Category Archives: Featured
Aug 6, 2007 by Matt | Posted in Coding, Featured
Have you played around with SimplePie? If not, start experimenting. SimplePie is an amazingly useful file you include in your PHP scripts so you can parse RSS feeds. It’s fast, it’s powerful, it’s easy to use, and there’s a lot you can do with it.
In addition to the ordinary stuff, like displaying feed content on your website, you can also utilize SimplePie for more interesting things….like combining RSS feeds. Why would you want to do that? Well, some of us have multiple blogs. Using SimplePie you can create a feed that aggregates all of your blogs’ feeds. Blog networks may find this technique useful as well.
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Jul 29
I’ve decided to call this technique “Content Mapping,” for want of a better term. What is Content Mapping? Here’s an example. The idea is that the colored blocks will help you visualize how your layout is structured. This has several applications. It’s useful for…
Jul 28
When you’re starting a new website, you need to come up with a name as soon as possible. How soon? You should pick a name before you start building your layout and all that. Why? Well, it’s not easy to make a logo and…
Jul 9
Are you just getting starting as a webmaster/blogger? Are you a little clueless when it comes to HTML? Need a primer on RSS feeds? It looks like you should read some books. The web is a great source for information, though sometimes it’s better…
Jun 22
Your logo represents your site. You should spend a fair bit of time on your logo, perfecting it. You won’t make a very good first impression if you just have plain text at the top of your site reading “MySite.com”. Look at all the…
Jun 20
If you’re designing a layout for your website, somewhere along the line you’ll have to decide how many columns you’re going to have. What do I mean by Columns? Take a look at the diagram below:
Jun 18
Wouldn’t it be useful if you could write blog posts ahead of time, and have them post themselves at some arbitrary date? Most blogging software (WordPress included) can do this. Why would you want to? If you’re going on a trip, you can write…
Jun 4
Have you ever thought about starting a blog? Even if you haven’t, there are plenty of reasons to. It’s a lot of fun. Take a look at some good blogs, and get the feel for blogging: Smashing Magazine ProBlogger The Blog Herald Ars Technica…
Jun 3
Why pay someone to make business cards for you when you can do it yourself? All you need is Adobe Photoshop, a printer, and some cardstock (available at Staples or similar stores). This tutorial will teach you how to make a basic business card.…
