The equivalent of ping for http connections? [more inside]
posted by zippy on May 3, 2009 - 14 answers

Apache2 security theory; mod_php versus CGI php and the use of suExec: What is the non-theoretical problem with running Apache2 with mod_php and thus without using suexec on a dedicated system? [more inside]
posted by odinsdream on Jun 10, 2008 - 7 answers

I recently purchased an SSL certificate for my website and have configured an application to operate over SSL. It's working well. One thing remains: I want to make sure that if someone tries to access the application over HTTP, the browser page is redirected to the SSL (HTTPS) version. I am fairly certain the pages the application creates are PHP, but I am unsure. (They're not static, I don't think. They're all dynamically created through mySQL.) The entry point for the application is a subdirectory off the domain /kb/. I'll add more answers if you folks need it. :-)
posted by tcv on Dec 4, 2007 - 5 answers

I think the title explains it all: I'm looking to get a list of all files in a specific directory from a web server- www.site.com/docs/. The thing is, there's an index.htm file in that directory so if I browse to it, I just get the index file. Is there any way to find out the names of all files in that directory, scripting or otherwise? [more inside]
posted by newatom on Apr 20, 2007 - 13 answers

What's acceptable and best practice when it comes to passing data in on websites securely and non-securely? I've always presumed finanical information should be passed securely, whilst names and address were OK non-securely? Am I right? [more inside]
posted by Ulleskelf on Apr 11, 2007 - 9 answers

How do I get the browser to prompt a user to save a huge file when I don't know it's size in advance? [more inside]
posted by joegester on Jul 20, 2006 - 9 answers

Form re-submission woes! How can I catch page refreshes and prevent form values from being re-submitted? [more inside]
posted by purephase on Sep 16, 2005 - 9 answers

Is there any reason why standard HTTP requests can't work the same as the BitTorrent protocol? It seems like this would allow websites to avoid the "slashdot/metafilter" effect when traffic surges to an individual site and overwhelms the servers. Seems like this could happen on the client side, with enabled web browsers passing requested data the same as a torrent client. I don't know enough about the underlying technologies to determine if this is a stupid question or not, so please be gentle as you take me down a notch.
posted by hulette on Jun 30, 2005 - 13 answers

On community blog sites like Metafilter, a lot of bandwidth seems to be consumed by redundant requests like previewing comments or checking for new ones where the entire page is reloaded. So when in the thread on Google Maps, mosch mentioned the HTTPRequest javascript object, that got me thinking. Are there any ways to write code that can cut down on resending the same data. Some kind of 'diff' method for HTML?
posted by daksya on Feb 8, 2005 - 20 answers

A family member of mine wants to set up a simple site for his home business - schedules of classes, some photographs, contact information, links, etc., and I have suggested that he use Typepad, which I use for a number of projects. However I think he'd prefer a non-weblog format, which leads me to my question: are there combined hosting/construction tools out there, like some of these weblog services, that have a good and very easy-to-use back-end, lots of design/format choices, but are more focused around a more heirarchically structured, top-down site structure?
posted by luriete on Aug 25, 2004 - 6 answers