Archive for March, 2008

Lightbox-type DIV overlays have a multitude of uses. If you’re building a web app, or if you are just looking for a way to declutter your blog, you can just sweep elements under the proverbial rug until they’re needed, and then call them back in a “almost-window.”

FaceBox, is yet another way of implementing this functionality, but styled in a similar manner to FaceBook’s pop-up boxes.

FaceBox can display DIVs, images, AJAX-loaded pages, or you can just write content in dynamically via JavaScript. It’s fairly easy to implement the script, though it took me a little bit of tweaking to get all of the images to display correctly (I just had to change a few paths throughout the code).

The JavaScript file is just 6KB, and the 1KB worth of CSS can easily be pasted into your existing stylesheet, or referenced separately. There are also a few assorted images that are required, though they’re mainly under 1K. Also note that FaceBox requires jQuery to function, so you may not want it if you’re a Prototype aficionado.

I recently stumbled across AJAX Whois, which may have become my new favorite way to find domains and check WhoIs info. It’s fast, and it’s easy to use.

I’m serious when I say AJAX Whois is fast. Start typing in the form, and the web app searches as you type. By the time you’ve finished typing in a domain, the results are already there.

There are a couple of small features that really make the site easier to use. Number one is the favorites feature. If you find a domain that you want to remember while you’re searching other ones, you can just click the favorite button and it will be added to a space in the sidebar for easy access. The other feature is even simpler, yet you would really miss it if it wasn’t there; You don’t have to enter a TLD when searching. Many whois services require that you enter a TLD, even if you want to see results for multiple TLDs. Luckily AJAX Whois doesn’t follow that trend.

• Noupe: 45+ Must See WordPress themes - I picked a bad time to publish my collection post of WordPress themes, I guess. Right after it came out, Noupe and Smashing Magazine published similar posts (both of which are worth checking out, by the way).
• 960 Grid System - “The 960 Grid System is an effort to streamline web development workflow by providing commonly used dimensions, based on a width of 960 pixels. There are two variants: 12 and 16 columns, which can be used separately or in tandem.”
• The Man Who Owns DoNotReply.com Knows All The Secrets Of The World - You’ve seen those automated emails that say “do not reply to this automated message,” right? They usually come from noreply@thesitesdomain.com or sometimes something@donotreply.com. Some people reply to those messages anyway, and the donotreply.com ones go to this guy…
• Redesigning a blog - Improving the sidebar
• Group Interview: What Do Online Advertisers Look For in a Website?
• Adding Post Thumbnails in WordPress 2.5 - WP 2.5 will include the ability to assign a thumbnail to a post for a “magazine-y” look. People have been doing this for quite some time using a custom fields hack, but now pretty much anyone will be able to do it. This tutorial shows how to set everything up.
• 10 Plugins To Combat Comment Spam - I’ll have to take a closer look at this in the near future. Some spam comments have been slipping past Akismet lately, so I may have to add some extra protection.
• Opera claims to be the first browser to pass the new ACID3 test. Great job…now hopefully others will follow suit. In related news, Mozilla has announced that the final version of Firefox 3 will be released in June.
• Yahoo! Buzz takes the Social out of Social Media

When you add images to your blog posts, where do you upload them? Do you store them on an image host like TinyPic.com, or do you prefer to keep them on your own server somewhere?

There are advantages to both methods, and of course, disadvantages.

As of this writing, I put most of my images on TinyPic, though I’ve lately been a little worried about that. What if TinyPic decides to delete them? What if something happens and they lose a bunch of data? I happens. It would be lot of work to re-upload images and edit all of my posts, but it would be “safer.” Though on the other hand, I’d be storing more files on my server, and transferring more bytes as well…

I’m still undecided, but what’s your preferred method?

Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch now account for over 70% of US mobile browser traffic. What does this mean for webmasters, and just as importantly, those who design as a business? With the increasing popularity of the iPhone, it’s becoming more important to make sure sites are compatible. Have you been wondering lately whether your site looks and functions fine on Apple’s mobile browser?

For those in the design business, this is a big issue. Do the designs you make work on the iPhone, and how long until your customers start asking if it will be iPhone-compatible?

I’ve been thinking about this for the past few weeks, as well as wondering how my own sites function on the iPhone and iPod Touch. (more…)

Earlier this month, I asked whether it was a good idea to start a weekly column on Webmaster-Source for newcomers to blogging.

It looks like it will be happening. 92% of the voters said they were for the new column, and only 8% were against it. Again, not many people voted, but that could still possibly be attributed to the poll’s not showing in the RSS feed. (I think the Democracy Polls plugin can do that, so I’ll try it next…)

I think the addition of the new column would benefit everyone, so I’m going to go ahead with it in the near future. It would benefit new bloggers, obviously, but it would also help-out more experienced webmaster in a few ways too. I plan to accept guest posts for the column, so you’ll have a chance to promote your blog, and, you never know, it can be helpful to review the basics once in awhile.

I’m not going to launch this quite yet, but I will be in the near future.

Looking for a good RSS icon for your site? You could go with the standard one, or use a variant that looks similar, without being so unrecognizable people won’t know it’s an RSS button.

GloryInLife’s 51 RSS Buttons

(more…)

If you’re serious about blogging, and are trying to run a quality blog on a specific topic, you need a good design. Ideally, you want to have a unique design, built by a designer, though you can get away with a pre-made theme if you’re on a budget, or if you want to wait until the blog can pay for the design.

If you’re not ready to hire a designer, you can use a freely available WordPress theme, or a premium theme. Premium themes are pre-made templates for WordPress, which, though they are not free, cost much less than hiring a designer to make a unique theme.

Once you’ve picked-out a good theme, make it your own. Put your logo in the header, tweak the colors a little, and whatnot. Customize it so it matches your site’s personality.

Now that the introduction is out of the way, let’s get to the fun part. Following are a few WordPress themes that, in my opinion, are professional and well-done. (more…)

WordPress users have long complained about the time and effort required to update all of their plugins. WordPress 2.5 RC1 introduces a new feature that allows you to update plugins to their latest version simply by clicking a link and entering your FTP password.

I’ve tried this out on a test installation of WordPress, and it’s great. There are, however, a few issues with this new feature.

The automatic upgrade does not deactivate your plugin first and then reactivate it after upgrading. If the plugin requires activation to run any checks for WordPress version, or do any db fixes, or “activate” any new features then it won’t do this and the plugin won’t work as expected. In most cases this can be simply remedied by remembering to deactivate and then reactivate the plugin after the upgrade is complete.

This is important because plugins sometimes update database entries when a plugin is re-activated after an update. So if you use the automated updater, be sure to deactivate and re-activate the plugin after the update has completed, to insure that the plugin will continue to work correctly. (more…)

• Your Blogger Template Could Be Holding You Back! - Don’t use the same template everyone else is using!
• 5 Simple Ways to Make Your Blog Design POP
• 24 Great Niche Galleries - Design galleries for blogs, logos, and more. Looking for a gallery based on layout structure, CMS, or color scheme? Find one here.
• Colorful Future For WP 2.5 Admin - Don’t like the new light color scheme of the WordPress Admin? Don’t worry, there’s functionality to change the coloration now.
• 11 Factors to Consider When Designing Your Blog Theme
• The Evolution of Websites: How 10 Popular Websites Have (And Have Not) Changed - This reminds me a little of some old posts of mine, Web Sites Before and After and Websites Through the Years.
• Simplicity On The Web: Designing To Hide Features - “Sometimes we have the problem that a feature is not really necessary for all our targeted users but it has to be there for some of them. One of the rules to make websites simple or to make websites look simple is to hide features.”