Daily news from a Clever Copy powered site http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com 2008-03-02T10:53:58+00:00 http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/images/cclogo.jpg text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=93 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>I</b></font>t's been a lot longer than I thought but I am back (never really went away - just had other things to do). A lot has happened since I've been away and now that I have returned, I am aware that a lot has also changed in the world of CMS's. So much so in fact the Clever Copy needs a total rethink and a complete re-write from the ground up - cue months of hard work!<br> <br> So, this is where I now find myself, starting on Clever Copy V4.0 but feeling slightly apprehensive but hoping that it will be another enjoyable experience. If you want to see what I've been up to just lately, this is my latest site - <a title = "Click here to visit this site" href="www.thef1game.co.uk" target="_new">[here]</a><br> <img src='../images/icon_cool.gif' alt=":8" > text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=92 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>F</b></font>or a short while I will have to take a short sabbatical from this site (in fact, all my sites - I run around 20 websites altogether). I hope it won't be for too long, a few months perhaps, but it is to do with the recent changes in my lifestyle.<br> <br> I'm sorry to say that it's unavoidable but it does mean that things like forum posts will not be answered any time soon unless someone else cares to provide an answer for you. The alternative to this is to mothball this site for the foreseeable future and that's really not something I want to do since the interest levels are still fairly high.<br> <br> I am hoping that, on my return, I will be refreshed, renewed and good to go again with an updated version of Clever Copy - Clever Copy V4.0!! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=91 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>I</b></font>'ve been considering the future direction of Clever Copy and how it now fits into my current lifestyle. Make no mistake, developing Clever Copy has been a <b>very</b> time consuming business and each major revision update is taking progessively longer to devise, write, debug, release and support. Essentially it has reached the stage where an enforced change in my recent circumstances means that I have to look at how, or even if, I will continue to develop it.<br> <br> My current thinking is that Clever Copy has been generally so well received by users that it would be a shame to now just abandon it and cease development and yet I really don't have the time or the resources any more to do that. This means that I have to look at other ways of making sure that it can be fully developed and that means opening the source code up and removing any license restrictions in place.<br> <br> By doing this, other people can then develop Clever Copy by writing their own updates and improvements and the best way to do this is by releasing Clever Copy under the GNU/GPL licensing scheme. I shall be considering my options over the next few weeks and will post again when I have made a final decision. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=89 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>S</b></font>o I saw this on another site somewhere and, because it made me laugh, I thought I would share it with you..<br> <br> <br> Passengers on a small commuter plane are waiting for the flight to leave. The rear entrance door opens, and two men walk up the aisle, dressed in pilots' uniforms both are wearing dark glasses, one is using a seeing-eye dog, and the other is tapping his way up the aisle with a cane.<br> <br> Nervous laughter spreads through the cabin; but the men enter the cockpit, the door closes, and the engines start up. The passengers begin glancing nervously around, searching for some sign that this just a little practical joke. None is forthcoming. The plane moves faster and faster down the runway, and people at the windows realize that they're headed straight for the water at the edge of the airport territory.<br> <br> As it begins to look as though the plane will never take off, that it will plough into the water, panicked screams fill the cabin--but at that moment, the plane lifts smoothly into the air.<br> <br> The passengers relax and laugh a little sheepishly, and soon they have all retreated into their magazines, secure in the knowledge that the plane is in good hands.<br> <br> Up in the cockpit, the co-pilot turns to the pilot and says:<br> "You know, Bob, one of these days, they're going to scream too late, and we're all gonna die..." text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=88 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>T</b></font>he rules have changed, spam bots are back and they’re bad! This is an experiment into how email address harvesters or spam bots work, why they are sometimes responsible for your emails not arriving, why the commonly used ways of fooling them don’t work anymore, what the hell is tar pitting anyway and how to really protect yourself 100% from the dreaded spam bots. I also test drive some of the latest bots – you’ll be horrified by the results! Warning – this is a long article for me so be prepared to spend some time reading!<br> <br> Lately I have been conducting an interesting little experiment. I set up a dummy website that contained twenty pages that did nothing at all. In fact, the only text on that site was a dead email address on each page along with a few lines of nonsense that should hold the readers attention for just a few seconds. I advertised this site in a number of places, but mainly on forums and message boards and waited for the hits to arrive. I did not make any direct announcement about this site, I simply included it as a part of my forum signature so that people could see and click it if they were of a mind to do that since what I was really looking for was the automated spam bot rather than the human visitor.<br> <br> Now you may wonder what the point of this is. It is simple, I wanted to test how long it would be before email address harvesters found the site and began to trawl it looking to extract email addresses, what they did when they were there and how they operated. I needn’t have worried, by day three it had been visited twice by harvesters. How do I know they were harvesters? I don’t but it’s a fair guess since each page was visited in turn and in the correct order (the site menu had instructions for people who can read but the instructions would not be followed by harvesters since they can’t read. In addition there were some hidden links that a person shouldn’t find but a robot would) and the time spent on each page was as low as could be measured. These things together all pointed towards a non human visit but neither were these visitors search engine robots because the SE’s usually announce their presence one way or another and their behaviour on a site is a giveaway along with the IP addresses they arrive from. So, what we had then was likely to be an email extractor, harvester or spam bot and it was there sucking up any email addresses it could find – lucky then that I was feeding it crap!<br> <br> Anyway, why should you be worried about what an email address harvester is doing on your site? Well, put simply, if you don’t care that’s fine but there will come a time when any email addresses on your site become so clogged up with crap that they are no longer usable and you’ll have to get yourself another one. No biggie, there are plenty of places to get a free address these days and most of them can even be fed directly into your PC’s email client so you don’t even have to visit the free hosts website any more to read your mail. But what if I told you that someone was getting rich off the back of your email address that you don’t care about and that it was having a negative effect on your site?....... <br> text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=87 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>T</b></font>he winter drought will be over on Sunday with the start of the new F1 season - hurrah!<br> <br> To give it a proper welcome, I've decided to code a new site that I've been threatening to do for the last few years. Just something quick and simple but a lot of fun. Fantasy F1 a la Magus Perde is here! This year I was going to join a fantasy F1 site and take part in the action but, to be honest, I couldn't find a site that had what I wanted. <br> <br> I wanted to be able to change the cars as the season progressed but no site seems to allow you to do that. Well it does now 'cos I wrote my site so you could do exactly that and make your cars go faster as the season moves on! Anyway, find out all about it by clicking <a title = "Click here to visit this site" href="http://www.fantasyf1.ws" target="_new">FANTASY F1 </a><br> <br> ENJOY! <img src='../images/icon_smile.gif' alt=":)" > text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=86 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>A</b></font> problem has been identified whereby a spammer can hijack some of the contact forms used on Clever Copy. The spammer can then use your server and, pretending to be you, send 1,000's of emails. The files in question are contactsend.php, mailarticle.php and mailposter.php. You are strongly advised to delete these files from your server now.<br> <br> The obvious possible effects are that your ISP bans you, your host bans you and everyone else thinks you're a spamming loser! This problem was reported yesterday and I'm, pleased to say that a fix is already available in the downloads section. This is a critical update. If you want to keep your server secure, go and download the fix. Instructions are contained in the download. My thanks to those who reported the problem to me.<br> text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=85 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>F</b></font>or all the Swedish users of Clever Copy V3.0, you now no longer have to change all the language labels yourself!<br> <br> Bjorn Hammarback has done all the hard work for you and the Swedish language files are now available in the downloads section of the site. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Bjorn, I wrote the original language files so I know just how much hard work and time has gone into this - thanks Bjorn! Bjorns' contact details can be found in the language files themselves.<br> <br> Also in the pipeline are language files for French, German, Dutch and even Occidental. More about those anon. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=84 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>T</b></font>he good news then is that the forums are now working again. Fortunately I didn't need to restore the database and was able to sort it out another way.<br> <br> The result of this is that you can now post replies once again and those who ask a question will now get an answer in a reasonable timeframe! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=83 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>F</b></font>or those of you wondering just what is going on with the forums, I can tell you.<br> <br> It seems that my new hosts have seen fit to upgrade MySql on my hosting account which is great and all that, except they forgot to tell me it was happening. Consequently I was in the process of sorting out a few things when the upgrade took place and things in the forums have now become a little screwed up!<br> <br> It looks like I may have to restore the database to an earlier backup and some forum posts may be lost. This is also the reason you might find you have problems when trying to post or make a reply to a post. All I can say is hang on for a day or two and we'll see just how good support is with my new hosts! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=82 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>A</b></font>longside the change of domain, there has also been a change of email addresses. Any email addresses you have for me now will no longer work.<br> <br> If you need to contact me for any reason, using the contact item in the General block will get the results you want. Any addresses you might currently have in your address books will now need to be deleted! If you're currently waiting for a reply from me for anything, it's unlikely to arrive if you've used any of the old addresses. The exception to this is my gmail address, that's still alive and kicking. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=81 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>I</b></font>'m sorry to say that, of late, my current hosts have become less than reliable. Because of this I have changed hosts. I have been considering doing this for a while but, because it is now Christmas time and generally things are quiet and because I now have a new ongoing problem, I feel that my hand has been forced.<br> <br> Consequently the change over has already happened. I have a new hosting account elsewhere and the domain has resolved already and all that now remains is to 'mop up' after. There are some things on the site that don't work for instance but, over the course of the next two days or so, I should be able to resolve those issues.<br> <br> The most immediate priority is downloads because they aren't working at all. A continual lack of FTP access from my old hosts has meant that I've been unable to retrieve the downloads from the old domain and so I have to my back-ups and find them from there. This is actually a good opportunity to start the upcoming new year by clearing out the old stuff so there will be no CC V2 downloads available from now on. <br> <br> I can't see this should be too much of a problem though, in reality the upgrade from CC V2 to CC V3 is a recommended one and no-one should really be running a V2 site anymore now that the updater is available. So, once the downloads come back online, all you will find in there will be CC V3 downloads. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=80 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>A</b></font> little ahead of the projected timescale I'm pleased to say, and the script to update existing users of Clever Copy V2 to Clever Copy V3 is now ready.<br> <br> Available now from the downloads section, if you're currently running a CC V2 site, you can now safely update it to CC V3 and have the benefits that come with Version 3 - enjoy! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=79 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>O</b></font>ver the last few days I have been playing around with Clever Copy V3 again. It's one of those things I guess - I just can't seem to leave it alone and I keep feeling that the odd addition here and there would be a useful thing. <br> <br> So, the latest version of V3 has a few more blocks in it and a couple of tweaks. All these things are really those that should have made it into the final release candidate of V3 but didn't quite. This latest release is to rectify that. If you're an early adopter of V3 what this means to you is that you'll need to download and re-install V3 to get the latest bits. For everyone else they will just be installed from the start.<br> <br> So what's new? Fixes include not being able to select comments on or off when posting a news article and all the other fixes are backend, i.e. things you won't see but that do effect the operation of the software. The most obvious visible updates are the new blocks consisting of a moon phase, solar activity and homeland security threat level block.<br> <br> There are also some new purchased add on blocks and these are a Block Pack containing four blocks - a travel news block that shows travel headlines from around the world, a weather block that allows your visitors to select a weather forecast for various world cities, a world time block that shows the time in different places around the world and translator block that uses the Alta Vista babelfish site translation service letting your visitors view your site in different languages. Also new is the FAQ manager that gives you the ability to add frequently asked questions to your site and the bulk uploader that lets you upload multiple images to your gallery, edit individual pictures and list all gallery pictures. It also gives your visitors a search facility so they can search for images using a keyword.<br> <br> All these functions and features will be active on this site in a day or two when I get the chance to add them and you can check them out then! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=78 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>I</b></font>'m back on what would seem to be one of my fav subjects - email. Or, to be more specific, a lack of replies if you've sent me one recently. I am currently working on the V2 to V3 updater and it's a bit of a sod. On top of that I'm also breaking all the rules and and tweaking little bits of V3 here and there where I feel I need to.<br> <br> The upshot of all this is that I'm getting behind in replying to my emails. I have a load sat in my inbox waiting for replies and no time to do it. Anyway, tomorrow I'll make a concerted effort and reply to them all so if you've been waiting for a reply go check your inbox then! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=77 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>O</b></font>k, ok - thanks to all those people who emailed me within a few minutes of the CC V3 download being made available to tell me that the download was corrupt. You see, this is what happens when you don't change your FTP browsers settings back from binary to ascii - oops!<br> <br> Anyway, all sorted now so thanks to the 30 odd people who let me know! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=74 &nbsp;<font size = 3><b>I</b></font>'m pleased to announce the arrival of Clever Copy Version 3.0. I cannot say that it's been easy but it has certainly been worthwhile. <br> <br> There are many, many new features to the latest version and most of them are designed to make your life easier. A new admin panel that's faster, more robust and more intuitive. A new way to post news using a graphical editor, forums, a full gallery and a downloads rating and reviewing system are just some of the many new features and benefits.<br> <br> You can now also run a flash header if you wish and there are more options for pretty much everything. I would suggest that the best way to evaluate CC V3 is to download it and try it! Be warned though - if you are currently running an earlier version of Clever Copy and simply upload the V3 files over the top, your site will croak! You'll need to wait for the release of the V2 to V3 updater and that should be available in about four days. <br> <br> For those who are still running a CC V1.x site, and I know there are still some out there going strong, there will be no upgrade path from V1 to V3 and you'll need to start again from the beginning. For everyone else, I hope you feel V3 has been worth the wait and that you enjoy using it. Go get it from the downloads section! <img src='../images/icon_wink.gif' alt=";)" > text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=73  <font size = 3><b>A</b></font>t last, Clever Copy V3 is almost ready to ship. As you can probably see, this site has been updated and, during the process of doing that, I have also managed to nearly write the upgrade file for users of CC V2! Although this site isn't yet fully updated and work will continue until tomorrow to finalise that, V3 is now pretty much complete.<br><br>In fact, this is the first news post using the new admin posting interface and it seems to work rather well. It won`t be long now then before you too can get your hands on CC V3 - in fact I reckon that it`ll be ready around this time tomorrow with the upgrader following on a day or two after - keep your eye on the countdown timer! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=72 It would seem that the server is not yet quite fixed with the result that development work on CC V3 is still further delayed. The current plan is to migrate the entire domain onto another, faster, server and this means that I will still be unable to complete V3 as I planned.<br><br>With that in mind the current release date for V3 has moved yet again and, because I am fed up having to keep updating the release date and missing the deadline, I do not intend to give a release date any more in these news posts. <br><br>The official release date will now always be found in the countdown block on the left of the site because it's easier and quicker for me to update that. So here's hoping that things go a little more smoothly from here on in! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=71 As recent visitors to this site may be aware, over the last two days there have been some server problem which meant that, at various times, this site was either slow or unavailable. Although I've not yet had any official confirmation from my hosts, it would seem that the problems have been dealt with and the site is back to normal again.<br><br>The problems with the server are as yet unknown but it does have an effect on the release of Clever Copy V3. Whilst the server was playing around I was unable to complete ongoing development work and this has put me two days behind and so, once again, I need to revise the launch date for V3 by adding on those missing days. This being the case, the new release date is now the 3rd of December. Sorry and all that but this was something unexpected and just beyond my control. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=70 The target date of December the 1st for the release of Clever Copy V3 is on course. It means that this site will be down for a short period on that date whilst I perform the upgrade from V2. <br><br>The site should only be down for an hour or so, but if you're unable to hit the site on December the 1st then you'll know why ;) As yet I haven't worked out just how to upgrade the site to V3 since I haven't yet written the upgrade installer. This is something that will happen shortly after the release of V3 and so I'm going to have to do it by hand as it were. Changing the database structure to meet the V3 specification could be a little tricky and it's possible that some parts of the site won't work for you after the upgrade is done. <br><br>I'll be looking to sort these problems out fairly quickly though and certainly the whole site should be functioning as intended within 24 hours. I thought I'd mention this now just in case it all goes horribly wrong and the site is down for any length of time. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=69 So I'm sitting here looking at the Clever Copy logo on the top left of the site and thinking to myself that graphic design isn't one of my strong points and wondering what to do about it, then it struck me - hold a competition and offer the winner of a new logo all the add on blocks as a prize!<br><br>What I'm looking for is something a little more contemporary to fit in with the new idiom of CC V3. It should be a gif that is 410x60 pixels but the colours should be much the same as they are now. The winner will be picked by me on the last day of November and will be the design that grabs my attention the most. In addition to winning all the add on blocks for Clever Copy, you will also get your name (and URL) in the credits. So, if you've a flair for design and a winning idea either mail it to me or post it up on your webspace somewhere for me to take a look at. You can mail me by clicking the 'Contact Us' link in the general block - good luck!<br><br><br><br>---------------------------- <br><br><br><br>An update to this post. I have not received a single submission for this so I guess there is no interest. As a result I'll close the competition and work out some other way of getting a new graphic. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=68 Ok, so I admit it - I got it wrong again. The last release date given was a promise that I fully intended to keep. At the time it seemed a realistic prospect that, not only was I going to be able to make that release date, but I would also have some time in hand to cover any unforseen eventualities.<br><br>It seems that my plans for CC always seem to go off course and this time is no dfifferent. I'm forced into giving a new release date and that will be the 1st of December 2005. Still some 23 days away, all my other projects are now complete and I am working almost exclusively on V3 but, to try and keep me on track and away from other interesting stuff that might grab my attention, I will shortly add to this site another V3 feature which is a countdown timer.<br><br>This will show you the days, hours and minutes left until CC V3 is due and will, hopefully, keep me firmly on track. I will admit that some of the new features have taken far longer to complete than I thought, but this is mainly due to thinking 'Ooo! I could make it do this' whilst writing them - a failing to which I freely admit.<br><br>So there you are, the countdown should appear in the next day or two and then you can all stop sending me emails asking when it will be available ;) text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=67 Following on from yesterdays' article about comment spamming, I was surprised at how many people have contacted me requesting the human checking code as an immediate addition to Clever Copy V2.<br><br>I had planned to completely stop development on CC V2 so that I can concentrate on V3 and get it released as soon as possible. The numbers of people wanting this addition now though, bearing in mind that I do have a certain sympathy for those who suffer with comment spamming, means that I have re-wriiten the code slightly to work for CC V2 and made it available in the downloads section of the site.<br><br>Please be aware that I have not had time to thoroughly check that this code works properly. It does work on my V2 development site and so it should work on any V2 site but, if you download it and it doesn't work, you will need to head off to the forums and moan at me there about it ;)<br><br>Other than that, hopefully this will make your life a little easier! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=66 I'm so fed up with people attempting to spam the comments on this site that I've already added an admin approval function. This makes certain that comments that are just rubbish (i.e. people trying to get inbound links into their sites by adding their url's into the comment and not really posting anything pertaining to the news post itself) don't even get posted.<br><br>The problem though is that the email telling you a comment was posted still arrives and this is a nuisance in itself when it's just garbage that was posted. So, today I have added the Clever Copy V3 human checking code to this site. Essentially most of the comment spamming comes from automated submission engines. These damn things just churn out comments to be posted to various sites by the bucket load. The problem for the user of these automated engines is that those sites that have checking code on them cannot be added to automatically because it requires a person to read the checking code and enter it by hand. Since these auto submit tools aren't smart enough to decipher images, they fail when they try to submit their rubbish, hence no more emails!<br><br>You can see it action if you click Add Comment on any news post. Submissions made by hand will still require admin approval so rubbish that is hand submitted can still be filtered out before it gets onto the site leaving only those valid comments to be posted ;)<br><br>On another note, related but not the same subject. I have always fought shy of reporting comment spammers to their ISP's or hosts because nothing ever seems to be done about it. Today was different though. A few days ago I put together a list of the most persitent offenders who are constantly spamming this site - 11 in all. I filed abuse reports to either their ISP's, hosts or both. Much to my great surprise and delight, of the 11 I reported, 6 have had their accounts suspended or cancelled! <br><br>I'm waiting to see if I get any further responses from hosts but it seems that they are, at last, actually taking the issue of abuse seriously. I would strongly recommend you do the same. If your site is one of the many getting comment spamming, take the initiative and trace the perpetrators, report them and then see what happens!! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=65 So, once again, I'm having email problems. More to do with my end than my host this time since my PC died yesterday.<br><br>Ordinarily I try to answer emails pretty much as they arrive otherwise they just stack up and then I can spend a whole day just replying to people. I now have a shiny new PC that is virgin. It needs everything loading back on and that's a two day task on its' own.<br><br>As before, I will answer all your emails but please give me a little time. If you don't receive a timely response please don't resend thinking I haven't got it. I have and I will deal with it as soon as I can. I hope to be back on track by around Saturday..... text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=64 It has taken me quite a while to write this one - A contact site for family members.<br><br>Family Connexions is a highly complex php web script that allows you to run your own family contact web site. It keeps family members in contact with each other wherever they are in the world and provides a central repository for all their contact details. But it's also much more than that.... <br><br>There are forums, instant chat, personal organisers and photo galleries for each family member as well as diaries, recipes and the list goes on. In my (perhaps not so) humble opinion, it is the best contact script ever written for families. I have tried to include every feature I could possibly think of for this type of script.<br><br>It behaves a little like a family tree but is centered around living family members rather than the family histrionics. I guess the best thing to do is take a look if you're interested. The site will be fully completed by tomorrow and you can do that by clicking <a href='http://familyconnexions.bestdirectbuy.com' target='_new'>[here]</a>. <br><br>The good news for CC V3 is of course, with the exception of one other major project which is also now nearing completion, at last I can concentrate on getting it finished and ready to ship! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=63 I'm currently engaged in a project that will complete very shortly. Whilst this is nothing to do directly with Clever Copy, it is having an affect on the development time of V3 since I can't work on that until I have finished this project. That being the case I thought I would make an appeal here.<br><br>What I need are images but, to be more precise, images that a) you own the copyright on and b) you don't mind making freely available to educators. Essentially these images will form part of a download library that teachers can use in their lesson plans etc. They will be in a gallery of other images but the important thing is that they are free to use for this purpose. There will be some limitations on the use of these images such as they cannot be used in any commercial sense nor can they be used in anything other than teaching materials.<br><br>So this is where you come in. If you have images that you have taken or that you own the copyright on, and you would be willing to allow them to be used in this way, please either send me a PM or email me for full details. I am looking for images of absolutely anything but particularly welcome would be pictures of people, places and everyday objects. You need to be aware though that any pictures you have of people that are not of yourself cannot be used if it shows the persons face unless you have their express permission. Any help in this would be greatly appreciated. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=62 A little while ago I asked users of Clever Copy to translate the language files into their native language for others to use. There are currently a number of translations underway but the prize for the first person to finish one goes to Christa St.Jean.<br><br>Christa has not only translated the user files but has translated the installer files into Swedish as well! I know for certain just how much work has to go into a language translation and so I offer my sincere thanks to Christa. Christa is now the proud owner of all the add on blocks for Clever Copy but it seems like small recompense somehow.<br><br>Anyway, if you want to translate your site into Swedish, visit the downloads and you will find the files there. If you want to visit Christas site (and it's a great bit of eye candy) you can do that <a href = 'http://webart.artfinity.co.uk' target = '_new'>[here]</a> ;) text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=61 Over the last few months development of CC V3 has slowed down and quickened again in equal measure. An original launch date of August has been and gone and, following on from the announcement of a new release date of September, I now have to revise that date yet again and put it further back until October.<br><br><br><br>The problem with writing and developing something like CC which is, by necessity, a complex piece of coding is that it is a long term project. This means that development takes time and real world issues like earning a living always take their toll on the time spent developing. So, rather than promise a release date early in October, I shall give a new release date of late October instead which should allow for any further pauses in the re-write. <br><br><br><br>I know this is a pain in the neck for some of you and that you are looking forward with anticipation to the new version but, as I have always said, I would rather spend the time and get it right than try to rush it to meet an unrealistic deadline. So, there you have it, October is the new release date and I don't now expect that to change. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=60 As with all things I've been a bit overtaken by events. The rapid progress made on developing CC V3 thus far has now slowed a little because of other projects I am now involved with.<br><br><br><br>Not to be diverted from my chosen path, CC development is still ongoing but I have to put back the release date a bit, probably until early September. I want to get it right first time and I don't want to repeat the mistakes of V1 by rushing it out and releasing it before it's ready. There is still much to do and CC V3 is going to be a very different animal to V2. The feature list still continues to grow and, although I should really have realised by now that you have to draw the line somewhere, I still keep adding more new features. I guess that I'm trying to avoid an early release of CC V3.1 by including as much as possible in the first release of V3.<br><br><br><br>Time will tell how significant the progress is with V3 but I'm pretty happy with what I've already coded up. For example, the new graphical text editor for posting news is thing of beauty and makes life so easy - it's just like using your word processing software. There's more of course but I don't yet want to give too much away. Let's just say that I'd rather spend the time and release something pretty special than reveal all just yet ;) text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=59 I have become aware of late that people are leaving comments on posted news items that are well out of date. The reason they do this is to try and achieve inbound links to their websites from this one. I would like to make everyone aware that this is something I don't appreciate and is no different than spam.<br><br>The fact that every time a comment is left on this site, I get an email sent to me (just as all users of CC do) telling me what the comment was and the ID of the post it was left on, means that these links are never in place for more than five minutes since I always delete them immediately.<br><br>So, CC V3 will have the ability to have comments checked before they are added to the site and I shall also implement this modification on this site very soon. If you are considering leaving a link in the comments that's fine - providing you have a constructive comment to make that relates to the news post. If you're just hoping to spam the site, forget it because I will just delete it. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=58 Most of my other projects are now completed or nearing completion and, as a result, development of V3 is being ramped up in order to meet the expected August release date.<br><br>Currently the improved core modules are already completed and I shall now begin work on integrating some forums into CC for the first time. Very similar to the forums I use on this site for support, they do have more functionality and features. A single login will allow access to the forums and main site making life that bit easier for your visitors and encouraging site memberships.<br><br>At some point in the near future I will list the improvements and modifications to V3 over V2 but, in the meantime, keep checking back for the latest news. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=57 Having now answered a glut of emails and started each one with the same few lines I thought I would try and save myself some time.<br><br>Further to the ongoing problems with my email and just to add insult to injury, over the weekend my PC died a horrible death. The simple expedient of building myself another PC has resolved the problem but I am left with more mails that I know what to do with. So, for all those people waiting for a reply you will get it but I won't tell you why it's so long in coming - you now have the answer.<br><br>The good news is that my email problems have now been resolved and I am able to send and receive mails once again without trouble. Hopefully I shall now be able to catch up with the backlog! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=55 Further to my last post on emails that are sent to me. Not only do I now have to contend with sackfulls of email, it seems that my email account has died. I have made my hosts aware of the problem and I'm waiting for a response from them but, for the moment, I am unable to receive or send emails regularly.<br><br>Sometimes receiving works and then I get a whole fistful of mails in a huge bunch but sending mails or replying to mails has failed completely. If you are waiting for a reply to a mail and haven't got it, you now know why!<br><br>Doubtless my hosts will resolve the problem sooner rather than later (I hope) but until then you'll just have to bear with me as best you can until it's sorted. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=54 Continuing the occasional series in which I try and help you to drive traffic to your site I thought that, this time, we would look at the newsletter feature, why you should use it and what you should send.<br><br>Let me start by saying straight away that the newsletter feature is extremely powerful, probably more powerful than you realise, but when you use it there is a fine line between driving traffic TO your site and driving traffic AWAY from your site. You need to be certain that you will drive traffic to it and the only way you will ever do that is if the newsletter you send complies to a number pre requisites.<br><br>First of all though, let's look at the newsletter function itself and how it works. Visitors to your site are able to subscribe to your newsletter via the newsletter subscription block (if you have it activated - if you don't, why not?). Their email address is encrypted and stored in the database. The encryption of a visitors email address is important because it will prevent email harvesters from getting hold of it and spamming your subscribers, a fear most people have these days and one worth emphasising on your site. From your admin panel you are then able to create a newsletter and send it to all your subscribers.<br><br>So, just what do you send that will bring traffic into your site?<br><br> text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=53 This is apologies in advance. If you have emailed me recently and I have not replied don't despair, I will get around to replying to you but it may just take a little time. It seems that, all of a sudden, Clever Copy has taken off. There are now 3,000 sites employing Clever Copy with a good proportion of those coming online in the last four weeks or so.<br><br>What this means is that the number of emails I receive on a daily basis relating to Clever Copy has gone through the roof and I am just hard pushed to answer them all promptly. It seems that a new mail arrives every five minutes and, what with the other emails I get as my normal course of business, this means reply times have gone from 48 hours to four or five days.<br><br>There is nothing I can do about this except try to prioritise those that come in and answer those that are urgent first. What is making the situation worse is that people are emailing three or four times if they don't get an answer right away and then I have to sort out their original mail to reply to and discard the repeat requests. This of course adds more time so - please only email me once! If you don't get a reply within seven days only then mail again. By following these guidelines I will be able to answer more emails quicker and I am looking for your support in this matter - thanks! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=52 I originally planned to release a new version of V2.0a, namely V2.1. This version would have contained the bug fixes for known issues in V2.0 and V2.0a but, since development work has increased substantially over the last few days, I now intend to abandon a mid life release for V2 and concentrate instead wholly on V3.0.<br><br>The reason for this is that it will make the development and release of V3.0 far quicker and save users having to perform two upgrades - V2.0a to V2.1 and then V2.1 to V3.0. I also want to have additional time to perfect the upcoming forums in V3.0 and all the other additional features. So far V3.0 has plenty of new functionality with things like a more powerful admin account whereby admins can decide whether to allow users to post comments and guest book entries directly to the site or approve them first, site visitors are able to set an 'E-Reminder' to remind them about important personal events, visitors and admins have a new HTML interface with clickable icons for posting news articles and visitors are able to view the newsletter archives. <br><br>This is just a small sample of what to expect from V3.0 but I want to try and get it right first time. With so much to pack into Clever Copy I want the luxury of feeling I have the time to do it and that is why I've decided not to release V2.1. I am now aiming for a release date of August 2005 for V3.0. If you have any ideas about what you would like to see included in the new version, go to your admin panel and click 'Bug reporting, suggestions etc'!!! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=51 As part of the development of Clever Copy V3 I have written some forums that will become an integral part of Clever Copy. This means that users will no longer require seperate forums to run on their site but can take advantage of a single login feature for both their site and forums.<br><br>Naturally I will be updating this site to V3 when it is available but this means that the current support forums will be orphaned and all posts locked. All support requests will then need to be made via the inbuilt Clever Copy forums although I will leave the current Class-1 forums intact to allow people to search for existing answers to problems.<br><br>I have now completed the first major project undertaking that was keeping me away from development of V3 and hope to be able to spend more time on it now although this does depend to a degree on how well development of the second large project I am currently involved with goes. As always watch this space for updates. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=50 I have been working on Clever Copy V3.0 on and off over the last few weeks. Following on from the previous announcement about V3.0 where I hinted at an eight to ten week development period, I now have to revise that timeframe.<br><br>Outside influences mean that, not only am I continuing to develop another major project which is now nearing completion, but I have also just gained further work. This work will take the majority of any time I have and, between the two projects, there will be little time left to work up Clever Copy V3.0 into anything close to a public release version.<br><br>I do not intend to rush development on V3.0. It is always better to take one's time and get it right than to release it and try to constantly fix it. That being the case, I estimate a release version of Clever Copy V3.0 sometime during mid to late August providing all goes to plan. For those who feel that news on V3.0 development has been slow in coming, you now know the reason why. I guess it's a case of watch this space but V3.0 will arrive sooner rather than later.<br><br>Since this is a departure from previous updates, I intend to make an interim release of Clever Copy taking it to V2.1. This will not include any new features but will include all bug fixes to date. You can look forward to this release sometime during April. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=49 There has been a history of some users killing their God admin accounts for Clever Copy and so I have released a new file in the downloads section. Called 'Re-create God Admin', it will allow you to do just that.<br><br>If you have killed your admin account for some reason, go download it and use it to re-create your account, or just keep it for future use. Whatever you do though, don't leave it on your server since anyone will be able to run the file and lock you out of your own site or even delete it all! text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=48 Courtesy of <a href="http://webservice.soundgallery.com" target="_new">Film & Soundgallery.com</a>, Clever Copy now has its' own German language files. Suitable for all versions of Clever Copy, Nick T has spent some considerable time and effort in translating the English language files into German.<br><br>The file is available now in the downloads section and the latest release can also always be found on Nick's site along with a working demonstration of the files in action, thanks Nick ;) text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=47 From time to time I want to write some short articles on using various features of Clever Copy and how to get the best from them. In this article I want to look at news syndication and explain why you should be using it.<br><br>It's a fact of life that the only reason any website exists in the public domain is to draw in traffic in terms of unique hits or visitors to your site. Without that traffic, although you may have plenty to say and to share with your visitors, if they're not hitting your site you're talking to yourself and wasting your time.<br><br>There is an art to drawing in traffic to any website and none of it is pure chance. Contrary to popular belief, if you leave a website up long enough, it won't generate it's own traffic since it relies heavily on inbound links of one sort or another. The only way you're going to get traffic is if you're active about finding it in the first place. There are many ways to do this, and many articles written on how to do it so I won't cover them here. What I will cover is something you already have built into Clever Copy that few people seem to use and yet is a sure fire way to get targetted traffic.<br><br>I say targetted traffic because there is an important distinction to be drawn between traffic and traffic that is actively looking for what you're offering. Untargetted traffic that comes into your site will arrive and leave almost at once. There's no point in getting untargetted traffic, it only wastes your bandwidth. If you want to get targetted traffic for free, this is what you need to do.... text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=46 As time moves on and I am deciding the course Clever Copy will take, I have come to understand that the potential features to be included with version 3 will move it away from blogging and evolve it more towards a CMS. I therefore intend to shift its' emphasis and idiom to that of a pure CMS.<br><br>This does not mean that it will no longer function as a blog, I guess the way to look at it for bloggers would be to say that it will become a blog with 'extras'. This is pretty much the way it is now but version 3 will see features normally associated with CMS's rather than blogs and that is how it will continue to develop until, as a blog, it could be seen as 'bloatware'.<br><br>I have to say that, as I continue to receive suggestions for Clever Copy, my line of thought has extended somewhat and I am excited at the prospect of how Clever Copy will develop. Many of the existing features in version 3 will take version 2 and expand upon what's already there giving you more choice and more functionality while the new features will extend it beyond even the market leaders and this is the direction I wish to take Clever Copy. I ultimately want it to have more features than any other CMS and, with this in mind, I would encourage you to keep making suggestions. Even those suggestions that would define Clever Copy and narrow its' remit would be useful since, because of the way it has been written, it is possible to bolt on new features to it with little effort. These narrowly defined features can be used as 'additions to' rather than 'replacement of' and therefore will not affect the Clever Copy core. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=45 Since I am about to embark upon a new large project, I have decided that I will release an update to version 2.0 to bring it up to version 2.0a.<br><br>The problems that have been notified to me so far have already been fixed and included in this latest update release along with the addition of being able to have your site email members when someone sends them a private message. This is something that was planned for V2.0 but didn't quite make it in time.<br><br>There is also a new update file released alongside the new version for existing users of V2.0 to upgrade their install to V2.0a. I will continue to release updates and fixes as and when needed but my time is now limited once again and earning a crust takes precedence over Clever Copy updates!<br><br>Having said that, I do expect to release yet another new version (version 3) in the next eight to ten weeks but work will now be limited to support, bug fixes and, possibly, the odd new feature if enough people request it. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=44 The next major version update of Clever Copy is released today. Version 2.0 has many new features and benefits over version 1. This initial V2 release includes features such as posting categories for your news articles, private messaging for members, on line diaries that members can keep private or make available for public viewing, a single login for admins to give access to both their user and admin account simultaneously, automatic name insertion when making a post anywhere on your site, member profiles so members to your site can share their contact and other information, site wide search where visitors can search for more or less anything and an updated and more powerful admin panel.<br><br>This is just a small selection of the new features found in version 2. A complete list can be found by clicking 'History' in the navigation menu. A lot of the new features have been designed to add value and drive traffic to your site, allowing members to post online diaries for instance gives them a good reason to visit your site regularly and by allowing your members to make their entries public, it encourages visitors to come in and read the diaries.<br><br>You can find version 2 in the downloads section. Unfortunately there is no upgrade path from earlier versions of Clever Copy to version 2 and you must use this as a new and clean install if you are already running Clever Copy. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=43 Over the period of Saturday 5th February 2005, you may experience some short term difficulty in accessing this site. This is because I shall be removing Clever Copy V1.0.2 and installing Clever Copy Version 2.0 in its' place.<br><br> I don't expect the site to be unavailable for long, no more than ten or twenty minutes probably, but if you're unable to access the site please try again a short while later. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=42 I am aiming now for a release date of Saturday 5th February for version 2 of Clever Copy. I reckon to have all the additional functionality in place by Wednesday next week and, since I am able for the time being to concentrate wholly on this project for once, I reckon that two days of testing will be plenty.<br><br> The list of additional functions and features in V2 is growing daily and, with plenty more yet to come, V2 should see a radical depature from V1 in terms of usability. There have also been some minor changes to the way the admin panel works to allow for faster editing and easier use. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=41 I am now well into the development of version 2 and the core is shaping up nicely. There is an issue that I am becoming increasingly aware of and, today after adding some more core functionality, it has become apparent that Clever Copy version 2 will be very different to previous versions.<br><br> Some of the changes made will make it very difficult to write an update file to upgrade version 1 releases to version 2. This has also prevented me from adding various things that I wanted to see in the next release.<br><br> Because of this and because if I don't do it now I probably won't be able to do it later on, I have decided that there will be no upgrade path from version 1 to version 2. Although this effectively orphans version 1, it will allow me to add the functionality that Clever Copy requires and give me more room to continue its' development at a later stage. Without taking this decision, Clever Copy will always remain limited in how it can grow. Since version 1 is stable and secure, I will continue to support it for all those who currently use it. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=40 I have decided that I won't release Clever Copy V1.0.3 but instead I will move straight to the next major version release of V2.0.0.<br><br> I expected to get many bug reports and find many faults but it just hasn't happened. With more than 1,500 downloads for all the version releases so far, if there were any major problems they would have surfaced by now. This means that version 1.0.2 is probably stable enough to develop into version 2.<br><br> I don't yet know what is going to make it into V2.0.0 but there is one thing that will require a major re-write and that is allowing Clever Copy to run in any directory on a server. This is the reason why I'm moving straight to version 2. <br><br> Having said that, expect to see things like members being able to make their details public with the inclusion of YIM, MSN and Web URL's, user journals so that members can keep an online diary, lists so that admins can show what they're currently reading and watching etc and private messaging so that site members can send each other messages.<br><br> There may be more functionality, I don't know yet, it really depends on how quickly I can code it all. What I do know is that there is likely to be a German language file for all my German friends which is being provided by someone who uses Clever Copy. I'll provide a link to his site once it's completed so you can all drop by and say thanks to him ;)<br><br> I don't expect that version 2 will be available for a few weeks yet. It will take a lot of time to get it ready and tested but I do intend to create an update file so that you can automatically update earlier versions. More news here when I have something further to say. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=39 V1.0.2 is now available for download. Adding some new features such as emailing an article to a friend for any news item posted, emailing the site admin when a guestbook entry is made and resending members validation emails or deleting unvalidated members has made Clever Copy more powerful than ever.<br><br> Some minor bug fixes have also been made and the link graphic to Clever Copy has been removed. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=38 V1.0.2 of Clever Copy is finished and is being tested. All being well, tomorrow should see its' release. More bug fixes and, once again, increased functionality are the main features of this update.<br><br> Added to V1.0.2 is resending of validation emails for users who have registered but not confirmed their registration, deletion of users who never confirm their resgistration, a 'mail this article' feature for all news stories and emailing the site admin when an entry is added to the guestbook. <br><br> In addition to this, the graphic link to Clever Copy has now been removed leaving only a text link in its' place. This gives a far more streamlined look. The full version history can be found by clicking 'History' in the main nav menu. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=37 It is my intention in the next release of Clever Copy to remove the copyright notice graphic. A few emails suggesting this got me thinking. I don't need the graphic to be there, just the text and it doesn't seem an unreasonable request.<br><br> When V1.0.2 is released (I'm working on it now), it will only have the Powered by link in place which will look far neater and be less obtrusive. No doubt there are many who will be pleased with this ;) text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=36 I have removed my email address from the general block on this site. I was starting to get emails from people that weren't really related to Clever Copy in any real sense.<br><br> This is a shame since I do genuinely enjoy reading the mails I get from people regarding Clever Copy. If you need to contact me, you can do this through the Clever Copy admin panel so real enquiries will still reach me. I shall include an option in the next update to allow users to show or hide their mail addresses for the same reason. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=33 V1.0.1 is now available in the downloads section. It fixes some bugs that were found in V1.0.0 and adds some additional functionality.<br><br> A complete version history can be found by clicking on 'History' in the main navigation menu. New additions to this version include closing and re-opening comment posting, the ability to automatically update your posts to multiple news servers at once, the option to receive an email when someone posts a comment and a most ever online feature. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=32 Having been designed for full browser compatibility, it came as a surprise to get reports that Clever Copy did not always display correctly in Opera and Firefox browsers.<br><br> This has now been fixed and will be included in the next release of Clever Copy. Included in the next release will also be some additional functionality and an update tool to upgrade V1.0.0 to V1.0.1 automatically. You can look forward to that release sometime next week. My thanks to all those who have submitted bug reports. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=31 The announcement I made on the news syndication feature the other day now has an update to it. As one of the first users of Clever Copy, I have decided to syndicate the news from the site <a href="http://ihatecrap.bestdirectbuy.com" target="_new">I Hate Crap</a>. <br><br> This site is running Clever Copy as a blog and, since I am running it as a CMS, I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and let you see how the syndication feature works and what Clever Copy looks like when running as a blog. You can see the news that is being syndicated on the bottom right of this site and you can visit the I Hate Crap site by clicking the read more links in the syndicated news. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=30 As more people are taking up and using Clever Copy, more bugs are coming to light. Nothing bad, just minor annoyances really and, I guess, only to be expected with in excess of 20,000 lines of code.<br><br> There is no intention to correct these with an update due their minor nature but they are being added to the update list for further work and release in the next version.<br><br> I've not yet given much thought to when the next version will be released. As mentioned previously, I want to let the current version settle down and discover any problems before considering adding anything. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=29 Ok, ok - I know. Clever Copy has only been released for a few hours and I'm talking about updates already. To be honest, I wasn't sure how it would be received. I needn't have worried, so far it has received critical acclaim from those who have already downloaded and installed it and users are the worst (and best) critics of all.<br><br>So, with a positive response, I now need to start thinking about the direction Clever Copy will take. Generally this has to be driven by user feedback, i.e. you telling me what you would like to see as a feature of Clever Copy. I do have some ideas that didn't make it into the first release and they include 'lists' (an extension to the personal profile where you can add your current reading list, listening to list etc. More for the bloggers than the CMS'ers I guess), the ability to close comment posting on old or tired news articles and... text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=28 After some considerable hours spent burning the midnight oil, I'm pleased to announce the early release of Clever Copy V1.0.0.<br><br> Clever Copy has taken over 500 hours to write and the final product is a fusion of simple blog and full content management system. I can't say that it has always been an enjoyable process although I do believe that the end product does justify the considerable amount of work involved in writing it. On balance it is something that I have enjoyed now that I am able to look back on it, but I don't think I would want to repeat the process!<br><br> The next challenge is to now start generating high traffic to this site and, therefore, users of Clever Copy. In the meantime, Clever Copy is available in the downloads section. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=27 Having added the news syndication feature to Clever Copy, I have decided that I cannot add anything else to this version. To be certain of making the release date deadline I now have to continually test. <br><br> I know I've said this before and then went on to add other features, but it's already 2005 and there are now only 4 days left until the release date. If I think of anything else to add, I'll put it in a list of pending updates and deal with it after the initial launch. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=19 I was thinking about this and that and decided it must be fairly easy to include some sort of news syndication. After a bit of thought and some playing around I'm pleased to say that Clever Copy can now syndicate its' news to other sites!<br><br> This is how it works: A visitor would come into your site and click on the 'Syndicate News' link in the main navigation menu. This presents him with a little bit of code to add to his web page. Once added, this code will 'grab' a chunk of your last 5 news postings and display them on his web site.<br><br> Why bother you ask? Well, put simply, if he's running your lead stories, there will always be a link back to your site for each of the five headlines ;)<br><br> You can see the news syndication feature on the bottom right of this site. It is currently showing headlines from this site but, in a real world situation, it could show headlines from any Clever Copy powered site. Of course ..... text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=18 The problem with the install script has now been rectified. The corrected version of Clever Copy is now back in the downloads section. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=17 <img src = 'images/information.gif'> <br>Please be aware that there is an error in the install script for the beta version of Clever Copy. I should have this sorted within a short timespan but would recommend holding off on downloading Clever Copy for the moment. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=16 A bug has been found in the admin panel for pay per click. Just a small problem with the creation of the tables and it has already been resolved, but it does mean that those of you who have downloaded the beta version of Clever Copy will need to update to the release version when it becomes available or download the updated beta from the downloads section. <br><br> Personally, I would wait until the public release is made available. That way, if any further problems are found, they will have been addressed and you can install a clean version with all the bugs removed. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=15 Since testing has gone so well I have decided to release a beta version to allow you to evaluate Clever Copy before the first public release. <br><br> Much earlier than expected, this is the version that will ultimately be released as the final public version. Although still officially under test, you can get a head start now and update your installation later (if required).<br><br> In the admin panel you will find a bug reporting tool, if you use this version of Clever Copy perhaps you would be good enough to use the bug reporting tool if you find anything untoward. You can find Clever Copy in the downloads section. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=14 It may be possible to release Clever Copy ahead of schedule. Testing is going well with few bugs being found and those that are found seem to be minor.<br><br> If progress continues in this way, a first public release is on the cards before the January 5th launch date. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=13 I have already begun to receive emails asking where the download is for Clever Copy. I would like to reiterate that Clever Copy is not yet released and will not be released until January 5th at the earliest.<br><br> I know there are some people who don't read the full front page so I hope this will grab their attention and answer that question. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=12 The about page has now been created. This will give you much information about Clever Copy, what it is and what it can do. Click the 'about' link in the main navigation menu. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=11 A small bug found in the guestbook has been fixed. it was not stripping out HTML characters correctly. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy <i>This post submitted by Magus Perde - <a title='Click to visit this posters website' href='http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com' target='_new'><img border='0' src='images/posterwww.gif'width='15' height='15'></a></i><br>------------------------<br><br> This news item was posted using the 'Post news' menu item from the navigation menu. It was done just to show what a news item posted by a visitor looks like. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=9 I guess it's always the case, you think you've finished but you haven't. In this particular case, I have added some additional functionality. The web links exchange block was unable to prevent visitors adding their links to your site.<br><br> Whilst you always had the ability to decline these links anyway, I decided it would be better to give admins the option of not accepting links in the first place. With this in mind I have just added a further option in the site preferences section of the admin panel. Now you are able to turn off the link that allows visitors to submit their link to your site. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=8 I have noticed that the site is starting to take hits. If you are here and are a little confused about what you are seeing then please remember that this is still 'work in progress'.<br><br> Some parts of the site still do not yet function as they should but, as time goes on, these should get fewer until the site is wholly operational. I estimate that the site will be fully operational by tomorrow so I recommend another visit then. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=7 A problem has been found when adding links to the navigation menu in the admin panel.<br><br> An attempt to connect to the database was failing but this has now been resolved. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=6 A bug was found with changing block names. You were unable to edit block names for the last 5 forum posts blocks.<br><br> This bug applied to all last 5 forum post blocks but has now been fixed text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=5 The same problem was found and fixed on the news ticker. Both the ticker and the scroller now work as they should. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=4 A problem was found with the scroller block. It was not allowing text to be added. This has now been fixed. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID=3 Within minutes of activating the site, the first bug has been found. Adding a news item does not correctly generate the RSS feed.<br><br> The good news is that the problem has been fixed almost as quickly as it was found. text/html http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com Clever Copy http://clevercopy.bestdirectbuy.com/more.php?ID= This is the first post on this newly installed Clever Copy web portal. The code is now stable and is almost ready for release.<br><br> After five months of writing, Clever Copy has very nearly reached its' first public release version. Another week or so to iron out any remaining bugs should see it completed.