MarcForrest.com

Category: On The Marc

  • Create awesome contact forms with Formsly

    I been chatting to the guys over at Formsly, a Cape Town based startup, over the last couple of weeks about their fantastic contact form product.

    Basically for $0.99 a month, you can create a professional looking contact form to your site. No coding experience or HTML knowledge is needs, and you use the formsly interface to setup your contact form. Once that is done, they give you some code, which you simply paste into your website. Really is simple !

    Some of the features that formsly offers include:

    • Smart Email Forms
      Let users choose which department to send their email to, opt-in for a newsletter, and have your emails all securely backed up
    • Maps, Directions, & GPS
      Integrate Google Maps and street view, automatically generate a GPS waypoint, and provide printable or animated directions to your business premises.
    • Social Media Integration
      Interact with your customers by adding links to all your social media profiles, a QR vcard, as well as displaying your Twitter feed.
    • Analytics & HTML Widgets
      Track which pages of your website are triggering contact, and intergrate your HTML widgets such as Live Support.
    • No Coding. Seamless Integration
      Configure a great Contact Page to match the color scheme of you website without knowing any code at all.
    • List Multiple Locations
      If you have multiple stores, offices, or branches, you can list each individual location and provide directions to each premises

    I used formsly to setup a contact form for our iPhone Repair site, FiXi. So far, the response has been incredible, with the amount of contacts we have recieved. Because the form is so easy to use, and I was able to chose what I wanted on the form, it makes it simple for the reader of the site to use. The cool thing about formsly is that you are able to customise the appearance of the form & elements as well. So if you need the form to be a specific colour, or font etc, you can do that.

    If you looking for a contact form for your site or company, I highly recommend Formsly, and at only $0.99 a month it’s a bargain !!

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  • Google Instant launches in South Africa

    Google rolled out a very cool feautre this week to Google South Africa users, called Google Instant

    From the Google Instant Site:

    Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.

    So basically, as you type any query into Google, you are presented with a selection of what Google thinks you searching for. This is obviously based on what ranks as the highest site for that letter or combination of letters.
    I did a quick check to see what sites rank as the number one for each letter. These results are only specific to South Africa, so it gives a good indication of what the top ranking sites are.

    A – Absa

    B – Bid or Buy

    C – Computicket

    D – DSTV

    E – East Coast Radio (ECR)

    F – Facebook

    G – Gumtree

    H – Hotmai

    I – IOL

    J – JunkMail

    K -Kulula

    L – Lotto

    M – Mweb

    N – Nedbank

    O – OneTime

    P – Pnet

    Q – Quotes

    R – RE/MAX

    S – SARS

    T -Telkom

    U – Unisa

    V – Vodacom

    W – Webmail

    X – XE.com

    Y – Yahoo

    Z – Z83 – Application for employment

    Most of them make sense, but was very surprised with the likes of E, Q & Z.  Very interesting !

  • How to recover from the Pharma Hack

    Last week, I noticed that the traffic on my site was considerabily down. Putting it down to my not posting enough, I left it for a few days, but then I noticed that it sank even further and so, after a while started digging around on what the issue was. After a little bit of digging and self googling, I noticed that all the titles in my search rankings on Google were completely poked. Suddenly I was selling dodgy pharmecitucals.

    Eish ! So I set on to try and see how I could fix this mess. Basically it looks like the “hackers” come in through a plugin on your server, usually Askmiet. They then place rouge files on the server, which write DB entries, which cause the links to change. No physical damage is done, but it really messes with your SEO.

    I came across 2 really helpful articles, which both had step by step instructions on how to sort out the issue. You will need a bit of knowledge about WordPress, and access to the DB

    I also installed a couple of other plugins, which monitor files which have been changed on your server, as well as tightened up the security as well. Follow this post, for some really great tips & which plugins to use:

    Once you have done all the above, and completly removed the hack, you need to get Google to recrawl your site. You can do this through Google Webmaster Tools. Mine is slowly but surely coming right again, but I can honestly say, this has caused more damage that what it is worth :(

    I also came across a really cool plugin the other day called BackWPup, which allows you to backup the entire contents and DB of your wordpress install. You can also backup to Dropbox, which is really handy !

    If you need a hand cleaning out the Pharma hack, leave a comment below, and I will see where I can help :)

  • Using Wunderlist to get things done

    Using Wunderlist to get things done

    I came across a really cool FREE tool the other day called Wunderlist. Basically, it is a task management tool, that helps you get things done. There are a number of ways you can update your tasks.

    The software and platform is totally free to use, and you can update & view your tasks by either using the the very cool web interface at http://www.wunderlist.com, or you can download software for Mac or Windows, and even an iPhone, iPad or Android app. So many options !! And, they all stay synced with each other.


    I have found this to be really handy, as it helps me keep on top of what I need to do. You can also share specific lists with other people. As an example, I have created a list that I shared with the wife to keep a list of all the things that need to be sorted out around the house. You could also create shopping list, and collaborate on whats needed, and then print the list off.

    I have tired so many of these things, and none of them have ever done the job, but I really think this one has the upper hand, and I’m really looking forward to getting things done !

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  • A quick #Project2011 update

    So if you been following this blog since the beginning of the year, you will know I started a personal project, #Project2011, where my goal was to start living a much healthier lifestyle, and lose some lots of KG’s

    Well, so far, so good…I think :) After getting the Cannondale, I did a couple of Rides @ Holla in Ballito, as well as doing my first Mudman triathlon. I have to admit, that I really enjoyed the Mudman, but due to various things, I was unable to do the next 2. The next one is on the 17th of April, and I am really keen to get to that one. I haven’t been riding as much as I should have. There isn’t too many excuses for that, except I had one really bad ride about a month ago, where my blood sugar dropped, and I felt horrible. But I have positioned the bike in my garage in such a way, that every time I see it, I feel guilty, so will be getting back on soon :)

    But that said, I have been doing some (lots) exercise, in the form of Kettlebells with Flux Motion. Actually, I think I might well have become addicted to Kettlebells. Last week, I ended up doing 4 sessions !! Sean from Flux has been a true inspiration, and along with an eating plan, and some general guidance, I am really enjoying my lifestyle change. I have progressed from a 4kg Kettlebell when I started in mid Jan and this morning, worked out with a 14kg. I am super stoked.

    We recently moved the KB training down to the beach in Ballito, and started training on the promenade. This is one of the best moves ever. There is nothing better than at 6am, working out looking over the sea, and having a cool sea breeze blowing to cool you down. It has really opened my eyes, and makes your day so much more bearable. We are really so lucky to stay in this awesome part of the world. Amazing.

    The results ? Well, so far I am down about 16kg’s since I weighed myself in Dec (and got totally pissed with myself). Although this isn’t a true reflection of the weight loss, as I have lost a LOT more fat, and turned that fat into muscle. My clothes that I haven’t been able to wear in years, suddenly fit me, and my body am actually feeling 1000% better. The key to all of this, is really just eating well, and pushing your mind & body 10% extra each time you eat/workout/play. You need to focus on what you are trying to achieve, and focus on the end goal.

    Once I have reached my goal weight (hopefully in a few months time), I will post all the stats & pictures :) So far, so good :)