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I have a little sideline where I create and sell a product on eBay. I have purchased a cheap template and currently use it to sell product (see link below) SALICYLIC ACID BHA SKIN PEEL 30ml - Treating acne blackheads blemishes & spots | eBay It's pretty basic and doesn't allow too much modification, but does the job to a point. I'd like to make my listings more like this (see link below) but have little idea of how to go about it. Any ideas or suggestions of websites/services/books etc would be very much appreciated. SALICYLIC ACID SKIN PEEL 10% ACNE TREATMENT SPOTS STRETCH MARKS SCARS 30-ml! | eBay Many thanks

Hi All Rather than starting few new threads in different categories I have decided to include everything in one. If this is not the right category, mods please move it to the right one. I have started working in a high school as ICT Administrator couple of months ago. We are located in Victoria, Australia. First of all, I would explain briefly what our network is like at the moment. We have two separate networks(two domains) for students and staff. They are not connected to each other and both of them are flat networks with unmanaged switches. We have four physical servers on the staff network and three on the student network based on Windows Server 2000 to 2008. There are 50 staff each with a school provided laptop or desktop. There are close to 300 students and about 250 devices which are a mixture of desktops, laptops and tablets. The client machines mainly have Windows xp or Windows 7 on them. At the moment our usage is pretty basic, both staff and students mainly use it for internet browsing and Office and some other applications. Now we are planning to implement few new technologies to improve the service and quality of education. The current infrastructure is definitely not suitable for things like BYOD and LMS which we want to implement. So we have decided to rebuild our network with new servers, switches and upgrade all the servers and clients to latest OS. As I am the one who is mainly responsible for this, I thought of asking other admins here and gain knowledge from their experience. I come here quite a bit whenever I need to do research on something or if I am stuck and I have almost always found a solution. Now I have done some research and planning so would like other’s views on these: 2X Servers- Dell Poweredge Rack Servers R720/R720xd or equivalent Switches- ? SAN- ? Server OS- Windows Server 2012 Client OS- Windows 8 Exchange 2013 SQL 2012 Hypervisor- VMWare Vsphere Essentials Plus Kit Firewall/Filtering- Smoothwall/Sonicwall/endian/untangle/Bloxx (I am aware smoothwall is everyone’s favourite) Backup- Veeam/unitrends or something similar Classroom Management System- Lanschool/abtutor Antivirus- ? Office 365 UC- Lync Server 2013 I might have missed a few things here and there so please let me know about those. Also I am wondering if I can go somewhere to find some network diagrams and configurations which will make my job much easier. I would also like to know how many lans people recommend having and for what. I would like to use existing unmanaged switches for student computers as they will be phased out once BYOD is implemented. It would be great if someone can tell me how much they paid for these software and hardware so that I can get an idea. I am aware that the prices vary based on configuration and other factors. If someone else works in a similar size school, can you please tell me what you are using and would you be able to share your network topology. There are a lot of other questions I want to ask but do not want to make my post longer. Thanks in advance.

Hi all, I *may* have landed myself a nice little job developing a CMS for somebody, however I've not done it before so was looking for some pointers from those of you that have. Based on what I've read here, I've set my initial fee at £200 for a CMS with up to 5 pages, with each additional page costing £20. I was thinking about a £25 flat rate for any changes in design after the initial setup (thought about giving a 1 week "cooling off" period where I'd do things like that for free - good idea?) Hosting will be provided by a reputable host; I'll recommend three (they'll want that for their VFM forms) and arrange for them to pay the host directly and pass on the login details to me. So far so good? Also, I was wondering if anybody could share any insight as to obstacles I may not have thought of? Is there a kind of generic service contract out there I can use as a basis to draw up my own contract? Appreciate any and all help!

Hi all, Our DT department still uses the ever-popular if long-in-tooth 2D Design package in their computer suite. Trouble is, after a redesign of the exam spec, it seems the computer suite needs to go, in order to make room for a textiles area. We're already 1:1 iPad, so I'd love to find an iOS solution to replace 2D Design. Anybody doing DT/CAD on iPads? It'd need to either export to a 2D Design-friendly format, so files can be opened on the one machine left for controlling the Rayjet laser cutter, or somehow magically talk directly to the Rayjet. Bonus points if it also does 3D and talks to the MakerBot, but I expect that's going to take a second, separate piece of software. The big caveat is account maintenance -- I'm happy to have something that can authenticate against G Suite or AD/365/Azure, but maintaining a separate set of accounts just for DT software is pretty much out of the question. (Creeping precedent!) Also open to ideas involving Chromebooks. Laptops aren't under consideration, as staff always complain that boot/load/etc. times are too slow, even with SSDs, and I don't want to spend money on a load of kit just to hear people grumble about it and not use it. Anyone out there doing DT w/ iOS or Chrome devices?

Hi All I know this is a bit cheeky, but am after a logo for the new website I am setting up, and thought the best place would be here. The website is called landywatch - landywatch.co.uk/ - Index page and is a Land Rover Theft Monitoring website. What we are setting up a system where we can log all Land Rover thefts, recovered Land Rovers, and suspicious activity into a database that can then be brought up on a map so we can identify trends in the theft of these vehicles. We are after a logo for the website, but I am not the best at using design packages and thought with the wealth of graphical experience on this website a cracking logo could be made. I was thinking of something along the lines of the Neighbourhood Watch logo, or the Home Watch Logo, with the middle part of the logo replaced with a blueprint of a Land Rover. http://launton.org/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/neighbourhood_watch.jpg http://transport-blueprints.ru/images/landrover_001.jpg http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/images/homewatch-logo.gif I was thinking something along the lines of the above with Landy Watch as the text and your artistic flair We could then have these made up into window stickers for vehicles, as well as branding for the website. If anyone could spare a little time to make us a logo it would be much appreciated.

Hello all, I hope someone can help me with a problem that is driving me crazy! We have just purchased frog and are in the process of getting the design and overall look of the VLE finalised. However, since I apparently have enough time, I thought "why dont I design some mock-ups for departmental sites (mini sites)". So I have come up with some ideas and now just realised that they may not be easy to create in Frog. It may be possible to create and use widgets or may even be simple enough to create in Frog. But we have not got the Frog server installed so I can't play around with it to check. I have tried contacting frog but not recieved a clear answer. I have attached two of the designs and would really really really appreciate it, if someone can let me know if they will be easy to recreate on Frog. Thank you!

An idea has been presented to me by a teacher... They want to build a 'virtual school' as part of our website. I've created a virtual staffroom for the school anyway, but that was only basic image mapping. Could I use image mapping as I have previously and add animations on rollover? Say, a collection of around 20 image maps linking to each other through a central 'corridor'? If so, how can I go about learning how to put these animations on a rollover, previously I've only got as far as an image swap, I'm trying to understand how to use what type of animation... Or am I thinking completely along the wrong lines, I don't want to spend days on this, but it seems like it could be quite simple or extremely complicated!!! If anyone could share any ideas on how the best way for me to do this would be I will be EXTREMELY greatful!!! Thanks Laura

I spend a lot of time working on websites and I have considering buying a second monitor as I don't have enough desktop to edit code in one window and view the result in a browser in another window without having to open/close windows. I decided to look for a software solution first and was surprised having a code editor and browser preview in the same space wasn't easy to find. I work with php/mysql and Dreamweaver 8, so the standard html preview approach Dreamweaver uses (don't know about the new version) doesn't work for me and it's php testing server launches in a new window. I tried Microsoft Expression and had no joy with that either. I am pleased to say I have been running Eclipse from eclipse.org for the last few days and it does exactly what I was looking for. Jumping between code and a browser preview is a tab away. I know it may not seem like a big deal, jumping between windows, but when you have done it for the 1000th time it saves on the rsi :-) I can tell as well that I am only scratching the surface with eclipse at the moment and I'm sure it will prove even more helpful in the future. I don't see it as a teaching tool to frighten students with but I am sure there are many here who already use it or may find it useful. Chris

I have, either bravely or foolishly, volunteered to design and host a Church website for a Church that currently has no electronic presence (beyond a Yahoo e-mail address). I'm planning static information pages, rolling news stories, group mailing lists, calendar with events, and possibly to look at podcasting sermons later on. The most important bit is that it isn't tied to heavily to one individual (me or anyone else) such that the website folds as and when that person leaves the area or becomes too busy. I mostly have experience with Drupal which I'm not sure will do the job with a lot of hacking (specifically around the calendar/events issue), and Wordpress- which possibly will. Despite great plugins and a auto-updater I'm not sold that this is the best solution for this type of site (although many do use it as such). What I do use has to be free, Open Source, and should ideally have a reasonably strong community offering plugins and support so if I'm hit by the proverbial bus life (for the website at least) will go on. I'm not scared of a challenge and learning a new system, but it must be easy to maintain and update once in place. Have you any suggestions or practical experience to relay for a project of this type, both technical (the right CMS, features to try and those to avoid, good plugins) and human (how to achieve user buyin from a diverse community). On that note, the Church is outward looking and has a diverse range of ages and backgrounds, so this may impact the choice of style and design. All comments appreciated.

Hi I would like to learn how to create a report from Sims using an Excel template, so that the output is always set up the same (eg as a Pivot table) but I have no idea how to begin. Please could someone guide me or send me a link, if there has already been a post on this. Many thanks

Hi Guys, This mat not be the right place to post sorry if its not.I Work a at a Junior School and we are looking purchasing some design software to enhance the childrens knowledge of 'design' past Powerpoint and Publisher if they wish with after school clubs etc.Could anybody recommend a design package which is relativley user friendly(yr3 to yr6)?? Would appreciate the help!! Thank-You

Link: Dedesign the Web - Wireframe & Website Design Trivia Game

The design department have asked me to source an A3 scanner for around £1000, has anyone got any ideas on good ones!? I dont have a clue in this area! Thanks Steve

Hello hello, This is quite a broad question, so apologies if I'm asking a lot of you all. The primary school I work in does not currently have a website, and I have been tasked with researching possible solutions. My experience with web design is limited, I have a basic knowledge of html and css and can make fairly simple websites using notepad (i didn't like dreamweaver). I am also pretty competent with photoshop, and to some extent illustrator. This is pretty much as far as my experience goes - I have no experience with php, mysql, or any content management systems, or basically anything else to do with web design. And so to my question...what would the members here recommend using? I am perfectly willing to put the time in and learn, but am unsure about which will be the best solution. I think that the headteacher used a cms called schooljotter at his last school (he has just started here) which seems to have a fair amount of useful stuff for schools, but I gather that this isn't free, and the sites I have seen that use it IMO look a bit rubbish. At the moment I am swaying towards using Joomla, especially since the Edugeek template seems to simplify the design a lot, and I have figured out how to edit it as well. One of the main requirements is that certain members of staff (the more technically minded) will be able to update the site, not just myself, so the cms needs to be fairly straightforward with a little instruction. Also any advice on hosting would be appreciated, for instance is it possible to get the council/LEA to host it, or possibly our closest CLC, or will we need to go through a private company. Any thoughts about any part of this topic would be greatly appreciated, or even adivce on topics i haven't mentioned. Thanks in advance Jon

Found this a little while ago, may be of use to somebody into design. Some of the fonts look quite good. Beautiful New Free Fonts For Your Designs | Fonts | Smashing Magazine Some demos below, more on the linked page: http://media1.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/images/fresh-beautiful-fonts/days.gif http://media2.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/images/fresh-beautiful-fonts/chalk.gif http://media2.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/images/fresh-beautiful-fonts/ripe.gif

Link: Evolving the Firefox Brand [Mozilla Open Design]

I'm struggling to make a report and hope for some of you SIMS gurus can help! The report needs to read as follows: Year Group | Reg Group | Surname | Forname | Teacher | Room The report needs to contain all those pupils with a '-' mark (i.e. a missing registration mark) for PM registration and display their period 5 teacher and the room that they should be in. It doesn't sound very hard, does it? Instructions or report definitions welcomed