Installing Notes on RedHat Linux / CentOS. July 2007. The title is self-explanatory. Written by my son, Charles IV. Click here to read.

Installing Domino 7 on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10. May 2007. The title is self-explanatory. Written by my son, Charles IV. Click here to read.

In-Place Upgrade of a Domino Server. March 2007. The best way to replace a Domino server is to bring up the new server alongside the old one, then run them together for a while. Sometimes, this is not possible however, and you need to quickly do a straight replace of old hardware with new. This tip shows you how. Click here to read.

Handling Multivalue Fields in Lotuscript. January 2007. Multi-value fields are one of the core features of Lotus Notes and Domino. Creating and using these fields on a form is simple within Domino Designer. But performing the same operation within Lotuscript is tricky, especially if the field is not text type. This tip shows you how to do so. Click here to read and here for my reply to the reader comments.

A Primer About Domino Domain Management (DDM). January 2007. The title says it all. Click here to read.

Finding Unused Databases. December 2006. One of the most common questions I receive about Notes/Domino administration is: "How can I find unused databases?" This article, and its download, shows how you can answer that question on your servers. Click here to read.

A Project-Tracking Application.  September 2006. While working at Lotus in 1990, I created a project tracking database for my own use, called Things To Do, and the application became a popular download from Lotus.com for many years. This article presents an improved version of that original design. Click here to read.

Finding Files and Directories with Lotuscript: the Dir$ Function. July 2006. Coding examples for how to find operating system files and directories from within Lotuscript, including the problem of directories that do not exist. Click here to read.

Review of Admin Bootcamp Training. July 2006. This article is a review of Domino Administrators Bootcamp from Wellesley Information Services, a self-paced training course, consisting of five CDs and a printed book. Click here to read.

Windows Client Licenses and Notes/Domino. May 2006. Explains the intricacies of Windows client access licenses, and how they interact with Lotus Notes and the Domino server.  Click here to read.

Hosting Multiple Domino Servers at One IP Address. April 2006. Detailed instructions for making more than one Domino server visible externally at a single IP address, by using TCP port mapping. Click here to read.

Data Import to Notes, Without Programming. April 2006. Step-by-step instructions of three different methods for importing data into Lotus Notes, none of which require any LotusScript or other programming experience. Click here to read.

Controlling Domino Administration with Extended ACL. February 2006. A description of the Extended ACL feature, which helps administrators to delegate admin tasks to less-privileged users. Click here to read.

Overview of Notes/Domino Security Mechanisms. December 2005. A primer about the various methods that Notes and Domino use to keep data hidden and verified. Click here to read.

Using Domino Certificate Authority and ID/Password Recovery Together. October-November 2005.  Combining these two built-in features brings big benefits to an organization. Because the CA is managing the certifier files, the Domino server can automatically send to users changes that occur in password recovery information. Part1 and Part2.

What is Notes Replication? August 2005. A primer about the concepts and operation of replication. Click here to read.

Notes to XML, and Back Again. July 2005. A detailed code sample about how to export Notes data to XML, and how to read XML data into Notes. Click here to read the article, and here for the downloadable sample.

Mail Merge from Lotus Notes. June 2005. Mail merge from Notes into Microsoft Word is one of the most common questions I have received over the years. This article and sample code shows how to do it in a very general way. The solution will export any set of Notes fields, from any set of documents, to an export file with any name. (The code also works unchanged for export from Notes to Excel.)

What to Do When Your Server Crashes. June 2005. This two-part article describes how to handle a Domino server crash, how to identify the cause of the crash, and steps to take to ensure that crashes/hangs are a rare event for your system. Part 1 and Part 2.

What is the Name and Address Book? May 2005. This beginner's tutorial describes the names.nsf file and its key role for Lotus Domino and Notes. Names.nsf is also known as the Name & Address Book, the Domino Directory, and the NAB. Click here to read.

A Fun Application, with Serious Code Inside. April 2005. This column explores my Domino web site MyBossIsWorseThanYours.com. The site has a fun intent -- who has the worst story of obnoxious boss behavior? -- but contains some valuable code. The anonymous online voting algorithm is described in detail. Click here to read.

Notes/Domino Security Book Review. March 2005. This article is a review of the book Notes/Domino Security, An Administrators Guide published by The View magazine. I found the book to be valuable, and worth its price, although some of the information should be updated. Click here to read.

Dynamic Subforms in Notes. March 2005. How to set up and control a configurable set of subforms within a Domino/Notes main form. Click here to read, and here for the sample code.

The NotesLog class in LotusScript and Java. March 2005. How to use this object class to create convenient error logs for Domino agents. Click here to read.

Corporate Welcome Pages in Notes. February 2005. How to set up and maintain centralized corporate (or department) welcome pages for Notes R6. Click here to read.

Mail Journaling Tricks. February 2005. How to set up and tune the "mail journal" feature of Domino, which traps a copy of every mail message. Click here to read.

HIPAA Computer Security and Domino/Notes, Revisited. January 2005. With the deadline fast approaching for the federal HIPAA healthcare law, I revisited some earlier articles I had written on this topic. Click here to read.

Notes Certificates: What Are They? January 2005. A primer about Notes certificates and how they work within Notes ID files. Click here to read.

Notes/Domino Licensing: Not So Mysterious. December 2004. A summary of all the options for buying the Notes/Domino products. Click here to read.

Notes IDs vs. Regular Computer Accounts: How Are They Different. November 2004. A primer about Notes ID files and how they compare to standard (Unix or mainframe) computer accounts. Click here to read.

The Domino Certificate Authority. November 2004. An introduction to this new feature within R6, explaining its pluses and minuses. Click here to read.

Domino Cluster Tuning. October 2004. A technical article about the tuning parameters available to adjust cluster failover behavior. Click here to read.

R6 Upgrade Checklist. September 2004. A detailed checklist, as a Notes application, to help you plan and perform an upgrade from R5 to R6. Includes the application as a download. Click here to read.

Lotuscript Error Handling. July and August 2004. A technical article (with coding samples) about how to trap and report errors within Lotuscript code. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.

Mail-In Databases as a Security Mechanism. June 2004. A discussion about the security advantages of using mail-in databases (instead of regular accounts) for generic mailboxes, such as Resumes, HelpDesk, etc. Click here to read.

Password Expiration for Notes IDs. May 2004. Instructions for enabling this useful feature of Domino, and reasons you might want to do so. Click here to read.

Efficient Use of Deny Lists. April 2004. A description of the "user deny list" feature of Domino and suggestions for using it effectively. Click here to read.

Analysis Tools for Domino Web Traffic. March 2004. A survey of the options for analyzing and reporting about Domino web (http) traffic, using the web log files. Click here to read.

Domino Clusters for Internet Traffic. February 2004. An introduction to the Domino Internet Cluster Manager (ICM) for allowing a Domino cluster to serve web clients. Click here to read.

Domino Clusters. January 2004. An introduction to Domino server clusters, listing their many advantages, with instructions for setting up a cluster. Click here to read.

Checking Public Keys for Notes IDs. December 2003. A summary of this important security feature, with information about how to enable it. Click here to read.

Initial Passwords: Discussion of Poll Results. November 2003. My comments about a reader poll concerning initial password assignments. Click here to read.

Server-Side Password Checking. October 2003. A summary of this important security feature, with information about how to enable it. Click here to read.

Certifier Storage: Discussion of Poll Results. September 2003. My comments about a reader poll concerning storage options for Notes certifiers. Click here to read.

Notes ID Storage. July - August 2003. Some of my thoughts about the many options for storing Notes ID files, and reader comments about my tips.

HIPAA Computer Security and Domino/Notes. May - June 2003. A set of articles about the US government HIPAA law (for healthcare organizations), how it impacts computer security planning, and how it interacts with Domino and Notes. Click here for HIPAA overview , HIPAA security, and HIPAA and Domino.

Database Move Tool. March - April 2003. Presentation and discussion about a tool I wrote for moving Domino/Notes databases from one server to another. This is actually a complex operations that involves many steps, and my tool automates all of them. Includes the tool as a download. Click here for initial presentation, and detailed discussion of the code.

Trust Models and Digital IDs. February 2003. A primer about the two trust models for digital identifiers: hierarchical and peer. Verisign is an example of the first, and Thawte of the second. Click here to read.

Automatic Installer for Domino Design Elements. January 2003. A description of a tool I wrote to programmatically install agents into a target database. The tool can also be extended to install any other design element. Includes the tool as a download. Click here to read.

Notes/Windows Account Synchronization. December 2002. A summary of this Notes feature, which can save many administration steps for new users. Click here to read.

Setting Initial Passwords for Domino/Notes Accounts. November 2002. Advice about how to set passwords for new user accounts, with a goal to ensure that users change their initial password quickly. Includes a downloadable tool for password creation. Click here to read.

Backups: A Part of Computer Security. September 2002. A discussion about the importance of good backup procedures, with suggestions for typical backup schedules and other hints. Click here to read.

Notes Field Encryption. August 2002. A primer about this Notes feature, with information about setting it up. Click here to read.

Enforce Consistent ACL? May 2002. A summary of this Domino feature with discussion about why it is often confusing to administrators. Click here to read.

Notes IDs and Password Recovery. April 2002. A primer about this important Notes feature, with detailed information about setting it up. Click here to read.

Enhancing Email Security with S/MIME.  Iris Today, December 2001. This article covers three topics: background information about cryptography principles, email secrecy, email authentication, and public key certificates; how these techniques are applied to create the S/MIME email protocol; and how S/MIME is used within Lotus Domino and Notes. Click here to read.

Tips for Top-Quality LotusScript. Lotus.com, July 2000. Contains a set of guidelines for improving the LotusScript portion of Domino applications. The suggestions greatly reduce the incidents of errors and debugging time. Click here to read.