Solution 1: Disable Skype Port

1. Load up skype
2. Select Tools->Options
3. Click on the Advanced Tab
4. Click on the Connection Tab
5. Uncheck “Use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections”

Solution 2: Load Your Webserver First

The alternative to changing the Skype settings (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to), is to load your web server before you load Skype (effectively accomplishing the same thing). If Skype is already loaded, close the program out, load  your web server, then re-open it.

You’re trying to build a cross-browser compatible web site or application. It works great in Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera. There’s just one left to test, right? That’d be nice, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately Internet Explorer is so inconsistent from version to version, that it’s almost impossible to know how your website is performing in all of them.

Solution

Forget trying to “Emulate” or install multiple versions of IE. The solution is MUCH simpler. IETester is a handy little program I picked up earlier this year that easily allows you to pull up a tab for any version of IE, starting with 5.5! It’s a quick download, free, and works miracles. This is the end-all to your frustrations. Trust me.

( Link: IE Tester )

How To Do It

1. Make sure you have your Username/Password already set up in PHPMyAdmin ( Under Privileges )

2. Make sure you have all proper Privileges setup for that Username

3. In your PHPMyAdmin Folder (located in your xampp directory) open up config.inc.php

4. Change the following line:

FROM:
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = ‘config‘;

TO:
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = ‘http‘;

5. Save and Refresh your PHPMyAdmin in your browser- You’re not ready to log in!

( Where to get XAMPP )

My absolute favorite tool. Ever. Firebug is a Firefox Extension that lets you view and manipulate html and stylesheets straight from your browser, in real time. And, while you cannot save you changes straight from Firebug, it remains an excellent tool for debugging CSS issues! This is a must have.

( Firebug Homepage )

2. Xenu

And no, I’m not referring to the one that flew a jet plane through outter space. Xenu is an easy to use application that will very quickly allow you to identify any broken links, or missing files on your site. It’s very lightweight, and gets the job done very quickly. All you have to do is specify your web site’s URL, and voila- complete analysis. Always use XENU before and right after you go live with a website.

( Xenu Homepage )

3. Google

That’s right- Google. Let me explain. Google allows you to view all of your indexed pages simply by searching for site:example.com. How’s that useful? 301′s! Whenever you perform a major site revamp or update, it is imperative that you 301 the old pages to their new counter parts. This helps maintain page rank. Yahoo supports the same command syntax. ( You know where to find google… )

4. W3C Validator

The W3C Validator is a nice little tool to have around. Having a website that validates is important, and will improve overall SEO. By how much remains debatable, however, it’s not something to just overlook foolhardily.

( W3C Validator )

5. Web Sniffer

While I don’t use this one often, it’s still very handy. With Web Sniffer you can easily test the headers ( and other useful information ) that your pages are returning. Particularly good for making sure your 404′s, 301′s, and 200′s are valid.

( Web Sniffer )

<?php /*
Put as many Comments
As you want, in this space!
*/ ?>

or, for quick one-liners:

<?php # One line comment! ?>

While the notation may be tedious at times, it still provides an excellent method for being thorough and discrete.

1. Create Keyword Rich URL’s

Having the keywords you want directly in the URL is a great way to add more weight to those terms. A lot of CMS’ tend to like to give you some obscure URL ending in something like ?p=19&i=wt. I seriously doubt anyone will be searching for that. Many of the more popular Content Management Systems allow you to setup Permalinks (ex. WordPress). This lets you control the URL by hand. If your page is a walk-through for a popular video game, for example, consider something like /world-of-warcraft-guide.

2. Stay True to Your Site Structure

Using things like header tags (ex. H1, H2) and strong tags properly can make a world of difference. A good rule of thumb is to use one H1 tag per page, and follow up keyword rich titles with H2 tags. Always make sure that you never drop those header tags out of order. You never want to have an H3 tag before an H1 tag, and so on. The point of those header tags is not to provide a selection of font styles that you can attach to text, but rather to make search spiders better understand what your page is about.

3. Meta Information

Many people believe that Meta tags are going out of style. While they may not be as important as they used to be, they are still looked at. Always make sure you have a proper Doctype, Meta Keywords, Meta Description, Content Type / Char Set, and Title.

4. Valuable Link Text

The text you put inside achors is very important. Always make sure that your links are keyword rich. “Read More About Asbestos” is not nearly as good as “Read More About Asbestos” ( the bold here representing where you’ve placed your anchor ). Also, always include a the title property in your anchors (and the alt property in you images, for that matter).

5. Don’t Try to Trick Search Engines!

Trust me- don’t. You think you might be so clever using those terms of yours over and over again throughout the page, but let me tell you something- filling up 5 paragraphs with the words “Alaskan Trout” (if that’s the keywords you’re going after”) 300 times isn’t going to get you into high society. Trying to hide extra keywords all over your page by hiding them with styles.. naughty naughty. Google is designed to understand the natural imprint of a well put together page. And while there are many ways to improve your visibility by being more ‘clear’, cheating may very well get you blacklisted.

And remember kids, SEO is not an exact science. If you’ve read something here that doesn’t rub you the right way, don’t worry. We all bring our own experience to the table, and usually end up developing our own secret sauce, that flavors a combination of many different things.

Here is some general information about each file type.

JPG

Jpgs (or jpegs) are best used to display photographs, artwork, and other UI elements on the page. Particularly images with a lot of detail and color variation. Their compression level is very high, and provides an excellent means to bring the file size of those types of images way down.

GIF

Gifs are used primarily for images that contain solid blocks of color, and gradiants. Vector images do well in this format. In addition, Gifs are also able to store additional image data, such as a low quality alpha channel (transparency), and additional frames for animation.

PNG

Pngs are ideal for representing high quality images. They have a wonderful compression ratio while remaining lossless. In addition, they also have a high quality alpha channel to create soft transparencies and more antialiased looking edges, unlike the Gif which usually ends up looking like it was torn off the page. It is important to note that IE6 does not natively support the Png alpha channel, so make sure you use a proprietary library if you plan to use that feature (check with google).