Website Design & Online Software | Votech NZ

Virtuemart LightBox behind Navigation Menu Issue

2008-10-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

Here's how we fixed the Virtuemart LightBox behind navigation menu issue:

Edit /components/com_virtuemart/js/slimbox/css/slimbox.css

Add a couple line to (see where the red text is):

#lbOverlay {
position: absolute;
left: 0;
width: 100%;
background-color: #000;
cursor: pointer;
z-index:1000;
}

#lbCenter, #lbBottomContainer {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
overflow: hidden;
background-color: #fff;
z-index:1000;
}

Javascript Popup Menu Hides Behind Flash in Firefox Fix

2008-10-16T16:45:00.001-07:00

Not nice isn't it?

Here's how you can fix it:

Make sure you have these parameters set when inserting yoru animation in the html document.

This should fix it.

Still not working? Aha...you are looking at the right post. I bet you inserted your Flash using Dreamweaver? Here's what you need to do, instead of manually edit the HTML code:

1. In Dreamweaver, insert the Flash movie into an HTML page.
2. Select the Flash movie in the Design View.
3. In the Properties panel, choose Parameters.
4. For the Parameter, enter "wmode" (without quotes). For the Value, enter "transparent".
5. Save the document. The HTML page is complete.

Converting MySQL Date String to Separate Day, Month and Year Strings

2008-09-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

Use the function list():

list ($year, $month, $day) = split ("-", $date);
echo $year;
echo $month;
echo $year;

This will output:

2008
09
25

MSN Error 81000314

2008-09-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

It seems to be a common problem people not being able sign in to MSN. The system reports 81000314 error. This article will help you solve the problem:

http://msn-errors.blogspot.com/2006/11/fix-sign-in-error-81000314.html

Google's Browser Chrome

2008-09-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

Google is going to release their new browser later on today.

Here's the original article from their blog.

We think they are making a very good move. Winning the Internet browser is an important step to take if Google wants to dominate the online application sector. Why? Because if they have their own browser, they have a much better platform for its online software.

I believe this is what Google's trying to achieve:

A user can achieve almost all major computer tasks just off the browser, including:

Checking mails
Writing documents
Contacts Management
Drawing Pictures
File Storage
Instant Messaging
Gaming

Imagine if Google suceeds in all these, everyone can basically have their 'online version' of computer. That is, whenever a user wants to access his/her computer, just go online from any places in the world and log on to their Google account. How amazing! Even a stone age computer can handle these tasks. We will no longer be needing fast computers, we just need to demand faster servers from Google.

Think about it, if that happens, for some people, it can be pretty scary... Let's wait and see more.

Outsourcing - Good or Bad?

2008-08-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

As a local New Zealand business we are always wanting to see the country's economy grow. For such reason, we are supporter of outsourcing.

We believe outsourcing is the trend. It will only benefit the country in the long term. The fact is it significantly reduces the cost of certain services for local business owners and for that reason they can save up some money and spend it elsewhere, which is good for local economy.

Local service providers are facing challenges from overseas companies. If we want to stay competitive in the market, outsourcing is a great thing to do. It reduces the cost to us, which increase the chance of survival in this highly competitive market; It also reduces the cost to our customer, allowing them to get more bangs for their bucks. It is a win-win situation.

If you are a student trying to decide which subject to study in university, try avoiding those ones that can be easily outsourced. If you did choose those subjects, it's not the end of the world - there are many options, such as being specialised in certain area, developing new skills or new technology, or you can even run your own company and outsource the jobs to overseas.

A Useful HTML Grammar Checker

2008-08-25T17:06:00.001-07:00

Here's a useful tool to check the grammar of your web pages.

http://validator.w3.org/

301 Redirect A Domain

2008-08-24T16:57:00.001-07:00

This post explains how to redirect an old domain to a new domain using 301 redirect method.

http://www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php

Search Engine Friendly Website

2008-08-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

We would like to explain why it is to your benefit to use us to design your website, from the search engine point of view.

As we also provide search engine optimisation service, we pay attention to the overall structure of every single website we develop. We want to make sure, that our customer gets most out of their investment. What does this mean to your business? Put it this way, the following is what a typical customer looks like.

Web design ==> Wedsite Development ==> Website Optimisation for Search Engines (SEO)

When we do the development (coding), we always leave room for the future search engine optimisation. Therefore the website we develop is already 'search engine friendly', regardless whether the customer want to proceed with our optimisation service or not. This could potentially save a customer hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Why? You simply don't need to re-structure the website again when you want to do SEO on your pages. A company with no search engine knowledge, often makes the mistake of using wrong methods to implement the website. Without the search engine friendly structure, it is simply impossible to optimise keywords and get the top rankings.

It's like building a house, without the solid structure of the fundation, you won't be able to extend the house when you need to. The good news is, getting the solid fundation done by us doesn't cost you more(check out our hot packages). So why not let us look after your website needs?

Great Testimonial from Pyramid

2008-08-20T23:07:00.001-07:00

Having happy customer is what keeps us passionate about our business. Today we received a great testimonial from Chris, director of Pyramid Property Management in Auckland. Here's the letter:

I would just like to say how extremely pleased I am with the service I have recently received from Votech Limited. After deciding to use their services to design my web-site, I found them not only extremely professional, but also very friendly and they were always available if I ever wanted to ask questions or discuss anything. It was refreshing to deal with a company that delivered on its promises. I would certainly recommend Votech Limited as a web-site designer to any small business or larger company. Many Thanks.

Website Bookmark HTML Code

2008-08-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

This function allows a user to bookmark a website by clicking a normal hyper link. It only works under IE. There seems to have no such function that works under all types of browsers. This is mainly because different browser have different degree of security restrictions.

Click here to test the link.

Code:

<a ref="javascript:window.external.addFavorite('http://www.votech.co.nz','Auckland Website Company | Votech');">here </a>

VirtueMart JFolder::create: Could not create directory

2008-08-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

This seems to be a common error. Quite often it can be fixed by the following:

Manually edit your configuration.php file under Joomla home direcory, change:

From:
var $tmp_path = '/home/public_html/your_name/tmp';

To:
var $tmp_path = 'tmp';

Also make sure:

var $ftp_enable = '0';

FTP layer seems to create some problems.

If this doesn't fix your problem, then you should read trhough this article.

Good luck :)

Virtuemart Resize GIF Black Background Issue

2008-08-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

If you have VirtualMart 1.1 with Joomla 1.5's default installation, you may find a problem when uploading a picture with GIF format and letting the system generate a thumbnail image - the background of the generated image will have a black background while the original image has a transparent background.

We don't want that of course. It seems like the code has a bug.

Here's a fix for this:

Use your favorite text editor and edit the following file:

your_virtuemart_installation/administrator/components/ com_virtuemart/classes/class.img2thumb.php

Approximately line 210, comment out the following code:

/*
// New modification - creates new image at maxSize
if( $this->maxSize )
{
if( function_exists("imagecreatetruecolor") )
$im_out = imagecreatetruecolor($maxX,$maxY);
else
$im_out = imagecreate($maxX,$maxY);

// Need to image fill just in case image is transparent, don't always want black background
$bgfill = imagecolorallocate( $im_out, $this->bg_red, $this->bg_green, $this->bg_blue );
//$bgfill = imagecolorallocate( $im_out, $this->bg_red, $this->bg_green, $this->bg_blue );
if( function_exists( "imageAntiAlias" )) {
imageAntiAlias($im_out,true);
}
imagealphablending($im_out, false);
if( function_exists( "imagesavealpha")) {
imagesavealpha($im_out,true);
}
if( function_exists( "imagecolorallocatealpha")) {
$transparent = imagecolorallocatealpha($im_out, 255, 255, 255, 127);
}

//imagefill( $im_out, 0,0, $bgfill );
if( function_exists("imagecopyresampled") ){
ImageCopyResampled($im_out, $orig_img, $adjustX, $adjustY, 0, 0, $newxsize, $newysize,$orig_size[0], $orig_size[1]);
}
else {
ImageCopyResized($im_out, $orig_img, $adjustX, $adjustY, 0, 0, $newxsize, $newysize,$orig_size[0], $orig_size[1]);
}

}
else
{

if( function_exists("imagecreatetruecolor") )
$im_out = ImageCreateTrueColor($newxsize,$newysize);
else
$im_out = imagecreate($newxsize,$newysize);

if( function_exists( "imageAntiAlias" ))
imageAntiAlias($im_out,true);
imagealphablending($im_out, false);
if( function_exists( "imagesavealpha"))
imagesavealpha($im_out,true);
if( function_exists( "imagecolorallocatealpha"))
$transparent = imagecolorallocatealpha($im_out, 255, 255, 255, 127);

if( function_exists("imagecopyresampled") )
ImageCopyResampled($im_out, $orig_img, 0, 0, 0, 0, $newxsize, $newysize,$orig_size[0], $orig_size[1]);
else
ImageCopyResized($im_out, $orig_img, 0, 0, 0, 0, $newxsize, $newysize,$orig_size[0], $orig_size[1]);
}

return $im_out;
}

*/

Add the following code instead:

if( $this->maxSize )
{
$im_out = ImageCreateTrueColor($maxX,$maxY);
$bgfill = imagecolorallocate( $im_out, $this->bg_red, $this->bg_green, $this->bg_blue );
imagefill( $im_out, 0,0, $bgfill );
ImageCopyResampled($im_out, $orig_img, $adjustX, $adjustY, 0, 0,
$newxsize, $newysize,$orig_size[0], $orig_size[1]);
}
// Need to image fill just in case image is transparent, don't always want black background
else
{
$im_out = ImageCreateTrueColor($newxsize,$newysize);
$bgfill = imagecolorallocate( $im_out, $this->bg_red, $this->bg_green, $this->bg_blue );
imagefill( $im_out, 0,0, $bgfill );
ImageCopyResampled($im_out, $orig_img, 0, 0, 0, 0,
$newxsize, $newysize,$orig_size[0], $orig_size[1]);
}
return $im_out;
}

The original code was trying to handle this issue but it just doesn't work. The later code seems to be working but we have not fully tested it yet so use at your own risk.

Here's the reference.

Launching Blog Website

2008-08-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

Quite often we come accross ideas that we would like to share with internet users, from our company news to technical articles about websites and software. Hope this blog will create value for people.