Slidepress is just the latest offering from Dominey Design, a web development company in Atlanta. Their main focus- AKA obsession- is Slideshowpro- a quick and easy and versatile Flash-based slideshow application  available as a Flash Component and a standalone xml-driven swf. Plus they offer an web application called Slideshow Director- a database-driven image and video management application for installation on your won web server.

Dominey’s vision is vast- when you purchase any of their products they offer a number of freebie export scripts for Photoshop, various version of iPhoto, a server -side PHP XML Builder, to make the the process of creating the xml file which form the basis of these slideshow applications. They also offer a Lightroom to SlideshowPro Director upload app.

$24 for an Ounce of GOLD

That ounce of GOLD is the standalone SlideshowPro app.

They have managed to create what I consider that absolute best and versatile slideshow plugin for wordpress. Yes, I know, we wordpress people have a tendency to be cheap so the $24 investment might dissuade you BUT you will be missing out in a big way. Not only does Slidepress work with Dominey’s superb image management app SlideshowPro Director, it also works with WordPress’ native Media Library content and RSS feeds from Flicker etc.

Database Connection Error! 1054: Unknown column

When I first installed the Slidepress plugin I did receive a database error:

Database Connection Error! 1054: Unknown column ‘navThumbLinkBackgroundColor’ in ‘field list’

I re-installed the plugin, I downloaded the plugin again and manually installed it and deactivated and reactivated and it didn’t resolve itself. so I posted in the SlideshowPro forum. It seems that problem is not wide spread but definitely presenting itself for other users.

A quick google for mySQL error 1054 led me to believe that the plugin was neglecting to create the aforementioned table so, while waiting for answer, I decided to muck about and see if I could learn something.

On a lark, I opened slidepress.php in BBEdit and added   
navNumberLinkColor text NULL ,
to line 229.

The error message changed to:
Database Connection Error! 1054: Unknown column ‘navThumbLinkBackgroundColor’ in ‘field list’

SO I knew I was onto something.
I added
added navThumbLinkBackgroundColor text NULL ,
to line 233

The plugin works flawlessly now. nearest thing I could figure out was that function action_activate()  in slidepress.php is missing a bunch of table names names in the list of tables to create

Great Wiki

The Slidepress plugin is brought to you by the same guys that created the crosdomain creator so it is only right that it is so well-documented. Installation instructions are pretty easy to follow and can be found at
http://slidepress.net/installation.php

Want more installation details?
http://wiki.slideshowpro.net/SSPsa/SP-Installation

time to build a slideshow

At this point I would usually build an illustrated step-by-step tutorial on using this plugin. However, the guys at Dominey beat me to it and, to be honest, I couldn’t possibly do any better.

Find it here.
http://wiki.slideshowpro.net/SSPsa/SP-Usage

UPDATE

Here’s my version of the slidepress.php file for reference. if push comes to shove, you could test your set up by dropping this file in your slidepress folder.

Download SlidePress-php.zip

Can office life get any easier?  I’m sure it could, but this gets us one step closer – for sure! This is definitely a “smart solution” for getting rid of those pesky meeting notes, sketches and pretty much all the paper clutter you are dying to store digitally, but have no time to do.

Lexmark Launches Evernote App For Smartsolution Printers
Easy One-Touch Scanning to Evernote Without Requiring a Computer

Evernote announced this week, the availability of the Evernote SmartSolution for three inkjet all-in-one (AIO) printers – Interact, Prestige and Platinum – from Lexmark International, Inc. The Evernote SmartSolution application allows users to send hardcopy scans from the Lexmark device into their Evernote Web account with the touch of a single button, without requiring a computer.

This Evernote application was developed by Lexmark to save users valuable time when they need to store and access information quickly and efficiently from their touch screen printer. After a simple setup process, an Evernote application icon appears on the printer touch screen. Once tapped, the Evernote application sends scans to a pre-configured Evernote account via the web.

For households and small offices with multiple Evernote users, the Web-connected printers can be configured with Evernote icons for each Evernote account, ensuring that everyone can scan to their accounts with a single touch.

“The Lexmark SmartSolution is a great new application platform,” said Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote. “The ease with which one can install and use Evernote on the SmartSolution printers is very impressive. Now, whenever an individual wants to remember something, they just tap the touch screen on their printers and their memory is in Evernote. It’s very simple and elegant.”

Check out this video for more information…

Availability

The Evernote SmartSolution application is available for free download at https://smartsolutions.lexmark.com for the Lexmark Interact, Prestige and Platinum Web-connected touch screen printers.

• The all new Evernote 3.5 for Windows Evernote 3.5 for Windows is completely new. We rewrote it from the ground up to make it faster, more reliable, and just plain better than Evernote for Windows has ever been. Our goal was to use everything we’ve learned since our launch to make a great Evernote experience on Windows. If you’re interested in trying Evernote 3.5, install it from our downloads page ( http://s.evernote.com/windows ).
• There’s a ton more to say, so please read our blog post(s): http://s.evernote.com/win35blog
• New partnerships and integrations for those of you who have not yet fallen in LOVE with the iPhone.
  • Sony VAIO: Every new Sony VAIO laptop comes with Evernote pre-installed. Neat! http://s.evernote.com/vaio –
  • Nokia N900: The Evernote Sharing Plugin makes Evernote a native sharing option on the N900 smartphone: http://s.evernote.com/nokia –
  • TimeBridge: TimeBridge helps you organize better meetings. Now, save all your meeting notes into Evernote: http://s.evernote.com/timebridge –
  • Cliqset: Evernote and Cliqset create a permanent memory for your social streams and activity: http://s.evernote.com/cliqset

See all of the products that work with Evernote in one place: http://s.evernote.com/ partnerpage

Most exciting news of all. Get a Klenex to catch the drool…

Apple iPad
We have big plans for Apple’s amazing new device. Read Evernote CEO’s blog post about their history with tablets andplans for the iPad and other devices. Read the post: http://s.evernote.com/ipad

If you have Evernote, but not sure how it can help you, check out these tips by Joshua Zerkel: 6 Ways Evernote Can Boost Your Productivity http://s.evernote.com/ productivitytips

If you hurry and check out www.macfriendly.org, you can get two truly great deals. First, you can treat yourself to twelve Mac applications that are worthy of your icon bar. Second, you will be pleased to know that the funds you paid support the care and feeding of homeless animals.

First, the applications.

For photo buffs, there are three applications that you’ll enjoy.

• Calico Panorama helps stitch rows, even multi-rows, of images together with ease.
• Bracketeer takes your bracketed digital photos and merges them to form a uniformly lit scene – like HDR without the cartoon-like appearance.
• PhotoStyler is a quick and easy photo enhancer designed for the digital photographer who remembers the “good old days” of film and instant camera photos by providing tools to help your digital images take on an analog feel.

Want to make a video diary?

• The Video Diary helps you get your video captured and organizes it like entries in a diary.
• MovieSherlock can download and convert videos from the popular site YouTube.
• K Kitchen is a video burning and ripping program that converts video and allows you to burn to CD or DVD. And if you want to voiceovers or mastering of audio files, the TwistedWave audio editor is an easy to use program with powerful features.

For type geeks,

• use Veenix TypeBook Creator to take stock of your fonts… print type specimen and sample pages, and organize your fonts.

Ever want to personalize your Mac desktop?

• Berokyo does that and more. Customizable “cabinets” can hold your favorite and most used applications, documents, folders and webpages, and works in keep-visible, full-screen or auto-hide modes.

Email Backup Pro is an automated solution to making scheduled backups to of your email… hands off after setting up the configuration using the simple interface. R10Cipher encrypts email and documents – personal or business. It runs on Mac and, er, other operating systems. And if you wish to partially cross over to the dark side, CrossOver Mac Standard will help you by running Microsoft Windows programs on your Mac.

So, how exactly does this help animals?

Here is a quote from the MacFriendly website: “Your MacFriendly Bundle purchase helps initiate and support feeding programs for homeless animals. Stray and feral animals are fed in order to gain their trust, leading to their eventual rescue. Only when they are comfortable with human contact will their rescue and successful placement in an adoptive home be possible. We provide basic vaccinations, spay/neuter services, collars, and identification tags for stray animals in stable circumstances.”

The total cost? If you add up these applications, you will find them to total about $400. Buy the bundle of joy, and get all these apps for only $49.95. That is a lot of utility and warm, fuzzy feelings for only fifty bucks.

But don’t wait… this offer ends February 26, 2010.

It’s so simple, so brilliant, why didn’t anyone think of this before?

A while back and few version ago, new preacutions were added to Flash player 7: a flash movie playing inside a browser would not be allowed to access data outside the exact domain in which .swf resides. By default, .swf files can’t even read from subdomains, or even parent domains if the swf is located in a subdomain.

With this new security measure,  Macromedia (now Adobe) added the use of the cross domain policy file, a simple xml file that gives permission to a listed domain to grab data without launching a dialog box. This files is normally placed in the root folder of any server that contains files the Flash Player may need to access. Three versions later- I still have to think it out like a Sesame Street kid; 1.) where to install the xml file, and 2.) making sure that all appropriate domains and subdomains are represented.

Slideshowpro.net, developers of my favorite image management server software and flash slideshow component, has built a “dead-simple”  online app:  the crossdomain.xml maker. The directions are clearer than anything you’ll find at Adobe’s knowledge base.

Check out  Adobe’s definition:

A policy file is a simple XML file that gives the Flash Player permission to access data from a given domain without displaying a security dialog. When placed on a server, it tells the Flash Player to allow direct access to data on that server, without prompting the user grant access.

The server can be in any location available to the Flash movie and does not have to be in the same domain. Cross-domain policy files, named crossdomain.xml, are placed at the root level of a server. When using a policy file you can use a wildcard character (*) in a domain name.

vs.

Crossdomain.xml maker’s definition:

If a SWF is embedded at A.com, and tries to load data (XML, RSS, etc) from B.com, the Flash Player (for security) will block the request. B.com can grant A.com access to its data through a cross domain policy file. This utility generates that file.

The instructions on crossdomainmaker.com are even easier to follow.

Trust me.

Since I have already sang their praises,  this is more of an introduction to Crossbrowsertesting.com than a review. Best described as a Browser Compatibility Lab, this online service offers a place to test a website on just about every browser- operating system combination. It offers two types of testing: interactive (to test ajax, javascript, and flash) and screenshots (which verifies layouts across all browsers).

The site offers three (3) pricing plans which all include access to their automated screenshot factories, interactive live testing and 1 hour free trial.  These pricing plans are  distinguished by the alloted monthly usage :

• Basic  150 minutes 19.95/Month (US$)
• Professional  600 minutes 49.95/Month (US$)
• Business 300 minutes 199.95/Month (US$)

One hundred fifty (150) minutes might seem inadequate for a web designer , and it would be, if the service was slow or unreliable. It isn’t. I managed to pull 14 screenshots in less than 10 minutes use (bumbling-around time included) and the website tracks your usage in your account section. This also makes the seeming paltry 1 hour free trial a more generous trial period than expected.

For that reason,  I chose the Basic Plan. It fulfills all of my browser-check needs and I suspect that most web designers would feel the same. Keep in mind that subscriptions are renewed automatically. Since my design work encompasses both print and web work, this might be a bad thing if the company wasn’t so customer-friendly.

When I emailed Kenneth Hamric, one of the founders of Crossbrowsertesting.com, about this, he responded:
“We have a 30 day, money back policy.  If you are not happy, you forgot to cancel, whatever the reason (or no reason at all)… and you ask for your money back, we give it back.  We are not trying to keep money from customers that do not like / want the service.  We like, and want, happy customers!“

I believe him. My recent experience with this company (described here) leads me to believe that  they will do anything to accommodate their customers’ needs, within reason. I doubt they will walk your dog for you.

I would definitely have the need to activate and cancel my subscription at will. Keeping my overhead low makes it possible to charge affordable rates. Last year, during the height of the “great recession”, I was booked solid, double-booked even, from May through November. December was dedicated to finishing some straggling details on projects and planning our holiday. So far, this January, I have booked 1 job and bid on 3 more. I suspect that is the story of most freelancers- the result being that we need flexible plans to accommodate our flexible schedules.

Automated Screenshots

The most straightforward part of the service is the automated screenshots. You check the appearance of your website by taking screenshots of a URL in just about any browser- operating system combination. The added bonus? Easily accessible list of recent screenshot tests. This is especially handy if you are checking more than one url.

Choosing which combinations can be as easy as choosing any of the default options:

• Popular browsers – default : offers 10 combinations which can be further refined by screen resolutions.
• All browsers :  offers 50 combinations which can be further refined by screen resolutions.
• Select the individual browsers and operating systems

Each option has a monitor resolution option and you can save your preferences for future use. You can organize screenshots by client, grab the link to resulting screenshot for reference, download a zip file of all the screenshots for a particular URL or create a slideshow of the screenshots- all great options when presenting the results to your clients.

Interactive Live Testing

Sometimes static shots are not enough. Interactivity errors are difficult to track if you cannot experience them through various browser/operating system combinations. While the monitor sizes are limited, the combinations are not. The list of combinations are comprehensive enough to instill confidence in the results.

Bookmarklet

One extremely handy amenity is the bookmarklet- simply drag the button marked “DRAG ME” to your toolbar. Visit a webpage that needs checking and clik on the CBT Launcher Button for a dialog box where you can choose either automated screenshots or an interactive live text with a list of options ready to go.

For those much smarter than me, there is also the option of accessing all this data through their API which is documented here.

The company policies are clearly delineated:

• No minimum contracts, signup fees, or cancellation fees.
• You can change packages at any time.
• Free trial limited to 1 hour usage, 1 per person.
• Usage of services is tracked to the second.
• No question asked 30 day refund policy.

I am a fan.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Browser Compatibility Testing Guide: The Best Tools And Services To Check How Others See Your Web Site (masternewmedia.org)
• How to Test Websites in Different/Multiple Resolutions Without Changing the PC Resolution (techie-buzz.com)

I gravitate towards that word “disciplined” because I am an analytical and systematic individual. My trusty Mac computer dictionary provided the following:

With that in mind, I have to add I also like insights into the actual step-by-step thoughts in the designing process for a photographer, and I look for good illustrations and well-written tutorials done by an enthusiastic photographer. All of these are well covered in Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach to Creativity. Add a DVD with additional images, 360 degree panoramas of studio shots in progress, some short videos of photographic sessions, references, and tutorials and you have a concise and worthwhile package.

Mr. Stern writes in an easy-going style that makes the reader feel that they are in the presence of an out-going teacher who enjoys sharing his techniques and learning experiences‚ both the good and the bad‚ and he is not ashamed to admit to mistakes made in that they provide part of the lessons learned that he would share with the student. It is no wonder that he has had a wide and varied teaching career in addition to his studio work. Among the places that he has taught are Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Art Center College of Design, Glendale Community College, Burbank Unified School District, Julia Dean Photographic Workshops, Studio Arts, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and Brooks Institute.

Mr. Stern’s professional career involves some seventeen years working for the Disney Studios, extensive architectural, product, and portrait photography. He cites a deeply committed relationship to Adobe Photoshop and its importance to the digital studio of today.

Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity (ISBN: 978-1-933952-18-5, US $34.95 CAN $41.95) covers four major areas.

The first is environmental portraiture, and in it he delves deeply into the process of designing the portrait and how to load the image’s environment with telling clues that give insight to the depth of the personality of the subject. Along with that he gives serious tips about controlling and predicting color output. Workflows on the computer with an emphasis on organization (remember that word “Disciplined” in the book title?) are considered in depth as well.

The second major area that Mr. Stern discusses is involved in compositing techniques using the computer and Adobe Photoshop. How to light and shoot a myriad of different images and to bring them together in a final composite is painsakingly described with a variety of tutorial screen shots showing the multiple layers and layer masks necessary to produce the final image result.

The third area that is discussed gives lessons on using the scanner in place of the camera and takes a trip into personal style and creativity. It attempts to open up the student to looking at shape and form in the small world in order to sharpen the student’s design skills and to realize that not all images have to come via the camera lens.

The final section of the book looks at product photography and how to light a product in such a way that it is easy to vary background and key colors and to composite separate product images into final images.

Throughout the entire book several ideas continue to travel side by side with the craft and techniques of both photography and Adobe Photoshop as skills. One of those ideas is that the photographer must sell himself or herself continually to the client. This is necessary because there are many photographers who are skillful as photographers but who do not maintain a pleasant working relationship with the client. The job of the photographer is to satisfy the client with both the product and a pleasant personal working relationship. A photographer walks a thin line as he or she trys to promote their own ideas and creativity, and at the same time to deal with the preconceived ideas that the client may bring to the conference table. Satisfying the client in part means that the client must feel that they have contributed to the design concept greatly even if the photographer has promoted his or her own creative design successfully. Each photographer must know when to listen and when to speak (and how to do it tactfully) as the photographer and client come to terms with the final design.

Dealt with indirectly, but explained well, is the difficulty in dealing with the chain of command in large organizations. The filtering process between the ultimate client in the chain and the photographer is a delicate one because each individual in the chain of command feels the necessity of placing their own mark on the final product‚ else they cannot justify their own position in the hierachy. Putting it bluntly, this is hell on the creative process and can lead to difficulties.

I found Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity a good read; it will provide a great deal of insight to the creative process and the day-to-day managerial skills and personality  necessary. Definitely a must read for the aspiring photographer who feels that mastering photographic and computer skills are all there is to the photography business.

His book has been published by Rocky Nook Press. Their books are printed on acid-free paper and the color in their books will survive long after the technical skills described in each volume will be replaced by the advances in our technology. Sometimes we get so caught up in the latest information that we forget how we receive that information. The “how” in this case is also important and should be acknowledged.

Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity
by Michael E. Stern
ISBN: 978-1-933952-18-5
US $34.95 CAN $41.95

Michael Stern around the web:
His website CyberStern.com
His blog is  DigitalBeast.Wordpress.com
Find some excellent tutorials are at  SlideShare.net/Mr_Pixel
Michael Stern at The Brooks Insititute

After a couple of years of faithfully using Dean’s FCK Editor, we changed over to Tiny MCE Advanced Plugin- mostly because we wanted to take advantage of the new timthumb auto-thumbnailer coding of our new Arthemis Premium theme. (Though if I had read this post by Justin Tadlock, Boy Genius, I would have probably stuck with my Studiopress theme…)

Tiny MCE Advanced Plugin

This plugin adds 16 plugins to TinyMCE, WordPress’ wysiwyg editor- Advanced hr, Advanced Image, Advanced Link, Context Menu, Emotions (Smilies), Full Screen, IESpell, Layer, Media, Nonbreaking, Print, Search and Replace, Style, Table, Visual Characters and XHTML Extras- pluss allows you the flexibility of choosing the layout and options for the post editor tool bar. Another nice things about this plugin is that it can import all css classes or you can choose to add inline css classes (which comes in handy when you want to use other plugins like Javascript Pull Quotes)

-Click on any thumbnail to see a larger image-

One of the drawbacks is the image library management. If you use the Tiny MCE image insert button- it asks for a url. This means that you would still have to use the native wordpress media upload functions. Dean’s FCK Editor could upload and organize your image files in appropriate folders- a great help when your blog is as image heavy as ours.Tiny MCE Advanced Plugin couldn’t match that function.**

Uploads Folder Plugin by Semilogic

The problem of stuffing uploads folders with images and files in some orderly manner was solved by the Uploads Folder Plugin by Semilogic. This plugin organizes your images in folders linked to the post name and publishing date. These folders are created automatically and will be recreated if you change the publishing date. If there are plugins which are squeamish with this new setup, I haven’t found them yet.

Enable Media Replace plugin

I think everyone who publishes articles with a lot of images and illustrations should consider the Enable Media Replace plugin.  It is a great problem solver. In the event that you need to change an image in a post, or many posts that use a particular image, this plugin makes it possible to update the image without having to ftp an image with the same name in the right folder or uploading a new image and inserting it into the post.

**If you are having any issues with TinyMCE adding br/ lines, see this post. If they still appear I suspect the culprit is the use of an image caption. Need a quick fix? Delete the image caption. To follow the discussion, see comments here.

I was looking at a 112mg error log last week and i discovered that almost all of the errors were related to long gone ping services. I was googling to find the lastest working ping list.

It can be most frustrating trying to hunt down a list of current ping services. As of today, these are working.

http://api.moreover.com/RPC2
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://rpc.twingly.com/
http://www.bloglines.com/ping
http://www.wasalive.com/ping/

Feel free to add to this list.

Arthemis Premium Wordpress Theme

Some time last fall, i decided that i wanted to change the DigitalAppleJuice theme to Arthemis Premium wp theme by Colorlabs Project. I am still a huge fan of the Revolution- Studiopress themes- all my client themes are based on them including all previous Digitalapplejuice themes. for my clients, i have incorporated an auto thumbnailer code i culled from the web. that autothumbnailer code would not work for digitalapplejuice since we have been using dean’s fck editor plugin- bypassing the built-in wordpress image handler. The process of posting a new article used to be every story has to have an “articleimg” custom field containing the url of the 250×250px image and a “Thumbnail” custom field. I had heard wonderful things about the latest timthumb thumbnailer code which has recently been incorporated into a number of Studiopress themes – Agent and Magazine to name two. a recent install of the agent theme made me realize that i would be trading in 2 custom filed headaches for another one so i began looking for other themes with autothumbnailing capabilities when i ran across the Arthemis Premium wp theme.

The Arthemis’ top featured story section is an impressive alternative to the Featured Content Gallery slideshow  plugin incorporated in the Studiopress themes. The only real question for em was whether the integration of the timthumb code would make the Arthemis theme a viable choice for us. After I found a huge discount offer for the Arthemis Premium last fall,  I decide to make the purchase knowing that, if it didn’t work for DigitalAppleJuice,  I could at the very least use it on a client’s site and re-coup my investment. Then I got booked on 4 projects back to back and testing Arthemis on DigitalAppleJuice was quickly forgotten.  Months later, right after Xmas, I decided to tackle the Arthemis Theme tweaks and install when I realized I had no idea where I had placed the Arthemis Premium Theme zip. I emailed the designer and within hours had a response. I was very happy to find that the Arthemis Premium Theme  was able to render thumbnails and preview images from the first image within a post with very few exceptions. The choice was made.

My quick list of tweaks:

1. Ad Column: 125px ad bar to the right of the main body – normally an easy tweak: 2 additional DIVs and 6 lines in the style sheet. Add a thumbnail for the latest tao and desktop theatre
2. Author’s Page: change code author img
3. Change coding from Adsense to Adbrite.
4. SIngle.php:  widening of the single post to 600px so i wouldn’t have to resize every image in 700+ posts archive. Add tags, add link to author’s profile.
5. Footer.php: replacing the video in the footer gallery with the latest panel of The Tao Of IT Al, resized to fit

time to check the browsers

i have learned so much about CSS in the last year or so, embracing the doubling of margins in certain IE circumstances and tricking DIVs to expand without content. Even so, browser checks are a must.  Way back in 2008 before I knew anything, I wrote about the consequences of a non-conforming web and suggested Browsershots.org and NetRenderer as solid resources. I have been using Browsershots regularly these last 18 months – even signing up for priority service when booked on more than one job a month. So it was only natural that when it came time to check the Arthemis Premium tweaks I should turn to my old standby- Browsershots.org. I spent two days trying to get screenshots for IE 6, 7, 8 on any Windows platform with no joy. I thought I would have better luck if I signed up for priority service (at $29.95/month). Still no joy. I emailed Jack Zhao from Browsershots to ask if there was a problem with the renderers.

In the meantime, knowing that at any time one of my bids could turn into a solid job with a deadline, I googled for an alternative. I found Crossbrowsertesting.com I signed up for Crossbrowsertesting almost immediately as it  looked very attractive at $19.95/month with a 7 day trial. As luck would have it, the system was resistant to my  screenshot requests – implying that i would have to provide a url ending with .html. If .html extensions were required for an URL, then this service would incompatible for any wordpress sites (which are the bulk of my gigs). I cancelled my account and contacted crossbrowsertesting’s support to confirm that this was the case. I received a response from not one but two people- tom and kenneth- within hours.

The Polurnet Blacklist

In a flurry of emails  and checks and tests we determine that the Crossbrowsertesting.com and Browsershots.org  server IPs were blacklisted. Polurnet’s tech support kindly volunteered to remove them from the blacklisted. This was easy enough when it came to Crossbrowsertesting.com but Browsershots.org was unable to provide me with IP addresses since it has more than 100 factories around the world (most in US and Europe) taking screenshots which are then uploaded to a central server. They suggested we change webhost.

My issues with Browsershots were isolated to the Windoze IE renderers but I wasn’t going to push the point. I don’t know how and why these particular screenshot factories ended up on Polurnet’s blacklist. It could have been just a security response triggered by the number of screenshots I requested in such a short time, but I was NOT going to change webhosts.

Polurnet has set the webhost standard for me,  especially since not a single one of my clients hosted on Polurnet was hacked during the great wordpress 2.7 hacking season of 2008. All my clients hosted on Hostgator were infiltrated.

I decided to stick with Polurnet and asked for a refund from Browsershots. It was done immediately. No question asked. Thanks Mr. Zhao.

Customer Service In A Nutshell

crossbrowsertesting.com

• immediate response from support; answered questions quickly, took an honest appraisal of the situation and proposed ideas & solutions
• during discussion of my problem, offered to extend free trial due to issues and offered a refund in the event i was unable to cancel service in time

browsershots.org

• quick response to support request
• refunded fees without argument

polurnet.com

• I love these guys. I could go on and on about what great service Polurnet provides
• quick response to any email request for support
• i have yet had an instance where they told me “not our problem” as so many other web hosts have been known to do.
• not a single one of my clients have been hacked

arthemis wordpress theme

• their integration of timthumb code meant that i didn’t have to do anything to get most of the thumbnails for our articles to work.
• customer service is responsive and the theme is well documented and the forum is available for additional questions.

Disclaimer: Madbadcat and DigitalAppleJuice are in no way associated with Colorlabs Projects, Crossbrowsertesting.com or Browsershots.org, nor have we received consideration for this review. Madbadcat and DigitalAppleJuice are proud to be part of Polurnet’s affiliate marketing program and standby our endorsement of Polurnet.

UPDATE:

I received this note from Polurnet Tech Support offering a solution to issues described in this article:

“By the way, if you needed us to disable the firewall temporarily while you process your screenshots, that’s fine. Also, while Browsershots don’t need to provide the exact IP addresses they use, if they can tell us a range, we can whitelist it as well.

Hope that helps

Regards,
Administrative Representative
PolurNET Communications”

And that is why I love these guys.