So, I guess that’s what I have on my blog… I never knew. Thanks guys.
Tag Archive for 'tips'
I started this series with an article discussing some basic tips to help the casual intertubes surfer. Today let’s talk a little about web design.
1. CSS
One of the more important tools for designing a good website is CSS. Believe it or not people still find this as an optional component. Technically it is, but to put together a website that really pops out to the user its easiest to make use of this. There are certain abilities that CSS grants you that I do not believe can be accomplished with any other method. Overlapping images and absolute positioning of elements being two examples. I think (less of using javascript) there is no other way of accomplishing this. Yes it means you have to learn another “language”, but its really not an entire language. Its mostly an extension to HTML.
2. Validation
One of the important maxims of computer programming is: “Be conservative in what you produce; be liberal in what you accept.”
Browsers follow the second half of this maxim by accepting Web pages and trying to display them even if they’re not legal HTML. Usually this means that the browser will try to make educated guesses about what you probably meant. The problem is that different browsers (or even different versions of the same browser) will make different guesses about the same illegal construct; worse, if your HTML is really pathological, the browser could get hopelessly confused and produce a mangled mess, or even crash…
That’s quoted directly from the W3D Markup Validation Service help page. The reason why we make validated sites is to ensure our site looks right across all platforms and browsers. Its naive to think you can develop a site on Firefox and assume it will work on all browsers, especially if you have used improper markup.
While you’re at it, you’ll want to validate your CSS too. Checking yourself for errors only helps you get better and learn from your own mistakes. Once you’ve validated your page, they give you some nifty little badges as a reward.
3. Kuler
Adobe makes a great product called Kuler. This can be an invaluable tool when designing a website and inventing a new color scheme for it. There are two versions available: one is an online version and a standalone version (which requires Adobe Air).
4. Web 2.0
The Web 2.0 movement is one of the greatest things to happen to the internet. Its a multifaceted concept; but my favorite part about it is utilizing the internet as a platform, instead of regarding it as a limitation. Prior to this idea, developers focused on the limitations that came with developing applications on the web and trying to find ways around it. Instead, you maximize the services that are only available when developing on the web.
Aside from that, we’ve seen a trend in the overall design (as far as layout and graphics) in modern websites. The sites are designed around the content instead of trying to jam content inside the design. We have brighter colors, flashier graphics, and a prominent KISS ideology.
There really is a lot more to it, which would require an entire blog post if I wanted to go into it in detail, so read that Wikipedia entry if you’re interested.
5. AJAX
Part of the Web 2.0 moment has included a exponential growth in the usage and progressional development of AJAX. This is really neat because it increases your ability to provide dynamic features on your website, but decrease the amount of page refreshing that it requires.
Instead of going to a website to upload an image, press upload, get redirected to another page while it uploads, then finally get redirected to a summary page, everything can happen on the same page. Inline moderation, instant font or color adjustments, and toggling preview captions are just a few examples of what AJAX can do.
AJAX is mostly accomplished with the use of well designed Javascript working with elements inside your site. There are already tons of prebuilt libraries to make many of the AJAX features you may be looking for readily available. One of the more popular being jQuery.
Grr… the plugin I was using to display my recent tweets was getting annoying because it didn’t work half the time. I found Twitter does it for you and wondered why I hadn’t found that in the first place! If you’re going to use the HTML widget here is a little trick to help you customize it with CSS:
#twitter_update_div a.time {
font-size: 85%;
}
#twitter_update_list li {
margin-bottom: 5px;
}
Of course you can change those to whatever, but keep in mind the selector names… I had to dig through Twitters CSS sheets to figure them out!
I was cleaning up stuff on my blog and I got to thinking about all the images I reference or link on here. I started browsing through my image gallery and it cracked me up seeing some of them. I thought other people might enjoy it so I found a plugin that allows you to browse through them all and see what post referenced them.
Also, took some pictures of the last 20 minutes of my drive home the other day. WHRY!? Shit I don’t know, bored I guess…
Because I never knew any of this:
I really think I have a grasp on most of the characters of TF2… sure I’m not a pro at all of them (except Pyro & Demo) but the Spy has always been my worst class. This video explained things to me… from the OTHER point of view. Too many times I would chase a Spy and end up being killed by them in some unexpected way… now I know how they’re doing it!
Hello. Welcome to the Internets! I will be your guide today. Starting off, to our left you will see some advertisements. Just behind those you will see some porn… once again I would like to thank you for joining us today, and we’ll make this as informative as possible.
Okay so here’s the scoop. I’ve been on the internet since Al Gore invented it, and have learned a few things along the way I would like to share. This is just an introduction post and I’ll probably follow up with some others down the road. Lets get started:
1. Google
Google has a plethora of services they offer. Its ridiculous. Its like they have some sort of awesome disease called Diarrhea of Features, and we all get to enjoy and bask in the warm, soupy, corn-filled crap that they spackle the toilet with. All of there features work together for the most part, which makes trying a new one very easy.
Even their search engine is more than a search engine. You can type something along the lines of “convert 1 dollar to euro” or “convert 1 oz to pound” and it will give you the answer. Another thing I do a lot is utilize their “did you mean…” feature. If I can’t spell a word like onomanapea, I just try my best and punch it into Google and they’ll be all like “did you mean onomatopoeia”, and I’m like fuck ya I did!
2. Stop using Internet Explorer
Do I even need to tell you guys about Firefox? I guess I do since my blog stats show a bunch of people using Internet Explorer. There’s no perfect web browser, but in my opinion Firefox is pretty high up there. To be honest, you have a lot of options as far as web browsers go and I’m not going to force one or the other down your throat, but pick one and roll with it. IE is terrible. Its fucking full of security issues and can’t even render transparent PNGs properly. Whats up with that?
Let me see if I got this right: PNGs were designed to be used on the internet… Internet Explorer is supposed to explore the internet… yet it can’t render PNGs properly. Additionally, if you do any web design, you’ll already know that if you want to support all browsers you’ll end up with special IE CSS classes and shit… its ridiculous!
3. Get some web space
Back in the day (wow that makes me sound old) it was all about free websites like Geocities and such. Seriously though, it doesn’t even matter. I’m not saying you need to own a domain (which is really cheap by the way) but just own some sort of web space. You don’t even need to pay for it. One of the most frustrating things is when someone tries to send me a file over some IM client or tries to attach it to an email. I FUCKING HATE GETTING LARGE ATTACHMENTS IN EMAIL! Don’t force me to download shit I don’t want. Just send me a link. You don’t even need to create a website if you don’t want to, just have it hold your files. But stop trying to file transfer it to me, attach it to an email, or use some shitty as free file hosting service that throttles my download speed and pumps my screen full of advertisements.
4. Blogging/Vlogging/Micro-Bloggin
First off, if you don’t know what a blog is… you’re reading one. Now go find a pencil and stick it in your eye. Secondly, read about vlogging and micro-blogging if you need some edumacation. All caught up? Good…
Why do these? First off its a great place to vent… FUCK SHIT DAMN HELL POOP FART APPLESAUCE! Additionally, if you’re a frequent person to the internet and have made some e-friends or meet up with real friends and family online, this is the only way people learn about you and what you’re doing.
But I don’t want people to know about me… I’m scared to reveal my true self
Okay fruitcake whatever… then be a mole and go dig yourself a hole: I’ll assume you’re gone now and continue talking to the normal people. Believe it or not, there are certain aspects of your life that people would take interest in if they knew about it. Maybe you draw? Maybe you write? Maybe you have a strange talent of sticking things in parts of your body that’s not natural… shit you could make money off that sort of stuff!
So think about it. Some useful services would include Wordpress, Twitter, Blogger, Identi.ca and so on… You really don’t need me to link you to anything specific… just Google (see section #1) one of them and find what one floats your proverbial boat.
5. Keep yourself organized
One of the most important aspects of enjoying the internet is being able to revisit objects of interest. Keeping your old emails organized is really important. Create folders for all important websites you frequent and save the emails you get from them in their respective areas.
Also, bookmarks (or Favorites for you IE fags) are important. I’m sure you already know about them and use them… but if you use them a lot I’m going to guess you have a huge menu that opens up and fills up your entire screen. Start making folders like “Funny Videos”, “Free Porn Sites”, and “Entertainment”. When you do this you’ll start noticing you’re able to actually find what you’re looking for. Its just like anything in life really. The more organized you are the more effective your time is utilized.
That’s it for now!