JohnTP.com » Tutorials http://www.johntp.com Blog Tips To Help You Make Money Online Fri, 13 Aug 2010 07:16:03 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 How To Change The Time Settings In Windows Vista http://www.johntp.com/2007/08/24/how-to-change-the-time-settings-in-windows-vista/ http://www.johntp.com/2007/08/24/how-to-change-the-time-settings-in-windows-vista/#comments Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:17:55 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2007/08/24/how-to-change-the-time-settings-in-windows-vista/ Those of you who use Windows Vista may have noticed that the clock in your system tray displays time in the 24 hour format by default. If you prefer 12 hour format and is confused on how to do it, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Start button
  2. Click the Control Panel and then double-click Regional and Language Options if you are using Control Panel in Classic View OR click Clock, Language, and Region and then click Regional and Language Options
  3. Click Customize this format
  4. On the Time tab, Change Time format to hh:mm:ss tt

Note: Change Time format to HH:mm:ss to switch back to 24-hour clock format.

This may sound simple, but believe me I never found the option to switch to 12 hour format until I googled and found this page.

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2007/08/24/how-to-change-the-time-settings-in-windows-vista/feed/ 40 How To Optimize Images To Speed Up Your Site http://www.johntp.com/2007/06/18/how-to-optimize-images-to-speed-up-your-site/ http://www.johntp.com/2007/06/18/how-to-optimize-images-to-speed-up-your-site/#comments Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:08:15 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2007/06/19/how-to-optimize-images-to-speed-up-your-site/ A regular reader of this blog, Shivaranjan, asked me earlier today on how to optimize images to speed up his site. I decided to write a post on it as I feel there are many people who do not know on how to reduce their image size and as a result slow down their site.

Images are one of the reasons behind a slow loading site and hence is necessary to optimize them before you place them on your site or blog. Photoshop includes a feature called ‘Save for Web’ which you can use to reduce the image size.

If you do not have Photoshop, you can use other image editing softwares that have a similar feature to the ‘save for web’ that Photoshop provides or you can also use an online image optimizer.

To access the ‘Save for Web’ feature in Photoshop, hit Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S after opening an image. Now select the image format that you wish to use.

For JPG format you should set the quality of the image as 50 for optimal results and make the image progressive so that your visitors will have something to look at when the image is loading.

Save for Web

For GIF format reduce the maximum number of colors to reduce the image size and make the image interlaced so that your visitors will have something to look at when the image is loading.

Also use the height and width tags when you place images on your site, otherwise the browser will have to determine the size of the image and then load the image and then the rest of the page which means the content will not load until all the images load. Your visitors land on your site to read the content, so making them wait for the images to load first will just annoy them and they may leave.

When you set the height and width tags, the browser will automatically know the size of the image and will be able to hold a place for the image and load the rest of the page at the same time. So while the images are loading, your visitors get to read the content.

Example of image code with height and width tags included

<img src="http://www.example.com/mycar.jpg" title="My Car" alt="my car" border="0" height="465" width="550" />

Image Formats you can use

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): Support millions of colors. You can use this format for photographs and screenshots that you take.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): Supports a maximum of 256 colors. You can use this format for logos and buttons and when you need transparent and animated images.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics): Supports 24-bit colors and better transparency than the GIF format. The GIF format may still be the better option as not all browsers display PNG images well.

Hope you found this tutorial useful. If you have any similar questions or anything related to blogging and money making online, email me the question and if I answer it here you will get a free link to your site on the post :)

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2007/06/18/how-to-optimize-images-to-speed-up-your-site/feed/ 59 How To Increase Alexa Rank http://www.johntp.com/2007/04/12/how-to-increase-alexa-rank/ http://www.johntp.com/2007/04/12/how-to-increase-alexa-rank/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:08:04 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2007/04/12/how-to-increase-alexa-rank/ Alexa Rank is measured by the level of traffic your web site receives from the number of people who visit with the Alexa toolbar installed. It is important for you to increase your Alexa rank because advertisers and advertising services like Text Link Ads and ReviewMe use your site’s Alexa rank as a way to determine the worth of a link on your web site.

You can sell links on your site at a high price if you have a high Alexa Rank, so it is important to increase your Alexa Rank.

Dosh Dosh has suggested 20 quick ways to increase Alexa Ranking, out of which I tried only two and my Alexa Rank has already improved!

Around June last year I placed the Alexa Traffic Rank Button on this site and my Alexa Rank continually increased from around 90,000 to 20,000 until I removed the Alexa Traffic Rank Button after a redesign.

Only recently I noticed that my Alexa rank was decreasing slowly (around 26,000) and I decided to try out some of the tips suggested on Dosh Dosh.

I just tried two out of the 20 tips provided and my Alexa Rank has improved slowly from around 26,000 to 25,576 in about 2 weeks.

Alexa Graph

The two things I tried to improve my Alexa Ranking were:

What have you done to increase your Alexa Ranking?

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2007/04/12/how-to-increase-alexa-rank/feed/ 70 How To Extract Audio From YouTube Videos http://www.johntp.com/2007/04/12/how-to-extract-audio-from-youtube-videos/ http://www.johntp.com/2007/04/12/how-to-extract-audio-from-youtube-videos/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2007 06:04:21 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2007/04/12/how-to-extract-audio-from-youtube-videos/ I have mentioned earlier on how to download YouTube Videos and save them on your computer inorder to view the videos offline. The videos are saved in a .flv extension that can be played with a FLV player.

What if you want to rip audio from YouTube videos? Or want to covert any FLV file to AVI,MOV,MP4 or MP3 format?

With the Online FLV Converter at Vixy, you can convert YouTube videos in other formats like AVI, MOV and MP4 or convert the video as an audio only file in the MP3 format. Vixy also lets you covert any FLV file to AVI/MOV/MP4/MP3 format online.

Vixy- Online FLV Converter

When you submit an URL, this service will download and convert the video to your desired format and lets you download the converted file. Vixy allows you to download online videos direct to PC, iPod and PSP for free.

The above trick can also be applied to other video sharing web sites like Google Video and MetaCafe.

If the YouTube Video is on your hard disk as an FLV file, you can use the free FLV Extract utility to extract audio and video from FLV files. The video is saved as AVI and the audio is saved as MP3.

found via Amit Agarwal’s blog

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2007/04/12/how-to-extract-audio-from-youtube-videos/feed/ 26 How To Prevent Comment Spam http://www.johntp.com/2006/12/08/how-to-prevent-comment-spam/ http://www.johntp.com/2006/12/08/how-to-prevent-comment-spam/#comments Fri, 08 Dec 2006 13:12:10 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2006/12/08/how-to-prevent-comment-spam/ You might have noticed that you get most of your comment spam on older posts, this is because spammers target older posts as they are indexed by search engines. So it might be a good idea to automatically disable comments on older posts (posts that are 21 or more days old). This tip will be useful to you currently as Akismet is down.

For WordPress users, there is a plugin called Auto-Close Comments that will automatically disable comments after 21 days.

I just installed the plugin and I haven’t got any spam ever since even though Akismet is down :)

To install the plugin, go here and simply copy the plugin code provided there and paste it to your favorite text editor and save the file as autoshutoff.php. Now upload the file to your plugins folder and activate the plugin.

Upon activation the plugin will disable comments on posts that are 21 days old. If you want to increase or decrease the number of days from 21, find this line on the plugin code:

$age = '21 DAY';

and edit it to a number you like. That’s it!

By enabling this plugin, I believe you can prevent most comment spam. If you want to auto close ping-backs too, change

SET comment_status = 'closed'
WHERE comment_status = 'open'

TO

SET comment_status = 'closed', ping_status = 'closed'
WHERE (comment_status = 'open' OR ping_status = 'open')

Yes, I know many of you are against disabling comments, but this is one of the best ways to prevent comment spam especially if your trusted Akismet is down!

Have a happy spamless day :)

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2006/12/08/how-to-prevent-comment-spam/feed/ 7 How to Use Google as a Dictionary http://www.johntp.com/2006/11/04/how-to-use-google-as-a-dictionary/ http://www.johntp.com/2006/11/04/how-to-use-google-as-a-dictionary/#comments Sat, 04 Nov 2006 13:17:30 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2006/11/04/how-to-use-google-as-a-dictionary/ Did you know that you could find the definition of a word using Google? Here’s how you do it – if you would like to find the meaning of a word say ‘blogging’ you could search for define: blogging and Google will show you the definitions of blogging on the Web.

The information is shown from a variety of dictionary related Web sites such as Wikipedia.org, and there’s a link to the full entry for each Web site. Google also provides links to related searches, such as “blogging engine” in this example.

I had learned this trick from a friend but you can find this on About.com.

Google Dictionary

Update: Other Google Web Search Features can be found here

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2006/11/04/how-to-use-google-as-a-dictionary/feed/ 7 How To Download YouTube Videos http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/18/how-to-download-youtube-videos/ http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/18/how-to-download-youtube-videos/#comments Wed, 18 Oct 2006 04:30:44 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/18/how-to-download-youtube-videos/ Ever wanted to download your favorite videos from YouTube but failed to do so? Here’s how you can do it the easy way:

  • first find the URL of your favorite YouTube video
  • then go to VideoDownloadX.com and paste the video URL into their download box
  • now click ‘Download’ and it will open a new page with the download link

Firefox fans can use the Video Downloader extension that allows you to download videos to your computer from YouTube and most video sites.

Also check out the amazing collection of YouTube Tools by QuickOnlineTips.

You may also be interested in:

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/18/how-to-download-youtube-videos/feed/ 9 Import your Del.icio.us bookmarks into StumbleUpon http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/17/import-your-delicious-bookmarks-into-stumbleupon/ http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/17/import-your-delicious-bookmarks-into-stumbleupon/#comments Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:47:06 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/17/import-your-delicious-bookmarks-into-stumbleupon/ Save Page As from your browser menu Now go to this page and select your [...]]]> I was wondering whether this was possible and a quick Google search cleared my doubt. StumbleUpon allows you to easily import all your Del.icio.us tags into it with just a few steps:

  • Visit your del.icio.us XML page and then select File>Save Page As from your browser menu
  • Now go to this page and select your xml file
  • Now click ‘Click here to Import’ to finish

My del.icio.us page mostly includes my favorite posts of this blog and this tip made it easy for me to link to all those pages in StumbleUpon :)

By the way, this is My StumbleUpon Page. Please add me as your SU friend :)

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/17/import-your-delicious-bookmarks-into-stumbleupon/feed/ 4 Tips from a Top 10 Digg user on how to get to the Frontpage http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/03/tips-from-a-top-10-digg-user-on-how-to-get-to-the-frontpage/ http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/03/tips-from-a-top-10-digg-user-on-how-to-get-to-the-frontpage/#comments Tue, 03 Oct 2006 07:24:46 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/03/tips-from-a-top-10-digg-user-on-how-to-get-to-the-frontpage/ Many Bloggers these days want to get their blog posts to the frontpage of Digg so that they can increase their traffic and popularity of their blogs. Some are ready to go almost any extent to get diggs such as making fake usernames and asking friends to digg for them.

Yesterday, I had a chat with one of the Top 10 Digg users and he shared a few tips with me. If you really want to get on digg frontpage, here is how you do it…

  • make atleast 15 friends on Digg so it gives fast exposure to your story
  • get your friends to digg all your posts
  • you must digg them in return
  • if your story is good, it will get 20-30 more diggs but those 15 friends are the key
  • you must select a niche like technology or world news
  • then you pick 50 or so feeds and post fast
  • feeds gives you fast sources on news
  • Some of the Feeds I subscribe are:
    1. Ars Technica
    2. BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition
    3. BBC News | Technology | World Edition
    4. Bloglines Search: kevin rose
    5. Bloglines | News
    6. CNET News.com
    7. CNN.com
    8. CrunchGear
    9. Engadget
    10. Google Blogoscoped
    11. Guardian Unlimited
    12. Official Google Blog
    13. Read/WriteWeb
    14. Scientific American
    15. Wired News: Top Stories
    16. The Huffington Post | Raw Feed
    17. TechCrunch
    18. Techdirt
    19. BBC News | Health | World Edition
    20. EurekAlert! – Breaking News
    21. Physics Org
    22. National Geographic News
    23. SI.com
    24. SI.com – NFL
    25. SI.com: SI Writers
    26. BusinessWeek Online — Most Popular
    27. BusinessWeek Online — Technology & Science
    28. TechWeb
    29. Nature
    30. HowStuffWorks.com
    31. Signum sine tinnitu–by Guy Kawasak
    32. Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development Blog
    33. Joystiq
    34. TMZ.com
    35. InformationWeek – All Stories
    36. iLounge | All Things iPod, iTunes and beyond
    37. PC World: How-To’s Update
    38. PC World: Latest Technology News
    39. The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
    40. eWEEK Technology News
    41. Leftlane News
    42. Tom’s Hardware
    43. New Scientist Tech – Technology
    44. New Scientist Tech – Weapons Technology
    45. New Scientist Tech – Aviation
    46. New Scientist Tech – Cars and Motoring
    47. CNN.com – Technology
    48. CNN.com – Science & Space
    49. LiveScience.com
  • all u need is good 50-70 sources
  • once you get to the frontpage about 20 times, it gets easy
  • so you must look for diggers who post a lot, digg them fast, and post good stuff fast
  • top diggers like DigitalGolpher (Amit) get 30 free diggs
  • top diggers are just gamers, nothing special about them
  • use attractive titles using why, how, etc. Example: “Why Windows XP is the best OS”, “15 reasons why Windows XP is the best OS”, “How to tweak Windows XP”
  • you must be fast in posting because if you are slow, other Diggers will post the news you want to post, before you.
  • use good description
  • its a game, you will learn, as you play
  • digg bans lot of blogs as splogs so be careful
  • digg users may report your posts as Spam for fun as Digg has bad crowd, so you have to be very professional
  • rarely blogs gets to go frontpage, unless it’s very popular
  • digg management is watching for blogs
  • digg groups are not effective
  • generaly you need 50 Diggs to get to Frontpage
  • if your rate of digg is high, it can go frontpage with 25 Diggs
  • I had one not promoted at 65, one took 75, one took only 9 Diggs!

If you want to get your blog posts on the frontpage of Digg, make sure you have posts worth it. Also start digging the stories that some of the top 100 digg users submit. Add them as friends and if possible try to make them submit your stories. Stories dugg by them have more chance of showing on Frontpage. If they find your articles useful, they will surely submit your stories for you.

Do you agree with all the tips that this user has shared with me? And, more importantly, what other tips would you like to add to this list?

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/03/tips-from-a-top-10-digg-user-on-how-to-get-to-the-frontpage/feed/ 26 How to show the Most Popular posts in your Feed http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/01/how-to-show-the-most-popular-posts-in-your-feed/ http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/01/how-to-show-the-most-popular-posts-in-your-feed/#comments Sun, 01 Oct 2006 07:20:29 +0000 JohnTP http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/01/how-to-show-the-most-popular-posts-in-your-feed/ Last time I had showed you how to add Related Posts to your Feed. Now, I will help you show the Most Popular posts of your blog in your Feed too.

Note: This hack is for WordPress users only.

The main advantages of this hack is that it increases your blog’s pageviews and gets your RSS subscribers to visit your blog instead of just reading your latest posts from your feed.

Instructions

  • Download and activate the Popularity Contest WordPress Plugin
  • Download the wp-rss2.php from here
  • Unzip the downloaded file
  • Upload and replace your wp-rss2.php

Now within sometime you shall get both Most Popular Posts and Related Posts displayed on your Feed!

Note: You should deactivate Feedburner Summary Burner (if you have it activated) for this to work.

]]> http://www.johntp.com/2006/10/01/how-to-show-the-most-popular-posts-in-your-feed/feed/ 9