The best 404 pages in History

404 is an error page. It simply means that the page you looked for does not exist. The 400 series of errors were discussed before. At codemakit we had also discussed the concept of using 404 pages to your strength. But certainly one learns as he watches. A really good 404 page can spark inspiration and lead to the birth of yet another shining star.

So based on several hours of surfing and encountering 404 pages, I bring you THE BEST 404 PAGES in History!

Blizzard

In our list of Best 404 pages in history, Blizzard the gaming Giant comes at the top with its broken page. The page looks as if a bomb had just gone off and you're standing in its debris.

Lockerz

Lockerz with its really dynamic, animated yet simple page stands second in our list of bad-ass 404 pages. The astronaut too looks really lifelike (if it weren't for the cutout).

PagalGuy

The third in our list is an Indian MBA Community. The forum has similar faces as its mascots. The page really gives off a cool and carefree look. Though the layout used for it is different, still can't complain.

RSQ,

RSQ with its dark comedy deserves the fourth place here. Though a link in a coffin does seem a really hilarious situation.

Limpfish

"Originality always trumps content", A wise man said. Limpfish with its highly original and worthy 404 page deserves rank 5.

AttackPattern

The 404 page of Attack pattern simply lightens the mood. It is relevant too, you know because we're just surfing.

SAUS

Talking of Dynamic animated 404 pages, SAUS could have jumped up to 4 if it weren't for the language paralysis. The page hypnotises you to keep staring at it forever. See at you own risk.

Rareview

Taking of minimalist 404 pages, Rarereviews sets a nice little example for a page wchich informs and doesn't take much space or time to load Which can be otherwise reduced.

Knormal

Often expletives liven up the mood of a surfer, Such SEO psychology is used by Knormal to keep visitors on page even after encountering a 404 page.

Duoh

I once had the honour to interview duoh.com owner veerle pieters. Now I am honoured to present its 404 page for your scrutiny.

If you feel we've left some worthy pages in the list, there is a provision known as Comment.

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A Guide to Creating Awesome E-Book Covers

A content based website like a blog is always dependent on its readers for fame. Such websites strive for quality and try to provide as much new knowledge as possible. But alas, webmasters can only do this much. 

This is where having an eBook comes in handy. Some distinct advantages of an eBook are often forgotten by people. In this article we'll first talk why do webmasters need eBooks on their website and secondly some of the best E-Book covers and what you could learn from them.

Why E-Books?

Lets first discuss, why would a webmaster/ owner/ blogger ever need an E-Book. 

Is the website not enough?

1. An eBook is never crawled by a Google bot. So in short you could write anything and everything in an eBook. You can badmouth others, you can give away links that you could never ever host on your website, hell you could even plagiarize from your competitors, take their images, text etc. But a worthy and ethical person would never do that, (and believe me, only the people in the latter category succeed). 
2. Another reason for hosting eBooks or pdf materials at websites is that psychologically people are happy to download an eBook because they feel a sense of superiority as well as achievement as they downloaded a material that was not readily available on the internet. A sense of attachment starts towards the eBook and hence the website too.
3. Another reason for websites to use eBooks is because they stand out in the world of bloggers and web enthusiasts, the race towards unique content and quality material has never been tougher, hence an eBook that would set them apart.
4. Though an eBook is a less popular method of disseminating information than an embedded video, it still is an effective method for targeting visitors and converting them into a regularly visiting/loyal readers.
5. Finally, E-Books are currently one of the niches where marketing geeks have just stepped into. E book websites like bookboon is speculated to earn a lot by just allotting some space in their eBooks for advertisements. So you can earn from eBooks too!

Famous E-Book Covers..

Now that we're talking about eBook, we must also know that no body would read an eBook if it does not look interesting. So here are some examples of famous eBooks and what their cover designers did to attract visitors.

The first example could be Bookboon, just because of its sheer size and output that the website provides. It has a really simple yet elegant way of creating their covers. Almost all books hosted on bookboon have the same cover page template. Orange background, Really large text "Bookboon" and simple space in between displaying a really simple image relevant to the contents of the eBook. All in all, a really nice but average type of eBook cover.

Let us take another type of cover for our discussion. Let us take "Access to Information Act, Canada" for the same. Keeping the content aside, one must first acknowledge how color combination can set a really different mood. Complete Front page is of a single color, lined with matching colors. But as is evident, The document is a part of series. Hence the book number in huge font and the book title as well as other information in smaller fonts (However, It looks microscopic related to the number itself, but who are we to judge)

For many books color isn't that important, psychologically too black as a color denotes completeness and creates a sense of awe in the mind of readers. Check out, for example the book E2, written by Pam Grout. Based on its content, Pam had to choose the cover image as something between awkwardly mathematical or unrealistic photoshoped abstract, So he chose something in between. If your content is something like this, you too can experiment.

Same is the case with the Fiction, "Hunger Games", The ebook's frontpage dwlves on human psychology that often humans judge a book by its cover, and as expected the cover goes perfectly well with the book. Complete black background with golden words and an insignia at the center, preping its readers for a journey into the unknown.

E-books do not always use monochromatic backgrounds or Orange and red stripes to woo their readers. Some, like "The essential Guide to customs and culture, Ireland" also use images as the front page. You know a really detailed and colorful image can go a long way in attracting readers. Also, since its an eBook, one does not have to pay extra for printing such high resolution images. But images like these can become the perfect way for Authors to showcase their book. Take this for examples willfully placed the word Ireland  on the shores depicted in the image. In short, the images do not look awkwardly hanging in the air but look properly supported (in this case on sandy beaches). You too can try, this out, However you much choose your background image carefully for the effect to look authentic.

But as a website, you cannot afford to have an image like the above on your webpage. It simply does not go with the content. So you create something much simpler, something that you could change with the flick of your hand. Copyblogger's ebook front pages are popular in this matter. The front page is usually red with simple images at the back as if it has nothing to hide. Then it has a small strip at the bottom for the website name.

If you do not have enough images and you are releasing eBooks in a row, you can take you inspiration from United Nations Human Rights (UNHRC) eBook. It is less minimalist from the information Act document discussed above, as it provides much more information than its counterparts. One look at the eBook and you know its contents. If you too hate highly minimalist front pages, you should go for this. Replete with images, logos and text, It can be called as a really comprehensive front page.

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8 Best Online Form Creation Websites (Study Part 2)

Consider a case when you really need to create a form for your website, and so you need to decide which online service would suit you best. Though the reasons for creating an online form were discussed in an article before. Different websites have different USPs, some are suited for the general non programming public. Some are for more advanced users who actually know about the nitty gritty of coding and are willing to go the extra mile for providing awesome service to their customers or visitors. Some Form creation websites are meant for people who don't have the time and can do without the petty details which most people fret about.

So here is a list of all websites that can perform the task of creating an online form. Codemakit Website Research analysed them perfectly for your perusal so that your time is saved

Jotform

If you think of form creation with the speed of light, You would probably consider jot-form as the best. One visit to jotform would change you perception of form building forever. This is the first time I personally considered buying one of the premium packages that the website offered. The simple drag and drop functions bundled with easy edit and move options, jotform can be the site to look for.

Cons- The free subscription offers just 100 submissions in a month. No option of dedicated hosting of form. you must embed the form on your website for it to be functional. The responses are mailed separately but not as a spreadsheet which has found to be useful for most web masters and statisticians. There were speculations however that jotform domain was temporarily shut down once by the US Government.

FormSite

As is evident from businesses around the world, one man's thrash is another man's treasure, The disadvantages in jotforms were completely removed when the developers were creating formsite. Formsite understands that people actually need to use the information that they gained from the forms filled by the visitors. Formsite offers you services that helps you convert the responses into pdf /xls or similar spreadsheets so that you are spared from manual entry into spreadsheets for further processing or record keeping. Wiki entries boast about formsite into the top 5000 websites in terms of daily unique visitors. With more than 500 million form submissions, formsite is one of the most popular form creating destination for developers worldwide.

FormStack

Formstack can be called as just another form creating/maintaining website. Some of its USPs are better control  for the information flow by the form creator. The only major con for formstack is its 14 day trial. The website seems hell bent on converting nearly ever visitor into a customer. It is because of such low return on investment (ofcourse the functions wouldn't work afer the trial period.), codemakit decided to give it a rating of B3. Final verdict, If you are a freebie and want little fucntionalities for your blog/website, you woulnd'nt want formstack. It is for corporates and big players in the internet sphere.

Wufoo

Though Wufoo brags about cloud storage as its USP, It is interesting to note that Google drive is the only sensible enough competition for the same. Thus If you want your form data to be automatically stored at cloud storage. You can either use the ever free Google Drive forms or Wufoo. Since both are in the same battle field now, Let us compare them further. The one thing that Wufoo offers apart from the others is that you can personalize the pages to an extent that the form would look like an inhouse creation. With really high PageRank, SERP and an acceptable CWR (see Codemakit Website Research Ratings document) rank, WuFoo has been crowned the best in its class.

The Analysis

The following is an analysis for the eight Form Creation Websites from codemakit Website Research. Four different Rating Systems were employed for determining the overall worth of each Website; Webutation, known for providing users with the actual reputation of a website analysed by it. Page Rank, as you might know is one of Google's most overused methods of determining which page should be ranked first. The Third CWR rating is Codemakit's way of analyzing websites based on several patterns (You should first read the CWR Document about how codemakit analyses websites), Website Planet also works towards finding the importance of a website. Wind Rose diagram for Form Creation Websites is shown below.

Rockforms however was given a 40% rating by Webutation and so it comes at the end of our list. 

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Rank	Website Name	Webutation	Page Rank	Website planet	CWR Rating
1	Wufoo	100	8	8.5	A3
2	Coffeecup	100	6	8.5	A3
3	Formsite	100	7	7.5	B1
4	Jotforms	100	5	7.5	A2
5	Formstack	100	6	7.6	B3
6	Email-me-form	100	7	5	C1
7	Form-to-go	40	5	8.8	B3
8	Rackforms	100	3	8.6	B2

To find the actual stabilized table (Which was actually used for analysis) you might want to take a look at the following PDF document containing tables and the charts in the occasion when I might have left anything.

If CWR has left a form creation website that you think should be studied and analysed here, post it in the comments.

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Why Online Forms? Best Online Form Creation websites (A Study : Part I)

Forms are tools by which any web owner/developer/designer wants to communicate with its intended readers. So having a form on your site is as important as having a label system or a subscribe button (Which itself is a form). 

codemakit ran an article on "How to create easy online Forms with Google Forms?" when the service was first Launched. By far google is one of the most easiest and most economic ways of creating an online form. But, free services are bound to have drawbacks and lower fucntionalities. And so comes the need for other form creating websites which shall be discussed in the next article. But first we must understand why do webmasters need online forms? Why aren't they happy with their websites? What more are they trying to achieve? Consider the following examples.

1. You need to determine which photo or image would look great on your website. You put up a form collecting votes by showing both the pictures together and asking the users which one do you like. You put up a voting form on current topics to attract visitors showing interaction.

2. You need to put up a survey for your visitors as you need to know what age group do they belong to, what do they like, what don't they like. So that using these questions you could mold your website content to suit your readers. Result? increased visitors who are content with your content. No need for SEO, keyword study or best content practices.

3. You need a form which collects email addresses and related information from users in exchange for premium information.

4. You need forms so that people may comment on your articles which they found interesting. More comments would surely attract more comments (even the spam ones).

5. You might have a plethora of content and would like to share the same with other users, but the website is too large for them to find just be clicking.So you create a form which takes inputs from the users and displays a list of those pictures/videos/content which matches the most.

6. You want some extra functionality added to your website making it more interactive and user friendly, by adding a tool/calculator. E.g. Financial calculator, bond returns calculator (A really great example is tabelizer which itself is a tool for converting xl data sheets into html code)

7. There are yet smaller forms available with just one or two fields like, the subscribe us form, change language form (Which has been incorporated on codemakit since 2011 or change currency form etc.

Related Articles, Create an Auto-Responding Google Form

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The Best Office Websites of 2014

Often, the working population of a country finds itself in a place where a work needs to be executed and that too swiftly. The best and the brightest minds often use shortcuts at their workplace to make their job easier. This lets them focus on the important issues pertaining to the job leading to better quality and lots of pats from the boss. Find websites that can help you achieve your targets in 2014.

For executing a job normal executives have have just two choices, either work it out in the conventional way, i.e. the tedious and mind numbing procedure of entering data and analyzing it or the second and more effective method of using a website to do most of the grunts for you while you sit back and relax with a hot cup of coffee.

Obviously the first method has no place on codemakit.com, so let us look at the second method. Let us find out the best and the most useful office websites of 2014. A list which will be updated with time and would find its way into the bookmark list of most professionals.

Save Webpages

PdfmyURL

How many times have you felt the need for storing a website for future review but didn't want it as html? As storing in html leads to the storage of supporting files which you obviously do not want. Saving as pdf led to the storage as a single file. So you would need a webpage to pdf generator. Though I would recommend a printer known as dopdf, one of the most powerful print drivers available, but the offices usually disable the installation of any program and hence you would not be able to use it. 

Here comes pdfmyurl to your rescue. Just insert link in the exceptionally big bar and click the awkward looking button, lo and behold you are good to go! It however has a con, pdfmyurl has been found to display errors for larger files.

CtrlQ Screenshots

But then again there comes times when a pdf just wouldn't do and you need an editable copy of the webpage. What would you do when you need a png or a jpg image for a website? You would probably use an online tool created by the famous Indian Blogger Amit Agrawal. The webpage is aptly named Screen Capture, and it would put many functional websites to shame with its detailed images.

Convert to different Formats

Online Convert

So people obviously have more than just a url to convert, they might need to convert images to pdf, or word to pdf or mp4 to mp4 or wmv to mp4..phew.. list tends to go into hundreds. However, be prepared to have your beliefs shattered as here comes onlineconvert.com, The mega site with the largest set of functionalities I have ever seen, is known to make all of them true! Online Convert has the ability to convert almost anything to just about everything.

Optical Character Recognition

Everything has its limitations, the downside of onlineconvert.com is that it lacks the ability for an accurate and quick Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Sometimes you get a printout or a printed text that needs to be typed or made editable so that amendments can be made but for that to be possible, you would have to read and type, which in some cases is excruciatingly boring and time consuming. Instead, you could scan the page and run an OCR on it, this will recognise the characters and display as text, Now you can just copy and paste. newocr is the website you would be looking for in such cases. One of the best OCR websites ever seen, newOCR can convert nearly any scanned document into its corresponding textual components and with such agility and celerity!

XPStoPDF

A trend has been observed in offices, where people cannot simply convert their documents into a pdf file, They usually have the ability to convert any document into .xps using the inbuilt Microsoft xps Document writer. 

But finally you get a file in .xps and not .pdf, ofcourse online-convert.com will not provide a flawless OCR on the document, so what should you to to convert? You use xpstopdf online converter which is one of the fastest file conversion tools I have ever seen. Within the split of a second you would get a pdf file on your browser for viewing.

Pass your Time

igHome

Not all offices have employees working day and night, Some have lenient employers who let their employees have some time of their own. What do they do then? In their free time, most of them do not start playing games to maintain a decorum, so they read news. 

For this they need a news aggregator which finds news headlines from hundreds of websites and mix them according to their relevance and popularity. Unfortunately the most popular one of them, i.e. igoogle.com has been discontinued. So now we need to find an alternative. Fortunately a website which looks and is named a lot like igoogle has crept up, known as ighome, (igoogle Alternative). The website function exactly like its discontinued counterpart, where you can open your mail, access calender, search and many more.

Other Useful Websites

Here's a comparison of 8 Best Online Form Creation Websites

Here's a rank wise comparison of 7 Best Websites for Downloading Images

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