[Tutorial] How to pass variables between FLASH and PHP

The first time I faced this need, I was totally clueless. Back then, I know FLASH and I know PHP but passing variables between the two is something that's I'm totally new with. This brought me to search tutorials on the web and came across the command that does it.

loadVariablesNum() and it's variant, loadVariables()

You call loadVariablesNum() when you are loading variables to the _root level and call loadVariables() when you are loading variables to a sprite.

Here are some examples:

• onFrame (1) {
  loadVariablesNum("myphpscript.php",0);
  }
• onFrame (1) {
  spriteName.loadVariables("myphpscript.php");
  }

Then your PHP could be written in this form:

• echo "&var1=value1&var2=value2&var3=value3";

What have you noticed so far? Yes, that's right. The presence of "&" for every variable-name and variable-value pair. And your flash will be able to recognize var1, var2 and var3 to have those values. Since we load variables from a php file, we have to use the echo command of php. If we load variables from a plain text file then we could just have made it as:

• &var1=value1&var2=value2&var3=value3

That's how we pass variables from PHP to FLASH. How about sending variables from FLASH to PHP?

We use the same set of command but this time, we specify another parameter - a choice of GET or POST

• onFrame (1) {
  loadVariablesNum("myphpscript.php",0,'POST');
  }
• onFrame (1) {
  spriteName.loadVariables("myphpscript.php", 'POST');
  }

From you FLASH, if you have a variable"

• var sUserName = "pinoywebdev";

In your myphpscript.php file, you catch this variable using:

• $sUser = $_POST['sUserName'];

Cool enough? I apologize that this tutorial does not include any source files. I should be able to come up with some 'working' sample in a few days.

If you try the above and found errors, please let me know.

Heard of Payoneer? It is another payout solution that websites like GetAFreelancer, ODesk, iStockPhoto, uTest, among others have added as payment option made available to their members.

I am a member of GetAFreelancer and I have avail of this payment option. So far, I am happy with the service of Payoneer. The money is available in all ATM machines where MasterCard is accepted. As soon as my card is loaded, I can go to the ATM machine and withdraw the money.

The Payoneer debit card is customized with the website you are a member with and of course, your name on it. Here's a not-so-fresh look of my Payoneer debit card which will expire this October.

For your questions, here is the link to Payoneer's Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.payoneer.com/faq.aspx

FACFI stands for Fr. Al's Children Foundation, Inc. It is the funding arm of Sisters of Mary in the Philippines.

This org's website is under development and that's my task -- another Project X on my list.

http://www.facfi.org.ph

How to handle online tasks? It requires a little more extra care and again, professionalism. Take that to the next level that is, think of the other person, your client, who's not able to check on your progress whenever he wants to. Think of the person's feeling specially if the schedule is tight and IT IS A MUST TO MEET THAT SCHEDULE.

If a project lasts for more than 2 days, make sure you provide a report showing progress. Don’t ever get back to your customer after 2 days and saying, "sorry, I got busy with something else and was never been into your project"... that’s just not the right way of handling customers.

Do the project and make sure you are meeting targets. This project is done this percentage after this number of days and that’s what is expected of you. Now, make that visible to your client by reports.

If you can show actual output then have it together with your report. The client always has the right to know how you are doing on the task and they are always willing to provide assistance to you which will help you complete the project on time. Don’t ever hesitate to ask questions should you find your self stuck with something that you think only the client can help you.

Complete task with the expected or better quality and have the client see it on or before the expected due date. If you can’t beat that deadline, make the client understand why you can’t. With sufficient data, they won’t feel bad giving you more time.

You have the project sent and you are paid. You got the money so that’s it?

Again I'll tell you, NO. Your business with that client has not ended. If it's your first time working for this client, then the business between you two has just STARTED.

Talk to your client. Ask for feedback. Was the job done right? Anything else that they need you to do to improve it? Do they need you for further enhancements? Offer any future support. That way, you are sending the message, “I’m still here anytime you need me.”

There you go. Have it by heart and you will be successful dealing with any task from any customers from any countries around the world. I tell you, with you doing the right job and doing it professionally, nothing else await ahead but success.

Going back to this question: Where do I find tasks that I can do and get paid for? Do you have an answer now? Yes. You got it. The question is linked to the biggest freelancing, project outsourcing website - GetAFreelancer.com

There are other similar sites like LimeExchange, ScriptLance, E-Lance, oDesk, Rent-A-Coder, GetACoder and perhaps many more.

You can give a try all of these web sites and see for yourself. I recommend that you focus on one site.

First part of this series: Find and get online tasks...

Did you like this topic? Let me know your feedback; post your comments.

Watch out if you're chosen for a task

Make sure you check your email regularly or as often as you can. Anything can happen while you are busy for something else.

The client has picked your bid and waited for a few more hours. You did not get back to say, “Hey thanks for picking my bid, here’s what I need to get started”… they surely expect that from you and will be delighted if you do it promptly. If it happens the other way around; the client contacting you, “hey, I picked your bid. Now let me know what else I should give you so you can get started on it.”

The former is a MUST, definitely not the latter. The latter is OK if you are lucky enough -- such scenario is nothing but normal for that customer; then you are not guilty of any fault but, if the client expected you to make the first move, then sorry, you just made a mistake you should have avoided. If you let them wait, they may just pick another bidder and you don’t want that for sure.

After seeing that you were picked for that task, contact the customer immediately and inform them what else you need to get started.

Last in this series: How should freelancers effectively handle tasks from start to finish?

Did you like this topic? Let me know your feedback; post your comments.

Find Tasks

You now have a profile and you are now on a website where there are tasks or projects that you can pick and work on. (I’ll be a little bit bias here, let me focus on websites where projects are posted for talents to bid on because this is a system that I am aware of and been with for more than 3 years now.)

Watch for tasks that you think you can do. If in a day, you can't find one, check the next day. It is better if you set it in your profile that you get alerted whenever new tasks are posted. So you only need to watch it in your inbox. Also, most of these alerts are tailored to your skills and so you won’t get swamped with projects that you are not interested with.

Bid on task that you want to do. Bid’s core contents would be: (1) money – how much money will you ask to complete this task (2) time frame – how much time will you ask to deliver, (3) this may look like optional but it has been my key to winning tasks – briefly tell the task provider or project owner:

• how are you going to take the project from start to end.
  
• What is it that you can do that will guarantee quality and timely delivery.

Place your bid. After placing your bid, are you going to just do nothing but wait?

I tell you and take it, No. Don't just sit back and wait after you place your bid. 

If there’s a way for you to make a follow up to your bid then do it. What sort of follow up?

Here’s some that I also do and has become a common practice or should I call it a few of “my best practices”

• Follow up your bid with more personalized message to the project owner. Although they can check your profile, it is better if you can introduce yourself a bit. Where you are from, what projects have you done recently, etc. make sure it comes in a short text or it won’t be read at all – they are busy people

• Come up with a sample and send it along with the follow up to your bid. Convince the client that you can easily get into the project and if you are picked to do the project; that sample will be greatly improved matching or even exceeding what is expected.

I’d like to recommend the following when making your bid. Some sort of guidelines that I’ve learned and applied until now.

1. If the task is not detailed, make a placeholder bid and immediately ask the project owner to give more details about the task. What is it really that they need? A task may look simple or complex at first look but don’t conclude until you get all the details about it. a task that’s written in one sentence may be a lot more complex than a task that’s’ written in 2-3 paragraphs.

2. If you think that the task is detailed enough and you know what it takes to have it done, don’t make any placeholder bid. Tell the amount of money and amount of time you require for that task. The project owner weighs these inputs to choose who they want for their project. If you make a placeholder bid and you won that project then later on, ask for more money or more time from your customer – that will simply turn them off. “First impression lasts”, you have a very little chance of getting a project from them.

I think I’ve covered most part, so now let’s proceed to the next.

Next, make sure people can easily get hold of you

Did you like this topic? Let me know your feedback; post your comments.

Next, find a market place or a website where there are outsourced projects or tasks open for any talent to work on. These websites may require you to register, usually at no cost. For most that I’ve been into, these types of websites also give you a page for your profile. In the website you found, make your profile as complete as possible – that is, fill out all information being asked which are applicable to you.

Freelancing marketplace is a good starting point; find projects, win new clients and gain experience as you get exposed to different tasks.

Next, find tasks to work on

Did you like this topic? Let me know your feedback; post your comments.

Here’s the promised topic.

First, ask yourself: Where do I find tasks that I can do and get paid for? This maybe trivial for most but for beginners, that’s the best question to ask. Whether you have a sure answer to this or is still clueless, please read on, this entry is worth reading.

Your Profile

Anyone, freelancing online, has to find a place where they can initially setup a profile. There’s nothing on it but basic information; (1) who you are, (2) how can people get hold of you - your contact information and most important is, (3) your skillset or what service(s) is it that you are offering.

There’s the first step: find a site where you can setup a basic page with these basic information.

Next, find a freelancing marketplace

Did you like this post? Let me know your feedback; post your comments.

I'll talk about this topic in my next post. I hope to cover most part that are keys to get projects and win clients. We're not looking at a case where we got a project for a client and move to another project for yet another client; we're looking at getting a project for a client, and keep that client -- thus, winning a client.

That's how we, freelancers, achieve success in this field. We have to keep the clients, make them entrust their projects to us over and over again and win more.

While I prepare the content of this topic, please read through the rest of the topics that interest you and let me know what you feel, post your feedback through the comment form.

Have a great day!

One of the flash projects I did in the past was a recycling game. This is now being used in Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Center's website: http://www.ovwrc.com/games.htm

Feel like playing? Please visit the site. Have your headset or turn your speakers on for better game experience. Enjoy! :)

How do you protect yourself from fraud when transacting online with someone you barely know?

In the freelancing world, it is both a primary concern of the freelancer and the service buyer. The freelancer wants to be assured that he gets paid for services rendered. The service buyer on the other hand, needs assurance that the freelancer will deliver what he paid for.

In most cases, freelancers agree to start on the project after a down payment is made. It could be 50% down payment or any amount which both parties agreed on. Sometimes, due to fraud, some service buyers don’t cash out until they see good progress made on the project.

Worst case: a project does not get closed between a good freelancer and an honest service buyer due to disagreements; the freelancer wants a down payment before taking on the project, the service buyer does not want to cash out until he sees something going as he has been a victim of fake freelancers – those who say they are but are simply after the money and are nowhere to be found after the other party released the money.

Use of escrow services is the answer to this problem.

“An escrow service is a licensed and regulated company that collects, holds, and sends a buyer's money to a seller according to instructions agreed on by both the buyer and seller. Typically, once the buyer receives and approves the item from the seller within an agreed time frame, the escrow service then sends the payment to the seller.”

Source: http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/escrow.html

Using the service, both parties are assured of receiving what is due to them.

Getting back to GetAFreelancer.com, their website is coupled with an escrow service. This service is useful for a freelancer and service buyer who are to work with each other for the first time.

The service buyer deposits the amount to the escrow system and GAF holds the money until the freelancer sends the service buyer all required project deliverable. After the service buyer is satisfied with the deliverable he then releases the money from escrow. I am not aware of any case where the project was completed, delivered on time, but money was not released. There’s the very important element of doing business – “professionalism”.

Want a worry-free money transaction? Use escrow services. Here are a few escrow services providers:

www.Escrow.com
www.iescrow.com
www.professionalescrow.com

To answer this, let’s first look at how an ordinary office employee works. He comes to the office on a prescribe attire and has to comply to working hours; so he has to get up early to make it to work on time, be at his post and do his work until break. After an hour, go back to his work, do his job till the prescribed working hours is served and he’s set free oh wait, not if he has to rush something though.

Do you have this kind of environment if you’re freelancing? Absolutely and I say, a big ‘NO’.

Freelancing is a world where every talent enjoys every minute of it. Your work never gets boring as you will be working with different people from different world areas and needless to say – different projects; different scope, different challenges – it is always interesting. Moreover, you work on your own pace which gives you time to rest whenever you want to; time for family and friends and of course, the freedom to decide how you would make from such project.

Freelancing coupled with remote communication through the internet is such a wonderful world a talent can land into.

One has to take into account that the people to deal with are totally different; different country – different culture, different levels of tolerance to faults, different levels of demands and expectations. With that said, a freelance must be professional enough to give what is due to the client.

Clients, as they are remote and could not check the progress of work whenever they want to, should be kept updated – a timely progress report does great here.

Clients need to see that you are committed to the project and is putting extra effort to deliver what is expected, better if the client see that you are putting more than what is expected. This way, they will feel that you are concerned of the project and that you are not simply after the money. A heart for your work is the key here.

Above all – keep your promise and if something will really break what was promised, again, the client has the right to know in a timely manner.

It was a few months after I jumped into freelancing when I got a project that paid me $1000 bucks. That project was a super enthusiasm-booster.

The project was to develop a flash widget. It's a simple flash canvas, with color pallet at one side and a pen. The user can pick a color using a pen, specify line thickness and draw something over the canvas. It was so cool that and I'm sure has delighted my client that he felt it was just right to pay a grand for it.

I'll go find that widget and post it here. You too may find it really cool. You can grab whatever you've drawn and embed it anywhere -- on friendster, myspace, etc.

I developed that widget in SwishMax and tied it up with php and mysql.

I am into 2 web design & development projects; these are the Alumni of the Sisters of Mary School Inc (ASMSI) website and the simple reverse auction site for my long time Canadian client’s project – the myFMradio’s Unique Bid Program (http://www.myfmradio.ca/unique_bid/)

1. ASMSI website (http://www.asmsi.org.ph/) is composed of the main site where most information about the organization, the school, programs and activities and its members are maintained. It is also coupled with a forum using the open source software – phpBB. The forum software is tweaked to align it with the look and feel of the main site. Some cool features are the birthday celebrants page, photo gallery, alumni calendar and alumnus of the month

Work scope: database, cms development, user interface design.
Target completion date: August 2009

2. myFMradio Unique Bid program (http://www.myfmradio.ca/unique_bid/) is a reverse auction. It works this way: a listener of myFM radio has to register to be given a username and a password. Then log to the site and pay $5 CDN through Paypal. After payment, the user is taken to another page on where he is given a chance to place 5 bid amounts. Bids from all participants are stored to a database. During a specific radio program, the lowest and unique bid amount will be chosen as the winner for that round of bidding.

Work scope: database, cms development, user interface design, paypal payment integration

Target completion date: June 2009

Technologies: HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, PHP and MYSQL.

For web design and development needs, I am the total package. :)

Get what you need. Quality work completed as agreed and delivered with quality that exceeds expectations.

I'm a one-man team:

The Analyst. Why you need presence on the internet? You know it – widen your market and provide convenience to your customers. Should you need a blue print, I will write the specs.

The Designer. I am not excellent but I give it my best shot. My tools: Adobe Photoshop Flash (SwishMax). Proficient in XHTML/CSS (conformance to W3C standards).

The Developer. I started from nothing but I learned. I am proficient with PHP and MYSQL to provide you with dynamic pages; from simple to complex Content Management Systems (CMS).

The Tester. I won’t give you a system that isn’t tested. In fact, I provide unlimited time for fixing bugs that maybe found after the agreed testing timeframe. As long as it’s something that should be done based on the agreed specs then it’s my job to fix it at no cost. I will test every use case possible but I’m not perfect so those errors that are not caught during tests phase, I’ll get them when you find them.

Doc Writer. I am bad at writing, you really can see that from my posts in this blog but along with the projects that I do, I provide some texts that will help the target audience.

There’s the package. My skill set includes: VC++/MFC/VS2005/C#, VB6.0, VBA (for excel automations), XHTML, CSS, AJAX, JAVASCRIPT, PHP, MYSQL, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP, FLASH (SwishMax)

How much does the package cost? Let’s talk.

Looking to try freelancing? Read on...

Some facts to consider:

1. This website is FREE to join but optionally, if you want to show yourself as a gold member, you have to cash out $12.00 US per month. Gold members get more chance to bid on a project

2. It is where freelance talents and outsources (or the service buyers) from around the world meet. You'll be working with people from the UK, US, Canada, Philippines, India and many more

3. I am a member of this website since 01-31-2006. That translates to 3 years and 4 months come 31st of May

4. I've been a FREE member most of the time and when I have extra dollars in my account, I switch to gold status so I can bid more and bid on projects that are tagged as 'for gold members only'

5. And to date, getting projects from this website has paid me a total of $35, 901.10 US dollars or around 1.6+ million pesos (at Php45.00 to $1 US)

The tasks aren't all coding or software development related. Some tasks requires no programming knowledge.

I am posting it here so some of you who are actively looking for other source of income can stop searching and start working -- start earning.

Visit GetAFreelancer