A joomla! 1.5 installation does not differ much from a 1.0 installation (for a non-programmer’s eye, the programming model is totally different), but the configuration file has been changed. Instead of a list of standalone constants, everything is thrown into a class, and the mosConfig part from the variable names is missing.

Everything is working the same as in the Joomla! 1.0, except step 9., where you have to replace the following values:

a:)
var $log_path = ‘yoursitemaindir/jxcms/logs’;
to
var $log_path = ‘yoursitemaindir/logs’;
b:)
var $tmp_path = ‘yoursitemaindir/jxcms/tmp’;
to
var $tmp_path = ‘yoursitemaindir/tmp’;

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How? Just google it, and there is near 80% chance to get some information about, or connected with the specific e-mail address, such as another blog post, or a public user listing, or a spambot catch page. If you can’t get any information about the subscriber, do’nt worry, there is another method to filter it(him/her) out. This latter method takes some time, as you have to check, if the subscriber is active or not, posting useful informations or valid questions on the forum. If the subscriber is not active (logged in a long time ago or never), posting nonsense, you can easily delete the related user account. This is why you have to keep your forum moderated.

If your forum is too large for one moderator already, choose the most active and most loyal users, and ask them if they are willing to moderate certain sections or the entire forum for you. Supervising 4 or 5 people instead of 400 is much easier, and they will do the rest of the job.

Returning to the googling method:

The method is not foolproof, but lets you filter out the most obvious and most known spam attempts, and that’s quiet enough. Be aware. As your site grows in content ands popularity, the chance to get spammed grows exponentially. Many good forum software has built-in capability to help in filtering out these scams, but human presence is always needed.

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It’s been a long time since i wrote an article here.

I’m observing a deep stupidity which sits somwhere behind desks and home computers. Many people are sending and forwarding some idiotic messages which are pretending, that well known and rich companies are giving away a lot of money for just forwarding that message. And all that money for just an e-mail forwarding and several so-called non-relevant information: Your home address, and perhaps a little more.

The sad thing is, that ther are so many information sites, advises which are saying, please verify it before acting, but it seems that many people are unaware, or even not willing to hear them.

This is a greedy method of phishing, using social engineering techniques, since it reaches a large part of the society, and as internet reaches the farthest areas in the world, this part grows every day.

You may ask: what should i do if i got such a message? Just a few steps and you’ll be safer:

1. Check the sender of the message: if you don’t know the sender, just delete the message. It is 99% certain, that the message is spam.

2. If you know the sender: Just think about his/her habits, living conditions, etc. Check the message title. If it contains a Re, Fwd, etc. words, you can be certain, the sender of the message got it from someone else. Verdict: delete the message.

3. If  you aren’t certain yet: save the message, and ask the sender, what this message is. If the answer is like “you can get a lot of money if you will forward it “, “i was already contacted”, “i don’t know”, etc. the verdict is the same: delete the message.

Step 1, 2, 3, 4: DON’T FORWARD THE MESSAGE.

WHY?!!

Somehow (I just don’t wish to write how (due to lack of time)) this message will get back to the original sender, with a huge list of e-mail addresses. He will have a lot of useful and REAL e-mail addresses, which can be used for spamming, phishing(collecting sensitive informations, such as bank account authentication data - usernames, passwords, PIN codes, geographical addresses, habits, interests, etc.). By tese means, you can seriously compromise your personal security and financial independence, and you may get a lot of other problems.

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It’s been a long time from my last post, so it’s time to make things moving again. I finished my small war against spammers and at least for a while, i think i won it, and i got some free time now (not getting any spam). Now let’s say what’s new with PlainHTML 7 beta 2

PlainHTML 7.0 beta 1 seems to be a success, and now i’m working on the second beta, which will add new features and some changes under the hood. One new feature will perhaps be welcome by the community: Code Information in the editor context menu, which will show a quick reference about the code. I’m still working on it and making some fine-tuning, but it’s not yet complete.

This version is not compatible vith previous versions. You have to backup save your configuration files and data folder, install and start PlainHTML beta 1, and overwrite the data files.

PlainHTML Beta 2 will not be compatible with PlainHTML beta 1 regarding installation.

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Why? Many spam comments are coming as legitimate ones, apparently with an acceptable content, but all of them are linking to som dubious sites with references and links to well known industry segments, who are ofte recurring to these methods of advertising.

Every comment or message of this kind will be reported, and these IP addresses, or even IP address groups may be banned or blacklisted worldwide.

PLEASE don’t bother me anymore!

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What i like in this release, that it easily updated it’s database without any problem. I just have overwritten the old installation’s files and voila. When i logged in, the installation system just updated my DB in a couple of seconds, and i had nothing to do, except of customizing the admin area. Drag’n'drop and many other nifty things are built into this new version.

What i don’t like, is that updating does’nt work at all. Hopefully it will be allright in the next release.

Summa summarum, Wordpress is a very good and robust blogging software, and also looks great!

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1. Previewing with the internal preview function:

Access: The eye icon on any toolbar you may find it (Standard and Quick Tools), View menu -> Internal Preview item, or just by pressing F9

This preview is only for static HTML pages and previews the currently edited file in it’s current context ONLY. The internal preview window has several functions on it’s toolbar:

• Standard browser functions: (address bar, back,forward,home,stop)
• A screenshot function (You have to save your screenshot if you want to get your preview window back, otherwise you have to restart PlainHTML (this is a bug, not yet fixed))
• Screen resolution buttons: you can see, how your page will look on different screen resolutions

2. Previewing from localhost (supports Apache any version ONLY)

First of all, you must have an Apache Web server with PHP support installed (at least)

Access (press F12 key, or Preview in default browser (Internet Explorer icon) , or preview with custom browser : View->preview in custom browser ->browser name) )

You can expand the browser list by Tools->customize Browserlist.

First of all, you have to configure the preview function. Go Tools->Options, click the View in Browser tab (this is the default).

Mark the Preview from Localhost checkbox. Select the folder where your server’s Document Root is (usually a htdocs or www folder, but you may have customized it).

It is recommended to use a subdirectory of this document root for testing. You can specify/select it or specify it in the next textbox.

Now, mark the Show PHP Errors checkbox, and select the location of your PHP error log file.

(Custom port selection will be available in version 7)

If you want to test php stuff with multiple dependencies, copy the dependencies to the test folder and overwrite them later, when necessary.

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Here are some expereience-born rules which may be good for you too (These things are for developers who are just starting in this big internet-thing):

1. Never use templates (especially when using CMS systems)

Exception: when all the other ways are ran out.

Why? templates ar tending to encompass you. They are a major blocking factor in the way of developement, especially beauty and top-notch things. There are many good javascript tools that may break the template and vice-versa.

2. In the exception above: to find the best, always compare them with others. Use commercial ones and only the best. WARNING! may be quiet expensive.

3. Learn to the smallest details possible: If you get a CMS system, or you are using one, learn how to create a template for it, and do it yourself.

4. When i said never use templates, i did’nt mean technologies. Pick up any good technology from the template, check for compatibility and use it (but always check for alternatives first).

5. Consult templates, but only for colors, font sizes, typography, maybe layout, and built-in technology. Templates can learn you, but cannot take your place. What is done by you, is familiar to you. The worst thing is, to scavenge in someone’s work. I saw professional templates put together in a very poor manner. Of course, they fell apart for the first unconventional thing on the pages i aplied them for.

6. If you wish to get something, there are a lot of free and good alternatives, but they are’nt always the best ones. Afford some money to get really good or even exceptional commercial things. They are’nt always expensive. If you get a good freeware which gives opportunity to donate, if you can afford, help it’s developer by a few bucks (even 2 dollars or euros can make a difference). This is the top level of appreciation for freeware developers.

Donating money is not always the only solution for them. Test their software and report problems or suggestions frequently. This helps improving them and creating quality software. Poor quality, bad or useless softs will not survive anyway.

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I decided to reenable commenting after almost four months of inactivity. I’m waiting for fresh comments to read and “eat”

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