January 2010
15 posts
7 tags
Short Web Design Tips #16
Make your copy easier on the eye.
Avoid stark contrasts.
For example, if your text is on a white background (#FFF), rather than black text (#000), use something slightly lighter like #222.
Alternatively, you can reverse the effect and make the background slightly darker and keep the text black.
The other side of this coin is to ensure you have “sufficient contrast”. Here is some...
5 tags
How To Fix The eval()'d code Error in Expression...
Today I came across the eval()’d code error in core.functions.php in ExpressionEngine.
It occurred when I was posting the result of a form to the same (PHP enabled) page, which would update the page content depending on what the user had selected.
The problem was that I was attempting to use the $_POST variable to highlight the selected <option> in a <select>. Since the $_POST...
8 tags
Short Web Design Tips #15
Validate your code.
Why?
Well, the W3C can tell you why you should validate your code, and they do a much better job of telling you what you need to know than I would. But I will list the basic reasons if you can’t be bothered to click the link:
Validation used as a debugging tool
Future-proof quality checking
Helps teach good practices
Gives a sign of professionalism
How?
...
4 tags
The Must Have Firefox Add-ons for Web Developers
I mentioned one of the Firefox Add-ons I use during the web development process in my previous post, and having just upgraded my OS and having to install Firefox afresh, it got me thinking about the add-ons I install every time as a ‘must have’.
These are the add-ons that I go out and download everytime I have a fresh install since I use them just about every single day:
Web...
6 tags
Short Web Design Tips #14
Indent your code.
Quite simple reasoning to this one, it makes it easier to read. I mean, what would you rather look at when coding? This:
<html>
<head>
<title>This is our home page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello World!</h1>
<p>Here's a list of random stuff:</p>
<ul>
...
5 tags
Line breaks in submit buttons
Just a quick one.
I’ve recently had the need to use a submit button in a web form, with no CSS styling and without using an image (the client wanted it to look like a standard form button), which had to have the value text of the button on 2 sperate lines.
Using the <br /> tag didn’t work, and neither did the use of ‘/n’. So after a bit of digging I found an ascii...
8 tags
Short Web Design Tips #13
Comment your code.
It doesn’t really matter what code you’re writing, whether it’s HTML, PHP, CSS, Javascript or anything else, commenting your code can become very important.
There are a number of reasons why we should look to comment our code;
If someone else has to work with your code, it will help them decipher what the hell is going on.
It can be used to search for a...
5 tags
Short Web Design Tips #12
Test, test and test again.
It is a fairly obvious one this, but it’s amazing how many bugs and errors can slip past the radar during development. The internet is a notoriously difficult medium to test on (yes, we all hate IE6, deal with it), since a website is generally intended for everybody in the world to see.
Every single user can view the website at a multiude of resolutions,...
3 tags
jQuery Slideshow Bookmarks →
Since I’m currently working on a bespoke jQuery based slideshow today, here’s a link to some examples, tutorials and inspiration.
6 tags
Short Web Design Tips #11
When to use tables for layout.
This post would be much shorter if I could just say NEVER!
However, there are two instances when you should use them. One is the correct reason for using tables, the other is unfortunately borne out of necessity.
You should use tables for: tabular data.
The key word there is data. It is to be used when you have information to present that would best be displayed...
6 tags
Short Web Design Tips #10
How to get what you need from a client.
It can be a bit of a nightmare getting the information you need in order to get the job done as efficiently as possible. If you know what you need, why not let the client know?
Without being condescending (this is very important), spell out everything that you need for a piece of work, whether it be for a large amount of content or a minor update. The more...
5 tags
Display a list of recent searches in...
Using the {exp:query} tag in the licensed version of ExpressionEngine, you can pull the most recent searches performed by your users. The snippet below pulls the last 3 searches that returned a result, and links to the relevant search results page:
<ul class="recentsearches"> {exp:query sql="SELECT * FROM exp_search WHERE total_results > 0 ORDER BY RAND() DESC LIMIT 3"} ...
5 tags
Short Web Design Tips #9
Choose the right CMS.
Don’t decide what CMS platform you’re going to use before you’ve got the brief.
Forcing a complex site into WordPress will cause more problems than it’s worth. Using something like Magento can be overkill for an e-commerce site selling just a handful of products.
Get your site requirements down on paper, then see what fits best. I tend to stick to...
4 tags
Displaying forum topics from the ExpressionEngine...
As is usually the case with forums attached to a main site, the forum is kept seperate in either a folder (yourdomain.com/forums) or a sub-domain (forums.yourdomain.com).
With the Expression Engine Discussion Forum Module, it’s easy to display your most recent topics in one of your main website templates. This is a snippet of the code I’ve used to display and link through to the top 5...
8 tags
Short Web Design Tips #8
Step beck for some perspective.
Everyone gets a mental block at some time or another, whether it’s during planning, designing, or coding.
You’ll be amazed at what can happen if you step back when you “can’t see the wood for the trees”.
Simply take a break, go for a walk, make a cuppa, or work on something else. When you come back to it, whether in 5 minutes or 5...