Andy Butland

In a recent blog post I documented some details for setting up direct payments with PayPal . I've recently had to extend that to implement 3D secure - known also as Verified by Visa or Mastercard SecureCode . The primary reason I've needed to implement this in a hurry for a client is that as a deadline has been reached that mandates the technology if you wish to accept Maestro cards on the website. Hence, if anyone else like me has been asked to set this up on the site in a hurry, hopefully this post that documents the steps required and techniques will prove useful... Project References Paypal have a relationship with a company called Cardinal Commerce who are available to customers using PayPal Direct Payments for support with implementing the 3d secure technology. I found them very helpful in going through the process. The first step is to obtain a dll file called CMPCDotNet.dll (known as the "thin client software"). Note that the version supplied with the...

I recently downloaded and installed the Microsoft Search Engine Optimisation Toolkit , having been alerted to it via a blog post from Scott Guthrie. To install you need to have IIS7 administration tools on your PC - which seems a little odd as you can point it to any server and have it analyse your site. Perhaps originally it was intended for use only on sites on the specific server that it is installed, but it seems a little odd that it's not a standalone tool. Nonetheless, it's very straightforward to install and use. Once installed using the Microsoft Web Platform Installer it appears as a new icon within IIS Manager (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager). Click on the icon to start a new analysis - enter a name, URL and you can fire it off. Once complete a set of results are displayed summarising the results of the analysis. Helpfully they are presented grouped by error, which, as well as providing a straightforward...