WCZone Web Design!Web Design, Security, and Networking Blog |
|
||||||||||
|
|
Efficient Video Delivery Over The InternetPosted by Digital Web Recent Articles Feed - May 13, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments While the days of low-quality stop animation may be a thing of the past, there is no denying that high quality video streaming is alive and well on the web today. Major media outlets stream significant amounts of their programming, amateurs are in on the game, and many users will simply expect video from certain content providers. This week, Lei Zhu brings us up to speed on the different methods that can be employed to get Flash video on to a site.
Improve Your Page Performance With Lazy LoadingPosted by Digital Web Recent Articles Feed - May 6, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Today’s web applications can necessitate a huge weight of both JavaScript and CSS —but in many application designs huge sections can be delayed, speeding up the total page response time to the user. Jakob Heuser shows us how to create a lazy loading utility, and start cutting down on your load times.
User Interface Implementations of Faceted BrowsingPosted by Digital Web Recent Articles Feed - April 29, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Faceted browsing is a powerful navigation tool for content dense sites—but not all browsing is alike. Mike Padilla explains the importance of remembering the users’ needs when creating this alternative to search to avoid pushing your audience down a path you didn’t intend.
Introduction to Django: Helping Perfectionists With DeadlinesPosted by public@digital-web.com - April 22, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments It seems like only yesterday that Rails was being trumpeted as the Next Big Thing™. But, no sooner had you wrapped your head around that framework, along comes another one. Django is gathering substantial support within the web development world, but can appear quite intimidating to beginners. Dan Ellis presents an introduction to the flexible framework for web perfectionists.
Web Design 101: PhotoshopPosted by public@digital-web.com - April 15, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments While it may be second nature to some, there is no denying that Photoshop has a fierce learning curve. If you’re a coder taking your first tentative steps into the world of design, or you’re a designer looking to switch to a more professional application, Anton Peck has some words of wisdom on getting started with the perennial web design favorite.
Presenting: Preparation, Process, and PizzazzPosted by public@digital-web.com - April 9, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments It might seem like a good idea when you’re sat in the audience, but once you land your first speaking gig at a web conference it can seem a daunting concept. Why would anyone want to listen to what you have to say—and do you actually have anything worth saying in the first place! Branding expert Lea Alcantara shares what she has learned about putting together the perfect presentation.
The Web Beyond the DesktopPosted by public@digital-web.com - April 1, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments When you think of the people who use your website, where do they use it? At work or a home office? What about a mobile phone? What about even more diverse devices like Amazon's Kindle or the Nintendo Wii? Dave Shea asks us to reconsider how and where people use our websites, and how best to tackle the demands of building sites for a wide array of devices.
10 Tips For Your First Email CampaignPosted by public@digital-web.com - March 25, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments While it may seem like the natural partner to web development, the art of email marketing comes with a whole new set of important steps to take if you want that newsletter to pay dividends. Ben Chestnut lays down ten top tips for anyone wondering how best to approach that tricky first campaign.
South By South West SketchnotesPosted by public@digital-web.com - March 18, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Had enough of the South By South West coverage yet? Yes? Tough luck—we’ve got one more SXSW goodie for you (but we promise this is the last one). Designer Mike Rohde took time out to talk to Digital Web about the motivation and process behind his popular “sketchnotes” technique, and we’re pleased to present some of the highlights from his Austin trip here.
Extending The JavaScript Date Object with User Defined MethodsPosted by public@digital-web.com - March 4, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Once you get into the nitty-gritty of building a web app, sooner or later you’re bound to run into the thorny question of date manipulation. JavaScript, lovely as it is, doesn’t offer much in the way of functionality—but, through the magic of prototypical inheritance, it doesn’t have to be that way. Lawrence O’Sullivan unveils a cornucopia of helpful functions to make managing those Date objects a breeze.
Your Social Graph: Exploring the Google APIPosted by public@digital-web.com - February 26, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments We know social is good, but how do we tap into that goodness? There are many benefits to harnessing user information and sharing it across sites - relationships are the key, and Brian Suda explains which doors the new Google API can help us to open.
How to Build a Green BusinessPosted by public@digital-web.com - February 19, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Does your business take responsibility for its impact on the environment or the local community? And does it do enough for your employees? John Reeve, co-founder of Santa Barbara design and development shop Pelago, shares the tips and advice that can help make your business whiter than white when it comes to being green.
Greasemonkey: Code Injection is BlissPosted by public@digital-web.com - February 12, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Who doesn’t wish they could tweak the internet to their liking? Greasemonkey is a powerful tool for customizing your browsing experience, and Jeffrey Rudesyle brings that idea home with a nifty Digital Web menu trick. He tells us how it’s done and lays the framework for future forays into the Greasemonkey playground.
Review: CodeIgniter for Rapid PHP Application DevelopmentPosted by public@digital-web.com - February 12, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Web development frameworks are a brave new world for some developers coming to them after years of procedural coding—and while the golden boy of frameworks, Ruby on Rails, now has several books to learn from, the relatively new PHP framework industry is lagging behind in that respect. Columnist Nathan Smith takes a look at a new book aiming to plug that gap for one of the hottest frameworks around: CodeIgniter.
Better Living Through TaxonomiesPosted by public@digital-web.com - February 5, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments As a change from our usual front-end development focused articles, this week we’re taking a step back to think about the content—and, more specifically, how to improve both the navigation and search on our sites through a better understanding of our content taxonomy. Join Heather Hedden as she investigates the history, management, and practical application of taxonomies on the web.
Creating The Perfect PortfolioPosted by public@digital-web.com - January 29, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments If you’re anything like me, your hard drive is probably littered with unfinished redesigns of your personal portfolio site. As professional designers, we can often be our own worst client—which is why I’m very pleased to welcome FreelanceSwitch’s Collis Ta’eed to set out some sensible ground rules to consider when approaching that portfolio project.
How To Build A Facebook ApplicationPosted by public@digital-web.com - January 22, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Wherever you turn these days, you can’t escape Facebook. Whether it’s on the news or being blocked by your corporate firewall, you can’t ignore the social networking sensation of the year. But how can you take advantage of those millions of eager users? Our resident API expert, Gareth Rushgrove, shows us how to use our existing skills—or websites—to create a Facebook application of your very own.
Excerpt: Pro JavaScript Design PatternsPosted by public@digital-web.com - January 14, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments JavaScript libraries were the hot topic last year, and have made it easy for us to build ever more powerful applications—but are you making best use of the object-oriented capabilities of JavaScript? The latest and greatest book on the subject, from Yahoo!’s Ross Harmes and Google’s (and Digital Web author) Dustin Diaz, takes a detailed look at OO best practices and how they can be applied to JavaScript—and this week Digital Web is happy to present an entire chapter to whet your appetite: The Adapter Pattern.
Review: Pro JavaScript Design PatternsPosted by public@digital-web.com - January 14, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments In their new book, Ross Harmes and Dustin Diaz share their expertise in object-oriented JavaScript programming, and take us to new heights by demonstrating how to build design pattern conventions, all based on JavaScript’s unique flexibility. Digital Web’s Tiff Fehr takes an objective look at Pro JavaScript Design Patterns.
CSS Not([hacks])Posted by public@digital-web.com - January 7, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments The final highlight of 2007 was the excellent 24ways web development advent calendar, ably curated by Drew McLellan and Brian Suda—and Brian becomes our first new author in 2008, with a detailed look at an alternative way to write browser-specific CSS while still keeping your stylesheets valid. Will you be making “no more hacks” your New Year’s resolution?
Why Opera?Posted by public@digital-web.com - January 7, 2008 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | No Comments Opera’s legal shenanigans caused no small amount of hand-wringing last month—to the extent that we almost forgot that there was a browser at the center of it all. Firefox might get all the anti-Microsoft press, but when was the last time you had to fix a layout in Opera? Never? Read on to find out what the world’s oldest browser company has in store for us codemonkeys this year.
Collecting for DesignPosted by public@digital-web.com - November 26, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off “Genius,” Thomas Edison once said, “is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.” While we can’t help with the latter, one way to oil your creative gears is to maintain a collection of inspiring design. Join Matthew Smith on a scientific journey of discovery—all for the sake of a simple navigation bar.
Scalable Media Hosting with Amazon S3Posted by public@digital-web.com - November 26, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off Whether you’re a multi-million pageview behemoth or a much smaller site, you can speed up your website by offloading some of the hosting to a different domain. But who needs the hassle of setting all that up, when you can use Amazon’s infrastructure instead? Craig Noeldner and Mike Culver walk us through the process of setting up and configuring your own little piece of Amazon S3.
Better Web Forms: Redesigning eBay’s RegistrationPosted by public@digital-web.com - November 12, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off There isn’t much that all-round web expert, Garrett Dimon, doesn’t know about the unique challenges of designing and developing for the web. This week he turns his attention to the ubiquitous web form, and demonstrates the do’s and dont’s of effective form design. (No international auction sites were harmed during the making of this article.)
Web Design and the DMCA: Giving and Getting Take Down NoticesPosted by public@digital-web.com - November 5, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off It’s a change of pace this week for Digital Web, as we turn away from web design for a relaxing look at the world of copyright law and take-down notices. Attorney Gregory Rutchik lays down the law (see what I did there?) on what to do when you give—or receive—a DMCA take-down.
Book Review: High Performance Web SitesPosted by public@digital-web.com - October 29, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off Come January, when we look back over this year and take stock of the key advancements that have been made in our corner of the industry, one of the highlights will surely be an increased focus on website performance—and it’s mostly due to the work of one man. Digital Web’s Matthew Pennell takes a look at a book that is the result of years spent fine-tuning the Yahoo! sites: Steve Souders’ High Performance Web Sites.
Flash Player 9: Bringing HD Flash Video to the WebPosted by public@digital-web.com - October 29, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off If requests to place videos on your clients’ websites give you visions of endlessly wrestling with huge files, software with steep learning curves, and small, fuzzy results, the changes heralded by the beta version of Flash Player 9 will give you reason to rejoice. Clients with .mov files? No problem. High definition, multiple formats, and a range of delivery platforms? Easy as pie. There are big changes ahead, and Flash video expert Tom Green gives us a glimpse of their significance and how to easily take advantage of them.
Excerpt: Accelerated DOM Scripting with Ajax, APIs and LibrariesPosted by public@digital-web.com - October 22, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off The abundance of JavaScript libraries available to developers can be both a blessing and a curse: it’s great to have variety, but how do you know which one to choose for which purpose? The venerable Jonathan Snook makes it look easy with an excerpt from his upcoming book, Accelerated DOM Scripting with Ajax, APIs and Libraries.
Building a Bulletproof Contact Form with PHPPosted by public@digital-web.com - October 15, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off Some of us know PHP inside and out, but many of us still have yet to take the leap into learning this very useful language. Virtually all the sites we create need contact forms, and PHP is a straightforward and safe way to build them. So, for those who are eager to find reliable PHP code they can copy (and tweak just a bit), or those who can build a basic contact form but are concerned about preventing some of the spam-related dangers, Digital Web Managing Editor Matthew Pennell walks us through the process, step by step.
jQuery Crash CoursePosted by public@digital-web.com - October 8, 2007 on 3:00 am | In Digital Web Design | Comments Off When it comes to the thorny subject of JavaScript libraries, picking the right one for you can be a difficult decision. File size or features, animations or AJAX, global namespace pollution or… whatever the opposite of that is. Digital Web columnist Nathan Smith thinks he’s found his ideal partner in jQuery, and takes to the sky to prove it.
|
|
© 2007 WCZone.com © For Content Belongs To The Respective Authors. |