Hey guys, for the next 4 days, I doubt I would be able to find time to update this blog. I am off to my SJAB camp and will be staying over night in school. See you guys 4 days later =)
Till then,
cheers
Hey guys, I have enabled the comments system for visitors to post their comments, feedback or any other form of thought about my posts or my scripts. However, please keep it clean by
Please do leave a comment. Your feedback (esp. about my scripts) is important to me. Thank you.
(BTW, I am still writing a draft about my OBA experience. A 10 day adventure is hard to squeeze into 1 post indeed. Keep checking back for updates)
Till next time,
cheers
Ok, an update on the bugs report system. You can see from my blog that the system is already online. Click on the “Bugs Database” tab above and you would be brought to the Bugs Database Page (well,duh). From there, there is currently only the Submit Bugs Report Link, from which you can submit your bug reports. Note that I am still working on the search function and it should be ready soon.
Anyway, the bulk of this post will be taken up on my view on earning money from blogs. I have noticed from my schoolmates that more and more bloggers, especially student bloggers are placing advertisements on their blogs, or Google search boxes. Mostly, they work under Google Adsense, though some work with a combination of advertisers. (eg. Crazyhamster). Not that I am discouraging such “ventures”, but seriously, I find it a bit desperate. How much can you really earn? On my old site, I earned about USD$50 in 6 months, though I must admit that I did not actively promote that site. I got the PIN code from Google, but apparently after not logging in for too much time or some other reason, my Google Adsense account was lost, along with the $50 which is probably returned to the advertisers. Poor me.
Yes, you may have heard success stories of bloggers earning lots of money from sponsorships and advertisements. But this is only because they have a HUGE reader base. For most of your personal blogs out there, I think you shouldn’t place high hopes on getting lots of advertising revenue, since your reader base is so small. Of course, it is only good that one try to be independent and earn money on his own, but seriously, one should not place too high hopes on earning lots og money from your site, especially if the advertisements are not placed properly. A $100 every 6 months should make a pretty good half year.
Interestingly, I myself is actually considering placing advertisements on this blog. Once I get a large enough reader base, I think I would begin to place some advertisements at the end of each post or maybe in the header of the site. That’s why I hope you guys can help promote my site by leaving a link to my site after you download my script. At least help me get some more visitors if you cannot/don’t want to donate to me.
In conclusion, my take is that unless you have a very larger reader base, there is pretty much no point in placing advertisements on your blog since it is unlikely that anyone will click on them. If you want to get a larger reader base, work on your content to attract more visitors!
Well, back to working on the bugs database. I need to get it done ASAP so that I can begin working on UGPortal.
Till next time,
cheers
I am currently modifying the Integrated Contact Form to create a bugs report system that can be integrated within this blog. Nothing fanciful, just a form for you to submit your bug description and stuff, allows users to search for keywords and check if the issue is resolved. On submitting the form, the script will also automatically email me, so that I can be notified and check out the problem source.
When I have time, I will brush up on the layout of this script and maybe release it for download. It will make life easier for software developers.
Let’s begin with a quote from the introduction of the ALS 0.03B readme file:
“Advanced Login System was created as a pet project by me in year 2005. Then, from an online community, I knew how popular login systems were,as many people either lack the skills to create a PHP-MySQL integrated login system or they are simply too lazy to do so. Hence, there was this script on the forum, and I downloaded it. However,I found that while it does work, it was too simple, too inflexible and have many areas that can be improved on. Hence, Advanced Login System was born. Initally, it was still rather basic, with quite a lot of bugs in v0.01 Beta, but as I progressed on with this script, it gets better and better and v0.02 Beta includes major patches and new features.”
Yes.This is quite a good summary of how the Advanced Login System came about. Now, the official release is v0.02B, which includes the following major changes:
“NEW IN VERSION 0.02 BETA:
Ability for admin to configure the script more easily
- Configure if guests are allowed to register
- Configure if user needs to enter a validation image (useful for webmasters whose servers doesn’t not support GD library)
- Configure if user needs to enter a validation image during login
- Configure if user needs to validate his email address before logging in
Tighter security Less hackable validation image Disable login for 15 minutes if invalid password is entered 3 times in a row or incorrect validation code is entered Able to reset password Able to change password”
So what about v0.03Beta version? Why is there is special post mentioning it?
Compare the following two screenshots:
- Advanced Login System v0.03B
- Advanced Login System v0.02B.
You would notice for my changelog from v0.01B to v0.02B, I have added quite a number of features. However, the very core engine remained the same from 0.01B to 0.02B. Hence, the upgrade to v0.03B is one of the most challenging and fun thing that I have done in a while.
Here is the most important piece of news: This will be the FINAL BETA version. Meaning: After this version, the next version would be a final release. I will start my final release version with v0.04 and continue on from there. Why is this piece of news important? Because it means this version will probably be the most stable, compatible and powerful release in the 2 years of development of Advanced Login System!
Now, the second most important piece of news: When I do get to releasing the final version of ALS, I am considering of a paid version and a free version. Apparently, lots of users are not placing the copyright to me as they should be and my online financial status is not what people would call “good”. Hence I may be offering a version for sale, for around $15 with priority support and other benefits. Apparently, this would mean that those free users would have to wait longer for a new release. If I do release this, I will be releasing it with Product Installer - an installer script I created with Product Licensing Check and all that kind of stuff. I am really half half on this, half of me wants this project to remain free, yet the realistic half is telling me I should be getting some money out of this. Oh well, I will see how it goes.
As a little present from me to you, I have released a preview version of v0.3B. Note: This preview is incomplete, but in a working state. You can try it out if you wish.
Downloaded a total of 4028 times
Well, that’s about all I have to update you about, I will post about my trip to Australia some other time, it’s getting late here
cheers