Author: Michael Blood
Matraex Builds Responsive Websites
Matraex Builds Responsive Websites
As a Website Design company here in Boise, we run into customers that have websites which are very difficult, or impossible to use on a mobile device.
Example Output from Mobile ToolOften times this is because the website is old and needs to be redesigned. In this case we are able to redesign the entire website, and make sure that the new design is responsive and looks good on mobile devices.
Some times though we run into websites which were built where the website owner just did not think about making the website look good on a mobile device. Sometimes website owners dont even have a mobile device themselves so they do not check that their website has been built responsively.
With all of the reasons above, we found a need to be able to quickly check how things looked on a mobile device. So we build a tool which shows what the mobile responsive site looks like.
The ‘On A Mobile’ Tool
- A user can see what their site looks like on a mobile device
- It allows a user to enter their website and it pulls the website up sized as it would be on a a mobile phone.
- The tool emulates a resolution 320 x 480 and fits the screen size into a mobile phone frame to complete the picture.
The full URL to the tool is:
- https://www.matraex.com/onamobile.php
Much like our other free website and DNS and domain tools, Matraex, offers this tool for free for others to use.
We added a couple of links to the tool which will allow others to share the results they get, and then if the person viewing their website would like some help fixing issues on the website. We have a quick form they can fill out so they can request help with it.
A couple of features we would like to add to this tool if people find it useful
- Automatically generate and save an image
- Allows the image to be shared by facebook
- Create a service which automatically emails the mobile image to the website owner once per month to make sure they are aware of what it looks like over time
- Compare tool, which shows the full website next to the mobile website
Matraex builds responsive websites services nationwide from our humble offices here in Boise, Idaho.
Website WordPress PHP Custom Application Development Boise
Website WordPress PHP Custom Application Development Boise
I was asked recently, what kinds of work do you do for your clients.
The short answer is “Matraex, Inc provides Website WordPress PHP Custom Application Development Boise to small businesses”
Below I describe our services in more depth.
Contact me to discuss what we can do for you – Michael Blood – 208.344.1115 x 250
Matraex, Inc – Nationwide Web Services
- We design online presence websites in WordPress.
- We custom build web applications for businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals with ideas.
- We create custom automation and time saving software using the web.
- We support, refresh, repair and enhance existing websites and custom applications.
- We provide Managed WordPress Hosting services.
- We build, host and support custom scale-able hosting environments.
Matraex, Inc – Basic consulting and technology list
- WordPress Website Development
- WordPress Plugin Development
- Custom Web Application Development
- Web Task Automation
- PHP Development
- MySQL and Postgres Database Administration
- Website Overhaul and Repair
Matraex Inc, – Boise, Idaho Web Services:
While we work for clients nationwide. A large percentage of our clients are from here in Boise, Idaho. When items become complex we are able to work directly with clients in our office onsite at our client’s office. We communicate via skype or just on the phone.
- Boise, Idaho WordPress Website Development
- Boise, Idaho WordPress Plugin Development
- Boise, Idaho Custom Web Application Development
- Boise, Idaho Web Task Automation
- Boise, Idaho PHP Development
- Boise, Idaho MySQL and PostgreSQL Database Administration
- Boise, Idaho Website Overhaul and Repair
WordPress Website Development
WordPress is an online, open source website creation tool written in PHP. WordPress allows Matraex, Inc to quickly create a beautiful online presence for your business and the give you the ability to login and make simple updates to your site. It is the easiest and most powerful blogging and website content management system (or CMS)
We offer WordPress Website Development solutions that are compatible with all business models and industry verticals. Our team of WordPress developers provides WordPress CMS development, plugin development. Also theme customization and maintenance services as well as ongoing security and update services through our Managed WordPress Hosting.
When you engage Matraex, Inc to build or enhance your online, unless you have another tool in place. We will likely recommend that we develop your marketing presence using the WordPress Content Management System. Depending on your vertical and your website needs we will either find existing WordPress plugins. We also build new plugins which add the needed custom touch to your website.
WordPress Plugin Development
A WordPress plugin is a piece of software that can be uploaded to extend and expand the functionality of your WordPress site. Matraex, Inc builds custom plugins such as this, any time that our client needs are not met with the base WordPress Package.
In each of these situations, Matraex, Inc relies on its deep knowledge of WordPress. Also the WordPress SDK and the PHP programming language to implement new and innovative website features.
Legacy WordPress Plugin Repair and Replacement
In many cases we have customers with existing WordPress websites with plugins which are out of date. Even some what wont work with newer versions of WordPress, in these cases we can:
- Find an up to date WordPress Plugin which replaces the functionality of the out of date plugin
- Make changes to the WordPress Plugin code to bring it up to date or
- Build a replacement plugin made for the current version of WordPress.
Custom Web Application Development
Matraex, Inc works with entreprenuers, business owners and individuals with ideas to define innovative Web based applications and solutions which solve real world problems. Our team takes stakeholders through a process to define problems and craft potential solutions. From this we build a project that our clients want and the Matraex team can commit to. We then work closely with the client to get constant feedback throughout the development process to implement a fabulous product. Each of our Custom Web Application projects are implemented into a production hosting environment, where we continue to support them as needed.
Web Task Automation
Most people that work within a small business recognize problems and issues within their industry that need to be fixed. Small tasks which take up more time, than the value they provide. They often know that if they had the software, the task could be automated. Matraex, Inc builds the custom software that provides this automation. We work with our clients, the industry professionals who understand the issues. We create software which reliably accomplishes and automates the tasks. We periodically followup on the process to confirm that the software continues to accomplishes what has been intended or whether it could be improved.
PHP Development
PHP Powers nearly 70% of websites and has emerged as the most preferred & widely used server-side language. Historically, 90% of our development projects have been done with PHP. All new development projects are done using PHP, whether it is within the WordPress CMS. The laravel Framework, uses other composer packages. Or a custom frameworkless PHP project using a homegrown library of functions.
Matraex builds PHP websites using MySQL, Linux and Apache which is popularly known as the LAMP platform. We are able to launch new LAMP shared or dedicated development and production environments in minutes at one of our two redundant Data Centers (Involta and Fiberpipe)
Our company’s PHP Development Services offer multipurpose solutions that encapsulate the following:
- PHP Web Development
- PHP Application Development
- Custom PHP Development
- PHP Software Customization and Integration
- PHP Porting and Migration
- Packaged PHP Applications
- PHP Professional Services
- PHP Outsourcing
MySQL and Postgres Database Administration
The custom applications that Matraex, Inc develops integrate with a database to store persistent application data. Some applications like WordPress automatically setup and manage all aspects of the MySQL database architecture. But our custom applications require database administration (DBA) services for setup and maintenance. Matraex, Inc has Oracle Certified MySQL Administration experts to address the Database needs of these custom applications.
Matraex, Inc internally follows very stringent Database Naming conventions which we have used for more than 10 years. These standards allow our development team to very quickly create custom relationships. We also area able to easily read and understand relationships in existing applications we have built.
Website Overhaul and Repair
Websites get old, designs get tired and software gets outdated. Matraex, Inc breathes new life into websites by either a small simple change. Or a complete website overhaul. Depending on the client need we address goals and budget to recreate websites which perform.
Matraex offers Website WordPress PHP Custom Application Development Boise.
PDF Form Import Tool For Financial Professionals
PDF Form Import Tool For Financial Professionals
“I don’t want to have to change account numbers”.
It’s understandable, this is no easy feat. In today’s digital world we tend to set it and forget it when it comes to paying your bills. Just provide the phone company with your account number, routing number and a signature and you’re set. Each month the phone company happily goes in a takes what you owe on your bill and you never have to think about it.
Convenience is king in today’s world — if you want business, you have to be easy to work with and you have to be convenient.
When you have a special product or service that is hard to find elsewhere and provides a quick and easy way to do business, then you get an edge on your competition.
So let’s say you are the financial institution’s front line, a teller at a local branch.
The banking industry can be rough. Executive leaders push for more clients to come through the doors and ask for branch personnel to get more products in every
wallet through cross-selling or promotions geared at increasing the customer base. As the front line, you have to listen for the verbal clues from customers that indicate a financial or personal need that you as a bank or credit union can fulfill.
Even the smallest comment can indicate an opportunity.
“I would just deposit this check at my bank, but it is drawn on your bank and you are closer. “
Typically, the conversation goes somewhat like this:
“Have you ever thought about doing your banking with us? “.
And here it comes…wait for it…
“I would love to do my banking here, but all of my automatic payments come from my current bank account. I don’t want to have to change all of that. “
What if the conversation didn’t have to end there? … What if your company had a solution for this? … What if the teller could offer a response like,
“I have a kit that can help you with that. I have all of the forms you need to make the switch.
What kind of automatic payments do you currently have coming from your other bank’s account. “
Now… they can
PDF Switch Kit
Features |
Benefits |
| Professional Management of PDF forms for switching business to your company | Convenience of having all of the required forms available to the customer |
| Complete form once and fill in many PDFs with the click of a button | Save time by quickly inputting your customer’s information – only once for all forms. |
| Offer a service which is unique in the industry – set your company apart | Increase credibility and gain recognition for having cutting edge technology available to your customers |
| Convert your potential clients more easily and for less cost. | Save money by converting a potential customer to a raving customer. Overcome the number one objection to doing business with you |
PDF Form Import Tool For Financial Professionals
manually removing a pool slave from a pool in XenCenter
manually removing a pool slave from a pool in XenCenter
Problem: The pool master was lost or the ip address was changed. Upon bootup of one of the pool’s slaves, it came up with no management network, and no network interfaces to configure.
Resolution:
MAKE SURE YOUR VMs ARE BACKED UP!!!! LOCAL STORAGE WILL GO AWAY AFTER THIS AND WILL HAVE TO BE RE-CREATED.
Remove the slave server from XenCenter.
At the slave console’s main menu, go to “Network and Management Interface”, “Emergency Network Reset”
Login, and walk through he steps of re-assigning your address. Go ahead and enter an address for the master when prompted.
The server will reboot.
Go to “Local Command Shell” on the main menu.
Check the state of the server:
xe host-is-in-emergency-mode
answer: true
because the server is still in emergency mode, we need to edit the pool.conf.
nano /etc/xensource/pool.conf
It will probably reference “slave” and whatever address you defined as your master.
Remove all entries and add : master
save the conf file with Ctrl + o, exit with Ctrl + x
Rename the state.db with this command.
mv /var/xapi/state.db /var/xapi/state.db-old
Exit to the main console with xsconsole.
reboot it, and you should be able to re-add it to XenCenter and your pool.
More on changing ip addresses here:
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX123477
Adding your local storage back to the xenserver:
Once you’ve re-added your server back to XenCenter, you’ll notice that your storage devices are gone. to re-add:
On the console tab of the server you just added, You can list your devices with:
cat /proc/partitions
get your device id’s with:
ll /dev/disk/by-id
Execute the following command:
xe sr-create content-type=user device-config:device=/dev/disk/by-id/<device ID from the list from the previous command> host-uuid=<ID can be copied and pasted from the “general” tab> name-label=”Give It a Name” shared=false type=lvm
If you’re trying to add the disk with the system on it, you’ll have to select the partition to restore:
xe sr-create content-type=user device-config:device=/dev/disk/by-id/<device ID for the partition from the list from the previous command> host-uuid=<ID can be copied and pasted from the “general” tab> name-label=”Give It a Name” shared=false type=lvm
This might at least allow you to get and files on that storage off to a more stable place. With a server in this condition, I would recommend reloading XenServer once you’ve taken everything that you need off of it.
Matt Long
02/24/2015
Remove WordPress Generator Tags: Powered by Visual Composer – drag and drop page builder for WordPress
Remove WordPress Generator Tags: Powered by Visual Composer – drag and drop page builder for WordPress
When using a WordPress theme that uses the ‘Visual Composer’, a meta tag
- Powered by Visual Composer – drag and drop page builder for WordPress
Is displayed on the output of each of your pages.
You can use a tool like our WordPress Website Tool to see what generator meta tags are exposed by your WordPress installation
Since one of our initiatives here at Matraex, Inc while optimizing WordPress websites, is to remove the telltale signs of a WordPress installation, we need a way that we can easily remove these tags.
We already have a plugin that we install into each of the WordPress websites that we manage which helps us to optimize each of them so we had a quick place we could add custom code to handle the removal.
This gives us a more reliable way to customize the output, without having to worry about the settings within different plugins.
We added the following code which removed the Visual Composer Generator Tag
add_action('init', 'optimize_fixwp_head', 100);
function optimize_fixwp_head() {
remove_action('wp_head', array(visual_composer(), 'addMetaData'));
}
Once you have added this, you can do a very quick check to see that the meta tag has been removed using our WordPress Website Tool .
The tool will also help you identify whether you have any other common WordPress exposure issues.
In researching the way to implement this thanks to :
- wpbakery – http://codecanyon.net/item/visual-composer-page-builder-for-wordpress/242431/comments?page=162
- sbahjaoui – https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-meta-info
Website Owners 6 Free Speed Security and SEO Tools
Website Owners 6 Free Speed Security and SEO Tools
6 Free Speed, Security and SEO Tools Matraex, Inc Uses
There are a plethora of tools out there to help you evaluate your website. We have built a few ourselves that help us manage multiple websites. The following list is geared towards a website owner and should help you to understand some important aspects of your website.
If you should ever need anything part of your website changed, contact us here at Matraex for fast effective help.
1) Pingdom Webspeed Test
A good, full page speed load tester, it gives a score and suggestions for improvements – http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/
2) Google PageSpeed Insights
A phenomenal resource for understanding how you can improve the load speed and experience of your website. Google gives you a Mobile and Desktop Grade and then gives suggestions and advice with downloads. – https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
[Matraex Website Performance Assessment Log – saves results from tools 1 and 2 above to help users ‘watch’ the effect that changes have on their performance]
3) Qualys SSL Labs test
A great free test to check that your SSL certificate on your site does not have any vulnerabilities, The site gives your SSL certificate a grade and describes any problems. This is a great repeatable test if you have a site looking to become PCI compliant – https://www.ssllabs.com/
4) Jitbit SSL
Scan your https:// site to see if you have any insecure content. This test can help identify images, style sheet, javascript and other linked content which runs over an insecure (http://) connection – https://www.jitbit.com/sslcheck/
5) Securi Site Scan
Run a scan on your WordPress website with securi, this will help identify malware or hacks on your site. – https://sitecheck.sucuri.net
6) SEMRush SEO Evaluation
Find how your site is performing – SEM Rush gives you a single overview page with almost too much information. Take a look at your results for organic search backlinks and keywords. The initial report is free however SEM Rush charges for more frequent and advanced reports. Their free report gives you a good general idea to allow you to decide whether you want to get more indepth – https://www.semrush.com/
We of course want to include a link to our free tool as well, our tool helps us to take an even smaller, faster look at a WordPress Website’s speed, security and exposure, take a look if it fits your type of site – https://www.matraex.com/website-check.php
If these tools gave you a good idea about how your website is performing for you, but you would like more info or you would like to improve it, contact us or give me a call to discuss your website – Michael Blood 208.344.1115 x 250
7 Big Words in Website Design
7 Big Words in Website Design
Some of these words are more basic than others, but if you don’t already know these terms you should learn them as they may help your discussion with a web developer. The only criteria for these words / phrases were 1) “big”. they had to be three syllables or more and 2) they had to be terms that would apply to a web design / development conversation. (my contact information is at the bottom of this post so you and I can have a conversation about your website design)
[mtxquickform label=”Suggest a word to define” collectemailaddress=1 hidelist=’emailaddress’ submitbutton=’Suggest’ emailto=”michael@matraex.com” style=’float:right; width:40%; max-width:350px; font-size:12px; font-weight:normal; border:1px solid black; padding:10px; margin:10px; border-radius:4px;’]
- Deep Linking
- Localization
- Minimal Design
- Parallax Scrolling
- Responsive Design
- Skeumorphism
- Typography
Deep Linking
Creating a link directly to a piece of content instead of your home page. The content may otherwise have been buried behind searches or link only available on your website.
Where the page on our website might have been http://matraex.com?p=7044, we use deep linking and have this url https://www.matraex.com/bulk-domain-ns-mx-and-a-record-lookup-tool/
Using good naming convention and deep linking can help a in Search Engine Optimization.
Localization
The process of adapting a product or content to a specific locale.
A website may look up your location from your profile or by IP Address and then change what you see or what language is displayed.
The idea is simple but it can be difficult to implement. In browser translation helps users browse websites which do not have language localization.
Minimal Design
Not specific to web design, this is the idea that less is more.
The idea has taken hold on the web as people respond to websites which create more focused content with less clutter.
Parallax Scrolling
The technique of moving the background images at a different rate than the foreground images, thereby creating and illusion of depth.
Some sites simply move a background a small amount as you move around, other sites have a more involved method of handling the scroll to move through a picture.
http://www.dementialab.org/discovery-lab/ has a very engaging method of moving through their pictures.
Responsive Design
A method of site design which ‘responds’ to the resolution of the users screen to ensures the site looks great for all sizes.
Often the businesses logo and the website navigation menu are shrunk down to make more room for other website content.
A responsive site has become a necessity as users increasingly find other business using mobile devices.
Skeuomorphism
Making the items that are represented in digital form, resemble their real-world counter parts. An example is this microphone which was used in a voice recording app.
A quick way to get up on the concept is to read Gizmodo’s discussion of it. You can also see several examples of it by searching Google Images for ‘Skeuomorphism examples‘
Realism
Typography
The art of arranging typed text to make written language appealing.
Includes selecting the typeface, point size, line and letter length and spacing.
Take a look at a Google Images search for Typography fonts to see lots of examples.
Website Developer
Contact Michael Blood with Matraex, Inc to have a discussion about these or any other Website Development Terms – 208.344.1115 x 250 – Contact Form
Custom network tools we use at Matraex
We had a need for some Network Tools and we could not find them, so we created them
As Matraex has been developing websites over the last 15+ years, we have used many tools to do it.
We often find areas which there are no tools, or we could automate time consuming or error prone tasks in order to get them done more quickly and efficiently.
For these areas, we have developed some Network Tools which help us to get what we need done.
DNS and Name Servers
Bulk DNS Lookup
One of areas we identified was when dealing with new customers with a large number of domains. In ideal situations, the domains would all be registered with a single registrar account and all using known name servers. However that has not always been the case. We built the Bulk MX, DNS Domain Lookup tool to help us quickly assess the domain name, where it is located, who hosts the Name Servers, domains and mail services.
Name Server Compare
In other cases we found that we needed help in identifying where multiple name servers is not set to the same value on different servers. For example if a domain uses three different name servers, there are times that those name servers many not be setup the same and may report different values.
For this we built the https://www.matraex.com/nameserver-compare-tool/
This is especially useful when moving a number of domains from one name server to another.
Website Performance
Website Performance Assessment Log
To help us track the performance increase (or decrease) for Websites we built the Website Performance Assessment Log. The tool has very little functionality itself, however it allows you to type in statistics from Pingdom and from Google’s PageSpeed Insights, then once you make changes to your site you can type in the next set of statistics. This is helps to track which changes made a difference and which changes did not.
WordPress Website Check
We needed to quickly be able to assess a new WordPress website. So we built the Website Check tool which grabs some quick speed and page load statistics, does some security checks and checks on what your WordPress site exposes.
Other less popular, but some times helpful tools,
- our CSS helper tool, this tool helps us identify duplicate and overriding style sheet definitions on a single style sheet.
- Our buik – unix time to date converter. You can paste in a block of text (typically I copy this from some syslog file which logged in unix timestamps) and the tool replaces any found timestamps to help us quickly read the results with Date/ Time stamps
Matraex Inc has other tools as well and we try to offer these tools free (within reason) in order to allow others to do the same thing we do.
WordPress Website Check Instant tool 3 feedback areas
WordPress Website Check Instant tool 3 feedback areas
When working with WordPress websites, there are three main areas we assess within the first few seconds, speed, security and exposure. To help us quickly do this, we built a tool, WordPress Website Check Instant tool 3 feedback areas, which pulls this information quickly and puts it into a single interface.
WordPress Website Check – http://matraex.com/website-check.php
While each of the three areas of speed, security and exposure go much deeper than this small scan, we are able to see some very important metrics very quickly.
Three Checks
Speed
We can see the download speed, the size of your home page, the number of external CSS files and the number of external scripts. This helps us to see how well the site has been optimized. Typically wordpress websites are made up of a Theme with enabled capabilities, as well as a number of plugins. Each of the capabilities and plugins will often have their own stylesheets and script files which can add up to a bloated website.
Security
WordPress websites are the subject of frequent hack attempts. Website scanners quickly find WordPress sites that have their admin and login scripts exposed. The scanner identifies the scripts. If the scripts do not block access after a number of failed attempts (with the username ‘admin’ and then with a random username) the script fails.
Exposure
WordPress websites often publish their version number as well as details about which plugins it uses. This information ideally is private and if possible should be kept private. When vulnerabilities in these tools are found, this is an advertisement to exploit your site.
The results can be saved and a link will be sent to your email so you can permanently have access to the results
The tool is our way of checking a site within seconds, and we offer it free. Our hope is that others find this useful ad will come to Matraex, Inc for their Website Development, Design, Hosting and Security needs.
Matraex, Inc
208.344.1115
DNS Nameserver Response Comparison Tool
DNS Nameserver Response Comparison Tool
Over the years, as we have worked with setting up Nameservers with A records we have found that it can be a rather complex task. So we made a DNS Nameserver Response Comparison Tool.
The work of configuring the servers is straight forward (we prefer to work with Bind on Ubuntu). We have come up with ways of automating the configuration in order to manage the large numbers of domains our Name Servers handle. However when an issue comes up it can take a considerable amount of time to identify differences between the servers.
The time that it takes for records to propagate throughout the internet and simultaneous whois record updates can add confusion.
So, we came up with the Nameserver Results Compare Tool.
- Enter Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2
- Enter a list of domain names
- Review the results with discrepancies highlighted
The link to the tool is here:
https://www.matraex.com/nameserver-compare.php
Some other uses of the tool:
- Know whether a new Nameserver correctly reports all of your domain names, before you put it in production
- Compare googles 8.8.8.8 Nameserver results against your own.
- Identify when a recursive name server is caching the results in stead of requesting them from the authoritative source
As of this writing, the tool is new. If it is anything like the Bulk MX and DNS Lookup Tool we will likely add new features as we find new uses for it.
Some of the potential new features we could see for the future:
- Add multiple additional name servers
- Save frequently used name servers
- Add different record types (MX, TXT, CNAME)
- Control and report on the recursive portion of the request
- Track the comparison history
If you find this tool to be useful, please do provide a review for us. If you think of an enhancement that could make this DNS Nameserver Response Comparison Tool even more useful, please let us know (email: dnsutil @ matraex.com )