You may have heard of WordPress as one of the most popular blogging tools available. But what many people don’t know is that it is a powerful Content Management System (CMS) that can be used for more than just blogging. With WordPress you can build a blog, a website, or both.

Empower Yourself
Each WordPress installation comes with a user-friendly control panel that provides you with the tools necessary to make most website edits without the help of a “web guru.”

If you can edit a Microsoft Word document, you can likely write and publish using Wordpress. The content interface is a basic text editor with the standard menu buttons you already use in your favorite word processor. In the Web world this type of editor is known as a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get).

You don’t need to learn HTML, CSS or PHP to make your site look good. Most themes and plugins come are designed with basic shortcuts that allow for simple customization.
Because Wordpress is hosted online, there is nothing downloaded to your desktop computer, allow you to update your website and blog from anywhere in the world. It gives you complete freedom and mobility. So if you’re stuck at the airport, you can still login into your site and update as needed. There is even a mobile iPhone App to manage your site on the go.

Open Source Platform
In case you’re new to web development, Open Source means free! Yes, it’s true.   Instead of paying monthly subscription fees for a commercial CMS platform, you can reallocate your budget and resources to a larger marketing campaign on spend more time on the design and development of your website…possibly include some of those “bells and whistles” you had on your wish list.  As long as you have a domain name and a hosting package that supports a WordPress installation (and most do), you’re all set to go.

Upgrades & Improvements
WordPress has a very active community of users and developers committed to its development and sustainability. New versions of the software are tested and released regularly to ensure the code is secure and contains the latest features and improvements.  Best of all, to install these updates to literally only have to click two buttons.

Plugins
Wordpress plugins or widgets expand the functionality of your website. Plugins can be added to increase the usability or your site, or add modules to collect information, such as contact forms, polls, or surveys. The ultimate power of the Plugin is that the code is written and packaged up for you for free. Instead of learning PHP for years, simply choose to install the plugin with a single mouse click and you’re set. In most cases there is documentation from the developer to help guide you through minor customization.

Compliant with Web Standards
WordPress have gone to great lengths to make sure every bit of the generated code is in full compliance with the standards of the W3C. This is important not only for interoperability with today’s browser but also for forward compatibility with the tools of the next generation.

Up and Running
To see WordPress in action, take a look at a few sites Lucky Gnome has recently developed.

• Pink Fishing
• Helix Pet Hospital
• San Diego American Marketing Association
• Lucky 7 Match
• San Diego Meetings & Incentives

If you’re interested in launching a new website or upgrading your current version to the WordPress environment, start by filling out our Get Started form.

Improved Task Bar:
The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to launch programs and switch between them when they’re open. In Windows 7 you can Pin any program to the taskbar so it’s always just a click away, and you can rearrange the icons on the taskbar just by clicking and dragging. They have made the icons considerably bigger, too, so they’re easier to use. Hover over the icons and you’ll see thumbnails of every file or window that open in that program, and if you hover over the thumbnail, you’ll see a full-screen preview of that window. Move the cursor off the thumbnail and the full-screen preview disappears.

Jump Lists:
With Windows 7, they focused on keeping the things you use most right in front of you. One example: The new Jump List feature. It’s a handy way to quickly reach the files you’ve been working with. To see the files you’ve used recently, just right click on the icon on your taskbar. Right-clicking on the Word icon would show your most recent Word documents. Plus, if there are other files you want to keep handy, you can just pin them to the Jump List so they’ll always appear, so they’re just clicks away.

Desktop Enhancements:
Windows 7 will give us a more intuitive way to open, close, resize, and arrange on desktop. Also, to quickly view your Desktop, while you have other programs open, you will be able to move your mouse to the lower right hand corner, which will make all of the open programs transparent so your desktop is immediately visible. Want to get all but one Window out of your way? Grab the top of that Window, shake it and all the open windows will minimize to the taskbar. Shake the window again, and they’ll all come back!

Windows Search:
Windows Search helps you to find virtually anything on your PC quickly and easily. Looking for a file, Email or application? While you can easily look through folders and menus, there will be a faster way. By clicking on the Start button, you’ll now have a Search box. Just enter the word or first few letters, and you’ll get an organized list of the results. Windows 7 uses Libraries to show content of a particular type organized in one spot. By collecting things in a single view, libraries make it much easier to find what you’re looking for. You can also search your Libraries using filters. As an example, find a photo by the date it was taken.

Better device management:
One of the great things about PCs is how they let us use such a wide array of devices. In the past, you had to use several different screens to manage different types of devices. But With Windows 7, you’ll use a single Devices and Printers screen to connect, manage, and use whatever printers, phones, and other devices you have on-hand. Windows 7 also introduces a new technology called Device Stage, which helps the user interact with these devices, which will be more visual and intuitive.

Viewing available networks:
Windows 7 makes viewing and connecting to all of your networks simple and consistent. You’ll always have one-click access to available networks, regardless of whether those networks are based on Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, or your corporate VPN.

Power management improvements:
Microsoft has redesigned Windows 7 to improve battery life by adding power-saving enhancements, such as adaptive display brightness, which dims the display if you haven’t used your PC for a while. Other improvements include using less power to play DVDs (handy on a trip) and using processing power more efficiently.

New Action Center:
The Action Center is a new, integrated Control Panel experience that gives you a central place to go for tasks and notifications associated with keeping your computer running smoothly. It makes it easier for you to fix problems yourself by providing a new streamlined experience for addressing notifications and managing computer issues. In previous versions, Windows was often able to tell you when something on your computer needed attention. Unfortunately, it did so by interrupting you with pop-ups or other messages. These were helpful if the problem required immediate attention. However, they were less helpful if the problem was not urgent and you didn’t want to take care of it at the time. Rather than popping up with a message in the lower right of your screen, if Windows 7 needs your attention, you’ll see an Action Center icon and can find out more by clicking it. If you don’t have time to look at the alert immediately, Action Center will keep the information waiting for you to address later.

Streaming media in your home:
One of the great things about PCs is how they help you put your pictures, videos, recorded TV, and music in one place. Once everything is in that spot, it’s natural to want to enjoy it on other PCs and devices in your home. Windows 7 helps you do it. It’d be great to just “send” music from your PC to the place where you want to see or hear it. And you can. It’s called streaming, and Windows 7 makes it easy to use your PC to stream music, videos, or photos to your home audio-video system and other networked media devices. New media streaming features make your PC a great hub for audio, video, recorded TV, and photos throughout your home. So, when you set up a HomeGroup or media streaming from Windows Media Player, you can enjoy your music, pictures, and videos easily on other computers running Windows 7 and other devices in your home.

New Play To feature:
Here’s another way to enjoy the music on your PC—send it to another device. Let’s say you’re sitting on your couch, using your laptop to read e-mail or surf the web. You’d like to listen to some music, but you don’t want to hear it coming out of your laptop’s speakers—and you don’t want to get up and go find your portable media device. With Windows 7, you don’t have to. Just open Windows Media Player, right-click on what you’d like to hear, select Play To, and you’ll see a list of devices and PCs on which you can play your music, like your network-connected stereo or Xbox 360. In most cases, if your media receiver doesn’t support the file format for your media, Windows 7 automatically converts that content into a format that your media receiver can play. Windows Media Player even offers controls to manage that device, such as play, stop, and skip tracks so your PC becomes your remote control.

Internet Access to Home Media:
Once you’ve got your pictures, music, videos, and recorded TV content on your home PC, it’d be nice to take it with you, say on a family vacation. But you may not have time to download what you want onto your laptop or other media player. But, if your home PC and your laptop use Windows 7, then you can use the entertainment on your home PC from pretty much wherever you can connect to the Internet. You can use Windows Media Player on your laptop to listen to music, and view pictures, videos, or recorded TV, in the media libraries on your home PC. No need to take all your photos with you.

Windows Touch:
While great for a lot of tasks, using a keyboard and mouse is not always the easiest way to do things. With Windows 7, if you’ve got a touch-screen monitor, you can just touch your computer screen for a more direct and natural way to work. Use your fingers to scroll, resize windows, play media, and pan and zoom. Windows 7 also introduces support for new multi-touch technology, so you can control what happens on the screen with more than one finger.

Can My PC run Windows 7?
In general, if your PC can run VISTA, it can run Windows 7. But, if your system is not running VISTA, we have a Windows 7 upgrade advisor tool that you can download, which will provide a report that will indicate if there are any compatibility issues, with recommended suggestions.

Compatibility:
You can expect that most of the products that work with Windows VISTA will work with Windows 7. With Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate you’ll be able to run many of your Windows XP programs and applications. Windows 7 offers an “Windows XP Mode” which will allow you to run most of your older programs. Your system will need a minimum of 2GB of RAM and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V turned on. In some cases, additional software may be necessary, which will be available for free-of-charge download from Microsoft.

Windows 7 System Requirements

• 1 GHtz processor or greater
• 2 GB RAM or greater
• 16 GB available hard disk space
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Need help determining which version best suits your needs, or would you like us to install and configure Windows 7 for you?  Contact us today to speak to a representative.  We can be reached at 619.283.2000, or send us an email.

Article written by Mark Hanson – Network Resources Incorporated

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Overview
On January 1, 2004, the Federal Trade Commission enacted the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act)  in an effort to control the amount of unwanted email messages arriving in your Inbox.  The law applies to all businesses in the United States that use email for commercial purposes.  The exact languge in the law read as ”the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose.”

Basic Guidelines

• You cannot be deceptive in the header or the subject line
  

 

• You must provide a way for recipients to “opt-out” of the email campaign.  (A request must be processed within 10 business days.  You must also maintain an opt-out list.)

 

• You must include a physical mailing address within the body of each email.
  

 

• You cannot harvest email address from web sites, directories, membership databases, or any other service/website that prohibit taking of email addresses. You may not guess at email address (for example, send to every info@domain.com email) to send mass emails.

 

• You must only send emails to recipients who specifically request it.  Obtaining a business card is not adequate to include an email into the recipients list.
• Criminalizes sending sexually-oriented content without clear indicators.
  

 

• This law is designed to  hinder spammers, and as such, is written to implicate those who send spam directly and companies that use spammers to do their dirty work.  So, if you fail to prevent spammer from promoting your services and/or products in their mailings, you can be prosecuted.

 

Moving Forward
Initially, this may sound a bit overwhelming.  Luckily, if you are using a reputable email service, such as Constant Contact, or Benchmark email, they take care of a majority of these issues without you even knowing about it.  Essentially, you just need to ensure your subject lines match the body content, the return email address is valid, and provide a mailing address in your content.

For More Information

• Federal Trade Commission – http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm
• Privacy Rights Clearinghouse – http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs20-spam.htm

Article written by Peter Ward – Lucky Gnome Creative, LLC