Welcome to True North PHP

Welcome to True North PHP

A 3-day community-driven conference for PHP developers featuring well known speakers from around the world

All About Community

All About Community

We are firm believers that the PHP community is second to none. We also believe that Toronto has an awesome PHP community and deserves an equally awesome conference. Those beliefs are what inspired us to create True North PHP, a conference designed to showcase Toronto's talent and give back to the community that has given us so much.

World Class Speakers

World Class Speakers

Part of our mission is to bring you a great lineup of speakers. To accomplish that we are reaching out to PHP experts from Toronto and around the world. We are sure you will recognize many of them as being leaders of the PHP community, respected authors and renowned public speakers. We also want to give newer speakers the opportunity to showcase their expertise. All-in-all True North PHP promises to feature a spectacular lineup of engaging and high quality talks that you won't soon forget.

Use Direct Mail Software To Gain The Most Profits

Direct Mail Software To Gain Profit To Your Business

Direct mail remains a viable form of direct advertising, although most direct mail marketers have gone away to other forms of direct advertising like email and e-marketing. One example of that is when a person is relocating to a new area or new housing complex and needs a car to get into work or the school or a new shopping mall. Instead of searching for and buying a vehicle at the last minute and hoping that it’s a reasonable price, they instead search for one that matches their budget and one that will get them to work and shopping in the mall or other area. The new technology called e-mail has eliminated this need by enabling people to respond quickly to e-mails and schedule maintenance and appointments online.

direct mail automation

Direct Mail Automation Software

With new automation technologies, has become popular with companies that send out many postcards for marketing purposes. This saves a company time by utilizing an already established mailing list and can create postcard templates quickly so a company doesn’t have to do any additional mailing list management. Using the , you can access information about the mailing list and schedule postcard printing according to how many cards are on the list. The API also gives the company the ability to determine what times of the week people are more likely to receive their cards because of their busy lifestyles.

Using the direct mail software’s API to create and schedule printing times is a great time-saver for a company. Using a generic solution can be extremely time-consuming because it requires access to database support, database schemas, data mining, and administration. Having to troubleshoot issues like duplicate cards, wrong shipping dates, and other business-critical data can cost a company valuable time that could be spent in much more productive ways. This way, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can make sense of a company’s direct mail marketing catalogues in just a few clicks of the mouse.

Many companies still opt to run their direct mail campaigns themselves, using a proprietary database and printing software. However, as the direct mail market continues to mature, many businesses are finding it more cost-effective and efficient to outsource their printing and mailing requirements to third-party providers. There are three primary benefits to outsourcing this aspect of their business: lower costs, better quality, and increased flexibility.

Here are a few common reasons why companies choose to outsource their printing and mailing needs:

  • Lower Costs – A company may not have the best-of-design printing software in the world but they can get the job done with the help of a third-party provider. By leveraging a third-party provider, a company cuts their costs by eliminating the need to purchase its own equipment. By running all of the marketing tasks through the direct mail software system, a company can save upwards of 10% on printing and postage costs. Some providers even offer a full automation suite at no additional cost.
  • Quality Control – If a third-party provider handles the direct mail pieces, they can ensure that the final print quality meets or exceeds the highest standards possible. As the direct mail software suite processes mail through different distribution points, each piece goes through a review process where the software is tested to see how effective it is at distributing the mail pieces and addressing errors. After a piece is approved for mailing, it is packaged for delivery. Mail pieces go out to homes, businesses, and other specified recipients on a regular basis to ensure that they are properly delivered. Because the direct mail automation software processes are automated, a company is able to dedicate a greater amount of time to ensure each piece is properly sent out.
  • Enhanced Customer Engagement – Mailing direct messages has always been considered to be an effective method of communication when a customer or potential customer has the opportunity to contact a business. But with the rise of social media, more customers are choosing to interact with businesses online rather than sitting on their hands in the lobby or in the store and taking the time to drive to an establishment. With the help of automated direct mailing software, companies can better cater to customers who don’t have the time to drive to a store to speak to a representative. The automated mailing solution will allow a company to focus on potential customers rather than people who show up at the wrong time or show up without a specific reason. This type of management is very useful for improving customer engagement.

So there you have it. Direct mail campaigns can be very profitable if handled properly. A company only needs to choose the right type of software and then automate as much of the process as possible. There are a few companies that handle only this aspect of marketing campaigns, but they are a very small niche market. An extremely large portion of businesses throughout the United States handle these types of campaigns and can benefit greatly from these campaigns if managed properly. In order to gain the largest profits possible, companies need to outsource certain tasks to help control costs, streamline processes and improve their overall productivity.

HOW TO AUTOMATICALLY SYNC CONTACTS BETWEEN OUTLOOK AND GMAIL

Syncing is definitely one of the most useful things you should definitely do with all your accounts. By syncing we mean that any changes in one account will automatically result in changes in the other account. This helps all your devices to remain up to date and not having to update your information on each device separately.

Here we talk about how to automatically sync contacts between outlook and Gmail.

Sadly, Outlook and Gmail have different address books and it is impossible to automatically sync both of them. This means making changes in one does not result in changes in the other.

However, even if you can’t sync your Gmail with our outlook, it is indeed very easy to import your Gmail contacts on your outlook or vice versa. If you are looking at making some big changes in any of the two, you can make the changes in one and import all the changes onto the other.

However, thanks to technology, there are still many alternate ways to sync and share your Gmail contacts with outlook and vice versa. This can be done with the help of mod apps like Go Contact Sync Mod. Using this mod, if you make a change in one the two, you can use this mod to make changes in the other without having to go the app and make these changes individually.

WHY USE THIS MOD?

Mods like Go Contact Sync Mod are usually open source and don’t harm the normal functioning of your apps. Moreover, the mod is easy and free to use and does not have any spyware or ads that ruin the experience.

PRE-REQUISITES OF USING MODS:

Before you download any mod you need to download a compatible framework that’ll help this mod to function. Like for example, if you want to install a syncing mod like Go Contact Sync Mod, you will have to install Microsoft.NET framework 3.5in order for the mod to function.

STEP1: LOGIN

Like all other apps before you use any syncing mod app, you will have to log in with your google account details. Open the mod and enter your google username and password.

STEP2: ADD ALL THE ACCOUNTS THAT YOU WANT SYNCED

Along with your main account, add the other accounts you want synced. Like in this case, now that you have already added your Gmail account, add your outlook account as well.

STEP3: BROWSE THROUGH SYNC OPTIONS:

The mod will analyse and show you all your contacts and you can select the contacts you want to be synced with the help of many options available.

Hence we can see how easily you can sync your outlook and Gmail contacts easily with the help of a mod. There are many mods available on the internet and selecting the best mod ap may be overwhelming for you. However, in our opinion open source mod apps are the best considering they are free of cost and also free from any kind of malware. However, there are plenty mod apps that claim to be the best yet contain some malware that may harm your personal information. Always do proper research before installing any app on your device. For shared contacts for gmail visit Share Email Contacts for Gmail extension.

Steps to Follow if Your Mac Freezes

Today, people spend most of their time on their computers. They work on their computers. They use it for entertainment. They have many important documents stored on their systems. So, it is frustrating when your Mac freezes. There is almost nothing you can do before you fix your Mac.

You might want to look for a Mac repair store in Toronto. But before that, there is a bunch of things you can do to try and fix your Mac by yourself. If you are lucky, you will have your Mac repaired. You will thank yourself for saving some money!

mac repair store in toronto

  • Evaluate the issue

The first step to finding a solution to any problem is the correct diagnosis. Try to specifically evaluate what the issue is. Has your Mac entirely shut down or is it just an application that has frozen? Check if the mouse and keyboard are functional. Sometimes, you will not be able to access any of the menus.

If you cannot use the mouse or the keyboard, then there might be a serious issue. You might want to consider visiting a Mac repair store in Toronto. If not, try to forcibly quit the frozen application by clicking on the Apple menu. Click on other applications or try getting back to the desktop.

There is another way to force quit an application. Right-click on their icon in the dock -> click on the force quit option.

 

  • What if it is not a specific application?

If the whole system has shut down, it’s okay. Don’t panic. Calmly, try the options given below.

  • Click on the Apply menu, click on the restart button from the drop-down menu.
  • If the drop-down menu doesn’t appear, or if you are unable to click on the options, there is another way. You can try restarting the system using the keyboard. Press Command+Control+Eject
  • If your Mac still doesn’t restart, it means that the keyboard is unresponsive too. Try performing a hard reset, but only when everything else has failed. Now press and hold the power button until your Mac switches off. After some time, switch on your system. It should work fine.

 

  • Why does this happen? How to avoid this situation?

Sometimes, you will lose precious data while trying to fix your frozen system. Understanding the common causes of a Mac freeze will help you avoid such situations in the future.

If you use up most/all of the space in the hard drive, it strains the system. Keep an eye on the amount of free space in your hard drive.

mac repair store in toronto

Do not ignore updates. Sometimes, ignored updates lead to problems. Updates are intended to fix minor issues. If you want to ensure that your system runs smoothly, do not neglect the updates.

If a specific application keeps freezing, check if you have fully updated that particular application.

If you have enough free space and your system is fully up to date, but you still experience frequent freezes, your problem might be more complex.

If all the above solutions fail to fix the problem, it is better to take your Mac to the professions – walk into a certified Mac repair store in Toronto.

Why implement a visitor management system in schools?

In many facilities, visitors still register by hand in paper books. While this method is perceived as fast and easy, it provides virtually zero security and leaves visitor information available for anyone to see. The automated systems of the visitor administrator offer a more professional appearance, improve safety and fulfill compliance orders for the collection and audit of visitor data.

check in software

Key benefits

  • Improves the professionalism of the registration process and visitor registration.
  • Simplify the registration process with pre-registration or self-registration options.
  • Provides additional protection by filtering them against watch lists of criminals and sex offenders.
  • Improves security as they identify who is in the installation quickly and accurately.
  • It carries out the analysis and preparation of reports on visitor data rapidly and efficiently.

check in software

Why need to check in software for a visitor management system?

Whether you are currently using a visitor registration notebook or have a person in charge of receiving and registering them, or that there is simply no one in custody in the lobby, the visitor management system allows you to optimize a single area of reception or a solution with all the necessary functions for organizations with several offices.

Choose the speedy check in software, for visitor management solution that best suits your needs. The decision matrix on the right can help you determine which product is right for you.

Quality management system in primary education schools and their school projects

The School Management System is the latest and most complete school automation software, which is a suite for every one of the educational institutes, such as schools, universities, and universities.

check in software

How does an management system in schools benefit an educational center, college, faculty, or university?

The general objectives of this type of platforms are the simplification of processes, the automation of tasks, the empowerment of teachers, the promotion of parental involvement and greater participation of students in academic and extra-academic activities. But more specifically:

  • It improves the organization: first, the enormous volume of data or information they manage increases exponentially. An management system in schools avoids delays and many problems in finding and maintaining files and documents. Remove paper almost completely.
  • The satisfaction of staff, teachers, and students: When management flows, the staff can focus on their work (removing many unnecessary concerns) which gives confidence, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.
  • Profitability: The time, effort, and money used in printing or photocopying of documents, books, evaluations, titles, folders, and files are minimized. The documentation does not deteriorate. Documentary files are kept with several backup copies. It also helps to optimize the human resources of the educational center.
  • In the case of free opensource applications, profitability also comes from not having to pay licenses for the use of the software. Surely, if they will have to pay the other common costs in this type of software such as the costs of implementation, customization to cover the particular needs of the educational center, monthly payment of the server where the software is implemented, maintenance and security, training of the employees they will manage the platform and some other expense. In any case, the price will be much lower than that of proprietary software.

The issue of outsourcing managed IT services outside Canada to the third world countries

Toronto it services

The technical department for any company is very crucial in maintaining their day to day operations. All the systems and software need to be running at all the times and the data must be secured. Not every company has an in-house IT department. The current trend these days is to outsource your managed IT services Toronto to established companies that have all the resources to tackle all the day to day problems and prevent any future disaster.  Outsourcing your managed IT services to a third world country can save you a lot of money but can also out your systems at risk. Outsourcing your IT services to a company in Canada may cost you a bit more but it gives you an assurance that it is a Canadian company and you can easily access it.

The major issue with outsourcing the managed IT services Toronto to a third world country is that the communication may not be easily accessible. Due to the timing difference, if an error occurs in the morning here and there is night time in a different time zone, then some personnel may not be available immediately. Hiring a Canadian based company will help you with easy communication and they can easily solve your problem in quick time. Not all issues are repaired in quick amount of time. Most times back ups are required before the repair work which can take a lot of time which might not be convenient for the company abroad and they might be reluctant to delay it.

It Services Toronto

Another major issue with outsourcing your IT services outside Canada to other third world countries is that server and speed may not be optimal. Often times due to long distance, the server speed may not be optimal as it is hosted in a different country. When you outsource your managed IT service Toronto to company that is your own country, you can trust the servers not to crash. Another thing unpredictable about third world countries are power shut downs and disasters. Power cut off is a big issue in many third world countries and the power back-ups such as generators and invertors may not be reliable. Scenarios like these are hard to predict but it could have a major impact on the company data.

When common problems like web hosting occurs, companies start to panic because their website is not live. They then contact the hosting company and check to ensure all the renewals and payments are made. If the hosting is in a different country, it can be difficult to contact and you have to choose another company quickly. Similarly, if you are having technical issues in your company, you need to either change the IT personnel or hire an established Canadian managed IT services Toronto company that has all the right kind of tools and resources to help you with your day to day technical issues. Relying on third world countries for managed IT service may not be a great idea since your company data is at risk. Call or email now for more inquiry.

Essential elements to look for before working on a startup

Working for a Toronto startups is appealing at times attractively so. The job description of the work includes things like “fun place to work, friendly co-workers and a safe environment”. And as you answer inquiries on their non-customary request for employment (“If you were a movie star, what kind of role would you like to play?”), you envision yourself ” in a makeup van, completing your makeup with your co-actors doing the same” and sipping coffee.toronto startups

  1. There’s no guarantee that everything will go your way, so be prepared for changes.

Dissimilar to seasoned organizations in that have well-characterized procedures and methods and several representatives molded to rehash similar practices for quite a while, Toronto startups can make changes rapidly. Things like employment titles, work area assignments, announcing structures, and task plans are changed more habitually than the channel in the workplace coffee pot. Toward the start-up I work for, I’ve changed my workplace 3 times, three—times in less than a half year, and had a stupendous aggregate of six desks all the while.

  1. You have to work on everything

You must be a cooperative person, make a plunge, move up your sleeves, and get your hands dirty—there’s a perpetual number of problems to clarify that you’ll be required to do everything when you work for a start-up. While you may have a title and a set of working responsibilities, your regular activities will probably change depending upon the task of the day.

  1. Seniors are your supporters, not your enemies

Most new companies start with a couple of splendid people and a thought. They discover a few financial specialists and encircle themselves with keen, roused (regularly youthful) individuals who will stay up all night and transform their thought into the real world. At that point, when the organization starts to get a whiff of progress, they may get a few specialists: experienced, tenured experts that will help take the organization to the following level.

When veterans start working on the job, existing representatives can get apprehensive, and even angry. You’ve been working 16-hour days for a half year (indeed, you ought to anticipate that, as well), and abruptly this grandmother is going to stroll in and disclose to you how to carry out your responsibility since she has an MBA, an extraordinary reputation, and an unending system of industry contacts? Be patient and be friends with them.

startups in Toronto

  1. The Company Giveth, the Company Taketh Away

Toronto startups love to compensate employees for their readiness to desert office conventions like lunch breaks and individual space. At the point when the organization is moderately little, the officials may dole out advantages like week by week happy hours, provided food snacks, and tickets to nearby occasions. Yet, as the organization develops, the authority may understand that they can never again bear, or deal with, these kinds of extravagances.

  1. It’s Your Responsibility to Assess the Risk

New start-ups have a risk of closing down soon too. It’s one of the inalienable dangers in working for one. And keeping in mind that you may expect that, as an individual from a little group, you’ll be the first to think about potential landmines, this isn’t generally the situation.

It’s your obligation, regardless of whether you’re an intern or a financial expert investigator, to learn as much as you can about your organization’s presentation and direction. Listen to what the press is stating about the business and its speculators (a Google alert is incredible for this) and ask authority how they’re estimating their prosperity. On the off chance that things are going downhill, you would prefer not to be in a blindside position.

Secrets of a successful Search Engine Optimization Professional

 

seo marketingSearch Engine Optimization also is known as SEO is right now one of the most popular industries creating thousands of jobs all across the world. More and more people have started taking interest in Search Engine Optimization making Digital Marketing a very booming sector for the past few years. A lot of people are trying to land jobs as SEO Marketing experts and here we have listed down a few of the secrets which will help people land their job in Search Engine Optimization and also become a successful Professional.

Keyword Research

The main work of a Search Engine Optimization Professional is to post contents on different websites. To post contents the SEO Professional should have a very clear idea about the content and keyword. Make sure to make a good research of the keyword before you decide to post something online. The keywords will help Google to take notice of the work you have done and your effort will be worth the time and effort.

marketing seo

Keyword to Work

It is very important to find a keyword which will work because if the keyword you choose is not working properly then the whole content that you will post will be of no use. It is important for Google to notice your work or else it will not be showing it in the search. There was a time when if you were an SEO Marketing expert then all you needed to do was dump some keywords in the content and you were good to go but right now that’s not the case. Now you will have to carefully select which keyword you want to focus on and place it in such a way so that Google is able to recognize it and use it.

 

Topic to write

It is very much important to write something that you really care about. There are millions of writers on the internet and it is very much important to be unique to stand out in the lot. If the topic is not something that you really care about then you will not be able to make sense of it and you will also not be able to find an audience to read it.

seo

Basics of SEO

It is very important to have a clear idea about SEO Marketing or else it is impossible to work in this industry. There are a lot of things that are important to understanding in SEO and some of them are how exactly Google crawls. It is important to have a clear understanding of all the latest trends of SEO Marketing.

If you are planning a career in Search Engine Optimization, then it is a pretty good thing. All you need to do is to simply learn all the things that any Digital Marketing course will teach you and then start trying to put the theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge. Make sure to keep all the things that are listed above in mind so that you are able to succeed easily.