=> 1. News From the Net => 2. Feature Article-"Do You Need a Content Management System?" => 3. Webmaster Resources => 4. Promotional Resources => 5. Other Ezines of Interest => 6. Just for Fun or Useful => 7.E Books and Things of Interest to Publishers => 8. Freeware and Shareware to Download => 9.Subscribe/Remove Information *************************************** Hi Kids, Happy New Year! This is the first edition in the new year. My head hurts. I woke up this morning with areal thumper. I'm prone to sinus headaches so with the snow that's gently falling from the sky I'd say it's a pressure induced pain. Lovely. The older I get the more aches, pains and "conditions" I seem to pick up. Isn't life fun? If we get old enough we actually get to watch the decay of our own bodies. Can't wait. The last time I wrote it was New Year's Eve and I felt ill. I ended up coming down with the flu and in bed for 6 days. Now I'm hoping that's not a bad sign of the new year and what it will bring me. We had been doing a lot of visiting for Christmas so I know I picked up germs at one of our relative's houses. Actually, I can't remember the last time I had the flu. It's been years so I guess I had it coming to me. We all need to spend time ill as it gives us time to reflect on how lucky we are not to be sick. Right? You know what they say there's a bright side to every thing that happens to you. Just trying to find it. The weather just said we might get 5 to 8 inches of snow today. Gee, I hope not. Hate snow. It does seem as if we've been getting a lot if it here in Ohio this winter. Lately I've been wanting to go to Arizona to live. I've never been there and don't know why I'd like to go but it sure sounds warm. I did hear that Scottsdale is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Maybe someday I'll get there if I don't die from a Sinus Headache first. As most of you know I got my Insurance License last March. I think it was March. Well, now my night job has decided we should not only do customer service but sell policies as well so more training for Merle. Next week I'll spend 48 hours in sales training and I'll be official. Sort of scares me. Selling has never been my thing. I can't even sell Avon that well. Again, I'm trying to look at the bright side and hopefully I'll learn some tricks of the trade I can use in my Web business. Don't worry, I'll share. I always do, don't I? If you'd like to have your very own MerlesWorld.com toolbar now you can. I designed it myself. Download it now at and while you're there make one for your own website to give away. http://www.effectivebrand.com/LandingPage.aspx/CT7480 If you still haven't downloaded my latest f-r-e-e ebook, shame on you. It's called "50 Easy Ways to Promote Your Website". Get your copy over at my new site http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com I'd really like to see you over at the discussion board. Please give me your thoughts at http://www.merlesworld.com/webbbs/ Don't forget to bookmark the Blog. You'll want to pay an occasional visit for extra goodies I find. http://merlesworld.blogspot.com/ This week's winner for a free ad is.. Heather of http://www.whimsies-online.com For your own chance to win fill in the survey. You'll find the link at the very bottom of this ezine. A winner is pulled twice a month. Enter now. Thanks for joining me, let's get to the good stuff. If you have any comments you can send them to Me. Merle http://www.MerlesWorld.com http://www.EzineAdAuction.com http://www.MCPromotions.com

New Yahoo Software Searches Hard Drives
http://www.bizreport.com/news/8565/
-----

Microsoft: To secure IE, upgrade to XP
http://tinyurl.com/6z5d2

-----
Google's New Affiliate Linking Strategy
http://tinyurl.com/48n7v

-----
Measuring Blog Marketing
http://tinyurl.com/5y7p3

------
Phishing Attacks Surge in Last Six Months
http://tinyurl.com/5b8op

------
Three Cool Search Gizmos
http://tinyurl.com/4vatv

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"Do You Need a Content Management System?"

By Merle http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com

If HTML isn't your thing and you're planning a
website with lots of content, you might want
to consider using a "Content Management System,"
also known as CMS. With CMS, content is stored
in a database away from the site's templates,
which makes it impossible to destroy the design
structure of the site when editing.

CMS systems allow anyone to edit his or her website,
regardless of technical skill level. Pages can
be added or changed easily without knowing any
intricate coding. Many websites that use CMS
resemble a portal design. This type of system
also works well if multiple people or departments
will be making updates to the website.

Most CMS systems must be installed on your
web server and require that PHP and usually
MySQL also to be installed. Once you decide
that CMS is for you, you'll need to decide on
which software you'll want to use. Many content
management systems are "open source," which means
there is no charge to use them and most come
with complete documentation for setup and use.
Most all of them also offer support forums if
you run into problems when installing or you
need to ask a specific question.

Let's take a look at some of the more popular
CMS options available:

1) CMSimple: http://www.CMSimple.dk

Small open source program that's less then 50KB.
It's free to use but contains a link back to
CMSimple's website. If you're willing to pay
$40.00 to register the software, you can remove
it.

This program is written in PHP and runs on Linux
and Windows32. It does not need a database as the
entire site is stored in one simple HTML file.

2) Typo3: http://www.Typo3.com

Free again and open sourced software that comes
with alist of default plug ins such as calendars,
forums, guestbooks, polls and more. This software
is not for the faint of heart, as there are many
customization features along with a big learning
curve.

3) Rodin: http://rodin.lot23.com/

Requiring PHP & MySQL, on your server this open
source software consists of 9 small files weighing
in at under 12KB. Very simple to get up and running.
If you want more functionality, there are extra
add-ons that can be downloaded as needed.

4) WEbApp: http://www.Web-App.org

Free software written in Perl and runs on a
Unix server. WebApp creates a "portal type"
set of pages that includes forums, polls, news
and others. This system does not require SQL
on your web server, but does require Perl 5.
One drawback is the limited number of themes
that are supplied.

5) ASPBite: http://www.ASPBite.com

A free ASP CMS system with many expandable modules.
You'll first need to download and install what's
called the "base station" as everything else is
built on top of that. Add ons include; polls,
feedback forums, FAQ and more. There are more
extensive "Pro" modules such as shopping carts
and classified ads and others that are available
for a fee. ASPBite is easy to use and comes highly
rated.

6) PHP-Nuke: http://www.PHPNuke.com

This software runs on Linux and Windows servers
and does require SQL be installed. Very popular
and packed with features including; themes manager,
banner ad systems, polls, forums, search engines
and others. You'll find a lot of web support and
andd ons for this popular CMS system. Price $10.00.

7) CityDesk: http://www.fogcreek.com/CityDesk/index.html

Unlike the others, CityDesk is downloadable
Windows based software you install on your PC.
A very simple layout that allows you to add
articles easily. You won't need any special
software installed on your web server to use
it. Two versions are available: one free, which
allows up to 50 files on any one website or the
Professional version, which will set you back
$299.00. You'll find City Desk as simple to use
as any word processor program.

8) Metadot: http://www.Metadot.com

This open source portal software is Perl based
and allows many user based customizations. Metadot
runs on Linux, Apache and requires MySQL. This
system would be a great choice for anyone plan-
ning a "community site." It comes standard with
calendar, polls, end-user personal websites and
more. Totally free.

9) DotWidget CMS: http://www.dotwidget.com/index.php/125

CMS software made very easy. Features include a
built-in WYSIWYG text editor, multiple users and
access levels, customizable templates and more.
Your web server must have PHP and mySQL installed.
You can easily install DotWidget and begin building
your site's structure and adding content. No client-
side software is required and all editing is done
through your browser. Only $49.00.

As you can see there are many content management
systems to choose from, most of which won't cost
you a dime. Before deciding on which one is right
for you, you'll need to know what software is
installed on your host's server and you'll also
want to read over the support forums at each site
to get an idea of any known problems or issues
with each particular system.

A great site for reviewing and rating all types of
CMS software is http://www.CMSMatrix.org. You can
check boxes of the software packages you wish to
compare and you'll be shown a side by side compar-
ison of each along with a full description

If you're planning a community site or any type of
website that will require constant editing and
additions, a content management system might be
just what you've been looking for.

=====================================
Merle of WebSiteTrafficPlan.com offers a
F-r-e-e ebook and an e-course that will
teach you how to promote and market your
website. Grab your copy now at
http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com

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Graphical Link Display

If you'd like to see a nice graph that shows
all of the other sites linking to yours you'll
love this. It's way cool.

http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html

-------

Cambee

A cool service that doesn't cost a dime and
allows you to resize your digital images right
online then resave them. This would come in
handy for you Ebay users or anyone who needs
to quickly resize images.

http://www.cambee.com/

------

DocuPub

If you need to create PDF documents but don't
have Adobe software you can use this handy
online converter and either wait for the
document to be created,or have it emailed
to you.

http://DocuPub.com

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***********************************
Useful Tips
***********************************

Protecting Your Downloadable Files

If you sell information products online you'll
want to make sure that your download page is
not indexed by the search engines. To accomplish
this you'll need to include a special meta robots
tag into the head section of your webpage.

The code looks like this:

<Meta Name="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW">

"Need Traffic?"

John Reese has put together the most complete home
study course on how to get traffic to your website.
Take advantage of John's 10 years of online marketing
experience and strategies he used to generate over
1.57 website visitors to his own sites. This course
includes 7 DVD's, 6 CD's and over 500 pages of text.

http://www.mcpromotions.com/johnreese.htm

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If you'd like to swap ads with this ezine please send your
requests to mailto:adswap@merlesworld.com Please include
your ezine name and the number of subscribers.
-------------------

ATTENTION: Small Online Biz Owners!

If you're trying to market your Website and are not
sure where to turn, subscribe to MC Promotions Press
Newsletter and get the information you need to be a
success online. Sure-Fire Promotion/Marketing Tips.
Sites that will help you. Little known advertising
tricks.....and much more. Start increasing traffic
to your site Now http://www.MCPromotionsPress.com

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The Chris Pirillo Show

If you don't know who Chris Pirillo is
you haven't been on the Net near long
enough? He's older then dirt and the
creator of the famous Lockergnome website.
Listen to his audio shows with "people
who matter."

http://www.thechrispirilloshow.com/

------------

Ohio's Best RX

"Ohio's "Best Rx" is a prescription drug discount
card program designed to lower the cost of
prescriptions for Ohio residents without
prescription drug insurance coverage who are
either aged 60 and over or any age with incomes
less than 250% of the federal poverty level."

http://www.ohiobestrx.org/index.asp

-------

Birth Certificate..Death Certificate

Need a copy of your birth certificate, death
certificate or even marriage? You can order
any of the above at this handy dandy site.
One word of warning though it aint cheap. I
ordered a birth certificate which was only
15.00 but had to pay 9.95 shipping charge.
I didn't think paper weighed so much. Damn
trees are getting expensive.

http://www.vitalchek.com/

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"50 Easy Ways to Promote Your Website"

This f-r-e-e ebook contains over 100 resources that
will help you get traffic to your website quickly
and inexpensively. Grab your copy now at:

http://www.websitetrafficplan.com/ebook.htm

-------

Free Ebook Only Until Jan 25- Blogging

By Debbie Weil this ebook "Beginners Guide to Business
Blogging" is a free download only until Jan 25th.
Get it while you can.

http://www.changethis.com/11.BusinessBlogging

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Adobe Acrobat Reader

If you're tired of waiting for Adobe to open
up you might want to take a look at this
software that will give it a kick in the as..
so to speak so you wont have to fall asleep
while waiting.

http://www.tnk-bootblock.co.uk/prods/misc/index.php

-------

Yahoo Desktop Search

Jumping on the desktop search bandwagon this week
Yahoo is definitely trying to keep up with the
other major search engines. All of the major players
have announced this type of free software over
the past few months. It does make it easy to
find info on your hard drive.

http://desktop.yahoo.com

-------

Master Merry Go Round

"With Master Merry-Go-Round, you can rotate text
ads,Flash, images, sounds, scripts, applets --
in any combination. Whatever you can put on a
regular web page, you can use as rotating content."

http://willmaster.com/master/merrygoround/

Go Back Up

Well, that wraps it up,once again thanks for joining me.
If you have any comments please send them to comments@merlesworld.com or visit the site.

For advertising rates for this ezine visit http://www.merlesworld.com/advertising.htm

Current subscriber base is over 3,200- My list is clean as all email addresses are removed the very first time they bounce.
Back issues can be reviewed here...http://www.MerlesMission.com

If you are not a subscriber and would like to be send mailto:subscribe@merlesworld.com

For great web hosting or if you're in need of a programmer contact mailto:DavidBlack@SiteDesignandHosting.com .He's wonderful and an expert at what he does. Tell him "Merle" sent ya.

P.S. I am currently in need of testimonials for this ezine.If you enjoy it please let me know. Send to mailto:testimonials@MerlesWorld.com
«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

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I'm now offering my articles for syndication on your website All you have to do is paste SOME code where you want the article to appear and every 10 to 14 days when I update it on my end it will display a fresh article on web design/ maintenance on your site. Easy to do and gives you fresh content without any work whatsoever. For more info and to get to the code Click Here.

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Disclaimer: Merle's World does not accept any responsibility for any liabilities as resulting from any claims in this newsletter or by the advertisers in it. This newsletter is for informational purposes only. We respect your privacy and do not share our mailing list with anyone. All content provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Comments in this ezine are strictly the opinion of the publisher. Merle does not endorse, and is not responsible for, the above ads. Please use your own discretion when responding to ads in this ezine. Copyright 2001-2004 All Rights Reserved. View our Privacy Policy and our...Site Disclaimer

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