Here’s step by step guide for install MySQL server on Windows 7Install MySQL on Windows 7

This  is another topic that I want to explain today. MySQL is common friend of Apache web server and PHP. Combination of those software powered many service and many website all over the world.

Download MySQL Binary

MSI Installer vs ZIP
MSI installer highly recommended for basic user, just click next and next for install and offer shortcut for access and configuring the option.
Zip file suitable for advance user who want to configure anything by themselves.
32 bit vs 64 bit
Check your Windows 7 first. Is it 32 bit or 64 bit. If your Windows 7 has 64 bit support I highly recommend 64 bit version specially if you have memory more than 4 GB. If you only have 1 GB of RAM then I recommend you to pick 32 bit version.


Save to My Document or other place.

Install MySQL on Windows 7

Start installation process by double click installer file.
Welcome to the setup wizard for MySQL Server 5.1
Click Next.

Choose Setup Type
MySQL installer provide 3 type of setup :

1. Typical; recommend for general use.
2. Complete; all program features will be installed.
3. Custom; I prefer this one because I want to specify installation folder

Choose Custom and Click Next.

Change install location to C:\mysql\ by click Change button and enter new path. Click Next when you’re ready.

Ready to install program
Examine current setting produced by wizard. click Install to start the process.

Little advertisement from MySQL click Next.

Click Next.

Click Finish to exit the wizard.
make sure to check “configure the MySQL server now“.

Configure MySQL server on Windows 7

MySQL Server Instance Configuration Wizard will start, it will help us to configure MySQL server in easy way.
Click Next.

Select “Detailed Configuration” and click Next.

Choose “Developer Machine” for server type. It will use minimal amount of memory.
Click Next.

Select “Multifunctional Database” for database usage.
Click Next.

Click Next.

Choose “Decision Support (DSS) / OLAP” and click Next.

Choose “Enable TCP/IP Networking” and “Enable Strict Mode“.
Click Next.

Select default character set “manual” and point to UTF 8.
click Next.

Set Windows Option
Choose “Install as Windows Service” and “Include Bin Directory in Windows PATH“.
Click Next.

Set Security Settings
Enter password twice for root account.
Click Next.

Click Execute to start the wizard work for :

• Prepare configuration
• Write configuration file
• Start service
• Apply security settings

Click Finish.

Testing MySQL Server on Windows 7

Open command prompt

Issue these command to see if the server work as expected (BOLD)

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\LAPTOP>mysql -V
mysql Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.1.52, for Win32 (ia32)
C:\Users\LAPTOP>mysql -uroot -p
Enter password: ******
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 4
Server version: 5.1.52-community MySQL Community Server (GPL)
Copyright (c) 2000, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software,
and you are welcome to modify and redistribute it under the GPL v2 license
Type ‘help;’ or ‘\h’ for help. Type ‘\c’ to clear the current input statement.
mysql> SHOW ENGINES\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
Engine: MyISAM
Support: YES
Comment: Default engine as of MySQL 3.23 with great performance
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 2. row ***************************
Engine: CSV
Support: YES
Comment: CSV storage engine
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 3. row ***************************
Engine: MRG_MYISAM
Support: YES
Comment: Collection of identical MyISAM tables
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 4. row ***************************
Engine: BLACKHOLE
Support: YES
Comment: /dev/null storage engine (anything you write to it disappears)
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 5. row ***************************
Engine: FEDERATED
Support: NO
Comment: Federated MySQL storage engine
Transactions: NULL
XA: NULL
Savepoints: NULL
*************************** 6. row ***************************
Engine: InnoDB
Support: DEFAULT
Comment: Supports transactions, row-level locking, and foreign keys
Transactions: YES
XA: YES
Savepoints: YES
*************************** 7. row ***************************
Engine: ARCHIVE
Support: YES
Comment: Archive storage engine
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 8. row ***************************
Engine: MEMORY
Support: YES
Comment: Hash based, stored in memory, useful for temporary tables
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>

Great. At this stage MySQL Server successfully installed with account root enabled with password. Access available via TCP/IP and optimized for developer setting.
I will cover integration of Apache, PHP and MySQL in other post.
Stay health.

Read more »

Here’s step by step guide for install MySQL server on Windows 7Install MySQL on Windows 7

This  is another topic that I want to explain today. MySQL is common friend of Apache web server and PHP. Combination of those software powered many service and many website all over the world.

Download MySQL Binary

MSI Installer vs ZIP
MSI installer highly recommended for basic user, just click next and next for install and offer shortcut for access and configuring the option.
Zip file suitable for advance user who want to configure anything by themselves.
32 bit vs 64 bit
Check your Windows 7 first. Is it 32 bit or 64 bit. If your Windows 7 has 64 bit support I highly recommend 64 bit version specially if you have memory more than 4 GB. If you only have 1 GB of RAM then I recommend you to pick 32 bit version.


Save to My Document or other place.

Install MySQL on Windows 7

Start installation process by double click installer file.
Welcome to the setup wizard for MySQL Server 5.1
Click Next.

Choose Setup Type
MySQL installer provide 3 type of setup :

1. Typical; recommend for general use.
2. Complete; all program features will be installed.
3. Custom; I prefer this one because I want to specify installation folder

Choose Custom and Click Next.

Change install location to C:\mysql\ by click Change button and enter new path. Click Next when you’re ready.

Ready to install program
Examine current setting produced by wizard. click Install to start the process.

Little advertisement from MySQL click Next.

Click Next.

Click Finish to exit the wizard.
make sure to check “configure the MySQL server now“.

Configure MySQL server on Windows 7

MySQL Server Instance Configuration Wizard will start, it will help us to configure MySQL server in easy way.
Click Next.

Select “Detailed Configuration” and click Next.

Choose “Developer Machine” for server type. It will use minimal amount of memory.
Click Next.

Select “Multifunctional Database” for database usage.
Click Next.

Click Next.

Choose “Decision Support (DSS) / OLAP” and click Next.

Choose “Enable TCP/IP Networking” and “Enable Strict Mode“.
Click Next.

Select default character set “manual” and point to UTF 8.
click Next.

Set Windows Option
Choose “Install as Windows Service” and “Include Bin Directory in Windows PATH“.
Click Next.

Set Security Settings
Enter password twice for root account.
Click Next.

Click Execute to start the wizard work for :

• Prepare configuration
• Write configuration file
• Start service
• Apply security settings

Click Finish.

Testing MySQL Server on Windows 7

Open command prompt

Issue these command to see if the server work as expected (BOLD)

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\LAPTOP>mysql -V
mysql Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.1.52, for Win32 (ia32)
C:\Users\LAPTOP>mysql -uroot -p
Enter password: ******
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 4
Server version: 5.1.52-community MySQL Community Server (GPL)
Copyright (c) 2000, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software,
and you are welcome to modify and redistribute it under the GPL v2 license
Type ‘help;’ or ‘\h’ for help. Type ‘\c’ to clear the current input statement.
mysql> SHOW ENGINES\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
Engine: MyISAM
Support: YES
Comment: Default engine as of MySQL 3.23 with great performance
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 2. row ***************************
Engine: CSV
Support: YES
Comment: CSV storage engine
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 3. row ***************************
Engine: MRG_MYISAM
Support: YES
Comment: Collection of identical MyISAM tables
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 4. row ***************************
Engine: BLACKHOLE
Support: YES
Comment: /dev/null storage engine (anything you write to it disappears)
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 5. row ***************************
Engine: FEDERATED
Support: NO
Comment: Federated MySQL storage engine
Transactions: NULL
XA: NULL
Savepoints: NULL
*************************** 6. row ***************************
Engine: InnoDB
Support: DEFAULT
Comment: Supports transactions, row-level locking, and foreign keys
Transactions: YES
XA: YES
Savepoints: YES
*************************** 7. row ***************************
Engine: ARCHIVE
Support: YES
Comment: Archive storage engine
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
*************************** 8. row ***************************
Engine: MEMORY
Support: YES
Comment: Hash based, stored in memory, useful for temporary tables
Transactions: NO
XA: NO
Savepoints: NO
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>

Great. At this stage MySQL Server successfully installed with account root enabled with password. Access available via TCP/IP and optimized for developer setting.
I will cover integration of Apache, PHP and MySQL in other post.
Stay health.

Read more »

Some web design tips

Here is a list of some tips to help you with your web pages. These are simply suggestions to help you create a better surfing experience for your visitors.

Avoid Under Construction signsAll good web sites should always be under construction. Including the words "under construction", or worse yet a blinking animation, only makes you look like an amateur. These notices are so frowned upon that directories such as Yahoo will not accept sites with one on the home page. Most awards programs will immediately reject any sites displaying this dishonorable phrase.

Don't use a hundred different fonts on the same page You can run into all kinds of problems when you use fonts on the internet. There are incompatibilities between operating systems (Unix, Mac and Windows all work differently) and browsers. Fonts have to be installed locally by your visitor - if he doesn't have it installed your page may look funny to him. 

If you mix many different fonts on your page you are almost immediately known as an amateur. A font or two is fine, but work to avoid the "ransom note" effect.

Don't write your HTML to a particular browserBrowsers change very quickly. The one that is popular today may be almost unused in a few months. So don't spend any time trying to fit your HTML to Internet Explorer or Netscape or Opera. Just make good HTML and then let the browser do it's job.

Use style sheetsStyle sheets (known as CSS) is a way to gain incredible control over how items are displayed on your pages. Better still, you can create one style sheet document and reference it from all over your web. This way, if you want to change, say, your text color from green to blue, you only have to change one file. Every reference to the style will automatically and immediately get changed.

Include Meta TagsMeta tags are used to tell the outside world, especially search engines, all about your pages. You should include the appropriate meta tags on each and every page. These tags need to give a description, copyright notice, author name, language and search keywords. In addition, it is a good idea to include the RSAC rating for content filters.

Include a descriptive titleBe sure and write a short, keyword heavy, very descriptive title for each page. Search engines rely on these titles in determining how to index your site. Be sure your title is accurate and honest as well.

Avoid lots of moving thingsAn occasional animation is great and can turn a boring page into an award winner, but don't go overboard. In general, more than one animation per page is excessive.

Don't change your visitors settingsDon't change the browser controls, the window size or the cursor. Many surfers (myself included) get very annoyed when these things are changed - and annoyed web surfers tend to never come back. Two of the worst offenses: changing the back function to do something other than go back to the previous page and disabling the right click.

Remember not everyone is from your countryThis is called the world side web, and you must remember that your document will be read by people all over the planet (and maybe even from outer space!) 

• Be sure your dates make sense. For example, 01/02/01 means January 2, 2001 in the United States but February 1, 2001 in many European countries. I prefer dates in the format 1 January 2001, although you may also write 2001-01-02 (year, month and day).
• If you write a time, be sure and indicate the time zone.
• Be sure and include your area code on the phone number, and specify which country if appropriate.

Include height and width on imagesThis allows the browser to "pre-allocate" the space for the graphic on the display, which makes it all look better. In addition, if ALT tags are included with the images, then something will display even if the image is not.

Include ALT tags on all graphicsBy including an ALT tag on graphics, you ensure that your page will look good even if your visitors surf with images disabled.

Include a contact methodWeb sites are created by human beings, and web surfers appreciate knowing they can communicate with someone. Some webmasters like to include a "mailto" link on every page. I prefer using a link to an email form so my email address is not harvested by spam robots. Whatever method you use is fine, as long as visitors have a way of reaching you.

Check your pagesOnce you've finished a page, be sure and test it. Check each link to be sure it actually goes somewhere. It is also a good idea to check each page in the major browsers - Netscape, Internet Explorer and Opera. The pages will not always look the same, but you should at least make sure they look decent.

Make your pages consistent - Your navigation and layouts should be consistent from page to page. Your visitors will then know what to expect as they surf through your site.

Keep your colors saneA pink background with bright florescent green letters is probably not the best way to win friends. Use all of the colors you want, but it's best not to make your pages resemble an LSD nightmare.

Keep down the page sizeRemember most surfers are still using dialup connections. Thus, you need to keep your pages small (including graphics). Thirty to fifty kbytes per page is about the right size.

Don't use ActiveX controlsPersonally, I will immediately leave a site which asks me to download an ActiveX control. Why? Because ActiveX depends upon the surfer trusting the person who created the control. How would I know if this thing is safe? I prefer the Java security scheme, which is much better defined and safer (in my humble opinion).

Don't use popup advertisementsYou really want to annoy your visitors? Popup advertisements are a good way to get people really unhappy. It's a good idea to never throw an ad up in front of your visitors - that is, if you want them to come back.

Read more »

Some web design tips

Here is a list of some tips to help you with your web pages. These are simply suggestions to help you create a better surfing experience for your visitors.

Avoid Under Construction signsAll good web sites should always be under construction. Including the words "under construction", or worse yet a blinking animation, only makes you look like an amateur. These notices are so frowned upon that directories such as Yahoo will not accept sites with one on the home page. Most awards programs will immediately reject any sites displaying this dishonorable phrase.

Don't use a hundred different fonts on the same page You can run into all kinds of problems when you use fonts on the internet. There are incompatibilities between operating systems (Unix, Mac and Windows all work differently) and browsers. Fonts have to be installed locally by your visitor - if he doesn't have it installed your page may look funny to him. 

If you mix many different fonts on your page you are almost immediately known as an amateur. A font or two is fine, but work to avoid the "ransom note" effect.

Don't write your HTML to a particular browserBrowsers change very quickly. The one that is popular today may be almost unused in a few months. So don't spend any time trying to fit your HTML to Internet Explorer or Netscape or Opera. Just make good HTML and then let the browser do it's job.

Use style sheetsStyle sheets (known as CSS) is a way to gain incredible control over how items are displayed on your pages. Better still, you can create one style sheet document and reference it from all over your web. This way, if you want to change, say, your text color from green to blue, you only have to change one file. Every reference to the style will automatically and immediately get changed.

Include Meta TagsMeta tags are used to tell the outside world, especially search engines, all about your pages. You should include the appropriate meta tags on each and every page. These tags need to give a description, copyright notice, author name, language and search keywords. In addition, it is a good idea to include the RSAC rating for content filters.

Include a descriptive titleBe sure and write a short, keyword heavy, very descriptive title for each page. Search engines rely on these titles in determining how to index your site. Be sure your title is accurate and honest as well.

Avoid lots of moving thingsAn occasional animation is great and can turn a boring page into an award winner, but don't go overboard. In general, more than one animation per page is excessive.

Don't change your visitors settingsDon't change the browser controls, the window size or the cursor. Many surfers (myself included) get very annoyed when these things are changed - and annoyed web surfers tend to never come back. Two of the worst offenses: changing the back function to do something other than go back to the previous page and disabling the right click.

Remember not everyone is from your countryThis is called the world side web, and you must remember that your document will be read by people all over the planet (and maybe even from outer space!) 

• Be sure your dates make sense. For example, 01/02/01 means January 2, 2001 in the United States but February 1, 2001 in many European countries. I prefer dates in the format 1 January 2001, although you may also write 2001-01-02 (year, month and day).
• If you write a time, be sure and indicate the time zone.
• Be sure and include your area code on the phone number, and specify which country if appropriate.

Include height and width on imagesThis allows the browser to "pre-allocate" the space for the graphic on the display, which makes it all look better. In addition, if ALT tags are included with the images, then something will display even if the image is not.

Include ALT tags on all graphicsBy including an ALT tag on graphics, you ensure that your page will look good even if your visitors surf with images disabled.

Include a contact methodWeb sites are created by human beings, and web surfers appreciate knowing they can communicate with someone. Some webmasters like to include a "mailto" link on every page. I prefer using a link to an email form so my email address is not harvested by spam robots. Whatever method you use is fine, as long as visitors have a way of reaching you.

Check your pagesOnce you've finished a page, be sure and test it. Check each link to be sure it actually goes somewhere. It is also a good idea to check each page in the major browsers - Netscape, Internet Explorer and Opera. The pages will not always look the same, but you should at least make sure they look decent.

Make your pages consistent - Your navigation and layouts should be consistent from page to page. Your visitors will then know what to expect as they surf through your site.

Keep your colors saneA pink background with bright florescent green letters is probably not the best way to win friends. Use all of the colors you want, but it's best not to make your pages resemble an LSD nightmare.

Keep down the page sizeRemember most surfers are still using dialup connections. Thus, you need to keep your pages small (including graphics). Thirty to fifty kbytes per page is about the right size.

Don't use ActiveX controlsPersonally, I will immediately leave a site which asks me to download an ActiveX control. Why? Because ActiveX depends upon the surfer trusting the person who created the control. How would I know if this thing is safe? I prefer the Java security scheme, which is much better defined and safer (in my humble opinion).

Don't use popup advertisementsYou really want to annoy your visitors? Popup advertisements are a good way to get people really unhappy. It's a good idea to never throw an ad up in front of your visitors - that is, if you want them to come back.

Read more »

What are meta tags and why its use for ?

A meta-tag is a special HTML keyword which provides some data about your web page (and site) to the outside world. There are many hundreds of tags which declare information such as the copyright holder, cache time (the time the page is to be saved before being reloaded), category and so on.

Whether or not you use meta-tags and which ones you use depends upon the purpose of your site. Some sites will find it very useful to include many of these tags to precisely control how their site is seen and used. Others simply do not care as long as visitors arrive in mass.

My site, for example, is educational. Thus, I include keywords to help others categorize my pages, to aid the various research search engines and directories, and to ensure that my pages are understood as family safe. Thus, what is important to me is that my site gets properly placed on thousands of research directories and search engines all over the internet. I want libraries and universities to add it to their list of references.

Stating my copyright is also important, as I might need to enforce it later. I want people to understand that they cannot just freely make copies of my hard work and claim it as their own.

A commercial site, however, might not have any use for any of that. I can easily see that a site selling candy or whatever would restrict the meta tags to the basics. Who cares which of the small directories it gets listed within - all that's important is targeted traffic.

I find these meta tags extremely useful to tell robots and other things which visit my site how I would prefer it be handled, categorized and saved. I like having control over these things, as then my sites become optimally useful to my audience.

I've done a lot of research on meta tags and their use, and here's an example of what I have concluded is of most value to me. You may come to different conclusions based upon your own needs. The point is simple: use what's important to you and your mission. Don't use what's not important.

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">

This declares the character set of the page. It's nice to tell the browser so it displays everything properly.

<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">

Language is useful to readers and search engines what to expect. Some of my pages have been translated into Spanish and, of all things, Russian, and are marked accordingly.

<meta http-equiv="pics-label" content='(pics-1.1 "http://www.icra.org/ratingsv02.html" l gen true for "http://www.internet-tips.net" r (cz 1 lc 1 nz 1 oz 1 vz 1) "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true for "http://www.internet-tips.net" r (n 0 s 0 v 0 l 1))'> <meta http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" l r (SS~~000 1))'>

I like to let my readers know they can expect my site to be safe for all ages.

<meta name="author" content="Richard G. Lowe, Jr.">

This tells the directories and search engines the name of the author of my pages. This is displayed upon occasion.

<meta name="copyright" content="Copyright © 1999-2002 Richard Lowe, All Rights Reserved">

This meta-tag tells the world that our works is copyrighted and that we own the copyright. This can be useful later if there is a need to sue.

<meta name="description" content="TCP/IP - the foundation of the internet. This is the information about the protocol which makes the internet work.">

The description is useful for many search engines. This is also what is displayed by my own internal PERL search engine.

<meta name="keywords" content="tcp/ip,tcpip,ip,network protocol">

Keywords help search engines (both my own and the others available on the internt) determine what things to search for. Also, I have found some of the smaller directories and engines use these to categorize the site.

<meta name="rating" content="GENERAL">

Another way to say my site is family safe.

<meta name="ROBOTS" content="ALL">

The page can be indexed. The above tag is the default so only needs to be specified if you change the options.

<meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="TRUE">

Keeps away Microsoft Smart tags.

<title>TCP/IP - the foundation of the internet</title>

Of course, the title is used by both my internal search engine and the others as well.

I specifically set "pragma" and "expires" in the HTTP header  because HTML is not parsed by proxy servers and such. The HTTP headers are always examined. My pages don't change often so I want them to remain cached for a long time, so I set the expire to 6 months in the header.

I thought about "reply-to" (used to include the email address of the webmaster) then realized I would just be helping email harvesters, so I don't use it.

One thing that I did right away was to remove the following tags:

<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0">
<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">

These (and they are created by other HTML editors as well) are simply marketing and statistical tools used by companies. My advice is to get rid of them - they do you no good at all.

My philosophy on the use of these tags is simple. Yes, they are of value to some search engines, but more importantly, the tags tell the outside world things about my pages. So the questions I ask myself is "what do I want to make known that is not obvious from the page itself", "is a meta tag the best way to do it (sometimes setting the HTTP header is better, for example) and "is the tag abused (such as reply-to))

I am also starting to use more and more of the <LINK> tag, as I think it is very useful to tell the world how my web site is structured. I like the way you can relate a page to it's chapter, section, table of contents and so on. This seems like, when the feature becomes more widely supported, it will make life easier for everyone.

Meta Tag References

• HTML tag reference guide - <META>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv expires>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv ext-cache>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv content-language>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv page-enter>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv page-exit>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv pics-label>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv pragma>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv refresh>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv content-script-type>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv set-cookie>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv site-enter>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv site-exit>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv content-style-type>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv window-target>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv content-type>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name abstract>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name author>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name classification>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name copyright>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name description>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name distribution>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name doc-class>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name expires>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name generator>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name googlebot>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name keywords>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name MSSmartTagsPreventParsing>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name owner>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name progid>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name rating>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name refresh>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name reply-to>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name resource-type>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name revisit-after>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name robots>
• HTML tag reference guide - <TITLE>

Read more »

What are meta tags and why its use for ?

A meta-tag is a special HTML keyword which provides some data about your web page (and site) to the outside world. There are many hundreds of tags which declare information such as the copyright holder, cache time (the time the page is to be saved before being reloaded), category and so on.

Whether or not you use meta-tags and which ones you use depends upon the purpose of your site. Some sites will find it very useful to include many of these tags to precisely control how their site is seen and used. Others simply do not care as long as visitors arrive in mass.

My site, for example, is educational. Thus, I include keywords to help others categorize my pages, to aid the various research search engines and directories, and to ensure that my pages are understood as family safe. Thus, what is important to me is that my site gets properly placed on thousands of research directories and search engines all over the internet. I want libraries and universities to add it to their list of references.

Stating my copyright is also important, as I might need to enforce it later. I want people to understand that they cannot just freely make copies of my hard work and claim it as their own.

A commercial site, however, might not have any use for any of that. I can easily see that a site selling candy or whatever would restrict the meta tags to the basics. Who cares which of the small directories it gets listed within - all that's important is targeted traffic.

I find these meta tags extremely useful to tell robots and other things which visit my site how I would prefer it be handled, categorized and saved. I like having control over these things, as then my sites become optimally useful to my audience.

I've done a lot of research on meta tags and their use, and here's an example of what I have concluded is of most value to me. You may come to different conclusions based upon your own needs. The point is simple: use what's important to you and your mission. Don't use what's not important.

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">

This declares the character set of the page. It's nice to tell the browser so it displays everything properly.

<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">

Language is useful to readers and search engines what to expect. Some of my pages have been translated into Spanish and, of all things, Russian, and are marked accordingly.

<meta http-equiv="pics-label" content='(pics-1.1 "http://www.icra.org/ratingsv02.html" l gen true for "http://www.internet-tips.net" r (cz 1 lc 1 nz 1 oz 1 vz 1) "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true for "http://www.internet-tips.net" r (n 0 s 0 v 0 l 1))'> <meta http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" l r (SS~~000 1))'>

I like to let my readers know they can expect my site to be safe for all ages.

<meta name="author" content="Richard G. Lowe, Jr.">

This tells the directories and search engines the name of the author of my pages. This is displayed upon occasion.

<meta name="copyright" content="Copyright © 1999-2002 Richard Lowe, All Rights Reserved">

This meta-tag tells the world that our works is copyrighted and that we own the copyright. This can be useful later if there is a need to sue.

<meta name="description" content="TCP/IP - the foundation of the internet. This is the information about the protocol which makes the internet work.">

The description is useful for many search engines. This is also what is displayed by my own internal PERL search engine.

<meta name="keywords" content="tcp/ip,tcpip,ip,network protocol">

Keywords help search engines (both my own and the others available on the internt) determine what things to search for. Also, I have found some of the smaller directories and engines use these to categorize the site.

<meta name="rating" content="GENERAL">

Another way to say my site is family safe.

<meta name="ROBOTS" content="ALL">

The page can be indexed. The above tag is the default so only needs to be specified if you change the options.

<meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="TRUE">

Keeps away Microsoft Smart tags.

<title>TCP/IP - the foundation of the internet</title>

Of course, the title is used by both my internal search engine and the others as well.

I specifically set "pragma" and "expires" in the HTTP header  because HTML is not parsed by proxy servers and such. The HTTP headers are always examined. My pages don't change often so I want them to remain cached for a long time, so I set the expire to 6 months in the header.

I thought about "reply-to" (used to include the email address of the webmaster) then realized I would just be helping email harvesters, so I don't use it.

One thing that I did right away was to remove the following tags:

<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0">
<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">

These (and they are created by other HTML editors as well) are simply marketing and statistical tools used by companies. My advice is to get rid of them - they do you no good at all.

My philosophy on the use of these tags is simple. Yes, they are of value to some search engines, but more importantly, the tags tell the outside world things about my pages. So the questions I ask myself is "what do I want to make known that is not obvious from the page itself", "is a meta tag the best way to do it (sometimes setting the HTTP header is better, for example) and "is the tag abused (such as reply-to))

I am also starting to use more and more of the <LINK> tag, as I think it is very useful to tell the world how my web site is structured. I like the way you can relate a page to it's chapter, section, table of contents and so on. This seems like, when the feature becomes more widely supported, it will make life easier for everyone.

Meta Tag References

• HTML tag reference guide - <META>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv expires>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv ext-cache>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv content-language>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv page-enter>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv page-exit>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv pics-label>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv pragma>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv refresh>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv content-script-type>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv set-cookie>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv site-enter>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv site-exit>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv content-style-type>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv window-target>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META http-equiv content-type>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name abstract>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name author>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name classification>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name copyright>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name description>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name distribution>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name doc-class>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name expires>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name generator>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name googlebot>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name keywords>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name MSSmartTagsPreventParsing>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name owner>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name progid>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name rating>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name refresh>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name reply-to>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name resource-type>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name revisit-after>
• HTML tag reference guide - <META name robots>
• HTML tag reference guide - <TITLE>

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