Earlier today we posted the “State of the Word” presentation by Wordpress co-founder Matt Mullenweg. After his presentation, Matt spent some time demonstrating the upcoming 2.7 release of Wordpress. I’ve embedded the video below. Wordpress 2.7 will be available in November.

Info From: Paidcontent.org

Financial info site BankRate is expanding its financial product listings, as it’s acquiring Bankaholic, which provides info on deposits, savings accounts, and money market accounts. The company will pay $12.4 million up front, with another $2.5 million possible earnout over the next 12 months.

Up To $15 Million for a blog Uauuuuu.
That is a lot of money.
What does this mean for the world of blogs Finance?

Let’s see

Table of Contents

1. Dynamic Content and the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
HTTP and the Internet 1
PHP and MySQL’s Place in Web Development 2
The Components of a PHP Application 4
Integrating Many Sources of Information 7
Requesting Data from a Web Page 11
2. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Developing Locally 15
Working Remotely 35
3. Exploring PHP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
PHP and HTML Text 39
Coding Building Blocks 43
4. PHP Decision-Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Expressions 62
Operator Concepts 64
Conditionals 71
Looping 77
5. Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Calling Functions 87
Defining Functions 89
Object-Oriented Programming
6. Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Array Fundamentals 107
7. Working with MySQL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
MySQL Database 122
Managing the Database 125
Using phpMyAdmin 126
Database Concepts 131
Structured Query Language 132
8. Database Best Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Database Design 146
Backing Up and Restoring Data 155
Advanced SQL 159
9. Getting PHP to Talk to MySQL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
The Process 180
Querying the Database with PHP Functions 180
Using PEAR 190
10. Working with Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Building a Templates 218
11. Practical PHP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
String Functions 223
Date and Time Functions 233
File Manipulation 238
Calling System Calls 249
12. XHTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Why XHTML? 253
XHTML and XML Namespaces 254
XHTML Versions 254
Generating XHTML with PHP 261
13. Modifying MySQL Objects and PHP Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Changing Database Objects from PHP 263
Manipulating Table Data 266
Displaying Results with Embedded Links
Presenting a Form to Add and Process in One File 270
Updating Data 276
Deleting Data 277
Performing a Subquery 282
14. Cookies, Sessions, and Access Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Cookies 285
PHP and HTTP Authentication 288
Sessions 294
Using Auth_HTTP to Authenticate 301
15. Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Session Security 316
16. Validation and Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Validating User Input with JavaScript 325
Pattern Matching 329
Redisplaying a Form After PHP Validation Fails 333
17. Sample Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Configuration File 340
Page Framework 340
Database 343
Displaying a Postings Summary 346
Displaying a Posting and Its Comments 349
Adding and Changing Posts 352
Adding and Changing Comments 358
18. Finishing Your Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
PHP Coding Standards 366
PEAR 371
Frameworks 372
Ajax 373
Wikis 373
Finding Help on the Web 373

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Do you have a website that hasn´t been renovated in months? 

Or… you are not updated regarding the changes that Internet has had…?

Or you are not having good results with your website…?

Or maybe you are planning to offer your products or services in  

the web for the first time? 

It´s time to face the reality: 

Internet is the future of the commerce and those who don’t join it,will be definitively outside of all the business! 

Presence online it is a necessity! 

Let see some indispensable aspects that a sales website should contain: 

*Description of the company or business responsible. (People needs to know what you do, before buying).  

*Detailed description of all the products and services. (Be  

clear and simple,avoid technical terms and use optimized images). 

*For services companies,include a “briefcase” section with recent works and real cases. (Prove that you know how to do what you are offering). 

*A personnel’s brief biography, with contact data and photographs.(this”humanizes” the place). 

*Include a section with real testimonies. (This will demonstrate that you can help the clients). 

*Resources section:includes tools, software, manuals and informative material. (This is important if you want to be seen as an expert). 

*Electronic bulletin:send information, current news of the item, tutorials. (This is essential to keep the contact with current or postponed clients, to offer promotions and to get that those people re-visit the site).

*Contact form and consults: an indispensable method for the visitors gets to you. 

*Recommended Links: a section where to offer other resources to  

the visitors. (It should contain the exchange connections that you may have with other websites). 

If you don’t have all these sections in your site, i´ll be good if you could incorporate them.(Even though this is little by little).

With regard to the DESIGN: 

To make the people navigate the other pages, consider the products or offered services, subscribe to the bulletin or request more information,a successful website should attract sufficiently the attention of the visitors. 

The design should look professional,keep one style in all the pages and should be pleasant to the eyes.  

The combination of warm colors It´s recommendable.  

The texts should be located on white or very clear bottom.  

The pages should be loaded quickly in the navigators of the visitors. 

It is indispensable a good surf system that allows to go from a section to another with no more than 2 “ clicks “.   

ATTRACTING VISITORS to the website: 

Many beginners believe that it´s enough with just putting a site in  

the web for thousands of people enter… hopefully that was true!But regrettably, it is required of a lot of work and dedication to get traffic. 

A website can be spectacular,have valuable contents  

and offer excellent products… but if it´s not promoted,it won’t have visitors, and consequently, there won’t be sales! 

There are some basic and indispensable methods that any website proprietor shouldn´t obviate. 

There are also technical and marketing strategies and web promotion,as simple as effective that can get thousands  of daily visitors.(And without operative expenses!). 

SITE MAINTENANCE: 

A website doesn’t have to be static: a successful website is the one that evolves,updates and grows! 

If you want the visitors recommend you and come back in another opportunity, you should give them a reason for that. 

Also,by updating and including new contents to the pages,you will make the site improve considerably in the searchers ranking.   

 Members programs are systems in wich the dealers (the website and products owners) pays a commission for the sales or references that the participants of the system generate. 

The commissions depends on the quantity of generated sales  

(or referred ones) that the member sends to the dealers site.  

In other words,commissions depends on the purchases maded by the people that the member sent. 

Those purchases can be for the sale of products,services,paided subscriptions… and in some cases, they even pay just for the quantity of people that the member sends to the dealers site. 

Advantages: 

The great advantage is that you don’t have to fight with purchase orders,shipment of products, neither client support. 

You just have to guide traffic to a web site of the system (some systems grant you predesign pages), and in other cases, (recommendable) you will have to create your own site (or create a page inside an existent site of your own) 

Disadvantages: 

The great disadvantage is obvious… you´ll get much less money that if you sell the product by yourself.  

At this point I want to be clear that, if we speak of promotion and of directing traffic, it costs the same work to promote your own product that one of a system of affiliated.  

The big difference is that in the first case, you get 100% of the earnings, while with the affiliated systems or MLM, you only get a commission. 

I cant avoid to mention that it ALWAYS will be much more profitable to sell your own product or service… but there will be who don’t count with it.  

In that case, I recommend to acquire a product that includes the  

100% of the resale rights.  

Another big disadvantage with the affiliated systems or multilevels,it´s the BIG amount of frauds or tricky systems that there are in Internet.  

I know a lot of people that invested their money and hard work during months, and they only got coins.   

Disadvantage 3:  

Almost all the systems of this type don’t put limitations in  

the quantity of members that the system supports.   

After a time, you´ll find out that there are thousands and thousands  

of people offering the same product, and that all those people, have an identical sales page! 

That ends up saturating the product, the system and filling the patience of the users who receive hundred of identical advertising mails daily… as it´s the case of a recognized system that offers tourist packs!! 

Returning to the topic of how to get earnings with these  

systems, I suggest you to follow these simple instructions: 

Your main product should not be the one of the affiliated system. The products or services that you offer by means of these systems should be “secondary” or “complementary” to YOUR main product.

If when registering in these systems, the dealer offers you a “free affiliated page”,DON´T send your public there…!!Whereas, create your own page, with your own sales chart and your own expressions.  

With this, you will avoid that the buyers ends up acquiring the product by means of another member…and also, you will differ notably of your competitors (this is,other affiliated). 

In that page (your own),create a form to receive consultations, frequent questions, etc, and CREATE your OWN potential clients’ database.  

Contact them via e-mail, with promotional messages, with extra details of the product, etc. This is called PRE-SELL. 

After,(and only after) that the potential client is convinced that he needs,wish and wants to acquire the product,it´s when you will direct him to the page that the owner of the affiliated system assigned you. 

You must already have deduced the reason for all this… and yes…! potential clients database will be YOURS ,and only you will know it… and you will be able to use it in the future to PRE-SELL another related product, of another affiliated system!! 

In this way, you also will avoid the risk that the owner of the system use your referred for other commercial purposes… mmm…. do you understand? 

Have present that: 

The database of potential clients that had subscribed  

in the forms of your website and had given THEIR PERMISSION  

to receive your messages, it is the MOST VALUABLE  possession of your business (of any item) and… if you manage it correctly, it can become a sales machine!! 

To sell products in auctions web sites could be a highly profitable business! 

  Here you have some ideas of products that you could offer in auctions systems: 

- Any kind of books (printed or digital) 

- Own software 

- Collectable articles (stamps, money note, coins, etc.) - Art and handiworks (paintings,      sculptures, art works) 

- Electronic products or hardware  

- Textile production (own) 

- Unpublished or exclusive articles 

- Regional products     

- Crafts 

etc. 

Most of the auctions sites,offers you an exclusive page so you can show the details (even pictures) of all your products,”basic” prices, the date  

of the auction and your contact information. 

This doesn’t means that you don’t need your website… 

Sincerely, a website it´s useful for many reasons: 

Since you have more space,It allows you to describe your products with more details.  

After you begin to sell your products in an auctions site, you can “redirect” the people to your website to offer them other articles.  

You can use other commercialization methods (different  

to those offered at the auctions site).  

Advantages:

The clients will buy from you directly. And if the product is of their pleasure, you can “guarantee” that client and sell him others related things.  

There are not limits in the amount of sales that you can do.  

The majority of the serious auctions sites,promote instantly, and by differents ways, your offer.  

Disadvantages: 

Most of the auctions sites charges a small percentage of the sales.  

Pre-sale service: you should dedicate some time in assist  the consults and frequent questions that interested people leave in the auctions site.

Scheduling step to step:  

1 - Acquire or create your own product 

2 - Visit and investigate the different options of sales of those auctions 

sites of the web.    

These are the most popular: 

http://www.ebay.com   

3 - If you still don’t  have it,develop your own web site! 

4 - Publish the sales chart with details, extra pictures, etc.At this point,I want to emphasize that of the sales chart depends 90% of the decision that the potential client will takes.  

This “chart” it´s, probably, the most important part of your business and you need to acquire some knowledge to elaborate it efficiently. 

5 - Marketing: promote,promote and promote! 

Put into practice proved marketing and publicity strategies that might assure you to guide a big amount of traffic to the page of your auction. 

  At the request of our subscribers, we decide to publish this tutorial related with one of the most sold products in Internet: the electronic books. 

In the case of any product or service yhat you commercialize,It´s recommendable to give informative material through subscription in the website.  

That information could be published in an e-book and freely given or sold together with the product.  

* Promotion and sales techniques shown below can also be arranged to be  

applied to other products or services: 

1) Allow bulletins editors or websites proprietors to publish one of the chapters or a résumé of your e-book.  

Of course that publication should include your signature at the end (names, email, slogan and web address).

2) Get extra incomes selling monthly updates of your e-book.  

These sales can be made individually or also by means of annual subscription.  

3) Give in your site a free e-book and then offer the complete version of your book. You should also let the people distribute to others your e-book freely.

4) Divide your book in chapters and give the people the option to buy just the information that they need or want.  

5) Acquire the resale rights of other related books  

and combine them with yours to sell a “pack” of books or a “exclusive private library”.  

6) Publish a reduced version of your book… add to it benefits at the end of each page.  

Those benefits will be links that takes directly to the page where they can buy the complete version.   

7) Offer your potential clients the option to buy only the half part of the book. If they like it, and if they are interested in it, they could get the other 50%.  

This will show them that you are absolutely sure of the virtues and benefits of your book.

Offer services or related products freely to those that acquire your book. Those could be:updates of it, subscription to an informative or educational bulletin, consultancy, etc  

9) Show your potential clients an example of some pages of your book. Many people would like to check the benefits of the content, the used language, etc.  

Those shown pages should arouse the curiosity of interested people and the desires of keep reading.  

10) Create two versions of your ebook: an economic one and another with the normal price.Show the benefits of each one of the versions.  

People, generally, don’t doubt to pay a little bit more money if in return they receive more information or services.  

11) Sell the resale rights of your book.  

You can offer the rights together with the purchase of the book  

or form the option separately in a superior price.  

12) Make your book or the information that it contains available outside of Internet or of the computer.  

You could print it,divide it in chapters and giving it by traditional mail in weekly editions,turn it into video format, audio-book, etc.  

13) Redesign your book according to the needs or likes of your type  

of client.  

A good design can help a lot to get more sales.  

14) Offer to the buyers discount coupons for other products.  

When they buy your ebook, they will obtain those coupons that will make them able to use them between a certain lapse, to acquire other products or services that you commercialize (of your own or other people’s). This is very effective to sell reiterated times to the same client.  

15) Divide your book in chapters and place them in your website.  

You can create an exclusive sector for clients and charge a monthly quota to access to the information.  

You could show 3 or 4 chapters monthly (depending  

on the size of your book and of each chapter in particular).