Poplar ProductivityWare Articles

On this page, you will find links to articles written by the staff of Poplar ProductivityWare, many of which include programming samples that you can use in your own web sites and programs. We hope you find them useful, enlightening, or both.

Please contact us if you have any suggestions for articles, and check back often to see our latest free offerings.

Our Articles

Drupal Topics

• Drupal Cheat Sheet: Tutorial on how to build a Drupal-based web site
• Drupal vs. WordPress: How to decide whether to use Drupal or WordPress for your next web project
• Search in Drupal: Article discussing the merits of different methods of searching Drupal sites
• Custom Content Types in Drupal: Video tutorial on how to use CCK and Views to create custom content types for a Drupal site
• Creating a Compound Field Module for CCK in Drupal 6.x: Tutorial on how to create a custom CCK field that incorporates an image, caption, and taxonomy term into one compound field.

Other Web Programming and Internet Topics

• Getting Started with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): Basic CSS tutorial, for web developers who are familiar with HTML
• Setting up .htaccess Files: Tutorial on setting up Apache .htaccess files for password protection and custom error pages
• Which Web Technology Does What?: Article on what's behind various types of interactive web sites
• Resources for Web Developers: Our favorite resources related to Web technology and Web programming, including web site content management and blogging software
• Avoiding Spam Email: Suggestions for how to avoid receiving junk email, including Web page programming samples in JavaScript and Perl

Non-Web Software Development Topics

• Getting Started with Palm OS Development: Guide for C programmers who want to develop applications for Palm OS handhelds, using PRC-Tools On Windows
• UDP, TFTP, and IP Multicast in Java: Introduction to these three communications protocols and how to implement them in Java
• Resources for Software Developers: Our favorite Web and print resources related to software development, which didn't fit into any of our other articles
• Installing Ubuntu Linux on an Everex StepNote SA2053T Laptop: Difficulties encountered with a Linux installation, and solutions
• Microsoft Access Programming Tips: Random collection of suggestions and work-arounds
• Successful Use of the Microsoft Access 2002/XP Runtime Edition: Guide to creating Microsoft Access databases that you can successfully deploy with the Runtime Edition of Access
• A book review our chief consultant Jennifer Hodgdon wrote for IEEE Software magazine, of a book about Microsoft Office development that she didn't recommend

Business Topics

• Business Networking in Seattle: A brief discussion of business networking, with lists of organizations and calendars for business networking in the Seattle area
• Starting a Software Consulting Business: Guides to the skills you will need, what to charge, how to get clients, record keeping, and taxes; focused on doing business in Seattle, Washington

Articles from Other Authors

Some of our Seattle-area business associates also have useful articles on their web sites, on a variety of topics:

• Klein Info Design - Articles on making a web site that meets your business needs and goals
• Computer Lynx - Articles on the internet and basic computing
• TsuluWerks Blog - Articles about marketing
• Office Rat - Office ergonomics and fitness tips

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