Many web hosts will allow customers to use a shared SSL certificate for free. This sounds like a great idea, and for some it really is all that is needed. However, for a small fee, you can purchase your own dedicated or private certificate. So, what’s the difference?

1. The URL changes when using a shared certificate, but stays the same with a private certificate
   • Dedicated SSL will use your own URL in the address bar: https://www.yoursite.com
   • Shared SSL will use some version of the host machine information: https://darthvader.snhdns.com/~yoursite.
2. A shared certificate can cause a warning to pop up to users on some browsers since the certificate is owned by the host and not the web site owner. This doesn’t mean the certificate isn’t working, but it may cause concern with some customers. You are the owner of a dedicated SSL.
3. With a dedicated SSL, you can choose the level of security for your web site. With a shared SSL you inherit the security settings set by the host.
4. Some out of the box shopping carts require a dedicated SSL. For some reason, some carts just don’t know how to deal with the URL differences in a shared certificate, forcing the issue of purchasing a dedicated certificate.

Shared and dedicated SSL certificates both provide security for your web site. They both use the same encryption methods to transfer data over the web. They both make that little lock show up on the browser letting you and your customers know the information is safe. The decision is yours.  Take a look at your needs, the size of your store, your typical user and your budget for the site.  It all comes down to user experience and dollars and cents.

Check it out here…

Whiteboard by Brian Purkiss is a light framework with a very minimal CSS reset.  It includes all the necessary page templates (index, page, single, sidebar, search, 404, etc) and has no styling whatsoever, which makes it my go-to framework when designing a new theme.

Starkers by Elliot Jay Stocks is another great option.  It uses a YUI-based CSS reset and like Whiteboard, contains no out-of-the-box styling.  Starkers includes a few more page templates, which is great for very meticulous themes, but can be a bit bloated for very simple themes.

Both Whiteboard and Starkers are both great places to start a Wordpress theme, although I typically use Whiteboard for it’s extremely basic structure.  Either way, you can’t go wrong and creating a theme will only be made that much easier.

Events & Weddings Costa Rica, is a company focused on creating unique, customized wedding and honeymoon experiences in one of the most beautiful countries in the Western Hemisphere. Recently, Samantha Kohn, owner of ECR, approached JLB and asked us to create a clean, professional graphic design in an easy-to-manage content management system. (We’ve known Samantha for a few years now, having helped optimize a previous iteration of her website with very successful results.)

The result of our endeavors? A pretty little website with a tad more than 60 pages of content (yes — we even helped Samantha import all of the existing content from her previous website), engineered on a very robust CMS (thank you, WordPress) with a slideshow tool and an easy-to-update News section, where Samantha can feature various weddings that she’s planned. The best part? All of her content is even better situated for Search Engine Spiders (read: even stronger SEO than before).

Wanna get away? Check out the new site…

Recently, I had the chance to hop a ride with a couple of beach-bound friends and head to St. Simons Island, GA.  Having not seen American beach in almost five years, it was an opportunity I couldn’t quite pass up.

Check it…

My little man has been helping me show kids how to paint Chinese characters. We also learned how to make yummy fried rice and can now speak a little Chinese. Well, I can say hi and sing a song. Little man just says “la.”

We’ve learned some interesting facts about China in the process. Did you know that the Chinese language has over 40, 000 characters? Did you know that ice cream was invented in China? Did you know there are over a billion people in China? Wow! I bet they eat lots of ice cream!

Franklin Synergy Bank has just opened a new branch in Franklin and they had their Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting today! JLB has worked closely with Aimee Punessen, the Senior Vice President of Marketing, Public & Investor Relations to make sure the Grand Opening was a success.

Constant Craving catered the food, Southern Events provided the necessary event equipment and supplies, Cornerstone Music did the sound and the TMA Group (another client of JLB) supplied the shuttle to and from the parking garage. Kevin Wimpy Photography was around again to document the entire event.

Everyone worked hard to pull off a successful Grand Opening for FSB!

You know what I’m talking about. Either you are a soccer fan, and you are excited that the World Cup is taking place as I type. OR, you might be a mildly irritated American (no one else in the world seems to mind), and you’ve already had enough of “the soccer.”

Either way, you can’t avoid it. The local and national nightly news, America’s sports bastion ESPN, late-night talk shows, and even Google are showcasing the World Cup on a daily basis.

It’s not just that the sport is the most popular in the world (with the World Cup garnering somewhere between 250 million and 330 million viewers in 2006; compared to 100 million watching that year’s Super Bowl). But it retains that “not every year” kind of allure held by sporting events like the Olympics.

For those who want to get the intel without watching 90 minutes (or 270 minutes a day for all three first round games), Google has created a special widget. Type “World Cup” and you’ll be served with the normal organic results, along with a “Latest Matches” block at the top of the SERP.

As Google explains in its official blog, “So when you complete a search related to the World Cup, you’ll see live scores, latest results and match schedules at the top of your search results. You’ll also find TV broadcast information and quick links for game recaps, live updates, standings and team profiles. The feature works on all Google search domains in 44 languages, including Afrikaans, Amharic, Swahili and Zulu.”

Pretty nifty.

But I don’t think it starts and stops with the World Cup. It’s a good debut for this widget, which I think this is yet another search experiment by the folks in Mountain View. It works well for sports, but a similar search result tool could be applied to just about any national or international news event. And with the perfection of Google Alerts and Caffeine, the most popular search engine is continuing to put a new shine on “relevance.”

The bottom line? You can search from any public WiFi connection without fear that your neighbor might spy or sniff your search terms and results. As Google puts it, when you search https://google.com, “an encrypted connection is created between your browser and Google. This secured channel helps protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party on your network.”

Google even has developed a special “locked logo” (see right) to convey that you are searching with an SSL (secured) connection.

This is a fascinating development. Sure, Google will still receive an end-user’s search data. But now, there is no chance for third-party sniffing. Additionally, there is some grumbling amongst SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts that encrypted search will hinder pay-per-click services, like AdWords, and their respective networks. Other search experts are worried that SSL searches will be invisible, essentially off the grid, which means there will be an entire catalogue of searches that are unknowable and unmeasurable.

Regardless, Google has delivered a new way to search — one which is undoubtedly customer-service oriented and one which improves overall privacy. Consider it another option in Google’s ever-growing arsenal.

The FHA assists low-income families by providing safe and affordable housing, operating 297 public housing units and serving nearly 700 residents. It has played a vital role in the community since 1953. Now the organization is poised to renovate and update its facilities, having received initial support from aldermen and the city planning commission for a 10,000-square-foot maintenance/office facility (valued at $1.2 million), along with a separate, three-story senior living center (valued at $4 million).

Hired to work on the project in conjunction with Alday Communications, Team JLB set about the tasks of designing an updated logo for the 56-year-old organization. Along with logo development, we created new identity materials including letterhead and business cards. Upon approval by the board, we created a new website design and accompanying website development. Now the FHA has a robust Content Management System (CMS) with which it can update its site regularly and keep its current (and prospective) residents informed on timely issues.

FHA has launched its new identity and website this month. Construction of the maintenance/office facility is expected to be completed this fall. JLB is proud to support and promote one of this area’s most valued and needed public assets.