Android is one of the most popular operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. In this blog post i will describe how to install Android SDK and set up your development environment for the first time.

 
Before installing android SDK you should make sure the following points:

1. Check your computer first if it meets the System Requirements.

2. You need to install the latest JDK, if you don’t have it installed already.

After ensuring the points mentioned above download the latest version of the SDK starter package from the SDK download page and install the SDK.

Next step is configuring android SDK in Eclipse:

Download eclipse from  Eclipse.Org. The “Eclipse Classic” version is recommended by Android. Otherwise,a Java or RCP version of Eclipse is preferred.

After installing eclipse you need to install plugin called ADT(Android Development Tools) on your eclipse. ADT(Android Development Tools) is a plugin for the Eclipse that is designed to give you a powerful, integrated environment to develop Android applications.

Now go ahead and apply the following steps to install ADT plugin on Eclipse(For Windows User)

1. Start Eclipse, then select Help > Install New Software
2. Click Add, in the top-right corner.
3. In the Add Repository dialog that appears, enter “ADT Plugin” for the Name and the following URL for the Location:

   https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

4. Click OKNote: If you have trouble acquiring the plugin, try using “http” in the Location URL, instead of “https” (https is preferred for security reasons).
5. In the Available Software dialog, select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click Next.
6. In the next window, you’ll see a list of the tools to be downloaded. Click Next.
7. Read and accept the license agreements, then click Finish.Note: If you get a security warning saying that the authenticity or validity of the software can’t be established, click OK.
8. When the installation completes, restart Eclipse.

If you face problem executing the above steps try out this alternate option

1. Download the Latest ADT Plugin zip file from http://developer.android.com/sdk/eclipse-adt.html (do not unpack it).
2. Start Eclipse, then select Help > Install New Software
3. Click Add, in the top-right corner.
4. In the Add Site dialog, click Archive.
5. Browse and select the downloaded zip file.
6. Enter a name for the local update site (e.g., “Android Plugin”) in the “Name” field.
7. Click OK.

After you’ve successfully downloaded the ADT as described above, the next step is to modify your ADT preferences in Eclipse to point to the Android SDK directory:

1. Select Window > Preferences  to open the Preferences panel (Mac OS X: Eclipse > Preferences).
2. Select Android from the left panel.

You may see a dialog asking whether you want to send usage statistics to Google. If so, make your choice and click Proceed. You cannot continue with this procedure until you click Proceed.

1. For the SDK Location in the main panel, click Browse… and locate your downloaded SDK directory(for example C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk , location of installed SDK directry).
2. Click Apply, then OK.

Now if you install everything ok then you will see something like below on your eclipse:

Red circle marked showing android SDK manager and Virtual devices means ADT plugin installed successfully on eclipse. Now click on the left icon (Anoid SDK manager) and you will see something like below:

On the right side(red marked) you will see the status of the packages that is installed /Not installed/ Update Available.  I have installed all kind of packages what was required for me. For a new installed sdk manager you will see all most every package’s status is “Not Installed”. So select which package you will need from right side check box on every package. And click Install Packages on right bottom side. then You will see something like below:

Now Select Accept All(red marked) and click  Install. After install restart Eclipse. Installing packages may take time.

Environment Variable  issue:

For windows please set environment variable for SDK manage by following steps:

1. Go to the Control Panel, and select the System Properties (Windows XP) or System (Windows Vista/7).
2. Select the Advanced settings;
   • Windows XP: Click on the Advanced tab.
   • Windows Vista/7: Click on Advanced system settings on the left.
3. Click on Environment Variables.
4. Under the “System variable” section, you will look for “Path”. Double-click on it.
5. In the “Variable values” section, add at the very end the location of the tools & package-tools folder, with a semicolon separating these two paths from the rest, e.g. %SystemRoot%;C:\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools;C:\android-sdk-windows\tools.

That’s all for now about installing Android SDK with Eclipse. On next post i will describe running first virtual device and first Android application from Eclipse.

Have a good weekend !

Hello Guys today i will describe the steps to add mailchimp email sign up form on your website  ( i am assuming we all are aware of mailchimp’s skyrocket popularity in email marketing and email list manager )

First off you would require to log into your Mail Chimp account .You will see the dashboard and then click into Design A Form button. See the screenshot below

Then below Lists mouse over the menu For Your Website and then click into the submenu Signup Form Embed Code, here is the screenshot as a reference

Then grab the embed code, copy & paste into your editor and customize it based on your needs

Use the customized code into your website and you will see a form like the one attached below. Mailchimp posted a good number of tutorials on this topic as well, check it out now and contact us for advanced customization