The first seminar of the day covered "Open Source: Essential Free Apps for Your Online Biz."
Hosted by XBIZ' Stephen Yagielowicz and featuring Brad Estes of Video Secrets; Chris Alex from Way3 Hosting; Kevin Godbee of Web 3.0 Internet Consulting; and Ananda Sisk of Mansion Productions; the panel explored this popular staple of webmastering technology.
"Open Source software powers a wide variety of adult websites through a diverse range of applications, such as the popular WordPress blogging software and OpenX ad serving platform," Yagielowicz said, starting the discussion of what Open Source means to adult webmasters and continuing with a look at the best Open Source applications for taking adult websites to the next level.
"Almost all web hosting is based on Open Source software," Alex said, discussing how the Apache web server software, MySQL database engine and other Open Source applications power approximately 95 percent of adult websites.
"Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing," J-SiN stated, highlighting the tradeoff between dollars and hours for operators going the Open Source route.
Sisk noted that the product specialization and support services available with proprietary solutions are a compelling factor for power users.
"It goes back to your knowledge base," she said. "There's a time and place for doing this yourself and there's some things you shouldn't try to do yourself — and your time is worth something."
Scalability, accessibility and security are all important hallmarks of Open Source software and vital considerations for Video Secrets, says Estes.
"We have to make sure that our software is scalable," Estes said, adding that the company builds many of its applications based upon Open Source solutions.
Godbee told the audience about the benefits of WordPress, a popular Open Source application that powers a wide variety of adult websites.
"We use WordPress for all kinds of sites," Godbee said. "You would have to peek inside the source code to know its WordPress."
Yagielowicz summed it up by stating, "Open Source software provides an easy way to get started and limitless potential for growth, at a cost that is not necessarily measured in dollars, but in time."
The day's final seminar explored the latest website coding developments with "HTML5: Gearing Up for the Emerging Standard."
"Beyond being the latest way of specifying a website's markup, HTML5 redefines the presentation of online content — with ramifications that could include the replacement of Flash video as the format of choice for many adult website operators," states the XSF show guide. "Discover the ways in which HTML5 will enhance your operations, along with tips on how and when to deploy it, at this technically oriented session."
And technically oriented it was, offering a slate of seasoned adult webmasters and technologists. Moderated by XBIZ' Alec Helmy, this session featured AJ Hall of Elevated X; Brandon Shalton of T3Report.com; Christopher O'Connell from Saguaro Digital; and Stephen Yagielowicz from XBIZ.
The panel discussed the uses of HTML5 today, as well as what the future holds for this powerful new standard in web page coding.
Shalton outlined some of the pertinent business considerations involved in deciding how and when a company should implement HTML5, while Hall revealed the factors evaluated by software vendors seeking to incorporate the standard into their wares.
Hall also gave a demonstration of the use of HTML5's new video tag, displaying a streaming video feed on the iPad.
Yagielowicz provided a demo of his own, showing an example of a web page coded in HTML5, along with its underlying semantic markup, highlighting the code simplification and search engine marketing advantages available from this emerging standard.
O'Connell detailed some of the issues behind video codec selection and offered advice on deployment and cross-browser compatibility.
All panelists agreed that HTML5 coding is not only the wave of the future, but is increasingly ready for actual use today — especially when developing websites for alternative devices such as the iPad.
While the online adult entertainment industry is facing its share of challenges, the message from these two seminars is that the technological hurdles are the least daunting of these issues, and the use of the right technology can make, as well as save money.
Stay tuned to XBIZ.com for all the latest news on HTML5 and Open Source software applications.
