Tech Tips - The Website Depot

Arba's Marketing Tools

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 23:57:21 GMT

As a Digital Technologist, I use a variety of tools to create custom marketing solutions. Click the image to go to the link.

Archiving a Website

Thu, 23 May 2024 01:25:00 GMT

If you need to archive a website for later reference, you have a few options for saving it using Chrome. Each method has its features, depending on what you need from the webpage you're saving. Whether you're a minimalist, a convenience seeker, or a collector, Chrome offers a way to keep the web's riches in your digital pocket.

HTML Only : This option saves the webpage in its bare-bones form, capturing only the HTML file. Think of it as saving the skeleton of the webpage without the flesh. You get the structure, the text, and the links, but it's like attending a gala in your finest attire and forgetting your shoes, purse, and accessories at home. The images, CSS (which dictates the webpage's style and layout), and JavaScript (which adds interactivity) are not saved. When you open the file, it might look like the webpage's less glamorous twin, missing its flair and dynamism.

Single File : This option saves the entire webpage—text, images, CSS, and JavaScript—into a single HTML file. It's akin to capturing the essence of a live performance in a single photograph. By using clever encoding, everything is bundled together, ensuring that when you open the file, the webpage appears as it did online, in all its glory. It's convenient for keeping a complete record without juggling multiple files.

Complete : This is the archivist's method, saving the webpage in a more traditional manner. It creates a folder containing the HTML file along with all the necessary files (images, CSS, JavaScript) to accurately render the page offline. It's like buying a model kit; you get all the pieces separately and must put them together to see the full picture. This method keeps the webpage's look and feel intact, but you end up with a folder full of files alongside the HTML document.

HTML Generators

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 01:48:00 GMT

Quickly generate the HTML code necessary for a table using the HTML Table Generator. This online tool will let you choose from a variety of sizes and let you customize the structure and visual look of the table with a standard selection of color and display options.

This tool was designed for speed and efficiency so I've tried to include the essential options in order to let you put a table online as quickly as possible. This tool automatically generates the HTML, and CSS code. I revised the tool so that Javascript is no longer required - the highlight effect is now handled by the CSS hover pseudo-class.

You can also create a table without styles to your exact row and column size if you want to add your own custom CSS styling later on.

Social Media Icon Generator

Create SVG social media icons with custom colors, shapes, and sizes. FB, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and more! Just copy and paste the HTML code and add them to your website.

HTML Marquee Generator

Landing Page Templates

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 17:36:00 GMT

A well-designed and converting landing page for your products and services is crucial for business growth. A thoughtfully crafted landing page can make all the difference in engaging and converting potential customers. Check out the template design ideas to help you create a landing page that drives results. With the right design, you can effectively showcase your offerings and compel visitors to take action, ultimately boosting your business success.

The Evolution of Web Design

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Inspect Element

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 14:35:00 GMT

How to use Inspect Element in Chrome, Safari, and Firefox

Inspect Element is a tool in your web browser that lets you see the inner workings of any website—and even make (temporary, just for you) changes.

The Content Grid

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 16:37:00 GMT

The Rapid Growth of Web Design - Past to Present

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 16:32:00 GMT

How to Chose Your Brand Colors

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 16:00:00 GMT

12 Reasons Digital Marketing Can Help You Grow Your Business

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 15:45:00 GMT

Random Name Pickers

Sun, 14 May 2023 17:40:00 GMT

Name Picker is an easy-to-use online tool to draw a random name from a list of names. You can select a name by spinning a wheel or instantly choose multiple names at once.

Just enter a list of names, select draw settings and spin the wheel or start raffle to draw a random name. You can pick multiple names in the raffle generator, up to 10 names per draw.

Google Free Website Builder

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 17:49:00 GMT

Google Sites is a user-friendly platform that doesn't require any coding or design skills to use. This makes it accessible to a wider range of users.

Google Sites integrates seamlessly with other Google products like Drive, Docs, and Sheets, making it easy to embed and share files from those services on your website.

Google Sites also allows for collaboration with multiple users, which can be useful for group projects or team websites.

However, it should be noted that there are limitations to the free version in terms of features and storage space.

Take a Full-page Screenshot

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 18:29:00 GMT

Take a full-page screenshot with a Chrome shortcut

Duda vs WordPress

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 17:02:00 GMT

WordPress is not a good solution for solopreneurs!

WordPress is a popular platform for website creation, but it's not the best fit for solopreneurs for several reasons.

THE COMPLEXITY AND TIME investment required to learn and effectively use WordPress can be overwhelming for most individuals who are not web designers. Unlike simpler, modern, and integrated solutions, WordPress requires a level of technical skill to customize and maintain, which can divert valuable time away from core business activities.

THE COST associated with maintaining a WordPress site can escalate quickly. While the platform itself is free, many essential plugins, themes, and hosting services are not. This can lead to unexpected expenses that solopreneurs might not be prepared for.

WordPress sites require FREQUENT UPDATES to ensure security and functionality. This ongoing need for maintenance can be a significant burden for solopreneurs who might not have the expertise, time, or resources to manage these tasks effectively.

The rise of AI-POWERED WEBSITE BUILDERS offer more user-friendly solutions for specific business needs. These newer platforms can automatically customize websites to a business's unique requirements, making them more appealing to solopreneurs and small business owners who may not have the time or technical skills to manage a WordPress website.
Most solopreneurs mainly need an online presence for their business. WordPress is used for enterprise businesses that have an IT department to maintain their website.

Why Olive Street Design Swapped WordPress for Duda

Ecommerce Steps to Selling Online

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 17:27:00 GMT

You can collect payments online for your products or services by adding to an existing website or creating a new one!

1 - Select an Ecommerce Plan

Choose a plan that fits your business needs and your budget. Your decision should be based on your desired website design, number of products, search, filter, sort, and payment processors.

See Comparison Chart

2 – Setup Your Payment Processor

The 3 main online payment processors are Square, PayPal, and Stripe. None of them have monthly fees but they all have transaction fees with every order.

See Online Payment Options

3 – Take Photos of Your Products

You can take photos using your phone. Photos do not have to be professional because they will look more personal and authentic if they are your own. If you offer services instead of products, you can use stock photos.

4 – Upload Your Photos to the Internet

If you took photos using your phone, they may already be stored in Google Photos. If not, upload your files to any cloud-based storage like Dropbox, iCloud, etc. Rename the photos with relevant filenames to identify them like blue hat, red shoes, etc.

See Image Download Information

5 – Describe Your Products

There are several factors that go into a customer’s purchasing decision. It takes more than a Buy Now button. Create an Excel spreadsheet or Word document to identify each product by filename, product name, price, description, and options – color, size, etc.

Image Downloads & Uploads

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 04:40:00 GMT

DropBox

All you have to do is change the ?dl=0 to ?dl=1

When it has an =1 at the end, it will trigger an instant download rather than loading the web viewer of the file.

Google Drive

You don’t need a “.jpeg” file path to download, the file path just needs to cause a download to happen right away.
In Google Drive, a share link will take you to a web page with the browser viewer. This is no good because you would have to individually download each image.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ DRIVE_FILE_ID /view
Copy each Google Drive share link and paste them into an Excel spreadsheet column.
Use the Find & Replace function to remove "/view" from the end of the URL.
Use the Find & Replace function to replace the Google Drive share link with https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id= DRIVE_FILE_ID

Convert WIX Image URL

You cannot just right-click and copy an image from a WIX website. Use this spreadsheet link to convert to a standard image URL.

Website Image Upload Link

Make sure all image file names are the product SKUs with the same number of characters.
Copy all the SKUs onto an Excel spreadsheet column.
Upload all images to the website library in a new folder.
Click on an image to get the URL
https://irp.cdn-website.com/ site_id /dms3rep/multi/ image_sku . jpeg
Copy the same image URL down all the rows of the spreadsheet
In the next column, use the formula: REPLACE(old_text, start_num, num_chars, new_text)
old_text = The column with the image URLs
start_num = The position of the character in old_text that you want to replace.
num_chars = The number of characters in old_text that you want REPLACE .
new_text = The column with the image_sku that will replace characters in old_text.
Click here for examples
Add a new worksheet tab to paste the actual values into a column (don't paste the formula)

Web Safe Color Chart

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 01:08:00 GMT

Emojipedia

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 00:55:00 GMT

Search and add emojis to emails, website, Facebook, Instagram and more!

Here's some business industry emojis:
- Entrepreneurs: �55357;�56404;�55357;�56508;�55357;�56960;
- Salespeople: �55357;�56520;�55357;�56496;�55358;�56605;
- Speakers: �55356;�57252;�55357;�56803;️�55356;�57241;️
- Associations: �55358;�56605;�55356;�57314;
- Nonprofit Organizations: �55356;�57104;�55356;�57101;�55358;�56605;❤️
- Financial Advisors: �55357;�56496;�55357;�56522;�55357;�56508;
- Law Firms: ⚖️�55356;�57307;️�55357;�56508;
- Insurance Agents: �55356;�57314;�55357;�56523;�55358;�56605;
- Consultants: �55357;�56508; �55357;�56520;�55358;�56785;‍�55357;�56508;�55358;�56605;
- Coaches: �55358;�56785;‍�55356;�57323;�55358;�56605;�55357;�56520;

- Thought Leaders: �55358;�56800;�55357;�56481;�55358;�56605; - Event Coordinators: �55357;�56517;�55357;�56523;�55358;�56605;
- Meeting Planners: �55357;�56523;�55357;�56517;�55358;�56605;
- Network Marketing Organizations: �55357;�56508;�55356;�57104;�55357;�56520;
- Real Estate Agents: �55356;�57313;�55357;�56593;�55358;�56605;
- Women-Owned Businesses: �55357;�56451;�55357;�56425;‍�55357;�56508;�55357;�56520;
- Wealth Coaches: �55357;�56496;�55357;�56520;�55358;�56605;
- Life Coaches: �55356;�57137;�55358;�56785;‍�55356;�57323;�55358;�56605;
- Business Coaches: �55357;�56520;�55358;�56785;‍�55357;�56508;�55358;�56605;
- Energy Healers: �55356;�57119;�55358;�56792;

Google Tools

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 16:24:00 GMT

There are an abundant amount of tools available from Google.

Image Tools

Sat, 13 Nov 2021 19:42:00 GMT

JPG - Joint Photographic Experts Group High Quality Photos

PNG - Portable Network Graphics Transparent Backgrounds

GIF - Graphics Interchange Format Animated Images

Stock Images

Maps

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 21:29:00 GMT

The links below are useful if you have a service business and need to create maps.

Privacy Policy

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 15:41:00 GMT

Your state and industry impact what you need to include in your privacy policy. There are privacy policy generators online that can help you document your own, but consider consulting with your legal counsel to ensure that you're being compliant with any applicable regulations. Learn more about why you need a privacy policy.

Your privacy policy is an explanation of your organization's personal data collection practices and:

Lists the kind of personal information you're collecting (name, email address, etc).
Lists the methods you use to collect personal data (a form, cookies, etc).
Explains how you're using the personal data you collect (sending emails, etc).
Explains how you store, maintain, and safeguard the personal information you're collecting.
Explains how and why you share personal data with third-parties.
Provides a method for correcting, verifying, changing, or removing personal information.

https://www.privacypolicygenerator.info/
https://app.termsfeed.com/wizard/privacy-policy
https://termageddon.com/

Copy Inline Images

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 16:55:00 GMT

It is very time-consuming to save multiple inline images using right-click Save as Picture. Here is an easy and fast way to save all inline images at once from an email to a folder.

Open the email with the inline images.
Click File > Save As.
In the Save As dialog box, do the following:
Open the destination folder to save the inline images into;
Type a name into the File name box;
Choose HTML from the Save as type drop down list;
Click the Save button.

All inline images will be saved in a subfolder of the destination folder.

You can also save images in bulk from a Word document.

Save the Document as a Web Page : Go to File > Save As, and choose Web Page (*.htm; *.html) as the file type.
Locate the Images : This will create a folder with the same name as your document, containing all the images from the document.
Copy the Images : You can then copy these images to another location as needed.

Create QR Codes

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 21:57:00 GMT

You can create a QR (quick response) Code to share a page from Chrome with others.

Open Chrome .
Go to the page you want to share.
Click three dots ⁝ > Save and share > Create QR code.
You can choose to:

Copy the QR link.
Download the QR code.
Scan the QR code with another device's camera.

"QR Code" is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated in Japan and other countries.

YouTube

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 21:39:00 GMT

YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Dailymotion and more

This app will help you to accomplish video downloads quickly and without hang-ups. With this program you can simply download an entire YouTube playlist or channel at once and watch it whenever and wherever you want.

How to Embed A YouTube Video Playlist

You can use the Embed Widget to add a video feed to watch all the videos in a playlist without having to go to the YouTube channel.

Go to the YouTube channel
Click the Videos tab
Click Play All
Look at the browser link: youtube.com/watch?v=DUk_ATz3G2E&list= UUvD_vHGlw15b3JHmLPkuX8A
<iframe width="100%" height="300" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/?list= [text in red] " frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="">

</iframe>

Online-Convert.com is now a Chrome Extension!

How To Disable Related/Suggested Videos on Youtube Embed

Online Payment Options

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 20:04:00 GMT

Square

Sell retail products, accept appointment bookings, or take restaurant orders for pickup, delivery, or in person via QR codes.

Accept all major cards, Paypal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Square Pay. Enjoy no fees for refunds or chargebacks, free fraud protection, dispute management services, and more. Access your money instantly or transfer to your bank account as soon as the next business day.

PayPal

PayPal is commonly used but it's not convenient if a customer doesn't already have a PayPal account.

Stripe

Stripe is integrated into website platforms like Constant Contact, Duda, SquareSpace, WordPress, and more. It has a lot of advanced functionality which doesn't make it that easy to use without integration.

Zelle & Cash App

You can also create links to Zelle and Cash App to accept online payments but the customer must also have an account. You cannot accept credit or debit cards.

10 Reasons You Should Love Blogging

Fri, 21 Apr 2017 06:51:00 GMT

Blog posts are a great way to get recognized within your community and share your voice. Here are the top 10 reasons you should love writing blog posts.

Anyone can make one:
For better or worse, anyone can write a blog post about anything they want. Everyone has a voice and the best voices will rise to the top.

The writer can show their personality:
In blog posts, the writer has more leeway to add in their voice and personality than other types of writing.

Blogs are a great form of mass communication:
You can help people, learn new things, entertain your audience—the possibilities are endless and amazing. Blogging opens up all of these to a very wide audience.

You can make money:
Get the right blog going and you can make a lot of money through advertising and sponsored posts.

It allows people to craft better thoughts:
Instead of reading haphazard, uneducated Facebook statuses, it’s much better to see people’s thought process in a well-written blog post.

You can establish a community:
Blogging allows you to connect with other individuals who share the same interests. Sharing ideas and opinions within your community helps establish yourself as a thought leader.

Good for SEO:
Keeping content on your site fresh and relevant, you can use your blog to boost the search engine ranking (SEO) of your site and your business.

It brings people back to your site:
If your blog is strong enough and updated regularly, people will come back looking for more and bring traffic back to your site as well.

It’s free:
It costs you a grand total of zero dollars to post to the blog, so if you have something to say, there’s nothing to stop you.

You can establish yourself as a thought leader:
A blog is a great place for your original thoughts, and it can be a wonderful way to show off your individuality. If people like your ideas, you can become a thought leader in your industry!

What else do you love about blogs? Let me know!