The Market Coalition

You may have heard of a server system called LAMP, and wondered
what it is. Well, the answer is that LAMP isn’t any one thing on
its own - it’s actually a combination of four technologies.
Together, the LAMP technologies form the most popular overall
server system on the web today.

Which technologies are they? The answer lies in the name. LAMP
stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl/PHP. The term
originated as a marketing word to help point out that open
source (free) software, when combined, could be just as
effective as expensive ‘enterprise solutions’ like J2EE (Java)
or Microsoft’s .NET. To understand the system, let’s take a look
at the components individually.

Linux

Linux is widely considered to be the open source operating
system of choice, and the main alternative to Microsoft Windows.
Thousands of volunteers from all over the world work on Linux
and create programs for it. At its heart, the system is
more-or-less a Unix derivative, which means that it’s very
stable and fast. While widespread adoption of Linux for the
desktop seems far off, mainly because of the difficulty of
getting people to switch, it isn’t stopping Linux from doing
very well on web servers.

There are many different varieties of Linux, known as
‘distributions’, with each one focusing on different features.
Some popular distributions include Debian (www.debian.org), SuSE
(owned by Novell, www.novell.com/linux/suse) and Red Hat (free
version at fedora.redhat.com). If you’re thinking of trying out
Linux on your own computer, you might like to look at Ubuntu
(www.ubuntulinux.org), which is a less technical and relatively
easy to use distribution.

Apache

Apache is the world’s most popular web server bar none. It was
based on the second-ever web server, which was developed at the
NCSA, and its history goes back as far as 1995.

For all intents and purposes, Apache has become the industry
standard server: it would be silly to say that Apache isn’t
suitable for business use, considering that it is included in
enterprise packages like Oracle and IBM’s WebSphere. Apache is
developed by the non-profit Apache Foundation (www.apache.org).

MySQL

MySQL is a relational database, popular because of its relative
simplicity and the fact that it’s free. It is considered to be
much easier to set up and use than more ‘traditional’ database
software, and MySQL databases can be managed using a range of
graphical software. MySQL is controversial among database
professionals, however, as its developers haven’t included many
complicated advanced features, feeling that they would make the
software too difficult to use without making it any more useful.
MySQL is developed by a Swedish company, MySQL AB, and its
website is www.mysql.com.

Perl and PHP

Perl and PHP are both scripting languages, and they are both
often used as the ‘glue’ that makes a database-driven website do
what it should. However, the two languages, are very different:
Perl is powerful but hard to read, while PHP is simpler but more
limited. Choosing between them is largely a matter of
preference, which is why they’re both included in the system -
some people also include a third P, Python, as an alternative
language.

If you’re starting out, it’s probably best to use PHP - the
official site at php.net has good tutorials and references on
the language. Perl’s site is at perl.org, but you should only
really start with Perl if you’ve got some previous programming
experie Getting LAMP.

If you want to get the whole LAMP system together instead of
downloading the components separately, a good place to go is
www.apachefriends.org/en. They offer it for download - don’t
worry, all the software is free. You don’t get Linux, but you
get everything else, and it will install easily on most
operating systems, including Linux and Windows.

LAMP Variants

There are a number of LAMP variants that replace parts of the
system. While these systems aren’t as popular, they’re still
worth knowing about and considering.

WAMP: Windows replaces Linux. MAMP: Mac OS replaces Linux. AMP:
Apache, MySQL and Perl/PHP running on any operating system.
LAPP: PostgreSQL replaces MySQL. LAMJ: JSP replaces Perl/PHP.

There is also the insulting-sounding term WIMP, which means that
Windows replaces Linux and IIS replaces Apache - this is
considered to result in a much worse system than LAMP.

Introduction

The Pocono Record is a small community newspaper with a website to match. For years, the newspaper focused entirely on operations - getting news stories onto the website as quickly as possible. As a result, the stories on the site were the same as those found in the newspaper, and there was little additional content to make the website unique. The website’s design and layout were, quite simply, awful, and the site did little to extend the newspaper’s brand.

PoconoRecord.com needed a complete overhaul. Unfortunately, this is not unusual. As companies focus on keeping their websites - and the rest of the business - running, the website’s design can become dated. Something else is always more important.When this happens, the website’s neglect becomes more and more evident. Over time, the need for a redesign, even a complete change, becomes more important and more complicated. In these cases, though, small businesses are forced to invest more time and money in the website than they realized would be necessary.

PoconoRecord.com, even though it is a small daily newspaper, has many of the same problems as small business websites.Like the Pocono Record, you have to work hard to keep your website current and operational; it is easy to neglect the strategic changes to your website that will yield substantial online growth. After a while, your current website, with a dated design, no longer serves your business. It may even detract from your image. When this happens, an overhaul is in order.

The Problem

PoconoRecord.com’s website design themes were neglected for years. From the website’s inception, more effort went into ensuring that content got onto the website than into improving the design, layout, and navigation. Operations were cumbersome and fraught with manual processes. With the emphasis on operations, continual improvement was not possible. As a result of the bias toward operation instead of growth, PoconoRecord.com did little to extend the newspaper’s brand. The website did not drive significant new subscriptions, and it did not generate a meaningful revenue stream.

The Pocono Record recognized the limitations of its website and decided that a substantial commitment was necessary to turn this ancillary cost into a revenue center for the newspaper. The website needed fresh content and a new layout. The latter, especially, was a salient problem. PoconoRecord.com was characterized by clumsy graphics and technology that had become obsolete at the turn of the century. PoconoRecord.com needed new graphics, increased functionality, and a more efficient layout. Ultimately, the newspaper decided that PoconoRecord.com needed to be enhanced to the point where it could make a sufficient contribution to the business.

Given the new role of PoconoRecord.com - from being a web version of the newspaper to a resource that could contribute to increased readership and revenue growth - the Pocono Record decided to make a substantial investment in the website. Despite the fact the Pocono Record had a competent internal technical staff, the newspaper simply did not have the resources to dedicate to a complete website overhaul. Consequently, the Pocono Record elected to make a large investment in its website, which entailed engaging outside help.

To complete the website overhaul quickly and without too large a price tag, the Pocono Record needed a plan. Pocono record developed a comprehensive blueprint for a fundamentally new website. The logo changed, the color palette and design theme were altered radically, and the functionality offered by the website changed. Instead of merely offering the stories that had appeared in the newspaper, the new PoconoRecord.com was designed and implemented to foster a sense of community with its readers. Visitors to the website now could comment on a story, leave feedback, and communicate with the newspaper and with other readers directly.

The newly redesigned PoconoRecord.com fundamentally changes the Pocono Record’s presence on the web. Instead of being a clumsy extension of the newspaper, PoconoRecord.com has positioned the newspaper company for growth. The newspaper can extend its current print readers into online consumers, and the company also can cultivate a new generation of news readers on the web. Further, as the newspaper industry continues its decline in the United States, PoconoRecord.com provides a strategic direction for the newspaper company, facilitating alternative growth.

Key Lessons for Small Businesses

Newspapers may not seem like a likely source of lessons for small businesses. They tend to be old-fashioned and resistant to change. New ideas are eschewed in favor of a zeal for tradition. Despite these industry tendencies, though, the website overhaul executed by the Pocono Record provides some substantial lessons for small businesses in any industry who have neglected the design and layout of their respective websites. While newspapers traditionally have offered little for small businesses to emulate, PoconoRecord.com is a refreshing exception.

Consider your website an extension of your company’s physical presence. If you meet with customers or clients in an office or store, you ensure that the appearance of your facility is aligned with the image of your business. You keep a clean waiting room or office, a well-organized store, and sufficient inventory. Further, you encourage your employees to dress appropriately. If you run a financial office, for example, you wear a suit. If you sell building maintenance services, on the other hand, your staff will dress differently - in a manner appropriate the operations of your company.

The Pocono Record had a substantial need for a new design - a fundamentally reconstructed website. The project required extensive work, as the Pocono Record had not invested significantly in its web presence for five years. Instead of continuing to invest as little as possible, the Pocono Record elected to invest heavily and make PoconoRecord.com an important part of the newspaper’s growth strategy. This is a model for other small businesses. Sometimes a large investment in web capabilities is necessary, especially if your website is important to your business. The cost of the project may seem overwhelming, but ultimately, the investment will pay off.

Copyright 2006 Daniel Scheff

Dan Scheff owns and operates a custom website design firm in Massachusetts.

There are a lot of services on the internet that offer templates and applications for oscommerce customization. When deciding on how to customize your website with the solutions that work best for you think about the aspects that you would like to see on the website. Items such as an easy viewable order history, product reviews, a display of what other customers have ordered with that product will aid in creating an oscommerce system that is customized to the needs of the user, which will bring about more business for you in the long run.

In regards to running a business there are certain aspects of oscommerce customization that as a business owner you want to keep in mind to keep the business running smoothly. For starters never loose touch with customers. Keep the website in their minds by sending them newsletters regarding products and services that your business offers. If they are reminded that your business is around it will make you their number one choice to come back to when they want to buy more products.

Oscommerce customization can be designed to offer statistics on customers. Tracking what the most frequent product being sold is. As well as what your customers are interested in. One of the best options to add in is showing what other items customers purchased when they bought the same product. To advertise other products that could have been missed may bring about more money for your business. To make things easier have a program that can print packaging lists and invoices directly from the order screen. It will save time and time is money.

Of course to allow any business to run smoothly and professionally you have to have good support and in the case of oscommerce customization good technical support is a must. For both the company and it’s users. The importance of templates should never be underestimated to keep everything looking organized and uniform. Also be sure to have a system that allows for easy backup and restoration of a database. In a global economy such as our multilingual customer service agents is a must in aiding communication for any problems that could occur.

Oscommerce customization has many more options available than what is talked about here. The potential is as limitless as ones imagination and innovation.

OsCommerce Solutions

Once again Google is taking the lead at making their search
engine results the most relevant in the industry. With Google
sitemaps webmasters don’t have to wait for spiders to index
their sites. Google sitemap empowers the Webmaster to submit
page links pertaining to sites through one sitemap page. And
what’s great about this process is that when you add other pages
to your site, all you need to do is add those pages to the
sitemap file produced by Google. Google. Will even help you
debug problems with your pages.

Now you might ask: Does this program replace Google’s normal
methods of crawling the web? Google has stated that this program
does not replace their normal methods of crawling the web.
Sitemaps just gives Google additional information about sites
that they would or may not have discovered otherwise.

Will this process increase time to index? Google has also stated
that since sitemaps is a Beta program they cannot guarantee when
or if URLs will be crawled or added to their index.

So how would I participate in this program? I am glad you asked
this question. First, access is free, yes free. Any site owner
can participate in the Google sitemaps program. Site owners with
single page sites to owners with millions of ever changing
pages. Now lets get into the fun part, creating a sitemap. There
are a number of ways to create sitemaps using the sitemap
protocol.

1. If the majority of your site is a HTML static file or your
URLs can be found in your access Logs or if you have a text file
that contains a list of URLs in your site, you can use the
Google sitemap generator.

2. If the majority of your site is dynamic URLs and may not show
up in your access logs, you can generate a list of URLs as a
text file and then use the Google sitemap generator.

3. You may not be able to use the Google sitemap generator. In
this case you may be able to use a third party tool to create a
sitemap.

4. Create the file manually or use a script based on the sitemap
protocol that extracts dynamic content as URLs and includes
information such as last modified date for those URLs. Once you
sitemap is complete its time to place the file on your site. You
must place the completed sitemap in the highest directory that
you would like Google to crawl. Why is this so? Because Google
can only accept URLs contained in your sitemap that are the same
directory level or lower. If you only have access to sub
directories place the sitemap at the tip most directory you have
access and ensure the URLs listed in the sitemap are at that
level or lower.

Now add the sitemap to your sitemap account and your all done.
Its as easy as that. Things to keep in mind

1. A sitemap can contain a list of URLs or a list of sitemaps.

2. If your sitemap file contains a list of other sitemaps then
you should save the sitemap file as a sitemap index file and use
XML format provided for that file type.

3. A sitemap file can only contain no more than 50,000 URLs. If
your site ahs more than 50,000 URLs then split up the URLs into
smaller sitemap files and link them together.

4. Completely specify each URL

That’s it you’re done. Enjoy the new traffic.