SharePoint, .Net, SQL, MS BI, Collaboration and Gadgets

As mentioned in my previous articles (ASP.NET AJAX very slow in IE 6), the problem come from IE 6 it self response slow in managing asp.net AJAX big resource file such javascript and DOM object. Here are some steps can be done to solve it:

1. Put your apps in to better perfomance server with greater bandwidth.
2. Apply IIS compression to imporove the loading time.
3. Try to minimize the usage of AJAX Update panel in your apps. Do use web services rather than update panel (I know this is not 5 mins work, but this is the root of the problem).
4. Do not use IE 6. Use IE 7 or FireFox instead (if the steps above do not help :P) 

Please do let me know if anyone have better solution!

I built some web applications with ASP.NET ajax framework using few update panel. The response time in IE 6 was very slow. You do not know this problem while you access it in you local host. Once you put it to production or live hosting, its really slow like turtle. IE 7 will be much better, so far it seems 2x faster than IE6. Firefox is the best among these browser. It work extremely fast and estimated 4-5x faster than IE 6. This is a known issue exist within IE6 and ajax update panel. There is a need to fix this issue. But it seems not a 5 mins works. I may need to do a major change on my existing application… too bad..

Yes! Its happen to me. I wish to clarify that I am not from other hosting companies who wish to mess up their name. This is the true story happen to me.

Recently I was looking for window VPS hosting. After do some googling and visited some popular web hosting forum, I decided to choose dotster. There are neither the most expensive nor cheapest. Before I sign up, I did chat online with their sales staff to find more details on the plan (I choose plesk standard). There are friendly and helpful. At the end I decide to give a try.

Day 1 – Sign up run smoothly. After payment has been made, I receive a receipt email and another mail indicates my VPS is ready! It is fast! I manage to login to virtuozzo control panel and check all my allocated resources. Everything looks good! Then I try to login to plesk control panel with admin login. Too bad, it always prompt me invalid login! Try to recover through “Forget password” but no help! I immediate send a support request to their support team. After 2-3 hours still no reply, I guess there may be busy out there. So just give them another day. Meanwhile, I also found that my VPS window is 64bit version but with a 32 bit .net 2.0 framework installed. I have no idea how there do it. With virtuozzo, I guess, may be possible? I try to install MS ASP.NET Ajax 1.0 but get prompt to install .net 2.0 framework to continue. I guess window cannot find the 32bit .net 2.0 frameworks. Now the problem comes … I try to remove 32 bit .net 2.0 frameworks in the OS but failed and give me is not a valid version… and stop to uninstall it. Then, I try to install another 64 bit .net 2.0 framework. Too bad, the installation stops unexpectedly. What can I do now? Try to chat with online support. Guess what their reply? VPS support is not applicable to online chat support! Please send in support request or call us. Come on I am outside US. Call is not a good method for me. So I send another support request regarding these issues… besides I also asking is it possible to reinstall the VPS..

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I  had move some of the ajaxworkspace articles to http://ajaxworkspace.wordpress.com. This ease for navigation and centralize all the resources regarding AjaxWorkspace in one site. Do check out the ajaxworkspace updates on our new blog!

I have been busy for past few weeks with my works. Therefore, do not much time to update here. However, I manage to finish some improvements on ajaxworkspace.com 0.9.8. Here are some of them:

1. New UI design and able to switch from grid view and item view in project Discussion, Task, File Sharing and Documents.

Grid View

Item View

2. Able to upload company logo and member’s photo.

3. Display scorecard for each project to indicate project status.

We are planning to finalize the release version before August 2007 to public users. It is free until future notice. Hopefully it will benefit to people who need online collaboration tools!

I just back from bali for my holiday. It was a nice trip. I spent 4 days there. I didnt went to a lot tourist spot. Just take a rest there. Here the beach in front of my hotel!

I guess everybody know that MS ASP.NET AJAX is having problem on.net validation controls.  This issues exists long time ago and become a hot topic in ajax.asp.net community forum. What happen to Microsoft? The final release is put up with no notice about the fact that this requires some other update which has not been released.

Now, there is a HotFix to solve this problem:

http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=6106

Does this mean that all my problems solved? Unfortunately, it is not. My web hosting upgraded ASP.NET AJAX from RC version to v1.0. That time, I have to recompile all my sources and upload it. Then, all my application’s validation failed.  Now, there is a HotFix from Microsoft.  But my hosting company does not want to install the patch due to overall stability reason.  In that case, if Microsoft does not release the update until end of the year, does this means that I need to use the corrupted AJAX version until that time?  I am waiting their reply after submit and explain my second request. If they still do not want to patch the HotFix, I think is time for me to switch away from them. This kind of AJAX features means nothing to us since the simple validation failed.

I bought a book “Pro WF: Windows Workflow in .NET 3.0 (Expert’s Voice in .Net)” from amazon early April. I suppose to receive it somewhere around 18-25 april, but don’t know why I still do not get it yet It cost me RM 150++! Nothing I can do now. Just keep waiting… Hopefully will get it soon…

I just checked on my MCP portal and found I passed my beta exam for “70-542 TS: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 - Application Development”. Suprise for me!

I took 2 beta exams early January. I only able to pass one of it and failed on “70-541 TS: Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 - Application Development”.  Don’t ask me why and how. Just try my best to shoot all the correct answers!
P/s: I guess if you dig around on MOSS for few months, you could pass it easily too!�

Yes! Definitely. Search engine optimization strategies play an important role in website development. Search engines are the starting point for most people when they’re looking for something on the Internet. This is why the most popular websites are search engines and web portals with search functions. Imagine that you are selling T-shirt online. When an Internet user key in “T-shirt” in google search engine. You website appear as top ranking in the search result. This will generate a huge traffic to your web site and off course may generate huge revenue to your company.

There are many statistics that illustrate the importance of search engines as a method of attracting traffic on the Internet:

• 24 percent of marketers said that over three-quarters of their traffic came from search engine referrals. [CyberAtlas Research - Aug 21, 2001]
• Nearly 60 percent of students reported using a search engine when picking an online retailer. [NACS - Mar 7, 2001]
• Study found that 55 percent of online purchases were made on sites found through search listings. [NPD Group -Feb 14, 2001]
• Search engines were used by 86 percent of users in Switzerland. [Wemf AG Research - Ag 31, 2000]
• Over 80 percent of Internet users reach sites through search engines. [Forrester Research - Jul 5, 2000]
• Nearly 48 percent of websites depend on search engine listings for the majority of their traffic and over 70 percent of all websites generate at least 20 percent of their traffic from search engine listings. [NetGambit - July 14, 1997]

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