Part 2: Spam-proofing, moving websites and helpful ezines

How can you spam-proof your website from spammers' robot harvesters?
The best way is to remove all email addresses from your site. Without addresses to harvest, no addresses can be harvested. One way to have email addresses visible to humans yet invisible to robots is by using a graphic with the email address on it.

Another way is to use an encoding scheme designed to cloak email addresses from spammer's email harvesting robots, yet be visible and readable for your site visitors. The "Advanced Email Link Generator with Anti-Spam Encoder" can help you do that. This encoding scheme cannot be guaranteed effective for all robots. They're getting smarter.

Anywhere an email address is part of the text of a page's source code, it is vulnerable. This includes email addresses within hidden form fields.

Everyone worries about having to make an emergency move of a website from one server to another. What contingency planning should be done to make it easier?
Keep an accurate backup of your site. That's the number one rule. Don't go for the cheapest host. Hosting services are a bad place to economize. It is your hosting company that keeps your site available to the Internet.

Other than your own websites, where else can we find you sharing your programming insight?
Well, intellectua.com is distributing four of my ebooks: "How to Install CGI Programs," "Do-it-Yourself CGI Security: Plugging Common Cracker Holes," "How to Hire a CGI Programmer," and "FastInfo: Build Your Own JavaScript Popup Windows."

WillMaster Possibilities articles and WMP Tips are syndicated on dozens of sites. Once the code is on a syndication site's page, that's all the site manager has to do. Articles and tips are automatically updated every week. Syndication sites get great content for their visitors and I get my material read.

And which websites or ezines do you find most helpful?
I frequent sites that help me improve my skill and understanding of my chosen profession. There is a world of information about Perl at the Source For Perl site for those interested in enhancing their skills.

The CGI program download site I prefer is The CGI Resource Index site. They also have documentation and tutorials for various skill levels. I particularly like the download sites because they inspire my creativity.

For copywriting and grammar help, Judy Vorfeld's WebGrammar is my favorite. Her site has an abundance of resources.

There are a number of ezines I read regularly, most related to ezine publishing and marketing.

Some of these are: TalkBiz News, published by Paul Meyers; Ezine-Tips, published by Brian Alt. (Editor's Note: See our interview with Brian Alt); The Dirtsmart Netpreneur Ezine published by Eldon Sarte (see our interview with Eldon) and STAT News published by Bob McElwain.