Tools and hints for webmasters

Accessing data, useful tools, etc. for
your website. Some are really helpful!

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Useful helps while writing:

• Dictionary: Google has a neat feature that helps one obtain definitions of terms. Entering a search string like define: deism will return a dozen or so definitions from various websites for the word "deism." Don't forget the ":" character.
  
  
• Deleted websites: One of the problems with the Internet is that websites often disappear. It seems as if some religious websites have a half life of six months. One way to retrieve information from defunct sites is to use the "Wayback Machine" Internet archive. They have an incredible number of websites archived from 1996 to the present time. See: http://www.archive.org/
  
  
• Spelling checker: A lot of visitors will judge your web site by the accuracy of its spelling. A free spell checker at http://www.spellchecker.org will check your text, will show mistakes, and make recommendations on how to correct them, including using synonyms.
  
  
• Grammar checker: Grammarly checks text for more than 150 possible errors. It also checks for borrowed text before you can be accused of plagiarism. It suggests alternative words that might have greater impact, and detects word substitutions like "to" instead of "two" or "too." See: http://www.grammarly.com It rents to individuals for about $20.00 a month. Some educational institutions have contracts with Grammarly that covers all of their students.
  
  
• Grammar checker: A free checker is at http://www.grammarcheck.net It checks for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
  

File type conversion:

	WAV audio files into MP3: attach the file to an Email and send it to mp3@koolwire.com
	MP3 audio files  into WAV: attach the file to an Email and send it to wav@koolwire.com
	PDF (Adobe Systems' Portable Document Format) files into RTF files used in Microsoft WordPad (RTF): Attach the file to an Email and send it to doc@koolwire.com
	Word (DOC, DOCX), Powerpoint (PPT, PPTX), Excel (XLS, XLSX), Visio (VSD), MS Project (MPP), WordPad (RTF), and Conventional text files (txt) into PDF:Attach the file to an Email and send it to pdf@koolwire.com
	Image files (JPEG, JPG, GIF) into PDF: Attach the file to an Email and send it to pdf@koolwire.com

Accessing data for your website:

	A PDF file reader can be downloaded from:
	Word Viewer 2003 can be obtained from: http://www.microsoft.com/
	Excel Viewer 2003 can be downloaded from: http://www.microsoft.com/
	PowerPoint Viewer 2003 can be downloaded from: http://www.microsoft.com/

Awareness of copyright laws:

	The United States Copyright Office provides a series of articles on copyright law. See: http://www.copyright.gov/
	It is illegal to publish copyrighted material on your web site without permission, except for short quotations. See http://fairuse.stanford.edu  and http://www.bitlaw.com/ for helpful guidance.

Looking for plagiarism:

An unusually valuable source of information:

	Creating a small image to appear on your visitors' Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera or Safari web browsers next to the URL when people access your site.
	Setting up a custom 404 page on your site to handle cases where files are not found.
	Tips on choosing a domain name.
	Preparing your website for growth.
	Using Nvu -- a free WYSIWYG web editor.
	Free webmaster resources.
	etc.

Useful tools for your website:

BraveNet.com has a wide range of free tools for your website: Build tools: A guestbook, counter, web journal, calendar, template gallery, URL redirect, password gate, photo center. Promote tools: E cards, cartoon, Tell-a-friend, site search, site ring, free links, traffic exchange. Interact tools: Message forum, vote caster, live chat, mailing list, FAQ service, Email forums, mini-poll, guestmap. Profit tools: Affiliate program, classified, live person.

See http://www.bravenet.com

	321Webmaster.com offers "one of the largest directories of free webmaster resources, free web hosting, free website tools, and even free e-mail." See: http://www.321webmaster.com/
	AddMe sells search engine optimization, search engine submission tools, professionally created website templates, and many free services. See: http://www.addme.com/
	Tucows has hundreds of programs available for download. Some are freeware, other require payment. See: http://tucows.com One example is  XGrapher 1.4. It is a free program to create attractive graphs. The graph format is easily changed. It can produce a GIF file for inclusion on your website.
	Downloads Plaza is another site for downloading a broad range of programs. See: http://downloadsplaza.com/
	iPerceptions has a nifty survey creator. By adding a survey to your website, your site visitors can provide feedback. See: http://4qportal.4qsurvey.com/

Count visitors to your website:

	BraveNet.com has a counter that provides comprehensive statistics at: http://www.bravenet.com/ The first one is free.
	SiteMeter offers free and low cost premium counters and statistical data at:http://www.sitemeter.com/
	TinyCounter offers free counters with a truly amazing variety of styles from which to choose. See: http://www.tinycounter.com/

Detect broken links on any website:

SSB Web Design has an free online link analyzer tool at: http://www.jsbwebdesign.com/

You simply enter a valid URL, select whether you want external links (those going to other websites), internal links (broken links inside the selected website) or both.

Click on the "Show Links" button.

You end up at the SEO Chat website. It asks you to enter a spam checking string, and click on the "Validate" button.

The first time that I tried the tool, it reported 115 broken internal links on this website. This was 115 more than I would prefer. Still, we have over 5,400 essays, so there is lots of room for broken links.

I don't have the courage to get a listing of broken external links.

The start of the report looks like this:

Count the number of visitors who are currently on your web site:

Web site statistics:

Google Analytics is a free program that:

"...shows you how people found your site, how they explored it, and how you can enhance their visitor experience. Improve your website return on investment, increase conversions, and make more money on the web."

It requires a short piece of their code to be placed at the end of each file that you want monitored. See: http://www.google.com/

	WebStats4U provides a free statistical service for your web site, listing the last ten visitors, page views per day over the past four weeks, visitors' country of origin. See: http://www.webstats4u.com/
	BraveNet.com has a counter that provides comprehensive statistics at: http://www.bravenet.com/ The first one is free.
	SiteMeter offers free and low cost premium counters and statistical data at:http://www.sitemeter.com/

Copyright © 1995 to 2012 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update and review: 2012-DEC-02
Author: B.A. Robinson
Hyperlinks checked on: 2007-JAN-01

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