Missed the rest of the guide? Check out Part I: Page Editor, Part II: Editor Tabs, and Part III: Admin Tabs. I found these three WordPress plugins to be helpful on a site I built; you might, as well. They’re all free, as of this writing. Slideshow by Stephan Boonstra Add a fancy slideshow to…
What’s the difference between a great website and an awful one? Is it too subjective to say? Can you even compare sites as divergent as Google, Facebook, and Basecamp? While there can be some room for opinion, there are definitely some nearly universal principles which separate the virtual wheat from the chaff. The worst Web…
Here are the elements I’d recommend to be a Web designer (as opposed to a Web programmer): -Learn the *design* aspect. There’s much more to making websites than throwing code together. Check out The Non-Designer’s Design Book or The Non-Designer’s Web Book for information on layout, typography, colors, and much more. -Get a decent grounding…
The Non-Designer’s Design Book (3rd Edition) (Paperback) by Robin Williams From the Back Cover (2nd Edition): So you have a great concept and all the fancy digital tools you could possibly require-what’s stopping you from creating beautiful pages? Namely the training to pull all of these elements together into a cohesive design that effectively communicates…
Online Video Gaining Popularity According to Website Magazine (which, incidentally, offers a great free quarterly print version), online video is set to really take off in the coming months. Fifty percent of adults regularly watch video online, with video-sharing sites and social media being major referrers. Video advertising is coming into its own, as well.…
Just like a newspaper would be tough to read through if each article were on its own page and thrown in a pile, users struggle with webpages which lack a layout design. Laying out your pages properly can help with the visual organization of a webpage and let people find what they want quickly and…
You’ve tried the rest, but they just don’t satisfy. You want a nice downloadable or Web-based graphics program that won’t cost an arm or a leg. Where do you turn? Try these on for size: Picnik – This is a fun-looking Web-based graphics manipulator that includes both free and paid versions. Pros: Picnik has all…
So you’ve stepped up from the single-task graphics apps and you want something a wee bit robust. Where do you go if you’re not flush with cash? Here are a few options: Microsoft Paint – Ah, good old Paint. No, I’m not saying you should all your entire graphics design work on this little program,…
While you’re saving your nickels and dimes to get the latest version of the Adobe graphics suite, what do you do to keep from going through graphics-creation withdrawal? Here are some free or very common resources you can use to explore your artistic side. Resizr – Do one thing, and do it well. I recently…
Your business paid a consultant to build your website, or a propeller-head whipped up one in-house. It’s live, ready for throngs of traffic, so your site is able to be left alone now, right? Wrong. The company’s Web Department might not be very big. It may only be one person, or it may be outsourced.…