Search Engine Optimization Basics, Part 3: Get Your Web Pages Into Search Indexes

Making your Web site attractive to search engines is a key factor for your success as a Web site developer. Get the basic information you need to organically optimize your Web site in this four-part series. In Part 3 of the series, you'll learn how to get the pages of your Web site into the search indexes.

Moran, Mike and Bill Hunt. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization Basics, Part 4: Improve Search Marketing for Large Sites

Making your Web site obvious to search engines is a key factor for your success as a Web site developer. Get the basic information you need to organically optimize your Web site in this four-part series. In this final part of the series, learn specialized techniques for large Web sites or sites with many dynamic pages.

Moran, Mike and Bill Hunt. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

Semantic Anchors for XML

XML syntax is just the foundation for data interoperability. The next step is semantic transparency. Some groups are working to address this by defining entire document formats to be adopted wholesale, while other groups are working on ways to express common terminology and concepts at a more granular level. In this installment, Uche Ogbuji looks at XML Topic Maps Published Subjects and Universal Data Element Framework (UDEF), two ideas that take the granular approach by seeking to provide anchors in the semantic stream.

Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2003). Design>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Set up a Web Server Cluster in Five Easy Steps

Construct a highly available Apache Web server cluster that spans multiple physical or virtual Linux(R) servers in 5 easy steps with Linux Virtual Server and Heartbeat v2.

Dow, Eli M. and Frank Lefevre. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design

Set up an Ajax Environment With a Scenario

Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript + XML) is quickly emerging as a modern way of bringing desktop-quality software features to Web applications running on browsers. Open source software such as Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP (LAMP) and open standards-based J2EE middleware, such as WebSphere Application Server Community Edition, provide excellent capabilities to develop and deploy Ajax Web applications.

Nathan, Senthil. IBM (2007). Design>Web Design>Programming>Ajax

Simple Good--Complex Bad

An IBM Ease of Use poster with the message Simple Good - Complex Bad.

IBM (1999). Design>Presentations>Posters>Minimalism

Solid Ajax Applications, Part 2: Building Ajax Back Ends

Back end processing -- server-side scripts and programs -- can't always be tossed into an Ajax application and behave well. Instead, careful planning to ensure data is sent in an appropriate and efficient form ensures your entire application is cohesive, rather than needlessly complex. Brett McLaughlin explains how a good server-side script complements Ajax behavior.

McLaughlin, Brett D. IBM (2008). Articles>User Interface>Ajax

Speech-Enable Web Applications Using RDC with Voice Toolkit

Speech applications have come to be in demand with many applications, which can sound daunting to developers who have never before made provisions for speech. Don't put it off, though, believing that it means a massive rewriting of your current offerings. It is now possible to enhance current Web applications, or develop new ones, with the Voice Toolkit and Reusable Dialog Components. Learn to construct successful voice apps, and without a big learning curve.

Dhanakshirur, Girish. IBM (2005). Articles>Web Design>User Interface>Audio

Speed Up your Ajax Applications While Dodging Web Services Vulnerabilities

Deploying bandwidth-efficient Ajax applications does not guarantee that the service levels in a Service Level Agreement will stay high. No matter how well you change code in the Ajax format to make it more bandwidth efficient, there will be always risks and vulnerabilities you'll need to watch out for and mitigate. Regular developerWorks author Judith Myerson gives a brief Ajax recap, shows what Web services vulnerabilities are and why Service Level Agreements (SLA) are important, and suggests some solutions for speeding up Ajax applications.

Myerson, Judith. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Ajax

Speed Up Your Ajax Applications While Dodging Web Services Vulnerabilities

Deploying bandwidth-efficient Ajax applications does not guarantee that the service levels in a Service Level Agreement will stay high. No matter how well you change code in the Ajax format to make it more bandwidth efficient, there will be always risks and vulnerabilities you'll need to watch out for and mitigate. Regular developerWorks author Judith Myerson gives a brief Ajax recap, shows what Web services vulnerabilities are and why Service Level Agreements (SLA) are important, and suggests some solutions for speeding up Ajax applications.

Myerson, Judith. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Programming>Ajax

The Stateless State

"State" is a central concern of all sorts of distributed applications, but especially of Web applications, as HTTP and its derivatives are intrinsically stateless. Clear thinking about how data persists across retrievals, sessions, processes, and other boundaries can help you improve your Web applications, both present and future.

Seebach, Peter. IBM (2008). Articles>Web Design>Theory

Survey of Ajax Tools and Techniques

Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript + XML) programming techniques are increasingly dominating the world of Web application development. New developers are stepping into the world of Ajax development every day, and they come from disparate development backgrounds. Part 1 of this multipart series gives you a cheat sheet of Ajax development resources from an expert team of Ajax developers at IBM. The authors draw from their own ramp-up experiences to help you with practical information that will put you on a fast track to effective Ajax development.

Shachor, Gal, Yoav Rubin, Shmulik London and Shmuel Kallner. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Ajax

Survey of Ajax Tools and Techniques

Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript + XML) programming techniques are increasingly dominating the world of Web application development. New developers are stepping into the world of Ajax development every day, and they come from disparate development backgrounds. Part 1 of this multipart series gives you a cheat sheet of Ajax development resources from an expert team of Ajax developers at IBM(R). The authors draw from their own ramp-up experiences to help you with practical information that will put you on a fast track to effective Ajax development.

Shachor, Gal, Yoav Rubin, Shmulik London and Shmuel Kallner. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Ajax>Methods

A Survey of XML Standards: Part 1

The world of XML is vast and growing, with a huge variety of standards and technologies that interact in complex ways. It can be difficult for beginners to navigate the most important aspects of XML, and for users to keep track of new entries and changes in the space. In this series of articles, Uche Ogbuji provides a guide to XML standards, including a wide range of recommended resources for further information.

Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2004). Design>Information Design>Standards>XML

Technical Context and Cultural Consequences of XML

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is an open standard for creating domain- and industry-specific markup vocabularies. XML has become the predominant mechanism for electronic data interchange between information systems and can be described as a universally applicable, durable “Code of Integration.â€Ω As we celebrate its tenth anniversary, it is appropriate to reflect on the role XML has played and the technical ecosystem in which it functions. In this paper, we discuss both the environment from which XML arose and its technical underpinnings, and we relate these topics to companion papers in this issue of the IBM Systems Journal. We discuss the broad consequences of XML and argue that XML will take its place among the technical standards having the greatest impact on the world in which we live. We conclude with some reflections on the significant technical, economic, and societal consequences that XML is likely to have in the future.

Adler, S., R. Cochrane, J.F. Morar and A. Spector. IBM (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML

Ten (or a Few More) Files Every Web Site Needs

Regardless of what sort of Content Management System or Web application framework you might use to develop your Web site, there are some basics you should cover. A sophisticated user interface and rich content is great to have, but before you get to that, you should provide the basic files that users anticipate finding and that tell both humans and machines what your site does.

Mertz, David. IBM (2007). Design>Web Design

Terminology Made Simple  

This paper describes the types of terms that you should include in software product glossary and describes how to write definitions for these terms. It also describes a method for controlling word usage and managing terminology for software projects.

Sturgeon, Mary. IBM (2004). Reference>Style Guides>Glossary>Help

Understanding Disability Issues When Designing Web Sites

When you design or modify Web sites to allow access to people with disabilities, you make the Web accessible. New Web sites and applications, however, are introducing new problems and barriers. There are complex graphics and multimedia applications that assistive technology simply has not solved. One solution to these new problems is to put accessibility in the hands of the Web developer and content author. Creating a Web site that is accessible by people with disabilities is relatively easy as long as the Web developer and author follow some basic guidelines.

IBM (2007). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

Understanding DOM

Even before there was XML, there was the Document Object Model, or DOM. It allows a developer to refer to, retrieve, and change items within an XML structure, and is essential to working with XML. In this tutorial, you will learn about the structure of a DOM document. You will also learn how to use Java technology to create a Document from an XML file, make changes to it, and retrieve the output.

Chase, Nicholas. IBM (2003). Design>Web Design>Information Design>XML

Understanding the IBM Basic B2B Profile

The IBM Basic Business-to-Business (B2B) Profile 1.0 is a profile that, in the fashion of the WS-I profiles, enables basic B2B integration scenarios using Web services technologies. In this paper, author Chris Ferris explain the profile's purpose and technical content.

Ferris, Christopher. IBM (2005). Articles>Web Design>E Commerce

Understanding the Zend Framework

This tutorial is for developers who want to learn about creating a simple mashup, a Web application that uses information from different sources. It uses the Zend Framework's Zend_Services component and the principle of Representational State Transfer (REST) to demonstrate how to seamlessly include information to extra resources related to our feeds.

Kelly, Sean. IBM (2006). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>PHP

Up and Atom

Atom is really two different things, both related to syndication (blogs, newsfeeds, and other information which gets updated periodically). The Atom Syndication Format is an IETF standard for publishing entries (single topics or items) and feeds (collections of topics or items). The Atom Publication Protocol (sometimes called the Atom API or abbreviated APP) is a means for finding, listing, adding, editing, and removing content from an Atom repository. While Atom the Syndication Format has gone through the IETF process to become a standard, the standards committee is still at work on Atom the Publishing Protocol, although it seems likely that much of it has stabilized at this point.

Elza, Dethe and David Mertz. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>XML>RSS

Update XForms Using XForms

With XForms technology, you can provide a lightweight editor for an existing collection of XForms. Explore an approach to form authoring for simple, quick changes that improve the effectiveness of data collected. Typical form editing requires a separate application even for the most trivial changes. XForms manipulates XML data and submits it to a server, making it an ideal choice to author these trivial changes and submit them for redeployment.

Speicher, Steve K., Jan J. Kratky and Kevin E. Kelly. IBM (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML

Upgrade Web Applications with New Technologies

To maintain success, companies often incorporate the benefits of new and evolving technologies into their star products. Unfortunately, integrating new technologies can sometimes compromise a product's features and adversely affect the time to market. The time it takes for a product development team to become acquainted with the new technology can limit the number of new features added to the product. Discover the most common problems associated with incorporating new technologies into existing products, and learn what steps you can take to avoid these issues and upgrade your products successfully.

Bhattacharya, Shantanu. IBM (2007). Design>Web Design>Programming