Just less than 90 minutes left!

motomoto wrote:
> I really like your guide Emmie, because its exactly what a lot
> of Freeola customers would probably like to do with their web
> site, but I also like PB's as its the sort of thing that I dabble
> in.
>
> Can you see how difficult it is to award GAD prizes? ;___;

So the contenders are a guide about an obsolete html tag which doesnt work in all browsers or another that provides no practical advice or solutions to the topic. Sorry pb and emmie, harsh but true unfortunately.

If you set the bar so low whats the point in anybody who can write something useful doing so?  Should I spend a few hours setting up a demo/tutorial of some cool html/css/javascript feature or maybe spend 10 minutes writing a technical guide to a piece of string which is just as likely to get me some recognition.

Anyway, rather than being critical I have a suggestion that might help.  How about trying to provide some structure to this?  If you want to build up a resource for Freeola customers then it makes sense to try to get entries on certain topics.  So each week you set a topic.  This week could have been a guide on adding sound & video to your website for instance.  If you want to minimise duplicates of the same topic then given several like one for web stuff and another for general pc topics.   People who are desparate to win can still take part, they've got a week to learn about the topic and write something.  You could even do something more elaborate like working out  index to a "Freeola User Help Guide" so people have got a whole list of topics to choose from.

Garin,

If you believe that you can write a better tutorial then what these guys have written so far then by all means please do so, at no point have we tried to discourage you from doing so.

As you can see from this post we have been trying to get some attention to the Technical GAD prize. As Warhunt states 'The best of the available guides gets chosen.' If you believe that your tutorial or guide will be of more use to Freeola users then please post it, if you're right you will likely win a GAD.

I can assure you that a lot of consideration is going into how we can organize the tutorials provided, and how future submissions can be organized, the most appropriate way has not yet been decided, however thank you for your input.

Hmmm... wrote:
> Garin wrote:
> So the contenders are a guide about an obsolete html tag which
> doesnt work in all browsers or another that provides no
> practical
> advice or solutions to the topic.
>
> Don't forget my recent submission:
> Simple
> Popup window using JavaScript that you also liked Garin
> ;¬) might also be in the running :¬)
>
> ^{With working demo!}
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ^{Search Freeola
> Chat}

But Hmmm.. what practical use would that have?  I mean no one uses pop up windows.  Well, apart from Freeola, Amazon, Microsoft, Play.com and a few other really small websites that no one has heard of...  ;)

lol Garin you always make me laugh, your like the anti-freeola. Me and pb never claim to be the great technical minds (pb is light years ahead of me!) but we have both tried to create helpful tutorials that we hope help contirbute to the forum and are useful to people who want to know about what we are writing.

I appreciate it is not the best technical post but hey i tried hard and as it was my first i hope they will get better. But if you still have a problem then like other people have said, why not write one yourself?

Thanks to everyone who read it and posted positive comments and well done to everyone who has done posts and good luck to you on winning. I think that the winners have to be chosen based on what has been submitted. The most helpful, well written and interesting topic. This is at Freeola's descretion and i never have any quarms with the winners chosen. It aint like you award a GAD for a two line topic about anything. Rant over, im off to play some golf left, so as i said, good luck to everyone!

Anyways getting back on topic. We shall find out who won soon :D

Damn it, cjh, you sneak in with your ninja like last minute posts!  :)

Nice post too.

pb wrote:
> Damn it, cjh, you sneak in with your ninja like last minute
> posts!  :)
>
> Nice post too.

Agreed, i thought i was in for a shot with my first technical win (a long shot but still a chance lol) now i have to give up hope and leave for golf.

If they work out the winner by usefulness x (ability/ amount of technical posts written) then you'll win for sure Emmie!

And the winner is....

Once again...

With a late entry...

cjh!

Congratulations! Maybe Web Slices will be the next big thing since RSS?

Emmie87 wrote:
> lol Garin you always make me laugh, your like the anti-freeola.
> Me and pb never claim to be the great technical minds (pb is
> light years ahead of me!) but we have both tried to create
> helpful tutorials that we hope help contirbute to the forum and
> are useful to people who want to know about what we are writing.

Its all Hmmm....'s fault.  Hes so positive about Freeola, I have to be negative to maintain the universal balance!

> I appreciate it is not the best technical post but hey i tried
> hard and as it was my first i hope they will get better. But if
> you still have a problem then like other people have said, why
> not write one yourself?

I dont have a problem, why would I?  If I think the entries are poor and I can do better then obviously the best course of action is to keep quiet, write a technical post and win.  And I'm fairly surely being critical of Freeola's practices isnt going to increase my chances of winning in the future. ;)

And just for the record, I thnik cjh's post is a worthy winner. :P

Garin wrote:
> And I'm fairly surely being critical of Freeola's practices isnt going to
> increase my chances of winning in the future. ;)
>
> And just for the record, I thnik cjh's post is a worthy winner.
> :P

Constructive criticism is always helpful :), simply the best technical review wins.

To be constructive, you need somewhere to build first.  Trashing pb and emmie's posts was a necessary evil. :P

I want a Staffie to set up a thingie like the cheats and walkthroughs so we can post these articles properly so that me and Freeola webmasters can refer to them instead of looking through huge threads for the answers.

I want articles on the following...

1. How to use php includes
2. How to create forms
3. How to track site visitors
4. Should we still be using meta keywords and descriptions?
5. How to layout a CSS document
6. Suggested free programs to write code in
7. How improtant is colour scheming in site design
8. What dimensions should we create websites in
9. How to create RSS feeds
10. Should we offer Atom feeds?
11. Is it worth creating sites that can be viewed on portable devices?
12. How do I protect my content from being stolen?
13. Should I advertise on Google Adwords
14. What search engines and directories should I submit to?
15. Does my site need a blog?
16. Should I have a twitter account?
17. How useful are social bookmarking buttons for my company website?
18. What background colour should I use, black or white?
19. Where can I find freelance coders?
20. Shoud I be using robots.txt?
21. How do I create a .htaccess file
22. How to create your own error pages
23. Should I still be using <BLINK>..</BLINK>
24. How do I use the H1, H2, H3, H4 tags properly?
25. What size font should I be using? em, px, pt?
26. What browsers should I check my site design in
27. Okay I thnk thats enough examples :P

Machie wrote:
> 1. How to use php includes

Section on how to link to such files within here

> 2. How to create forms

Recently updated into the sparkly new template also

> 3. How to track site visitors

VIP+ comes with an in-built visitor statistics feature that will allow you to see not only hits but also other visitor details such as OS, browser and referral page.

> 12. How do I protect my content from being stolen?

Not really possible, interesting post made on this recently.

> 18. What background colour should I use, black or white?

Whatever doesn't clash with your text, however white seems to be preferred as it 'opens' up the page whereas black can appear to constrict.

> 20. Shoud I be using robots.txt?

Guide on this in the works when I get around to it

> 21. How do I create a .htaccess file

See above

> 22. How to create your own error pages

Another feature of VIP+

> 23. Should I still be using ..

You should never have been using this IMO!

Well done, another good post.

Here we go again!

Deadline is 4:30pm tomorrow. Read the post at the top for more info! Get posting and win!

Who will put an end to cjh's techie spree!? :D

Looks like everyone is waiting till the last minute today!

As for me, I haven't got anything left, short of copying something out of a magazine or off the net which I'm loathe to do.

I really need the money too, think I'll have to stick to reviews...

Only fair to let them win for what they're best at I guess.

Just less than an hour to go!