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Testing For Dummies: Ten things to remember when testing RWD

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:15:08 -0500

Testing For Dummies: Ten things to remember when testing RWD:

A few things to remember when doing a bit of testing.

10 - phones are bad

A lot of phones are slow, have lots of bloatware and use the browser as a way to search Google, rather than look at your beautiful website. Symbian, Android, BBOS and Windows phone can be put onto very slow hardware, so…

Sweep the Sleaze

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:30:44 -0500

Sweep the Sleaze:

I found this blog post rather enlightening. I never gave much thought to adding ‘social media’ buttons to sites, but rather, I’ve just done it. I’m sure what ‘drove’ me was that every web site ‘does’ seem to have them. But why?

Armadillo - Installation & Online Setup.

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:53:19 -0600

Armadillo - Installation & Online Setup.

CMS for RapidWeaver - Armadillo

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:14:54 -0600

The day has finally arrived and Armadillo, from NimbleHost, makes its debut!

RapidWeaver user’s now have an option for their own Content Management System (CMS). Not only that, but FreeStack Theme user’s have an efficient way to incorporate a blog into their FreeStack layouts.

I was honored that Jonathan ask me to be a part of the ‘behind the scenes’ beta testing. He didn’t know much about FreeStack so I hope I brought some ‘light’ on how much this will help.

A number of folks helped to get Armadillo ready for a ‘prime time’ launch. And we hauled out some ‘big’ hammers in order to break it and keep Jonathan busy. This is an excellent start.
Jonathan has a ‘road map’ in place for future additions and I know he’s ready to hear what you’re looking for down the road.

From the time I got it setup, and familiarized myself with the ‘backend’, I felt right at home. It has an almost WordPress like feel to how the backend operates. And with the addition of having multiple authors for the Blog, this makes for a great ‘team’ option.

Jump over and check out the documentation. Ask questions. And get your copy today.

SupportCasts is now MacSupportCasts

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:49:37 -0600

SupportCasts is now MacSupportCasts:

The team that brought you SupportCasts has made a bold new move in the delivery, and scope, of video tutorials with MacSupportCasts.

No more long-term membership subscriptions. They’ve moved to a ‘classroom’ environment that allows you to get what you need.
Want the whole series, buy it. Just part of series, buy it.

RapidWeaver users can check out the listing for the first big classroom covering the FreeStack Theme/Stacks.

Excellent Mobile Responsive Design

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:06:31 -0600

Excellent Mobile Responsive Design:

Here’s 2 indispensable elements that you need to know.

The Difference Between width:auto and width:100%

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:00:34 -0600

The Difference Between width:auto and width:100%:

An article from 456 Berea Street.

New PopUp Stack Released

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:19:56 -0600

yourhead-stacks:

PopUp is a new little stack that adds a pop up box over your content. It’s super easy to use and works with any content on your Stacks page and anything in the popup. That means you can use it with images, text, or whatever. You can even drop a bunch of stacks into the popup.

You can get it here.

I’ve set up a demo page here.

Inspiration vs. Imitation

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:40:30 -0600

Inspiration vs. Imitation:

An interesting read from Jessica Hische.

The State of HTML5 Video

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:40:41 -0600

The State of HTML5 Video

Improving the RapidWeaver Contact Form

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:07:50 -0600

Improving the RapidWeaver Contact Form:

Check out Will Woodgate’s Blog for a great way to improve upon the built in Contact Form that come’s stock with RapidWeaver.

Social Media Icons Pack from Fontfabric

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:36:39 -0600

Social Media Icons Pack from Fontfabric:

Earlier, Smashing Magazine, shared a tweet with a direct link for some Social Media Icons.
Here’s what they tweeted…
“We usually do not link to these sets, but this social media icon pack could be useful”
…these were exactly the types of Social Media Icons I’ve been searching for. Specifically, round with the logo on them.
To my surprise, these aren’t “icons”. This is actually an OTF Font.
Yes! I said FONT!
I just tried it out with Acorn. I created a transparent canvas of 512px by 512px. Then I selected the “text tool” and chose the “Socialico” font. I used a 300px font size and typed “in”. Wait till you the results.
When you visit the site via the link scroll down to the last image. It’s a keyboard layout for the how to get the social site logo you want.

Introducing Grid Iron

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:08:42 -0600

Introducing Grid Iron:

Here’s a great review by Will Woodgate of, ThemeFlood & Stacks4Stacks, fame about the new Grid Iron Stack by Greg Barchard.

Need to Run Multiple Versions of Safari?

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:14:04 -0600

Need to Run Multiple Versions of Safari?:

Check out this article and learn how you can have multiple versions of Safari for development testing.

Fonts

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:31:29 -0600

Fonts:

Checkout this site for some really cool fonts. They have their policy covering the use of @font-face on their “About” page.

Show them some support with a donation.

From an End to a Beginning

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:46:53 -0600

As the eve of the New Year draws nigh … I took some time to reflect on 2011.

First, I want to say “Thanks” to a couple of guys; Larry - Inside RapidWeaver, and Kevin - SymfoniP. These guys have allowed me the “creative” freedom to create video tutorials for SupportCasts and the RapidWeaver community.
Being a part of the project has been amazing. I got to undertake the largest screencasting project of my life with the series on the FreeStack Theme created by Blueball Design.
Although this has been a sort of “overview” of FreeStack, with dabbling of “extras” tossed in, education has to start somewhere and I feel it’s better to start with the basics and at the beginning.

I also took some time in 2011 to dive into PulseCMS. When I first found Pulse it was a simple and free way to add a backend Content Management System into RapidWeaver. Since that time the developer, Mark Fick, has expanded to a licensed version that includes a few extras and a front end Theme. I actually put together a small site using nothing but Pulse.
I joined the Google Group for the Pulse community and I help out as best I can there. I even created a tutorial on how to add some functionality for fancyBox.

For Christmas my daughter’s got me a Kindle. I was overjoyed. In the last week of December I’ve immersed myself in reading. 4 books, practically 1 per day. So a big “Thanks” to them for the gift.
I’ve found that A Book Apart is the place to find what I most enjoy reading about - The Web & Web Design. They have done an excellent job at providing compact, to the point, reads that give practical applications that you can use.

The RW 3rd Party Developer community has always accepted me as “one of their own”, even though I don’t develop. This group allows me access to a lot the work they are doing to provide the RW community with all the magic they enjoy.
I won’t mention any names, but this group knows who they are. So “Thanks” to those of you who give me access.

So what about 2012…
Let me just say this … I’m looking forward to it. And I think you should too.
I’ve seen, and heard, about some the “magic” that’s coming our way.

Happy New Year!

Welcome Stacks4Stacks

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:57:27 -0600

Will Woodgate from ThemeFlood has setup a new website - Stacks4Stacks.

He’s added some interesting information and what’s going on with his Stack creations, new and old.

Check it out!

"IMPORTANT: If you have a boner lasting longer than 4 hours, you should probably stop staring at the..."

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:55:11 -0600

“IMPORTANT: If you have a boner lasting longer than 4 hours, you should probably stop staring at the new Stacks 2 icon.”

- Nick Cates - NCDThemes

Are you ready?

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:34:18 -0600

Are you ready?

hillaryhopper: Defining Personal Design Style(Artwork above is...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:23:11 -0600

hillaryhopper:

Defining Personal Design Style
(Artwork above is created and illustrated by myself - Snarphblat Chronicles)

I went to CTN Animation Expo last weekend in LA. It was incredible to see so many talented artists. But it made feel somewhat inadequate in my field and also humbled. I started feeling down about myself, but then started to think “Hey, I have a career in this, must have a style that is specific to me, but what is it?”.

For about two months I have been trying to redesign my website. It’s been a contestant struggle for me. Asking questions to myself like “Who am I, what do I look like, what is my style?” It’s hard to represent yourself when you are so familiar.

After studying artists over the weekend, I noticed that each person had their own style. Something that fit them and they were very good at portraying. I realized that my struggle wasn’t that I didn’t have a style, it was that I was struggling to be so many.

I’ve been trying to be myself, instead of just being myself.

It always bothered me when people would say to me “I love your Style!” I would always appreciate their compliment, but deep inside I would ask myself “What is my style?”.

The past few days, I have started drawing again. Drawing my characters and objects that I enjoy. I started to study my own style. Realizing that this whole time, it’s been staring at me in the face. I went and looked at what I made last year. Again, the style was there. Complimentary color pallets, bright colors, cute characters with big eyes and textures. I realized I love simple shapes, with subtle details. I use texture and color to make it more complicated. A lot of my work is simple and clean. I have never analyzed myself before. But it’s been eye opening to study myself.

I went through a lot of my files last night, starting from the earliest to latest. I watched how my work progressed through the months and how my ideas shaped. But there were always small indicators of my style. Doing research on myself, has really helped me personally. In a way my style just comes naturally, as I am sure yours does. This process has really helped to evaluate myself and it will help to make my style even stronger.

It’s also good to be well rounded and do other types of styles. But even that can be easier, because you can just study that style and copy it. But to define your own, I believe is more of a challenge because you are so close to it. It’s like you have to mentally pull yourself away, detach yourself from your work and look at it with fresh eyes.

Clients hire you and me for our particular style. It’s the colors we use, the shapes we put together, and the way we present information, that is unique to each of us.

Take projects when your client expresses that they love your style and you can see yourself creating what they are requesting. it saves for less iterations, better communication and the client knows what to expect. Perfecting your design style will bring work and you will be recognizable to people in your network.

Style is like a niche, it’s important to create, recognize and iterate it. It’s also good to try new ones, but still incorporate yourself into it. Designing what you are naturally drawn to will make you happy and your quality of work will greatly improve.