What happens when the people come?
Posted on Jun 26, 2008 08:17:13 AM
Every experienced web designer knows that web statistics are important. Okay, now quick, think of a time when you responded directly to changes in web traffic in a tangible, tactical way. I'm guessing that some of you out there may be able to provide a few examples. Maybe not, though. The most common use of web statistics has always been to justify the existence of a site: "see boss, people are using the site, we can't stop now..." Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Come, happens, people, What, whenExcerpt: Pro JavaScript Design Patterns
Posted on Jun 2, 2008 06:23:48 PM
The Adapter Pattern
The adapter pattern allows you to adapt existing interfaces to classes that would otherwise be incompatible. Objects that use this pattern can also be called wrappers, since they wrap another object in a new interface. There are many situations where creating adapters can benefit both the programmers and the interface designers. Often when designing classes, some interfaces can’t be used with existing Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Design, Excerpt, JavaScript, PatternsHot Text, and Web Word Wizardry
Posted on Feb 24, 2008 05:05:50 AM
Hot Text: Web Writing That Works
Husband and wife team Jonathan and Lisa Price are veteran writers and editors with experience in print, television and online journalism. If anyone could write a book about the principles and practices of writing for the web, it would be them. I'm happy to report that the Prices have written what amounts to a textbook for web writers that should be just as relevant five years from now as it is today.
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Tags: Text, Wizardry, wordSpecial Edition: Using HTML and XHTML
Posted on Jan 30, 2008 07:32:19 PM
Overview
What? Another HTML book? Why would I want to read another one of those?
That's a good question, and I have the answer... several answers, in fact.
First off, HTML has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. The very fact that the book's title includes not just HTML but XHTML indicates that we are in a transitional period. One day, we'll be authoring Web sites using XML, a markup language that has Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Edition, HTML, Special, Using, XHTMLInnovative Design Inspired by Accessibility
Posted on Jan 8, 2008 04:23:36 AM
The Web provides unprecedented access to information for people with disabilities. People who are blind no longer wait for 25 pounds of braille to be printed and delivered or for a volunteer to read. People who have difficulty moving in physical space can easily attend classes. Those who find it hard to read the labels on products or have trouble getting oriented in grocery stores (whose layouts change frequently) can shop using Web sites with Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Accessibility, Design, Innovative, InspiredGreasemonkey: Code Injection is Bliss
Posted on Dec 26, 2007 02:56:34 AM
Don’t you hate it when someone develops an idea that’s been in your head for a while? Ever since I started messing around with web pages many moons ago, I had this “thought” about developing a tool that would allow me to alter the HTML sent to my browser to suit my own needs. But, while I wasted my time chasing girls and drinking beer, the mind readers who created Greasemonkey came up with such a tool.
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Tags: Bliss, Code, Greasemonkey, InjectionPHP and XML Sitting in a Tree
Posted on Nov 29, 2007 02:22:56 AM
There are scores of ways to store, work with, and retrieve data on the web. Simple databases, relational databases, XML, even custom flat files can hold our product catalogs, user information, and other repositories of important stuff that we want to share with the world. There are some logical ways to work with different kinds of data—for example, many people who use MySQL databases for storage will write PHP scripts to hook into their Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Sitting, TreeIn Defense of Fahrner Image Replacement
Posted on Nov 14, 2007 08:36:17 PM
The CSS-based background image replacement technique, also known as Fahrner Image Replacement (FIR), is a vital cornerstone of all future Web design.
As the Web moves away from presentational, hacked-up HTML towards a structural future, code is becoming abstract and graphic designers are losing their traditional control. CSS offers wonderful methods of regaining it, and in many ways goes further than HTML ever did. But it doesn’t Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Defense, Fahrner, Image, ReplacementMotion Design, the Future
Posted on Oct 13, 2007 09:57:22 PM
In May 2001, I left Razorfish Los Angeles, where I was the creative lead in the broadband and future TV areas, to start a business in Germany. Since then, I have done nothing but motion design with clients and on promotional basis. My experiences in the US with the changing face of all communication media on screens, makes me a believer in motion design. It's the design on screens that are not bandwidth restricted, TV, iTV, broadband, broadband Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Design, Future, MotionPreparing for standard-compliant browsers, Part 1
Posted on Sep 10, 2007 09:47:03 PM
Why You Should Care Standards-compliance has been an issue for web building community for some time and in the last months has really come to the fore. Chances are that if you are reading this article, you are involved in web site production on some level and you're already aware that we are in the middle of some big changes on the browser front with the first beta release of Netscape 6, which claims it will be fully compliant with the official Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: browsers, compliant, Part, Preparing, standard