Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with site

Can I save a timestamped version of a website to use in court?

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:43:49 -0800

Is there a way to capture a website at a certain point in time so that it's admissible in court? I may be about to be involved in litigation soon and there's information on a site which will be very important and I'd like to use it as evidence, but I'm worried it might move or change.

I need a specific CMS that allows each user to edit one part of a page.

grumblebee — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:27:46 -0800

I need a page of bios integrated into a WordPress site. I would like to give each person the ability to update his own bio without letting him mess with other people's bios. It would be awesome if the list was alphabetized. In other words, if you visit the bio page, you'll see something like this:

Fred Alberts has worked at Acme for five years. He lives in New Jersey...

Alice Jordan loves the NY Times Crossword and...

Peter Smith is a gourmet chef who has lived in London and Paris...

If, say, Alice no longer likes the crossword puzzles, I would like her to be able to log in someplace and change her bio, but I don't want her to be able to change Fred's bio.

This system will slowly grow in terms of me adding more people. Currently, there are about 100 people. I will probably add about ten more people to it each year. These people will regularly want to update their bios, and I don't want them to have to email me each time they want a change made.

Ultimately, I want all the bios on to be on one page of a Wordpress blog.

Is this something that exists already, or do I have to code it myself?

stay awhile

dacoit — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:04:18 -0800

My website's stats app says that visitors stay for an average of five minutes and ten seconds. I know that this is pretty decent ... but does it put us in the 70% percentile? The 90% percentile? Is there anywhere you know of where I can go to find lots of comparative statistics for duration of visits to sites?

A Sopranos question

punkfloyd — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:23:02 -0800

I was watching my old Sopranos DVDs last night and a question came up. When Tony's crew show up at a construction site and just sit around in lawn chairs eating donuts...what the the heck are they really doing and why?

Web site design/mtce help - special circumstances

x46 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:28:06 -0800

Oh so many questions about building a web site: do I need software to help me or a person? what to pay? how to maintain? special circumstances make the decision complicated. I'm an old programmer, emphasis on the old, who used to use what they called 3rd generation languages, eg., APL, to write the kind of mainframe systems geared to naive users; those systems died when pcs became cheap enough for everyone to have and I went on to being the liaison between network/mainframe techies and customers as I could speak techie and customer. Should be no prob, eh? Well, I had a severe prescription drug reaction that caused all kind of probs like not being able to read or write. Think small stroke only it wasn't. Took me a couple of years to be able to comprehend what I was reading. Simple math is all I can do now and then I have to check myself. I can design web pages, but the ability to figure out how pages link together is beyond me. You don't know what frustration is until you can do something this simple any more. I took early retirement after a couple of years(arrgh) and am stuck at home. If I don't do something with a bit of challenge, I may go dance naked under the moon and that wouldn't be pretty.

I want to sell copies of the antique needlework and doll patterns I collect. Yes, this sounds silly, but there's a whole other life out there where grown men and women collect dolls and do needlework. I tried a few years ago to hire someone. I gave them mockups of the pages I'd designed, addrs of two sites that I liked the looks of as further examples, and as complete a set of specs as possible. I got back a couple of sample web site pages that IBM would have been proud of, all corporate blue and silver and hard edges with no sense of what the product/service was I wanted to offer.

Question (finally): I can design the pages. I can't do links. I need to update when something new comes along or something just isn't paying it's keep. I need to collect money. Then there's the automated money tracking/bill paying. I need recommendations for package that will build the darned thing the way I want (have a distinct dislike of software that won't do as it's told) and that I can maintain if there's one that I can use given the circumstances. I need a real person to validate it, test it, buy the name for it, recommend a host. This won't be big volume, but it needs to work well and I need to look after it. I'd ask DH, but he's strictly mainframe automation and doesn't have a clue about this type of stuff. Any ideas? I have a horror of ending with with someone who thinks I'm a sweet old doll and will give me whatever, not what I need.

What are some examples of "classic" webiste design?

SouthCNorthNY — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:56:15 -0800

What are some examples of "classic" webiste design? I'm looking for examples of layouts that haven't changed much over the years (because they were good, not because they were lazy.) I'm looking for things like google.com, not timecube.com

How can we quickly deploy to multiple LAMP environments?

hitopshelf — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:57:52 -0800

Are there any tools to help with deploying LAMP sites to multiple environments? We have 3 Ubuntu Server environments (development, preview, and production) that need to have file and database updates pushed through multiple times a day.

We're manually using MySQL Administrator for database restores and Beyond Compare 3 for file updates but there has to be a more automated way.

The database and file systems between the environments end up nearly identical because the project is still in development and we have everything under source control.

Are there any good tools or CLI tricks that can handle quick backup and restore of the database and mirror of the file system?

Where to find freelance web work online?

Vorteks — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:39:55 -0800

I'm a web developer and have been working the same job for 9 years. Recently, due to challenging economic circumstances, I've decided to start looking for freelance work to supplement my income, if not replace it. Are you a freelance web developer or designer? If so, where do you go to find work online? I've had some success with local Craigslist listings, and I'm continuing to look there, but the volume of ads is quite low at the moment (I'm in Detroit, you see. Yes, I know I'd do better elsewhere).

I'm aware of GetAFreelancer.com, but it seems like almost all the listings there are highly unrealistic in terms of both price and scope. "I want someone to build me a site like Youtube.com. I have a budget of $75 and it needs to be done by Saturday" is typical of the ads I've seen there.

I'm also aware of AuthenticJobs, Sitepoint's Marketplace, and of course Metafilter Jobs. Those places tend to have much higher quality listings, but they are few in number and the competition for them is fierce.

I've heard about Guru.com and Elance.com. I've yet to try them, but I'm afraid they'll be a lot like getafreelancer.com. What experience have you had with them?

I've read some of the older Metafilter questions that are similar to this one, but I wonder if the answer might be different in 2009.

How can I find work using the internet? Are there any other online sources I should look into?

Thank you for your help!

Opensource software CMS: Looking for a build that supports blogging, CMS, registered areas, and such. More info after the link.

spinko — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:34:20 -0800

Opensource Joomla CMS addon: Looking for a build that supports blogging, CMS, registered areas, and such. More info after the link. I'm thinking on building a site that will showcase information, however information from people who create accounts (abit like wikipedia) but with more security.

I would like to use Joomla for CMS and Blog, I know it can support 3rd party addons. However I am open to anything, even If i have to pay a charge.

Here is what I am after:

1) Site blog - joomla
2) Site CMS (i.e. homepage, about, contact, etc) - joomla
3) Registration - joomla
4) Categories
5) People can submit articles to categories (new users) not like a blog.
6) People can comment on the articles
7) Admin control - ban / remove / edit people / approve articles

Navigation will show articles like this.

Cat 1 [no of articles]
Cat 2 [no of articles]
Cat 3 [no of articles]
/Cat 3 sub cat 1 [no of articles]
/Cat 3 sub cat 2 [no of articles]
Cat 4 [no of articles]

Quick camping trip a few hours from Savannah, GA?

apipameme — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:21:19 -0800

Camping spot near Savannah, GA that isn't populated by RVs? Looking to head out 2-3 hours north or south to find a primitive camp site with a group of 5 friends. Any suggestions? I know eastern Georgia isn't prime for camping, but we are looking for a place to camp that isn't crammed in with people. We're open to heading north, south, or east! Thanks for your advice.

One click button to open up multiple tabs at once?

nam3d — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:21:34 -0800

One click button to open up multiple tabs at once (firefox)? I have seven websites which I visit each morning to get my daily news. For each section of news (Local, UK, Technology, Business, World, Media, Gossip) I use a different news source.

Here is my current list (make of it what you think).

Local - The News & Star (local newspaper)
UK - The Times
Technology - The Independent
Business - BBC News
World - The New York Times
Media - Media Guardian
Gossip - The Sun

What I would like to do is simply press one button (a simple bookmark) on my Firefox bookmark toolbar and have each website section open up in a new tab.

Is there a way of doing this either by using a Firefox plugin or some coding.

Thanks,

William

Using Creative Commons licensed works on a political website?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:22:57 -0800

Dear mefites, Is it legal to use creative commons stuff, properly licensed and attributed, on a political website that 1) expresses views that the original author might not like, and 2) raises money, such as for a candidate or a party's branch? Particularly interested in stuff that's got a non-commercial license but is okay to use for derivative works. This is in the U.K. Thanks!

A Microsoft product that thinks it knows what's best for me? Perish!

ChasFile — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:13:00 -0800

When I do Add -> Existing Web Site in Visual Studio 2008, if the existing site was created in an earlier version of .net (say 2.0 and I'm running 3.5) Visual Studio automatically starts an update wizard to convert the site to 3.5. How do I turn off this behavior so that it simply imports the web site without updating it? I know this is possible because the first time I did this it happened flawlessly, but at the time I didn't un-check the "automatically update sites next time" check box. Gah.

Help me remember a funny image site that is Eastern European in origin

TheManChild2000 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 19:42:37 -0800

Lost my bookmark (and any helpful memories) to a site that compiled random images, funny or obscene or grotesque or titillating, that IIRC was Eastern European based. It's similar to My Confined Space, although much more technologically simple... just a page full of images, some information on the email that submitted it, and then a NEXT or PREVIOUS type of navigation.

Making money from an adult site

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:12:39 -0800

A friend and I plan to start an adult site. Since Google won't serve ads on such sites, what are some of the ways in which we can make money off the site? There won't be any self-produced content; it will just link to pictures and interesting videos on the Internet, and from time to time will have some erotic literature written by a handful of contributors.

We've never run an adult site before, so information on any revenue-generating tips - ad networks, affiliate schemes, etc. would be welcome.

Free app to create Flash slideshow - is it possible?

nomad73 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:12:25 -0800

How can I create an extremely simple flash slideshow of still photographs that I can embed on my web site ... for free? I'd like to have a looping slideshow of still images that dissolve into each other on my home page. I don't want there to be any navigation buttons over the image, no thumbnails, etc. I've tried Slideshowzilla but I'd rather not drop $50 for a robust app when i just need one single simple bit of it. I know nothing about Flash and next to nothing about HTML. Are there any free/open source apps out there that fit this bill?

Underground Website?

cell divide — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:25:32 -0800

Trying to find a site first linked on Metafilter about underground and forbidden places. It may have been years ago, but I remember a site about underground/secret places that people would get into, photograph, and share.

Automatically remove certain items in Firefox history?

sittered — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:02:36 -0800

How can I arrange it so that my Firefox history is automatically purged of sites of a certain domain like imdb.com or facebook.com? I don't know much in terms of scripting languages, but I won't rule that out as a possible method. I was thinking in terms of a greasemonkey script or a full-fledged extension, but a script that directly edits the history database file is OK, too.

I use Mac OS X with Firefox 3.0.4.

Pet vet on the 'net yet?

pseudostrabismus — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:17:43 -0800

For minor pet health questions: suggest websites that are comprehensive & user-friendly? I'd like to avoid unnecessary vet visits. Last week my cat had runny eyes for no apparent reason, and googling common search terms (cat+eye+discharge, etc) led me to a lot of annoying sites jam-packed with ads, poor user design, and sketchy-sounding information. (He's fine, now, by the way. I imagine his cat allergies were acting up or something.)

I'd like a pet health website with comprehensive, searchable entries offering detailed and specific information about animal health issues. Everything should be explained in terms geared to the literate layman- in other words, use of Latin terminology is fine if it's explained plainly and intelligently, rather than cut & pasted from a vet textbook in indigestible hunks, or dumbed down into single syllable hyperbole in the vein of POOR KITTEH OH NOES! VET TIME HURRY! Levelheadedness would be a plus, as not every sneeze needs a visit to a vet. I'd love to see stuff like "If your cat is breathing fine, it's ok to wait out the sneezes or a week or so. After 10 days, if it's not better- or if the cat is gasping- it could be problem X or Y, so take him to the vet."

Can anyone recommend such a site?
Thanks in advance!

PS, Personally, I'm most interested in cats, but I'm sure other users would appreciate sites relevant to their pets too. So if you know the #1 health resource for the spiny echidna or whatever, well, shoot!

1) web-site idea, 2) ??? 3) The Awesome

indiebass — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:52:23 -0800

Can the hive help me get a web site started? I have very specific ideas, but I'm a dinosaur when it comes to everything about the insides of websites. Back in the day when I set up a website, it was the late 90's and everything had to be coded by hand and ftp'ed to someplace. I realise we are in the 21st century and there are much easier ways to go about things.

I already have a domain purchased. What I want to make is a site that is very similar to the old Pajiba setup: graphic banner across the top, assorted goodies in one or two side columns (probably just links in one, at this point) and a main area in between. The idea behind the site is that I'll be reviewing things, but they won't necessarily be new things. That is, whatever my netflix might be, an album I listened to... things like that. So in the middle I'd like to have a photo, a title and one sentence, where you can click on the title and it takes you to a separate page that is cataloged as http:www.mydomain.com/review_title.html (or whatever) and looks like the front page, except the middle bit is just the extended article.

Further complicating things, is that I wanted to set up the website with free hosting, if possible, and if I actually start generating traffic outside my immediate circle of friends then I'd think about buying some space/bandwidth.

So how do I even start? I know you can use a unique domain name with, like, blogger - which is free - but do they let you structure the workings of it like I want to? (the title-link deal to pages behind the page) I feel confident that I would be able to make the page look like I want it to, it's more the workings and the hostings that I am unsure about.

I've put off asking this question out of embarrassment for a couple weeks, because of the n00b-ishness, and I've really tried to navigate it on my own, but put in "free web hosting" into the google and it's like the internet punches you in the face. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

How to fix a website and make it compatible in firefox AND IE?

bigcheesegump — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:09:18 -0800

I need some help with a CSS/HTML issue as well as an Internet Explorer issue. I created an online portfolio and have been trying to update the design to make it more user-friendly and more aesthetically pleasing. However, I have run into a few road blocks.

This is the new design that I would like to implement. If you are using Firefox, you should see it as I see it. However, if you are using IE, it is a mess. What can I do to stop this? From brief research, it looks like it is an issue using the position:absolute style tag in my css file. Is there a way to make that design work for both IE and Firefox.

Second, if you navigate to this page you will notice a pdf file that is truncated in height. I cannot for the life of me figure out what is causing this. (The other pdfs on the web site are not configured correctly and I am aware of this)

Any help in figuring out these problems would be appreciated. Thanks!

Google Archive Search

cainiarb — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:02:32 -0800

Is there a way to search Google for what a URL Web page looked like on a certain date? I have been told that there is a way to search Google for what a Web page looked like on a certain date. If someone edits a page later then the historical data of what it looked like on a certain date would exist in some archive file. I have been to the Way Back Machine Internet Archive and that's not getting me what I need. Does anyone know what the Google site is that does it?

Spiffy PHP file upload script?

kryptondog — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:21:19 -0800

I'm in need of a spiffy PHP file upload script. For great justice. The print shop I work at is in the process of moving away from our current (dinky, suffocatingly restrictive) web host. I was charged with the task of finding a new host, creating a new site design, getting everything transferred, etc. I'm still in media res but things are moving pretty smoothly.

One of the most important parts of our old site was our file transfer system that allowed customers to upload their art to us. The old script was garbage and I'd very much like to offer our customers something nicer. I could probably call upon my fading PHP-fu to cobble something together, but before I resort to that I thought I'd ask the Hive Mind if it knew of (or better yet) had any experience with a PHP-based file upload script that would satisfy me needs. Here's what I had in mind:

- It's gotta be account-based, not just a pool of files. I'd prefer it if people could sign up for an account themselves, but it's fine if it can only be done by an administrator.
- On that subject, a decent user and administration control panel.
- It'd be nice if it used AJAX to refresh the FTP connection to the site while the file uploads. Our old file uploader had a nasty habit of timing out in the middle of customers sending huge files, which is (needless to say) pretty bad. Also, some kind of progress bar (possibly with "time remaining") would be a huge plus for our more impatient customers.
- Multiple file upload inputs on one page would be awesome.
- Email notifications of some kind would also be awesome.
- Our ultimate goal is to make the file uploader part of a group of services that we offer our customers online, so it would be highly beneficial if the script was made in such a way that it could easily (and legally) be extended upon.
- Free would be nice, but we'd have no problem paying for a quality product.

I know that it's easy to just sit on my butt and make a wish list of features that I want for this thing, but maybe you've come across something that comes close to matching what I need. I'm aware that there's a lot of services similar to what I need that host the data on their servers, but I really need this to be self-contained on my companies website (however, if you've had positive experiences with one of the aforementioned services please share that too). Thanks in advance.

Give Me the Low-Down on Putting Together a Meta Site

watercarrier — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:05:01 -0800

What are the components that make a successful Meta site? I'd like to start a new venture that would be similar to Meta in some ways - in that people may ask questions and inquire the hive mind - but these questions are all relative to one subject.

Is the word Meta copyrighted or can anyone use it?

What is needed to get started? What kind of programming knowledge and skills are needed? I'd like to charge people a nominal fee for signing up as well. So what's involved in that? And as for publicity - do I dare ask how to start a campaign? Would you let it take on a life of its own or to do it virally and unabashedly all out focused?

In short, I need the low-down of starting a meta site devoted to one subject and how to make it a phenomenal success.

Why does my web site show up for everyone but me?

bflora — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:56:28 -0800

I've got a web site that shows up just fine for everyone except me. I get a big fat "page not found" when I navigate to it even though it works fine in proxy browsers, I've used ipconfig/flushdns and cleared my browser cache. I'm sure it's a DNS issue of some sort, but have no idea what else to do. Help?