Servage Magazine

There are tons of ready to use community and forum software. For example phpBB, one of the most popular open-source forum scripts, available in the autoinstaller in the Servage control panel. Unfortunately many available systems are difficult, hard to install, complex to customize or somehow just not cutting it the way you want. Vanilla Forums is a web app that offers community functions, mainly a forum, which simply works, looks good, is easy to use, and enables to you focus on the stuff that matters to you. You can manage and engange your community instead of struggling with the software setup. Some of the greatest features are: Custom Appearance Authentication, Connects & SSO Privacy Advertisements ...

You're probably busy being a a web developer, so worrying about administration really isn't something you want to waste time on. Paperwork, invoicing, archiving, reporting and all that other stuff just isn't fun like developing and creating products for customers. There are tons of tools out there to make life easier for small businesses, and online invoicing isn't a new thing. However, sometimes new apps simply reinvent the wheel just a little better than previously. Invoicebus is a web app for invoicing, making it easier for you and your customers to handle your invoicing workflow. They describe the following features: Look and feel like a paper sheet The intuitive editor of Invoicebus is ...

CSS has many ways of styling your design. The CSS language itself has evolved over recent years, and with CSS3 there are really powerfull options avilable to replace many effects previously done with images, like gradients, rounded corners etc. One of the forgotten selectors is the one for multiple classes. I rarely see people use it, but it is so powerfull, and substitutes many unnecessary workarounds with nested div elements or similar. Consider the following example: <div class="box box_one">Box 1 Content</div> <div class="box box_two box_active">Box 2 Content</div> Now you wish to apply some CSS to all "box" elements, but also something to the "box_active". .box { border: 1px solid #000; } .box_active { ...

Todays online users expect to access information on various platforms. It's normal to search when researching for something, it's normal to use social networks to exchange opinions, it's normal to use communities, support portals, blogs. Basically it's normal that companies and customers spread their information across various platforms, good or bad. The pros for developers are higher penetration, more exposure. The cons are more complex overview, harder to keep in touch with all platforms and give good support. The old way The old way of doing customer support is having a mail address and/or ticket system where users strictly have to submit their request, patiently waiting for a reply. Handling the hassle ...

The amount of web apps available today is overwhelming. Finding a solution even just for simple tasks and problems can take hours of research because Google returns tons of results for anythuing you search for. Having to choose between numerous possibilities when choosing an app is a good thing in general. Competition makes developers produce more features, and companies reduce prices. However, the flipside is that chosing becomes a serious time-consuming task, which sometimes really is annoying. Directories Check out Productive Web Apps or GetApp. They are directories of web apps including presentations and reviews, and could help you choose quicker and better. Time is money Sometimes it's not about chosing the perfect ...

This tutorial shows you how you can extend classes in PHP and thereby let child classes inherit functionality from parent classes. On many programming paradigms the code is divided into defined parts for specific purposes. One of the most popular methods is the Model, View, Controller system (MVC), which is also used by most fameworks out there. In this example you will get a demonstration of how you could structure a model in PHP. Mainly it's a class with certain standard functions you can use for all your classes. class Model { var $data = array(); function set($key, $value) { $this->data[$key] = $value; } ...

The title of this post is the slogan for the web app UPlanMe, which is a web app that tries to improve your life by removing administration and planning, letting you enjoy life more by having more time for the fun stuff. Quality of life becomes increasingly important to humans, as they realize stress and striving after success comes at a high cost. Finding the right work-life balance is becoming a real decisive factor for professionals striving after success and happiness at the same time. UPlanMe tries to help you with this. They describe their features: UPlanMe finds your favorite events, TV shows, sales & specials and lets you add ...

Many frameworks have emerged during the past years. One of the coolest is Ruby on Rails, which many have tried to port to the PHP language, using the same principles of a Model, View, Controller paradigm combined with easy development to build great web apps quickly. While we have already presented some of the big players in the area, like CakePHP, Symfony and CodeIgniter, the Yii framework has been a little under the radar. However, it deservers a closer look, as it is widely recognized as one of the best PHP frameworks available today. The main characteristics of Yii, which makes is highly appreciated by developers: Fast Yii only loads ...

It's amazing how quick software developers copy their competitors concepts - good and bad. Obviously monopolies aren't good, and competition - even among web apps - drive development and lower prices, so all in all a good deal for the customers. However, it also clutters the marketplace and makes it increasingly difficult to evaluate and choose the right product for your needs. Say you have a web development project and want to use a support system with a knowledgebase, forums, idea suggestions and a ticket system. You have multiple options, some of the larger players are described below: One Desk "OneDesk is social software that connects employees, partners and customers to the ...

Some time ago we talked about the upcoming Sencha Touch 2, which is now available! This is great news for anyone developing mobile applications, because Sencha 2 is really a superb toolbox for any mobile developers. You can create great-looking apps quickly and efficiently for your customers, utilizing this framework. What is Sencha Touch? Sencha Touch 2, a high-performance HTML5 mobile application framework, is the cornerstone of the Sencha HTML5 platform. Built for enabling world-class user experiences, Sencha Touch 2 is the only framework that enables developers to build fast and impressive apps that work on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Kindle Fire, and more. What’s New? Sencha Touch 2 includes an updated and easier to ...