The website is a laid out in a very simple manner, with a brief description of what PHP is at one side, while new releases and upcoming conferences and events are mentioned on the other. The main section of the website, which is in the centre, is however allotted for detailed wordings about the new releases, the security shortcomings fixed in them, the features newly added, etc. and the scrapping out of the older release versions. The central portion of the website is presented in the form of a news archive, with newer postings appearing at the top. Since the site isn’t too flashy or is low in designs, it loads quickly and makes for an easier read. An appropriate webpage layout for a tech-site, we must say.

At the top is a simple purple coloured banner, which matches with the logo, which is displayed on the left. Several links are present on this banner, which are accessible to various other sections of the site like FAQ, the Getting Help section, Reporting Bugs, Documentation, Downloads, Conferences, etc.

The search feature on the site is very comprehensive, besides providing various options to search for content in various partner sites of www.php.net. At the very bottom of the site, there is a mention of the team involved in developing the code for PHP, in the Credits section. There is a Sitemap for people who get lost amidst so much content, and as usual with any website, there is a Contact link, the page of which takes us to 3 links – Bugs, Support and e-mail. One shortcoming here, however, is a mail form which is a very simple possibility of PHP.

PHP is designed to work on various platforms and OSes. In the Downloads section, complete source code of the currently popular versions are available. On the left side of the page, there are a few other downloads as well. There is also the very well-known Zend Optimizer and a (PHP) graphics link is placed, in order to put up on your website. Documentation of the PHP manual is available on the website. Documentation in over 19 languages is available for download as well as online learning. The Getting Help section comes off as a winner feature of the website, which features links to various helpful resources like Documentation, Books, Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, User Groups, Events & Training, Sample Code, Instant Resource Center and PHP.net webmasters. The variations of the mailing lists, which are presented in different languages, makes it a good resource for people from just about anywhere, to learn the language.

Since PHP.net is a community-like website, it functions more or less similar in a few of its sections. If you’ve happened to make a post in forums, you’ve seen the very famous “Search before you Post” as one of the Rule #1s. The bug-reporting section of the site works similarly. A look at http://in.php.net/sites.php will tell you about the various sub-sites of this “main website“. With PHP being free (open source) powerful, and a website this simple and informative, PHP sure beats many other web-scripting languages in more than one or two aspects.

The website is aimed at developers and webmasters alike. The links section features so many links you’d soon be overloaded with information on PHP. But, if you’ve got it in you to master the language, the website should be your first stop and there should be no stopping from learning. This community has a simple, no frills approach – its simple and easy-to-navigate-around user interface makes it our personal favourite.

Do it yourself is one of the top 50 sites in the world which brings you the information for almost all your home projects. The website also provides you a weekly free newsletter with experts advice, tips from professional which you can sign up. The community forum deals with more than 100 topics that help the viewers in developing their home projects. You have photos, videos and drawings along with the articles that help you in understanding your project better. The site also allows you to advertise your product, which can be viewed by the viewers.

You can find the information by searching through categories or through key words that can take you to the desired page where you will be able to get the information required along with other web links related to the topic. Do it yourself is a place for people who want to do things on their own way.

Want to decorate your home but don’t know how much it will cost you? Want to know how to train your pet? Right from training your pet to decorating your home you can find all useful tips and information in this website. This is a site that will let you shop your home needs as well. The website gives you a list of home needs which will provide you the information you need like price, pattern, quality, variety, agents and more.

Do it yourself, provides a range of products whether it is home interior or remodeling, home exterior, painting, plumbing, electrical, gardening, pet care and a lot more to explore. Do it yourself helps you to groom the master in yourself. Are you new to gardening? Don’t know where to start? Its very easy to have an introduction in gardening and with the information available you can start planning of setting up your own garden right from fencing the garden, fertilizer for plants, variety of flowers, ornamental plants, how to prevent fruits from being overtaken by pests, how to maintain vegetable garden, herbs, garden maintenance and many more.

Planning to get a pet for you? Don’t know which is the right breed for you and your family. Not sure about their characteristics? Don’t know how to maintain them? Want to know how to train them? Want to know how much it will cost you? You can find all the answers inside the website for the above questions and even more which will help to decide on your own. Being creative and at the same time informative is important to do things on your own and its very essential. Once you have decided the product and the specification it will save the time and energy for you to shop. And when you are even aware of the pricing it becomes more comfortable for you to get the right product.

The Internet is a continually evolving piece of technology containing billions of websites and WebPages. As such, sorting through all of the available pages would be an impossible task if there was not some method for putting order to what is available.

Among the first methods utilized to put order to the Internet has been the search engine. Search engines such as Yahoo! Make it possible for web surfers to input certain keywords in order to access web sites containing those words that may be relevant to the search.

In March of 1995, two Stanford University graduate students by the names of Jerry Yang and David Filo introduced the Yahoo! search engine to the world. Since then, numerous other search engines have been developed, but Yahoo! continues to be one of the top three most popular search engines available.

As is the case with all Internet companies, Yahoo! is continually looking for new ways to expand its services and to remain competitive. As a result, Yahoo! Directory was developed. Yahoo! Directory is a form of web directory that lists web sites according to categories. Unlike search engines, which are run entirely by software and complex algorithms, the directory is human created and is maintained by human editors. As a result, you can expect to find more relevant information when using the Yahoo! Directory.

According to Yahoo!, the directory was created as a means of helping people find information in a new and different way that may be more effective than using a search engine. For example, when looking up information on a topic that is difficult to describe or when researching a word or phrase that could have multiple meanings, using the directory helps to simplify the search process and make sure only relevant information is obtained.

Using the Yahoo! Directory also makes it possible to gain a much deeper understanding of a very specific topic. Looking up “bugs” with the search engine, for example, will bring up information about all kinds of different insects as well as sites containing information referring to different types of bugs, such as those used to “bug” a house for eavesdropping. When using the directory, on the other hand, you can access a category that addresses a specific type of bug and bring up sites that are relevant to the exact topic you are researching.

The editors of the Yahoo! Directory conduct their own Internet search in order to find relevant sites to be listed within its categories. At the same time, web owners are welcome to submit their sites for review in order to become listed within the directory. Web owners have two options for submitting, either the “Standard” method or the “Yahoo! Express” method. The standard method is free, though it may take quite a bit more time for the editors to review the site when compared to the Yahoo! Express method.

]]> http://blogs.iguides.org/reviews/enriching-resource-yahoo-directory.html/feed 0 http://blogs.iguides.org/reviews/internet-guide-aboutcom.html http://blogs.iguides.org/reviews/internet-guide-aboutcom.html#comments Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:51:39 +0000 admin http://www.iguides.org/reviews/?p=5

The Internet is filled with a great deal of useful information. Unfortunately, it also contains a number of websites that provide incorrect information or that exist solely as an attempt to strip money from those that are searching the Internet. Therefore, finding a valuable website that contains accurate and useful information can sometimes be a challenge.

About.com strives to help web surfers sort through the muck and find information, articles, and web sites that are beneficial. The site does this by employing hundreds of expert “Guides” that help steer site visitors in the right direction when researching specific topics. To date, the site has over 570 guides and new guides and new topics are being added on a regular basis.

The use of these expert guides combined with the massive amount of topics already covered by the site has earned the site well over 34 million visitors. It has also earned the site recognition as one of the top ten content sites on the Net.
More… About.com was started in 1996 and quickly gained user attention and respect. By combining elements of other popular content sites, such as AOL, MSN, CNET, and WebMD, the site was able to develop its own unique user-friendly formula. As a result, the site was purchased by The New York Times Company in March 2005, which is where the site remains today.

In order to provide site visitors with a meaningful and unique experience, About.com carefully screens those that will work as site Guides. Each of its Guides must meet certain criteria, including:

* Individual Expertise
* Supreme Dedication
* Highly Credentialed
* Rigorously Trained
* Award Winning

In essence, the site selects only the “cream of the crop” to work as one of its Guides. Each Guide must demonstrate their expertise in the subject area through their educational qualifications as well as their personal experiences and writing abilities. Since each Guide must demonstrate a supreme amount of dedication, only about 2% of those that begin the training process actually complete it.

Many of those employed as Guides with About.com are also nationally recognized experts in their fields or are nationally recognized authors. As a result, many of these Guides are sought online and off for their opinions and expertise in these areas. In addition, 20 of the guides on the site have been recognized by Forbes as “Best of Web,” with three being listed among the Forbes “Favorites.”

Each of those selected as potential Guides must also undergo a rigorous training program. Not only does this program help to hone their writing skills, it also teaches them how to hold the interest of their audience as well as how to maintain the content of their subject in the best manner possible.

As a result of this rigorous training and the dedication of the management and Guides on About.com, the site has received numerous accolades. It has also grown the point that it offers 1.5 million pieces of original content to its readers as well as 22 different channels. The site currently offers pieces spanning an amazing 57,000 different topics and more than 3,000 new pieces of information are added to the site every week.

The expertise of the Guides has also turned the About.com community into one that is well-trusted and looked toward when surfing the Internet for valuable and useful information. It is also ideal for businesses looking for a place on the Internet where they can surround their brand with relevant information that will help bring new visitors to their sites. As a result, it is a win-win formula for everyone involved with the site.

]]> http://blogs.iguides.org/reviews/internet-guide-aboutcom.html/feed 0 http://blogs.iguides.org/reviews/ibmcom-then-and-now.html http://blogs.iguides.org/reviews/ibmcom-then-and-now.html#comments Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:15:38 +0000 admin http://www.iguides.org/reviews/?p=4 Over just about 100 years, IBM has been acknowledged in performing great business in the area of information-handling. Almost all of the company’s services and products were designed, maintained, and developed to record information, process them, communicate, as well as store and retrieve them. That is, from the scales, clocks, and tabulators they first used to today’s powerful and hi-tech computers and immense global networks.

IBM.com has helped the information technology pioneers over the years, and now managed to stand at the vanguard of worldwide industry that has been revolutionizing the way organizations, enterprises, and people work and prosper. At IBM.com, you can clearly see how the company changed pace in an accelerating manner and widened its scope and impact from its earliest antecedents to the most up to date developments.

More… IBM.com is a businessman’s one-stop-shop, so to say. Their website provides you a wide array of helpful products and services such as business consulting, business solutions, industry solutions, IT services, support and downloads, and products like software, storage, systems and service, semi-conductors, and a lot more.

The site is very easy to navigate so there’s no way you can’t find what you need. Add to that, they have excellent customer supports that are more than willing to walk you through if you want to create your own account with them.