Validate me
by Paul Armstrong
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Wednesday, May 18th 2005
Time to get accessible. That means ALL of you. Yes, you there reading this, bored to tears -- you most likely are not accessible. Don't panic, its not life threatening - no medication required. There is a solution; and I'm doing my research.
I'm researching how to alter some .htaccess files and using some mod_write() functions so that I can remove "variable" links -- "What the ...??" you say? Yeah I know; completely nerd-ified comments.
So what am I saying? Many database driven sites use links that pass certain "variables" through the URL - including this site (i.e.; "wisecrack.php?id=11"). Over the years and the growing trend of broadening the accessibility of a site, we're finding safer, easier and simplier ways of using links.
So why do I need to do this (and why might you too)? Many reasons. One being safety - or reducing the ability of a hack attempt. If a hacker types in any random "variable" after a "?" in a link, he'll be met with a list of errors (which to most of us mean absolutely nothing). To the hacker, its like finding a credit card number in the trash - it opens the door to finding out more of your personal, hidden information. If your site happens to have valuable information stored within, then you're in a heap of trouble. Changing a link from "wisecrack.php?id=11" to "/wisecrack/call_me_uber-nerd/" is safe. There would be no errors that reveal your inner soul when "would-be-hacker" dude get nosey.
The other significatn reason is search engine friendliness. If you want more of your content to push your site futher up a search list, removing links with variables helps that cause (as many search engine "spiders" do not follow those links).
So I'm spending the next few hours (and by "hours" I mean days -- and by "days" I mean weeks) researching and attempting to improve the "accessibility" of this site (and increasing my nerd quotient).
Why not just use Blogger or WordPress or Moveable Type? Because I want to know how to do it.
That's it; that's the list. We'll see if I don't implode figuring this out.
I'm researching how to alter some .htaccess files and using some mod_write() functions so that I can remove "variable" links -- "What the ...??" you say? Yeah I know; completely nerd-ified comments.
So what am I saying? Many database driven sites use links that pass certain "variables" through the URL - including this site (i.e.; "wisecrack.php?id=11"). Over the years and the growing trend of broadening the accessibility of a site, we're finding safer, easier and simplier ways of using links.
So why do I need to do this (and why might you too)? Many reasons. One being safety - or reducing the ability of a hack attempt. If a hacker types in any random "variable" after a "?" in a link, he'll be met with a list of errors (which to most of us mean absolutely nothing). To the hacker, its like finding a credit card number in the trash - it opens the door to finding out more of your personal, hidden information. If your site happens to have valuable information stored within, then you're in a heap of trouble. Changing a link from "wisecrack.php?id=11" to "/wisecrack/call_me_uber-nerd/" is safe. There would be no errors that reveal your inner soul when "would-be-hacker" dude get nosey.
The other significatn reason is search engine friendliness. If you want more of your content to push your site futher up a search list, removing links with variables helps that cause (as many search engine "spiders" do not follow those links).
So I'm spending the next few hours (and by "hours" I mean days -- and by "days" I mean weeks) researching and attempting to improve the "accessibility" of this site (and increasing my nerd quotient).
Why not just use Blogger or WordPress or Moveable Type? Because I want to know how to do it.
That's it; that's the list. We'll see if I don't implode figuring this out.
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