Design Coding - Poetic Prophet
Posted by admin | Filed under CSS, Code, Design, Fun, Uncategorized, Video
Roughly a month ago, Chuck; aka the Poetic Prophet/SEO Rapper, posted a hysterical and yet absolutely marvelous video about web design.
This post is just an ode to Poetic Prophet for promoting web standards. In case you haven’t seen it, below is the video and even lyrics, so you may sing along. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first watched it a couple weeks ago.
Lyrics:
Your site design - the first thing people see,
it should be reflective of you and the industry.
Easy to look at with a nice navigation,
when they can’t find what they want it causes frustration.
A clear call to action to increase the temptation,
use appealing graphics they create motivation.
If you have animation - please use with moderation,
cause search engines can’t index the information.
Display the logos of all your associations,
highlight your contact info that’s an obligation.
Create a clean design - you can use some decoration,
but to try to prevent any client hesitation.
Every page that they click should provide and explanation,
should be easy to understand like having a conversation.
Create a site style you can use your imagination,
but make sure you use correct color combinations.
Do some investigations, look at other organizations,
but don’t duplicate or you might face a litigation.
You done, congratulations - start construction,
move into production - follow these instructions.
Your Photoshop functions - slice that design,
do your layout with divs make sure that it’s aligned.
Please don’t use tables even though they work fine,
when it come to indexing they give searches a hard time.
Make it easy for the spiders to crawl what you provide,
remove font type, font color and font size.
No background colors, keep your coding real neat,
and tag your look and feel on a separate stylesheet.
Better results with xml and css
now you making progress, a lil closer to success.
Describe your doctype so the browser can relate,
make sure you do it great or it won’t validate.
Check in all browsers, I do it directly,
gotta make sure that it renders correctly.
Some use IE, some others use Flock,
some use AOL, I use Firefox.
Title everything including links and images,
don’t use italics, use emphasis.
Don’t use bold, please use strong,
cause if you use bold that’s old and wrong.
You use CSS, you’re page will load quicker,
your client satisfied - like they eating on a snicker.
They stuck on your page like you made it with a sticker,
and then they convert - now, that’s the real kicker.
Make you a lil richer, your site a lil slicker,
design and code right - man, I hope you get the picture.
What I’m telling you is true - man, it should be a scripture,
if it’s built right you’ll be the pick of the litter.
Everyone will want to follow you like twitter,
competition will get bitter - you’ll shine like glitter.
If you trying to grow - your company will get bigger,
design and code right - man, can you get with it?
∂ meow
Tags: design coding, poetic prophet, seo rapper, Video
Making a Move to Firefox 3
Posted by admin | Filed under Design, Uncategorized
Firefox 3 has finally made it to it’s final beta stage - Beta 5 - and it’s looking and running better than ever.
I just downloaded the new Firefox just a couple days ago to test it out and slowly make the switch from Firefox 2; however, I was very upset when none of my add-ons worked. Naturally, I searched for a way to fix that and make them work and came out with this marvelous add-on that makes all the other add-ons compatible with Firefox 3. The add-on, Nightly Tester Tools, is available on the mozilla add-ons page. I must add that I came across this marvelous piece of equipment through a post on LifeHacker where they do a little rant about Firefox 3 and it’s perks.
After reading LifeHacker’s Firefox 3 article, and a couple of other articles from other bloggers prior to that, I must say it seems like everyone is thrashing Firefox 2 as if it was the worst browser ever. I agree that Firefox 3 is 10 times better; however, I would not thrash Firefox 2 so much. After all, if Firefox 2 was so horrible, then why have they (the people that are now thrashing it) used it in the first place? It must have been, because it wasn’t all that bad after all!
The new Firefox definitely has many awesome features that are just freaking amazing - it is hard not to fall in love with it instantly. The thing that did it for me, literally love at first sight, was the new interface.
It is hard to miss the elegant new dress that Firefox 3 had put on. I 
the darker shade, and the large back button. Love the fact, that the drop down for the back button is off to the side instead of being a part of it - I rarely use it, but it bugged me whenever it would drop down in Firefox 2. On top of that, it has a smart address bar and the pages seem to load much faster.
Overall, it is much sleeker, faster, smarter, elegant and of course - amazing - after all, it’s Firefox.
Take a look and try it for yourself - be amazed!
Read the Beta 5 release notes here.
Download Firefox 3 Beta 5 here.
Tags: Firefox 3
Wodpress 2.5 Update
Posted by admin | Filed under Uncategorized
Last night I had updated to the latest version of Wordpress - Wordpress 2.5.
Over the last month or so, there has been lots of talk and buzz about the new look and feel of the 2.5 version. Finally, the version has made it out of beta and is officially available for download/upgrade. After installing and testing for myself, I must say I like the upgrade. It will take me a little while to get used to the placement of things, but overall - I like. After playing around in the interface I noticed that everything seems to be more organized and in place. Of course, it also looks much prettier than before. I love pretty things and so, I am totally in love with this new admin interface. I think it might just make me blog a lot more since it is more pleasing to the eye.
A pleasant and attractive interface helps make the blogging experience a true experience. The new interface is much cleaner, faster (once you get used to it) and as I mentioned, everything seems to have a place. The organization of the dashboard makes more sense and after a day of getting used to the layout, I think it promotes a faster work flow.
The most important page has undergone the most drastic change. Some of the changes I’m really loving, while others I’m still warming up to. The removal of “Save and Continue Editing” button was a bit unexpected, however; condensing it to one “Save” button makes more sense. It’s less confusing once you understand how it works. I like the idea of moving the buttons over to the sidebar as well. It seems to make more sense, especially since the design of the window flows with the rest of the windows on the page. The addition of tags was great, however; when I first looked at the page I did not like the tags and categories below the post window. I missed having the categories in the sidebar. After writing a post and experimenting with the interface, it just fits for them to be below the post window.
Another thing in the post view - Visual Editor - that seemed a bit buggy was the way the “insert hyperlink” option works. In this new version, the “http://” is no longer selected by default and as a result, just a simple paste will not do - as you will end up with double “http://” and a broken link. That is the one thing I am quite dissatisfied with; however, the much more soothing interface makes up for it.
From a design perspective, I think it all fits together quite well. Everything seems to have a purpose, whether you use it or not, it fits into the interface. Overall, I think the upgrade is a positive one, and definitely makes writing a post more pleasant. To read in further detail all about the changes visit wordpress.org.
If you haven’t upgraded yet, drop everything you’re doing and upgrade right now! I promise, it looks damn pretty and you will be quite pleased.
∂ meow
Update:
Well, I know I was all in LOVE with the new WP 2.5 just a week ago; however, I must say I have come across the most annoying bug in this new wonderful version. So let me share a bit of my frustration with you as this TOTALLY alters my blogging experience to a less favorable one.
When writing a post, I like to have my focus point (text cursor) at about 50% mark of my screen. This way I am not looking down, but can look straight ahead as I type - well, as close to straight as it gets. With this new version of WP, that is not possible, as every time I hit enter to start a new paragraph, the screen jumps to the title of the post and my focus point drops to the very bottom of the screen. This only happens when the post is longer than the post window.
It might not seem like a huge deal, but to me it is! It totally causes me to loose my train of thought and forces me to scroll down and re-adjust to bring my point of focus back to at least half way up the screen. They should have that fixed - asap.
Tags: wodpress upgrade, wodress 2.5
Stuck in a Tree
Posted by admin | Filed under Uncategorized
So, I have been stuck in this tree here for a little while. I had full intentions in coming down, but it’s always easier to go up than down. Being a kat, I should land on all fours and be fine; however, the thought of missing has not left my mind. I think I’ll rest up here for a little longer in deep thought and when ready - I’ll make the leap.
I must say, it is pretty sweet hanging up in here. Having a great view of things is just one of the perks. Granted, I am missing out on everything down below, but it is a great meditating time for me. The beautiful sunset brings me lots of inspiration, but I always seem to miss the sunrise. I’m not much of a morning person and there is not a rooster in sight to wake me up.
While stuck up in here, I came across a pretty sweet news update last week. A List Apart conducted a web design survey recently with the intention to learn and educate themselves along with the general public. After days and days of analyzing, they drew up conclusions and just last week decided to share it with the world. I like their metaphor to the survey: “…it is only the beginning of a long conversation.”
Much of the web world is a mystery to most, and the positions within it are even more obscure - especially for those just starting out in the field and looking for more information. The survey was a huge success with over 33,000 responses to thirty something questions from web professionals all over the world. You may view/download the survey findings and spend a good half hour (at least) going over all of it. I spent almost a day reviewing it all and found out some pretty interesting information and statistics.
Gotta love those guys. What a great idea to conduct a survey! It not only gives information to the newbies, but also allows the long time established professionals to rate and compare themselves on where they stand with everyone else in the industry. Naturally, there is some ambiguity as a result of this being the first survey. The fact that it was open to a huge democratic worldwide alone opens the doors up to cloudy skies. Nonetheless - pat on the back to A List Apart for the survey.
As for me stuck in the tree, I think I will hang up here for a little longer. I do hope to return soon, but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy my kat naps and the view. Be sure to check back on my speculations and meditations.
∂ meow
Tags: a list apart, web design survey
