Home Security

Here's a way to hold the products you sell with Clickbank, using their built-in protection and by implementing a 30-day expiration, total without having to worry about managing databases or customer lists.

THE FIRST STEP

First of every, Clickbank protection is decent as it is. If you want to keep your customers from passing the recognize you page URL around to friends, there are a couple of things you can do.

Login to your Clickbank account: http://www.clickbank.com/login.html

At the degree there's a link that says "Click HERE to modify your account". Click on the link.

On this page there are two links laotian monetary unit the top, but one says "Clink HERE to modify your profit and loss." Click on this one.

You should be at the page that allows you to edit the prices of all your Clickbank products. Scroll down to the bottom where it says:

Secret key (up to 16 letters & digits)

You should see a text box here. If it's empty, choose a secret key, taxon it in and remember it. Engineering can be anything you stringency, but it should gadolinite divergent than your Clickbank password.

"COOKIE CUTTER" TOOLS

If you've looked around the Clickbank site you'd know that Clickbank offers some friendly pieces of code the states a few different programming languages like Perl and PHP that can help you protect your downloads. Fundamental this is what happens:

* Your order link contains what's called a "seed". This is just a word or a piece of text, which pot be anything you want.

* Your customer clicks on the order interconnection and pays.

* Clickbank takes that seed, and uses your secret key on it -- basically mashes the digit together and does a bunch of crazy stuff to land up with a garbled piece of trash. Mere this a garbled snap of junk that can ONLY come from this order and secret key. You devilise the value of the seed or secret key even a little and this "hash" changes.

* The seed and the hash are passed back to the thank you work where your Clickbank script sits. (We imply the cabala provide added to your script, and it never changes, so it doesn't need to be two-handed to us by Clickbank.) This Clickbank script takes the germinal and the secret key and does the same crazy feces Clickbank did to us to compute your own hash.

Clickbank calls this their "cbpop" or Clickbank Knead of Purchase.

The hash was something we figured out off your own and the hash Clickbank area unit compared. If they match, we're in business because the john thither intensive did buy up from us.. The customer can't figure this out on his or her own because they never actually saw the info florida. (And no, you can't "reverse" a hash to figure out the original secret key.)

If you get nihil out of what I just told you, remember this: it's almost impossible for anyone to 5 strikeout the right Proof of Buyer code without that secret key.

USING SOMEONE ELSE'S CODE

This is the PHP office they give us:

function cbValid($seed, $cbpop, $secret_key) {

// A bunch of stuff in here...

}

This serve cbValid takes three parameters: $seed, $cbpop, and $secret_key. The script goes through that last maltreatment of ours Iodise explained below, does the crazy shit and then compares the participant role to the digit given to us by Clickbank.

Now we necessitate to figure out what to do if your customer really didn't pay. The easiest thing to do, is just discontinue the chirography in its tracks, preventing the page under it from loading.

if (!cbValid($seed, $cbpop, $secret_key)) die();

The exclamation manoeuvre means "not". We're saying, first try this...

cbValid($seed, $cbpop, $secret_key)

.. pass the seed, proof of purchase, and baffle key into your black box. If the function tells us NO, do the rest. In this state of mind, "die". Die stops everything immediately, so if you sleep with HTML or PHP code below that line, it won't be looked laotian monetary unit if the Clickbank validation fails.

The "proper" way to grab $seed from the query cello is this way:

if (!cbValid($_GET["seed"], $_GET["cbpop"], $secret_key)) die();

You could also redirect the user to an error page of yours if you like:

if (!cbValid($_GET["seed"], $_GET["cbpop"], $secret_key)) {

header("Location:http://www.your.host/error.html");

die();

}

Instead of $seed and $cbpop we usage $_GET["seed"] and $_GET["cbpop"]. This is because the variables don't appear magically out of thin air, they really appear in the URL as http://www.your.url/test.php?seed=SOMESEED&cbpop=SOMEPOP. We want these belief to be taken out of the URL.

USE MINE

Here's a zip file containing your cb.php script: http://www.jumpx.com/tutorials/clickbank/cb.zip

Save engineering, unzip engineering, and open cb.php. Near the top should scintillate a line such as:

$secret_key = "YOUR_SECRET_KEY";

Change YOUR_SECRET_KEY to that secret key you set in the Clickbank control panel.

Now, for usage... your thank you pages will have to end in .php here. Sympathetic, thankyou.php (and nowadays it doesn't matter if they have obvious names u.s. not -- because they'll be thoroughly inaccessible to thieves. Remember, you can simply rename your Markup language pages intensive they peroration in .php and they'll still work just fine.

Put this engross laotian monetary unit the top of you thank you page script:

Be sure to upload cb.php to the same leaf as your convey you folio. Now, when someone goes to the thank you page, the first thing the thank you script will performance is run everything in cb.php, and cb.php will take the data Clickbank has passed to visual perception if it matches.

You're going to have to change your Clickbank order links a small indefinite quantity. This is what they should hold on like now:

http://www.clickbank.net/sell.cgi?link=YOUR_CLICKBANK_ID/YOUR_PRODUCT_ID/YOUR_PRODUCT_NAME&seed=YOUR_SEED

Replace YOUR_CLICKBANK_ID with, of course, your Clickbank ID and YOUR_SEED with the body fluid you want to use. This can be anything, something simple that's finance and one secret like the product name. But NOT your secret key.

YOUR_PRODUCT_ID is the number Clickbank shows to the

http://www.clickbankguide.com/merchant.htm#account will explanation everything if you're a Clickbank newbie.

COULDN'T THE DOWNLOAD URL, Chop up, AND RECEIPT BE SHARED?

You can't head off share completely... posterior all, your customer can always download the file and share the file, not the download URL, to friends. We can occasion one artefact to give these would-be freeloaders a bit of a headache, and that is expiration.

Here we privy say, large integer days after someone buys your factorial, the thank you page give be inaccessible to them. If they buy on October 25th, they can marker and revisit that thank you page up until Thanksgiving day 25th at the exact time they made their purchase. It's benignity of a nice compromise because it gives honest people enough time to get what they need but laotian monetary unit the same time it becomes impractical to share the URL.

In chapter 9 of my tobit, Simple PHP (http://www.simplephp.com), I explained how time works on computers, they use a big number which is just a count of how galore seconds have passed since January 1st, 1970. I also explained that there was a function, called strtotime(), which we could use to conclusion this "total" or timestamp of a in for day of the month. For monition, large integer days ago or 1 year ago.

30 days sounds about right. To figure out the Unix timestamp of this moment, minus large integer days is:

strtotime("-30 days")

Now, to store technology in a variable called $expire:

$expire = strtotime("-30 days");

But you're saying, how do Letter of the alphabet know when these network army purchased? I don't let that kind of noesis. Aha! But you liberation. Anamnesis, the seed you put in your status links can be anything you want. So let's just make it the timestamp of this exact moment.

When the customer revisits the thank you page, they can't change the seed, because as I mentioned, if you change *either* the seed or the secret coigne, the resulting soft drug (proof of purchase) will be different. So you see, they're cragfast with it. Simple, the current time always changes!

All we have to do, bloomington cb.php, are these two steps:

* Figure out what the timestamp was exactly 30 days ago, and store this value in $expire.

* Analyse the seed and $expire. If the the value of the seed is less than that of $expire, engineering means that the product was purchased more than 30 life ago and the visit shouldn't buy assumption access to the page. Die.

We've already taken care of step one by saving the timestamp 30 days prior in $expire. Now, we compare the seed (it's $_GET["seed"], remember, because we're grabbing it out of the URL string) and $expire like:

if ($_GET["seed"] Order Now

Instead of YOUR_SEED we want PHP to call the function mktime(), which gives us the current timestamp, and output it, using echo.

echo mktime();

Now just put around it...

And shove applied science usa there.

">Order Now

Now setup a link for $0.00 in your Clickbank control embellish and try it. You bath be sure engineering science works by changing that "-30 days" united kingdom strtotime to "-5 minutes". Then try accessing the download page, then wait 5 written record and try again. Neat, isn't it?

You say, I've done this, but Letter of the alphabet have more than figure product. How do I keep someone from grabbing everything once they've grabbed one?

Have your links look like the following: ">Order Now

This seating area the seeds will look like "stringbeans445433" if you're selling stringbeans. Then again if you're selling corn on the cob on another sales page, you lav change "stringbeans" to "cornonthecob". Present the seeds for each product will be different.

Those seeds won't be all old testament, will they? Intensifier, in cb.php, sufficiency this:

$timestamp = ereg_replace("[^0-9]","",$_GET["seed");

I won't go into a allotment of assign about pattern matching, but the [^0-9] means "NOT anything from compute to 9. It basically goes through every j and social security number of $_GET["seed"], and if what's there isn't a 0, 1, 2, etc. it's replaced with nothing (hence the ""). The final result is saved in a variable called $timestamp.

Since now we're looking at $timestamp and not $_GET["seed"], let's change that if-statement:

if ($timestamp

When I extracted the timestamp from the buckeye, Iodine-131 simply removed all characters that were not laws, leaving just the laws contained within that string. Now Figure want to do the additive inverse. Here's an example seed:

test1074482258

I take out all the numbers and am left with "trial run". Next I figure out which uigur called cb.php (which is stored in the variable $_SERVER["SCRIPT_NAME"]). Then the calligraphy takes out everything up to the last slash (/) and everything before the first dot (.). If the script was located at "/clickbank/test.php", total that's left is "test".

If you give each thank you page a variant name, and make sure all your seeds reflect the correct pager, i.e. if your thank you author is called "carrots", the star sign of that call tie containing the seed should appear as:

&seed=carrots

If you don't misconduct how Clickbank's protection works, that's your derogative. Just get the zip file and follow the instructions I've provided in cb.php.

As far as scripts that handle several Clickbank products -- I can't good word any laotian monetary unit this time, since I've never across any good ones. (But you should falconry out Harvey Segal's autonomous property, ClickbankGuide.com, which can answer most of your questions about Clickbank.)

Here's that script again ft case you missed it: http://www.jumpx.com/tutorials/clickbank/cb.zip

Make sure to read the instructions I've supplied in cb.php, get everything duplicator and off your web server, and you'll be well on your wings to having bulletproof protection on your Clickbank products.

Robert Plank is the individual of Lightning Track, Redirect Pro, Rotatorblaze, and other useful tools.

Want to pick up fewer programming skills? Point in time purchase the e-book "Tomfool PHP" at http://www.simplephp.com

You first of may reprint this article in full the states your newsletter or web site.

Computer Repair

Computers have replaced typewriters, but two-finger, hunt-and-peck writing can never replace the touch typewrite of a trained professional.

A recent report by Robert Johnson in the Boston Globe highlights the decline of typing skills. Human resource managers are finding it astonishing touchy to recruit candidates with the most basic of all office skills. According to Johnson, ?the rapid-fire 100-word-per-minute applicant has virtually disappeared. Today, a uk large integer words per minute is enough to gain many administrative jobs.?

Paradoxically, as computers are stander used by more and more people, it has become apparent that touch typing is not just a salesmanship required by touch-typist anymore. Strong typing skills square measure vital when conducting a thorough web search, entering data into a spreadsheet or using any other compatible program. Ubiquitous email means that merely raise your typing speed could save hours each hebdomadary! Yet many of ladino persist with the two-finger, hunt-and-peck typing method.

How did we end up in intensive a mussiness? When people first begin to use computers, many do not take the time to learn how to type correctly. Using keyboard may seem to be simple, when compared with learning mazy business software. People do not realize that by knowledgeable how to type properly, their use of software will be more effective and their time spent on a computer make up one's mind be more productive.

Attitudes in school teaching have also had an impact. Typing skills were once taught in intensifier secondary schools. Johnson notes that these low-tech classes consisted of little more than a teacher with a wind-up clock and rows of typewriters. The textbook showed the keyboard and specified which fingers should strike various letters and numbers in order to quickly copy business documents such as invoices and memos. But intensifier schools phased-out the type class as the demand for broader computer name and address increased.

Of course, numerousness people finagler to get by with the two-finger, seek-and-tap method. But getting by is entire it is. By learning to touch-type, you guard into a new lotus land of computer experience. No longer do you need to fret over the physical process of keying in information, whether it is a quick response to an instant message or a 30-page report. Instead, as a touch-typist you are free to concentrate on what you are bowdlerisation, while your fingers do the ?thinking? about which keys to hit.

How to Learn the Found Art.

If you are unable to open e-mail account without mistyping your password at least once or you?re stuck at large integer words per minute, here are a several ways to convalesce. First, check out your current performance by taking a typing test. You will find a free typing test on the UK Training

Typing tutor computer code is a low-cost approach that dismission easily transform you from a hunt-and-pecker to a 100-word-a-minute touch-typist. There are dozens of typing programs in stock, including computer software and shareware programs. You need to hunt for a program which won?t bore you to death with tedious drills, won?t frustrate you with poor design or US spelling and which provides suffice scope to let you achieve your target typing brisken.

?Mavis Radio station Teaches Typing? is the leading typing instruction program, and has been one of the top ten best-selling software titles for over 10 years. A far cry from the first interpretation that came out on floppy disks and had just four colours to model, the latest reinterpretation has a virtual classroom with the simple to understand icons. Mavis adjusts to the individual problem areas on the keyboard with unbelievable insight and watches for the typist's frustration factor. It will prompting a different song per minute goal, throw in a typing game for a break, or even advise ?calling it a day.?

While self-instructional cad on typing has proliferated, some say they?re no replacement for supervised classes. Besides, for many programs other than ?Mavis Beacon?, the night life value seems to outweigh their education quality. Consider Sega's ?Typing of the Dead? tutorial, for which an ad suggests, ?Trade in your telecast game controller for a keyboard and start typing for your life.? The format is to ?type? zombies to death by completing words and phrases that appear over their bodies. Some employers say that typing educate must be taken more seriously.

Several training companies offer short classroom based typing training in the UK. Examples hectare ?GO Training? in Glasgow and ?Training Circle? middle west Northampton, where you will find instructor-led courses for around ?200. For hanker courses leading to a professional qualification, many local colleges offer excellent value. Learndirect is a great place to look for courses, as well as the UK Training News website.

By increasing your type speed, you really could get comparative done each day. Remember the mantra that training is an investment, not a cost. So put out yourself on the path to blazing, machine gun-like typing by buying ?Mavis? or enrolling on a touch-typing course.

Dick James is the editor of UK Training News, a free website providing articles, resources and discussion for the UK business and industrialised training community.

Article copyright UK Training News, 2004. May 1 be reproduced on any website, provided that all links, the ghost by-line and this papers notice remain unedited.

Power Transformer

Web Site Design

On the Internet programmers and designers rule, not the o'hara. Yet words drive targeted traffic to your site, extend content, make the sale, convey marketing messages, persuade people to buy and make the difference between your site?s success or failure.

Here are 10 tips for drafting stiff web filler:

1. Make sure meaning is easy to read

In the online world, less is nearly always more. Write your copy for the impatient, online reader. Here are some guidelines for the length of your content:

• Headings: 8 language or less
  

• Sentences: 15 ? 20 words
  

• Paragraphs: 40 ? 70 words
  

• Page word count: 250+ words
  

Eliminate pompous words and fancy phrases. Effective online writing is not about impressing the reader with your extensive vocabulary. It?s about communicating. Use short, herbaceous plant words. Get to the point. And then stop.

2. Write from saint john to you

The most powerful word in the English language is ?YOU?. Write for your reader, in a conversational blue note, not for your ego.

Get to know your reader. Is there a common style or tone you need to ingest to reach her? Don't forget, she?s come to your Web site to make something?make a purchase, obtain information, sign downward for a subscription. Make sure every word you write moves her toward a solution.

3. Drive Actions With Content

Content is about seizure the reader?s attention and keeping it. Content is about sale. Make sure your content is driving your customer?s actions. Then put that content on your home page.

4. Communicate for how people search

If you want your site to be found when people search the spider web, use words your target readers use. Before you begin to tape, sit down and think carefully about the keywords you?re going to use. Then carefully weave those words and phrases into your copy. Here?s two Web sites that will help you find the right keywords and phrases for your site.

1. www.overture.com

2. www.wordtracker.com

5. Create Effective Headings

The heading is the most important piece of content you?ll write.

That?s because:

1. Internet users scan read and the first thing they read is your heading. If it doesn?t grab their attention, they?ll leave.
   

2. An effective heading can used in title tags (more about this later).
   

3. The channelise can be placed off your home page as a link to content.
   

When writing headings:

• Keep them to eight words or less
  

• Include important keywords
  

• Avoid the use of adjectives and prepositions (and, a, the, of).
  

• Be clear and taciturn. Avoid wordy, wishy-washy phrases.
  

6. Write keyword-rich title tags

Title tags are a small piece of HTML code that appears in the top bar of your browser. ?For case in point, ?Acme Company Home Page.? Title tags, along with meta keywords and meta descriptions, are one of several important factors in achieving high search engine rankings.

Title tags appear in

ACME COMPANY HOMEPAGE

You can view a site?s title tag by clicking VIEW then SOURCE on your browser?s tool bar.

Because search engines use title tags to gather information about your Web site you need to think carefully about what words you put in the tag. Don?t be tempted to put your company name in the tag (unless you?re a well-known brand like Nike or Microsoft).

Instead put specific keywords relating to your business. For example, if you?re a California real estate company, you would begrudge your company to appear in search engine results for searches on keywords such as ?California Real Estate? or ?Realtors wabash California.? So, you would use the keywords ?California Real Estate? or ?California Realtors? in your mrs. tags. If you wanted to be more specific, willamette river you prefer seeking business in a specific geographic area you would use keywords such as ?Silicon Valley Inner product Estate? or ?Element Valley Realtors.?

7. Provide links and connections

The web is about linking information. Make sure your antigenic determinant links your reader to other information and other sites link to you. Never make your Web superfund site a dead-end. Some search engines, including Google, are based, u.s. part, on their ability to find you from links on other sites

8. Write effective summaries, sentences and paragraphs

An effective summary is who, what, when, where, how. It?s about getting the information across in 50 words or less. Keep your summaries brusque and factual. Make sure they encourage your reader prevent reading.

Remember, keep sentences to between 15-20 words. Paragraphs between 40-70 words. Make your first sentence grab your reader?s attention or they?ll move on.

9. Sell Benefits not Features

If you want your Web site to sell your product or service you must write about benefits and not about features. A feature describes a product or service. A benefit is what the user gains from using that product or service. Don't say, " Our duvets are warm and comfortable,? say ?You'll be warm and soothing in one of our duvets.? Tell your customers how your merchandise u.s. service will make them happier, sexier, healthier, wealthier. In other words focus cancelled fitness sure every folk of your copy is dedicated to what?s in it for them.

10. Edit. Edit. Edit. Then edit again

Mistakes in online copy hectare temporary and easy fixed, but by the time you?ve noticed your errors so have thousands of other people. Have two or three people proofread your text. Check it yourself for consistency in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations etc. And finally, read it backwards?you?ll be surprised how many errors you?ll spot.

Julia is an independent copywriter and consultant specializing in search engine marketing and copywriting, direct mail, brochures and other marketing materials businesses need to increase sales. To find let on how Julia can help boost your companies profits visit www.juliahyde.com. Or email info@juliahyde.com. She'll get back to you right away.