11Jan 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Our Blog in 2011 – The Year in Review

Cool "Stuff"
Like everyone who writes a blog, I always wonder how well it's doing - how many people visit, what the most popular posts are, are people really interested in the information that I post here, are they really using this information - meaning are they printing out a specific post to perhaps use later on down the road, are they sharing this information ---- bottom line ---- is it worth it for me to keep investing the amount of time I spend each day?  Luckily WordPress has some pretty awesome tools that track all of this information. Even though we host our own WordPress blog on our site {rather than hosting it directly on Wordpress.com for free}, I did create a WordPress.com account and tied it to our blog -…
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27Apr 2011 by Nancy Smyth

WordPress Plugins for Additional Functionality

Cool "Stuff"
WordPress plugins provide additional functionality for you and your site visitors.  There are an incredible amount of plugins available - most of which are free.  Login to the backend (Administrator page) of your site and from the left side click on Plugins and Add New -> use the Search function and enter keywords. Below is a list of plugins that I use here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog: AddThis Social Bookmarking Widget - Help your visitor promote your site! The AddThis Social Bookmarking Widget allows any visitor to bookmark your site easily with many popular services. Sign up for an AddThis.com account to see how your visitors are sharing your content--which services they're using for sharing, which content is shared the most, and more. It's all free--even the pretty…
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25Apr 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Tool for Creating a WordPress or Joomla Site on Your Computer

Cool "Stuff"
Thinking of developing a Wordpress blog or a Joomla website?  Microsoft offers a free web development tool, called WebMatrix, which includes EVERYTHING you need for website development - all installed locally on your computer so you can learn how to use Wordpress or Joomla before actually making your site live with a website hosting provider. I discovered WebMatrix a few weeks ago when I wanted to test some new Wordpress plugins for this blog and I also needed to take a look at Joomla 1.6 in preparation for upgrading our website later this year.  Previously I had used another tool and was having issues installing it on my Windows 7 laptop; I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have found WebMatrix - it's so much easier to use…
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25Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

#Freebie Friday – A Few of My Favorite Things

Cool "Stuff", News You Can Use
This Friday I thought I would share a few of my own favorite "freebies" and a few paid tools with you.  These are just a few of the things that I just don't think I could live without on a daily basis while running my own business, some you may already know about - others you may not. First, the freebies, not in any particular order: CutePDF Writer - turn ANY document into a .pdf.  Download & install CutePDF Writer, it installs as a "printer".  From any program , yes even QuickBooks, choose CutePDF from the printer selection dropdown menu, and ta-da --- your document is now a pdf file. Foxit Reader -  a fast an inexpensive alternative to Adobe Acrobat Reader. Google Docs - easily upload and share files…
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02Jul 2009 by Nancy Smyth

Why Computers Sometimes Crash! by Dr. Seuss

Cool "Stuff"
This came in from a newsgroup I belong to and I just had to share! (Read this to yourself aloud - it's a must!) I f a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, and the bus is interrupted at a very last resort, and the access of the memory makes your floppy disk abort, then the socket packet pocket has an error to report. If  your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, and the double-clicking  icon puts your window in the trash, and your data is corrupted cause the  index doesn't hash, then your situation's hopeless and your system's gonna  crash! If  the label on the cable on the table at your house, says the network is  connected to the button on your…
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16Dec 2008 by Nancy Smyth

Synching data on two computers

Cool "Stuff"
I seem to constantly be working on two computers. I usually work on my laptop in the wee hours of the morning at the comfort of my dining room table and then I come to the office to really start my day and work on the "big computer". The problem always had been on how to keep the two computers synched, not an easy task.  I was driving myself nuts using Window's "briefcase", but the folders that I store my most often used "stuff" were so big that "briefcase" didn't always do the trick. Low and behold, one day I'm reading the latest issue of PCWorld and there is a full page ad for a program called GoodSync (https://www.goodsync.com/). According to the article,  GoodSync was specifically designed to keep 2…
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12Dec 2008 by Nancy Smyth

Turn just about any document into a PDF file

Cool "Stuff"
and reduce your ink and paper costs too! Are you tired of printing reams and reams of paper, or sending your Word documents/Excel spreadsheets as email attachments, and then worrying if the recipient is going to change something that they shouldn't? If so, the CutePDF is the tool for you!  Visit https://www.cutepdf.com and download their free version (you'll see advertisements) of CutePDF. CutePDF is nothing more than a fancy "printer" which you'll select when you go to print something, choose a location to save the document, and give it a name and "poof" you've got a .pdf file. Just as an aside; if you use our software, you can print your certified payroll reports and aia billing to .pdf files and then send them as email attachments. Download and install…
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