Cloud Based file sharing

I am sure everyone has heard of the “Cloud”, it basically means somewhere on the Internet, without being specific. Of course we all place our trust in this and anticipate that “somewhere” is safe and secure.

A Home-Start regional office contacted me with a problem. They were based in two locations. At least one of which was using a local government network and firewall before being able to access the internet. Cloud based file sharing systems such as DropBox were deliberately blocked by the firewall. In this case (understandably) it was the policy of the IT department to prevent files being sent out of the location to potentially insecure places.

The Home-Start regional office had a core set of files (probably procedures) that they wanted to share between the two sites. Such that both sites could edit them and save them back. Continue reading Cloud Based file sharing

Starting a Campaign

I have been providing some help to Home-Start East Herts this month. They are about to run a fundraising scheme called 100 Schools for Home-Start.

One of the issues in running such a campaign is how to do it effectively through your website.

Depending on when you are reading this it may have changed. The home page can be located here: http://www.homestarteastherts.org.uk and looks like this. Continue reading Starting a Campaign

The complacency of hosting companies

I hope very much that I am at the end of a 2 week search for a backup reseller hosting account. The reseller account that most of you are in (for those I host) is moderately large, but I have reached a stage where I need alternative hosting so I can spread the sites across different locations and have another independent location if problems are detected in the primary hosting. I am also seeking a reseller hosting package with the data centre based in the UK, this would offer a marginally faster response time than the US based hosting I am currently using.

One might reasonably assume that this is fairly easy to do. However it did not turn out that way. Continue reading The complacency of hosting companies

Check Out TT-Exchange

I was asking a few questions prior to a new website deployment the other day that related to which mail client the office had in use. This particular group had the Home and Student version of Microsoft Office. I asked how much they paid for it, and they had three seats at around £90 per seat. This is the full commercial price. The Home and Student version of MS Office does not include Outlook. So they still needed an email client or they would need to handle all email through a web based client.

Great Deals for Charities!

Continue reading Check Out TT-Exchange

News on MS Office 365 deployment (for free).

Further to my earlier comments about working with a remote group who are trying to set up and acquire Office 365 for free (on a charitable basis), we have worked through the email settings that are required to get mail from their domain redirected to Office 365 Outlook today. The next step is the group need to apply for the Applications by registering their charitable status with the provider. More on this once I hear back from them. If they get past this last hurdle then they will have access to the lastest MicroSoft applications at zero cost.

I have also located a Microsoft article on how to get Office 365 for free. You can find it here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/office-365 to apply to try it for free go to the bottom of the page (on the website link) and start there.

If I am looking after your email and/or domain name I can help change the server settings so that MS Office 365 will work for your organisation. All you need is someone at your end to make the changes to your systems and lead the migration.

Also check out TT Exchange; I put a brief article together on this organisation.

Marketing an Event on your website

If you are now familiar with your website then you will know that when you type in http://www.mysite.co.uk it goes straight to the home page. If you were marketing something then you could have a news item that is prominent, but then you rely on someone locating it. If you have a newsletter built into your site then you are pushing the information out to an already interested audience. But is there a better way?

Yes there is!

Continue reading Marketing an Event on your website

Need to create a PDF file?

What is a PDF file?

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It is a universal way of reading a document on any device. You do not need any special software to read the contents of a file encoded in PDF other than a PDF reader. These are generally already embedded in your operating system or application software that you use on any device, whether that is a desktop, laptop, tablet or smart phone. It is also independent of operating systems and therefore a cross platform solution sharing documents irrespective of whether you are on a Windows, Linux or O/S X (Apple Mac), Android or other platform. Continue reading Need to create a PDF file?

You don’t have to use MS Office

Some Free Stuff

Fortunately there are still some people out there who are not driving large profits for their shareholders, and are providing everyday useful software that you can download and install.

Did you know it is possible to install free software on a laptop/ desktop computer that gives you the equivalent functionality to Microsoft Office including email?

It is also generally not as processor intensive as MS Office as well, so this means you can use an older PC and squeeze more life out of it.

You don’t need to do all of the things below, so read through first, you can also try the Open Office apps on your existing platform to see if they are right for you (and remove them if they are not).

Operating Systems

If you have a really old computer that is destined for the scrap heap but are also short of funds, find a local volunteer who is IT literate (you don’t have to be an expert, but some knowledge is useful). Continue reading You don’t have to use MS Office

Free MS Office 365?

This may just be a rumour at this time, and I need to see it through to check it all works. I have been contacted by a Home-Start organisation who have asked for my help in setting up Microsoft Office 365 for them.

Apparently it is now available for free to registered charities (up to 25 licences).

If this is true then it is an easy way to get your systems up to date using the latest Microsoft Office suite of products. It seems a bit complicated to set up, but requires email to be directed to a different location. I am trying to establish the settings while working with an IT lead at this particular Home-Start organisation. Continue reading Free MS Office 365?

Automated backup now available

Available from the 15th of February

Following a week of tests I have now purchased a premium plugin which can automate backups of your site and store them off of the hosting somewhere.

I have been using DropBox which is a free cloud storage facility which is also replicated on your local computer. It is now possible to backup to your organisations DropBox account and hold 8 weekly backups on a rolling basis. That is two months of backups, and it will cost you nothing, happens automatically, so you don’t have to do anything once it is configured. Continue reading Automated backup now available