As an intermediate step to fully featured e-commerce, many website owners look to PayPal to accept payments.  Here is a summary on how to add a single item PayPal button to your existing web page.

The first step is to create 2 new web pages on your site; they can be a very simple design, but they need to have 2 specific messages – one page is a confirmation or “thank you” page for a successful transaction, and the second page is a message that states the transaction was officially cancelled.  PayPal has recommended text they prefer you to include on these pages, and they should both mention that the user can revisit PayPal.com for more information about their transaction details.  When you finish creating these 2 pages, write down the complete url of each and set them aside.

Now, login to your PayPal account at www.paypal.com, which we assume is already setup as a business account and verified.  Once you are in, click on the Merchant Services tab. The method we will be using is the Website Payments Standard.

Click on the Buy Now option or Add Buy Now Button. As you continue to fill out the form in the next step, mkae sure the Buy Now button option is selected.

Enter an Item Name that is brief but descriptive for referencing your service on emails and in the PayPal order history. The Item ID can be a shorter reference name or an actual SKU code you usually use for your product.

Specify the price of your item or service. For this tutorial we will assume there is only one flat rate for your single product.

Skip downward to Shipping and specify another flat rate there, unless there is no extra shipping charge.  Next, enter the sales tax rate if applicable.

On the next question, most merchants stick with “use  my PayPal email address”, but you may choose the newer option of using the secure merchant id.

For simplicity, we will skip Step 2 options and move onto Step 3. 

In most cases I recommend enabling the option for Do you want to let your customer change order quantities? to Yes, to make ordering multiple items very easy for your customer.  If you are selling a service that does not need any shipping or delivery like a tangible product, I recommend setting shipping address to No.

A little further down, check the box beside Take customers to this URL when they cancel their checkout…
And type or paste in the address for the web page you created with this message. The address must be the entire path including the http:// at the front.

Do the same for the next field but remember to use the “confirmation” web page, indicating a successful payment has gone through.

Finally, click Create Button. 

On the last page, highlight all the code in the Website box and paste it into the HTML code of your web page, where you want the button to appear. Save your webpage and upload it to the server.  Test out the button yourself first by visiting the page in a browser and checking to see that it does direct you to PayPal.com with the appropriate payment amount and product description.

Viewing a website on the internet is something akin to a choreographed dance in which your web server and web browser weave in and out of each other daintily.

Well, not really, but they do have equally important roles when you’re viewing a web page. In order to understand this, you need to know the difference between client and server side technologies.

Client side: Anything that occurs via the user’s computer and web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, etc).

A Popular Example: Javascript

Server side: Anything that occurs on the web server before it appears on your computer.

A Popular Example: PHP

Javascript and PHP are two of the most popular examples of client side and server side functionality. When you download a webpage to your web browser, your web browser is basically receiving a file in HTML format and using the HTML code as instructions to display the website. While it may seem like you are “constantly connected” to a website, you’re actually just viewing a premade document on your computer that takes a fraction of a second to download.

If your website is using any Javascript, the effects are being executed by your web browser, and are considered client side. This is because your web browser is simply downloading a file from the web server and the web browser is executing the Javascript. The actual web server has nothing to do with the functionality other than allowing your web browser to download the files.

If your website is using any PHP scripts, the effects are being executed by your web server, and are considered server side. This is because your web server is doing all the information processing. In the case of PHP scripts, it is executing the code on the web server and outputting HTML code for your web browser to download and display.

Do server side and client side functionalities have to be exclusive? Absolutely NOT. In fact, some of the most intuitive functionality for websites comes from tactful use of both server side and client side technologies.

Example:

Let’s say you’re a photographer and you want to have customized photo galleries for your customers. You could accomplish the customized galleries with PHP web pages that are programmed to only show pictures to a specific user that is logged in. Then, you can use Javascript effects like the popular “Lightbox” effect to give your gallery a dynamic feel that is more intuitive to navigate.

Gone are the days of the internet belonging to the geek elite. It’s a common pitfall to think of the internet as a “magic box”. The key to using the internet effectively is knowing a little about what’s under the hood. By knowing the difference between what is going on client side and server side, you can put together the perfect mix of functionality and usability that not only displays information, but actively engages your visitor. It all comes with the mastery of developing the type of flawless user-experience that WEBii has been showcasing since its inception.

Considering a fancy Flash intro animation for your new website design?  Before you dive into it, consider these tips.  Flash is an entertainment medium.  It can be a wonderful tool for expressing a great piece of art, promoting a film or music, or dressing up a special invitation-only promotional event.  But if the primary focus of your website is not to entertain, but to bring in business – Flash might not be a good solution for you.

It is possible to have a better balance of Flash with other web content, such as a simple top banner followed by mostly text and basic optimized graphics. However, we also have other options with new technologies that allow us to create some of these same basic effects with faster loading, lighter weight code.

Increased loading time and excessive animation lends to poor SEO, since search engines are challenged in reading these kinds of websites.

Remember to consult your web designer for advice before planning an elaborate presentation.

It used to be the case that websites were simple text documents that you downloaded to view on your Prodigy or AOL browser. Then again, you also used to be able to have dinner and watch Saved By The Bell by the time it actually downloaded, but the World Wide Web has come a long way since then. Websites are no longer restricted to being online versions of pamphlets. In fact, they run the gamut from expansive social networking services like Facebook, which has many millions of users, to small personal websites that receive maybe 5 visitors a month.

Websites used to be as simple as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) code embedded in a single file per page. While this was great for simplicity, it didn’t do much in the way of functionality. The pages could only display one static set of information per page. In today’s current version of the internet, one web page can display a variety of different information depending on what the user inputs. These types of websites are known as dynamic websites because they dynamically generate the web pages each time a visitor visits a page, using a set of data that is retrieved from a database.

Here is an example of the way a static HTML page works:

1) You type “www.example.com” in the address bar of your web browser, and your web browser sends a request to the server of “www.example.com” for the contents of the web page.

2) Your web browser downloads the content of the home page at “www.example.com” in the format of an HTML document.

3) Your browser reads this document, and then displays it in your web browser as a web page.

The way a dynamically generated page works is a little different. Let’s take this blog as an example. This blog runs on a popular blogging platform called Wordpress. The Wordpress software uses a combination of PHP code and a mySQL database in order to dynamically generate web pages. PHP is a server-side scripting language, which means that all the processing is done on the web server, as opposed to a client-side script like Javascript that runs on your local machine. The short explanation of mySQL is that it stores data on a database server, which can be retrieved through a series of “queries”. If you would like to know more, you can read about it here: mySQL

Here is an example of the way a dynamically generated web page works:

1) You type “www.webii.net/blog” in the address bar of your web browser, and your web browser sends a request for the contents of the web page.

2) The page “index.php” runs its PHP code on the web server, which includes mySQL queries for information from the database. This includes a query of the “latest posts” which Wordpress stores in the mySQL database. The “index.php” file finishes running its code, and it outputs the result in HTML.

3) Your web browser reads the HTML output of the PHP file, and then displays it in your web browser.

Either way, your browser still receives and displays HTML information, but the manner in which it is retrieved is very different. The “index.php” file can put out different results depending on the user input. When you click on the “about” link in our blog’s navigation bar, you are actually calling the exact same “index.php” file, but this time the page is dynamically generated to display the “About” information that is stored in the mySQL database. Neat, huh?

Dynamic websites are not for every one. If you simply need to display a couple of pages of text and images, then sometimes bare bones HTML pages can suffice. If you need something better for your organization or business (or even just your personal website), dynamically generated web pages can be designed to give multi-tiered security access, allow you to update your web page from anywhere on the web, and many other powerful features that can turn an otherwise uninspired website into a full blown online presence, a tool to help you get things done.

ISES Austin Blog Design

Have you heard? Blogger, a popular community blogging tool, has discontinued FTP support.  What does this mean? It means that you will no longer be able to publish your Blogger blog directly to your website – you will be forced to migrate to a “blogspot” address instead.

Never fear, there are other options.  Your web developer can install a blog software like Wordpress in your website hosting space, and even design a custom theme to match the blog styles with your website or other marketing materials.

WEBii has quite a bit of experience designing customized blogs.  Feel free to ask us if you don’t know where to start.

Recently I replied in a discussion forum asking the question, If you could only have one marketing expense for your business what would it be. Naturally, I replied with a great website! Reflecting on this more, what I should have said was, A good professional web designer.

When you hire a professional web designer / web developer, you are getting more than just a beautiful website design; you also gain the knowledge of that professional, which may include web marketing strategies, what types of layouts work best, what types of features your typical customer desires to see, how to make your website more efficient, what practices to avoid that might annoy your web audience, how to design the website with clean code that will attract search engines, and how to convert your visitors to customers.

There are a lot of neat “do-it-yourself” tools out there, but taking on an important marketing project for your company on your own – without all that expert knowledge – could actually hurt you.  What if you unknowingly use a photograph that was copyrighted?  What if you try to add some simple features and the code you used exposes your site with a major security bug?  What if you implement a feature that your mom thought was cool, but your ideal customer hated?

All of these headaches can be avoided if you spend your dollars wisely, on an established professional web design company.

Here’s a quick tip for a first time e-commerce project.  If you plan to support real-time automated credit card transactions, you will be setting up a merchant banking account with a payment gateway (such as Authorize.net, LinkPoint, YourPay, etc.).  If this is a new merchant account or a new gateway service, at some point the bank will want to do an approval process of your website.  What they usually want to see is a posted return policy, a posted privacy policy, and SSL security in place.  So prepare all of these things as early in the development process as possible.

Despite that the average American is dreaming more about their upcoming vacation than their business, December is a time when website owners seek out opportunity to drive sales.  And it isn’t too late to take advantage of the holiday buying frenzy.

Things you can do to make money with your web site this holiday season:

• Add a new product variation to your online store – Shirt now available in teal!
• Make “kit” suggestions and sell them as a bundle package – How about a mug to go with those coffee beans?
• Suggest some creative cross-sell items for people to notice when they are shopping -While you are looking at this hot cocoa mix maybe you’d be interested in a new pair of fuzzy slippers?

Thinking of adding a photo gallery to your web site? There are a plethora of great gallery management tools available these days, some for quite a low cost or even free.

Sometimes the free tools are enough to get someone by for a while, such as Google’s Picasso or Photo Bucket.  These member-based photo communities are handy for sharing some portfolio samples or showcasing a recent event.  The typical drawbacks of free tools are:

• The gallery is separate from your web site (linked to a third-party).
• If they are community-based, visitors to your photos can detour to another member’s albums.
• There may be a limitation to how many images you can store in your free account.
• Audiences may perceive this kind of third-party tool as less professional/amateur.

If you are thinking about integrating a photo managing tool into your CMS web site, consider this option for Joomla.  One affordable option, JoomGallery, is quite easy for the novice website owner to self manage, plus it comes equiped with several wish list features – even picture ratings.  This comes in handy for a nightclub that showcases photos of its patrons dancing online, and allows the visitors to participate with comments and ratings online.  While other organizations may use the basic features and find ongoing photo additions a breeze.

With the wonderful flexibilities of css (style sheets), we are able to create attractive backgrounds with minimal coding and without compromising a the efficiency of a web site.  Adding an elegant background element can help the web site to stand out from the crowd, or it can even send a message about what your web site is trying to achieve.

You might include a very simple pattern in the background like this example, and allow the pattern to stretch with the browser so it “fills up” the space on various computer screens.

Or, you might use a vibrant image that relates to a product you are selling.  Some sites about entertainment events (like films) format the background to look like a movie screen or the back of an invitation, for example.  Suddenly, you aren’t in an ordinary web site – you are part of an experience.

You can even get creative with your Twitter background, as shown in WEBii’s Twitter Profile.