Specialized Computing Blog

Do your favorite websites keep forgetting your name and password? Do you forever have to reset your preferences? A website “remembers” you by the “cookies” it leaves on your hard drive. So whenever you delete all your cookies, websites no longer recognize your computer and they “forget” your preferences and options. You can manage these cookies for smoother, more convenient surfing.

1. How cookies work

Each website you visit deposits a tiny identifying file (a cookie) onto your hard drive. Some sites give you another cookie every time you visit them. Websites use these cookies to remember you.

We have been warned to delete all cookies regularly. That is not the very best advice, however. When you remove ALL cookies, you lose the good cookies with the bad.

Every time you log onto a website, it looks up your cookies, sets up your preferences, perhaps even logs you in. Your chosen options are ready to use as soon as you connect and your web page always looks right (familiar).

In addition to the cookie you collect when you enter a site, expect another one whenever you fill out an online form, or register with your email address and password. Yes, you surrender another bit of your privacy, but it can be a good trade-off if you log onto a number of websites regularly.

A data base at the web server stores your preferences. On your own computer, you see only a short text file named something like: “smith@abcdef[1].txt”. The content of a cookie file resembles a couple of lines of jumbled numbers and letters. To the data base, this is fascinating stuff!

2. How to manage your cookies

We hear about cookies that track our every move, reporting back to some evil empire. Yes, there are “bad” cookies that learn our habits and tastes, then deluge us with individually targeted advertising.

“Thwart this by deleting all cookies from your computer once a week,” the advice sounds: “Go to your Cookies folder and delete everything in it!” they tell you. But that deletes the useful cookies, too. You then lose functionality that you have come to rely on.

How do you delete unwanted cookies while keeping the helpful ones? There is a hard way and an easy way of doing this.

2. a. The hard way to manage cookies

Go to your Cookies folder. Look at the name of each file; is it a website that you use all the time? Then let it be. If the name is unfamiliar, do you then delete it? You can never score 100% on this test. You will still delete some useful cookies. Even worse, using this method, you will likely repeat the same mistakes on your next purge.

If you are adept at computers, you can open these files and gain slightly more information from them, especially one with a meaningless name like: “smith@ig[1].txt”. Opening this one shows the word “Google” in the encoded string. Since the text reveals no more than that, you should assume nothing more. (Actually, this one sets preferences within a personalized Google Homepage) Remember, too, that it is not unusual to have several cookies from the same site, numbered [1], [2], etc.

2. b. The easy way to manage cookies

Use one of the free cookie management programs. WinPatrol is an excellent choice. Its free version is exceptionally good for managing cookies, and it is fun to use.

The cookie manager lists your cookies alongside check boxes. Recognize a cookie as one to keep? Set a check in its box. When you have gone through all the cookies, you can delete all the unchecked ones with a single click.

Next time, you will have a base on which to build: all the checked cookies were previously vetted. Now you are only making decisions on the new, unchecked, cookies. Each time, you keep refining your results.

3. How to recover from deleting a good cookie

Suppose after cleaning up your Cookie folder, ABCDEF.INFO no longer logs you in automatically; here is your recovery plan:

At ABCDEF.INFO, set up your login again. Then close your browser. Open your Cookies folder immediately to look for any cookies bearing the name ABCDEF (e.g., smith@abcdef[1].txt) and make a note to keep those. Now test the site; does it log you in again automatically?

Using a cookie management program, the procedure is the same except that the software opens the Cookie folder for you. Then a simple check mark saves the cookie. See how much easier it is with a cookie management utility?

Your computer collects “good” cookies that make your internet experience smoother. It also accumulates “bad” cookies that may spy on you. Now you know how to manage those cookies.

Adware and spyware have reach epidemic proportions. They have turned into malware due to their viral and very aggressive behavior. With the threat of identity theft and financial fraud looming on the Internet, adware and spyware can be more than just annoying. Here are four methods to remove or simply avoid adware and spyware without spending a dime on the latest “anti-virus” software.

1. USE Firefox. If you don’t use the Internet much, than perhaps you don’t know much about Firefox. All you need to know is that it is a browser that works REALLY well and has great security features.

2. Do NOT USE Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is like Swiss cheese. It is open to the world by default. Microsoft is continually releasing patches to fix all the flaws in the Internet Explorer 6.X and lower versions of the browser. Although it can be “secured” by increasing the security it may loose much of its functionality once set to maximum security with certain exploitable features off.

3. Use a software or hardware firewall (not just Window XP Service Pack 2′s firewall). This may sound expensive and hard to do but it is not. If you have a DSL or broadband cable connection your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may have given you a DSL/Cable router with a firewall built in. All you have to do is turn it on. This may require you to take a few minutes to read the manual.

If your ISP did not give you a DSL or Cable broadband router with a built in firewall you can spend anywhere from $20 – $60 (or sometimes even cheaper with a mail-in rebate) to get a router. If you have DSL you will need a DSL router. If you have Cable broadband ISP you will need a Cable Router. Brands such as Linksys have built in firewalls and a feature called NAT, Network Address Translation, which is very effective since it hides your real IP address from the Internet. All routers come with instruction on how to hook them up. If you want to keep you computer security free, just use a free software firewall.

4. Remove Spyware/Adware with free Anti-spyware, anti-adware software. Lavasoft’s Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy are two excellent methods of cleaning your system for free. Majorgeeks.com is a popular and trusted freeware site that has these and many other excellent spyware/adware cleaning and malware prevention tools (including free downloadable firewalls).

The best method is to use ALL of the above. Being proactive by surfing with a decent browser and getting a firewall is important, but it also helps to know about a couple of good anti-adware/spyware applications. If you get hit with a really nasty bit of malware that can not be cleaned with Adaware or Spybot, find yourself a geek. There are many great forums on the Internet dedicated to doing nothing but finding and cleaning such malware. Chances are if your system is infected with it, hundreds of others before you have been infected and have already figured out how to get rid of the malware.

Whenever you are connected to the Internet, it is a sad fact of life that your computer is at risk of being infected with a virus or spyware, or even of being hacked. This can happen without you even knowing about it. It doesn’t matter whether you are just browsing through websites or signing up or logging in as members on others, you are still in danger of being compromised. The good news is that you can protect yourself by following a few simple steps.

Routers and Firewalls

It is recommended that you get yourself a router if you don’t already have one – this is still important even if you only have one computer in your home. The router will act as a hardware firewall – the best kind. It will protect personal information stored on your computer and keep it safe and will also protect your computer from all kinds of viruses.

Hackers may try to gain access to your computer by port scanning and a hardware router is more likely to be able to completely block the scans or at the very least slow the hackers down. Most of the hackers on the net don’t want to waste too much time trying to over-ride a router and are much more likely to move on – onto another victim who hasn’t got such powerful deterrents on their computer.

There are also lots of software firewalls to choose from if preferred – check your operating system to see if there is one included – Windows Firewall for instance is included with the Windows Operating System. Or there are large brand names (Norton, McAfee for example) that usually include other components and have several packages to choose from.

There are four main types of protection that you will need to have in order to protect yourself and your computer. These are:

1. A firewall

2. An automated virus scanner

3. A spyware scanner

4. A general anti-virus protection program

1. Firewalls

A firewall is essential to stop anyone or anything intruding or hacking into your computer. There are many software versions available and some are free to download and use. ZoneAlarm is highly recommended and is available for free for non-commercial users. You can get it here:

http://filehippo.com/download_zonealarm_free/ and it includes the following features (taken from their website):

A. Intrusion Blocking systematically identifies hackers and blocks access attempts.

B. Stealth Mode automatically makes your computer invisible to anyone on the Internet.

C. Automatic Program Configuration provides safety and simplicity by automatically configuring programs.

D. Automatically decides whether to allow or deny Internet access to individual programs.

E. Expert Controls give savvy users precise control over security settings.

Whilst the free firewall does provide you with basic protection from intruders, an anti-virus program does not come with the free version of ZoneAlarm, which would normally be included with any retail firewall software. This means that you will need to install other programs to run alongside it.

2. Automated Virus Scanner

Virus Scanners are automated programs, which run in the background whenever your computer is turned on. They run quick scans of every file in the background and they don’t utilize much memory to run so are an ideal addition to your protection suite of programs. There are free virus scanner programs on the net which you can use, A2 Guard or ASquared are highly recommended or check your ISP for any special offers that they may have running – some offer big reductions on the larger retailers software.

3. Spyware Scanners

Spyware Scanners are protection programs that scan your computer for spyware – you can usually set it to run at certain times, probably once a month would be adequate. Again check with your ISP to see if they include a free spyware scanner to run in the background or there are others available for free, including Ad-Aware which is very easy to use.

Spyware can be installed without you knowing it when you browse a website which has infected cookies. The spyware protection program will stop these being installed, or will at the very least ask you to choose whether to accept or reject the cookies when it suspects something suspicious is going on. It is highly recommended that you reject them.

4. Anti-Virus Protection

A general anti-virus protection program scans your computer for viruses and will either delete them or it will quarantine them until you decide to delete them. There are free anti-virus programs available, or you can buy complete packages. Once again, check with your ISP to make sure that they are not running any special offers on anti-virus protection programs.

If you have these protection programs installed on your computer and have them set up correctly to run in the background whenever your computer is turned on, you should have no trouble whilst browsing websites on the Internet.

Staying vigilant and being armed with protection is certainly the best way of keeping hackers, viruses and spyware away from your computer.

Hackers, phishers, viruses, worms…simply having your computer online can expose your data and personal information to all kinds of malicious and worrisome problems. If you’re somewhat new to the ‘net’ or to computers in general, these four tips could help protect you from identity theft, credit card fraud, or a complete computer takeover – all of which can happen without you even knowing about it!

1. What’s in Your Inbox? – If your e-mail program allows you to preview the entire message before or while it is being downloaded, turn this setting off. Some e-mails can contain dangerous code that could unknowingly compromise your computer and leave you vulnerable to viruses, worms or worse! Check the options in your e-mail program for a way to disable the message preview pane.

2. Scrutinize Your Messages – Don’t ever respond to messages claiming to be from your bank, credit card company, or other financial institution, which ask for personally identifiable information such as card or account numbers, passwords, or other private information – even if the e-mail looks to have come from the actual company. It may be a hoax designed to get you to unknowingly part with crucial financial or private contact information, leaving you vulnerable to credit card fraud, identity theft or credit card theft. Contact the institution or company that claims to be sending the e-mail and verify the contents of the message with them. Chances are – they never sent it. Only use the number on your statement though, and not the number that appears in the e-mail message. It may direct you right to the scammer, who will do everything they can to assure you that nothing is wrong!

3. If it’s From a Friend, it must be Safe, Right? – It’s logical to assume that a message from your friend or colleague is safe, but that isn’t always the case! If you receive an email from a friend or colleague which contains an attachment (could be a media clip, a screensaver, a picture or anything else), call them up to check and see if they really did send it. Many viruses and worms can hijack your computer and blast out a virus-ridden email to everyone in your address book, making it appear that it came from you and therefore, making it appear trustworthy.

4. Read Your Messages in Plain Text – Some e-mails written in HTML (the coding language that makes up many web pages) can be harmless. Others can contain malicious code that can hijack your e-mail program, browser, or your entire computer – and send your personal and financial information out to a hacker or scammer without you even knowing about it! Stay safe by setting your e-mail program to only show messages in plain text format (often in the options or settings section of the software). This will prevent threatening code from installing itself and compromising your system and private information.

Possibly one of the best ways to protect your e-mail is simply by exercising common sense. The Internet is a lot like a crowded plaza. Would your banker or credit card lender walk out into the middle of the throng of people and shout out to you to ask for your account information? Would you tell him where everyone could hear? Definitely not! The same caution should be exercised when checking your e-mail. These tips can help you stop scammers dead in their tracks while keeping you from becoming another victim of fraud or theft.

Perhaps you’ve heard about blogs – the hottest communication story of last year. Commentators from Newsweek to the Wall Street Journal, from CNN to PBS have devoted time to the phenomenon. Blogs are just one of the new technologies that are changing the way politicians communicate with voters and businesses communicate with customers.

For marketers, these changes mean more direct interaction with customers and potential customers. By speaking and listening directly with the customer marketers are able to reduce the expense for public relations and advertising. Of course, these developments are worrying some in the pr and advertising industries, as well as the news media.

Many things about marketing communication won’t change, of course: you still need to have something to say. And the best way to apply all these technologies is still within a business niche. With that said, here are some of the other ways communication is changing:

1. Podcasting is the hottest idea on the internet. Starting in 2004, people began downloading homebrewed radio shows to their iPods. So instead of “broadcasts” they’re “podcasts”. Unlike streaming audio, podcasts require the file to be downloaded. The advantage of podcasts versus streaming is that you can take it with you when you’re not on the net. The disadvantage is that streaming audio is much easier for a customer to play at his or her computer. The solution is to do both – create an audio file for streaming, and an mp3 for podcasting. The same recording can be used for both.

2. A vlog is a video blog. Unlike podcasting, vlogging can refer to either streaming video or downloadable shows. Combined with the rapid development of internet video delivery, vlogging seems poised to take off. As with audio, you can prepare your video file in both streaming and downloadable formats. Also like audio, you can begin with very low-cost tools and work your way up to full blown professional equipment. Remember that people like good production quality, but they like watching something interesting even more.

3. Wikis are websites that are editable by the site users. Content becomes part of a dialogue among the users, instead of something fixed. This interaction can build strong communities, and produce large sites with enormous information. Up until recently, wikis have been difficult to use, and limited to techs. New approaches to wikis are making them easier to use, and reinforcing the next trend:

4. Social software. Community sites that encourage sharing and conversation are springing up in many areas. Photography and music have been drivers of this trend, in addition to political activism. Interaction builds community, and community is where the market is.

5. Almost all of these tools involve RSS, a technology for feeding information to people who want it. Unlike email, which is “pushed” by the sender, rss feeds have to be “pulled” by the user. While still not completely mainstream, rss is a rapidly growing delivery system.

For the small marketer, the price of reaching customers directly has dropped. Large corporations, though, are picking up on these technologies rapidly. To truly gain an edge, the small business person needs to develop a strategy for these channels before the big companies figure them out.

Web 2.0 is all the rave. What is it? How did it come about? Where is it going? It sounds like a software program or some highly technological aspect that is getting ready to make its debut does it not? Well, in actuality it is neither of these. Web 2.0 is nothing more than some tools and ideas working together to make the internet a more user friendly and easier world to maneuver. Think about all of the new ideas to come to the internet in the last few years.

This whole concept may include AJAX, social bookmarking, RSS feeds, tags, and blogs. Of course, this does not even begin to encompass the whole concept of web 2.0, but it does give you a relatively good idea. Each and every day, we use Web 2.0 as a whole. With all of the media, graphic intensive websites, and the ease of use, you are experiencing the technology with everything you do, without even knowing it.

There was a web 1.0, a long time ago in “internet years” that is. Really, think about the “old” internet and the “new” internet, which is known as web 2.0. What could you really do? With 1.0, websites were static, they were not attractive in terms of the latest in interactive and animated websites with 2.0. With Web 2.0, updates are as regular and necessary as the sun coming up each day, with 1.0 updates were extremely rare for websites of any nature. Now, let us compare some of the differences, to give you a better picture.

Comparing Web 1.0 with Web 2.0

With Web 1.0 if you really wanted to look something up, you had something similar to an online dictionary. You could look up a definition, but that was about the extent of it. With Web 2.0, you have the concept of Wikipedia, which provides you deep and intuitive information submitted directly by other users. This is so much more than just a simple definition, this is an entire history or background of virtually any topic.

With Web 1.0, you essentially had personal websites. They were not updated all that frequently and they essentially did not do a whole lot. With Web 2.0, blogging is the latest and greatest. Blogging is used as both a personal journal and for business purposes at the same time. Gaining more traffic and more interest than ever before.

With Web 1.0, many webmasters relied upon page views to determine traffic. Now with Web 2.0, cost per click or pay per click are doing the traffic work. Page views are no longer essential in understanding the amount of traffic your website receives. The amount you pay per click is now the best indicator.

Before, if you wanted the news, you had to go looking for it. RSS feeds now do that for you automatically and delivers it directly to you. Many websites have automatic RSS feeds that you can choose to receive and there are one stop type of shops that allow you to sign up for many different feeds at the same time, so you can avoid having to search for the news and headlines.

Tagging is also a Web 2.0 technology. Tags allow users to search for specific items and information that they are looking for. It really simplifies the internet for users everywhere. When a person makes a post on a blog or social bookmarking websites, they can identify tags. When a user searches for these tags, they will find the posts that relate to their search terms.

Essentially, Web 2.0 just makes the internet a more user friendly and easier place to work, play, shop, and research. Now that you know how Web 1.0 has evolved to Web 2.0, where is it going from here?

Seeking Web 3.0

No one can really predict the future of the internet. It is too impossible to tell, however, there are some standards and paths that can lead us in the right direction for predictions. There are so many possibilities for the future of the internet that it is extremely hard to predict. Many people are leaning towards artificial intelligence for the internet. They are also suggesting that computer graphics will become more advanced, web applications will become modular, and internet speeds will increase with web 3.0.

People expect that Web 3.0 will bring innovative ways to build applications. They will be smaller and have the ability to run on multiple devices. Then there is always those who believe that the entire internet will become three dimensional.

There are many different ideas on how Web 3.0 will develop from Web 2.0. It is anyone’s guess and as the internet continues to evolve, the Web of any “version” will become smarter, more interactive, and easier to use with each passing year. The growth of the internet since its birth has been enormous and there is still a lot of room for more growth and potential.

Your home broadband, typically ADSL or cable modem access, usually has a different speed for downloading and uploading respectively. Typically you will have a downlink speed in the range of 512 kbit/s up to 8 Mbit/s and an uplink speed substantially lower than that, often 128 kbit/s to 1 Mbit/s. However, even when downloading things from the Internet, traffic flows in both directions, because the protocol that is used to transfer the data uses acknowledgments to make sure that the data has been transferred properly. Since your download speed is substantially higher than your upload speed, in a lot of cases you will not be able to use your full download speed if you are uploading data at the same time.

Your Internet service provider will often quote the speed of your home broadband as being “up to” a certain speed. There is a reason for that. Let’s say you have a home broadband connection of up to 2 Mbit/s in download speed and up to 512 kbit/s in upload speed. Does this mean that you are always guaranteed to get that bandwidth for your transfers?

Definitely not! In fact, all Internet service providers sell much more bandwidth than they can actually deliver. If all the customers of a service provider would try to use their connection to download at the same time, the average bandwidth would be much lower than the maximum value given. In fact, it is not uncommon to sell 50 times more bandwidth than they can actually deliver.

Does this mean that they are tricking you? It certainly sounds so, but this is a practice that has been used a long time, even in telephony networks or cell phone networks. If everyone in the world tried to use their telephone at the same time, it simply would not work. But that just doesn’t happen, most people only use the telephone occasionally.

The same thing applies to your home broadband. Most customers in your service providers network only use their home broadband occasionally. Some users fill up their broadband all the time, and there are those that rarely use it at all. But on average, the usage is quite low compared to the maximum possible. For instance, when you’re surfing on a web site, you spend most of the time reading the pages. Also, most people only spend a fraction of their day in front of their computer at home.

If the service provider was going to guarantee that you could always get your maximum bandwidth, your home broadband would be much more expensive. The service provider would have to make sure that you had dedicated bandwidth for your usage only. This would be a waste, and cost much more than most people are willing to pay.

Instead, service providers carefully monitor the bandwidth usage in a network, to make sure that connections are not overloaded. Some low quality service providers will overload their connections more, and give you a lower average bandwidth.

Service providers also use the same over provisioning for business customers, but the “over provisioning factor” tends to be much lower. This is not surprising, because a business connection is used by many people so on average these connections will be more utilized than a home broadband connection. Furthermore, a business customer generally pays more for the same bandwidth, so the service provider can afford to give a higher quality to these customers.

It seems that no matter what career path you want to pursue, there’s an online training program for it. Are they just out for your money or are they really interested in helping you to succeed? Both are true. It is up to you to decide which is which.

There are numerous ways to uncover the facts and it is imperative that you do if you plan on spending any of your hard earned money. So before emptying your wallet, open your browser and do a search. Go to Google and type in the person’s name or web address and see what comes up. If you have their phone number, do a search on their number and see if it’s been associated with anything shady or questionable.

Another way to find out a lot about a certain website is by going to http://www.scambusters.org — If it is not listed there you may be in the clear, although it might just mean that they haven’t had any reports yet.

Another great place to find out about whether a company is legitimate or not is to go to http://www.sohojobs.org/scams.html

Since the birth of the Internet there have been many people out there looking to make a quick buck. Many have succeeded because the person doing the buying doesn’t take the time to look into what they are purchasing.

So when looking to purchase training online, do your homework. There are many great training programs available online and many are free. Most trainers will offer a free audio, video or e-mail course in exchange for your name and e-mail address. You are then placed in their autoresponder and will begin to receive sales messages via e-mail. This can be a very fair trade-off if the training content is good. If it’s not, just unsubscribe and you’re on your way.

There are also numerous training sites that offer various types of material for a monthly membership fee. It would be unfair to place all of these systems under one dusty old umbrella because there are many legitimate companies out there offering top of the line training. But be careful; don’t spend $100 a month on something that sounds too good to be true, because it probably is. So watch out for fantastic claims in their sales literature, and always be sure that their cancellation policy is clearly defined.

In any business, you must be willing to work at it in order to succeed. And in order to become truly successful, you must continue to learn and acquire good training throughout your career, or risk becoming obsolete. Just be careful and do your homework first, otherwise you could end up a statistic — just another dime in some scammer’s pocket.

If you’re looking for a great way of communicating your business plans with a sister company, web conferencing could be the answer you’ve been looking for. Maybe you need to have a meeting with several key employees, but there isn’t a day in the foreseeable future when everyone will be in the office on the same day. Consider web conferencing as an alternative to bringing everyone together in person. Instead of calling your employees home from busy schedules, everyone can schedule an hour to be available by web. Interaction goes both ways and business is taken care of, just as if everyone had physically been present.

It may seem like a scene from a science fiction movie. The company meeting is taking place with only three members of the organizational team actually present. The rest are attending only as voices and faces on a computer screen. The reality is this is not something from an imaginary future. It’s real, it’s now and it’s an effective and affordable communication tool for businesses that need long distance conferencing without long distance travel.

The business world is not the only entity using this idea. Consider the ever growing and popular distance learning programs. In these programs, a teacher may have students in a traditional classroom, but also teach to groups of students in satellite classrooms. Students and teachers easily interact with each other, regardless of physical location. It requires a bit of coordination, but the benefits are obvious, both to the students and to those who are using web conferencing in the business world.

So how much will this cost? It depends on the degree of finesse you need. You can literally have web conferencing at no cost through some of the “chat” programs. Everyone logs on with voice and webcam and others see and hear all the conversations. If there are only a few participants and you’re on a limited budget, this isn’t a bad idea. If you’re looking for something a bit more professional, there are several other options, all with minimal charges. You often have a moderator in charge of the meeting and can conduct the meeting much as any other business meeting. Setting up the web conference will be no trouble at all, and you might just find yourself preferring to hold virtual meetings using this wonderful technology over the limited options that have been previously available.

A widget is just a small piece of computer code or a small application that can be inserted into a web page that performs a certain function or leads to a much larger application. It makes it easier for us non-tech types to get something done on our web sites without a lot of hassle.

You see them and use them all the time.

A widget can be: buttons, dialog boxes, pop-up windows, selection boxes, toggle switches, forms, stock quotes, news, search boxes for Google, clocks, counters, games, feeds and many many more.

If you are a Word Press user, you hear the term widget all the time. A widget in Word Press allows you to add tools or content to the side bars of you blog. One caution however, you must make sure you have a widget enabled theme. If you read the specifications of a theme it will tell you if it is widget enabled. This article is not going to go into all the details here about installing and using widgets. You should go to this web site: http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page to learn more.

Some people also get widgets and plugins confused when talking about their blogs. A widget is not a plugin and a plugin is not a widget. Think of it this way: a widget does something in your sidebar, a plugin affects your whole blog. So placing an auto responder sign up form in your side bar is done with a widget. A product such as “All In One SEO” is a plugin because it affects the SEO of your whole site.

If you go to this web page: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ and look on the left side column you will find many widgets and plugins with ratings from other Word Press users. If there is something you want to do to your blog you will find a widget or a plugin to do it.

Most bloggers use widgets, but there is a lot of discussion about if you should or not, how many, and of course which ones. This decision really comes down to what are you trying to do with your blog?

You have to think about form, function and who is your audience. If you have a blog that is giving investment advice then a widget that shows what the Dow and the Nasdaq is trading at is a good thing.

It’s really common sense. What fits with your blog objectives? However, you will see there are many options out there and it’s wise not to get too much going on in the side bars, because it can be very busy and distracting for your visitors and they may click away before you can communicate your message.