Owner: Demtron.com Blog - Milwaukee area SEO, SEM, ASP.Net, and eCommerce consulting firm URL:http://www.demtron.com/blog/ Join Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:35:19 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Official Blog of Demtron, Inc., Milwaukee area SEO, SEM, ASP.Net, and eCommerce consulting firm. Site statistics:Click here
Identifying a Nullable Type Programmatically in Visual Studio 2008-12-16 17:34:00
I have occasionally found a need to identify whether the type of a given variable is a nullable type so that I know whether I need to also use the HasValue and Value methods to obtain its contained value. Here's a farily simple snippet of code to accomplish this.
VB.NET:
If type.IsGenericType AndAlso type.GetGenericTypeDefinition() = GetType(Nullable(Of )) Then
End If
C#:
if (type. Read more:Visual
, Visual Studio
Telerik Control Problems with Intellisense 2008-12-16 17:09:00
When reinstalling Visual Studio and accessing Web projects that use Telerik RadControl
s for ASP.Net Ajax, I've found that Intellisense is generally broken for that project and only for Telerik components. Furthermore, design-time support is also lost. Here is a list of fixes to try in order to solve this.
Check whether the correct version of the components are in the GAC.
Control Focus, AJAX UpdatePanel Postback and Cursor Position 2008-12-04 17:19:00
When using ASP.Net AJAX
to perform a postback from within a textbox input control, I found that the textbox loses focus after the postback. To overcome this, I added the following code:
ScriptManager.GetCurrent(Me.Page).SetFocus
(MyTextBox)
However, upon setting focus back to the textbox, the cursor lands at the beginning of the text in the control. To solve this, just add the foll Read more:Control
, Cursor
Permission denied to set property xulelement.selectedIndex FireFox Error 2008-12-04 16:38:00
When using the JavaScript focus() method to set focus to an input element in FireFox, the following error may be produced:
Permission
denied to set property
xulelement.selectedIndex
This is a known bug in FireFox which, based on my research, was supposed to be fixed several versions ago. To avoid this error, autocomplete needs to be turned off for the element in question. This can
5 Things Every Web Site Owner Must Know 2008-11-21 15:06:00
Your web designer has just completed your site and it’s live and available to see on the Web. You’ve thanked your designer for a job well done and you’re excited about the prospects of new customers and increased awareness of your business. What do you know about the setup, configuration and ongoing charges for your site?
When I work with new clients, I always give Read more:Owner
, Things Every
, Web Site
Domain Name Scams 2008-11-18 09:04:00
Over the last 10 years or so, we've received various forms of domain name scams. They usually involve some sort of fear tactic stating one of the following:
Your domain name will (expire / be overtaken / be transferred) unless it's renewed through a certain registrar
Other variations of your domain will be registered with other top-level domains (such as .net, .org, .biz, .info) Read more:Domain Name
Web Site Traffic Quantity vs. Quality 2008-11-17 09:19:00
I've had numerous people approach me about how to bring traffic to their Web sites. Of course, everyone wants more traffic, but is traffic volume really the ultimate goal?
Attracting and retaining the right audience is the most important consideration for any Web site, whether for a business, government, school, non-profit, or informational resource. Without the right audience, Read more:Quality
, Quantity
, Web Site
Broken Link Checking for Your Web Site 2008-11-14 16:54:00 Broken links are one of the most frustrating experiences for a web site visitor. A broken link is one that leads to a non-existent page, either on the site or an external site. Unless special code or custom error pages have been added to a site, the visitor is presented with a bland "404 Page not found" error or an equivalent that gives the user no indication of what to do ne Read more:Broken
IT Consultants and 5 Things They Won’t Tell Clients 2008-11-14 11:02:00
Over the years, I've heard a number of stories from clients about their challenges with their IT consultants. The stories range from the mundane, such as checking stock prices online dozens of times a day, to involving legal liabilities, such as operating a personal auction site on the company's Web server. Most issues fall somewhere between but have the potential to cause pro Read more:Clients
, Consultants
Choosing a Shared Hosting Provider - Tip #4 2008-11-10 10:34:00 Upgrading to a New PlanSo, what happens when your site becomes fantastically popular and your need more storage space, bandwidth, or features? Often, when starting out a new site, a site owner will intentionally choose a low-cost plan to save a few bucks. When more resources are needed, you might need to upgrade to a better plan.
Each host handles this process a little differently.&nb Read more:Hosting
, Provider
SEO for Title Tags Tip 5 Brand Building 2008-11-09 12:49:00
When considering how to modify page titles for a site, it’s important to recognize the significance of brand awareness for your products and services. Your brand may be just as important, and perhaps even more important, than anything else.
Let’s say that you operate Crazy Cutters Hair Styling. Your “claim to fame” is short waiting times and quality hair care Read more:Brand
, Building
, SEO
, Title
Free 411 Directory Assistance Calls 1-800-FREE411 and 1-800-GOOG411 2008-11-09 08:31:00
I’ve heard about free 411 calls for number of years, but I’ve also heard about all the scams and hidden fees surrounding these services. Recently, after discussing this with a friend, I wanted to see if these were really valid services.
There are two services I found that I think are worthy to use, especially for small businesses. One is 1-800-FREE411 and the other is 1 Read more:Directory
Choosing a Shared Hosting Provider – Tip #3 2008-11-08 16:14:00 Database Features
Most hosting plans advertise database storage space. Compared to a few years ago, the amount of space is usually ample for most applications. Don’t be fooled by the amount of space offered – there are many considerations depending on how your site will be used.
Do you need a database? Many sites require a database to store a blog, eCommerce eleme Read more:Hosting
, Provider
Browser Detection for ASP.Net Ajax 2008-11-04 10:17:00
Here's a class that I found in client-side Microsoft AJAX library for browser detection. It's Sys.Browser.Agent. For a while, it wasn't documenated anywhere in the Microsoft on-line documentation, but it must have just appeared recently at:
-us/library/cc679064.aspx
One example of how this class can be used:
if (Sys.Browser.agent == Sys.Browser.InternetExplorer)
Read more:Detection
Export Modules to Text Files in Microsoft Access 2008-10-12 22:12:00
I was recently asked to review the code differences between two Access
databases. One was the then-current production version of the database. The other was a version that was being modified with new business rules. As a first pass, I decided to export all the form, report, and code modules from each database into separate text files in separate folders, then use a source code c Read more:Microsoft
, Modules
Listing Object Library Reference Information in MS Access 2008-10-10 16:17:00
When writing documentation for a Microsoft Access
application, it's often important to provide information for on the object library references, especially for those apps that depend heavily on 3rd party or custom components. It's easy to obtain a list of references used, but what about attributes like File Version, Description, and Company? We can get these by opening the file properties Read more:Library
, Object
Choosing a Shared Hosting Provider – Tip #2 2008-10-08 23:37:00 Bandwidth and Storage Capacities
Bandwidth and drive space have become inexpensive in recent years. Back in 1999, one well-known hosting company offered 100MB of storage and 1GB of transfer bandwidth per month for $44.95 a month. These days, that same company now offers UNLIMITED storage and UNLIMITED bandwidth for $5.95 a month. Some even offer hosting for free. So, how d Read more:Hosting
, Provider
SEO for Title Tags Tip 4 Filter Words 2008-10-08 18:11:00 FilterWords
are a common issue that affects title tag quality and SEO
. What are Filter Words? They're words ignored by search engines due to their common use and offering very little value toward making a page appear to have valuable content. Some examples of filter words are a, the, best, all, name, not, and new. There a several hundred words that are generally considered to be filter w Read more:Title
Sys.Application.add_load Problem with AJAX Postbacks 2008-10-08 13:04:00
One of my current projects requires a Web form with AJAX
interaction between a TextBox and a ListBox. As a user types into the TextBox, the keyup of event triggers and async postback to filter the list of items in the listbox. I used the Sys.Application
.add_load accessor and $addHandler method to accomplish this as follows:
Sys.Application.add_load(PageLoad);
Sys.App Read more:Problem
SEO for Title Tags Tip 3 Keyword Phrases 2008-10-06 22:21:00
Like any advertising campaign, it's important to understand your target audience and know how you are most likely to be found in a search. For example, if your company is "Knutson Pools Inc." and your target audience is pool and spa shoppers in Naperville and Chicago, your title tag should be more than just "Knutson Pools, Inc." Ideally, your page should show u Read more:Keyword
, Phrases
, SEO
, Title
Choosing a Shared Hosting Provider – Tip #1 2008-10-06 15:55:00
There are only a zillion shared hosting companies to choose from. There are tons of features and options to consider, and some of the most important considerations require a some investigation. I recently went through an exhaustive evaulation of over 150 hosting companies for my current and future clients and wanted to share my thoughts and process in this series of tips.
Tip #1 &nda Read more:Hosting
, Provider
SEO for Title Tags Tip 2 Character Length 2008-10-06 00:04:00
Neither search engines nor visitors care to see a whole slew of words in the title. In general, SEs cut off any title after 65 characters in length, and many visitors won’t look past the first three words, either. Stuffing multiple city names and product names is usually not worth the effort. Consider these titles:
Bad: XYZ Company – We Design Web Sites for Busines Read more:Character
, Length
, SEO
, Title
SEO for Title Tags Tip 1 Titles on Every Page 2008-10-05 23:14:00
Web page title tags are the most important aspect of on-page SEO
, yet I find so many sites that completely ignore this very important concept. If you want your site to have any chance of being found in search engine result pages (SERPs), attention to title tags is a must.
This article begins a series here related to title tags, their importance to SEO, and how to enhance your title tags f Read more:Title
, Titles
Committing to The SEO Process 2008-10-02 19:13:00
The power of the Internet and search engine technologies has
increased interest in making Web sites appear prominently in search engine
results. According to Opinion Research
Corp. for Performics Inc., 58% of adults conduct on-line research prior to
making a purchase. This underscores the
importance of a business to have a Web site.
The majority of traffic from a search query will g Read more:Process
, SEO
Duplicate Content and SEO 2008-10-01 20:34:00
I was recently asked to review a site that was ranking poorly and not indexed well in search engines, especially Google. The site looked well designed, had nice internal linking, and a fair amount of SEO
performed on it. A quick search on Google and Yahoo uncovered the problem - duplicate content!
Duplicate
content plays tricks in search engines, and that's nothing but bad for Read more:Content
Latest google PageRank Update September 2008 2008-09-29 12:57:00 I noticed over the weekend that Google PageRank
was updated again. After the last update in July, many of the sites I maintain ranked higher. This time, it was a mixed bag. The Demtron home page rose from 2 to 3, but another site went from 2 to 1. The rest of my sites stayed the same. I checked out a few of my competitors and every one of them stayed the same as well.
From what Read more:September
, Update
Changing Widget Titles in BlogEngine.Net 2008-09-29 11:13:00
I recently deployed BlogEngine.Net 1.4.5 and found a few typos in the widget titles such as RecentPosts and Tag cloud. After searching all over and trying all sorts method to change this, I came across a post at the CodePlex forums that solves this problem.
How do you change the BlogRoll title?
Worked like a charm. Just have to remember that any future updates may wipe out this change. Read more:Changing
, Titles
Microsoft Access Module Code List Generator 2008-09-28 20:35:00
I recently needed to generate a single file containing all the VBA code for a client's MicrosoftAccess
2003 application. I originally wrote similar code about 8 years ago for Access 2000 but was unable to find it for this project. So, I just decided to write it again and post it for everyone to use. The code generates a header and lie numbers for each module. Enjoy!& Read more:Generator
, Module
Recommend Site To A Friend
