When it comes to extensions, Firefox is king – with thousands upon thousands to choose from.  However, Google Chrome is just now starting to gain ground with the idea of having an extendable interface, so how many good web development extensions are there for this alternative browser from Google?  I did my search and found five of the best web development related extensions for the browser.

Speed Tracer

Speed Tracer is a tool to help you identify and fix performance problems in your web applications. It visualizes metrics that are taken from low level instrumentation points inside of the browser and analyzes them as your application runs.

Lorem Ipsum Generator

Chrome Extension that generates random dummy text.It uses a minimalist and well looking design. Many other extensions of this type – in other browsers – simply complicate this task, using really extensive code, XHR, etc. The main purpose of this one, is to use the less amount of code (and also memory) and help the developer/user to get the job done.

Kuber PageRank Checker

This handy SEO tool shows you the Google PageRank of web pages beside the address box. If the PageRank of the page in current tab is not available, the tool shows the PageRank of the domain instead, prefixed with ‘S’.

Chrome SEO

The Google Chrome SEO extension provides easy access to Search Engine Optimization Tools that can help you with Competitive Analysis, Keyword Research, Backlink Checks and other daily SEO tasks.

IE Tab

Use Internet Explorer to display web pages in a Chrome tab. Some sites can only be displayed using IE, and with this extension you can now see those sites without leaving Chrome.

Know of any more that I might have missed? Be sure to drop then in via the comments, and help us all learn a little more about the web development tools the Google Chrome browser provides.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #201 of the Web Hosting Show!

Need to take a screen shot of a web site to show off to somebody?  By far, one of my favorite programs to take screenshots is WebShot.  It is almost the perfect screenshot and web page thumbnail generator utility.  How do you use it?  You put the web site address you want to get the capture of in the URL text box, and then hit the button labeled, “Start”.

Diving deeper into the download you can also set it up to capture multiple URLs, a specific size image, edit the default browser sizes and more.  For most people the free version should get the job done – however if you want even more features you might look into getting the personal or server edition.

To pick it up, or get more help on how to use it – go visit WebSiteScreenshots.com.

After installing, all you have to do is grab your log files from your hosting account in question.  WebLog Expert Lite supports IIS and Apache logs, can automatically detect the log format and can read GZ and ZIP compressed logs.  It will then crunch away at the numbers and export an HTML page for you to view to see how your web page is doing stats-wise.  You get numbers, links, stats and graphs.  It is a beautiful thing.

The free version however should be sufficient for most personal web sites and provides a nice overview of general traffic activity.

If you want to see what you are missing out on, you can see a comparison list of the professional, standard and lite versions of the program here:

http://www.weblogexpert.com/comparison.htm

It might not have all the bells and whistles down, but WebLog Expert Lite has enough to keep me happy.

FileZilla!

Now I have used my fair share of crappy FTP programs, and all of them seem to be lacking in one area or the next.  FileZilla though, is almost perfect from head to toe.  Here are some of the best features it provides:

• Easy to use
• Available in many languages
• Supports resume and transfer of large files >4GB
• Powerful Site Manager and transfer queue
• Drag & drop support

So can I come up with anything negative to say about FileZilla?  Well, if there was one thing that bugs me it is the fact it is not a very pretty program.  Then again, just about every FTP client out there today is ugly as sin – so can’t fault it for too long there.

Want to try it yourself?  They have versions for Macs, Windows and Linux – so pick the version that is right for you on filezilla-project.com.  Know of an FTP client that is better than FileZilla?  Go ahead and leave a comment.

I would love to be proved wrong.

ShowIP, an add-on for the Firefox browser, will deliver you not only the current IP address of a web site but a lot more helpful tools as well.  By left-clicking on the IP address in your status bar, you can select to:

• copy to clipboard
• whois lookup at whois.sc and dnsstuff.com
• test timing
• traceroutes
• trace the IP to the country of origin

Additionally you can copy the IP address to the clipboard.  If you need a tool to help you work with IP addresses and locations (as I know many web hosting workers out there do) this might be a good extension for Firefox to try.

You can pick it up on the Firefox add-on’s web site (just search for ShowIP).

This program is a very light, simple yet robust utility which manages your uploads in the way of a spooler.  It also is so small you can load it up on a USB device too.  You don’t even have to worry about getting it installed.  All you do is double click the .exe file and it is ready.

To use, just create or select a server you wish to connect to then drag and drop the file you wish to upload into the white box.  You also have the option to zip each file you upload too.  Another neat feature is that you can create a “locked” version of DropUpLoad, which limits connections to a single server and hides and encrypts login information inside the generated executable.

If you feel like you don’t need a full FTP program like Filezilla and the like to get the job done DropUpLoad is undoubtedly the simplest alternative program you could have in your web hosting tool belt.

Windows Live Writer is great. All you do is plug in your WordPress (or any other CMS or blogging service you use) information, and it figures out and does that rest of the work for you. Then you can write you posts as you would in any other word processor-type program. You also can format images, save drafts, edit tags and categories and more.

Video: 2: Basic Authoring – Windows Live Writer

Download Windows Live Writer and give it a shot.  The icing on the cake is the various previews you can generate. You can edit and write via the standard interface or via an interface that gives the appearance that you are writing there on your own web site.  The Web Preview feature is also good to show you what the post’s format will look like once it goes live.  This is by far one of the best software packages to come out of Microsoft.

Not every web host out there has a multi-million dollar budget to spend on software, so I have come up with a few free alternatives for you to pass around your office next time your searching for the right tool for the job.

Foxit Reader (for PDF viewing) – Out of all the PDF reader programs out there, Foxit gets the job done and is not half as annoying as Adobe is.  If you want a PDF viewer that will not ask that you download updates for 20 other programs you do not have, Foxit is the best.

OpenOffice.org (for word processing, spreadsheets and more) – Microsoft Office is a program I have never really used.  Why?  I have always been a fan of the free alternative, OpenOffice.org.  This bundle of a word processor, spreadsheet, drawing and more might even be better than the expensive Microsoft bundle.

AutoHotkey (for helping with those quick responses) – In my bag of tricks, AutoHotkey is most likely to be the most used one of them all.  Thanks to a little simple script writing I can now type in a few characters instead of a two paragraphed e-mail each time I answer a customer’s question.

Thunderbird (for e-mail management) – I have tried a number of different e-mail clients and Mozilla’s Thunderbird wins out head over heels each and every time.  Manage multiple e-mail accounts and with the add-ons, you can build onto the functionality of the product.

Google Calendar (for dates and appointments) – Can’t tell you what I did for a calendar before Google’s came around because Google was the one who turned me onto using it.  Before Google Calendar I was stuck with ripped off sheets of paper with notes scribbled down.  After Google Calendar, I can quickly click a date, add a note and I’m done.

Now sure, those big web hosts might have the thousands of dollars to spend on programs but the budget web hosts out there have to count their pennies.  If you have any other suggestions feel free to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

Once installed the addon to your browser gives you access to one click domain name searches at your favorite register. All you do is select some text in your Firefox window and hit the keyboard combination (Ctrl + Shift + D) or select it from the right-click menu. One of the really neat features of this extension is that it will strip out any non-standard characters and triggers for a domain search and also will work with GoDaddy, Moniker, Network Solutions and over 30 more.

You can download this addon right from the developer’s web site:

http://tools.qualitynonsense.com/domainlookup/

This release does a lot for the visual aspect of WordPress and well, to put it in terms that everybody can understand – everything is a lot prettier. The entire interface has been redesigned, and it shows. Not only a visual update, it also looks like they did a lot to add functionality to the new admin section to where the important stuff is biggest and in your face while the not so important stuff is tucked away so that when you need it you can get to it.

When writing a post they have added a few new key features that are really exciting. The new “Add media” section allows you to quickly pull in audio, video, and images to your posts without doing a wacky dance to figure out the right special plugin code you should be using.

I just recently started using Windows Live Writer to do all my publishing to my various Web projects, but this latest WordPress release makes me want to go play with that interface some more instead. If you have not upgraded yet then you really have nothing to lose.

Note: Also be sure to check out the new WordPress.org too. It has been redesigned to match the new WordPress interface.

Here is a little more about the extension from the developers:

The WebSitePulse Current Status extension provides an easy way to keep an eye in real-time on the status of your servers, websites and web applications when you are using the WebSitePulse monitoring service.

The WebSitePulse extension is broken off into two components. The sidebar will display all targets and their current status. To get more details, all you have to do is click on the name of the target in question.

At the bottom it will also give you a counter telling you when was the last time it was refreshed.

The second component would be the status bar icon which indicates if everything is alright. Here you pretty much play red light, green light. Red is bad and green, well… green is good. You can then right click the status bar icon to customize the extension’s settings.

You will need to also login to WebSitePulse.com and create a free account to use this tool. This current status addon for Firefox does a good job at doing real time status tracking. If you are interested in keeping a watchful eye over your server, it might be worth checking out.

What is it exactly? Here is how the developers describe it:

SimplePie is a code library, written in PHP, intended to make it ridiculously easy for people to manage RSS and Atom feeds.

What Can SimplePie Do For Me?

As an example of what you could do, well – you know popurls.com right? It was made popular for delivering a lot of tiny boxes with content from delicious, digg, reddit and more on one single page. Using SimplePie you can make your own version of it.

Also be sure to check out the demo:

http://simplepie.org/demo/

Doesn’t do much (gives you a readable output from any RSS feed) but somebody with some imagination could put this or any of the other powerful things you could do with this to good use. If all this PHP and RSS stuff excites you and you want to develop a new way for people to view syndicated content on the Web give SimplePie a shot. It is hands down the easiest way to get this type of work done.

Previously, WordPress was leading the charge as the best of the best, but how do these solutions stack up to that titan of the digital publishing world?

b2evolution – An old one, but still a good one – and can hold it’s own weight still with the other selections out there. Dated, but still works.

Serendipity – This is a PHP-powered weblog application which gives the user an easy way to maintain a weblog or even a complete homepage.

Joomla – Like Drupal, might be too feature rich for the casual blogging fan – but a good engine for in depth web sites or basic blogs.

Sblog – Another one similar to WordPress, looks like it is playing catchup too. Once it gets there though, might be worthy competition.

Simplog – Simple, yet powerful – the name says it all here. You want basics without the fluff – go with Simplog.

No matter which of these selections you decide to choose, you should be well off in your own content producing ways. All of them have their benefits and their drawbacks so best thing to do would be to try them all out and see which does the best job for you.

1. WordPress – In my opinion WordPress is the “kind of kings” when it comes to blogging or content management in general. All hail to the king!

2. Drupal – Drupal is a little more of a WordPress jacked up on steroids. Lots of goodies and better membership system in place too.

3. AJAXPress – A little buggy by looking at the demo but will become a better idea once it has had more time to get polished.

4. Wikiblog – This one tries to mix the blogging and wiki sides of things into an interesting mashup of content creation.

5. Textpattern – Flexable and open source blogging solution – much of the same WordPress look and feel. Only problem is not that many people are using it, so support might be hard to find.

Next week I’ll have a few more selections for you to choose from in part two of this series, if you have any other suggestions you’d like to see on the list please feel free to drop me an e-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com or leave a comment.

Like the others that have come before it here on the show, it gives you an easy to master interface to get your files and databases backed up from your web hosting server to your own personal computer. Give it your login information, your database names and you are all set.

It does include a scheduling feature too, so you can set it up to backup at whatever time is best for you. What does the price tag say? It is a Windows only program (runs great on Vista) – and will cost you a one time fee of $ 29.95. Not a bad price to pay for peace of mind.

After doing my review of CP Site Saver I got a comment from my buddy Gary from BlueFur talking about his own site backup solution, ResellerBackup.com. I told him to send me over a copy and I’d take a look – and I do have to say you can color me impressed. They provide several services and tools to choose from:

File Backup Tool | MySQL Backup Tool | Uptime Monitor Tool | Site Copy Tool

The names pretty much describe the services they proform, so don’t think there is much use in getting into too much detail there. I looked at the file backup tool for my review and it passed all my personal tests.

The product was easy to use, didn’t take a college degree to master and got the job done. You put in your login information (like you would do with any FTP program out there) and give a name for that specific backup. You can then set it up to download the backup now or schedule it for a later date and time.

Here is a screen shot of the File Backup Tool they provide:

The price is $19.95 for single users on each tool mentioned above and $199.95 if you want it branded with your own company logo and information.

Now as far as the comparison with CP Site Saver goes I think both tools are pretty even. I like ResellerBackup.com’s tools because they are simple and to the point. On the other hand I like CP Site Saver because everything is built into one download. I would suggest that anybody interested download both and then decide which one works best for you.

I have touched on the topic of backing up your web site time and time again. With each article or podcasts I always seem to get the same remark.

“Well, thats great – now can you make it easy?”

For a long time I’d say no. Making it easy means doing something such as cron jobs and scheduling and a lot of other things that regular people don’t want to take the time to do. Now my new solution for the easy way out it going to be…

“Go buy CP Site Saver, it is reeking of awesomeness!”

CP Site Saver is the first tool for backing up your cPanel powered web sites that I have seen that actually works. No need for filling in confusing settings and geeky details. The whole process takes a matter of minutes and then your good to go.

The interface is simple, you just tell it your hosting login information and database details and then hit the backup button. The quickness and simplistics of it all are really amazing. My beef with many programs like this is there are 200 boxes you must fill in and keep updated. CP Site Saver just get the basics and lets you relax while it does the hard work.

When your all done, you’ll also be able to unzip you backup and have a look through it. What does CP Site Saver need? Well, it might be more of a flaw in cPanel rather than their product but I would really like to be able to say, I want to backup everything but that one folder. Also I wish there was a better control on having it startup with your computer (give me a yes/no box on that choice). Those are the only “nit-picky” issue I could find though.

Now there is a price tag on all this bliss, but $49.95 isn’t asking too much when you consider the time you will be saving.

Download the free 10 day trial and give it a shot. The trial will only allow you to work with one web site and one database backup. That should be enough to sell you though on this awesome service.

MyBB (demo) – One forums script that is getting a lot of press for ease of use and easy of install is MyBB. With an active team of developers and the free price tag it is a selection that can not be overlooked.

Simple Machines Forum (demo) – Popular and free, SMF seems to be gaining a lot of ground. It is designed to provide you with all the features you need from a bulletin board while having an absolute minimal impact on the resources of the server.

phpBB (demo) – Since its creation in 2000, phpBB continues to be a leader. They do have a shady past with security issues, but hopefully they have gotten past all of that.

Vbulletin (demo) – One of the more popular solutions out there today, Vbulletin also has time on its side as well. Might want to check out their order form before giving it a shot though to make sure you want to pay for what your getting.

Vanilla (demo) – If you want something different, then Vanilla might be the way to go. It is an open-source, standards-compliant, multi-lingual, fully extensible discussion forum for the Web.

As you can see there are a lot of choices to go when it comes to message board or forum software. Which is your favorite? If I missed one of your favorites let me know.

So what does ServStats do? Here is what the developer of the extension has to say via the Mozilla Add-ons Web site:

ServStats is a Firefox extension that lets users share statistics about web server connectivity and diagnose network failures. When a network failure occurs, ServStats automatically conducts diagnostic tests and infers the most likely cause of failure.

Now while this might not help you figure out internal server issues to your own network, it is a nice start to something that could be used to really see the inside details on how some servers do when compared with others. Also just by checking the extension you can see the number of times other people have attempted to connect to a server, the average latency and rate of failure for that server, and more.

ServStats is part of the Knowledge Plane research project at MIT. If you want to learn more about the project behind this extension you can do so at their official Web site servestats.mozdev.org.

Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 99!

Well, I have found a very nice back end for you to make that knowledge base into a reality.

KnowledgebasePublisher is an open source publishing tool that will allow you to export the brains of your customer support and put it all on the Web. It is so easy to use that you can be managing knowledge base on your Web site right from your own web browser.

KnowledgebasePublisher allows a content administrator in your company to easily add/edit/delete and post current information to your website at any time, day or night.

Some of the included features are:

• Related Articles
• Users Can Ask Questions
• Protection for Categories
• Unlimited Categories

There is a lot more to love from this tool as well. Who knows, I might install it and get it running for the Web Hosting Show sometime soon. It has been a long time since I have been this impressed with a Web site back end script. All you need to do is install it, personalize it a little, and the rest of the work is done for you.

+ Check Out the Podcast This Was From! Listen to the Web Hosting Show, Podcast 88!

Here is a little more information about the project from the Web site:

Project Whois loads the domain names from all open Firefox and Internet Explorer windows into the one-click menu and gives easy access to the whois records from the system tray. Don’t worry about what browser you are in, access the DomainTools.com whois record with one click.

This tool comes from DomainTools.com, my absolute favorite place to do domain name lookups Online. I could see this being the perfect tool for any Web hosting worker who needed quick access to whois domain name lookups. Just click, type, and find. Anything I can do to make Web hosting support’s job easier to do, I am happy to help.

Want more information? Want to know where you can find this freeware download? All the information you need can be found at ProjectWhois.com.

+ Check Out the Podcast This Was From! Listen to the Web Hosting Show, Podcast 87!