public function setNextOppNumber(){
//the code here
$database = R::$adapter;
$OppNumber = $database->getCell(‘SELECT max(oppnum) + 1 as NextOppNum FROM opportunities.opportunity
where oppid = : oppNum’,
array(‘oppNum’=> $this->opp->id);
if (empty($oppNum) || $oppNum < 1){ oppNum = 1; $this->oppnum = $oppNum;
}
}

then in the default controller call this function within the actionCreate() function, or maybe the actionCreateFromRelation() function maybe more experienced zurmo users can help and tell us which one, or test both. so something like:

$opportunity->setNextOppNumber();

Run a unit test to check the modules are still working, and everything should be hunky dory.

This is a day of celebration.

This is the day when citizens of Europe and the world won over unelected bureaucrats who were being wooed and lobbied by the richest corporations of the planet.

The battleground wasn’t some administrative office, but the representatives of the people – the European Parliament – which decided in the end to do its job beautifully, and represent the people against special interests.

The road to today’s victory was hard and by no means certain.

478 against, 39 in favor and 165 abstentions

What lead us here?

Six months ago, the situation looked very dark. It was all but certain that ACTA would pass unnoticed in silence. The forces fighting for citizens’ rights tried to have it referred to the European Court of Justice in order to test its legality and to buy some time. But then, something happened.

A monster by the name of SOPA appeared in the United States. Thousands of websites went dark on January 18 and millions of voices cried out, leaving Congress shell-shocked over the fact that citizens can get that level of pissed off at corporate special interests. SOPA was killed.

ACTA Protest

In the wake of this, as citizens realized that they don’t need to take that kind of corporate abuse lying down and asking for more, the community floodlights centered on ACTA.

The activism carried over beautifully to defeat this monster. Early February, there were rallies all over Europe, leaving the European Parliament equally shell-shocked.

The party groups turned on a cent and declared their opposition to ACTA in solidarity with the citizen rallies all over the continent, after having realized what a piece of shameless mail-order legislation it really was, to the horrors of the corporate shills who thought this was a done deal. Those shills tried, tried hard, tried right up until today, to postpone the vote on ACTA past the attention of the public and the activists.

Alas, they don’t understand the net. And there’s one key thing right there: the net doesn’t forget.

Parliament Members after the vote

But the key takeaway here is that it was us, the activists, that made this happen. Everyone in the European Parliament are taking turns to praise all the activists across Europe and the world for drawing their attention to what utter garbage this really was, not some run-in-the-mill rubberstamp paper, but actually a really dangerous piece of proposed legislation. Everybody thanks the activists for that. Yes, that’s you. You should lean back, smile, and pat yourself on the back here. Each and every one of us has every reason to feel proud today.

What comes next?

In theory, ACTA could still come into force between the United States and a number of smaller states. Ten states have been negotiating it, and six of those need to ratify it to have it come into force. In theory, this could become a treaty between the United States, Morocco, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland. (But wait, the Mexican Senate has already rejected ACTA. As has Australia and Switzerland in practice. Oh well…a treaty between the United States and Morocco, then, in the unlikely event that the United States will actually and formally ratify it. You can see where this is going.)

As described before on TorrentFreak, without the support of the European Union, ACTA is dead. Doesn’t exist.

The European Commissioner responsible for the treaty, Karel de Gucht, has said that he will ignore any rejections and re-table it before the European Parliament until it passes. That’s not going to happen. Parliament takes its dignity very seriously and does not tolerate that kind of contempt, fortunately. This is something relatively new in the history of the European Union’s democracy – the first time I saw Parliament stand up for its dignity was during the Telecoms Package, where the Commission also tried to ram through three-strikes provisions. (Instead, Parliament made “three strikes” schemes illegal in the entire European Union.)

That said, many of the bad things in ACTA will return under other names. For the lobbyists, this is a nine-to-five job of jabbing against the legislation until it gives way. Just another day at work. We need to remain vigilant against special interests who will return again, again, and again, until we make sure that the legislative road for them is completely blocked. We must remain watchful.

But not today.

Today, we celebrate a job extraordinarily well done.

Today, on July 4, Europe celebrates a day of independence from American special interests.

Today, we stood up for our most basic rights against corporate giants, and won.

Congratulations to all of us, and thanks to all brothers and sisters on the barricades across the world who made this happen.

(This article is also posted on falkvinge.net.)

Well it’s a pretty simple process. Paypal buttons are simply forms. So all we have to do is add a form field for our terms and conditions. We also need a little javascript to confirm the box is ticked.

Your paypal button code, should look similar to this -

<form action=”https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr” method=”post”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”cmd” value=”_s-xclick”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”business” value=”me@mybusiness.com”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”currency_code” value=”USD”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”item_name” value=”Teddy Bear”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”amount” value=”12.99″>
<input type=”image” src=”http://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynow_LG.gif” border=”0″ name=”submit” alt=”Make payments with PayPal – it’s fast, free and secure!”>
</form>

or if it’s a hosted button, your code should look similar to this -

<form action=”https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr” method=”post”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”cmd” value=”_s-xclick”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”hosted_button_id” value=”YPTQ2MCS3FKBS”>
<input type=”image” src=”http://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynow_LG.gif” border=”0″ name=”submit” alt=”Make payments with PayPal – it’s fast, free and secure!”>
</form>

That line knows your paypal email, item, price…etc.

Add the following input field to your button.

<input type=”CHECKBOX” name=”CHECKBOX_1″ value=”This…”> I have read and agree to <a href=”#”>terms and conditions</a>

Don’t forget this onsubmit=”return checkCheckBoxes(this);”

So your button code looks like -

<form onsubmit=”return checkCheckBoxes(this);” action=”https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr” method=”post”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”cmd” value=”_s-xclick”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”hosted_button_id” value=”YPTQ2MCS3FKBS”>
<input type=”CHECKBOX” name=”CHECKBOX_1″ value=”This…”> I have read and agree to <a href=”#”>terms and conditions</a>
<input type=”image” src=”http://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynow_LG.gif” border=”0″ name=”submit” alt=”Make payments with PayPal – it’s fast, free and secure!”>
</form>

Replace the “#” with URL to your terms and conditions.

We then add the javascript to give the notice, and confirm checkbox is ticked.

So add this script to the header of your document.

<script type=”text/javascript” language=”JavaScript”>
<!–
function checkCheckBoxes(theForm) {
if (
theForm.CHECKBOX_1.checked == false)
{
alert (‘You Must agree to the terms and conditions!’);
return false;
} else {
return true;
}
}
//–>
</script>

That’s it! You should now have a paypal button with a terms and conditions checkbox that must be ticked to process the payment.

Make sure you have clear directions on the navigation of your website. The navigation menu should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors know how to navigate around your website without confusion.

Reduce the number of images on your website. They make your site load very slowly and more often than not they are very unnecessary. If you think any image is essential on your site, make sure you optimize them using image editing programs so that they have a minimum file size.

Keep your text paragraphs at a reasonable length. If a paragraph is too long, you should split it into separate paragraphs so that the text blocks will not be too big. This is important because a block of text that is too large will deter visitors from reading your content.

Make sure your website complies to web standards at www.w3.org and make sure they are cross-browser compatible. If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but breaks horribly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose out on a lot of prospective visitors.

Avoid using scripting languages on your site unless it is absolutely necessary. Use scripting languages to handle or manipulate data, not to create visual effects on your website. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your site and even crash some browsers. Also, scripts are not supported across all browsers, so some visitors might miss important information because of that.

Use CSS to style your page content because they save alot of work by styling all elements on your website in one go.

The first step is to decide on a primary goal for your website. Is it to directly sell products or services through e-commerce? Or is the goal to capture leads so you can follow-up and make the sale by email and phone?

For e-commerce you need a website design with a shopping cart system, that encourages people to purchase products using the shopping cart. Both the design and written content should maintain this focus.

If your goal is to capture leads, the key is to have the content that provides initial information about your products and services that interests prospective customers. It should be easy for the prospective customer to fill out a contact form and hit the submit button or call your phone number. The form should be submitted to a contact management system such as Salesforce or SugarCRM.

Getting it Done
Your business needs a professional website, which can cost between £200 – £7,000 to design. This is not only more than most small businesses want to spend but also unnecessary to succeed on the Web.

For small business there is usually little need for an elaborate, expensive website. You can get an appealing and professional website design for as little as £150.

The key to a professional website design is to work with a good designer who takes the time to listen to you and translate your vision into an effective website. Your designer must be as skilled in listening as in design.

Once the site is completed there must be an easy way for you – or someone on your behalf, to maintain the website. The designer should provide you with an easy-to-use content management system (CMS), enabling you to edit your website without having to contact your designer. This saves you money.

Once you have a professional website you have the foundation for marketing online. You can build on that foundation and use the Internet as an effective marketing tool.

Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing can be divided into two main categories: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC).

Please do a Google search right now for something pretty popular (e.g., coffee). The results on the left side of the browser window that reach down to the bottom of the page are the organic search results. The top results are generally the more popular sites. The highest ranking sites are those sites that have the most links from other websites (especially other high ranking sites). In a sense, other people have voted for the high ranking sites by linking to them. Often, the high ranking sites are the most popular but there is also a lot of gaming of the system. You cannot, however, pay Google to increase your site’s ranking.

On the right side of your search results and, sometimes, up at the top of the page are the “Sponsored Links.” These links are paid advertising through a system called Google Adwords. Look for the “Sponsored Links” heading and compare how these links look with the non-sponsored organic links.

Search Engine Optimization
To increase your search rankings in Google (and other search engines), you can do a number of things. We will focus on Google because of its dominant position as a search engine.
The truth is that it is a crowded field out there for most keywords. Your best bet is to find some niche keywords and work on those. It would be very difficult to achieve a high ranking for the keyword “coffee” but if you have a more specific niche you have a better chance of succeeding.

For example – and this is just an example for illustration, not necessarily a good keyword combination – “Guatemalan shade grown coffee” would be an easier space in which to compete. You would have a chance of rising to the top or at least getting on the first page of results.

The primary way to increase your ranking is to have other high ranking sites establish links to your site and have those links associated with specific keywords – such as “Guatemalan shade grown coffee” as in our example. What follows is a few ideas on how to do that in an ethically and effective way. Don’t be tempted by gimmicks because Google and other search engines are becoming more savvy, and can penalize sites that try to game the system too much.

First, submit your site to as many directories and other clearinghouse type sites in your industry as you can. That should probably be your first step in SEO. Again, use the keywords that you are most interested in associating with your site.

Submit your site to general directories that are organized by topic. Some sites charge money for fast consideration of your submission, and are probably worth it. For example, Yahoo Directory charges £200/year for expedited consideration of your submission. For other highly prized directories, such as the Open Directory Project, you just have to submit your site and hope it will be considered reasonably soon.

Next, talk to your vendors and people in related industries and see about arranging for link exchanges or perhaps even success stories that include a link. They link to you and, in exchange, you link to them.

Then start writing articles. The key to articles is to write about something you know and that has information that is genuinely interesting to your audience. Publish your article in publications that are related to your industry. If your article is published in web publications, you will not only get direct sales leads from your article but your article will also help your search engine position.

For example, our fictional coffee vendor could write an article on exactly why shade grown coffee is superior to non-shade grown coffee. Or, better yet, why “Guatemalan Shade Grown Coffee” is truly the best. The article would have to include facts to support this claim and not just fluff. Maybe the next article could be on how to make the perfect cup of coffee. I would be first in line to read that one.

The key thing to remember is that SEO is a long process. You rarely get instant results. It can take 8-12 months to see any significant progress. You have to keep at it.
Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
There are a number of PPC providers but we will focus on Google Adwords as they are currently the dominant PPC system.
First, you decide on the goal (called a conversion) of your Adwords campaign. Is it a direct sign-up? Is it capturing sales leads?
A conversion when the goal is achieved and Google Adwords keeps a running tally of your conversions and the cost per conversion. You can see the cost of obtaining a lead or the cost of getting a customer. You can determine if Adwords is working for you, and whether you should make adjustments or discontinue it completely. Generally, it takes a bit of experimentation to get it right but it can be a steady source of business for you. It is worth some effort as once it is set up well it runs and can bring in a steady stream of business.

You set a daily budget (say £35) and a maximum bid on specific keywords (say £2.75). You only pay when someone clicks on your ad click. So if you are bidding £2.75 you might only pay an average of say £2.60 per click. It depends on the keywords and how much you want to bid. Spend some time choosing good keywords. Google Adwords has tools to help you choose the most powerful keywords. You will also need to embed some special code in your website to enable Google to track conversions.

Google Adwords really works. Try it and see if it will work for you. It does not require a big investment to get started. In fact, some web hosting and design companies offer vouchers so you can get started with Adwords for free. Google Adwords is easier to use than you might think.

Permission-Based E-mail Marketing
Spammers have given Email marketing a bad name in much the same way that unethical salespeople have given sales a bad name. This is unfortunate as a knowledgeable salesperson can be an essential part of making good buying decisions. The same is true of good email marketing.
With permission-based email marketing – as opposed to spam – the receiver of the email has expressed interest. Think of spam as the wily salesman in the polyester suit — and think of permission-based email as the knowledgeable salesperson we respect.

For example, I am on an email list at a bookstore that I frequent. I look forward to the e-newsletters as they often have interesting content and good discounts. I enjoy receiving this e-newsletter and the bookstore gets more business from me as a result. I rarely go anywhere else to buy books. They have retained me as a customer and I buy more often at least in part because of their e-newsletter.

Email marketing can help you increase customer retention and help you earn more revenue from each customer by cross-selling and up-selling to your current customer base. It can also help you expand your client base.

Email marketing is becoming crucial to online marketing and – when done ethically and well — can be extremely effective. Sign up for a free trial with an email marketing service and see if it works for you. If not, try another service. Find a service that meets your needs.
You can grow your own email newsletter list with a sign up form on your website, and by asking for opt-in in your sign-up and lead capture forms.

What to look for in an Email Marketing Provider
At a minimum an email marketing service should make it easy for you to create eye-catching emails, manage multiple email lists, and place newsletter sign-up forms on your website. There should be powerful list management, robust reporting, and reliability. Your provider must also have excellent customer service.

Your email marketing service should include an easy way to track the results of your email campaigns. Who opened your email, how many times, and when? Did they click on the link you provided? Did they purchase anything or submit a lead? The service should enable you to track message reads in real time, and read detailed reports online or export them to a spreadsheet.
In addition, your email marketing service should give you the ability to manage multiple lists and divide lists into multiple segments.

Conclusion
Obtaining a website and marketing your products or services online does not have to be expensive. An economical way to accomplish these goals is to hire a company to design your website and provide you with bundled web hosting and permission-based email marketing services. It would be an added bonus if they can get you started using Google Adwords with a free coupon.

[author] [author_image timthumb='off']http://www.parabellus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/bio.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Mixing awesome with modesty, Robbie Tench is an experienced web developer, SEO enthusiast and the powerhouse behind Parabellus sites. Robbie enjoys working directly with clients to produce creative websites that exceed expectations. Likes: The girlfriend (obviously), cameras, computers, sharp design, clean robust code and user-friendly interfaces. Reads: Emails. Connect with me on +Robbie Tench and Follow me onTwitter[/author_info] [/author]

Why not give us a call today on 029 20 614 586 and see what we can do for you! See one of our stores.

We offer extensive features including:

With the growing trend for mobile browsing, isn’t it time you discovered how to improve your web presence. Get in touch and we will provide a quick overview of the benefits of a mobile website design.

Why not give us a call today on 029 20 614 586 and see what we can do for you!