Xampp and similar localhost webservers that can be run from a local computer do not have mod_rewrite enabled by default. Furthermore, the AllowOverride directive is usually set to none, causing Apache to ignore an .htaccess file. If this is the case, your WordPress installation might return a 404 error, stating post not found and you would only be able to access your posts via a default permalink structure. I.E. http://localhost/?p=2. In the following simple solution, I show you how to make WordPress Permalinks work in Xampp and other localhost server installations. Upon completion, you will also have the ability to use .htaccess files on your local server.

How to make WordPress Permalinks work in Xampp:

Using a text editor, open your httpd.conf file. In Xampp, this file is found in the \apache\conf directory
Search the file for the following line of code:
#LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

Next, remove the # from the line as seen below to enable the module:
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

Next, search the file for AllowOverride until you come to a section that looks like the following:
# AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
# It can be “All”, “None”, or any combination of the keywords:
# Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
#
AllowOverride All

#
# Controls who can get stuff from this server.
#
Order allow,deny
Allow from all

Ensure that this section says AllowOverride All as is highlighted above
Save the httpd.conf file and Restart your server
Login to your WordPress admin panel and set your custom permalink structure. Then go view your site. Custom permalinks should now work on your localhost Xampp or other server.

Apa yang kita yakini dalam hidup? Teringat buku “Master Your Mind Design Your Destiny” karya Adam Khoo, di buku tersebut terdapat bahasan apa yang menghambat kebanyakan orang dalam merancang hidupnya.

1. Keyakinan yang Membatasi

Banyak orang hanya memimpikan apa yang ingin mereka miliki. Namun ketika harus membuat komitmen untuk membuat rencana dan target yang spesifik, mereka tidak peduli. Sering berkata: “Tidak mungkin” atau “Itu sulit” atau mereka tidak mau bertindak/action. Sesungguhnya itu hanyalah keyakinan dan perasaan yang menghambat saja yang jika kita tidak menghilangkannya maka kita tidak akan pernah berani merancang tujuan/goal hidup yang lebih baik.

2. Tidak Tahu Apa yang Diinginkan

Banyak orang yang tidak tahu apa yang mereka inginkan. Tetapi yang terjadi sebenarnya adalah kebanyakan orang yang tidak berani untuk bermimpi. Kita perlu belajar bagaimana membuka imajinasi kita dan menghidupkan pikiran kreatif kita menjadi bebas…bebas dari ketakutan dan larangan-larangan sehingga kita dapat bermimpi dengan jelas dan menjalani hidup sesuai dengan yang kita inginkan.

3. Takut Gagal

Ketakutan terhadap kegagalan, penolakan, dan rasa malu adalah hal-hal yang menghantui kebanyakan orang untuk mulai bertindak/action. Satu-satunya orang yang dapat mengatakan kepada kita bahwa kita gagal adalah diri kita sendiri.

Orang-orang sukses mendefinikan kegagalan secara berbeda. Kegagalan bagi mereka merupakan umpan balik untuk memperbaiki lagi tindakannya. Mereka merasa gagal jika mereka menyerah. Selama mereka masih terus berusaha dan tidak menyerah, berarti mereka belum gagal!

4. Ketergantungan pada Hidup yang Mudah

Kebanyakan orang cenderung menghindari resiko karena mereka sudah ketagihan menjalani hidup yang mudah, hidup yang nyaman dan mereka takut kehilangan itu. Tidak ada jalan pintas untuk kesuksesan di bidang apa pun. Kita mesti mempersiapkan segala sesuatunya dengan baik, dengan semangat pengorbanan dan kita akan mendapatkan imbalannya.

5. Pernah Gagal Mencapai Tujuan yang Dibuat

Banyak orang telah menetapkan tujuan hidup, namun tidak berhasil mencapainya sehingga akhirnya mereka menyerah. Sebenarnya bukan tujuannya yang tidak sesuai, tetapi kita yang belum sesuai melakukan tindakan seperti seharusnya.

Dalam menetapkan tujuan merupakan kunci awal dalam formula sukses. Setelah penetapan tujuan/goal, haruslah diikuti dengan pengembangan strategi, tindakan/action dan merubah strategi berdasarkan umpan balik dari kegagalan yang ditemui.

Semoga sharing ini bermanfaat untuk teman-teman yang ingin memulai bisnisnya. Hilangkan rasa ketakutan dan kegagalan dengan menyusun rancangan tujuan/goal hidup yang baik, specific dan terukur, fun atau menggembirakan dengan menciptakan ide-ide yang akan menghasilkan lompatan kesuksesan….

source dari milist TDA : oleh Iim Rusyamsi

Apa yang kita yakini dalam hidup? Teringat buku “Master Your Mind Design Your Destiny” karya Adam Khoo, di buku tersebut terdapat bahasan apa yang menghambat kebanyakan orang dalam merancang hidupnya.

1. Keyakinan yang Membatasi

Banyak orang hanya memimpikan apa yang ingin mereka miliki. Namun ketika harus membuat komitmen untuk membuat rencana dan target yang spesifik, mereka tidak peduli. Sering berkata: “Tidak mungkin” atau “Itu sulit” atau mereka tidak mau bertindak/action. Sesungguhnya itu hanyalah keyakinan dan perasaan yang menghambat saja yang jika kita tidak menghilangkannya maka kita tidak akan pernah berani merancang tujuan/goal hidup yang lebih baik.

2. Tidak Tahu Apa yang Diinginkan

Banyak orang yang tidak tahu apa yang mereka inginkan. Tetapi yang terjadi sebenarnya adalah kebanyakan orang yang tidak berani untuk bermimpi. Kita perlu belajar bagaimana membuka imajinasi kita dan menghidupkan pikiran kreatif kita menjadi bebas…bebas dari ketakutan dan larangan-larangan sehingga kita dapat bermimpi dengan jelas dan menjalani hidup sesuai dengan yang kita inginkan.

3. Takut Gagal

Ketakutan terhadap kegagalan, penolakan, dan rasa malu adalah hal-hal yang menghantui kebanyakan orang untuk mulai bertindak/action. Satu-satunya orang yang dapat mengatakan kepada kita bahwa kita gagal adalah diri kita sendiri.

Orang-orang sukses mendefinikan kegagalan secara berbeda. Kegagalan bagi mereka merupakan umpan balik untuk memperbaiki lagi tindakannya. Mereka merasa gagal jika mereka menyerah. Selama mereka masih terus berusaha dan tidak menyerah, berarti mereka belum gagal!

4. Ketergantungan pada Hidup yang Mudah

Kebanyakan orang cenderung menghindari resiko karena mereka sudah ketagihan menjalani hidup yang mudah, hidup yang nyaman dan mereka takut kehilangan itu. Tidak ada jalan pintas untuk kesuksesan di bidang apa pun. Kita mesti mempersiapkan segala sesuatunya dengan baik, dengan semangat pengorbanan dan kita akan mendapatkan imbalannya.

5. Pernah Gagal Mencapai Tujuan yang Dibuat

Banyak orang telah menetapkan tujuan hidup, namun tidak berhasil mencapainya sehingga akhirnya mereka menyerah. Sebenarnya bukan tujuannya yang tidak sesuai, tetapi kita yang belum sesuai melakukan tindakan seperti seharusnya.

Dalam menetapkan tujuan merupakan kunci awal dalam formula sukses. Setelah penetapan tujuan/goal, haruslah diikuti dengan pengembangan strategi, tindakan/action dan merubah strategi berdasarkan umpan balik dari kegagalan yang ditemui.

Semoga sharing ini bermanfaat untuk teman-teman yang ingin memulai bisnisnya. Hilangkan rasa ketakutan dan kegagalan dengan menyusun rancangan tujuan/goal hidup yang baik, specific dan terukur, fun atau menggembirakan dengan menciptakan ide-ide yang akan menghasilkan lompatan kesuksesan….

source dari milist TDA : oleh Iim Rusyamsi

If you’ve been online for any amount of time, then I’m sure you’ve heard many of the success stories about internet entrepreneurs, and how they’re making millions every year, and you’ve probably heard how easy it is for you to do it, too.

And the truth is, it actually is kind of easy, but not as easy as most salesmen would have you believe. There is a little bit of work involved, and anyone who’s really been successful has put in the time and effort to get there. And they’ve managed to avoid the pitfalls on this list.

If you’re trying to start your online business and things haven’t gone as well as you’ve hoped so far, then hopefully, these suggestions will help.Build a Successful Online Business with Web CEO!

Here are the five most common reasons that most internet businesses fail that I’ve seen, in no particular order:

1. Information Overload

You’ve probably already been inundated with emails explaining how some new money makíng scheme is the hottest thing on the planet and you need to get in now so that you’re on the cutting edge of internet marketing.

The problem is that you haven’t finished working on the previous hot new thing yet, and as soon as you start this one, yet another hot idea will hit, and so on, and so on.

In every valid email you get, there should be an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom. Start clicking on it, and just stick with a few of the people who you know are giving you good information about building your business from start to finish in the right order without any distractions.

And make sure that you see every task through to completion before moving onto the next one. It’s the only real way to get anything done.

2. The Curse of Perfection

Speaking of seeing tasks through to completion, also consider that not everything on your website and in your sales process has to be absolutely perfect before you can unleash it on the public.

So many home busíness owners who are just starting out have a habit of obsessing over every little detail forever before they’ll allow themselves to launch their site.

Stop it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. That doesn’t mean that you don’t need to make sure your website is working properly first. It means that you can work on adjusting small details, such as the color scheme, the sales copy, the images, later on. In fact, if you’re planning to do any proper testing (and you should be), then you should be constantly working on those items anyway.

So get your website out there, get some traffic, make sure the big things are working right, and then worry about adjusting the small details.

3. Waiting for the “Magic Bullet”

Let me just start by saying that there is no magic bullet when it comes to running your business, or doing any kind of work online.

I know that a lot of salesmen make it sound that way when you’re reading their sales letters, but it simply isn’t true. They’re lying to you. And even if they’re not lying to you, and let’s say their system does work, it’s only going to work for a short period of time, and it’s only going to make you a little bit of money. Not the millions they’re promising.

That’s why I constantly warn people away from the “business-in-a-box” opportunities. The result isn’t ever very good. Maybe you’ll make a small bit of side money, if you’re lucky. Besides, why would you want to sell the same thing everyone else is selling anyway?

The only way to have lasting success online is to have a website that is unlike anyone else’s, that you’ve built up into a success, with a loyal customer base, one step at a time.

4. Being a Shopaholic

This goes along with #3 above. Stop paying for every new scheme that comes along because they’re promising you instant riches. All that’s going to do is drain you of your money.

And then, if you’re like so many others, there’s a good chance you’ll get frustrated and give up on the whole thing, because you don’t know who you can trust anymore, and you don’t want to take a chance. So your dream of workíng from home is over before it began.

Or, maybe they’re not selling you a scam, but in fact have valid programs that many people use successfully in their businesses. That’s great, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s right for you right now. It might be something that will be a good investment for your business later on, but you should really concentrate on getting your website up and running first. Otherwise you end up with information overload as described in #1 above.

5. Fear of Technology

Just because you haven’t tried something before doesn’t mean that you can’t learn to do it. Think about pretty much everything you’ve ever done, especially the things you’re good at. Did you always know how to do that, or did you learn it over time?

I’m guessing that you learned it, and you can learn to do a lot of the work on your website, too. I constantly have to tell the people I meet that it’s in their best interest to learn at least a little bit of the technical stuff that comes with having a website.

I’m not saying you have to be a programming expert. In fact, if you need heavy duty programming done, then you should definitely get someone to do it for you. It’ll save you a lot of time, for one. But there’s no reason why you can’t learn some of the basics of HTML so that whenever you need to make a small change to your website (such as the testing we talked about earlier) you won’t have to pay someone to do it for you. And you won’t have to wait for them to have the time.

It’s not as hard as you think. It just takes a little time to learn it.

Conclusion

The most important point I’m trying to convey is that, in order to be successful online, you need to remain focused on one task at a time. Finish that task and move onto the next one. Finish that task and move on. And keep going until you’re done.

Stop investing in every fancy new program that comes along. There are no “magic bullets” anyway. Stick to the plan from the beginning, and see it through to the end.

Starting a new website does require a bit of work at the beginning. There’s no way around that if you want to succeed. But the great thing about working online is that once you have everything set up, you can put almost all of it on autopilot and bring in money 24 hours a day with a minimum of work.

So get started now, don’t be afraid that you can’t do it, don’t get frustrated, and don’t let anything distract you. You could be making very good money in very little time if you do it right.

On occasion, what you need most is a burst of inspiration to keep you moving forward. This is a quote I recently stumbled upon… and found very inspiring.

“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you’re like most companies, you’re not using your newsletter for the marketing tool it is. You see many companies produce newsletters. But after a while, the purpose of the newsletter is lost and so is its impact. Here are a few tips for turning your newsletter into a powerful marketing strategy.

1. Determine what your readers want- too many newsletters are used simply to boast. Although your newsletter should promote your business, it’s also a time to build your relationship with your prospects and customers. Be sure to discuss topics of interest and value for your customers and prospects.

2. Personalize your newsletter- there are hundreds of newsletters circulating on the Internet and in the mail. You need to make your newsletter stand out from the crowd. Making your newsletter uniquely you will make a difference. So be real. Feel free to include personality and emotion in your newsletter.

3. Make it look good- the visual aspect of your newsletter can make all the difference. Make it brief. (You only have the reader’s attention for a few minutes.) Use bullets and appealing headlines. And include graphics.

4. Let your readers give you their opinion- ask your readers to comment on the newsletter. They will tell you what they liked, disliked, or want to see more of. Additionally, the interaction with your readers draws you closer to a sale.

5. Include your contact information- the ultimate purpose of the newsletter is to get more customers (through name recognition, relationship building, and promoting your products). However, without your contact information, those potential customers will never appear.

Create a newsletter worthy of your company and you’ll drive your readers to future sales. Make it simple, make it short, and make it a powerful tool that reflects you and your business!

source : Infusionsoft

Beberapa waktu yang lalu sekembalinya berbelanja untuk kebutuhan lebaran, saya sekeluarga pulang dengan menggunakan taksi. Ada adegan yang menarik ketika saya menumpang taksi tersebut, yaitu ketika sopir taksi hendak ditilang oleh polisi. Sempat teringat oleh saya dialog antara polisi dan sopir taksi.

Polisi (P) : Selamat siang mas, bisa lihat Sim dan STNK?
Sopir (Sop) : Baik Pak…
P : Mas tau..kesalahannya apa?
Sop : Gak pak
P : Ini nomor polisinya gak seperti seharusnya (sambil nunjuk ke plat nomor taksi yg memang gak standar) sambil langsung mengeluarkan jurus sakti mengambil buku tilang…lalu menulis dengan sigap
Sop : Pak jangan ditilang deh… wong plat aslinya udah gak tau ilang kemana… kalo ada pasti saya pasang
P : Sudah…saya tilang saja…kamu tau gak banyak mobil curian sekarang… (dengan nada keras !! )
Sop : (Dengan nada keras juga ) Kok gitu! taksi saya kan Ada STNK nya pak , ini kan bukan mobil curian!
P : Kamu itu kalo di bilangin kok ngotot (dengan nada lebih tegas) kamu terima aja surat tilangnya (sambil menyodorkan surat tilang warna MERAH)
Sop : Maaf pak saya gak mau yang warna MERAH suratnya…Saya mau yg warna BIRU aja
P : Hey! (dengan nada tinggi) kamu tahu gak sudah 10 Hari ini form biru itu gak berlaku!
Sop : Sejak kapan pak form BIRU surat tilang gak berlaku?
P : Inikan dalam rangka OPERASI, kamu itu gak boleh minta form BIRU… Dulu kamu bisa minta form BIRU… tapi sekarang ini kamu Gak bisa… Kalo kamu gak kamu ngomong sama komandan saya (dengan nada keras dan ngotot)
Sop : Baik pak, kita ke komandan bapak aja sekalian (dengan nada nantangin tuh polisi) Dalam hati saya …berani betul sopir taksi ini …
P : (Dengan muka bingung) Kamu ini melawan petugas!?
Sop : Siapa yg melawan!? Saya kan cuman minta form BIRU… Bapak kan yang gak mau ngasih
P : Kamu jangan macam-macam yah… saya bisa kenakan pasal melawan petugas!
Sop : Saya gak melawan!? Kenapa bapak bilang form BIRU udah gak berlaku? Gini aja pak saya foto bapak aja deh… kan bapak yg bilang form BIRU gak berlaku (sambil ngambil HP) Wah … wah hebat betul nih sopir …. berani, cerdas dan trendy … (terbukti dia mengeluarkan hpnya yang ada berkamera.
P : Hey! Kamu bukan wartawankan! ? Kalo kamu foto saya, saya bisa kandangin (sambil berlalu) Kemudian si sopir taksi itupun mengejar itu polisi dan sudah siap melepaskan “shoot pertama” (tiba-tiba dihalau oleh seorang anggota polisi lain (P2) )
P 2 : Mas, anda gak bisa foto petugas sepeti itu
Sop : Si bapak itu yg bilang form BIRU gak bisa dikasih (sambil tunjuk polisi yg menilangnya) lalu si polisi ke 2 itu menghampiri polisi yang menilang tadi, ada pembicaraan singkat terjadi antara polisi yang menghalau si sopir dan polisi yang menilang. Akhirnya polisi yg menghalau tadi menghampiri si sopir taksi.
P 2 : Mas mana surat tilang yang merah nya? (sambil meminta)
Sop : Gak sama saya pak…. Masih sama temen bapak tuh (polisi ke 2 memanggil polisi yang menilang)
P : Sini tak kasih surat yang biru (dengan nada kesal) Lalu polisi yang nilang tadi menulis nominal denda sebesar Rp.30.600 sambil berkata “nih kamu bayar sekarang ke BRI … lalu kamu ambil lagi SIM kamu disini, saya tunggu”…
S : (Yes!!) Ok pak ..gitu dong kalo gini dari tadi kan enak… Kemudian si sopir taksi segera menjalnkan kembali taksinya sambil berkata pada saya, “Pak .. maaf kita ke ATM sebentar ya … mau transfer uang tilang .

Saya berkata ya silakan. Sopir taksipun langsung ke ATM sambil berkata, …. “Hatiku senang banget pak, walaupun di tilang, bisa ngasih pelajaran berharga ke polisi itu.”

“Untung saya paham macam2 surat tilang…” Tambahnya, “Pak kalo ditilang kita berhak minta form Biru, gak perlu nunggu 2 minggu untuk sidang Jangan pernah pikir mau ngasih DUIT DAMAI….. Mending bayar mahal ke negara sekalian daripada buat oknum!” Dari obrolan dengan sopir taksi tersebut dapat saya infokan ke Anda sebagai berikut:

SLIP MERAH, berarti kita menyangkal kalau melanggar aturan Dan mau membela diri secara hukum (ikut sidang) di pengadilan setempat. Itupun di pengadilan nanti masih banyak calo, antrian panjang, Dan oknum pengadilan yang melakukan pungutan liar berupa pembengkakan nilai tilai tilang. Kalau kita tidak mengikuti sidang, dokumen tilang dititipkan di kejaksaan setempat, disinipun banyak calo dan oknum kejaksaan yang melakukan pungutan liar berupa pembengkakan nilai tilang.

SLIP BIRU, berarti kita mengakui kesalahan kita dan bersedia membayar denda. Kita tinggal transfer dana via ATM ke nomer rekening tertentu (kalo gak salah norek Bank BUMN). Sesudah itu kita tinggal bawa bukti transfer untuk di tukar dengan SIM/STNK kita di kapolsek terdekat dimana kita ditilang. You know what!? Denda yang tercantum dalam KUHP Pengguna Jalan Raya tidak melebihi 50ribu! dan dananya RESMI MASUK KE KAS NEGARA. Forward email ini beritahukan teman, saudara sama keluarga Anda. Berantas korupsi dari sekarang.

Sumber : Milis TDA – Danar

While millions of people run some sort of website, only a few – it’s estimated at only 1 to 2% – are really successful in accomplishing what they want on the Net. The main reason for this is the lack of well defined goals and the necessary focus to achieve them. A great plan goes a long way. Part of a good plan is web design. Successful website design lets your visitors focus on the most important part of your website: the content.

Whatever the content is, sales pages or valuable information, great website design makes your visitors feel comfortable taking notice of your content. Because it’s your content that has to do the job, whether selling, generating leads, picking up subscribers or whatever it is that you want your visitors to do. That is your MWR, your Most Wanted Response!

Therefore, the first and most important factor of website design is to get your content indexed and listed in the search engines. No listings means no free traffic. You can still buy it, but at what cost? Better to use search engine optimized website design.

So, how do you do that? Below are 10 rules for successful website design.

1. Use a search engine optimized template. Using a great template makes your life easier because all your pages will have the same lay-out which makes adding and updating websites a breeze. Templates will save you tons of time maintaining your websites.

2. Use Meta Tags. I know, the keyword meta tag isn’t that important any more. But the Title tag IS! In fact, it’s the most important meta tag and so many websites don’t use it. Search engines use the title tag to see what your page is all about and list it in their result pages.

Also, they use your description tag as added information. It’s a great way to entice searchers to click on your webpage when they find it.

3. Use CSS. With CSS, abreviation for Cascading Style Sheets, you can control the style and layout of multiple web pages all at once. In other words, your website layout and style design is defined in one place and one place only. Change your css file and your complete website will be updated.

4. Delete all the crap and focus on your content. Flash and (java)scripts are funny, but very often they don’t serve a purpose. Instead, they fill up your visitors’ computer memory and make them run slow. Dump it. Using as little code as possible is the best way to guarantee good search engine positioning.

5. Have simple and clear navigation. You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don’t know how to navigate, they will leave your site.

6. Reduce the number of images on your website. Yes, I know a picture can say more than a thousand words, but many pictures don’t. They make your site load very slowly and more often than not they are very unnecessary. And, if you have an image that says more than a thousand words, make sure you optimize it to a minimum file size and offer a larger version as an option.

7. Use a sitemap. Site maps are a great way to take search engine robots by the hand and show them all the pages of your site and also help them understand what each page is about, which means it makes your site more search engine friendly and helps get a higher ranking.

8. Write crisp HTML that will validate. When they arrive at your site search engine robots only see a bunch of HTML codes. No fancy images, no colored text, nothing of that kind. So to make search engines understand what your website is about and show them that it deserves to have a high ranking, you need to speak to them in their own language: crisp HTML coding that will validate!

Don’t use deprecated HTML coding, make sure your website complies to w3 org web standards and make sure it is cross-browser compatible.

9. Write one page for one keyphrase and use the keyphrase as the page name. Divide your site into major blocks, ordered by themes, and start building new pages and subsections in those blocks. Without doubt you have researched the keywords and keyphrases you want to get listed for. Now, use them as the name of these blocks and individual pages at your website. Use synonyms inside the pages, so the search engines will get a good idea what your website is all about.

10. Keep your content limited to 500 pixels. For optimal reading convenience, a width of 500 pixels is recommended with a font size of 11 or 12 pixels. It’s the easiest way for our eyes to read the text. Use dark text on a light background.

About The Author : Article by Case Stevens – CaseStevens.com

Whether you are just starting a web design project, looking at revamping an existing site, or just wanting to double check the usability of your current web site you should consider these 7 Basics of Good Web Design.

These basics are aimed at new visitors/customers; your repeat customers will be judging your web site on different values. Just like wearing the appropriate clothes for a job interview, these basics will help you pick out the “look” of your web site so that you make a good first impression.

1. Fast Loading Web Site – Any way you look at it, a fast loading page should be your number 1 concern. The web is all about speed, fast searches, fast purchases, fast information. You can’t have any of that with a slow loading page. Ask yourself this question – have you ever been on Google doing a search for something important and a link you clicked on didn’t open up immediately? What did you do? Patiently wait for the page to open or move onto the next link on the page? My favorite sites open almost immediately.

So, a few suggestions: Make sure that your images are properly optimized. Don’t use very many large images, save those for a different page. Keep any auto-running multimedia to a minimum, provide links to run media instead. Check your code for anything else that could affect your page loading times. Since text loads almost instantly go ahead and use all the text you want, just keep everything else under control.

2. No Meaningless Splash Page – Do you appreciate a fancy animation page that doesn’t tell you anything and you have to wait for before the web site will open? Neither do I. The last thing I want once I find an interesting site is to wait through some animation before getting to the first page. This doesn’t mean that I don’t want multimedia on a site, I do. I just don’t want an animation before the first page that forces me to wait for it to finish before getting onto the site. It’s like having to wait for a salesperson to finish their memorized speech before you can ask them a question. No thanks! I like animation, just in the right place and at the right time. Plus, if I am a returning customer, I will have already seen that animation and don’t need to see it again.

My suggestion is to use a smaller animation contained in your main landing page which also includes your main message and links to the rest of your site. It will make for a faster loading page (smaller file) and your visitors can go ahead with accessing your site without having to wait for the animation to finish.

One final note, don’t ever put your logo as the only content on your landing page with a link that says “Enter Site”. This just screams Unprofessional and will drive away potential visitors in droves. The last thing I want to do is to click on another link just to get into the site. This is a total waste of my time. I usually will skip a site if I see this.

3. No Annoying Web Gimmicks – Now that you have your visitor on your site quickly the one thing you don’t want to do is to drive them away just as quickly. So, don’t put anything annoying on that first page. No loud background music that makes them quickly hit the volume control or the back button on their browser. No flashing animations while they are trying to read your content. No popup, flyout, expanding ads that cover your home page. Basically, leave the gimmicks alone until you are sure that your visitor will stay on your site. Most casual visitors will leave your site in just a few seconds, no sense on driving them away more quickly.

Multimedia is great on a web site, just don’t bombard your visitor with it first thing. If you want audio, then put in a nice picture with a link, like a picture of yourself with text saying something like “Let me tell you how to make fifty thousand this month!” If they are interested, they will click on the link and listen to your message; if they are not interested in audio, then you should be using a different pitch anyway.

Also, monitor what advertisers are putting on your site if you sell ad space. I am sure you have seen those ads with the animated dancing figure, cute the first time you see it. But after seeing it 10,000 times with every imaginable character I have added the company to a líst I keep of companies I won’t do business with. So their animation has gone from “look at me” to “you annoy me” in my mind. Ads like these will impact your visitor’s experience. So even if your site is perfectly designed, one misplaced ad can ruin all of your hard work.

4. Have a Clear Message – Too many web sites are a mish-mash of content. This is especially true of blog pages. Certain types of sites lend themselves to stream of consciousness content, but most don’t. Make it easy for your viewer to understand what your web site is about, don’t make them guess. Have a clear topic headline, followed by clear and concise text. This is also where a picture is worth a thousand words, but only if the picture directly pertains to your message.

You want your visitor to quickly understand what your message is. If they like your message, they will take the time to read the rest of your page and look around your web site. If they don’t like your page, then it won’t do you any good having them stay on your site anyway. So, don’t make your visitors guess, let them know what you are about quickly and cleanly and you will have happy visitors. And when thinking about a sales page, a happy customer is a buying customer.

5. Coordinated Design – This one should be self evident, but it is surprising how many sites change their design for every page. You want your visitor to be comfortable in your site and one way to achieve that is by having a coordinated web design. Having a consistent logo, using a consistent color scheme, keeping your navigation in the same place. All of these help to create a coordinated design. This does not mean that you can’t change colors or the “Look” on different segments of your site, but if you do, the changes should not be so drastic that it feels like you have moved on to a different site.

If you select one place for your logo, one place for your navigation, one look for your buttons or other common graphic elements and stick with those then you will be well on your way to a coordinated design. If you change colors for a different section, but keep the same logo location, the same navigation location, the same button shape, then your visitors will not become lost as they move from page to page.

6. Easy Navigation – Once you have grabbed your visitors attention you want them to be able to easily move around the different areas of your web site. This is done with easy to use navigation. There are three standard, accepted locations for navigation elements on a web page: along the top, on the left side, and at the bottom. I will usually put my main navigation either along the top or along the left side. I will then put text based navigation at the bottom of the page, this text based navigation is more for the search engines than anything else, but it also makes it easy for your visitors to move to the next page when they have reached the bottom of the current page.

Most people start reading a page from the top left and then read towards the bottom right. So navigation at the left or top will be seen as soon as someone enters your page. Also navigation at the left or top will not move or change position if the browser window is adjusted in size. The worst thing you can do is to put your main navigation on the right side of the page and have your page set for a large screen size. Let’s say that your page is set for 1024 across with the navigation on the right, and someone views your page at 800 across, they will not see your navigation at all. The left side of your page will show perfectly, but the right side will be hidden outside of their viewing area. Of course by using floating or popup menus you can overcome some of these design limitations and keep your navigation visible at all times.

Unless you know that your audience will enjoy it, don’t use Mystery Navigation. This is where your navigation is hidden within images, or spaced around the web page in some mysterious random order. This can be fun on gaming sites, or social networking sites, but in most cases the navigation should be easy to see and easy to use. If you do want to use Mystery Navigation, I would recommend keeping the text based navigation at the bottom of the page, just in case.

7. Have a “Complete” web site – And finally, no one wants to go to a web site only to find that the site is “Under Construction” and the content they are looking for is not there. These are words that you shouldn’t ever use. If a section of your web site is not ready for prime time yet, then simply don’t show it yet. It is better to have your site look complete and professional, then to have it look like a work in progress that should not be up on the web yet.

You can easily tell your visitors that you will be having more content in the future without having your site look like it is unfinished. Just use phrases like “Content Updated Weekly” or “New Products Added Monthly”. Both of these will tell your visitors that it would be worth their time to come back and visit later, but neither one will make your site look unfinished. So no matter how small your web site is, give the impression that you have taken the time to complete the site before putting it up on the internet, this makes for a more professional presentation and a better visitor experience.

In Closing – By following these simple 7 Basics of Good Web Design you will be well on your way to having an easy to use and successful web presence. Just keep in mind what you look for when you first land on a web page after doing a web search in Google or Yahoo, or other search engine. If you want fast loading pages, make sure your pages load fast. If you want to be able to find what you are looking for quickly and easily, then make sure you have easy navigation. Just keep your first time visitor in mind, put yourself in their web shoes and make your web site an enjoyable place to visit and success should follow.

Source : George Peirson is a successful Entrepreneur and Internet Trainer. He is the author of over 40 multimedia based tutorial training titles covering such topics as Photoshop, Flash and Dreamweaver. To see his training sets visit www.howtogurus.com . Article copyright 2009 George Peirson

Jadi orang sederhana buat saya bukan perkara mudah, perasaan iri, dengki bahkan dendam masih menyelubungi hati, kemudian menjadi racun yang perlahan bisa membunuh. Mencoba sederhana dengan tidak berpikir dari yang seharusnya tak saya pikirkan, atau mencoba menerima apa adanya, buat saya itu yang sederhana, namun justru inilah yang tersulit.

Sadar – saya tidak ingin selamanya begini, pikiran negative yang menjadi racun untuk diri sendiri, saya ingin menggapai apa yang jadi tujuan hidup saya sesungguhnya, hasil akhir yang mestinya dapat dicapai, yaitu kebahagiaan pada kehidupan saat ini bersama keluarga yang baru saja saya bangun serta bersiap diri akan kehidupan setelah kehidupan dunia fana ini, dalam islam ini dikenal dengan Hablum minallah wa hablum minannas (Hubungan dengan ALLAH dan hubungan pada sesama manusia)

Sederhana berpikir, sederhana bertindak menurut saya menghasilkan sesuatu sederhana pula, inilah yang saya butuhkan untuk ketenangan hati.

Saya merasa yakin semua orang yang berhasil dan sukses dalam hidupnya pasti memiliki sederhana berpikir dan bertindak. Saya yakin bukan berarti mereka tidak sama sekali berusaha untuk mencapai sukses, saya percaya berusaha itu mutlak hukumnya, seperti yang diajarkan dalam agama yang saya anut, berusaha dan berdo’a – Wajib dilakukan semua orang. Tanpa berusaha namun tetap ingin berhasil dan sukses, buat saya ini hanya dilakukan oleh seorang pemimpi yang malas.

Namun saat ini, saya merasa kesederhanaan ini membuat saya jadi tidak kreatif, tidak produktif, tidak kompetitif. Kesederhanaan saat ini membuat saya lemah dalam suatu kompetisi, terlalu cepat merasa puas akan sesuatu. Kesederhaan membuat saya merasa jadi katak dalam tempurung. Pertanyaannya, bagaimana bisa menjadi orang yang tetap sederhana namun terbebas dari semua kelemahan tadi? Apakah ide cemerlang, strategi jitu diluar dari suatu konsep kesederhanaan? Apakah ada standar ukur kesederhanaan? atau sederhana subjektif sifatnya?

Sampai detik ini saya masih belum menemukan jawaban yang memuaskan bathin saya, jawaban yang bisa menjawab pertanyaan sederhana saya.