General Business
Email 3a: Accessing Email On Your Web Server
by Estelle Weyl - 04-Nov-09
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Generally you will want to download emails you receive to Outlook, iMail, or some other program that reads email locally on your computer. Sometimes, however, you may not have access to your computer. In this tutorial we look at reading emails online, directly on your web server, via your control panel.
The Email Series:
Email 1: Creating New Email Addresses on Your Server
Email 2: Creating Email Forwarders
Email 3a: Accessing Email On Your Web Server
Email 2: Creating Email Forwarders
by Estelle Weyl - 23-Oct-09
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To look professional, you will want to use email addresses that match your domain name, instead of email addresses from free email services like Yahoo! or email addresses associated with your ISP, like Earthlink. In the last session, we learned how to create email addresses with your personalized domain. Sometimes, though, one email address isn't enough.
In this tutorial you'll learn how to create email addresses that forward to your main email address, so you can have unlimited email addresses
The Email Series:
Email 1: Creating New Email Addresses on Your Server
Email 2: Creating Email Forwarders
Email: Creating New Email Accounts On Your Server
by Estelle Weyl - 16-Oct-09
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Many small businesses have email addresses from free services like Yahoo! or through their ISP, such as sbcglobal or AOL. While it's vital to have an email address, it's unprofessional to have one from a domain other than your web site's. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to create a personalized email address with your domain name.
The Email Series:
Email 1: Creating New Email Addresses on Your Server
Email 2: Creating Email Forwarders
Making Your JumpStart Search Engine Friendly - Part 1: Setup & Structure
by Trevor Longino - 16-Sep-09
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This two part article series discusses some of the basics of structuring a web site to help with Search Optimization, and then applies these optimization tactics to two different CommunityMX JumpStarts, Siberia and Stelvio Pass.
This is Part 1 of 2, and discusses the theory of search optimization, keyword research, buying a domain, and structuring a web site. Part 2 brings this theory and prep work into practice using some of Community MX's excellent JumpStart templates. We'll be including and editing little snippets of these JumpStarts in this article, but you'll be best served if you download both of the JumpStarts now.
Firebug - Part 7a: The Script Tab (Basics)
by Estelle Weyl - 02-Sep-09
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In this section of a multi-part series about Firebug, the premier (and free) web development tool for Firefox we learn about Firebug's Script tab. We take a look at the basic functionalities of the Script tab, including inspecting your JavaScript.
The Firebug Series:
Firebug - Part 1: The What and Why
Firebug - Part 2: Overview of Firebug Functionality
Firebug - Part 3: Editing with Firebug
Firebug - Part 4A: Inspecting and Troubleshooting CSS
Firebug - Part 4B: Inspecting and Troubleshooting CSS
Firebug - Part 5: Inspecting the Box Model
Firebug - Part 6: HTTP Requests and Download Speeds
Firebug Part 7a: The Script Tab (Basics)
So You Want To Be a Tech Writer?
by Steven Seiller - 31-Aug-09
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Are you the type to share knowledge and innovations in technology? Are you the person everyone asks when they want to know how to do something on their computer? Maybe you have found yourself thinking after reading a tutorial, "Hey! I could write this. I know plenty of this stuff." Are you interested in helping others or possibly making some money from your knowledge?
Well, the opportunity to be an author of articles, commentaries, reviews and tutorials abound. You don't already need to be famous to become an author. You don't even need to know everything about the subject on which you write. But there are some things that you need to be in order to receive success as a tech writer. You do need to be accurate, be clear, be instructive, be innovative, be interesting and be curious.
Increase Contract Bidding Success With Problem Analysis
by Steven Seiller - 18-Aug-09
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I have heard from many developers who have developed bids for client sites only to hear upon submission that the prospect believes the solution to be far too expensive. Has this happened to you? Want to avoid the costly process of developing bids for potential clients who will likely reject them as far too expensive?
By incorporating problem analysis into your needs assessment process you can prevent situations in which your bids will be dismissed outright for their cost. I will show you how to increase the success rate of your bidding process by ensuring the solution you propose provides value for the problem the prospect has to solve.
IE8 - The Good - CSS2.1 Selector Support
by Estelle Weyl - 11-Aug-09
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In the last section we overviewed all the new features of IE8. In this section we take a closer look at all of the CSS2.1 Selectors, and compare IE6, IE7 and IE8 browser support.
The IE8: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (and Pretty) Series:
IE8: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (and Pretty)
IE8: The Good - CSS2.1 Selector Support
Firebug - Part 6: HTTP Requests & Download Speed
by Estelle Weyl - 07-Aug-09
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In developing a web site, you need to reduce download time, troubleshoot AJAX, ensure images are loading correctly, and make sure you don't have any missing files. Wish there was a tool that could do all that? There is!
In this section of our multi-part series about Firebug, the premier (and free) web development tool for Firefox, we learn all about Firebug's Net panel. You'll learn how to inspect HTTP requests and responses, analyze page load time, display AJAX responses and look at what gets posted on form submission. These are all things you can do within Firebug's Net panel. We'll show you how.
The Firebug Series:
Firebug - Part 1: The What and Why
Firebug - Part 2: Overview of Firebug Functionality
Firebug - Part 3: Editing with Firebug
Firebug - Part 4A: Inspecting and Troubleshooting CSS
Firebug - Part 4B: Inspecting and Troubleshooting CSS
Firebug - Part 5: Inspecting the Box Model
Firebug - Part 6: HTTP Requests and Download Speeds
Firebug Part 7a: The Script Tab (Basics)
IE8 - The Good, the Bad, the Ugly (and Pretty)
by Estelle Weyl - 22-Jul-09
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Browsers come out every day. Webkit has a nightly build. Wireless devices come with their own, often unique browsers. Even with the plethora of available browsers, Internet Explorer, a browser that is not regularly updated, still has over 60% of the browser market. IE8 was released only in March 2009, and by July 2009, it already had 17% of the browser market share.
In this article, we take a look at the IE8 browser and provide an overview of what is new and improved in this release.
The IE8: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (and Pretty) Series:
IE8: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (and Pretty)
IE8: The Good - CSS2.1 Selector Support
New From Acrobat.com: Presentations
by Kim Cavanaugh - 24-Jun-09
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When Adobe acquired Virtual Ubiquity—the company responsible for the great online word processor Buzzword—there was a great deal of speculation about where the company would take these technologies and what sort of additional services might be offered. In the two years since the acquisition was announced Buzzword has been rolled into the online sharing platform found at Acrobat.com and the programmers have been hard at work on other applications.
Recently two new services were announced that extend the services of Acrobat.com but that hold to the same principles as the original Buzzword application—focusing on the ability of users to share information and collaborate on documents in a real-time environment. This article will take a look at the first of these new services known simply as Presentations and discuss some of the trends ahead and speculate a bit on where Adobe might ultimately take these services.
Managing Employee Terminations
by Paul Davis - 08-May-09
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Handling the reduction of a workforce is often difficult for both parties involved. Obviously, the person being let go is in far worse shape. Howver, that doesn't make the other person's task less difficult. Here is a guide on steps to take, depending on the reason for the separation.
Going From One to Two - Hiring People
by Paul Davis - 09-Apr-09
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Going from one to two is the hardest business decision, however, now is an excellent time to be expanding your business if you have extra work or you're working more than you can handle.
Selling Your Business
by Adrian Senior - 05-Mar-09
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When we build a web site we take a great deal of time in ensuring that our copy and images precisely reflect the services we are selling. The aim is, of course, to make everything as appealing as we possibly can as soon as a viewer enters the web site. The time for capturing a viewers interest is minimal and initial impressions are vital in encouraging a visitor to explore further into the web site. Hopefully they are encouraged enough to make the purchase, use the contact form or pick up a phone to talk about their needs. This is fine for screen interaction and it is where many web sites and web designers seem to stop putting in the effort to sell the business.
In this tutorial, we will look at what happens when a user prints a page for referral purposes. The content is still there but what about the contact information? Do we expect the user to find the URL printed on the page and go back online to find out the info he/she needs? We will look at how we can carry on the good work already completed for our screen web site into the printed page.
The Design Process of a Web Development Team: Part 2--Executing Your Plan
by Kim Cavanaugh - 19-Feb-09
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While many web designers work directly with clients and essentially maintain a one woman (or man) web design company, the great majority of web developers work with other members on a design team.
Working with a team requires that you be organized and have a plan as you go into each project. Everyone on the team needs to understand what the goals of the project are, who is responsible for different phases of the work, and what deadlines need to be met. This often means a different workflow is required than the one that you might use as an independent web designer.
Even though working on a team might present different challenges the process of designing web sites remain the same as they do when you are working alone. In this two part series you will learn how the team design workflow process typically works, and how you can more effectively work in that environment.
The Design Process of a Web Development Team Series:
The Design Process of a Web Development Team - Part 1: Planning
The Design Process of a Web Development Team - Part 2: Executing Your Plan
The Design Process of a Web Development Team - Part 1: Planning
by Kim Cavanaugh - 11-Feb-09
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While many web designers work directly with clients and essentially maintain a one woman (or man) web design company, the great majority of web developers work with other members on a design team.
Working with a team requires that you be organized and have a plan as you go into each project. Everyone on the team needs to understand what the goals of the project are, who is responsible for different phases of the work, and what deadlines need to be met. This often means a different workflow is required than the one that you might use as an independent web designer.
Even though working on a team might present different challenges the process of designing web sites remain the same as they do when you are working alone. In this two part series you will learn how the team design workflow process typically works, and how you can more effectively work in that environment.
The Design Process of a Web Development Team Series:
The Design Process of a Web Development Team - Part 1: Planning
The Design Process of a Web Development Team - Part 2: Executing Your Plan Coming Soon
Tools of the Trade - Part 1: An Introduction
by Ray West - 29-Jan-09
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I wanted to write a series of articles about the tools of our trade; the trade of computer programmers, and most specifically, of those who program primarily for browser delivery. This will include not only specific tools, but also concepts of which we need to be aware as we interact with clients, contract with customers, program, deploy and deliver the services we provide.
Getting Clients to LOVE You
by Paul Davis - 28-Jan-09
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Certainly, you love paying clients, but how do you get clients to love you? How can you excite your clients so they willingly give you testimonials? Recommendations? References?
Client Cheat Sheets for Writing Web Site Content (Article Only - No Cheat Sheets)
by Steven Seiller - 20-Jan-09
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I've noticed when designing web sites for businesses that the typical business person tends to assume that the web developer will write the web site content for them. After all, you as the web designer are the one who makes this stuff appear on screen. Right? And you are left thinking, "Well, someone has to write this. It is not my web site."
So who creates the site content (text, photos, illustrations, captions and other media?) If you are to have your clients create their site content, you will likely need to help them. To facilitate broader client learning, I compiled the most significant requirements and tips into a cheat sheet. I also created two worksheets for clients to use for the purpose of focusing the content creation for the site and each page.
This article does not include the cheat sheet and worksheets. If you would like the worksheets and cheat sheet, please check out this article.
Client Cheat Sheets for Writing Web Site Content (Includes Cheat Sheet & Worksheets)
by Steven Seiller - 20-Jan-09
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I've noticed when designing web sites for businesses that the typical business person tends to assume that the web developer will write the web site content for them. After all, you as the web designer are the one who makes this stuff appear on screen. Right? And you are left thinking, "Well, someone has to write this. It is not my web site."
So who creates the site content (text, photos, illustrations, captions and other media?) If you are to have your clients create their site content, you will likely need to help them. To facilitate broader client learning, I compiled the most significant requirements and tips into a cheat sheet. I also created two worksheets for clients to use for the purpose of focusing the content creation for the site and each page.
Estimating Your Work
by Paul Davis - 15-Jan-09
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Putting together an estimate, painful? Here are some tips on how to cover the estimating to contract process.
The New .tel Domain: A New Trend in Top-Level Domains?
by Arman Danesh - 13-Jan-09
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The .tel top-level domain is a new domain coming online in early 2009. It offers a look at innovative applications with the use of DNS for more than just translating host names to IP addresses.
The .tel domain looks to leverage DNS to become a global contact information directory service based on Web 2.0 principles. This may signal a trend towards other innovative applications of the age-old DNS technology. This article provides an overview of the .tel domain and how it works.
Expose Right—Taking the Strange Out of Dynamic Range
by Knut Kubenz - 25-Nov-08
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You may have heard along the way in your digital photography travels, terms such as Dynamic Range and how when you expose your image you should Expose Right. The purpose of these terms, and they’re specific use in digital photography, might still be a bit of a mystery to you. Hopefully this article will expose them for what they are and shed a little more light on the subject.
Gray Cards Forever
by Knut Kubenz - 10-Nov-08
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They've been around for over half a century. They have no moving parts. They have no electronics and they'll never crash your system, yet they're a fantastic tool for determining correct exposure and color balance. What am I talking about you wonder? Why it's the humble, unsung hero of the photography world—the gray card.
Gray cards have been used in traditional photography for things such as landscapes, portraiture, commercial and industrial photography. They work just as well, and perhaps even easier, in the digital age.
Firebug - Part 1: The What and Why
by Estelle Weyl - 05-Nov-08
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In this multi-part series, we are going to learn all about Firebug, the premier (and free) web development tool for Firefox. Part 1 is an overview of the the Firefox browser, and Firebug, the Firefox plugin. Learn how to install Firefox and Firebug, and learn how to run the application and change preferences. In future sessions will show you how to work with and troubleshoot CSS, HTML and Javascript.
The Firebug Series:
Firebug - Part 1: The What and Why
Firebug - Part 2: Overview of Firebug Functionality
Firebug - Part 3: Editing with Firebug
Firebug - Part 4A: Inspecting and Troubleshooting CSS
Firebug - Part 4B: Inspecting and Troubleshooting CSS
Firebug - Part 5: Inspecting the Box Model
Firebug - Part 6: HTTP Requests and Download Speeds
Firebug Part 7a: The Script Tab (Basics)
Quick Shot - Saving Money Through Your Business
by Paul Davis - 04-Nov-08
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You need to find a way to save on taxes for your business
The author is not a tax lawyer or tax accountant, take all advise to your tax lawyer and tax accountant to verify your business is eligible to use these fringe benefits. This article is written based only upon USA federal tax laws
Browser Support: What should I test?
by Estelle Weyl - 31-Oct-08
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Do you really need to test all browsers? Is it even possible? Are you still testing in Netscape 4.7 or IE 5? Which browsers are you supposed to test? Which can you ignore? Which browsers need to render your page pixel perfect, and which browsers should render the page, but if they break, you're willing to live with that? What do you need to know about browser support?
Four Contract Clauses You Never See
by Kim Cavanaugh - 24-Oct-08
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If you've spent any time working in a creative field, you've probably already experienced the thrilling moment when you sign a contract with a client. Finally! After all your hard work and all the time you've spent learning how to translate your ideas into something tangible, you've found someone who actually wants to pay you for your work! This is heady stuff, no matter if you're creating movies, music, web pages, print campaigns, or just about anything that requires you and your team to think through how something should be and then follow that up with the creation of your ideas. Cool!
And hey, of course you need a contract to take care of the mundane aspects of a project. You know, laying out your payment terms, a delivery schedule, and the expectations of both parties to the contract.
Thing is, apparently when you're working in the creative field there are a great number of unspoken clauses in your contract that will absolutely give you fits. What are those unspoken expectations that your client will have? Read on for more!
Generate Cash with Amazon Associates
by Tom Muck - 28-Aug-08
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I'm sure you have seen the links on web sites -- links on book covers, CDs, downloadable music, and other items. If you do not already have an Amazon Associates account, you probably don't realize that the site owners who display these links are getting a percentage of all sales that are finalized after clicking the link. Amazon.com has offered referral fees for years, but many web sites still do not take advantage of them.
Conducting a Group Photo Walk
by Scott Valentine - 27-Aug-08
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Want an excuse to get out and take more pictures? Would a little peer pressure help? Of course it will!! And what better way to coax yourself into getting out there than organizing a photo walk?
Designing the Moment
by Robert Hoekman Jr - 16-Jul-08
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A good user experience is all about good moments. Each moment has the potential to increase a user’s confidence or destroy trust for a product or company, and each one is an important piece of the complete user experience.
In Designing the Moment, Robert Hoekman, Jr., author of the Amazon bestseller Designing the Obvious, presents over 30 stories of design solutions from real projects that show the evolution of each design as it was crafted and reveal the principles and concepts used to arrive at the solutions. Designing the Moment shows us how to look critically at design decisions to ensure that our users can walk away from our software feeling productive, respected, and smart, from the first impression to the last.
Robert Hoekman, Jr., is an interaction designer, writer, presenter, and user-experience evangelist, and the founder of Miskeeto (www.miskeeto.com), a product development and web design consultancy focused on socially conscious projects that improve the world.
He is the author of the Amazon bestseller Designing the Obvious (www.rhjr.net/dto) (New Riders), which focuses on seven guiding principles of great web-based software, and Designing the Moment (www.rhjr.net/dtm) (New Riders), a collection of stories from real projects that show how to put web design principles into action. Learn more about Robert through his blog at www.rhjr.net.
Project Management for Individuals - Part 2: Scheduling
by Scott Valentine - 02-Jul-08
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Where does the time go? I have no earthly idea where it goes, but if you want to know how you spent, you need to use a schedule. There is more to scheduling than simply trying to guess at and budget time. But that's where this article starts - guessing. It's what we do with those guesses that makes the difference.
If you find yourself wondering just how long it takes to complete a project, or if you need to get better control over your time expenditures, then this article is for you! Even if you don't, have a read, anyway. You may pick up a tip or two!
The Project Management for Individuals Series:
Project Management for Individuals - Part 1
Project Management for Individuals - Part 2: Scheduling
Adobe's Move to Online Services - Part 2: kuler, JamJar, and More
by Kim Cavanaugh - 02-Jul-08
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In the last few months Adobe Systems has made some rather remarkable shifts in how they envision their products being used, and how they see the next generation of web and multi-media authors working together. In the first article of this series we explored the the new tools provided by the free Acrobat.com service and saw how Adobe has added the capability to edit documents online and share them with others, as well as conduct video-conferencing through a light version of Acrobat Connect. With these new online services you can collaborate, share, and even teleconference with your colleagues no matter where they are as Adobe moves beyond the desktop and into the world where the web is as much about working with others as it is just showing them things.
In this article we'll examine some of the other services that Adobe is offering—those that are built around the idea of sharing and working online with others as well as taking a quick peek at Adobe's new online service for editing images. And as usual there will be a bit of speculation about where Adobe might be taking these tools in the future. Some of these services are offered only as beta products and may never see the light of day in "production" mode. Others may find their way into existing products as feature-added services, or be launched as entirely new products all their own. What's fascinating about all of these is the move that we see as Adobe goes beyond the desktop and adds new online services that are more than just a means to be creative, but provide online applications that allow others to share and network in some pretty interesting ways.
The Adobe's Move to Online Services Series:
Adobe's Move to Online Services - Part 1: Acrobat.com
Adobe's Move to Online Services - Part 2: kuler, JamJar, and More
SnagIt 9 - Introduction
by Paul Davis - 30-Jun-08
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TechSmith has come out with another version of SnagIt and they have completely updated the interface, added new features and made it even better than before. In this article, I've gone over a few of the features of SnagIt, check it out!
Adobe's Move to Online Services - Part 1: Acrobat.com
by Kim Cavanaugh - 19-Jun-08
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In the last few months Adobe Systems has made some rather remarkable shifts in how they envision their products being used, and how they see the next generation of web and multi-media authors working together. In this article you’ll learn a bit more about where Adobe is heading in the world of web-enabled services, and a fair dose of speculation on where this might all be leading as you see a review of the new tools provided by the free Acrobat.com service. With these new online services you can collaborate, share, and even teleconference with your colleagues no matter where they are as Adobe moves beyond the desktop and into the world where the web is as much about working with others as it is just showing them things.
The Adobe's Move to Online Services Series:
Adobe's Move to Online Services - Part 1: Acrobat.com
Adobe's Move to Online Services - Part 2: kuler, JamJar, and More
Business Billing
by Paul Davis - 16-Jun-08
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As an entrepreneur, do you struggle with how to handle the non-billable hours you seem to stack up each week? Wouldn't it be nice to get paid for those too? In this article I'll discuss some ways to work non-billable hours on to the invoices you send out...
Things I Learned at TODCon
by Ray West - 13-Jun-08
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I should probably call this "Things I Started to Learn at TODCon" because I am still trying to come to terms with some of the cool things I saw and learned this year. I organize this conference, and so for me it is mostly work time, making sure everyone's rooms were booked right and George's wireless is working. But even with all that I always manage to pick up some really cool knowledge.
Your Free Marketing Spy: Google Alerts
by Steven Seiller - 11-Jun-08
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How would you like to know when your competitor is mentioned in the news? Or when someone mentions your competitor on a blog? How would you like to know when someone mentions your business — whether good or bad? Need to keep up on industry developments and issues? If so, then you need a personal intelligence agent.
A personal intelligence agent is a computerized service which acts on your behalf to find and notify you of information important to you. Google makes this service available to you for free with a feature called Google Alerts. Instead of repeatedly performing Google searches to see if there is new content of interest, Google Alerts automatically emails you when it finds new content which matches your search query. With Google working as your free marketing spy, you can easily track Internet postings about you, your competitors or industry developments.
Mobile Internet Devices - Part 1: An Introduction
by Rob Williams - 05-Jun-08
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We've all heard of "the mobile web, at least in some general context. What most developers haven't become aware of though is just how much that idea of mobile internet is changing, and how we, as website developers and maintainers, need to start changing our paradigms about developing for "devices".
Today we'll take a look at the traditional mobile web, some of the changes that have/are taking place, and some of the ways that we can keep ahead of the curve as web developers.
The Mobile Internet Devices Series:
Mobile Internet Devices - Part 1: An Introduction
Mobile Internet Devices - Part 2: Browser Evolution
Best Practices for Creating Custom Web Site Search Function - Part 1
by Steven Seiller - 04-Jun-08
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Having shared my disdain for ineffective web site search functions, I decided to put forth a list of best practices for creating custom web site search functions. This list will focus on the non-technical aspects of designing and implementing a custom search function for your web site.
If you have a custom content database, you will most likely need to create your custom site search function. Search engines like Google make it easy to add their search technology to standard, page-oriented sites. Blog and CMS-based sites have search built in to their systems. This leaves sites with products or specialized content with the need for a custom site search function.
If you have an ecommerce site or just a product catalog, standard page content searching will most likely not meet the particular search needs of your visitors who need functional methods to sift through your catalog. Sites with specialized content, such as events or downloads, have similar needs for functional database search. By functional, I mean the ability to filter or sort results. Standard page content search generally does not allow one to show only results within a certain category nor organize them by date or price. For this, you need to create your own custom site search function.
Project Management for Individuals - Part 1
by Scott Valentine - 21-May-08
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Perhaps you are the kind of person that always gets everything done, on time and under budget. You can leave, now, because you probably already know about project management and apply it to every aspect of your life. It's likely that organizational tools have no place in your well-ordered life. You probably comb your spaghetti, too.
Others of us have spent years wondering how to estimate time and cost properly for bids and contracts, or just give up and charge a flat fee, hoping that we'll guess right more often than not. And some of us use a combination of techniques, gleaned from years of doing similar tasks over and over.
Here are some tips and tricks to using project management tools to help those of us who do not think in Gantt charts or wall paper our bathrooms in full-color value stream maps. And, with careful reading, maybe even the spaghetti combers will get something out of it, too. Keep in mind that the approaches I describe here do not follow rigid methods. Instead, I am presenting a way to do things that I've found helpful. Caveat emptor :)
The Project Management for Individuals Series:
Project Management for Individuals - Part 1
Project Management for Individuals - Part 2: Scheduling
11 Things I Hate About Web Site Search Functions
by Steven Seiller - 12-May-08
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My wife is an Internet shopping fiend! And because she tells me everything that annoys her, she told about this web site on which she was searching for a product. The product she was looking for was found in twenty different styles each of which found in six different categories. The results of these twenty products ballooned to a result of 120 which was overly repetitious.
Her rant got me to thinking about my own frustrations with web site search functions. Search is currently the dominant computing paradigm. As evidence of this, you merely need to look at how recent versions of operating systems and web browsers have placed search functions in prominent positions on your screen. Look at the latest versions of Mac OS or Windows and you will see that search functions have made their way to the top tier of marketed features. Together with the popularity of search engines, users are indoctrinated into the process of searching instead of looking. The premise of Gmail is that your don't need to file your messages because you can just search for them.
Since more and more web site visitors are expecting to find what they want by searching, you should ensure you provide this feature for them so they don't leave your site and find another which does have a prominent search box.
This article contains a list of my common observations of obstacles to successfully enabling search on your web site.
One Month Until TODCon
by Ray West - 09-May-08
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We just wanted to take the opportunity to remind you that it is only one month until TODCon 2008 in beautiful Orlando, FL. TODCon is a unique and intimate web development conference sponsored by Adobe.
Steal This Article - Please!
by Ray West - 23-Apr-08
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Of all of the things the Internet has accomplished, blurring the lines regarding the ownership of digital content is likely one of the most lasting and significant. We seem to be raising a generation that, in addition to healthcare, video game consoles, and fancy rims from the rent-to-own wheel store, numbers everything available on the web among the things they have a right to. Far beyond the time when people who go beneath the radar to share boxes of floppy disks full of Sierra-Online games, today people are defiant about their right to whatever they come across.
Lost in Translation - Basic Web Site Communication
by Derrick Ypenburg - 13-Mar-08
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Recently, I spoke to a conference of small business owners about starting a web site for their businesses… yes, there are still companies out there that do not have a web site! Going back to basics was a great experience for me. When I am working in the Flash world, I am usually at a level where people understand the value, the medium, and are living in "web 2.0".
Working with small business owners made me think back to the basics of web design. Many of these business owners are intrinsically linked to their product, shop or warehouse. The business is THEM. Their bricks and mortar and the friendly face behind the counter is essential to who they are.
When I spoke to the small business owners, I wanted to steer them in the right direction. Sometimes, that means pointing out bad examples. When a web site works, it can be hard to define "why". When a web site doesn't work, it's a lot easier to deconstruct. I called it "Lost in Translation".
Customer Service Tips
by Tom Muck - 20-Feb-08
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Web developers frequently have to deal with customers. How you deal with customers can make or break your business. Often, the difference between a successful company and an unsuccessful company with an otherwise identical product/service is the level of customer service that they provide. I have been dealing with customers in one way or another for almost 30 years, so I have put together a short list of hints and rules that I follow when dealing with customers.
Version Clue with Version Cue
by Steven Seiller - 07-Jan-08
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Essentially, Version Cue is a server-client database which tracks copies of your project files through their numerous iterations. Supported by most of the Creative Suite applications, Version Cue conveniently helps you track the version history of your design files and easily backtrack to old revisions.
Designed to run as a server for small or large groups, you can readily run it solo on your personal computer with the default settings. Those of you with Shrinking Hard Drive Syndrome (SHDS) will be relieved to know that Version Cue doesn't just stack copies of your project files into a folder, it saves just the data which has changed between each version. With this tutorial and 5 minutes time, you too will be ready to manage your projects through Version Cue.
Web Writing Exercises - Part Two
by Sheri German - 03-Jan-08
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In the second part of the web writing series, you will look at how to use common, everyday words that help readers understand information the first time they read it. You'll look at the principles of audience, organization, and clarity, core features in a style of writing called "plain language".
The writing challenge is an exercise in converting the passive voice to the active voice in another writing sample from my vet client.
The Web Writing Exercises Series:
Web Writing Exercises - Part One
Web Writing Exercises - Part Two
Quick Shot - Search Engine Optimization Tips
by Paul Davis - 19-Dec-07
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So - your web site just isn't on the ranking where you'd like it to be on the mother of all search engines, Google?
The Semantic Web and You
by Kim Cavanaugh - 24-Jul-07
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A worldwide web of interconnected information may sound like the very definition of the Internet, but in truth the notion that ideas can be connected together is profound, and a long way off from total realization.
This article takes a look at the ideas behind the term semantic web, and what it means to you as both a consumer and producer of online information. As Sir Tim Berners-Lee—who many consider to be the father of the Internet—has stated, this is "...not to the World Wide Web of today but rather the Semantic Web that it will evolve into tomorrow."
Yahoo! Pipes: Create a Persistent News Search with Web Services
by Kim Cavanaugh - 23-Jul-07
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Yahoo Pipes has been on my personal radar since it was announced in February of this year. At the time of its rollout there was a great deal of interest in Pipes around the web design world. Yahoo provided what appeared to be an easy way for anyone (even non-developers like myself) to mash-up RSS feeds into new web services. While that may seem like no big deal, my own experiences and research into current trends indicates that there is a growing demand for data that has been customized and repurposed to fit particular audiences. If you're developing web sites for customers, the ability to provide them with live data that can be displayed on their site will be a valuable service that just may set you apart from your competition. You don't even have to tell anyone how easy Yahoo makes this.
In this series of articles we'll be looking at the world of Yahoo Pipes from both exploratory and practical viewpoints. We'll start out by looking at the Pipes design environment and previewing feeds developed and shared by others in the Pipes community. From there you'll build your first customized feed and finish things up with a look at how feeds published using the Pipes service can be consumed in different ways on your own sites.
In this article you'll learn a little how persistent searches can be created in both Google News and Yahoo News services. Since both of these giants of web indexing also provide the capacity to output a feed as structured RSS you can pull the results into Yahoo Pipes and mash them together into one, deep-searching, consolidated feed. You'll also find out how individual feeds are created and how some simple modules in the Yahoo Pipes environment are used to combine, aggregate, filter, and limit the results that are returned. This is an incredibly powerful piece of technology that you can use to your advantage, or provide as a service to your clients.
The Yahoo! Pipes Series:
Yahoo! Pipes: An Introduction
Yahoo! Pipes: Mash-up a Customized News Feed
Yahoo! Pipes: Create a Persistent News Search with Web Services
Yahoo! Pipes: Options for Publishing a Customized RSS Feed Coming Soon
Yahoo! Pipes: Mash-up a Customized News Feed
by Kim Cavanaugh - 05-Jul-07
Reader Level:
Yahoo Pipes has been on my personal radar since it was announced in February of this year. At the time of its roll-out there was a great deal of interest around the web design world as Yahoo provided what appeared to be an easy way for anyone (even non-developers like myself) to mash-up RSS feeds into new web services. If you’re developing web sites for customers, the ability to provide them with live data that can be displayed on their site will be a valuable service that just may set you apart from your competition. You don’t even have to tell anyone how easy Yahoo makes this.
In this series of articles we'll be looking at the world of Yahoo Pipes from both exploratory and practical viewpoints. We'll start out by looking at the Pipes design environment and previewing feeds developed and shared by others in the Pipes community. From there you'll build your first customized feed and finish things up with a look at how feeds published using the Pipes service can be consumed in different ways on your own sites.
The Yahoo! Pipes Series:
Yahoo! Pipes: An Introduction
Yahoo! Pipes: Mash-up a Customized News Feed
Yahoo! Pipes: Create a Persistent News Search with Web Services Coming Soon
Yahoo! Pipes: Options for Publishing a Customized RSS Feed Coming Soon
Rule #4 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Self-Preservation
by Derrick Ypenburg - 29-Jun-07
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Self-preservation as a freelancer is a very hard task. Having to be disciplined enough to get work done on your own, having a clean home office, sending out invoices on time, eating meals, picking up the kids, etc., etc.. It's hard to handle everything, but there are things you can do for yourself to help you get into a better groove.
The points I'm making in this article are not published, industry standard rules, but rather a personal list of items I've found out for myself and good pieces advice I have received over the years. These serious, yet humorous tips on self-preservation are in no particular order. Enjoy!
The Rules for Busy Freelancers Series:
Rule #1 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Don't Be Everything to Everybody
Rule #2 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Be Honest with Your Scheduling
Rule #3 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Manage Your Client as Well as the Project
Rule #4 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Self-Preservation
Yahoo! Pipes: An Introduction
by Kim Cavanaugh - 25-Jun-07
Reader Level:
Yahoo Pipes has been on my personal radar since it was announced in February of this year. At the time of its roll-out there was a great deal of interest around the web design world as Yahoo provided what appeared to be an easy way for anyone (even non-developers like myself) to mash-up RSS feeds into new web services. If you’re developing web sites for customers the ability to provide them with live data that can be displayed on their site will be a valuable service that just may set you apart from your competition. You don’t even have to tell anyone how easy Yahoo makes this.
In this first article in a four-part series you'll be introduced to the Yahoo! Pipes design environment and see some examples of the kinds of things that clever people all over the world are doing with Pipes. You'll learn the basic principles behind Pipes and see just how easy the design environment is to work in.
The Yahoo! Pipes Series:
Yahoo! Pipes: An Introduction
Yahoo! Pipes: Mash-up a Customized News Feed (Coming soon)
Yahoo! Pipes: Create a Persistent News Search with Web Services (Coming soon)
Yahoo! Pipes: Options for Publishing a Customized RSS Feed (Coming soon)
Rule #3 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Manage Your Client as Well as the Project
by Derrick Ypenburg - 22-Jun-07
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Not managing the client while managing their project is a big mistake made by many freelancers. As a freelancer, you are plugging away to get the job done (barely keeping your head above water) and then at the end of it all, your client comes back to you with a whack of changes, concerns, unreasonable demands, or frustrations. I hear this all of the time from colleagues and have had some of these experiences myself. I think some of the lack of client management may, in-part, stem from the reason why people get into freelance in the first place. Most of us freelancers got tired of working for a boss. Although you may be your own boss, your clients are your boss when you take on a project with them. You need to manage them and treat them like you would treat a boss in any other job.
The Rules for Busy Freelancers Series:
Rule #1 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Don't Be Everything to Everybody
Rule #2 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Be Honest with Your Scheduling
Rule #3 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Manage Your Client as Well as the Project
Rule #4 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Self-Preservation
TODCon 9: Day Three
by Jim Babbage - 22-Jun-07
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As I mentioned in my TODCon summary, the topic coverage at TODCon was far ranging. Wednesday, the final day, was no different in this regard. There were ten sessions one could attend on the final day. This overview will give you some insight into the topics covered on the final day of TODCon 2007.
TODCon 9: Day Two
by David Stiller - 21-Jun-07
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The Las Vegas strip is lit up at all times. While this is certainly a true statement, the phrase "lit up" merely hints at the teaming magnetism of the neon dynamos that whirl, blink, and jitterbug off every building, billboard, and casino slot machine. If you remember the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment in Disney's Fantasia — where Mickey unwittingly awakens a swarm of enthusiastic broomsticks — you'll have an inkling of the sort of enchantment that has here awakened the humble light bulb. Think of it as a chorus line of <blink> tags personified. Every last one alluring, all vying for your attention.
In light of this (hey, a pun!) it wasn't until day two of TODCon that I found myself able to instinctively locate the conference meeting rooms. Until then, I had been adrift among the brilliance, veering from this placard to that, winding my way — always distracted! — toward the escalators that led to the stairs that led to the breakfast buffet that led to the rooms.
TODCon 9: Day One
by Tom Green - 20-Jun-07
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Religious revival, surly greetings to the U.S., ugliness at the restaurant and enough information to make your head explode. Yep. TODCon, Day One.
Rule #2 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Be Honest with Your Timelines
by Derrick Ypenburg - 18-Jun-07
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In my quest for streamlining my small business, my next rule is honesty! I am an honest business person, but I'm not always honest when it comes to timelines. My clients never see this dishonesty however. That's because I work like mad behind the scenes to keep up when I make un-realistic deadlines. Not being honest with your client/yourself doesn't only cost you time and sanity, it costs you money. It can cost you lots of money$$$
The Rules for Busy Freelancers Series:
Rule #1 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Don't Be Everything to Everybody
Rule #2 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Be Honest with Your Scheduling
Rule #3 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Manage Your Client as Well as the Project
Rule #4 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Self-Preservation
TODCon 2007 - A Summary
by Jim Babbage - 14-Jun-07
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This is an almost impossible task: How to sum up one of the best learning and networking experiences of the year, without trivializing it.
If you didn't make it to TODCon, read through this article for an insight to my overall impressions of the conference and learn why I think this is a "must-do" event.
Rule #1 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Don't be Everything to Everybody
by Derrick Ypenburg - 30-May-07
Reader Level:
Are you struggling with your personal business in the new age of Web 2.0? Well you're not alone. I've come to a crossroads where I need to re-evaluate what I'm doing, and what I need to change/do to keep up in these busy times. To help me with the growing pains, I will be writing each part of this series as a new rule for me to follow. I hope these rules help you as well in your new media business.
The Rules for Busy Freelancers Series:
Rule #1 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Don't Be Everything to Everybody
Rule #2 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Be Honest with Your Scheduling
Rule #3 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Manage Your Client as Well as the Project
Rule #4 For Busy Freelancers to Follow: Self-Preservation
18 FREE Software Tools You Need to Use!
by Paul Davis - 19-Apr-07
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Everyone likes FREE. Find some software that is free and actually really good, comparable or better than the commercial applications in the same field.
Getting Productive with Adobe Bridge: Fireworks CS3 Integration
by Jim Babbage - 18-Apr-07
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For years, Fireworks users have been clamouring for some method of browsing and previewing files without having to go into Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. Something seamless, that actually worked with Fireworks. Heck, it got to the point where many of us would have been happy with the equivalent of the Files tab from Dreamweaver. But now, the wait is over.
Now that Fireworks has become part of the Adobe fold, this wish has come true! Adobe Fireworks CS3 is now integrated with Adobe Bridge CS3. I have written several articles on Community MX with respect to Bridge CS2, but at that time, Fireworks and Bridge were not communicating to each other. With the launch of the CS3 Suite, not only is there far more communication between former Macromedia and Adobe apps, Bridge CS3 has gotten a massive cosmetic and functional overhaul. From a visual perspective alone, Bridge CS2 and CS3 look completely different.
Using Your iPod with Your Digital Camera
by Jim Babbage - 19-Mar-07
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As you may have noticed in some of my blogs, I've pretty much become an iPod junkie. From tunes, to Podcasts, to adding photos from my computer, I'm having a blast. Recently, I've found even more reasons to love my iPod. The iPod Camera Connector for the video iPod.
This little accessory has opened up even more flexibility for my digital photography needs. As long as I have my iPod with me (and enough space on it) I no longer have to worry about switching memory cards in my camera. I just connect the camera's USB cable to the connector, and I can import files directly from the camera to my iPod. It's fast and easy, especially with JPEG files.
Anti-Spam Measures for PHP and ColdFusion - Part 1
by Tom Muck - 01-Mar-07
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Spam, spam, spam, spam. Spammers have taken over the Internet and made it a horrible place to maintain a web site. Spammers have gone beyond simply spamming your email account -- now they are spamming blogs and guestbooks, spamming trackbacks, and spamming signup forms. Even a child's home page with a guestbook for friends is not safe from links for cialis, porn, or web hosting. Obviously these spammers are getting some return from their criminal activity, because they keep doing it. Unfortunately, you can't reach through the computer screen and grab them by the throat to strangle the life out of them. All you can do is put in place some safeguards and try to minimize the attack.
The Anti-Spam Measures for PHP and ColdFusion Series:
Anti-Spam Measures for PHP and ColdFusion - Part 1
Anti-Spam Measures for PHP and ColdFusion - Part 2
Profiting Through Tax-Free Fringe Benefits
by Paul Davis - 28-Feb-07
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Fringe benefits you can use to turn some personal after tax expenses into business expenses tax free!
The author is not a tax lawyer or tax accountant, take all advise to your tax lawyer and tax accountant to verify your business is eligible to use these fringe benefits. This article is written based only upon USA federal tax laws
You Owe Them Documentation
by Ray West - 16-Feb-07
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There seems to be a tendency among programmers to try to tie the maintenance and further development of a project to themselves by providing as little information as possible that might allow the client to look elsewhere. Sort of like the local photographer who somehow feels that he owns the copyright to my image when I pay him to take pictures. But if you are developing under a work-for-hire contract, as most freelancers do, you retain no rights to the code you produce and the client is free to use whomever he likes to continue the project.
That makes thorough documentation an integral part of the product you deliver to your client. It is more than a nicety or an added bonus, it is the only thing that really makes the application they paid for theirs because it allows them to use and further develop it as they see fit.
Dealing with the Dreaded IRS Audit…
by Paul Davis - 08-Feb-07
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The dreaded IRS audit, learn about preparing before you get an audit and how to make the audit process livable.
This article is about USA tax laws only. The author is not a tax attorney or accountant, take all of the advice to your tax attorney and accountant before utilizing any of the information.
Google Analytics Part 2: Examining Analytical Data
by Kim Cavanaugh - 30-Jan-07
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There are two fundamental questions regarding web site design and functionality that every site designer needs to answer: Who is your target audience and what is it that you want them to do at your site? The answers to those two questions go a long way towards driving site design as they affect everything from the colors you choose, the kind of navigation you select, and the services that you offer. During the design process the savvy designer/developer keeps these questions firmly in mind as they make their decisions, making assumptions based on what they think people will do at the site.
You can take the guess work out of this process by using the new, and completely free service offered by Google called Google Analytics.
In this article you'll see how data is organized by Google Analytics for your quick review and how you can drill down to get even more information. Be forewarned though. The kinds of data analysis you can do on a site can be somewhat addictive, and you may find yourself spending a considerable amount of time looking at all the information Google Analytics provides on your sites.
Bulletproof Your Home Business Deduction
by Paul Davis - 29-Jan-07
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If you are in the USA and you have a home office, but you are afraid to deduct it or you would like to see how to deduct it more effectively, without fearing an IRA audit, check out the tips in this article
(Please note: The author is not a tax lawyer or accountant and the advice that is given should not be considered as legal or accounting advice. Discuss all of these suggestions with your accountant or legal adviser. Your state laws may be substantially different)
Google Analytics Part 1: Getting Started with Site Tracking
by Kim Cavanaugh - 22-Jan-07
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The two fundamental questions regarding web site design and functionality haven't changed since the days when the first commercial sites were published. Who is your target audience and what is it that you want them to do at your site? The answers to those two questions go a long way towards driving site design as they affect everything from the colors you choose, the kind of navigation you select, and the services that you offer.
But what do you after you launch your site? How do you know if you (or your clients) are accomplishing your goals? The more you can find out about your visitors the better off you'll be as you can make any number of inferences from those statistics.
While it used to be hard, or somewhat expensive to get your hands on that data, you now have access to a phenomenal wealth of information about your site and best of all, it's completely free and is being offered by one of the most trusted names on the web—Google.
In the first part of a two-part series you'll have a chance to see just how easy it is to get started with your own Google Analytics account and the steps you can take to begin tracking your site.
Generate a Google Sitemap Using ASP.NET
by Heidi Bautista - 17-Jan-07
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Google's Webmaster Tools include a way for you to specify a sitemap file. Then, when Google indexes your site, it includes all the pages listed in the sitemap. At first blush you're probably thinking that you'll just use an ASP.NET .sitemap. After all, it's easy to create. You may even already have a .sitemap file that lists all the pages that you would want Google to index. The bad news is that Google doesn't support the format of ASP.NET .sitemap files. Bertrand Le Roy to the rescue.
Read on to learn how to use Bertrand's HTTP handler to convert your ASP.NET .sitemap file to Google's own sitemap format. In addition, this article shows you how to modify the HTTP handler so that it can deal with any ASP.NET .sitemap file, not just the default Web.sitemap file. If your default Web.sitemap contains an incomplete list of site pages you'll want to modify Bertrand's HTTP handler and use it to tell Google about an alternate .sitemap file. Providing Google with a robust sitemap to your site increases your odds of having all pages from your site included in their index.
Using Metadata Templates with Adobe Applications
by Kim Dudley - 08-Jan-07
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Metadata ia a word that first appeared in the late sixties-early seventies. It is usually defined as "data about data" but when speaking about Metadata in relation to the Adobe Suite of products it can be described as information about the file. This information may include the file's author, resolution, color space, copyright and keywords applied to it. Since all the Adobe Creative Suite applications, including Bridge, use Metadata information in a standardized way it can help streamline your workflow by organizing and tracking your files created in different applications. The Metadata information is stored using the Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) standard on which the Adobe Creative Suite applications are built.
In this tutorial we will look at how to add Metadata to files and how to create Metadata templates that will be available when creating files in the Adobe Creative Suite applications.
Are you Google-Friendly?
by Heidi Bautista - 05-Jan-07
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Is it possible to ensure that Google finds, crawls, and indexes your site? Well, no, there's no way to guarantee your site will be included in Google's index but you can make your site Google-friendly, thus improving your chances.
Google even provides the guidelines and tools. This article provides an overview of Google's Webmaster Tools and how you can use them to increase your Google-friendliness and in the process, hopefully, increase your ranking in the search results.
Added bonus for ASP.NET developers: learn about a freely available HTTP handler that converts your Web.sitemap to Google's preferred sitemap protocol.
Digital Photography for Beginners - More Tips and Tricks
by Jim Babbage - 28-Dec-06
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Back in April of 2004, I wrote an article called Digital Photography Tips and Tricks. While the advice still applies, even a couple years later, I thought it time to add some updates. The digital camera market has flourished in the past couple years; cameras are getting better, cheaper and more commonplace. Film is fading into the category of "fine art."
One big advantage to digital photography is that digital cameras and their media are not affected by airport x-ray machines. Unprocessed film is affected by X-Ray machines and several passes through these devices can ruin your holiday pics.
So let's look at some additional ways to improve your digital photography.
Methods for Testing in Multiple Versions of IE
by Zoe Gillenwater - 04-Dec-06
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Internet Explorer 7 (IE), released in October 2006, greatly improves its CSS rendering capabilities. However, it's only available for Windows XP and Vista, so we still have to support IE 6 — and possibly IE 5.5 and 5.0, depending on your site's audience — for some time to come. Unfortunately, the integration of IE into the Windows operating system, and Microsoft's refusal to allow multiple versions of it to run at the same time, have made testing web sites in various versions of the ubiquitous browser difficult. There are, however, ways it can be done, and the advent of IE 7 has brought some new methods out for our consideration.
In this article I'll provide an overview of the current methods available for testing multiple versions of Windows IE and provide the pros and cons of each method so you can decide which suits you best.
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 4: Rating and Labeling
by Jim Babbage - 28-Sep-06
Reader Level:
As a commercial photographer, one of my ongoing challenges is to keep my images organized so that I can sort and find images quickly for myself or a client. This is a concept that is—in my opinion—important for anyone involved in the professional graphics industry: graphic and web designers, retouchers, artists ... we can all benefit from a little more organization and structure.
This is where Adobe's Bridge comes in very handy. This piece of software comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop® CS2, Illustrator® CS2, InDesign® CS2, and GoLive® CS2 or any of Adobe's Creative Suites. In fact it's one of the few—if not the only—Adobe software product which cannot be purchased as a standalone item.
The Bridge is based on the File Browser that was part of Photoshop 7.0, but goes much further than a simple file searching utility. In previous articles of this series, we have looked at Batch Renaming, Working with Metadata and Creating Keywords, Searches and Collections. In this article, we will look at how to sort and "soft-edit" your images using ratings and labels to make them easier to manage, segregate into folders or burn to a CD or other media. We'll also learn how powerful rating and labeling can be when combined with keywords.
The Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge Series:
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 1: Batch Renaming
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 2: Working with Metadata
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 3: Keywords and Searches and Collections - Oh My!
Gettting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 4: Rating and Labeling
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 3: Keywords and Searches and Collections - Oh My!
by Jim Babbage - 19-Sep-06
Reader Level:
In the last two instalments of this series, we looked at Batch Renaming and Working with Metadata within Bridge. In this third part, we're going to explore the Keywords panel. We'll also learn how to create searches for specific files and how to create and save collections based on a search.
From an organizational perspective, assigning keywords to images can greatly speed up your workflow when you are searching for a specific file or type of file. The tough part is making sure you add all that information on a consistent basis. Spend a little time now, save a lot in the future. Keywords can be generic, such as "photograph" or "vector," to more specific, such as "steamships" or "sunset".
This aricle explains how to add keywords, keyword sets, create keyword templates to speed up your workflow, and also how to serach for files and save those searches as collections.
The Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge Series:
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 1: Batch Renaming
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 2: Working with Metadata
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 3: Keywords and Searches and Collections - Oh My!
Plan Your Business with a Business Plan
by Paul Davis - 14-Sep-06
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"Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning" - Winston Churchill
Plan your business for success and stop worrying about it! A well written business plan will give your business direction, goals and objectives. If you don't know where you're going, you'll never get there.
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 2: Working with Metadata
by Jim Babbage - 08-Sep-06
Reader Level:
As a commercial photographer, one of my on-going challenges is to keep my images organized so that I can sort and find images quickly for myself or a clinet. This is a concept that is—in my opinion—important for anyone involved in the professional graphics industry: graphic and web designers, retouchers, artists ... we can all benefit from a little more organization and structure.
This is where Adobe's Bridge comes in very handy. This piece of software comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop® CS2, Illustrator® CS2, InDesign® CS2, and GoLive® CS2 or any of Adobe's Creative Suites. In fact it's one of the few—if not the only—Adobe software product which cannot be purchased as a standalone item.
The Bridge is based on the File Browser that was part of Photoshop 7.0, but goes much further than a simple file searching utility. In this article, we will look at how to work with Metadata to help you sort, organize and, to a degree, protect your imaging work.
The Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge Series:
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 1: Batch Renaming
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 2: Working with Metadata
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 3: Keywords and Searches and Collections - Oh My! Coming Soon
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 1: Batch Renaming
by Jim Babbage - 07-Sep-06
Reader Level:
As a commercial photographer, one of my ongoing challenges is to keep my images organized so that I can sort and find images quickly for myself or a client. This is a concept that is—in my opinion—important for anyone involved in the professional graphics industry: graphic and web designers, retouchers, artists . . we can all benefit from a little more organization and structure.
This is where Adobe's Bridge comes in very handy. This piece of software comes bundled with Photoshop® CS2, Adobe Photoshop® CS2, Illustrator® CS2, InDesign® CS2, and GoLive® CS2 or any of Adobe's Creative Suites. In fact it's one of the few—if not the only—Adobe software product which cannot be purchased as a standalone item.
The Bridge is based on the File Browser that was part of Photoshop 7.0, but goes much further than a simple file searching utility. In this short article, we will look at how to work with work with the Batch rename function to help you organize your imaging work.
One of the strengths of Bridge is easy Batch Renaming. This is often one of the first steps I take when tying in a series of images for a specific project or client. Even for my personal work, I find it helpful to batch rename files based on the event or subject matter.
This article will detail the process of Batch Renaming and give a few tips on filenaming structure
The Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge Series:
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 1: Batch Renaming
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 2: Working with Metadata
Getting Organized with Adobe Bridge - Part 3: Keywords and Searches and Collections - Oh My! Coming Soon
Jotforms: Free and Easy Forms for Your Site
by Kim Cavanaugh - 05-Sep-06
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For some of us, the task of getting even the simplest forms developed and online can be more of a chore than we're prepare rd to face. Perhaps you just don't fully grasp, or want to learn, all the steps required to connect to a database or to tweak free scripts to get an online form prepared for user entry. Maybe you work in an organization where the job of getting databases created and configured and accessible is handled by someone else, and you can't get things done in a timely manner. Or perhaps you just want to toss up a quick online form for casual purposes like a quickie poll or registration page. For example, a form that allows your friends to sign up for the next potluck dinner and indicate what they're going to bring.
Whatever the barrier you may have faced in the past to getting forms online, there's a new service available that can take much of the work out of the job. Best of all, it's free, easy to use, and quite flexible.
Cogs in the Machine
by Paul Davis - 29-Aug-06
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If you want something done right do it yourself. That may be a cliché, but learn how to change it to "If you want something done right, provide the process to do it" and enjoy the benefit of letting someone else do the work you're not needed to do.
The Real Story Behind Web 2.0
by Kim Cavanaugh - 02-Aug-06
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There's little doubt that the hottest buzz word to hit the Web in recent memory is the now ubiquitous Web 2.0. The term was originally coined as the name for a conference held in 2004 as Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Publishing fame explains
in this article. Built around the idea that there is a new paradigm on the web, O'Reilly wonders in the referenced article (that many cite as the definitive explanation of what Web 2.0 is) if "the dot-com collapse
marked some kind of turning point for the web, such that a call to action such as "Web 2.0" might make sense?"
Since the launch of the conference and the discussion that O'Reilly's article sparked, everyone and their brother or sister seems to be trying to get a handle on exactly what Web 2.0 is. In many cases the notion that there is a new version of the Web may have become marketing hype in some cases, but you can't escape the fact that the idea of Web 2.0 resonated with enough people that there must be some authenticity in its existence.
I have my own take on that definition, and I find that my thinking runs more towards what these emerging technologies allow people to do, rather than what applications and services are being developed. In that context, I see Web 2.0 as something I like to call Web 4C. A set of technologies that allow vast numbers of people to Connect, Communicate, Collaborate, and Create.
In this article I'll take a look at each of those broad themes and relate them to how people are actually using the new technologies that are available.
What We Don't Account For
by Ray West - 29-Jun-06
Reader Level:
As web programmers we want the world to think of us as professionals and treat us accordingly. Unfortunately there are dynamics in our industry that often cause us to act in ways that make us less than deserving of that designation. Are we allowing the least common denominator to drive down quality? There are things we don't account for.
Using the Crop Tool to Make Your Picture Larger?
by Knut Kubenz - 28-Jun-06
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It may sound impossible, but you can actually change the Canvas Size of your picture, making it larger, by using Photoshop's Crop Tool, which normally makes the picture smaller, without any fancy calculations or head scratching.
The Crop Tool is often used to make pictures smaller. This quick and easy tip takes the guess work out of extending the Canvas size without the need for time consuming calculations.
Making the Right Business Choice!
by Paul Davis - 20-Jun-06
Reader Level:
Selecting the right business type for your business can mean the difference between keeping and losing your house. It can also save you thousands of dollars.
Paul Davis isn't an attorney, isn't a tax lawyer, isn't offering to defend anyone in a court of law should the advice given be followed and you find yourself in court – always take any advice on business, taxes and the government's regulations to your high priced, paid attorney – use this wisdom at your own risk – this article is written focusing on the USA tax laws
What I Learned at TODCon 8
by Kim Cavanaugh - 31-May-06
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I've had a few days to reflect on the things that I took away from the latest rendition of The Other Dreamweaver Conference, aka TODCon, and it looks like we're heading into a period of new innovations, uncertainty, and great potential on the web. If you're an independent web developer new revenue streams are opening up for you, and more decisions than ever have to be made on where you might want to take your business. Even if you aren't working for yourself, there are enough trends and changes heading your way that now is a good time to sit up and take notice.
In this article, I've summarized what I see are the emerging trends, interesting developments, and other factoids gleaned from the sessions, hallway conversations, and late night conversations that define TODCon.
A Parallels Universe
by Thomas Pletcher - 10-May-06
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Parallels Workstation is an inexpensive desktop virtualization solution that has been generating a lot of buzz lately. This review puts the software through its paces and lets you see how it stacks up against its competition. You'll see how to install a Linux virtual machine on your Windows workstation, so you can develop and test on both operating systems and have the best of both worlds.
Retouching in Photoshop - Part 2 - Image Adjustments
by Jim Babbage - 20-Apr-06
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It's pretty much an undisputed fact that Photoshop is the king of bitmap editing tools - especially for high resolution, print-destined images. Photoshop CS and CS2 have some very cool and useful tools (seen in Part 1) and commands that can help you fix or clean up almost any image that is supplied to you. In these article (Part 2 and Part 3) we will look at Image Adjustment commands - some of which you will recognize if you are a veteran Fireworks user - and some which you will probably say, "Holy Image Adjustment heaven, Batman!"
This article is intended as an introduction to some of Photoshop's image adjustment commands (with visual examples) and should not be considered an exhaustive exploration of these features.
In this article we will look at some of the not-so familiar commands:
- Auto Contrast
- Auto Color
- Color Balance
- Match Color
The Retouching Tools in Photoshop Series:
Retouching Tools in Photoshop CS2: Part 1
Retouching Tools in Photoshop - Part 2: Image Adjustment
Retouching Tools in Photoshop - Part 3: More Image Adjustments
JumpStart Comparison Chart
by Heidi Bautista - 02-Mar-06
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CMX JumpStarts are a quick and sure way to get your new site up and running fast. But how do you decide when there are so many great choices?
The JumpStart Comparison Chart lists all the JumpStarts available at Community MX. The QuickPick Feature table
provides a thumbnail of the main JumpStart page, a short list of features and techniques demonstrated in JumpStart, the cost (always free to members), the layout, including the number of columns, and a link to full JumpStart description.
The full descriptions include everything from the QuickPick Feature table plus thumbnails of all pages, links to download the JumpStart and to related articles, the publish date and author(s), and the list of tutorials included with each JumpStart.
Since each of us absorb information different ways, please also check out The Complete JumpStart Catalog. It also describes each of the JumpStarts but in a much more conversational manner. It's especially valuable if you need more information about the features listed in the Comparison Chart.
Designing a Logo: Part 3 - Getting Technical
by Kim Dudley - 23-Feb-06
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Logo design could be considered a complicated and tedious subject or it may be looked upon as an exciting and interesting opportunity. Logo development is a very creative process yet the designer must also have very good communication and technical skills.
The Designing a Logo series has attempted to cover all facets of logo design in order to give the reader an understanding and process for designing logos. The first two articles contained information about getting started and the creative process. The third and final article looks at the very important technical side of creating a logo.
After the creative work has been done a logo must be developed to a state that will allow it to be optimized for a wide variety of mediums. This article will look at how to do that as well as cover a few other logo related issues such as common file formats, Standards policies, trademark laws and the all important issue of pricing a logo.
The Designing a Logo Series:
Designing a Logo: Part 1 - Getting Started
Designing a Logo: Part 2 - Getting Creative
Designing a Logo: Part 3 - Getting Technical
Emulate the Best
by Thomas Pletcher - 17-Feb-06
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Emulation and virtualization software enables you to sample a broad range of operating systems and development tools, easily and safely. QEMU is an open source, cross-platform processor emulator that offers great versatility and, on the right hardware, usable speed. This article describes how to install QEMU on Windows, Linux and OS X, and how to install the kqemu QEMU Accelerator for Windows. It also shows how to use QEMU with two Linux virtual machines (Debian and SUSE).
Designing a Logo: Part 2 - Getting Creative
by Kim Dudley - 09-Feb-06
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In Designing a Logo: Part 1 - Getting Started we discussed the following things: a brief history of "the logo", the terminology and what a logo is and why a company needs one. As well, we looked at the logos of three well-known and successful companies and found that although each logo was very unique they did have characteristics which have lent to their success and staying powers.
The Designing a Logo Series:
Designing a Logo: Part 1 - Getting Started
Designing a Logo: Part 2 - Getting Creative
Designing a Logo: Part 3 - Getting Technical
Audio Editing for the Masses
by Joel Martinez - 09-Feb-06
Reader Level:
If you are to become the next podcasting media mogul, you had better know some of the basics.
If you have come this far though and are itching to start offering podcasting services to your clients,
or even publish a podcast of your own, you're going to need some basic audio editing skills.
Now, don't be afraid, just because it's an entirely different problem domain doesn't mean that
it's out of reach for the average web developer. Lucky for us, Sourceforge,
keeper of all things open source, has a nifty little project called
Audacity which lets us record and edit our audio content. This opens up a world of possibilities which
you may have previously thought unreachable.
This tutorial will show you how to use Audacity to edit a podcast and add intro/outro music, all using freely available music
and tools.
Approximate download size: 22.5MB
A Lean, Mean Virtual Machine
by Thomas Pletcher - 07-Feb-06
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Would you like to run two powerful operating systems at once and be able to switch between them without rebooting? How about trying various Linux distributions — or a different version of Windows — without repartitioning your system? Virtual machines are the answer, and the new, free VMware Player makes this technology easily available to you. This article will show you how to install, configure and use VMware Player to expand your development horizons.
Designing a Logo: Part 1 - Getting Started
by Kim Dudley - 26-Jan-06
Reader Level:
Logos are at the heart of a company's corporate identity program. Their design and staying power can play a very important role in the success or failure of a company. But with so many logos out there why do we remember some and not others? Are there steps for creating logos and how do you turn a logo concept into a useable piece of artwork?
In this series of three articles we will attempt to answer these and other questions as well as discover some interesting logo related facts along the way. Since this topic is such a large one I have broken it down into three separate articles; Part 1 will look at some successful logos and discuss what has allowed them to last throughout the years. Part 2 will discuss the creative side of developing a logo and Part 3 takes a look at the very important technical side of developing a logo.
The Designing a Logo Series:
Designing a Logo: Part 1 - Getting Started
Designing a Logo: Part 2 - Getting Creative
Designing a Logo: Part 3 - Getting Technical
Blogging 101: Why All the Fuss Over Blogs?
by Kim Cavanaugh - 20-Dec-05
Reader Level:
Blogs.
For a word that didn't even exist a few years ago, the world of blogs and blogging and personal web publishing certainly gets a great deal of attention these days. From LiveJournal blogs where college students are spilling the beans about their love lives, to the serious and frantic world of political blogs, to the professional blogs that companies are using to put a human face on their organization, blogs seem to be everywhere you go.
In this 20 minute Breeze presentation I'll take you through the world of blogs and blogging. You'll learn what blog is, how blogs are being used by different people, and your options for publishing your own blog, or for advising a client on how they might get started with a blog. Finally, the presentation wraps up with some recommendations on how you can become a successful blogger and how to make the most out of the time you invest in your blog.
Five Problems That Arise During Design Jobs
by Kim Dudley - 09-Nov-05
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I have found when working on graphic design projects they can go very smoothly or things can go terribly wrong. When things go wrong it seems the whole project is jinxed from beginning to end. What can be done to avoid these situations and whose fault is it anyway?
In this article we will take a look at five common problems that pop up during design projects and look at some methods to prevent and deal with these situations.
Information Architecture: Part 2
by Joel Martinez - 07-Nov-05
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In this installment of Information Architecture (previously known as Organizing Data, we look at organizing master/detail pages for maximum usability. For a bit of background on the series, the idea here is to come up with a meta-template, a checklist of sorts on how to organize your data-driven applications.
Today we cover one of the most common constructs in any web application, the master/detail page. This is when you have a list of data showing only the most important information (master), with a link to view more details. The detail page will usually have options to edit and/or delete the record, assuming the user has the correct permissions.
Again, this discussion will not be concerning itself with the aesthetic design of your project, but with its layout and feature-set.
The Information Architecture Series:
Organizing Data: Part 1
Information Architecture: Part 2
Extend Your Reach with VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
by Thomas Pletcher - 06-Sep-05
Reader Level: 
Whether you need to access another computer across the office or across the country, VNC is an excellent and easy to implement solution. This article shows you how to use VNC over your LAN or over the Internet, and how to implement proper security when accessing your network.
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Visualizing the Design
by Zoe Gillenwater - 30-Aug-05
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In the first article describing the development process for my new personal web site, I described how I came up with goals for my new personal web site and developed a rough site structure and design concept I felt would meet those goals. This article documents the next steps in the creation of my personal web site — fleshing out the design concept to prepare for the actual construction of the design comp (covered in the next article in the series). In this article, you'll see how I gathered inspiration from existing designs and artwork to visualize the design of my own site.
The CSS Web Design Case Study Series:
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Planning
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Visualizing the Design
CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Design Comp Construction
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Slicing the Comp
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - XHTML/CSS Construction Part 1
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - XHTML/CSS Construction Part 2
Getting Started with GotDotNet Workspaces
by Joel Martinez - 29-Aug-05
Reader Level:
Project management is a topic that can, and will, have volumes upon volumes written about it. In the software field, those with years of experience will tell you that one of the most basic and useful parts of the software development process is a good source control management system.
The topic has been covered before here on CMX by our very own Arman Danesh in his 5 part series:
Using Source Code Management Software
GotDotNet Workspaces) is a unique service offered by Microsoft. My aim with this article isn't to extoll the virtues of using source control software, it is to expose the masses to the fact that such a wonderful tool exists. A few short months ago (as of this writing), they revised the software behind it so it's even faster than before (a common complaint when they first came out).
In the past, when you thought of hosted source control, the first (and just about only) thing that popped to mind was Sourceforge. Now, there are two drawbacks there:
- You've got to use CVS which, while it works, I can't say it's the most userfriendly product on the market.
- Sourceforge has to review and approve your project ... so they might just say no.
With the Workspaces, a few short clicks and you've got yourself a workspace!
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Planning
by Zoe Gillenwater - 19-Aug-05
Reader Level:
I recently redesigned and rebuilt my personal site from the ground up, featuring an all-CSS, web standards compliant layout. This article is the first in a series of articles describing the web development process that I followed for my site. Not all the steps will be applicable to corporate web design, of course, but you will gain insight into a design process that is centered around CSS, accessibility, and usability.
This first article covers the planning stage of the process. You'll learn how I came up with my site goals, developed a rough site structure, and created a design concept.
The CSS Web Design Case Study Series:
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Planning
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Visualizing the Design
CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Design Comp Construction
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - Slicing the Comp
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - XHTML/CSS Construction Part 1
A CSS Web Design Case Study: Constructing a Personal Site - XHTML/CSS Construction Part 2
Setting Project Goals: A Web Development Case Study
by Zoe Gillenwater - 02-Aug-05
Reader Level:
Whether designing a new site, planning a redesign, or adding significant enhancements to an existing site, it's important to remember to build a list of approved site goals before beginning any content or design development. After all, content and design exist for a purpose. If you don't know what the site is supposed to be accomplishing, how can you know what action to take, what content to include, how to organize it, or how to present it visually? Letting realistic, measurable goals drive the development of a web site helps you complete the site on time, in budget, and to the satisfaction of the client and the site's users.
This article discusses the importance of the goal discovery and evaluation process within the larger web development process, as told through a real case study of a redesign project.
Organizing Data: Part 1
by Joel Martinez - 20-Jun-05
Reader Level:
Ever since I began my career as a programmer, I have been asked time and time again to create applications to organize data, provide workflows, execute business processes. Only through the magic of time have I come to realize that I implement the same code over and over. Approximately 99% of business applications written are variations on the same structure and navigation. Once you realize this, several things are accomplished.
- Less time deciding "how the app is going to look". After collecting and analyzing the requirements, you already have a template of sorts you can use for the various screens.
- The ability to more easily estimate how long a screen will take.
- Usability ... once users have been trained on how a certain screen works, they will be able to intuitively figure out the next app if it looks and feels the same.
Now, I'm not talking about visual design here ... I'm referring to things such as navigation, workflow, instructions. Effectively organizing data and information is an important skill which will give you a lot of bang for your development buck. I will touch on a few of these topics in detail and give some examples of what you can do to build up a repertoire of "app design templates" in this, the first of a series on organizing data and information.
The Information Architecture Series:
Organizing Data: Part 1
Information Architecture: Part 2 Coming Soon
From Design to Completion: A Corporate Identity - Part 2
by Kim Dudley - 21-Mar-05
Reader Level:
No matter the project type or project size, all graphic design jobs follow a similar path and involve comparable skills. Graphic design is not all about creativity, in fact that is a small part of a graphic designers overall job. Dealing with clients and suppliers, going to meetings, research, setting up artwork, these are a few of the other tasks involved in a design job.
This article is the second part of a two-part series looking at a real world graphic design project. We began in the first article with the initial contact and followed through to the completion of a logo and business cards.
This article will give you a look into the process of developing a brochure, setting up the brochure, producing name tags, having a second meeting and invoicing.
Podcasting 101 - Part 1
by Joel Martinez - 16-Mar-05
Reader Level:
Podcasting is either the Next Big Thingtm, or the buzzword of the day ... destined to go the way of the dodo. But all signals are pointing to podcasting being huge. With the FCC breathing down the necks of traditional broadcasters, many are looking to alternate venues to transmit their content. While some big names are moving to satelite radio (a costly venture to be sure), the rest of us are left behind on this big ball of dirt, rocks, and water.
Enter the podcast -- the internet's media "broadcasting" format. While it is mostly being used for audio right now, there's nothing stopping the podcast from linking to other media such as video. This opens up tons of opportunities for media publishing that you have the opportunity to be a part of right now ... and the technical requirements for creating a podcast are tools that you, as web developers, already have/use (mostly).
This article goes through the basics of Podcasting, and what it takes to start your very own Podcast.
From Design to Completion: A Corporate Identity - Part 1
by Kim Dudley - 09-Mar-05
Reader Level:
In this article we will be looking at a real world project and the process involved in the creation of a corporate identity. We will begin with the initial contact and follow through to the completion of the job. This series of articles will give you a look into the process of working with a client, estimating costs, writing specs for printers and producing the actual materials.
In this first article, we will cover the initial meeting with the client, discuss quotes, send specs to the printer and design the logo. Like all projects this one has its successes and its problems, but that's all part of the job.
Product Photography for Web Designers
by Jim Babbage - 09-Dec-04
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Web designers often do double duty by tackling jobs that really are outside of their areas of expertise, such as photography, to save money on a web design project. Often these photographs are of inanimate objects for an on-line catalog. Poor lighting can be the difference between selling a product and losing a sale.
This article discusses simple techniques, mostly dealing with lighting, to improve photographs. I'll also explain why your on-camera flash isn't the best choice for product photography and give you some ideas on the kind of equipment you would need to do this work, from improvising with what you have around the house or office, to entry-level professional products.
Validate that Grammar
by Sheri German - 03-Dec-04
Reader Level:
You carefully construct your code, direct your attention to the details of accessibility, and applaud when your pages validate for XHTML, WAI, and 508. But are you paying as much attention to writing style, valid grammar, and proper spelling? Chances are that you've let a few common errors creep into your Web prose. This series will examine the nuts and bolts of good writing, which is, after all, the heart of the content of our pages.
In this first article, we'll look at the proofing process, the development of an effective Web writing style, forumlas for measuring reading levels, and a list of standard style manuals.
Meeting With Clients
by Adrian Senior - 28-Sep-04
Reader Level:
This is a tale with a beginning, and not a lot more. I would like to see the rest of it come to fruition; only time will tell.
This is a blow-by-blow account of me pitching for a job. This can be one of the hardest things to do in this business, and pricing can be near impossible.
Writing for the Web
by Tricia Littlefield - 21-Sep-04
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How we choose to write for our web audience can make or break our web site's success. Are you writing for your web audience?
Learn quick and easy steps to improve your web copy, by reading this "web writing checklist."
Features of a Powerful Home Page
by Tricia Littlefield - 10-Sep-04
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Creating the right home page can be a daunting task. It is difficult to pack in that powerful punch in a limited space. Learn what is important on your home page to make a bigger impact on your customers, and improve your conversion rating.
Director and Flash: The Right Tool For The Right Project
by Rob Williams - 03-Sep-04
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Flash is a fantastic technology, but is it really the best multimedia tool for every project? Director, for most, is a dinosaur that doesn't fit the modern world of the web, but is it really obsolete? An interesting look at the two multimedia technologies provides some unexpected answers to these far too common questions.
Search Engine Optimization Tips
by Tricia Littlefield - 27-Aug-04
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This article provides over a dozen useful tips to help you improve your web site's search engine rankings. Learn how META tags, URLs, ALT text, and properly structured documents can help search engines index your site, and those of your clients.
Pricing Out Freelance Projects
by Derrick Ypenburg - 05-Aug-04
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If you're new to freelancing, pricing out jobs can be a difficult task. How much is the job worth? How much am I worth? How do I detail the cost for the client?
This article shows you how to plan your project, breakdown your project and price your services accordingly.
Compositional Elements of a Photograph
by Jim Babbage - 27-Jul-04
Reader Level:
Choices, choices and more choices! When making pictures, you're confronted with myriad decision-making situations. These situations are not obstacles though! They are opportunities. The choices you make will affect how well your vision is communicated to others. Good communication depends on good visual design. Knowing what your options are and how to best use them will go a long way toward improving your photographs.
As a web designer, you may be called on by your client to do many things other than just design their web site. Your client may rely on you to produce a logo, create original images or even take photos of their products, people or location. Sometimes, there just isn't the budget or the time to find, hire and schedule a photographer for a simple photo shoot. In fact, your own inherent design sense (if you are a designer) may already rank you higher in qualifications than the client.
This article will look at some of the basic principles of visual design as well as a few tips on composing your photos to begin with. As you will see, both of these subjects overlap and interrelate. My hope is that this article will arm you with a bit of knowledge, enabling you to improve your own personal photography, or give you the confidence to take on some photo requirements of your clients.
Many images are also included in the article to illustrate the different elements of design.
Sending WebPage Information Directly to a Pager or Cellular Phone
by Ray West - 23-Jul-04
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Sending information collected on your website directly to a clients pager or cell phone is easier than it sounds, and it just might be the extra wow factor you need to impress.
Macromedia Introduces New Web Publishing System
by Ray West - 20-Jul-04
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Macromedia has just announced the upcoming release of Contribute 3 and Flash Paper 2. In addition, they have unveiled their new "Web Publishing System", which in Macromedia's own words is "...a complete, scalable solution that empowers businesses to build, manage, and publish to enterprise websites within a centrally controlled, standards-based environment." With over 300 feature updates in Contribute 3 alone, this latest offering has the potential to have a major impact on the way that large organizations manage their web content efforts.
Using Excel To Automatically Flag Due Invoices
by Adrian Senior - 19-Jul-04
Reader Level:
In this tutorial, we will see how we can use simple conditional formatting to automatically change the state of a cell in an Excel spreadsheet. This provides us with an "at a glance" solution to enable us to see what state our repetitive invoices are in. No need to search and read documents, it's all done by simply changing a cell background colour based on the date within that cell.
All You Ever Wanted To Know About Macromedia Certification
by Justin Kozuch - 16-Jul-04
Reader Level:
So you want to be certified huh? Well, some of us here at Community MX are certified. And yes, I am talking about that kind of certified! ;)
Today, I am going to talk about Macromedia’s Certified Professional Program, and how you can benefit from being a Macromedia Certified Professional (MCP).
This article comes out of my month-long experience studying for the Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 Certified Developer Exam.
So grab a beer (or 3), sit back, scroll your mouse a few times, and let's get smash... uh, certified, CMX-style!
Immersive Imaging - Part 2 - Adding A QTVR File To A Web Page
by Jim Babbage - 12-Jul-04
Reader Level:
In Part One of this two-part series, we looked at the basics of creating panoramic images for use in QuickTime VR (QTVR). In Part Two, we'll look at bringing the panoramic image into your web page as a QTVR movie.
Also included in this tutorial, is a video that shows the process of embedding the QTVR movie into a web page, and adding various parameters to the movie via Dreamweaver.
More Money - Same Workload
by Tricia Littlefield - 12-Jul-04
Reader Level:
Using a simple time and billing program helped me make more money, make better business decisions and bid on flat fee projects more accurately. Best of all, the software was easy to use and blended into my workflow problem-free. Read how a time and billing software program can help you and then watch a video on how to use one such program.
Immersive Imaging - An Introduction
by Jim Babbage - 29-Jun-04
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Immersive Imaging - the Final Frontier. OK maybe not the FINAL frontier, and not all that new in many ways. But it's an interesting subject nonetheless. With the increase in high-speed Internet usage, it has become a more practical option for web sites, and is another potential revenue stream for you.
In Part One of this two-part series, we'll look at why I got invovled in this technology, and introduce you to the basics of creating 360 degree panoramic images. I'll give you tips on creating good images for stitching, and give you a whack of other online resources to boot.
Did I mention "revenue stream?"
Administering Contribute
by Kim Cavanaugh - 25-Jun-04
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In this Breeze presentation, you'll learn how to set up a web site for use with Macromedia Contribute. Whether you're working with an existing client, work as part of a larger organization, or want to begin offering services centered around offering Contribute as a method for adding and maintaining site content, then this presentation will help point you in the right direction.
Creating Desktop Recordings with Camtasia Studio 2
by Paul Newman - 30-Apr-04
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If you've spent some time on CommunityMX.com, you probably already know that we offer video
tutorials. What you may not know is that we use Camtasia Studio 2 to create them.
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to record screen actions with Camtasia Studio 2, assemble the elements of your project, and publish the completed video to Flash SWF format.
Digital Photography Tips and Tricks
by Jim Babbage - 21-Apr-04
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I've become a big fan of digital cameras over the past few years; they are quickly increasing in quality, and decreasing in price. But a digital camera - like a computer or software - is just a tool. It's what YOU do with the tool, that make the end result successful.
To that end, this article gives you some helpful tips to improve your digital photography, and avoid some common errors
What I Learned On My Spring Break (For Geeks)
by Jim Babbage - 12-Apr-04
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I had the pleasure of attending TODCON this year, and the privilege of speaking at the conference, as well. Attending this conference is something I look forward to each year. It was great to meet new people and catch up with old friends.
Those important elements aside, the other thing I enjoy about TODCON is that it helps me take the "pulse" of the industry. Attendees - and speakers - come from a variety of business backgrounds - corporate, freelance, small business, educational, and even more, no doubt.
Stress Testing 101
by Joel Martinez - 08-Apr-04
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Everyone is always complaining about website performance. Always wanting to optimize the HTML, the code, the CSS, the images. But how much of a difference does it really make? We are going to go over a very simple way to quantify the performance of your site for free!
You Say You Want a Resolution?
by Jim Babbage - 25-Mar-04
Reader Level:
Despite the fact that Fireworks was built from the ground up to be a WEB graphics application, many web graphic designers are finding themselves in the postion of producing images suitable for print and are relying on Fireworks to do it.
This article will explain the different types of resolution that are bandied about in both the print and web worlds, and explain why you should not be using Fireworks as your sole print graphics application.
What We Lost In The Bust…
by Ray West - 04-Mar-04
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Can you make a great income in the IT profession today? High salaries are not the only thing we lost in the dotcom bust. We also lost a lot of what made those salaries possible in the first place. But we can get it back.
Managing Project Creep and Client Changes
by Jim Babbage - 12-Feb-04
Reader Level:
In a web developer's vocabulary, there are two words that shrivel the heart and strike fear into the mind: project creep. These words are scary because they are also - in many a designer's brain - inevitable by-products of any web site project.
While to some degree, a certain amount of scope creep is expected, there are ways to manage and minimize the problem. This article talks about some of the things you can do to help you in this area.
The Ins and Outs of Free Images On the Web
by Jim Babbage - 30-Jan-04
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When it comes to finding or using images from the web, it's a good idea to check the fine print, and learn what *free* really means.
Never assume that because it is online, that you have permission to borrow, alter or even use an image.
This article explains the difference between original photography and stock photography, and clarifies the meanings of royalty-free and free images. The conclusion of the article has several links to some very good photo web sites.
Should You Upgrade to Panther?
by Kim Cavanaugh - 13-Jan-04
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The latest version of the Macintosh OS, nicknamed Panther, is said to significantly improve your Mac experience. Is the upgrade worth the expense? What new features are most significant? And for Macromedia MX users, are some of the performance issues on the Mac addressed by upgrading? Find out the answer to these questions and more.
Protecting Your Images on the Internet
by Bill Horvath - 05-Jan-04
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If you ask a handful of web designers if they know of a way to prevent someone from taking pictures off of your web page, you'll get a grab-bag of answers. To my knowledge, none of these answers is an actual solution, and will not actually prevent someone from getting your images, one way or another.
Put simply, if you have any graphics displayed on your standard html page, they can be taken if someone wants them bad enough.
Benefits of Macromedia User Group Membership
by Robert Hoekman Jr - 15-Dec-03
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Network with other geeks, learn, win software, and have an all-around good time with your local Macromedia User Group.
Finding the Right Host
by Bill Horvath - 04-Nov-03
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Hosting needs differ from developer to developer. What is good for one developer is not automatically what's best for every developer.
This article will remain impartial, and will not 'pitch' any hosts to you. Our purpose here is only to make sure you're well-informed when you go out shopping for your first host. But wait... the word 'shopping' implies that you're going to need to spend money! Well, yeah. You'll find a few free hosts out there, but... well, just keep reading.
Are You Covered For What Could Go Wrong?
by Ray West - 03-Nov-03
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Running a business can be complicated. There are a lot of things you have to tend to, and even when you are on top of it, things can go wrong. That's when you need insurance. Learn the basics of business insurance and what software developers have to look out for in this overview.
Where do I get new business?
by Heidi Bautista - 20-Oct-03
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Everybody faces this question sooner or later. Sometimes sooner and later! Read what the CMX authors have to say. See if you agree with their advice. Maybe you have pearls of wisdom to share, too.
The Rules of Distributed Development – Introduction
by Ray West - 15-Oct-03
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Web applications are geting more complex. If you are going to survive you have to learn how to create good software. That means following a few simple (yet generally ignored) rules.
Power Searching with Mozilla Keywords
by Kim Cavanaugh - 20-Aug-03
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I had another one of those "I did not know that" moments while browsing through a book on Mac OS X hacks at the local Barnes and Nobles the other day. Buried way back in the book was a short section on power tools for doing Internet searches. It used to be that I kept extensive listings of Bookmarks to keep track of my favorite places to find information, but since I just use Google these days to find what I want, this one really caught my eye. With just a little bit of set up you can configure Mozilla so you can search almost any site with a search function by simply typing in a keyword and your search terms directly in the Location bar of the browser. Learn how you too can unlock this often-overlooked feature in this article.
Creating a flowchart diagram in Fireworks MX
by Jim Babbage - 05-Jun-03
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There are lots of software packages out there that will build flowcharts, but hey - if you have Fireworks, YOU don't need to buy ANY of them. This tutorial shows you how to build a flowchart from scratch in Fireworks, and offers some time-saving tips in the process. A completed PNG flowchart is also included in the source files.
What to Look for in a Digital Camera
by Jim Babbage - 27-May-03
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OK, you've decided to take the plunge and buy a digital camera. Now comes the challenge - which one? What do you look for? How do you compare cameras? This article will give you some guidelines about you new purchase, and supply you with links to online review sources.
The Science of Color
by Stephanie Sullivan - 12-May-03
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How many times have you stared at that blank canvas trying to figure out just where to begin? If you know your business, your audience and the psychological effect you want to have on them, you're well ahead of the game. This article discusses ways to make a color plan and creatively and harmoniously blend your color palette.
Is Contribute Right For Your Client?
by Kim Cavanaugh - 23-Apr-03
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Your new clients have a great idea--they want to keep the content on their site updated themselves! Of course, you think about Contribute right away, but is it the right solution for this particluar client? Take a look at some of the things you'll need to keep in mind when selling your services to Contribute users.
Writing a Web Estimate
by Stephanie Sullivan - 11-Apr-03
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Have you eaten it big time on a job? Are you struggling with the best way
to figure out what to charge clients? Here are some ideas on discerning how
to make your estimates. Included in the support items are worksheets to get
you started. There's no discussion of hourly rates here so don't get
excited.
Getting the Most out of Your CMX Membership
by Jim Babbage - 31-Mar-03
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Welcome to Community MX. The partners here are very happy to see that you've taken an interest in what we're doing, and how it can benefit you. To that end, we'd like to talk a bit about how you can make the most of your membership, and get the value out of your subscription fee.
The Phases of Web Production
by Jim Babbage - 30-Mar-03
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The process of creating a web site can be a little overwhelming. To help reduce this intimidation factor - and to help schedule the project - web designers usually rely on some procedure to keep them on track. This article outlines how *I* generally break down a web project into smaller parts.
