content is written, populated using the keywords and phrases we have decided on, next we need to keep your website current and up to date. SEs rank newest pages higher than older pages, so regularly updating your content will continually improve your ranking.

Ultimately, SEO is not a guaranteed science. With optimised code and genuine content, unique search terms, and regular updates and backlinks, your site should rank highly in the SEs. Having links to your website on other relevant websites will help enormously - whenever you post to a related forum or send an email, ensure your website link is included.

Remember, it's not enough to simply attract visitors to your website, you need to hold them there and encourage returns. You can only do this by stating and offering what they are actually looking for!

Choosing a Browser

We recommend you use version 5+ browsers for a better web experience (click Help > About to see which version you're using now). There shouldn't be any excuse to be using deprecated software as they are all available for free download. We build websites which support current technology and web standards and so although they may not look as 'beautiful' in older browsers, the content will still be accessible by all!

You are currently using: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100722 Firefox/3.6.8

Clearing the Cache

When you surf the Internet, your computer will "save" a copy of each page that you visit on your hard drive. This can amount to a lot of files! If your hard drive hasn't been defragged in awhile, your computer may not have as many big chunks of space it needs to work smoothly.

When our client did this, he noticed that his computer was quite busy deleting these files; in fact, he had so many files to delete that he almost thought that he had crashed! When he was done he saw an immediate improvement and planned to defrag that very weekend.

So, if you haven't done this in a while, please take a few moments to do it now! The following instructions tell you how to delete these files, and if you see a check box to delete files stored on your computer, please check it!

Clearing Cache on Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 and 5.0
Click View and select Internet Options on the Internet Explorer menu bar.
Click the General tab.
Click Delete Files.
Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
Click OK
NOTE: If these steps fail to resolve your problem, close all open browser windows and open the Internet Options window from the Windows Control Panel.

Clearing Cache on Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0
Click Tools , and select Internet Options on the Internet Explorer menu bar.
Click the General tab.
Click Delete Files.
NOTE: Be careful not to select Delete Cookies instead of Delete Files as this will remove all the cookies stored on the computer.
Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
Click OK
NOTE: If these steps fail to resolve your problem, close all open browser windows and open the Internet Options window from the Windows Control Panel.

Clearing Cache on Netscape® Communicator / Navigator 6.0
Click Edit, and select Preferences on the Netscape menu bar.
Click Advanced.
Click Cache.
Click the Clear Memory Cache button.
Click the Clear Disk Cache button.
Click OK
NOTE: If these steps fail to resolve your problem, close all open browser windows and open the Internet Options window from the Windows Control Panel.

[Tip: Courtesy of SpiralXdesign]

Domains and Hosting

The benefits of having your own domain name, e.g. www.yourname.co.uk and hosting package are many:

1. Not having to remember a long winded web address (such as home.freeserve.co.uk/~yourname/yoursite.htm)
2. Your website address will never change, no matter where you host your site
3. It looks more professional on business cards, stationery and advertising to have email addresses which correspond with your website, e.g. you@yourname.co.uk
4. Paid hosting is more reliable than free webspace -- you may lose visitors if your site is down for any length of time. If you rely on your website for business or contacts, that could cost you more money than a basic domain name and hosting package
5. It holds more weight in Search Engines as freespace is believed to be temporary, and is often ranked lower because of that. If your domain name is keyword specific, this can particularly help your ranking
6. There are no annoying advertisements, banners or popup windows, of the type that free webspace often suffers from. These cannot be tweaked with your site's specific description, meaning it is less likely to be found in the SEs.

Useful Cheap/Free Web Design Tools

Metapad (versatile notepad replacement -- I do most of my html/css with this)
http://www.liquidninja.com/metapad/

colour pixie
http://www.nattyware.com/pixie.html

type it in (store code snippets, form info etc)
http://www.wavget.com/typeitin.html

cool ruler
http://www.fabsoft.com/products/ruler/ruler.html

HandyFile Find and Replace
http://www.silveragesoftware.com/hffr.html

Font View
http://www.groan-zone.net/delphi/font.html

Icon studio
http://www.html-helper.com/viewapp.asp?program=iconstud

Irfan view (lightweight but very useful image app)
http://www.irfanview.com/

The Font Thing (managing TrueType fonts in Windows)
http://www.5star-shareware.com/Desktop/FontTools/font-thing.html

jpeg optimiser
http://www.xat.com/jpegopt/index.html

RoboForm (saves passwords and form submit details)
http://www.roboform.com/

About time (atomic accuracy for your pc clock )
http://www.arachnoid.com/abouttime/index.html

FreeMem (increases your PC's performance by optimizing memory management)
http://www.meikel.com/en/products/freemem/

Xitami web server (test php on your local machine)
http://www.xitami.com/

Time Tool (a punch clock, invoice generator, and timesheet generator)
http://home.cfl.rr.com/computingedge/timetracker/

Plugin Commander (manage and preview your PS compatible plugins)
http://thepluginsite.com/products/picopro/index.htm

Image converter
http://www.ggcomputer.com/icae.htm

Booru Webcam -- easy to use and free
http://www.booru.net/

Conquercam (alternative webcam app)
http://www.theill.com/conquercam/download.asp

Goldwave (audio editor -- free trial)
http://www.goldwave.com/release.html

...and to keep the whole thing from collapsing in a heap, of course we have:

AVG anti virus
http://www.grisoft.com/