Atlantic Business Technologies, Inc.

Category: Managed Services

  • How to Bulk Delete Filtered Aliases in Drupal 7 without a Module

    The Pathauto module provides a great interface in Drupal 7 for customizing your URLs, but what happens when you change your mind later? Bulk delete. But you don’t have fine control over limited subsets, you can only delete entire alias types (nodes, taxonomy, etc). Sure you could do this in the database as well — if you have access. Our Drupal experts have a solution!

    Here’s how to automate clearing out a filtered subset of your alias list (e.g. for a specific taxonomy) from within your browser. There may be modules that probably do this, but I like hacking around in the developer console.

    1. Install Pathauto first :)
    2. Navigate to Configuration Âť URL aliases
    3. Filter your aliases from the “List” tab
    4. Run the following jQuery snippet in your developer console (F12)

    Update: originally restricted context to #block-system-main, it seems that #content is “safer”
    [javascript]
    (function($){
    $deletes = $(‘li.delete a’, ‘#content’);

    // loop delete links
    $deletes.each(function(i,o){
    // jquery
    var $o = $(o);

    // “click” delete link
    $.get( $o.attr(‘href’), function(data){
    // get
    var $delform = $(data).find(‘#path-admin-delete-confirm’)
    , confirm = $delform.attr(‘action’)
    ;

    console.log( $delform.serialize() );
    // now “submit” the delete form
    $.post( confirm, $delform.serialize(), function(){
    console.log( ‘killed ‘ + $o.attr(‘href’) );
    }); // submit (post)

    }); // click (get)
    }); // each

    })(jQuery);
    [/javascript]

    Essentially, it just walks through your list of links, fires each asynchronously, waits for the confirmation form, and then fires that form asynchronously as well. Continue to follow our blog for more great tips like this one from our Drupal experts at Atlantic BT.

    Update — check out this script modification for a more generic format that can be reused for just about any bulk update process in Drupal. More great tips from our Drupal experts!

  • Tonia Talks Mobile at Annual SC Nonprofit Conference

    On my way to “Famously Hot”  Columbia, SC last week to present on mobile technology for nonprofits at SCANPO’s annual conference,  I reflected on all I”m able to do “on the go” ~  Browsing & posting to social media, texting, searching for stuff,  taking then sharing photos & consuming media..all up 10-fold.  What did I ever do without this thing?

    3 years since the big plunge, only lost my iPhone once – painful day.   Today I’ll engage in full panic mode if I suspect I’ve lost again.  I know many are nodding heads.  Grasping in your purse or coat pocket, frantic look on face..

    Why do we do this?

    These devices have become our lifeline –  highly personal, portable and easy to engage with whomever or whatever wanted – precisely when and where we wish.

    Says Facebook’s CTO:
    “We would have been a mobile app if created today.”

    As last week’s blog stated, the mobile generation is here, and here to stay.

    Here are top suggestions I highlighted during SCANPO’s conference regarding mobile:

    • Assign an internal staff as mobile ambassador
    • research what others in your industry are doing with mobile
    • track mobile traffic via Google analytics
    • send mobile friendly emails to increase response rates.
    • Conduct a mobile needs-assessment

    What should bigger brands and businesses be doing in mobile:

    • Consumer facing?  A mobile website is a must.  Google now ranks mobile sites higher when search is conducted via mobile web.  Over half of local searches now are done via mobile.  Businesses not addressing miss an entire portion of their audience.  An audience who’s going elsewhere.
    • Business facing?  Your clients are still individuals adopting mobile, likely Smartphones.  Make it easy and quick to digest information, more quickly trust, then work with you.  This means strategy: analyzing what content to mobilize, levels of engagement, and so on.

    SCANPO Keynote Robert Egger, President of DC Central Kitchen, summed it up perfectly:

    There are three types of people: Those who keep their head down, lift up for a glimpse or march out to meet the future.

    Which are you?

    Setting your mobile strategy today will secure a lifelong relationship and customer.  It doesn’t have to be challenging or burdensome.  It does need to be done.

    Contact me at Tonia(dot)Zampieri (at) AtlanticBT(dot)com or on Twitter to discuss your mobile strategy.

  • Mobile Generation – Your Business Needs Them Now

    Mobile Marketer Tonia Zampieri Atlantic BT
    Why Your Business Needs To Be Relevant To The Mobile Generation

    Tonia Zampieri shares why every business needs to think Mobile Now. Whether you’re a small/midsized business, a nonprofit, or a larger company, the mobile tsunami is here:

    • Smartphone sales are up 63.1% with almost 500M sold last year (worldwide)
    • 5.9 billion of the 7 billion people on the planet have a mobile phone (84%)
    • 103.3% of US have mobile phones (some have more than one why more than 100% penetration)
    • Over 300,000 apps developed in 3 years
    • 81% mobile phone users browse social media, 77% search for things
    • Americans spend 2.7 hours a day socializing on mobile devices

    Big brands and multi-national businesses are embracing a ‘mobile first’ strategy. Waiting on a mobile strategy runs the risk of seeming ‘out of touch’.  Do you want to lose touch with the mobile generation?

    Email Atlantic BT’s mobile marketing team Tonia.Zampieri(at)Atlanticbt(dot)com to stay in touch with the mobile generation.

    Who is the mobile generation?

    Moms, dads, students, blue collar workers, white collar workers, minorities, hipsters, teens, nerds, grandparents, and, well everyone has a mobile phone. Most businesses would answer a simple, “Yes” when asked if they need to reach anyone and everyone. There seems to be a disconnect.  Most small and mid-sized businesses and many nonprofits see their mobile strategy as a ‘nice to have’ not a ‘right now’ priority.

    Why mobile now

    Mobile should be a ‘right now’ priority because:

    • Most web access will be via mobile devices by 2014 according to Gartner and others
    • A Jan 2012 Nielsen survey of 20,000 Americans with mobile phones found “Smartphone penetration now at 48 percent.
    • The prized 24-34 age group showed greatest smartphone ownership with 66 percent indicating they own a smartphone.
    • More than half of phone buyers under 65 selected a smartphone

    Mobile Usage Exploding Into A Phone And Business Near You

    Every type of mobile usage is on the rise; most notably, and important for consumer facing organizations, mobile web, mobile app and social media usage is growing.

    Whatever we’ve been doing online via desktop or laptop computers consumers and business partners expect to do via mobile.  StumbleUpon’s recent redesign (covered by FastCompany) around their 800% rise in mobile growth illustrates how fast “if you build it they will come” operates in mobile. In a year and a half SumbleUpon moved from tiny mobile usage to millions of mobile “stumbles” and a base of 20 million users.

    StumbleUpon Mobile Growth via FastCompany barchart StumbleUpon is following the “mobile first” lead redesigning their site to take advantage of explosive mobile growth. Even if your business, brand, product or B2B company doesn’t seem like mobile could help, Atlantic BT encourages signing up for our free mobile evaluation.

    Email Tonia.Zampieri(at)Atlanticbt(dot)com for a Free Mobile Review


    Getting Mobile Started

    Creating a mobile presence isn’t as hard as you think and Atlantic BT’s mobile marketing group can help:

    • Create a mobile website
    • Create a mobile app so your customers can interact with businesses services
    • Integrate QR codes and Blippar into your digital strategy
    • Buy mobile advertising – ever noticed how many people walk head down into their phone now? Use that behavior in your local businesses favor.
    • 95% of all text messages are read, so maybe your emails should be text messages?

    Are You relevant to the mobile generation?
    No matter how you honestly answer this question today, Atalntic BT can help make sure your company, brand or product successfully goes mobile.

    Yes, I want to discuss mobile marketing. (please email Tonia.Zampieri(at)Atlanticbt(dot)com).

    .

  • How to count your WordPress Plugins

    As you may have noticed, we’ve been working on sharing some WordPress plugins with the community.  I like to check our profile page occasionally to see how our plugins are doing – download stats, forum posts, that sort of thing.

    Like any other programmer, I also want to be able to say “Look!  All (y)our plugin are belong to us and have been downloaded X number of times!”  But the more plugins we write, the harder it is to figure out the total downloads, since they’re listed individually.

    Enter javascript console:

    [javascript]
    (function($){
    var sum = 0;
    $(‘p.downloads’).each(function(i,o){
    var $o = $(o)
    , text = $o.text()
    , count = parseInt( text.replace(‘ downloads’, ”).replace(‘,’, ”) )
    ;
    sum += count;
    });
    var msg = ‘Total Downloads for User: ‘ + sum;
    console.log(msg);
    alert( msg );
    })(jQuery);
    [/javascript]

    Voila! Bragging rights made easy!

  • Mobile Marketing Now Says Tonia Zampieri

    My Mobile Marketing Matters Now post on Halloween was scary, Atlantic BT’s new Mobile Marketer Tonia Zampieri explained patiently today. “But I talked Darwin, network effect and social media marketing,” I said stammering a little. All good, Tonia explained but not far or fast enough or with enough clear urgency for the mobile marketing tsunami Tonia has been surfing for the last several years. Here are just a few of the urgent factoids she shared:

    * Nearly 50% of all mobile devices sold in the US are smartphones
    * 6.8 million Christmas day iPhone, Android activations up 140%
    * Mobile ads to $3.39 billion, the fastest growing online ad sector
    * Half of all local searches are done on a mobile device
    * By 2014 mobile outnumbers desktop Internet
    * Americans spend 2.7 hours each day socializing on mobile devices

    “Mobile tsunami is here then,” I said looking like a deer in bright headlights. “Yes,” Tonia said sharing more fascinating information about the “mobile generation”.

    Who is the mobile generation I was tempted to ask. Who isn’t the mobile generation Tonia explained beating me to the punch. Tonia defines the mobile marketing opportunity broadly from teenagers to grandmothers. Who doesn’t have a phone? My favorite study, from the research group ForeSee, highlighted how buyer patterns were positively influenced by a company’s mobile apps and environment:

    This report, looking at consumer habits during November and December last year, found shoppers satisfied with a brand’s mobile site or app were 54% more likely to consider the company next time making similar purchases. Same customers were 40% more likely to purchase from the company through a different source such as a store or website. (emphasis mine)

    Tonia has spent the last several years pioneering use of mobile for charities and small to medium sized businesses. She created Tap-n-Give and launched the app into iTunes. You name it in mobile marketing and Tonia has done it from campaigns to content. She moved into the “resource” designation with numerous guest speaking engagements and sharing her knowledge as a guest blogger.

    Want to hear Tonia riff on mobile marketing? Contact Tonia at Atlantic BT (Tonia.Zampieri(at)Atlanticbt(dot)com) or, if you are in South Carolina on Wednesday the 29th and are attending the South Carolina Association of Nonprofits (SCANPO) you can hear Tonia speak on Wednesday the 29th.

    We are glad to have a dedicated mobile strategist of Tonia’s stature at Atlantic BT signaling Jon, Mark and the entire team’s belief in MOBILE MARKETING NOW.

    Martin

  • Countdown Timer in WordPress

    Here’s another WordPress plugin that creates a countdown timer showing days/months/etc until a specified date/time.  Put multiple timers anywhere on your site with shortcodes.  In the works: javascript animation (see branch 0.8-dev)

    As taken from the readme file:


    Description

    Provides a shortcode/function to render a countdown timer of the form “Years until target: X, Months until target: Y, Days until target: Z…”. You can specify the date/time of the target, as well as output formats with placeholders (including HTML wrappers) all from within the admin options page. Display result using the shortcode; you can override global options from within the shortcode too. By default, result will be something like "Months 0/Days 0/Years 0; Hours 4:Minutes 59:Seconds 54".


    Installation

    1. Unzip, upload plugin folder to your plugins directory (/content/plugins/)
    2. Activate plugin
    3. Add countdown shortcode anywhere you need it.

    Check out the included admin help page for complete explanation within WordPress!


    Frequently Asked Questions

    What’s the shortcode?

    In full glory:

    [countdown_timer target_time="2012-05-05 14:03:00" complete_text="It's Done!" format= {CUSTOM HTML FORMAT - SEE BELOW} date_separator='<span>/</span>' time_separator='<span>:</span>' label_format="<em>%s</em>" timezone="America/New_York" ] 

    Developer Hooks

    The following filters are provided to adjust both the attributes (before rendering) and the format (after rendering).

    You would use them like:

    add_filter( 'abt_countdown_timer__pre_render', 'my_countdown_prerender' ); function my_countdown_prerender($attributes) { ... } add_filter( 'abt_countdown_timer__post_render', 'my_countdown_postrender' ); function my_countdown_postrender($output, $attributes) { ... } 

    This is how they’re used in the plugin:

    // hook - adjust attributes used to render the countdown $attributes = apply_filters( 'abt_countdown_timer__pre_render', $attributes ); // hook - add "before", "after"; alter rendered output $formatted_time = apply_filters( 'abt_countdown_timer__post_render', $formatted_time, $attributes ); 

    Other Options

    • Title and Link – tooltip text when hovering over timer; optional link from clicking timer
    • Timezones – specify a timezone for calculations (if different than WP timezone)
    • Output format – HTML wrapper for result fields; uses special placeholder formats for label, separators, and time values (see strftime)
    • Date Separator – text between date values, if used in Output Format
    • Time Separator – text between time values, if used in Output Format
    • Interval Label – wrapper for laber for “Year”, “Month”, etc