Michael Boateng dot Com

Free Text Messaging On Textforfree.net

My quest for more free sms messaging websites has become interesting as I just found another interesting website Textforfree.net that allows users to send free text messages on their website.

What makes this Textforfree.net more unique is that, unlike the other SMS messaging websites; you don’t have to register to be able to send a message. You only logon to their website, enter the recipients phone number, type your text message and you are done.

They also have an option that allows you to choose the receiver’s cellular phone service provider if you know it. You can also type a subject for your sms message.

They also have a widget on their website which you can use to Add Text Messaging to your Myspace Profile, Blog or Website.

Here at Text For Free, we know that you are tired of paying text messaging fees. That’s why you can now send free text messages to almost any USA cell phone provider. Its 100% free texting, with no catch!

You can even prank your friends because we offer anonymous text messaging, which means that your friends will never know who sent them the text message!

Text For Free offers spam free text messaging, meaning we will never send you unwanted text messages or share your cell number with anybody. What are you waiting for? Stop spending and start texting for free.

Visit Textfornet.net and start having fun>>

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Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 6

The last part of the tutorial is using the callback url feature of the clickatell api. This feature allows the Clickatell gateway to forward message status details of the sms message you sent back to your server, through the url you provided on your control panel. This is quite tricky but its simple.

All you have to do is to log on to clickatell’s control panel, and choose the api_id you want to set your callback url.
The insert the url, eg. www.mboateng.com/callback.php.

Create a file “callback.php” on your server and paste the code below.

What will happen is that, any time you send an SMS Message to Clickatell’s gateway, it will forward the response in a url form to which ever url you will provide as your callback url.

callback.php

<?php
//**************************************************
//
// Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 6
// 23rd September 2007
// www.mboateng.com
// Michael Ofori Amanfo Boateng
//
//**************************************************

require_once(’settings.php’);

// Declare variables for url string
$url = $_SERVER[’QUERY_STRING’];

$api_id = $_GET[’api_id’];
$from = $_GET[’from’];
$to = $_GET[’to’];
$text = $_GET[’text’];
$dated = $_GET[’timestamp’];
$apiMsgId = trim($_GET[’apiMsgId’]);
$status = $_GET[’status’];
$charge = $_GET[’charge’];

mysql_select_db($database_conn, $conn);
$sql = “update tbl_outbox set url=’$url’, status = ‘$status’, charge = ‘$charge’ where apimsgid = ‘$apiMsgId’”;
$result = mysql_query($sql, $conn) or die(mysql_error());

mysql_free_result($rsOutbox);
?>

Download Tutorial >>

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

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Zingku: Google’s Next Acquisition

For all you Google followers who felt Google’s age of acquisition was over, you should be bracing yourself for more news. From Youtube to DoubleClick to Dogbeball , Google’s next stop is a Mobile Social Network - Zingku.

So that means mobile and sms fanatics who have been enjoying free sms on google’s sms platform should be looking at getting more from google.

About Zingku

Our service is designed from the mobile phone, outward, allowing you to create and exchange things of interest ranging from invitations to “mobile flyers” with friends in a trusted manner. On the mobile phone, Zingku uses standard text messaging and picture messaging features that come with every phone. On the web, our service uses your standard web browser and instant messenger. There is nothing to install.

With Zingku, things you wish to promote or share, can easily be created and fetched via mobile, instant messenger, and web browser. Our service integrates your mobile phone with a personalized web site so that you can easily move (zing) things back and forth between the web and and your mobile as well as powerfully connect with friends and optionally their friends.

Note: The service is limited to the US and, until Zingku migrates to Google’s servers, you can’t create a new account.

Read More about Zingku>>

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Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 5

This part of the tutorial is probably the most important part of the whole tutorial in sending an sms message using the clickatell api. You will create a page “send.php”, then you copy and paste the php code in this page. The send.php does the following;

1. Authenticates with the Clickatell Gateway
2. Sends the SMS Message
3. Retrieve the apimsgid of the corresponding Text Message
4. Save the SMS Message and its Apimsgid into the Mysql Database

I have put comments at every step of the code so you can identify what is happening at every stage of the code.

send.php

<?php
//*******************************************
//
// Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 5
// 23rd September 2007
// www.mboateng.com
// Michael Ofori Amanfo Boateng
//
//**********************************************

require_once(’settings.php’);

//retrieve form details
$to = $_POST[’to’];
$from = $_POST[’from’];
$message = $_POST[’message’];

function GetSQLValueString($theValue)
{
$theValue = (!get_magic_quotes_gpc()) ? addslashes($theValue) : $theValue;

return $theValue;
}

//get magic quotes
$message = GetSQLValueString($message);

//url encode message
$message = urlencode($message);

//authenticating user
$url = “$baseurl/http/auth?user=$user&password=$password&”;
$url = $url.”api_id=$api_id&from=$from&concat=2″;
$ret = file($url);

// split our response. return string is on first line of the data returned
$sess = split(”:”,$ret[0]);
if ($sess[0] == “OK”) {
$sess_id = trim($sess[1]); // remove any whitespace

// url for sending message
$url = “$baseurl/http/sendmsg?session_id=$sess_id&”;
$url = $url.”to=$to&text=$message&from=$from&”;
$url = $url.”callback=3&deliv_ack=1&concat=2″;

// send message
$ret = file($url);
$send = split(”:”,$ret[0]);
if ($send[0] == “ID”){

// apimsgid
$apimsgid = trim($send[1]);

// insert message with its corresponding apimsgid into the table
mysql_select_db($database_conn, $conn);
$sql = “insert into tbl_outbox (sender,recipient,message,dated,apimsgid ) values (’$from’,'$to’,'$message’,now(),’$apimsgid’) “;
$result = mysql_query($sql, $conn) or die(mysql_error());

// redirect to sent.php when message is correctly sent
echo “<script language=\”JavaScript\”>”;
echo ” location.href = ’sent.php’; “;
echo “</script>”;
}
else{

// this portion is for message sending failure
echo “<script language=\”JavaScript\”>”;
echo ” location.href = ‘failed.php’; “;
echo “</script>”;

}
} else {

// this portion checks for correct authentication
echo “<script language=\”JavaScript\”>”;
echo ” location.href = ‘badlogin.php’; “;
echo “</script>”;
}

?>

Download Tutorial >>

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

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Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 4

The next thing to do is create a file “settings.php” which will store general settings for sending sms messages using clickatell’s api.

settings.php

<?php

$baseurl =”http://api.clickatell.com”;

//User details @ Clickatell
$user = “xxxx”;
$password = “xxxx”;
$api_id = “xxxxx”;

//mysql details
$hostname_conn = “xxxx”;
$database_conn = “xxxx”;
$username_conn = “xxxx”;
$password_conn = “xxxx”;
$conn = mysql_pconnect($hostname_conn, $username_conn, $password_conn) or trigger_error(mysql_error(),E_USER_ERROR);

?>

User Details @ Clickatell
//$user = This is the username assigned to you by clickatell
//$password = This your clickatell api password;
//$api_id = The api id can be generated on your clickatell control panel

User Details @ Clickatell
// $hostname_conn = This is your database hostname
//database_conn = Change this to the name of your database
// $username_conn = This is the user logon to ur database
// $password_conn = Change this to your database password

Download Tutorial >>

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

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Wordpress 2.3 Goes Online For Download

If you have being monitoring the feeds on your WordPress dashboard, then I hope by now you should have noticed that Wordpress 2.3 [stable version] is ready for download.

I have just updated to the newer version and I must say so far so good. I am yet to explore into detail the new features.

Wordpress 2.3 will update your database tables, that means you should have admin features for your mysql database user and then later bring it back to the normal user status [read and write].

The plugin page has this new feature that automatically shows if any of your installed plugins have newer versions. I think this is very good.

Bloggers can now have easy access to Tagging and tag clouds.

1. Native tagging support allows you to use tags in addition to categories on your post, if you so choose. We’ve included importers for the Ultimate Tag Warrior, Jerome’s Keywords, Simple Tags, and Bunny’s Technorati Tag plugins so if you’ve already been using a tagging plugin you can bring your data into the new system. The tagging system is also wicked-fast, so your host won’t mind.

2. Our new update notification lets you know when there is a new release of WordPress or when any of the plugins you use has an update available. It works by sending your blog URL, plugins, and version information to our new api.wordpress.org service which then compares it to the plugin database and tells you what the latest and greatest is you can use.

3. We’ve cleaned up URLs a bunch in a feature we call canonical URLs which does things like enforce your no-www preference, redirect posts with changed slugs so a link never goes bad, redirect URLs that get cut off in emails on similar to the correct post, and much more. This helps your users, and it also helps your search engine optimization, as search engines like for each page to be available in one canonical location.

4. Our new pending review feature will be great for multi-author blogs. It allows authors to submit a post for review by an editor or administrator, where before they would just have to save a draft and hope someone noticed it.

5. There is new advanced WYSIWYG functionality (we call it the kitchen sink button) that allows you to access some features of TinyMCE that were previously hidden.

Wordpress >>

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Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 3

The next part of the tutorial is the Interface to type your SMS Message. I have designed a simple interface that you can use. You can also design one yourself; and in designing one, just make sure you have the the following three fields

1. “to”
2. “from”
3. “Message”

“to”
This is the field where you type in the RECIPIENT NUMBER. Make sure it is in an international format. eg. +233244232323 or +16364545555

“from”
This is the field where you type in the either YOUR NUMBER or YOUR NAME. If you type your name, make sure you dont leave spaces.

“message”
This is the field where you type your MESSAGE. Clickatell sets the default message length to 160 characters, but you can increase it to any number you want on your Clickatell Control Panel.

Compose.php

<?php
//**************************************
//
// Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 3
// 23rd September 2007
// www.mboateng.com
// Michael Ofori Amanfo Boateng
//
//***************************************

?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”>
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml”>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″ />
<title>Sending SMS Message with Clickatell API</title>
</head>
<body>
<table width=”100%” border=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″>
<tr>
<td><form action=”send.php” method=”post” enctype=”application/x-www-form-urlencoded” name=”smssender” id=”smssender”>
<table width=”100%” border=”0″ cellpadding=”3″ cellspacing=”3″ class=”text”>
<tr>
<td>From :
<input name=”from” type=”text” id=”from” size=”20″ maxlength=”14″ />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Recipient</strong>:
<input name=”to” type=”text” id=”to” size=”20″ />
(Number in international format eg. +233244666666)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><textarea name=”message” cols=”40″ rows=”7″ id=”message” ></textarea></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><input name=”SendMessage” type=”submit” class=”form_button” value=”Send Message” id=”SendMessage” /></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form></td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

Download Tutorial >>

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

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Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 2

The second part of the tutorial is actually optional for those who know their way around php coding. These pages will help you diagnose errors with ease.

Create these three pages

1. failed.php
2. sent.php
3. badlogin.php

On sending the sms message three things are likely to happen;

1. Login Failure, i.e. failure to authenticate with the Clickatell Gateway
2. SMS Sending Failure , i.e. failure to send the sms
3. Successful message sending

And in any of the listed conditions above, you will be redirected to a corresponding php page to know where the fault it came from.

failed.php

<?php
//********************************************
//
// Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 3
// 23rd September 2007
// www.mboateng.com
// Michael Ofori Amanfo Boateng
//
//***********************************************
?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”>
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml”>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″ />
<title>Untitled Document</title>
</head>
<body>
<table width=”100%” border=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″>
<tr>
<td align=”center”><h1>Message Sending Failed</h1></td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

Sent.php

<?php
//******************************************
//
// Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 3
// 23rd September 2007
// www.mboateng.com
// Michael Ofori Amanfo Boateng
//
//********************************************
?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”>
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml”>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″ />
<title>Untitled Document</title>
</head>
<body>
<table width=”100%” border=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″>
<tr>
<td align=”center”><h1>Message Sent</h1></td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

badlogin.php

<?php
//*******************************************
//
// Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 3
// 23rd September 2007
// www.mboateng.com
// Michael Ofori Amanfo Boateng
//
//********************************************
?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”>
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml”>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″ />
<title>Untitled Document</title>
</head>
<body>
<table width=”100%” border=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″>
<tr>
<td align=”center”><h1>Login Failed</h1></td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

Download Tutorial >>

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

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Send SMS Message Using Clickatell API - Part 1

I have been receiving numerous emails on how to send SMS Messages using Clickatell’s HTTP API with a PHP script. I have therefore designed this tutorial to send a simple sms message using clickatell’s HTTP API.

This tutorial basically solves three things.

1. Send a simple sms message on clickatell’s sms gateway using HTTP
2. Retrieve the apimsgid of a message and stores it in a mysql table
3. Use the callback url to check the status of an sms message

Before you start, make sure the following have been done.

1. Register at Clickatell for your account.

2. Register for an HTTP API account at your clickatell control panel. Once you create and HTTP API account, you will be assigned the following. (username, password and api_id) wich you will insert in your script.

3. Whilst on the HTTP API control panel, assign the callback url. Eg. www.mysite.com/callback.php

Once all these are settle we will create our mysql table

Mysql Tables

CREATE TABLE `tbl_outbox` (
`messageid` bigint(10) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`sender` varchar(20) default NULL,
`recipient` varchar(20) default NULL,
`status` varchar(50) default ‘008′,
`apimsgid` varchar(50) default NULL,
`charge` decimal(5,2) default ‘0.00′,
`timesent` varchar(50) default NULL,
`message` tinytext,
`dated` varchar(30) default NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`messageid`)
) TYPE=MyISAM;

Note:
//Sender: Stores the phone number of the sender
//Receipient : stores the number of the recipient
//Status: I use this to store the the status of the text message
//Apimsgid: this stores the apimsgid of the text message
//Timesent: this is the timestamp on of the message when its sent
//Message: stores the message you are sending
//Dated: its something I just use to show when I sent it from the site

Download Tutorial >>

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

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