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MobileFirst-Personal Websites Newsletter
January 28, 2025 - Using Third Party Software
Steve Pond
Feb 11, 2025
2025 - Jan - 28 |
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Using 3rd Party plug-ins As the founder of MobileFirst-Personal Websites, I've seen the rise of DIY tools and apps that can do just about anything a webmaster could want. But my passion has always been the ability to keep journals on the go, accessible from any device. Imagine being able to document the evolution of an aquarium - from the first few months of maturation, to the water characteristics and fish aging over time. That's been a dream of mine for years. I've even written books on aquarium care that served as digital journals, but the conditions in an aquarium aren't ideal for physical notebooks. And what about those moments when inspiration strikes at the pet store, and you want to jot down a note about a new species you stumbled upon? Having a journal at the ready on your phone is so much more convenient than lugging around a physical book. Just like the blogs we discussed last issue, I want my journal entries available at my fingertips, no matter where I am. Plus, let's be honest - it's a lot harder to spill water on your phone than on a good old-fashioned paper journal. The challenge has been finding the right tools to make this happen. The current widget, Formfree, is great for setting up custom input fields, but its reporting capabilities leave much to be desired. Sure, I can export the data as a csv file, but that's not an ideal long-term solution, especially when I need to track numerical information or analyze trends over time.
That's why I've turned to a third-party form server to supercharge my journaling experience. While it still doesn't have the perfect mobile-friendly reporting I crave, I can at least export the data as an Excel file for further analysis. And the best part? Integrating these third-party tools is a breeze - just a quick snippet of code, and I'm off to the races. One area that's been particularly exciting is the integration of AI-powered bots. By deploying these through the Code/Script widget, I can add all sorts of new functionality to my site without ever having to worry about the underlying code. It's a game-changer for someone like me who wants to focus on the journaling experience, not the technical back-end. So whether you're looking to document the life cycle of your aquarium, jot down inspiration on the go, or tap into the power of AI, I'm confident that the tools and techniques I've discovered can help take your jwebsite to the next level. Stay tuned for more tips and tricks in the weeks to come! Sincerely, Steve Pond Founder, MobileFirst-Personal Websites |
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Quote Of The Day |
"Mobile will ultimately be the way you provision most of your services. The way I like to put it is, the answer should always be mobile first." - Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO |
Unleashing the Power of Your Personal Data |
As you build out your private website with MobileFirst-Personal, one of the most exciting new capabilities is the ability to capture and access your own data like never before. But with so many options, how do you decide the best way to record and view your information? The Old-Fashioned Approach: Email and PDFs Some users have simply set up a dedicated Gmail account to receive data entered through the Formfree widget. But let's be honest - digging through endless emails and PDF files is a recipe for frustration, not productivity. Blogs: A Revolutionary Approach to Personal Tracking
But blogs have their limitations. For strictly numerical data like expenses, mileage, or water parameters, a more structured approach is needed. The Power of Forms and Databases
The Benefits of Going Native
But blogs aren't the be-all and end-all. For more rigid data types, the platform's form capabilities can also be a lifesaver, with the option to export to Excel when needed. The Rise of AI and Bots
The key is finding the right balance - using blogs for fluid, ever-changing information, while leveraging forms and databases for more structured data. And with the power of third-party tools and native platform features, the possibilities are endless. So whether you're documenting the life cycle of your aquarium, tracking your fitness goals, or managing your small business expenses, MobileFirst-Personal has the tools to help you unlock the true power of your personal data. Stay tuned for more tips and tricks in the weeks to come! |
Trivia Question❓Who created the first website ever in 1990? Answer at the bottom of the newsletter |
Separate Server MobileFirst-Personal Websites purchased the full rights to a very powerful form server a few years ago. Since then it has been hosted on a fast and independent VPS (Virtual Private Server). The system can offer a private webmaster the ability to create and adjust the form to their personal requirements. It will take a request to the support desk to get access to an account. This service is only for paid plan members only. When a new account is created for a paid plan, it includes a single, complimentary form to manage from the ground up. It will have no information or fields added as of yet, since the data to be collected is often quite individual To begin, simply select the Edit area, the second button to the left on the bottom. Rename Form Click the Untitled Form field to gain access to the editor, which opens up on the right - rename the field (Untitled Form to e.g. Personal Purchases), then add any instructions as required. In this case, I will simply delete the line. Save the form. When you do, you will be congratulated and offered the option to continue editing or finish. Since this is a blank form right now, we will continue. The form is still blank, but with a title and the field selection choices are displayed on the right. Our first field will be Date of Purchase. Select the date option in the right display, the date structure will appear. Hover your cursor over the Date field and the edit box appears. Click in the box to go to the editing options. There are quite a number of options available to customize for each field type, but in this case all I am going to do is change the title to Date of Purchase. Then I will select the Save Form to save my work. Continue editing to add more fields. Single line text to create the Item Purchased field, all other settings left as is. Then I added a Drop Down Box to allow me to define product categories. I added four categories to the form and saved. Next is the actual money paid out for the product. The form server does not do anything with formulas so I broke this down into 3 fields, Product Price, Tax and Total Price. The final field is a text area field that allows me to make any comments I want about the purchase. This is a free form text box where anything can be written. Once you leave the editor, you can go to the Theme selection to customize the look of the form if you like. I am leaving this one at its default. The Notifications allow you to decide whether you want to be informed of an added row to the database, and to define the message. Since this is only for personal use, I know when I add a page, so I don't bother with this for my own files. The form is now ready for use on the website. It is time to generate the code required to be input into the website to allow it to be used there. Pressing the code button instantly generates the code and offer a number of code styles to use. I have always been happy with using the suggested code, JavaScript so all I have to do is press the copy code button at the bottom left of the code box. There is a lot of functionality built into this form server and the look and feel of the fields. Most of it I ignore for my websites. You can use the Report button to create different ways of looking at the data on a full sized screen. I have yet to find a way to display the results of the entries into a report that will fit onto a mobile phone. The basic problem is that the excel sheet works with the field's lists in a horizontal way and the actual field data is done in vertical columns. The fields need to be rotated to show one line at a time to fit onto a mobile phone display. So far I have not been able to come up with a solution that can actually fit on the screen of a phone. The server does allow you to customize the data display with a few styles, depending on the best way to display the data you are capturing. Playing around with the [Report] menu can offer a better view of your data on your desktop screen. I have found using the Entries Grid in section 1 to be the most useful for larger screen viewing. Most people prefer to keep a copy of their data on their own machine. to get the data from the database, you must choose the [Entries] button right at the start of the green bar's second line. When you do this - AFTER you have added at least one row - the system will give you the option to directly edit the actual data - since that was part of the permissions during the original account creation. Otherwise you will see an Export button beside the delete button on the left. Here you will be able to download the data as an Excel file onto your local machine and then manipulate the data copy however you want, independent of both the website and the actual database. The only place you can work on the data in the database is by selecting the row required and changing the information manually. |
Interesting Facts |
The average person checks their smartphone 96 times per day. This highlights the need for websites and web apps to be readily available and optimized for the on-the-go, mobile user experience. |
For Beginners and Novices |
Creating a Form with Formfree If you do not want to use a blog for capturing important data on a regular basis, but prefer to save it to a database in the website and additionally send it to an e-mail box, using a formfree widget makes a lot of sense. The widget requires the input of a variety of fields to capture the data you wish to keep, but it remains completely under the control of the website. You can place a Formfree widget almost anywhere you like in a website, in this case we will start with a blank site and simply build out the page. Select the Formfree widget and add it to the page Add a title to the page using Intro titles and text Add a field with the black button on the widget page Add all the fields you want to use to capture data. You have the option on every field to make it mandatory or optional. In this form I have left all fields as optional. The MobileFirst-Personal Websites Platform is as non-technical as it possibly can be. However there are times where some more technical set-up is required. Usually this has to do with either installing a personal domain and configuring the SSL required to display your website on its own discrete domain instead of the one supplied with the plan. The other time is when there is some technical set-up required is to get mail to flow. When all the fields are added and the form is ready to fire, the actual sending e-mail transport needs to be installed. This is a topic for more advanced users. In general I suggest obtaining a free Gmail account and following the instructions on the set up page for mail. This needs to be done when any mail is being sent, the Formcontact form included. It is not too difficult, but is not a topic for the present discussion. The Formfree widget also saves the data that is input to a database on the platform. Thi e notification of the form submission by e-mail is mainly for a webmaster who is collecting the data from other visitors on the website and needs to be informed when the form is triggered. In the case of a personal journal style, form collecting private data within the context of a private website, the configuration and implementation of the e-mail transport system is not as important. Assuming the person who is adding the data is the same as the webmaster, the notification is unnecessary, but the rest of the protocol stands. When the data needs to be exported, it is simply done by opening the site int he editor and moving to the formfree widgets page and then opening the widget. Near the top of the page is an orange button that will allow the webmaster to export the data as a CSV file. This style of file holds the same types of data as an Excel file, but it is more compressed and product independent. Most people have a program that opens CSV files. The previously collected data is available for viewing and manipulation without changing the original data in your form. The stored data is appended with a new record each time the form is submitted. |
The Code/Script Widget: Your Gateway to Website Superpowers We've already explored how the Code/Script widget can be used to seamlessly integrate a third-party form server, enabling you to capture structured data and export it to Excel. But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the power of this little widget. Think of the Code/Script widget as your portal to a whole universe of website-enhancing tools and programs. From advanced booking systems to AI-powered bots, the possibilities are endless. The key is finding products that offer the right kind of integration - typically in the form of a simple JavaScript snippet that you can just drop right into the widget. As long as the third-party service generates this kind of code, your MobileFirst-Personal website will be able to display and interact with it. And the beauty of this approach is that the heavy lifting happens on the third-party's side. Your website's code remains clean and isolated, protected from any potential security issues or conflicts. The external program does its thing, and your site simply acts as the conduit, displaying the results. I've seen users incorporate all sorts of fascinating third-party tools through the Code/Script widget. Advanced booking and scheduling systems, for example, allow customers to view availability and make reservations directly on your site. And the rise of AI-powered bots is opening up a whole new world of automated assistance, from customer service chatbots to personalized recommendation engines. The key is to keep an eye out for cloud-based tools and services that align with your needs. Whether it's managing your aquarium data, tracking fitness goals, or running a small business, there's bound to be a third-party program out there that can make your life easier. And with the Code/Script widget, integrating those tools into your MobileFirst-Personal website is a breeze. So don't be afraid to explore the vast ecosystem of third-party offerings. With the right tools at your fingertips, you can transform your personal website into a powerful hub that enhances your productivity, streamlines your processes, and delights your users (even if that user is just you!). The only limit is your imagination. |
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Q/A Questions |
Q: What is a MobileFirst-Personal website? A: A MobileFirst-Personal website is a platform that allows you to build a fully-functional, mobile-optimized personal website without the need for extensive coding knowledge. The focus is on providing an intuitive, responsive experience that works seamlessly across all your devices. Q: How is a MobileFirst-Personal website different from a traditional website? A: The key difference is the mobile-first approach. Rather than designing for desktop and then adapting for mobile, MobileFirst-Personal websites are built from the ground up to provide an exceptional experience on smartphones and tablets. This results in faster load times, better usability, and a more cohesive look and feel across all your devices. Q: What kinds of features and functionality can I add to a MobileFirst-Personal website? A: The platform offers a wide range of widgets and tools to customize your site, including blogs, forms, e-commerce capabilities, and integrations with third-party services. The emphasis is on empowering users to create robust, personalized websites without getting bogged down in complex coding. |
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💡 Answer to Trivia Question: Tim Berners-Lee |