WebDev3000 » Other http://www.webdev3000.com web design, freebies and more Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:17:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 ThinkTank http://www.webdev3000.com/thinktank/ http://www.webdev3000.com/thinktank/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:46:58 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=550 A friend of mine asked me about some project he should work on. To be more accurate, he wanted to start working on something to sell, but didn’t have a clue on the topic. “Some Twitter tool,” I said, and it seems I was right. No, he didn’t become a millionaire yet, but since I see so many Twitter-related tools showing up these days, some of them selling for pretty high prices, I think he has a chance. Anyway, today [...]]]> A friend of mine asked me about some project he should work on. To be more accurate, he wanted to start working on something to sell, but didn’t have a clue on the topic. “Some Twitter tool,” I said, and it seems I was right. No, he didn’t become a millionaire yet, but since I see so many Twitter-related tools showing up these days, some of them selling for pretty high prices, I think he has a chance. Anyway, today we’re going to talk about an open source piece of code that includes Twitter support, but still… I think good Twitter apps can earn you some serious dough, if you do things right!
ThinkTank

Today’s topic, ThinkTank, comes with Twitter and Facebook support for now, but more are expected to join them in the near future. According to the company behind it, Expert Labs, “ThinkTank is a new, free installable web application that lets you capture the insights and expertise of your social network by collecting and organizing replies to your conversations on Twitter, Facebook and (soon!) other networks.”

While the above may sound just like one of thousand software descriptions wrote every day, one fact is certain: if the White House decided to adopt ThinkTank in the near future, this project is surely one to keep an eye on and, if you got what it takes and could find it a good use, install it on your own server and play with it for a while!

Compatibility: all major browsers, as long as you got PHP and MySQL running properly on your server

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/thinktank/feed/ 0 TomatoCart http://www.webdev3000.com/tomatocart/ http://www.webdev3000.com/tomatocart/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 09:25:50 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=540 Despite the global economic problems, the Internet continues to grow with each day, and this opens doors to people who are willing to spend some time and money to try starting an online store. Some will succeed, some may fail, but if you do things right, your chances are higher than in the “real world,” at least that’s how I see it. While I won’t say anything about the market niche to choose, today I will point you to a [...]]]> Despite the global economic problems, the Internet continues to grow with each day, and this opens doors to people who are willing to spend some time and money to try starting an online store. Some will succeed, some may fail, but if you do things right, your chances are higher than in the “real world,” at least that’s how I see it. While I won’t say anything about the market niche to choose, today I will point you to a free shopping cart script that will surely help you keep your budget as low as possible…
TomatoCart

… but without going for some dark e-commerce script nobody heard of, because TomatoCart is based on the popular osCommerce package and, despite of that, it took over a year of development and testing until the first public release came out. When compared to its “parent,” this application has completely new front and back-end, with the last one using a desktop-style ExtJS-based interface.

Obviously, there’s no restriction on the type of goods you can sell using TomatoCart (there are laws to do that…), and the long list of features includes wishlists, gift certificates, quantity-based discounts, and so on. For the full list, please take a look at this page.

TomatoCart is available in multiple languages, and if yours is not available, you can help out by translating it. To run this on your server, you’ll need at least PHP 5.1.6 and MySQL 4.1.13/5.0.7. Oh, yeah, one more thing – ready for a demo? Go here and use “admin” as user and password (or take a look here for the front-end). That’s all, folks!

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/tomatocart/feed/ 1 CS-Cart http://www.webdev3000.com/cs-cart/ http://www.webdev3000.com/cs-cart/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:00:52 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=504 One of the most interesting things I’ve read about the near and not-so-near future is the forecast regarding evolution of commerce. What about it? Well, online shopping becomes more and more popular, especially in emerging countries, and the same happens with ecommerce shopping cart solutions. Today’s choice is called CS-Cart, and if you were thinking about starting your own online shop… this will surely come in handy! While it’s not free, CS-Cart is “an “out of the box” ecommerce software solution [...]]]> One of the most interesting things I’ve read about the near and not-so-near future is the forecast regarding evolution of commerce. What about it? Well, online shopping becomes more and more popular, especially in emerging countries, and the same happens with ecommerce shopping cart solutions. Today’s choice is called CS-Cart, and if you were thinking about starting your own online shop… this will surely come in handy!
CS-Cart Shopping Cart Script

While it’s not free, CS-Cart is “an “out of the box” ecommerce software solution with easy-to-use functionality that allows to start selling online immediately,” packing a features set that includes support for a majority of popular payment systems and shipping providers such as Google Checkout, PayPal, Authorize.Net, FedEx, USPS and many others, as well as some of the latest ecommerce innovations, such as one-page checkout, AJAX-based web interface, or block manager.

The price of a license is $285, payable through PayPal, credit card or wire transfer. For additional information, don’t hesitate to visit the official page mentioned in the previous paragraph. If you’re going to setup a new store with this solution… or another, there’s only one thing remaining to be added: good luck & many happy customers! :)

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/cs-cart/feed/ 1 Storytlr http://www.webdev3000.com/storytlr/ http://www.webdev3000.com/storytlr/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:49:13 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=502 For me, WordPress is pretty easy to use, but I must be a fool to admit that using it and harnessing its power is something as easy as it gets for someone facing its first blogging script. Sometimes, people simply need to share things online without knowing anything about the script allowing them to do it, and Storytlr may be the right tool to choose… According to the official page, “Storytlr is an open source lifestreaming and micro blogging platform,” allowing [...]]]> For me, WordPress is pretty easy to use, but I must be a fool to admit that using it and harnessing its power is something as easy as it gets for someone facing its first blogging script. Sometimes, people simply need to share things online without knowing anything about the script allowing them to do it, and Storytlr may be the right tool to choose…
Storytlr

According to the official page, “Storytlr is an open source lifestreaming and micro blogging platform,” allowing you to import data from various Web 2.0 sources straight to your website. These sources will appear on your page as a lifestream, and there’s quite a lot to see in such a site belonging to someone who’s active on social networking sites, since Storytlr supports most popular services you can think of, such as Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and many others.

As you probably imagined already, Storytlr comes with some built-in themes, while new ones can easily be created using HTML/CSS. Built using PHP and MySQL, Storytlr is open source and completely free to use, being covered by the terms of the CC License. Do you feel like giving it a try? I surely do! ;)

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/storytlr/feed/ 0 jobberBase http://www.webdev3000.com/jobberbase/ http://www.webdev3000.com/jobberbase/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:47:18 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=429 When we talked about JoobsBox, a comment suggested that I should take a look at jobberBase, but despite the fact I didn’t keep my promise to check it later that week, I never forgot about it. Even more, yesterday, while I was browsing the Web without any special purpose, I bumped into some site mentioning jobberBase, and I decided to go ahead and take a closer look at it, so here we are… …checking jobberBase, “the open-source job board software that helps [...]]]> When we talked about JoobsBox, a comment suggested that I should take a look at jobberBase, but despite the fact I didn’t keep my promise to check it later that week, I never forgot about it. Even more, yesterday, while I was browsing the Web without any special purpose, I bumped into some site mentioning jobberBase, and I decided to go ahead and take a closer look at it, so here we are…
jobberBase
…checking jobberBase, “the open-source
job board software that helps you set up a jobsite in minutes!” Well, at least that’s what they say, and I don’t have any proof they’re lying. In fact, you can’t lie with such things, since anyone could download jobberBase and try to have a jobsite up and running in a matter of minutes, right?

If you want to know more about the features you’ll have at your disposal, I think best thing to do is to click here and see jobberBase in action! Some features that you should find out about before anything else are these: job posting without account, JavaScript badge/widget, locations management, and a bunch of others I am sure you’ll discover by yourselves!

Compatibility: all major browsers, just as expected, but if you encounter any problems, be sure to drop a comment below, maybe we can help them finding and taking out some issues, why not? ;)

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/jobberbase/feed/ 2 Pubwich http://www.webdev3000.com/pubwich/ http://www.webdev3000.com/pubwich/#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:33:22 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=424 Having content from a bunch of websites gathered in the same page is nothing new. After all, there are a plenty of startup pages that are doing the job well, like Netvibes or iGoogle, but what about those people who want to have a Netvibes-like page on their own domain? This is where Pubwich steps in, of course! What is Pubwich? Well, we’re talking about an open source PHP application that can help anyone to display data grabbed from multiple sites/online [...]]]> Having content from a bunch of websites gathered in the same page is nothing new. After all, there are a plenty of startup pages that are doing the job well, like Netvibes or iGoogle, but what about those people who want to have a Netvibes-like page on their own domain? This is where Pubwich steps in, of course!
Pubwich
What is Pubwich? Well, we’re talking about an open source PHP application that can help anyone to display data grabbed from multiple sites/online services in a single HTML page, being extremely useful for those social networking freaks out there, but the audience of this tool is not limited to them, as you probably imagined already.

Apart from being able to show content via RSS/Atom feeds, Pubwich also supports Facebook, Flickr, last.fm, Delicious, ReaderNaut, Twitter, Vimeo and Youtube, but to finally put the cherry on top of the cake, let me add that it can easily have the interface changed with the help of additional themes that use the Savant template engine. Sweet! ;)

Compatibility: all major browsers, of course, but don’t be shy to drop a comment below if you face any problems, all right?

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/pubwich/feed/ 0 VidoopCAPTCHA http://www.webdev3000.com/vidoopcaptcha/ http://www.webdev3000.com/vidoopcaptcha/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:51:56 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=389 I hate CAPTCHA on sites that I use frequently, especially since most of them use only letters, and sometimes I don’t understand the text displayed. If everyone would be nice and switch their text CAPTCHA pages to ones using images, that would really be awesome, at least to me. Well, they can use VidoopCAPTCHA, so there’s no excuse for not doing it… since I know a lot of people like me who would be grateful! To make a short story [...]]]> I hate CAPTCHA on sites that I use frequently, especially since most of them use only letters, and sometimes I don’t understand the text displayed. If everyone would be nice and switch their text CAPTCHA pages to ones using images, that would really be awesome, at least to me. Well, they can use VidoopCAPTCHA, so there’s no excuse for not doing it… since I know a lot of people like me who would be grateful! :)
VidoopCAPTCHA
To make a short story shorter, I will tell you that VidoopCAPTCHA is a completely free image-based verification tool for those afraid they’ll have more spam accounts created automatically on their site than normal accounts, with a person behind them. Sure, bot attacks aren’t exactly pleasant, but text-based verification isn’t, either – at least for those human users…

Since you can set the number of images displayed, as well as the number of those required to identify a human, I think that VidoopCAPTCHA is a great idea, and that’s enough for me. I only hope to see it on my favorite sites as soon as possible… or at least to see a similar solution being implemented, if the multitude of plugins/code snippets available for this one aren’t enough…

Text-based CAPTCHA is dead, long live VidoopCAPTCHA! ;)

Compatibility: all major browsers and nothing less (demo available here for those who may not trust me…)

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/vidoopcaptcha/feed/ 0 Gubb http://www.webdev3000.com/gubb/ http://www.webdev3000.com/gubb/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:12:52 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=382 Finally, Friday is here! At the end of each week, I think it’s very important to look back and draw the line – what was supposed to be done, what has been done, and, more important of all, what did you learn from your mistakes. What kind of mistakes? Unfinished tasks, of course! Earlier this week, we talked about Toodledo, and now I think the time is just right for another similar online service, namely Gubb. Best way to make money [...]]]> Finally, Friday is here! At the end of each week, I think it’s very important to look back and draw the line – what was supposed to be done, what has been done, and, more important of all, what did you learn from your mistakes. What kind of mistakes? Unfinished tasks, of course! Earlier this week, we talked about Toodledo, and now I think the time is just right for another similar online service, namely Gubb.
Gubb
Best way to make money is to save time, believe me! Sure, this should be combined with some serious money-making activity, but this is an essential conclusion one must draw after some years of work – time is our most valuable asset, and Gubb can help you take care of it even via your mobile phone. More than just that, you can email to-do lists to any email address, but sending them via text messages is just as easy!

To help you get started easier, Gubb offers some default lists to choose from, like “Personal Stuff” or “Stuff To Do,” while the list sharing feature seems like a great idea for those who are using Gubb and also working in a team… or maybe even to those belonging to the same guild in some MMORPG game, depends on what you really need. ;)

Compatibility: all major browsers, of course!

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/gubb/feed/ 0 Toodledo http://www.webdev3000.com/toodledo/ http://www.webdev3000.com/toodledo/#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:15:58 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=370 “Focus, focus, focus. Get organized! Stop wasting time!” Nothing new here, right? There are millions of people saying this to themselves each day, but only a small part of this crowd will manage to end the day and accomplish all the tasks scheduled. Or… should I say “the tasks they didn’t schedule the right way,” maybe? Anyway, developer or not, we all need a place to store all our to-do lists, and having a bunch of notes on the desk [...]]]> “Focus, focus, focus. Get organized! Stop wasting time!” Nothing new here, right? There are millions of people saying this to themselves each day, but only a small part of this crowd will manage to end the day and accomplish all the tasks scheduled. Or… should I say “the tasks they didn’t schedule the right way,” maybe? Anyway, developer or not, we all need a place to store all our to-do lists, and having a bunch of notes on the desk isn’t exactly the smartest choice…
Toodledo
OK, but what if you already have a Google account? Should you spare those “only 31 seconds” to signup for Toodledo, or not? With this free online tool, you can use tags, folders, contexts, goals, notes, time estimates and more to get organized, and since Web access via a computer isn’t everything these days, Toodledo is also available for various mobile phones(http://www.toodledo.com/info/details.php#phone).

A very interesting feature of this time/task management tool is the one allowing you to print a foldable booklet of your to-do lists that will nicely fit into your pocket. No more “I had no connectivity so I missed that scheduled meeting” excuses from now on!

At last, you should also know that Toodledo can import tasks from a bunch of sources, including Apple’s iCal, Microsoft Outlook, and even from other similar online tools. Pretty good for a free service (paid versions are also available, but that’s another story, because the free one will satisfy most average users), don’t you agree? ;)

Compatibility: Toodledo works with any major browser, as well as some mobile phones (iPhone included, of course!)

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/toodledo/feed/ 1 GetSimple http://www.webdev3000.com/getsimple/ http://www.webdev3000.com/getsimple/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:38:10 +0000 Codrut Nistor http://www.webdev3000.com/?p=339 Every time I see a CMS that’s even easier to setup and use than everything I knew until that moment, I wonder where is this headed to. After all, we may soon see a CMS that only requires a click on a link, followed by voice input of various parameters needed, and even featuring fingerprint login! Cool enough? Yes, I know, this may not happen at all, in the end, but I think GetSimple isn’t that far from my little [...]]]> Every time I see a CMS that’s even easier to setup and use than everything I knew until that moment, I wonder where is this headed to. After all, we may soon see a CMS that only requires a click on a link, followed by voice input of various parameters needed, and even featuring fingerprint login! Cool enough? Yes, I know, this may not happen at all, in the end, but I think GetSimple isn’t that far from my little scenario above…
GetSimple
I think that it takes a lot of guts to claim that your product is “The Simplest Content Management System EVER.” these days, especially since competition usually tries to get in more and more features. Well, if I think well, GetSimple doesn’t really have any kind of competition, because it’s so simple, it makes WordPress users cry!

Just think about these: GetSimple only needs a server with PHP 5.1.3 or later, using XML-based data storage, so you can forget about MySQL database backups and other related things. This CMS is well documented, very easy to use, and it even has visual themes, while the demo available here should help you discover it without bothering to download or install anything.

Well, I think this is it. If you’re looking for something that “has everything your client needs, and nothing a CMS doesn’t,” GetSimple is probably the best choice, so don’t be shy and give it a try! ;)

Compatibility: any major browser you can think of, and then some…

]]> http://www.webdev3000.com/getsimple/feed/ 0