Recently I have been having the following error on my PHP code every time I call the PHP function date();  Mostly when running it on my local test server.

Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system’s timezone settings

Cause: Since PHP5.1.0 the E_RESTRICT setting causes PHP to report error for every call
to a date/time function, if no default time is set.

Fix: There are 2 approaches to  resolving this.

1. Set time setting to your PHP script with the function date_default_timezone_set();  with the intended time zone/location eg: for GMT one can use date_default_timezone_set(‘Europe/London’);
2. Set time setting to your php.ini file by editing the line ;date.timezone = to date.timezone = “Europe/London” or you required location. This is good for setting a server wide time setting.

Technorati Tags: DATE, error, PHP, php.ini, PHP5, time setting

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Now you can have a list of your favourite Firefox Add-ons to share. I have always tried to keep a list in my bookmarks of the Add-ons I find most useful and normally recommend to people, now life has become much easier.

Discover more of the best add-ons and organize your favourites in easy-to-manage collections. Subscribe to see how the collections you admire grow, and fans follow when you manage and update your own collections with Mozilla Firefox Add-on Collector.

You can have a look at my small collection at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collection/itechlog

Technorati Tags: add-on, browser, Firefox colletctor, fireftp, Mozilla, twitterfox, web developer

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CRE Loaded was giving me the error  1062 – Duplicate entry ’2147483647′ for key 1 – when trying to add a new product.

Cause: for some unexplained reason the auto_increment ID field on Table “products” has gone up to 2147483647 which is apparently the maximum number of rows permitted in an INT column.

Fix:

1. Go to your phpMyadmin interface
2. Backup your database (make sure you know how to restore it if needed)
3. Browse the products table (select to sort the fields by Descending order)
4. The top item should now have the ID = 2147483647
5. Change the ID to a number up from the previous item (e.g.: Previous was ID = 301, than change the ID = 2147483647 to 302)
6. Repeat same process with table “product_to_categories”
7. Return to table “products”
8. Select the SQL tab
9. run the following SQL Query :  ALTER TABLE products AUTO_INCREMENT=303   (note that 303 is the next number up from the example on step 5, you should use the next number up in your situation)

It worked perfectly for me, hope this helps.

Technorati Tags: 1062 - Duplicate entry '2147483647' for key 1, CRE Loaded, Database, MySQL, PHPMySQL

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Any webmaster and marketer will know how important it is to keep track of their website ranking, keyword positioning, visits, ROI and so on…  There are a lot of interesting tools out there to help us. 

• Google Analytics – Visitor tracking, keyword positioning, goal setting, demographics and more…
• http://www.alexa.com – web traffic metrics, top sites lists, site demographics, hot urls, and more… 
• Google Webmaster Tools – detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Google
• Yahoo Site Explorer – detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Yahoo
• Bling Webmaster Center – detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Bling (former LiveSearch)
• Keyword Spy – Research and track keywords in 3 search engines and 30+ countries.
• KPMRS – website rank monitoring services on various search engines
  for multiple keywords.
• XML-Sitemaps – Generate sitemaps online. Up to 500 urls Free.
• WP Google XML Sitemaps – This plugin will create a Google sitemaps compliant XML-Sitemap of your WordPress blog.

These are just a few tools I use the most, please share yours.

Technorati Tags: Analytics, Bing, Google, Keyword lookup, KPMRS, ROI, Search, SEO, Site Explorer, Sitemaps, Visitor tracking, webmaster tools, WordPress, Yahoo

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This is a simple PHP  script to automatically display (dump output)  data submited from a html form.

The form setup

• all inputs (form fields) need to have the same name with [] at the end to turn it into an array,  e.g <input type=text name=formdata[]>

formq.html content

<form method=post action=showme.php>
Name: <input type=text name=formdata[]><br>
Email: <input type=text name=formdata[]><br>

<input type=submit value=ok>
</form>

The Script setup

showme.php content

<?php
$data = $_POST['formdata']; # get value from the form fields

foreach ( $data as $key => $value ) { # loop through array collecting the results

echo  “$value<br>”;  # output the data  – print to page
}
?>

Technorati Tags: $_POST, foreach(), html form, PHP, Programming

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Serve PDF files on your website by requesting the user to register their email address. The PDF file is sent to the given email address and the user details registered on a database. This is a very simple script and relies on four main features.

Apache mod_rewrite (via the .htaccess file)

PHPMailer

MySQL database

the simple-register.php script itself

See a demo here

Let’s start, first you need to create the folder on your site where you are going to place your PDF files, in my case I called it /pdf/ so the address to your files should be something like this, http://yoursite.com/pdf/yourfile.pdf

1. Apache mod_rewrite (via the .htaccess file)

create a text file and name it .htaccess and add the follwing text

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^(.*).pdf$ /pdf/simple-register.php?file=$1 [R=301,NE,L]

Mod_rewrite will redirect any trffic to your .pdf file to the registration form “/pdf/simple-register.php”, if you save the php file with a different name you will need to adjust this file with the correct filename.

2. PHPMailer

is an openSource mailer script which you can download from their official site. After download extract the class.phpmailer.php file to your /pdf/ folder

3. MySQL database

Create a database with a table with the following details

`ID` int(10) unsigned zerofill NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `name` text NOT NULL,
  `email` text NOT NULL,
  `file` text NOT NULL,
  `ip` text NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`ID`)

if you want you can save the following code as a .sql file and upload to your MySQL using PHPmyAdmin.

CREATE DATABASE `pdflog`;
USE `pdflog`;

-- --------------------------------------------------------

--
-- Table structure for table `download_log`
--

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `download_log` (
  `ID` int(10) unsigned zerofill NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `name` text NOT NULL,
  `email` text NOT NULL,
  `file` text NOT NULL,
  `ip` text NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`ID`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM  DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=6 ;

4. Create the simple-register.php script

just copy the following code to a text editor and save the file as “simple-register.php” or any other name you may want to, but remember to also change the redirection on your .htaccess file.

Before you can upload your script you will need to edit some details on your file, just look at the section “############ variables for the email function ######” and add the required information. You will also need to change the database connection information, just look for the line matching the details below and change accordingly.

$dbHost = "localhost"; 	# set host - most likely you don't need to change this
$dbUser = "user";		# set database user
$dbPass = "password";		# set password
$dbName = "databbse";		# set database name

The script code

 <?php

echo "<center><div style=\"width:500px;text-align:left\">";
$email = $_POST['email'] ;
$name = $_POST['name'] ;
$pdf_file = $_REQUEST['file'] ;

$file = str_replace(".pdf","",$pdf_file); # a workaround for frinedly URL stuff

$allowed_file = "pdf"; # set single filetype

$file = "$pdf_file.$allowed_file";

$filename = str_replace("/pdf/","",$file); # removes the directory /pdf/ from the string

$ip=@$REMOTE_ADDR; // get IP address
if(!$ip) {$ip=$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];}

############ variables for the email function ######

$webmaster = "webmaster@yourdomain.com"; 	#webmaster or site email address
$site_name = "your site name";			#website name

$subject = "Your requested File: $filename"; #email subject line
$body_html = "<b>Dear $name</b><br><bR>Please find attached the file requested.</b>"; # HTML version of the message sent to user
$body_txt = "Dear $name\n\nPlease find attached the file requested."; # TEXT only version of the message sent to user
$sent_msg = "<center><h2>Thank you</h2> The file has been sent to $name - $email</center>"; # message displayed on the page after file has been sent

$errot_subject = "Blocked action attempt [$email]"; # error email subject line
$error_body_html    = "<b>This person: $name - $email</b><br><br>has attempted to downlod the file: $filename"; # HTML message to webmaster in case of attempt to access not permited file
$error_body_txt = "This person: $name - $email\n\nhas attempted to downlod the file: $filename";# TEXT message to webmaster in case of attempt to access not permited file
$error_msg = "<br><br><br><h2><center><font color=#ff0000>Access to this file is not permited.</center></h2><h4></font><br>Your details have been logged.<br><br>IP Address: $ip <br> Email: $email <br> Name: $name <br> </h4>"; # error message showed when user attempt to download a not permited filetype 

############ end vadiables #########################

if(!$email) {  #if email field is blank display the registration form

echo "<center><br><br><h2><b>Please enter your details to proceed!</b></h2><br><br><form method=post><input type=hidden value=\"$filename\" name=name> Name: <input type=text name=name><br>Email: <input type=text name=email><br> <input type=submit value=send><br><br><div style=\"text-align:left\">"; 

echo "</div></form></center>";

}

else { #otherwise send the file 

$data[] = explode(".", $file);

while (list ($key,$val) = @each ($data)) {

$file_type = $val[1];

}
 # can only email PDF files, for security
if($file_type == $allowed_file) {
$blocked = 0; # information for the database 0 = no attempt to access unauthorized file

sendInfo($webmaster, $site_name, $name, $email, $subject, $body_html, $body_txt, $filename, $sent_msg);

}

else {
$blocked = 1; # information for the database 1 = attempt to access unauthorized file

sendInfo($webmaster, $site_name, $webmaster, $site_name, $error_subject, $error_body_html, $error_body_txt, $filename, $error_msg);
}

	}# end else

###### write details to to database
regtodb($name, $email, $filename, $ip, $blocked); 

echo "<div></center>";

?>

<?php

############## functions #############

# write to database

function regtodb($name, $email, $dfiles, $ip, $blocked) {

$dbHost = "localhost"; 	# set host - most likely you don't need to change this
$dbUser = "user";		# set database user
$dbPass = "password";		# set password
$dbName = "databbse";		# set database name

mysql_connect ($dbHost, $dbUser, $dbPass) or die ('MySQL connect failed. ' . mysql_error());
mysql_select_db($dbName) or die('Cannot select database. ' . mysql_error());
$query="INSERT INTO download_log VALUES ('','$name','$email','$dfiles','$ip', '$blocked')";
$result=mysql_query($query);

mysql_close();

}

# send email with phpMailer

function sendInfo($webmaster, $site_name, $name, $email, $subject, $body_html, $body_txt, $filename, $sent_msg) {

require_once("class.phpmailer.php");

$mail = new PHPMailer();

$mail->From = $webmaster;
$mail->FromName = $site_name;
$mail->AddAddress($email, $name);
$mail->AddAttachment($filename, $filename);

$mail->IsHTML(true);                                  // set email format to HTML

$mail->Subject = $subject;
$mail->Body    = $body_html;
$mail->AltBody = $body_txt;

if(!$mail->Send())
{
   echo "Message could not be sent. <p>";
   echo "Mailer Error: " . $mail->ErrorInfo;
   exit;
}

echo $sent_msg;

	}

?>

Now upload your files to your newly create /pdf folder together with your pdfs. Remember that your links must be to the pdf file and not the script, the mod_rewrite will take care of the redirection for you.

You may also want to add a captcha type feature to avoid spam.

Technorati Tags: email pdf, PDF, PHP, PHPMailer

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.htaccess files (or “distributed configuration files”) provide a way to make configuration changes on a per-directory basis in an Apache HTTP Server. This file, containing one or more configuration directives, is placed in a particular document directory, and the directives apply to that directory, and all subdirectories thereof.

This 301  Redirect can be used anytime you want to redirect a URL. Here are some examples of its use:

• Single page – Redirect 301 /old_page.html http://www.mysite.com/new_page.html

• entire site -   Redirect 301 /  http://www.new_site.com/

• change file extension (html to php in this case) -  RedirectMatch 301 (.*)\.html$ http://www.mysite.com$1.php

There are many other uses for Redirect 301 and mod_rewrite on Apache, if you are moving a site or redesigning a site with a new CMS make sure you redirect your old URLs to your new site. By failing to do so any user that clicks on a link to your old site (page) will hit a 404 ERROR page, this will affect your search rankings. 

The book “Professional SEO” has a good chapter in mod_rewrite and URL redirection, and is also great SEO manual

For a full tutorial on .htaccess visit the official Apache website.

Technorati Tags: .htaccess, 301 Redirect, Apache, MOD_REWRITE, Search Optimization, SEO, SEO Book

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the PHP version 5.2.7 was removed from distribution due to a bug that caused a security hole in some configurations. The bug was related to the magic_quotes_gpc which will be deprecated in version 2.6.

The PHP development team has officially announced the immediate availability of PHP 5.2.8. This release addresses a regression introduced by 5.2.7 in regard to the magic_quotes functionality, that was broken by an incorrect fix to the filter extension. All users who have upgraded to 5.2.7 are encouraged to upgrade to this release, alternatively you can apply a work-around for the bug by changing “filter.default_flags=0″ in php.ini.

Technorati Tags: PHP 5.2.7, PHP 5.2.8, Programming, Security, Web Programming

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Python is a dynamic object-oriented programming language that can be used for many kinds of software development. It offers strong support for integration with other languages and tools, comes with extensive standard libraries.

The Python developers have released the final version of Python
3.0, a major reworking of the programming language. It’s said to be intentionally incompatible
with the Python 2 series.

According to Guido van Rossum (Project Founder)

“… the new features in Python 3.0, compared to 2.6.
Python 3.0, also known as “Python 3000” or “Py3K”, is the first ever
intentionally backwards incompatible Python release. There are more
changes than in a typical release, and more that are important for all
Python users. Nevertheless, after digesting the changes, you’ll find
that Python really hasn’t changed all that much – by and large, we’re
mostly fixing well-known annoyances and warts, and removing a lot of
old cruft.”

read the official “What’s New in Python 3.0” release.

Technorati Tags: 2to3, Programming, Py3K, Python 3.0

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Facebook has finally released the so awaited Connect. This feature allows users to share actions and information from the internet with their
friends on Facebook including publishing Feed stories to profiles and
sending requests.

Connect was first announced in May 2008 but only recently it has been made available. There are already a few sites that have implemented this new feature. Check out the Facebook developer’s blog and see the list of sites already making use of this new feature.

To get started with fb:connect, check out their development tutorial.

Technorati Tags: Connect, Facebook, Social Networking

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The term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has become a new phenomenon with marketeers.  As a programmer/developer it’s very hard to find a good book on such a broad subject but recently I found this great book. The authors go about explaining and guiding you through exercises that are relevant for both programmers and marketeers.  It contains detailed chapters on Website Content, Links, Webmaster tools and MOD_REWRITE. The code snipets found in this book can be used as a good reference guide to any SEO project.  This book is for PHP Programmers but they have also published a .NET version.

If  you develop with WordPress.org this releted post can also be very helpfull:  SEO and WordPress

Technorati Tags: Books, MOD_REWRITE, PHP, Programming, Search, SEO

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