Web Design Reference

Text Only Browsers, SEO and Accessibility

2010-03-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

A text only browser reflects both how a search engine and assistive technologies, such as a screen reader, will display your site to users. This information needs to make sense.

Lynx viewer
a text only browser to check your site

w3c accessibility guidelines
WCAG10 guidelines for a more accessible site

Paragraph Spacing and Web Typography

2010-03-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

Paragraph Spacing in Desktop Publishing
Fluid Web Typography: Scale and Rhythm
W3C Paragraphs, Lines and Phrases

DNN & Lightbox

2009-03-02T21:31:00.001-08:00

http://dnnuke.blogspot.com/2007/12/integrating-lightbox-js-2033-image.html

Migrating Word Press to new domain and server

2008-12-19T06:55:00.001-08:00

http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/10/01/how-to-move-wordpress-blog-to-new-domain-or-location/

SEO tools

2008-12-17T06:03:00.003-08:00

http://www.seomoz.org/tools

SEO keyword analysis

2008-12-17T06:03:00.001-08:00

related keywords

http://www.gorank.com/seotools/ontology/index.php

http://labs.google.com/sets

keywords tools

keyword suggestion

http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/

comparison tools

google trends

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#

SEO Campaign Starters

2008-12-17T06:01:00.001-08:00

check ranking

http://tools.seobook.com/rank-checkers/

analysis

http://tools.seobook.com/link-tools/

http://tools.seobook.com/analytics-tools/

competitive research

http://tools.seobook.com/competitive-research-tools/

Sites for Inspiration DEC 2008

2008-12-16T07:25:00.001-08:00

http://www.8020studio.com/

http://soulellis.com/

Using Forums for SEO

2008-12-10T09:39:00.001-08:00

SEO Forums

http://www.seobook.com/archives/000161.shtml

Link Building

2008-12-10T09:38:00.001-08:00

http://www.seobook.com/archives/002422.shtml

Screen Resolution Information and Testing

2008-12-04T17:05:00.001-08:00

http://www.bluejar.com/improve-your-websites-screen-resolution-compatibility/

http://www.wilsonweb.com/design/follansbee-screen-resolution.htm

http://browsershots.org/

SEO Directories (General)

2008-12-01T17:42:00.001-08:00

http://www.hotfrog.com/SearchBusinessListing.aspx

seobook has a list by pagerank at http://www.seobook.com/archives/001583.shtml

Dental Insurance for NYC Freelancers

2008-11-25T20:27:00.001-08:00

There is a list of providers at http://www.dentalplans.com/statesummarynewyork.asp

You would need to create your own comparison chart/spreadsheet based on your needs and fill in as you view each plan individually. A person may know they need to replace something, gets cavities frequently, never get cavities, want to get braces, or have molars that need to be removed. The deductibles and annual fees don't vary much between providers but the pricing of these things do and they are broken down for each plan.

Health Insurance for NYC Freelancers

2008-11-25T20:11:00.001-08:00

Judging by the discussion at Freelancer's Union, health insurance is hard to find at both an affordable price and with good benefits. Reading the forum will provide good advice from other freelancer's who have already used FU's services and have done some comparison shopping with other providers.

Freelancers appear to be having problems with the services to be offered by FU in 2009. A discussion from dissatisfied users goes into further details at http://upsetfu.blogspot.com/. Some users in the forum have found that in their particular situation, the cost and benefits works well. Reading specifics of other people's experiences will help you determine what will work for you. Freelancers are discussing other providers, such as...

Healthy New York (HNY)
FIC
Media Bistro

Qualifications for these plans can cause difficulty getting accepted. For example, HNY requires that...

income must be less than $2100/ mo
must have "lost" insurance (COBRA discontinued) or been without insurance for at least 12 months

Overall forum users are recommending...

to not go without insurance (get something while you are still deciding)
making sure that you qualify before applying (a non-refundable fee is charged to apply)
do not purchase the dental insurance through Freelancer's Union because the cost outweighs the benefits

Freelance Switch does a good job at explaining your health insurance options as a freelancer. Some are what has been mentioned above as well as a few additional ones.

Creating a Measurable SEO Campaign

2008-11-20T17:29:00.001-08:00

How Do You Measure Your SEO Campaign Success?

Blueprint Of A Successful SEO Campaign

Using XHTML/CSS for an Effective SEO Campaign

How to Price an SEO Campaign

The SEO Campaign Process

SEO Companies

That Agency

Overall Market and Economy

2008-11-19T09:16:00.001-08:00

Top 50 Fastest-Growing Industries

http://www.careerinfonet.org/indview1.asp?id=&nodeid=45

Multilingual SEO

2008-11-18T15:52:00.001-08:00

http://www.translate.com/Language_Tech_Center/Articles/Best_Practices_Marketing_Your_Brand_to_a_Global_Audiance.aspx

Gathering Stats about A Company

2008-11-15T17:55:00.001-08:00

Sites you can use to gather stats about your company...

Alexa.com

How to create a Design Playlist

2008-11-14T20:42:00.001-08:00

Hear about a new site that features good design - a good one with unique content that really stands out?

I did...

Then I googled it.

When you google "grain edit", you get a list of sites to check out:

The actual site: Grain Edit - someone who collects design
Unplggd - home tech design
a new flickr profile to explore: http://www.flickr.com/people/grainspace/
Design Sponge - design blog
Josh Spear - trend spotting
ISO50 - designer portfolio and personal blog
BestWebGallery - web design gallery site
workalicious - a work space blog

A good mix of various design sites. They all will bring you to lots of other sites if you have several hours to kill. Some were new to me, some were sites that I visit regularly, and all were sites that if I never heard of, I would be glad I did. I think I may try this again although I guess it would be the same as going through someone's bookmarks-another thing I rarely do.

Googling "link: www.grainedit.com" just brought up another site...

Found which led to....

Sam Pott's Brooklyn Superhero Supply

Writing A Review

2008-11-14T19:55:00.001-08:00

here is an example of a paid review written for reviewme.com at http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/01/06/review-wireflycom-and-free-mobile-cell-phones/

Themes

2008-11-12T08:55:00.001-08:00

Theme Forest

SEO Mind Map

2008-11-05T16:36:00.001-08:00

http://tools.seobook.com/imme/

SEO Proposal for Monthly Maintenance

2008-11-05T16:29:00.001-08:00

See Ongoing SEO/SEM Management

Project Management Software

2008-10-29T16:02:00.001-07:00

List of project management software

Shopping Resources

2008-10-28T10:04:00.001-07:00

Bargain shopping for office supplies?

Here are sites that can help get the best deal:

http://www.gotodaily.com/

Become an Online Power-Shopper

Business Lunches?

Buy $25 Restaurant Gift Cards for $2

Budgeting?

Five Best Personal Finance Tools

Wasabe

Buxfer

Mint

Quicken online

SEO designers/artists

2008-10-27T16:12:00.001-07:00

Create profiles to feature your work on sites listed on 17 Websites to Boost Your Designer Profile

Client and Project Management

2008-10-27T16:06:00.001-07:00

Client Management

Managing Clients Expectations had these points...

"It’s up to you to put the phone to voice mail when your workday is at an end."

How to avoid promising too much, "...consider that every hour you give away is money your business is losing."

"let the client know that you’re giving extra time and why. You need to make it clear that this is a one-time occurrence and not something to be repeated, and let the client know that even when they get only what they contracted for, they are getting valuable service."

Some advice for specific types of clients can be found at 12 Breeds of Clients and How to Work With Them

Pricing

To determine a rate, use the Freelance Switch Calculator which helps calculate costs / # of hours you can bill a year.

In the beginning, give a basic timeline and estimate to make sure that the client can afford and time permits the project.

For fixed pricing, you will need more paperwork than with hourly pricing. Start with a baseline based on time estimated. You can use milestones (defined by specific set of features) to break up projects. Estimate for additional time and only charge for time worked.

Hourly rate is preferred and should definitely be expected when working at site.

Can read more about Hourly vs Fixed Pricing at freelanceswitch.com

Requirements Document

Create a design brief that "...clearly outlines what the client wants..." and "If at any time the client changes a requirement or asks for extra work which is not in the requirements document, then the freelancer has every right to charge a secondary fee for any extra work required." - A recommendation from The Price is Right

scope creep - when the client intentionally or unintentionally trys to change the original requirements of a project

Costs

sick days

holidays

hours developing and managing a business

insurance

unpaid invoices

taxes

rent

travel

computers

furniture

equipment

telephone

fax

internet

software

insurance

legal fees

accountant

office supplies

advertising

association fees

Estimating a Timeframe

Break project into small pieces. If you are having difficulty determining time, then break down smaller. Cushion each piece with extra time to create an overall cushion.

Both you and the client should agree on a clearly defined outcome in order to avoid wasting your time and breaking deadline.

Communicate each step. That way you will be informed if you are headed in the wrong direction right away.

Design Brief

The following is from Shawn Crowley's Ultimate Design Brief

Title:

Format: (pdf, eps, psd)

Budget:

Schedule:

What are you providing the designer with: (high resolution photographs, diagrams, etc.)

Format: (printer formatting specs)

Message objectives: (Hierarchy of copy messages, treatment of headlines, body copy, visuals, product samples, call-to-action)

Where to look for inspiration: Give brief examples of style / overall look you want the item to achieve. What aspects of the product or branding can be used as a starting point for the design? What feelings or metaphors reflect the spirit of your product or company?

What not to do: Also give examples of what the design shouldn’t include and what styles to avoid.

Project Management

Establish a clearly defined outcome.

Set a deadline that includes time of day.

Create a timeline.

"detailed timelines have a tendency to fall apart after a week or two, so it should be clear that it’s a flexible timeline."

Step By Step

Only set a deadline for the next step (one that can be completed in a day or less). When you are done, send to the client to demonstrate accountability. Then set a new deadline for next step. Communicating each step "...can actually make the project take longer, but in the end you’ll have a better product and the client will be happier. This continual feedback loop is actually integral to a successful project, and building it into the process makes sense."

Overall Time Management

“...'too busy' doing client work - an excuse that guarantees both feet stay on the treadmill. But even one or two hours a week spent honing your highest-value skills can take you up a notch, allowing you to charge more (and work less)." - Freelance Switch discusses The Point of Being a Freelancer

Dot Net Nuke (DNN) Copyright Comment

2008-10-14T09:07:00.001-07:00

DNN will write a copyright comment in the head of all your documents. If you like to remove these comments, here's what you do:

log in as host, go to host->host settings and uncheck the 'show copyright credits', this will remove those and other comments, including the version number in the title bar.

Usability - Text Column Width

2008-10-09T15:22:00.001-07:00

http://www.howardesign.com/exp/ixd/index.php?post=10919

Web Design Guides

2008-10-09T15:17:00.001-07:00

http://www.peachpit.com/guides/guide.aspx?g=webdesign

Trend Spotting and Brand Intuitive

2008-10-03T21:23:00.001-07:00

http://joshspear.com/ & http://undercurrent.com/

Social Networks

2008-10-03T21:21:00.001-07:00

For Designers

http://www.behance.net/

OScommerce Product Attributes Sort Order

2008-10-01T09:23:00.001-07:00

Contribution: Product Attributes Sort Order v1.0

Flickr Finds

2008-10-01T01:13:00.001-07:00

Vintage Coffee Maker Ads

Ephemera Pool

Peskimo Portfolio - especially "The Bend Puts Bubbles in Your Brain"

Straws!

Icons, Bullets, Buttons, & other free stuff

2008-09-30T14:02:00.001-07:00

Icons

35 Really Incredible Free Icon Sets

Bullets

Bullet Madness

OScommerce and Gateways - Authorize.net & Paypal

2008-09-30T13:46:00.001-07:00

Working with Authorize.net AIM

http://forums.oscommerce.com/index.php?showtopic=314518

Authorize.net AIM module (motorcity)

Working with Authorize.net SIM

Authorize.net Simple Integration Method Support

Working with Paypal

http://forums.oscommerce.com/lofiversion/index.php?t128525.html

Job Search Web Design/ Development

2008-09-30T06:55:00.001-07:00

Cyber Coders

SEO Directories (Store)

2008-09-29T18:23:00.001-07:00

http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/shopsb/index.php?SS=6745241

SEO Directories (Travel)

2008-09-29T18:20:00.001-07:00

http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/trvlsb/

OScommerce Set Up

2008-09-29T09:57:00.001-07:00

Domain Name

Make sure the domain name resolves. Don't try to set up with numeric IP.

You will need to update the following files to update the domain information if you started with a different domain or used the IP address:

catalog/includes/configure.php
catalog/admin/includes/configure.php

OScommerce Set Up

Installation Guides

How to install an OScommerce Template

Setting Up OScommerce 2.2

Free Templates

13 Free OScommerce Templates

Open Source OScommerce Templates

SSL set up in OScommerce

2008-09-28T08:11:00.001-07:00

Help in setup SSL

OScommerce and SSL

OSC answers SSL set up

The SSL In OsCommerce Guide For The Innocent, SSL basics and how to apply to osC

SSL Set Up

2008-09-28T07:54:00.001-07:00

Request CSR from your hosting company

You will need this to manage your SSL. Your hosting company may charge you to generate one and could take a while in responding to your request or you may be able to generate one for free from your control panel with the click of a button.

Update Domain Records

Update your domain name information to match the information you submitted for your CSR.

Free SSL for Testing & Development

http://www.rapidssl.com/ssl-certificate-products/free-ssl/freessl.htm

http://www.instantssl.com/ssl-certificate-products/free-ssl-certificate.html

Buy SSL

from network solutions, thwate, verisign, or geotrust

Login and Manage SSL

Send verification information requested by SSL provider

Network Solutions

Wait for them to send you an email with the information that you need to provide them with.

Contact their verification department directly at 877-228-1023 if you have any questions.

OK the SSL & Receive The SSL Files

Send SSL files to hosting company to install

The SSL cert will be installed in a directory on your server along with the chaining certificate if applicable.

They will also install the key they generated.

They will then add certain statements known as directives to your Apache configure files. These tell Apache that the site has SSL encryption certification.

set up guides

networksolutions ssl set up guide

Outsourcing SEO

2008-09-27T10:13:00.001-07:00

Should you outsource any part of your SEO?

Providers

Link Building

http://www.cheapdirectorysubmission.com/

Local SEO

2008-09-27T10:04:00.001-07:00

Getting to Know Local SEO

Possible Interview Questions

2008-05-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

1. Whats is the difference between cellspacing and cellpadding?
2. If a page has to be loaded over all frames in window, what should be the value of TARGET attributes?
3. Which one of the following settlement is correct?
1. A table cannot contain another table
2. A Form can ve nested inside another form
3. Which element are table cells
4. List out tags that are support exclusively by IE and Netscape.
5. What tags are used to embed one html page inside another html page (without using frames)?
6. In dreamweaver what is used to apply same layout to my pages.
7. Which HTML tag is used to define an internal style sheet?
8. How do you define an inline style?

OR

Give me a description of your general SEO(search engine optimization) experience.
Do you currently do SEO on your own sites and give me some examples. Do you operate any blogs?
Do you currently do any freelance work and do you plan on continuing it?
Where do you think the SEO industry is headed?
What industry sites, blogs, and forums do you regularly read?
Have you attended any search related conferences?
What SEO tools do you regularly use?
What SEO areas are you weak and strong in, and give examples of both.
What areas do you think are currently the most important in organically ranking a site?
Do you have experience in copywriting and can you provide some writing samples?

best way to reset

2008-03-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

Take It Easy ?
While this:
* { margin: 0; padding: 0; }
may be the easiest way. Is it better to be more specific and not include everything?

Less Is More (Work)?
I create a css file to be imported every time called reset.css so it's never been an issue of more "work". I was under the understanding that the * does not have the benefits of being more specific and actually creates more work for the browser.

I will look into this and post my findings here.

Web Design Tools

2008-03-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

web design

general lists: Web Developer's Handbook
Top 71 CSS Menus Navigation Tabs
CSS, Photoshop, Design Tutorial Links
Best Sites of the Moment
53 CSS-Techniques You Couldn’t Live Without
50 Beautiful CSS-Based Web-Designs in 2006

Inspiration King
Portfolio Base
csstux
Css Reboot
CSS Elite
Logo Pond

other

International Information

2008-03-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

International Dialing Codes
ISO - Maintenance Agency for ISO 3166 country codes - English country names and code elements

Country Abbreviations

DotNetNuke (DNN): An ASP.NET CMS

2008-03-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

Here are the bookmarks that have been helping me work with DNN over the past 3 months:

Let's Get It Started
How to install DotNetNuke 4.3.x
DotNetNuke Quick Start Guide Flash Videos | DNN Creative Magazine
Configuring DotNetNuke® before installation

DOT net nuke hosting - Install It! - DotNetNuke
http--www.dnncreative.com-Forum-tabid-88-forumid-13-postid-2127-view-topic-Default.aspx

DNN Improvements
How to install the FCKEditor in DotNetNuke. Text Editor.

DNN Modules (aka Plug-Ins, Widgets, Features, Add Ons)

Snowcovered.com : FavIcon by Terence Golla: Give your portals a professional customized appearance by adding a unique favicon file used by Internet Explorer and other browsers to display an icon next to your site URL in the address bar and faviortes folder. FavIcon also includes friendly security URLs like /Login, /Admin and /Logout.
Snowcovered.com : Free Tell A Friend/Social Web Site Module by Eric Shafer: This module allows you to cusomtize a mailto tag and various links and automatically inserts the current page URL.
Snowcovered.com : Testify! 1.0 by DNNDev.com: Easily display testimonials, reviews, comments, and quotes on your site in an attractive, professional, and highly flexible manner.
Snowcovered.com : Inventua HrefExchanger for DotNetNuke by Inventua: The Inventua HrefExchanger for DotNetNuke automatically swaps outgoing DotNetNuke URLs for friendly URLs, and incoming URLs for DotNetNuke URLs.
Snowcovered.com : Free 282 W3C Compliant CSS Containers by DotNetNukeContiners: 282 Containers in 141 Colors with Preview Images, W3C Compliant, CSS Only, No Images, SEO Search Engine Friendly
Snowcovered.com : Only $10 282 W3C Compliant CSS Containers by DotNetNukeContiners: 282 Containers in 141 Colors with Preview Images, W3C Compliant, CSS Only, No Images, Search Engine friendly
Snowcovered.com : MAS.ActionRedirect by Marcelo Sampaio: Tool to manage URL's to be redirected
Snowcovered.com : DNNMasters DNN SEO Pack (PA) by DNNMasters: If you want better Search Engine ranking you need KeepAlive, URL Rewrite, Custom 404 error, Custom Redirect, Friendly URL's. DNNMasters SEO Pack delivers all of it and more!
Ventrian Systems > Resources > Projects > Friendly Urls: DotNetNuke Modules, Skins, Skin Objects

Post to multiple sites

Multiple Website Management Test Home

Shadow: Inventua Web Site
Sharing Module data across multiple portals? > Nina's DotNetNuke Forums > eXtra Dimensions: Hey guys, I am currently evaluating DNN for a client... One requirement is as follows: I have multiple (parent) Portals. I develop a module that lists some content (for e.g. a list of restaurants and associated reviews of each restaurant).Now, I nee
Modules & Tools: DotNetNuke Modules and other DotNetNuke related downloads.
Installing DotNetNuke Portal for the first time!: Installing dnn for the first time [dotnetnuke] installing dotnetnuke portal for the first time!
multiple portals on same IIS server - ASP.NET Forums
still need help accessing dnn portal - ASP.NET Forums
Managing and Configuring DotNetNuke Portals as a Host Super User: How to manage and configure DotNetNuke portals. Assigning premium modules to a portal. How to configure site log, disk space, file types, skin upload, expiry date for each portal. DNN video tutorial.
Sharing Module data across multiple portals? > Nina's DotNetNuke Forums > eXtra Dimensions: Hey guys, I am currently evaluating DNN for a client... One requirement is as follows: I have multiple (parent) Portals. I develop a module that lists some content (for e.g. a list of restaurants and associated reviews of each restaurant).Now, I nee
EThuongmai > :: Products > Content Sharing > Product Information: DotNetNuke Modules Free Services Development Dot Net
DotNetNuke Portal Templates and the Site Wizard: How to use DotNetNuke Portal Templates and the Site Wizard. Covering creating and exporting a template. Installing a template using the site wizard and automatically when creating a portal. Using templates to transfer data from a localhost installation to a live website. Step by step DNN video tutorial.
Using DotNetNuke Portal Aliases: How to point multiple domain names to a portal. How to use portal alias when transferring a localhost installation to a live website. How to convert a child portal to a parent portal. Video tutorial covering DNN portal alias.
How to create DotNetNuke Portals (Parent and Child), DNN: Video tutorials. How to create parent and child portals using domains and sub-domains on a live website. Configuring DNS Nameserver settings, Host Headers, portal alias, and administering step by step.
DotNetNuke Parent, Child, Multiple Portals: How to create and configure Dot Net Nuke portals. Discussing the multiple portal method. using Parent and Child portals, the differences. Explanations of DNS, IIS, IP, Portal Alias settings. As well as administration functions in DNN.

Skin Ideas

Travel Skin by Dnncovered: DNN Covered
Free Skins > MyFirstSkin: Download DotNetNuke skins for free! No registration required.

DotNetNuke Marketplace - Vitality Skin Pack :: 2 Skins :: 3 Widths 1.0: Vitality Skin Pack :: 2 Skins :: 3 Widths 1.0
DotNetNuke Marketplace - PDA Skin 1.0: PDA Skin 1.0
Snowcovered.com : Imagination 7 Skins Pack by DnnCovered: Imagination skin pack is a fixed size skin fully eleborate the choice of dynamic business, the contents area is divided into panes such that the user can put contents in any desired format as per market trends. This skin is easy to deploy in DNN 3.x, DNN 4.x versions.
Snowcovered.com : Engage: Adaptive Skin by Engage Software: Designed and developed using pure XHTML/CSS, Includes 4 great color combinations, Two different widths, fixed width at 900px and 100% full width A total of 8 different skins and 6 containers, Compatible with DotNetNuke versions 3.x through 4.x, Search engine friendly, PSD file included
DotNetNuke Marketplace - Professional Skin Pack :: 12 Colours 1.0: Professional Skin Pack :: 12 Colours 1.0
How to create a DotNetNuke CSS skin from an XHTML template – part 1: How to convert a XHTML template to a DotNetNuke skin. Videos explain step by step. Covers creation of content panes, how to create a menu and adding the DotNetNuke tokens. Full adaption demonstrated, so you can convert the 1000s of free templates that are available.
Andreas 01 Free pure CSS DotNetNuke skin: Free DotNetNuke pure CSS XHTML compliant skin, Andreas 01. Download skin for DotNetNuke 4.4+. Comes with free site wizard template to quickly get you started using the skin.
DotNetNuke XHTML CSS free Skin Templates: Free DotNetNuke pure CSS XHTML compliant skin templates. For the latest 4.5+ versions of DNN. Use these free templates to learn css skinning.
Issue 25 – Pure CSS SEO Layouts for DotNetNuke skins: How to create pure CSS SEO xhtml skin layouts. Powerful and advanced techniques to help you beat the competition. Plus multiple skin layout techniques with minimal CSS code. Enhance your DNN skills with these video training tutorials
_DotNetNuke Skin Objects and Container Objects Dynamic Reference: DotNetNuke Skin Objects and Container Objects Dynamic Reference
__Create your first DotNetNuke Skin with Dreamweaver: Tips, tutorials, news, resources and general writing.
DotNetNuke Marketplace - Aurora (24 Skins) 01.00.00: Aurora (24 Skins) 01.00.00
DotNetNuke Marketplace - Aquilon Skin Pack 01.00.00: Aquilon Skin Pack 01.00.00
DotNetNuke CSS Skin Resources > Home: DotNetNuke CSS Skins, Free Skinning Resources and Downloads. All to help you create tableless skins for DNN.
XHTML SKINS > DNN Skins > 1024px: skins for dotnetnuke in valid xhtml
XHTML SKINS > Downloads: skins for dotnetnuke in valid xhtml
Free DotNetNuke Skin: Free DNN skin that uses CSS for the layout. No tables. DotNetNuke skin features accessibility, search engine friendly, print view, browser compatible, fluid design. Learn how to create a CSS skin. Simple Red Leaf Skin.
How to create a skin for DotNetNuke, Video Tutorial DNN: Video Tutorials demonstrating skinning for DotNetNuke. From initial setup to designing with tables, how to package a skin, menu design, xml and css file creation, Testing and releasing the skin.
dnnExperts > Skins / Containers > Optimized DNN 3.0 Skins
DotNetNuke CSS menu, how to configure the HouseMenu: How to install and configure the House of Nuke menu to a DotNetNuke skin. An alternative CSS menu system to the Solpart menu. Video tutorial providing step by step examples and benefits of the HouseMenu.
How to create a pure CSS skin in DotNetNuke - 9 Video Tutorials: DNN Creative Newsletters
How to create resizable text in DotNetNuke - part 10 - 5 Video Tutorials: Podcasting and DotNetNuke all the information you need to set up Podcasting with DNN.
Browser Quirks, Standard Compliance modes and Doc Types for DotNetNuke skins: Skinning. Setting up DotNetNuke for CSS compliance mode. Using XHTML Transitional. Provides a consistent look across the various browsers for your DNN skin.
Create your first DotNetNuke Skin with Dreamweaver: Tips, tutorials, news, resources and general writing.
Erwin Yulianto : Create a Simple DNN Container with CSS (Single Image)

Indexing/URLs/SEO

Making DNN Friendly URLs even more friendlier - ASP.NET Forums
How to Redirect a Web Page Using a 301 Redirect: what is a 301 redirect how to implement it
Is Dnn (dotnetnuke) Search Engine Friendly? - High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum: SEO forum for anyone looking to learn more about search marketing. For beginner SEOs through advanced. Come hang out with the best search marketers in the biz!
Venexus DotNetNuke Blog - Friday, December 02, 2005
Crafty Code - A Programming Blog: Tales of Technical Head Scratchers, and shared moments of inspiration

Marketing Yourself
Working with Vendors, Banners and Affiliates in DotNetNuke 4.3 and 3.3

Proper use of a H1 tag

2008-02-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

Beginner's Luck

I referred a beginner to CSS tutorials and after they we're instructed how to write the CSS for their header, they were informed that they should forget using a div and use a h1 tag instead because:

Using semantic markup (eg. the h1-element for the main header) makes sites more accessible to search engines as well as people with no CSS (though I’d personally put more emphasis on point one, but it’s just me).

This advice was listed as Dave Shea's Image Replacement Technique. I wondered where this idea originated from. Dave's page currently does not suggest to replace an h1 tag with an image and uses h3's in all his examples.

Can does not equal should

The first time I saw this technique in Layout Gala's templates, yes, I thought it was cool too. You can do a lot of things with CSS. And for each standard you break, you can find a way to compensate for it. But this does not correct the misunderstanding that an h1 tag is semantically a "site header" rather than a "section header". From what I understood this advice was not only incorrect, but leads to actually sacrificing the h1's SEO value.

Good Intentions

The intent for the "image replacement" suggestion was to be semantically correct which I can respect. The purpose for the html element h1 is clearly stated on the W3C as a section header in the 1999-2007 documentation. I have always suspected that this practice was part of an obsession with code minimalism. The practice of reducing the number of classes and ids by using elements without regard to their purpose is pretty common.

To define the proper use of an h1 tag we should look at it from various standards.

Semantics

W3C Style Recommendations: Device Independent

one h1 is recommended -
one heading level 1 at the top of the document

W3C's Global Structure of an HTML (4.0) Document: Section 7.5.5 Headings

h1 is a section title -
heading briefly describes the topic of the section it introduces

h1 should be wrapped in a div for that section -
example shows how to use the DIV element to associate a heading with the document section that follows it

h1 can be used multiple times on a page (validates successfully) -
The practice of skipping heading levels is considered to be bad practice. The series h1 h2 h1 is acceptable, while h1 h3 h1 is not, since the heading level h2 has been skipped.

W3 QA Tips on Good Titles and Use for h1 Title

shows an h1 title reflecting a "section title" (ie. "Section One") rather than a "site title" (ie. "Welcome to My Site!")
the top level heading (h1) should assume a certain amount of context (ie. a page about "h1 tags" should have something along the lines of "H1 Tags and How to Use Them" written in between the h1 tags)

W3C XHTML Text Module

use the h tag nested in section tags to define structure -

Structured headings use the single h element, in combination with the section element to indicate the structure of the document

W3C QA Tip: Use Headings to Structure Your Document

the generic h tag can be used in addition to the h1-h6 tags (no examples have been found yet) -
It is foreseen that XHTML 2 will also provide generic headings, with a level determined by their depth in the structure.

W3C as an example noted by a user on the boagworld forum

h1 is page name except on home page -
The W3C's own practice seems to be to put the site name in the h1 for the 'home' page, and in other pages, have a logo icon in a link at the top of the page going back to the home page, using the h1 for the name of the page.

SEO

seoconsultants.com on the webmasterworld forum:

At least one heading tag
h1 should appear at the top of your page
well written using prime keywords and keyword phrases

SEOMoz on H1s and H2s

an observation: search engines will penalize you for use of multiple H1's -
Each page should contain only one H1 tag but can have any number of H2s and subsequent levels of header tags

Accessibility

W3C's Header Nesting Example

h1 is your "page title" -
Using heading levels appropriately will ensure your document is more accessible.

University of Minnesota's Accessibility Guidelines

use h1 as header graphic on home page -
because the page title is the same as the site title
for interior pages (all other pages), do not use h1 for the header graphic -
h1 tag should be applied to the page headline rather than the header graphic

The Proper and Practical Use Guidelines for H1 Tags

use one h1 tag per page
the h1 contains the keyword rich title for that page
h1 tag is not the same on every page of your site
place h1 tag as close to the top of page as possible

As long as these 4 guidelines are followed, you can image replace, negative margin, absolute position, and whatever other css tricks you want to try.

On using an h1 for your header image
I have never seen anyone who has used the image replacement technique to make the h1 the header image of their page, change the text in the h1 tag on every page. This is why I feel that this method confuses people about what the purpose of a h1 tag is. This method should not be used for the creation of a template page unless it is only to be used on a specific page like the home page. Each page of your site is valuable for different phrases and the h1 tag is very important in delivering that information to search engines.

CSS design work flow

2008-02-25T21:59:00.000-08:00

Choose your inspiration.
Right now I am working strictly off a flickr set I created of screen shots, artwork, ads, print layouts, and anything else that I find aesthetically pleasing.

Start with a framework.
I made my own. It helps eliminate the time spent recreating code that I've already written and covers all the things that I double check for when I'm done with a site. I can rest easy knowing that the standard, basic best practices involving naming conventions, web standards, content order, SEO, web typography, accessibility, usability and design principles are all accounted for.

[insert a comparison of css frameworks covering a list of best practices]

CSS for beginners

2008-02-25T21:46:00.000-08:00

I never needed to cover this subject for any of the projects I work on but the more I learn, the more my mind may complicate how easy it can be to learn CSS. I had to teach myself using the internet as a resource and I basically learned other people's bad habits and kept making sites until I could troubleshoot everything without looking anything up.

Then I took the time to do research on a weekly basis to improve my skills and find out why each decision is made instead of imitating other people's coding habits. This blog was started when my research became the most thorough.

To define where beginners should start, there are 2 questions to be answered:
What's the right way to learn when everyone learns differently?
What skills are the most important to develop early on?

travel websites

2008-02-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

SEO and marketing:

Travel Affiliate Web Sites

White paper on Web 2.0 for travel marketers

Just an Old Fashioned Weblog v.2

2008-01-31T22:16:00.000-08:00

Thursday

1. A cute dress on Full Table:
I love her dress.
found by a google image search for "kitsch"

2. Ramrod
I like how the comments section is layed out. Site layout created by Warpswire.
found by a google image search for "kitsch"

3. The cutest gnome picture:

Photo by: http://besotin.blogspot.com/2005/08/el-rinconcito-kitsch-i.html
found by a google image search for "kitsch"

4. Bombalurina Jewlery Mash Ups
I like a lot of the pieces she uses and every detail seems to be chosen carefully. It's refreshing after seeing an overdose of stuff wire wrapped on cheap chains.
found on http://myindiejewelry.blogspot.com/

5. Counterjumper
Now this person cranks out content! I think they had a link to everything in their life on this one page.
found while searching for a specific em calculator (not this one)

6. Disposable
Addition to convenience at portrayed in a picture.
found on Counterjumper (they're the site designer)

7. Jon Tan
Happy to see a website that is exciting! He works for grow collective.
found while searching for the unfindable em calculator (he has an em chart)

8.

9.

10.

Yard Sale Checklist to plan your garage sale

2008-01-31T19:28:00.000-08:00

Purpose
A yard sale is to get rid of things. Sell on ebay or craigslist if you want top dollar.

Recommendations

group sale
be ready the night before
price carefully
label well
do not bad mouth your items
be less flexible at the start and willing to bargain as the day goes on
write down each item and how much you sold it for
keep money on you not in cash box
check all pockets and purses to make sure you are not giving away hidden valuables
schedule on a non-holiday weekend and on paydays (1st and 15th)
give friends/family boxes weeks ahead of time if they want to get rid of stuff at your sale
let your neighbors know ahead of time (may evolve into a block sale)
post a start time
Move your cars so others will have room to park

List of stuff you need

roll of quarters
25 singles
2-3 fives
paper & pen
purse, fanny pack, or deep pockets to keep money on you
large boxes for signs and makeshift tables
rocks to weigh down sign boxes
blankets and/or table cloths
radio
paper and/or poster board
tape
markers
print outs of amazon/ebay info for more expensive items
extension cord & batteries to test electronics
ice and drinks for sellers and to sell
place to hang clothes
tall mirror
hangers
masking tape or colored dots for pricing
calculator
newspapers and small boxes for items sold that need packaging
tape measure

Setting Up Shop

Have a collector's or boutique section or table for stuff of higher value
highly desirable items near road
if you don't have tables, you can stack large boxes and lay a blanket over them
play background music (that everyone will love-like johnny cash)
categories like shoes all at the same price point makes things easier on everyone
offer bulk discounts (ie. 5 for a dollar on 25 cent items)
free section
sort by size
provide changing area and mirror if you are able
$1 or less section
$5 or less section
rug or blanket on ground for toys and play area
put cash table near the entrance
specialty sections like kitsch or vintage to attract buyers who value those items
"10 cents" box

Getting the word out

advertise
post on craigslist
simple yet effective signs (large card board box as sign)
sign's with big bold text!
free classifieds

Closing Time

slash prices or move stuff to free section
TAKE SIGNS DOWN
donate to charity with a pick up service if you have a lot of huge items

Resources:

A old fashioned Weblog

2008-01-29T11:08:00.000-08:00

Tuesday - Wednesday's 10

1. Top 10 Tips for New Bloggers From Original Blogger Jorn Barger
Pretty much sums up what the purpose of blogging was suppose to be vs what it has become.
found on digg.com

2. Lula Magazine
The most recent issue mentions "The Virgin Suicides". A magazine after my own heart.
found on http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/

3. Squidoo
Social Network of "How To" and "Need to Know" Lists. I hope all this content creating for other sites eventually pays off.
found on 2007 SXSW Web Awards

4. Urban Outfitters Website Redesign
I felt that I somehow had an advantage over them because I had moved on from the collage style that has defined them since I first visited the site in 2003. It looks fantastic! I'm somewhere between inspired and defeated.
found when clicking on their newsletter

5. Page Rank SEO Blog
The best looking SEO site I've seen. The owner is behind JoJo CMS which I am really excited about.
don't remember how I got there but I will be there until I finish reading everything

6. Edward Hann's IDP06 Information Diagram
I love information diagrams. A lot.
found on http://www.cpluv.com/

7. This picture of SomethingLabs:

I believe in putting things back where you found them instead of losing things on a regular basis.
found on http://www.cpluv.com/ also

8. The Horizontal Way
Call me old fashioned but I'm still not ready for this. Day 19 was the first site I actually noticed doing this in 2003 and I just remember that first "wtf" moment and that has been enough to steer me away.
found on 2007 SXSW Web Awards

9. Soulwax
Now I have no excuse to keep up with their every move.
found on http://www.thehorizontalway.com/

10. Evolution of a Header
I love the results.
remembered the site when I saw UO's redesign (#4)

Honorable Mention: I can't get this grid layout out of my head.

Will this website be used?

2008-01-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

Ask yourself this question before building a website: "Will people actually use this website?"
To determine your purpose, the potential for usefulness should be considered.

Here's a list of 15 Ridiculously Useful Websites to use as case studies.

online retail and ecommerce

2008-01-22T10:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.twentytwentyone.com/

Semantic Naming Conventions for CSS

2007-12-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Be Consistent

Consistently write the code the same way. This helps make the code easier to read and more managible.

Be Managable

As well as consistency, you may have to do other things to help other people on your team manage code more easily like not using shortcuts when working with programmers who are less familiar with css and having a set of semantic naming conventions for everyone to use.

Semantic Naming Conventions

Consider "structural naming, as opposed to presentational naming" - Eric
Meyer

Consider the semantic role. Here's a naming conventions table of names used on popular websites.

Using the same names helps write code faster. This means that you may end up writing the same code over and over. A CSS Framework can help you use the CSS you have already written for other projects.

CSS Frameworks

Here is a place to start on the subject:

Modular CSS

A CSS Framework

Other ways to make your life easier

Introducing Bleached Black and White: without the distractions of colour

Global White Space Reset

Vintage Games

2007-12-14T06:35:00.000-08:00

Handhelds

Commodore 64
What you can do with a commodore 64?
Free C64 Games
Commodore 64 Still Loved After All These Years

Atari
Atari Game Manuals

NES

XHTML Special Character and Symbol Entities

2007-12-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

W3C XHML 1.0 Entity Sets
W3C DTD Special Characters
Beginner's Guide to XHTML: Special Characters

ALA article from 2001: The Trouble With EM ’n EN (and Other Shady Characters)

CSS for Navigation, Menus, and external Navigation for web designers

2007-11-30T09:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.twinhelix.com/

Web Design Project Management

2007-11-30T07:05:00.000-08:00

The Initial Contact With Your Client

Collect Client Contact Information

name and title of initial contact:
Business/organization name and location:
email address:
Business phone including area code or country code:
existing website(s):

If you are unable to respond right away, find out if the standard response time is ok.

Assess objectives and requirements

Conduct surveys and interviews to determine the Main Objectives:

Who do we want to visit the site? [Identify audiences]
Who are you?
Who are you competitors and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
What are we publishing that those visitors will find important? [Identify site goals]
What do you do?
What is the concept, product or service provided or promoted by this site described in detail?
What is the primary purpose of a new site?
What business problem(s) need to be resolved with redesign?
Where are our visitors in terms of geography, ambient environment, and client platform? [Identify audiences]
Why does the sponsor want the site built—what are its business objectives? [Identify site goals]
Why does what your company does matter?
When should the site be launched, phased, maintained, and finally taken down or redesigned? [Generic project timeline & Key factors in creating your timeline] [size of site (12 or 1000 dynamic pages)] [mandatory launch date?]
How are we going to build the site—what tools are we using, and what’s the budget? (browser support guidelines) [Key players on your development team] [technological requirements] [features? forum, chat, streaming video/ audio, CMS, ecommerce, commenting, reviewing] [Who will administer these features (what staff members)?] [Who will create and administer content?]

Review Current Content and Plan for Development

Content review, delivery plan, and timeline
Web-writing guidelines
Consistency check

Note: Get approval on the main objectives before moving forward.

Note: Design preferences/requests should be noted separately. They will be reviewed later after any usability testing and wire framing.

Conduct User Testing

This is the UX testing portion which can be done with as much complexity as needed. If your site has undergone formal or informal usability testing please provide copy of the results.

Roleplay likely visitor sessions of your primary and secondary users:

personas that you want
personas that are likely
personas who you hope will not visit but could and influence others

What primary action should a primary user take when visiting your site?
Examples:

becoming a member
subscribing to a newsletter
reading editorial content
purchase product

What user needs does your existing site fulfill?

Produce wireframes (and establish site architecture)

Determine Site Structure and Navigation

Organize content and create sitemap
Determine navigation

Basic layout of the entire site’s significant elements:

page headings
navigation
primary content
sidebars
application interfaces

Create a wireframe for all page types not just a general wireframe for the whole site.

Produce sketches, comps, and (if necessary) prototypes

Any client design requests should discussed first. Anything that is recommended against because of usability or accessibility guidelines should be documented.

Things to discuss:

branding
brand attributes (caring, honesty, humor, professionalism, intelligence, technological savvy, sophistication, reliability, and trustworthiness)
feelings (warmth, friendliness, reassurance, comfort, or excitement)
desired look and feel (Easy to look at, edgy, classic, up-to-date, crisp, modern, traditional, understated)

The art director or designer will determine visual elements:

colors
typography
illustration
photography
composition details that are important at the section or element level

The sketch/comp/prototype incorporates:

the layout described by the wireframes
the visual elements agreed upon by all art directors, designers, and clients involved

Get comp approved before moving to the next step.

Draft the style guide

Rules/Recommendations for styling, such as:

blockquotes
how much whitespace should exist between sidebar sections
the desired aspect ratio of inline graphics
what icons should be used for list item bullets

List the rationale next to each styling rule/recommendation.

Produce templates and stylesheets

This should start with a framework and adding site specific html and styles.

Include a favicon with template.

Write code

add links to rss

ad links to analytics

ad links to webmaster tools
ad links to other seo tools
write robots text
write sitemaps

Test presentation and behavior

use check list to make sure all areas are accounted for [example web design proof checklist]

You've triple-checked for typos and accuracy. You've tested for cross-browser, platform, and ADA issues

Reconcile test results, if possible

Publish

You upload your files to the server.

Launching, Tracking, Maintenance

Launch timing and publicity [launching your site at the lowest-possible traffic times and publicize when ready]
Feedback and site statistics [email or form available on site for feedback?]
Updating content [provide a resource for use with in house content publishers/editors]
Prioritizing Phase 2 ideas

Thanking

Sources:
Avoid Edge Cases by Designing Up Front by Ben Henick at alistapart.com
Public Affair's Web Project Management Guide
Happy Cog Project Planner available on Happy Cog's Contact Page

CMS Information

2007-11-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

CMS and the Single Web Designer

CSS Framework will make your life easier

2007-11-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

please pardon my mess. information is in the process of being collected for this subject.

tools

libraries

conventions

naming conventions: Make a Naming Conventions Chart
Create a chart of agreed upon naming conventions for all parts of your framework. A web design comparison table of naming conventions by industry professionals is available at stuffandnonsense.co.uk.
other conventions

best practices

W3C Web Standards (XHTML/CSS Validation)
Accessibility (content preceeds the navigation) [Flexible in response to user initiated font-size adjustments.]
content should dictate our layout, not the other way around (one single XHTML might not be the solution)
SEO [Template columns are source-order independent, so you can put your most important content first in the markup layer for improved accessibility and search engine optimization (SEO).]
Accomodates IAB's Ad Unit Guidelines for common ad dimensions.
Cross-browser compatibility - Offers full A-grade browser support.

examples of things web designers use on every project that can be abstracted

reset.css—handles the mass reset. A “mass reset” of default browser styles. For example, setting margin and padding to 0 on all elements, turning off borders on framesets and images, etc. (see also: Global White Space Reset) (Eric Meyer's Resetting Again)
type.css—handles the typography. good typography - stylesheet that sets up the typography and Aligning the type to a consistent baseline. This includes things like setting the margins on block level elements like paragraphs, headers, and lists to the same value as (or some multiple of) the base line-height setting for the site. Relative font-sizes everywhere; typography examples are available at How to size text in css and Compose to a Vertical Rhythm
Creating basic styles for forms.
Creating a few CSS classes I always use, such as .hide (where I set the display value to none) and .mute (which I set to a smaller type size and sometimes a lighter color).
grid.css—handles the layout grid. same basic 16-unit grid structure or An easily customizable grid (like in google blueprint )
widgets.css—handles widgets like tabs, drop-down menus, and “read more” buttons. common widgets, like drop-down menus, navigation tabs, buttons

navigation tabs:  
ul.tabs li {
border: none;
background-image: url('/images/tabs/ »
site-specific-tab-look.jpg');
}   All the work of floating the list items the to the left and making the links  inside them display as blocks (also floated to the left) with the text centered  in the middle

list of photos that appear as thumbnails
hacks and workarounds (such as those that accommodate older browsers) tend to be too site-specific
base.css—includes all the other stylesheets, so that we only need to call base.css from our (X)HTML documents to use the entire framework. careful: adds to the number of HTTP connections
stylesheet for printing
An extendable plugin system
Support for PNG transparency in IE5.5+ (js)
Liquid layout version
support for external navigation
fixes like class="clearfix"
cross-browser compatibility: like alt css for ie6 or gte ie 6; examples and info are at CSS Bugs in IE5.x Mac, Will the browser apply the rule(s)?, My CSS Framework
page loads differently for different resolutions
Self-clearing footer. No matter which column is longer, the footer stays at the bottom.
Layouts less than 100% are automatically centered.

Any framework must account for the most common layouts, otherwise it'll never get used.

Vertical navigation with one content column
Vertical navigation with two columns of content
Horizontal navigation with one content column
Horizontal navigation with 2 columns of content
Horizontal navigation with local navigation and one column of content
Horizontal navigation with local navigation and 2 columns of content
four preset page widths,
six preset templates, and
the ability to stack and nest subdivided regions of two, three, or four columns.
The 4kb file provides over 1000 page layout combinationss YUI
Supports fluid-width (100%) layouts as well as preset fixed-width layouts at 750px, 950px, and 974px, and the ability to easily customize to any number.
Supports easy customization of the width for fixed-width layouts.

for multiple pages can use Body ids to switch styles

adjusting layout will use some tricks:
Dunstan published his absolutely positioned menu technique
negative margin tricks : Ryan Brill posted about them on Mezzoblue
floated layouts : clearfix method by Tony Aslett
Floats, Margins and IE

common building blocks in the above 6 layouts?

Header
Footer
Main content
Sub content
Main nav (#nav-main rather than #main-nav) [programers call nav used on every page of site "global navigation"]
Local nav [prgrammers call section nav "local"]

others building blocks

#branding
#branding-logo
#branding-tagline
#container for pg container or #page
#nav or #navigation
#nav-section for nav for that section of the site that you are in
#nav-external for external links
#nav-supplementary or #nav-supp for supplementary links commonly found in the footer; (they are suggesting that this could replace the footer but that would not be useful for a framework)
#search
#search-input [search form]
#search-output [search results]
#content
#content-main
#content-news
#siteinfo
#siteinfo-legal [copy right]
#siteinfo-credits
'related-links'
date
rss

blog:
--- .entry
---- .entryTitle,
.entryAuthor,
.entryAuthorEmail,
.entryCreated,
.entryModified,
.entryContent,
.entryChildren.

ecom:
#content-products
.products
.products-prices
.products-description
.products-review

structure our websites?

Header
Main content
Sub content
Local nav
Main nav
Footer

Read More at:

Yahoo!'s YUI Grids CSS

? CSS Framework Themes: a collection of different sets by multiple contest entrants
? My CSS Framework by Karl Dawson
? Schema by David Golding
? Modular CSS
? Smashing Magazine's CSS Frameworks

Schema Web Design Framework - David Golding Design
Yahoo! UI Library Grids CSS

Sources:
Frameworks for Designers by Jeff Croft at alistapart.com

Google's Blueprint CSS credits Jeff Croft, Nathan Borror, Christian Metts, & Eric Meyer

A CSS Framework by Mike Stenhouse at contentwithstyle.com

My CSS Framework by The Standards Guy

? Not Reviewed Yet

Improving Your DESIGN Skills for web designers and developers

2007-11-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

The Struggle for Artistic Merit to No End
I talk about this subject too much and stumble on articles that touch on this subject multiple times daily. Today I found these two articles: Digital Web Magazine's Collecting for Design and A List Apart's Understanding Web Design.

Here are the highlights:

Jeffrey Zeldman implies the absurdity of it all, "What is the “London Calling” of television? Who is the Jane Austen of automotive design?"

Matthew Smith articulated it with unbelieveable conciseness, "...Good-looking design is useless unless we’re willing to conform to standard design patterns and accepted principles of user experience"

Matthew Smith sums up the major points I've encountered in my months of research to learn how to impress the art community with web design. With a minimal graphic design background, I feel like I have been given the impossible task of creating a fine art piece in the medium of web design. The two things that I learned is that creating a better user experience is true good design and that good web design is not going to be good art. Make a site that is well formed, pleasing to modern aesthetics of popular design, and make it's primary goal to create the perfect user experience. Once you finish your MFA, then you might be able to make a web site that is also a peice of art but until then, just make sure you're a good web designer.

Sorry if you have already read 5 other posts similar to this. Reading helps but moving on improves you.

Process
I've been looking for more process articles to learn how to improve my design process.
Smashing Magazine interviews designers with some process related questions in 35 Designers X 5 Questions

Process: Collecting
Collecting for Design states that there are three parts to the improvement process:

Reading
practicing
collecting

His article talks specifically about collecting which contains three parts:

Integration
Separation
Creation

You should find a place to store your images (examples, screenshots, ect...) either locally (iPhoto) or on the web (Flickr), so you can easily sort them for reference.

Make the process as easy as possible so you will follow it with tools that help simplify (FlickScreen).

Sample Collections:

Practice Makes Perfect

Keep a Sketchbook

Try Tutorials

Best of Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

Gimme More

Please post process articles in comments!

Best Placed Soundtrack Music

2007-11-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

Spoon - This Book is a Movie in Stranger Than Fiction

ORM, Online Reputation Management, aka SEO PR

2007-11-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

The Marketing Pilgrim offers Online Reputation Management & Consulting and offers a Free Online Reputation Management Beginner’s Guide with the largest number of links in an article I have ever seen to sites like Moreover to help you keep track of your name in search results and feeds. The comments suggested other sites such as MonitorThis, Distilled ORM Tool, and Serph Buzz Tracker.

When you finally get done with the Marketing Pilgrim article, you can check out these related articles on the site:
Updated Online Reputation Monitoring Guide
Update to Reputation Monitoring Guide
What Should Your Company Monitor?
Get Your Free Online PR Briefing
Free Reputation Management Guide for Students

Managing Multiple ASP.NET Websites

2007-11-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

Your CMS options are limited
DotNetNuke is a CMS that you can use to manage multiple websites from one login. Other available asp.net CMS can be expensive but may offer features that DotNetNuke doesn't. To see well designed sites using DotNetNuke, visit CMS Showcase. You can compare CMS's at cmsmatrix.org

Project Management and Organization

2007-11-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

What are your goals?
make a list of all the goals of the project, being as detailed as possible. you may have only a few major goals and then, each major goal will have it's own set of goals.

What's the next step?
sort goals by priority. give each goal a weight (on a scale of 1 - 10) so that there is a clear understanding of how the goals are related to each other. you're next step will be to move forward on the highest priority while keeping in mind the goals that hold the highest weight.

Vegan Sweet Tooth

2007-11-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

Wonderful Vegan Brownies
Vegan Ginger Cookies
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Web Development

2007-11-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

Research
http://builtwith.com/

Frameworks and CMS may make your life easier
http://www.cmsshowcase.com/
[asp.net] http://www.dotnetnuke.com/
[seo/php] http://www.jojocms.org

Web Design Inspiration

2007-11-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

You are Under No Obligation
Elliot Jay Stocks: ‘Destroy The Web 2.0 Look’ @ Future of Web Design, New York takes a look at just one of many popular design styles but the points that are brought up are just as applicable to all popular design styles. He talks about why designers adopt this style and offers us an alternative to drawing inspiration from what we see most frequently in CSS Design Galleries.

Learn from the Best
Avoid cliche use of style and look for inspiration from "big name designers" who coincidentally avoid cliche use of popular design styles. The ones listed in Stocks presentation, do not use the "web 2.0 look" at all:

Subtraction [subtraction.com]

Happy Cog [happycog.com]

31Three [31three.com]

Stuff and Nonsense [http://www.stuffandnonsense.co.uk/]

Jesus Rodriguez Velasco [jrvelasco.com]

Web Designer Wall [http://www.webdesignerwall.com/]

Veerle [http://veerle.douh.com/]

http://www.voulumeone.com/

Flame Digital [Flame Digital]

Web Development Financial Management

2007-11-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

SXSW: The Figures Behind The Top Web Apps

NYC07

2007-11-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

http://hitotoki.org/newyork/

Eco Razor Solution

2007-11-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

Problem: I need a new razor that is environmentally friendly.
Solution:

Reduce
do you need this? does aesthetics play a role in your decision? think about the long term. what are the alternatives?

Reuse
use what you have. is there a better way to maintain and care for what I have? soaking in alcohol has been suggested. there are oils which prolong the life of your blades.

Recycle
what to do with you old one. can i find a use for it? can someone else find a use for it?

sort by: *price *enviromental impact *social responsibility

Some Items:
Wally Rubber Shower Razor
Cruelty-Free Razor Blades for Wally and Spike Razors
Disposable Razor Sharpener [available at Sustainable Village]

photography

2007-11-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

flickr sets
Entoptic Phenomena

social science notes

2007-10-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

the corporation - the patholigical pursuit of profit and power (name of an article)

playlist

2007-10-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

intro common be
hellogoodbye in my arms
css lets make love
music is my hot hot sex - css
you outta know - fannypack
ice cream - nypc
samian vs justice - we are you friends
still not a player - big pun
where the party at - jagged edge
lets get married - jagged edge
fantasy - mariah and odb
don't stop the rock - freestyle
gonna get thru this - daniel benenfield
sugar - talking heads
will to power - dreamin
pick it up - home team
it's just the way i are - timbaland
i'm damaged
say it's gonna rain
heart
fleetwood mac/stevie nicks
after dark diplo remix
four to the floor remix
slip away - sam cooke intro hook
release me - angelina
tegan and sara - walking with a ghost remix

Playlist from the phone conversation with the Lisben Girls

2007-10-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

[girls] Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again Naturally
[boys] James Taylor - You've Got a Friend
[girls] Cat Stevens - Where Do The Children Play
[boys] Beatles - Dear Prudence
[girls] Elton John - Candle in the Wind
[boys] Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
[girls] Janis Ian - At Seventeen
[boys] Jim Croche - Time in a Bottle
[girls] Carol King - So Far Away

Make Me These Audio Books

2007-10-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

Craig J Thompson (consumer culture)
A Cyborg Manifesto - Donna Haraway
Autobiography and Black Identiy Politics - Kenneth Mostern
Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug
The Artist’s Guide to Making Money - Matt Cassity and Sam Spratlin
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
culture shock: working holidays abroad
debt cures they don't want you to know about - kevin trudeau

Mind Your Money

2007-10-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Price Protector
Startup News
Buy Cheap Land
Starting Up - A site for Entrepreneurs
Ben Stein financialist
How To Quit Your Job In One Year: A Step By Step Guide
Money Book for broke
What’s Keeping You Financially From Living Your Dream?
Why Career Planning May Be Time Wasted - And Personal Finance Planning Isn’t 1
15 Things You Can Do Right Now To Help Your Career

The Artists and Designers Collection

2007-10-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

Atari Game Manuals
The Almightys
Emm Design
knoxville site
Coudal
Joshua Davis
Graphic Design Archive by Alki1
Obsessive Consumption on flickr
Jogger
svenigson
Okapi Studio
pool film fest site design
Tak Tak
Mik Mik
Anna Melcon
Tristan Henry-Wilson illustrator
20nine
Fresh View
Red Bubble
Raw Pixles
31three
Don't Click It
All On One Page Webmaster Reference
design wire
Ryan Sims
Supercharged
Method Arts
Zero ru
Happy Cog
Kevin Cornell
Mein Brandenburg
32FPS
Subcircle
JS Box
Unstructure
Oh You Pretty Things
Tom Dominey
Cameron Moll's portfolio
Cameron Moll
Chris J Williams
Electric Pulp
Yucesoy
24 Corporate Event
Marc Dahmen
Electric Heat
Air Bag Industries
on finding a designer
Mike Industries
Signal vs. Noise
37 Signals
Grow Collective
Rob Goodlatte
Smashing Magazine
Hello Color
Dale Harris
Lyndsay Meager
Light On Dark
Foan 82
Illustration Mundo
Vintage Art and Ads
eleven3
res72 (BG)
veerle
subtraction
pearsonified
A catwalk show with a conscience
fadtastic
jared christensen
SECRETS OF SELF-TAUGHT WEB DEVELOPERS
free vector downloads
quickform.net
Jen Gordon
FWA
Design Snack
Neil Paterson Curvey Speech bubble css
Chris Erickson
Best Web Gallery
Spice Shop
Luke Stevens
Tony Yoo
Cabana Digital
Mercury Cloud
5 nak
Jeremiah Shoaf
svenigson

there's no accounting for taste

2007-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

I didn't say it but I quote it all the time:

"There's no accounting for taste"

I have noticed that I'm not the only one:

"First we write a stylesheet for screen display (remember, there's no accounting for taste): /* screen display styles */..." - Eric Meyer in "Print Different"

analyze your web site

2007-10-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

69 Tools to Monitor, Measure, and Track Your Website

Styling Tables (not so yikes! as it sounds)

2007-10-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to this guy:
Welcome to Tablecloth

Logo Design

2007-08-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

Creating a web 2.0 style logo:
Wedeed logo example of process

Glossy Globe Logo Design

DIY Logo:
Design It Yourself Logo

Resources:
Creating a Business Logo

Sociology & Marketing

2007-08-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

" When asking for something you want from someone else, appeal to their self-interest and never to their mercy or gratitude." - Ask the SEO Guru on SEO secrets

PPC Accounts - Adwords

2007-08-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

General Info

How long did it take before your ad showed? - AdWords Starter Edition | Google Groups
How to get the most from your Google AdWords Campaign: Google Adwords - how to maximize your advertisement dollars spent at Google Adwords
To succeed with AdWords think differently: To succeed with AdWords you have to think differently. Here are three tried and proven techniques to improve your chances.
Google's new review everything policy is ruining their testability.: googles new review everything policy is ruining their testability.

Moved AdWords: Appear nowhere now! moved adwords

Geotargeting

LOCAL
Google Adwords Geo-Targeting [video explaining local geo-targeting]

INTERNATIONAL
After using the &gl=uk or what ever country code I was looking up at the end of a google search string, and trying to locate a working proxy from another country to connect to, I still could not be sure that my results were accurate and then I went straight to google to a help question called "Why can't I see my ad?" and found what I needed:
Ads Diagnostic Tool will help you check to see if your ad is displaying in other countries depending on what google.com extention the cutomer uses, language, location, ect...

life hacks, hackers and simplifiers

2007-08-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

No Impact Man
8 Tools To Ensure You'll Never Lose An Idea
Don’t be Afraid of Contract Work
100 Keyboard shortcuts (Windows)
BlueOrganizer for Firefox
Sell Your Old Stuff
top 20 motivation hacks
The Power Traveler's Checklist, Part One: Pre-Flight

User Experience, Usability and Usability Testing

2007-08-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Understanding usability is the core to creating innovative design. If you find a way to present information with more clarity, your ability to design improves. I have been trying to focus more on "content" when designing than actual aesthetics. I've been trying to communicate the site's purpose and making everything clear, organized, and easy to find what you are looking for. When I saw UX Mag's site, I was amazed by the layout. I realized that it's a user experience publication and thought to myself "of course!" Then I realized that my design focus wasn't on "content" as much as it was on usability.

Usability Focused Site Design(s)

1. UX Mag: User Experience Publication

I hope I find more examples!

The mistake of ignoring usability
"Violating Design Conventions: Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles: when things always behave the same, users don't have to worry about what will happen. Instead, they know what will happen based on earlier experience. Every time you release an apple over Sir Isaac Newton, it will drop on his head. That's good.The more users' expectations prove right, the more they will feel in control of the system and the more they will like it. And the more the system breaks users' expectations, the more they will feel insecure. Oops, maybe if I let go of this apple, it will turn into a tomato and jump a mile into the sky.Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience states that "users spend most of their time on other websites."This means that they form their expectations for your site based on what's commonly done on most other sites. If you deviate, your site will be harder to use and users will leave. " - no. 8 of the Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design

Best Practices
No link on the homepage that links to the homepage itself
site search is important

Case Studies
Wired Article "How Would You Redo the Google Interface?"
Design View: Google Redux
Design View: eBay Redux

Resources
UX Mag is a publication dedicated to providing information on user experience
Wide Open column: Digital Web Magazine
Jakob Nielsen: Useit.com
Human Factors International
Association for Computing Machinery
Adaptive Path
Fast and Simple Usability Testing
Criteria for optimal web design (designing for usability)
Who are the best communicators? features advertising best practices from David Ogilvy
User Experience Design Illustrated
30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Read More
Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog — Condensed from Dozens of Bloggers’ Experiences
Things to avoid when creating a website
Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes
10 Ways to Increase Blog Usability

Don’t do this on your website, it bugs me

Internet Socialization

2007-08-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

Social Networks

List of social software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CRAIGSLIST
FLICKR
MYSPACE
Orkut
Friendster
Live Journal
reddit
digg
twitter
virb
spurl
google bookmark

Web Design Networks
Refresh
9 rules
designrelated

Bookmarking
del.icio.us/login
Digg - Login to Digg: Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users
Drew Curtis' FARK.com
LookSmart's Furl - Login
Ma.gnolia.com - Find Web Sites & Build Community Online: Find web sites with Ma.gnolia's social bookmarking online community. Organize bookmarks, search other people's favorites and make friends and contacts online.
Newsvine - Login or Register
Login
reddit.com
Login
Spurl.net - Login
Login
Tailrank - Sign in to Tailrank
Technorati: Member Sign Up
Spurl bar

Social Science Notes
design ethnographers - interpret cultural differences
early 1970s - Stanley Milgram - "familiar strangers"
the new linguistic community = "PatTy D aka tHe ScO CitY 415 LiKe wHa!!!" [repurposing words for cultural self expression]

SEO
S.B.S.F! Social-Bookmark-Spam Facilitators!

Resources
G/localization: When Global Information and Local Interaction Collide

Ready to Launch

2007-08-09T14:12:00.001-07:00

I'm waiting for them to launch. They did a good job at letting people know they exist before they actually launch.
http://www.15tags.com/

Copyright or Copywrong?

2007-08-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to create design of a better quality, I somehow ended up on a quest to create trendsetting design. I thought that was what would eventually happen if I did what I wanted and ignored the rest of the world but a little reasearch helped me realize I was "outdated". The next thing I thought was "Can I come up with something new that people will actually like?" People liking your design is strongly dependent on following trends. Coming up with something new has nothing to do with following trends. The only compromise is to set a new trend.
I looked at probably 5000 sites before I surrendered. They all started to look the same to me, my taste had changed, and I read enough self-proclaimed style pioneer comments to never want to design again. The further my studies brought me back in history the more ignorant everyone appeared and the more impossible my quest seemed.
I needed a baby step if I wanted to break my designer's block. I needed to create trendy designs and at least update my work. Since I was looking at websites to make websites (usually I looked at old print magazines and album covers), I had to be extra careful that what I created didn't look too much like any of those 5000 sites I've seen. As a whole if your site looks more than half like another site you will probablly be accused of ripping some one off even if they ripped someone off. I don't know why it's ok for a website to look like a Glaser rip off and get to be some kind of pioneer of the Glaser rip off style but there's hell to pay if you add the slightest Glaser influenced element into your design. So there's an unspoken blackout list of where you can draw influence from too. This baby step I'm taking is made for giants.
The next step for me was to understand what copyright really is and to be ready to defend my right to be influenced by the same things as other people.
I ran into a situation today that was an example of someone's work being ripped off and wasn't sure what to do. The design concept was so basic it was hard to entitle someone to the rights of it but it was an 80% dead on copy.
I thought to myself that it wasn't wrong to use the same minimalist style, colors, and have some similar placement of content. Maybe the new guy is trying to interpret it as their own but they are not sure how to get it down to a 40% influence. If I tell them how then it will keep him from doing it again. If I just call him out then he might just personally attack me and go on selling other people's designs to people who don't know better. I went to ask the original designer what they would say if they wanted to help the guy but I could not locate any contact information on the "Best Damn Blog on the Planet" and didn't want to call out the new guy in a public place like a comment string. So I say nothing. Maybe I'll send a link to an article explaining how to make something your own when I find one. Instead I'm just gonna read a couple of articles on the "Best Damn Blog on the Planet" and remember who copied them first.
An excellent example appears in the first article I read on The Best damn blog on the Planet, where he defends himself against an accusation of design plagarism and is point on in explaining design influence in the appropriate context.

A Very Formal Read on the subject
The Ecstacy of Influence talks about plagerism, intellectual property, unailienable rights, copyrights, and gifts

The Gallery Crawl

2007-08-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

I usually only do a gallery crawl when I am hard up for ideas which is not frequently enough. So when the time comes, there are months of content to sift through. The more sites I go to, the worse it gets because I've already have seen 90% of the sites but crawl on to find the ones the others missed. I feel bad when I submit the same picture in similar flickr groups or post about the same site a couple of times on here before I realize it but my crimes effect probably only 2 people a year.

So I am making a crawl list that I can habitually visit monthly or bimonthly.

Galleries
http://www.thefwa.com/
http://www.screenalicious.com/

Web Design Reference

Text Only Browsers, SEO and Accessibility

Paragraph Spacing and Web Typography

DNN & Lightbox

Migrating Word Press to new domain and server

SEO tools

SEO keyword analysis

related keywords

keywords tools

comparison tools

SEO Campaign Starters

Sites for Inspiration DEC 2008

Using Forums for SEO

Link Building

Screen Resolution Information and Testing

SEO Directories (General)

Dental Insurance for NYC Freelancers

Health Insurance for NYC Freelancers

Creating a Measurable SEO Campaign

SEO Companies

Overall Market and Economy

Multilingual SEO

Gathering Stats about A Company

How to create a Design Playlist

Writing A Review

Themes

SEO Mind Map

SEO Proposal for Monthly Maintenance

Project Management Software

Shopping Resources

Bargain shopping for office supplies?

Business Lunches?

Budgeting?

SEO designers/artists

Client and Project Management

Client Management

Pricing

Requirements Document

Costs

Estimating a Timeframe

Design Brief

Project Management

Establish a clearly defined outcome.

Create a timeline.

Step By Step

Overall Time Management

Outsourcing SEO

Local SEO

Other Resources

Dot Net Nuke (DNN) Copyright Comment

Usability - Text Column Width

Web Design Guides

Trend Spotting and Brand Intuitive

Social Networks

For Designers

OScommerce Product Attributes Sort Order

Flickr Finds

Icons, Bullets, Buttons, & other free stuff

Icons

Bullets

OScommerce and Gateways - Authorize.net & Paypal

Working with Authorize.net AIM

Working with Authorize.net SIM

Working with Paypal

Job Search Web Design/ Development

SEO Directories (Store)

SEO Directories (Travel)

OScommerce Set Up

Domain Name

Installation Guides

Free Templates

SSL set up in OScommerce

SSL Set Up

Request CSR from your hosting company

Update Domain Records

Free SSL for Testing & Development

Buy SSL

Login and Manage SSL

Send verification information requested by SSL provider

Network Solutions

Inspiration King
Portfolio Base
csstux
Css Reboot
CSS Elite
Logo Pond