1.Surf the web. The odds are there are dozens of sites that you admire, or that do something similar to what you hope to achieve and do it well. Find them, study them, and take some notes. Write down what you like, and what you don’t like - and why. Keep a file.
2.As you surf these sites, make note of the credits at the bottom. See who designed them, and if possible check out those designer’s websites for a portfolio of their other work.
3.Cruise the premium Wordpress, Drupal, and Joomla theme sites if you choose one of these platforms. Find out what theme is in use on the sites you like, and who designed the theme. It may be that you will end up buying a theme you like and reducing the role of your designer to customizing it.
4.If you have friends who have web sites you admire, question them on their choice of platform, designer, theme, etc. Ask about functionality. If there is something you’d like to have that you don’t see, ask about that as well.
5.When you have settled on what you want to do, get at least three designers to look at what you have, and what you want, and provide you quotes. In the quotes make sure they include costs for training you on use and maintenance, for updates to the site, and for emergency troubleshooting. As you communicate with them, take note of how quickly they answer, and how helpful they are. You may be working with them for a while.
6.Avoid trying to be “too cool” with your website - particularly if you aren’t independely wealthy. Flash and crazy color schemes, and animated gifs all may seem like a “way-cool” idea when you first see them. In most cases they distract people from the focus of your site.
7.Keep it as professional as you can. Weigh each feature you intend to include for its usefulness and utility. It’s okay to have a few “fun” things but don’t let them overshadow your reason for having the site.
8.Build your site around your content. Whatever it is you intend to promote, sell, share, or advertise, try to put your mind in a place where you can imagine coming to the site as a user, customer, etc. and design it the way you would want to see it if someone else built it.
9.Your front page should provide access to every important aspect of your site, and should do so without the necessity of scrolling. Don’t hide anything you really want people to see, the average surfer won’t click through to something they have to work to find.
10.Do not be intimidated by your designer. It’s easy to let them make your decsisions for you, to make you feel inadequate for your inability to do things on your own, and in general to take over your project. You are hiring them to build YOUR site…remember that, while you are collaborating, you are in charge of the project, and it is - ultimately - your design and thoughts that should be reflected in the final outcome.
Read More..
Showing posts with label web developer tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web developer tips. Show all posts
Friday, January 2, 2009
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Check out Broken Backlinks using Google Webmaster Tool
Google rocks the web world, do you guys have any doubt? No! right!, Google has introduced a new feature which lets us to view Broken Backlinks which are present in our sites, this awesome new feature has been introduced in Google Webmaster Tools.
If you want to know more about this and would like to check your sites for any Broken Backlinks, then please do click on this URL - https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/dashboard obviously one should have Google account to login to the webmasters site. And if you would like to try your luck with zero broken backlinks on your site, then follow these steps.
- Once you login to the site, the above URL will take you to the dashboard, where in you can find your list of sites which you have added earlier (or even you can add the same).
- Click on Diagnostics, then Web crawl, once you are in Web crawl page you can see a table which depicts the Errors for URL’s in Sitemaps and respective options.
By this you can check the respective errors and just rectify those Broken Backlinks and make your website 100% error free.
Read More...
If you want to know more about this and would like to check your sites for any Broken Backlinks, then please do click on this URL - https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/dashboard obviously one should have Google account to login to the webmasters site. And if you would like to try your luck with zero broken backlinks on your site, then follow these steps.
- Once you login to the site, the above URL will take you to the dashboard, where in you can find your list of sites which you have added earlier (or even you can add the same).
- Click on Diagnostics, then Web crawl, once you are in Web crawl page you can see a table which depicts the Errors for URL’s in Sitemaps and respective options.
By this you can check the respective errors and just rectify those Broken Backlinks and make your website 100% error free.
Read More...
Use of dynamic languages will rise in 2009
What used to be a programming tool for small jobs is mainstream in Asia as over 88 percent of developers say they use some dynamic language some of the time and over 40 percent use one more than half of the time.
Javascript is by far the most widely used dynamic language, although 45 percent of developers in Asia who use dynamic languages now use PHP in some of their projects.
"Software developers are always looking for ways to shed unneeded complexity and outdated methodologies and move to approaches that make programming simpler and faster especially as more and more development is web-centric," said John Andrews, president and CEO of Evans Data. "The high use of dynamic languages in Asia Pacific is consistent with the high concentration of web application development being conducted in that region."
Other highlights of this survey of over 400 software developers in the Asia-Pacific region include:
* Cloud computing is on the rise, with over one in five Asian developers planning to launch cloud projects within the next 6 months.
* Sixty percent of developers in the Asia region expect their development for mobile devices to increase
* Intel dominates the development market with more than twice as many developers targeting the Intel processors as AMD processors.
Developers predict their use of dynamic languages will remain the same next year as this year, except that Perl is expected to decline and Actionscript, the basis for Flash development, will increase.
Read More..
Javascript is by far the most widely used dynamic language, although 45 percent of developers in Asia who use dynamic languages now use PHP in some of their projects.
"Software developers are always looking for ways to shed unneeded complexity and outdated methodologies and move to approaches that make programming simpler and faster especially as more and more development is web-centric," said John Andrews, president and CEO of Evans Data. "The high use of dynamic languages in Asia Pacific is consistent with the high concentration of web application development being conducted in that region."
Other highlights of this survey of over 400 software developers in the Asia-Pacific region include:
* Cloud computing is on the rise, with over one in five Asian developers planning to launch cloud projects within the next 6 months.
* Sixty percent of developers in the Asia region expect their development for mobile devices to increase
* Intel dominates the development market with more than twice as many developers targeting the Intel processors as AMD processors.
Developers predict their use of dynamic languages will remain the same next year as this year, except that Perl is expected to decline and Actionscript, the basis for Flash development, will increase.
Read More..
Friday, November 28, 2008
Motivation in open source
As my focus was mainly on discussing about open source projects, while I was preparing my presentation, I made a thinking exercise. And I noted down the motivational factors for developing open source applications. Let’s go through the list.
* Passion. Remember that most of you are working in this field because you like it. Sometimes developers get to work in a company and in a project that they actually don’t like. Open source is their chance to do what they like. So, even tough this takes extra time and effort, the moral satisfaction pays it off. Keep the fire burning with Open Source!
* Educational. Working in an open source is the best way to keep you up-to-date with the latest technologies. Due to economical reasons, the projects developed in closed profit-based organizations, are not up-to-date with the last technologies. Keep learning with Open Source!
* Portfolio. What you developed as open source could be a very good showcase to obtain a better job. If you don’t have yet industry practical experience, this can compensate. Show off your Open Source!
* Status. There is a special pride of being a member in a successful open source community. Be proud with your Open Source!
* Need. This is actually one of the main reasons for developing open source applications. Either there isn’t a software solution for your problem or it is too expensive, you can always make your own or contribute to other people effort to do it. Use Open Source!
* Influence. This is somehow related to need. Because a company is needing some features in an open source application, they encourage their employees to take an active role in the development of it. In this way they can easily influence the direction in which the open source project is heading. Influence your Open Source!
* Altruism/Knowledge sharing. Some people simply do it because is the right and moral thing to do. They used and enjoyed open source and now it’s time to give something back. Share by Open Source!
* Quality. I know that it may sound like a paradox, but I really think that a successful open source project has a higher quality than a successful closed, private one. Usually an open source project has a more varied and wide pool of users. It means that it also have a wider pool of critics. Moreover, the commercial products will have to constantly improve because of the competition. Improve Open Source!
* Economical. Open source is not entirely free. And here we have to talk about cost reduction and profit.
Cost reduction. A company can develop a project, but due to the lack of resources, they decide to make it open source. If the project is not on their portfolio, but it was merely developed as a library for other projects or to support the internal infrastructure, this is a very good choice. Their business won’t be affected, but their winnings could be huge. In the first place, they win a huge amount of users, which are actually free ad-hoc testers. As the project is growing they can also gain developers or other specialists, thus tremendously decreasing the maintenance costs.
Read More..
* Passion. Remember that most of you are working in this field because you like it. Sometimes developers get to work in a company and in a project that they actually don’t like. Open source is their chance to do what they like. So, even tough this takes extra time and effort, the moral satisfaction pays it off. Keep the fire burning with Open Source!
* Educational. Working in an open source is the best way to keep you up-to-date with the latest technologies. Due to economical reasons, the projects developed in closed profit-based organizations, are not up-to-date with the last technologies. Keep learning with Open Source!
* Portfolio. What you developed as open source could be a very good showcase to obtain a better job. If you don’t have yet industry practical experience, this can compensate. Show off your Open Source!
* Status. There is a special pride of being a member in a successful open source community. Be proud with your Open Source!
* Need. This is actually one of the main reasons for developing open source applications. Either there isn’t a software solution for your problem or it is too expensive, you can always make your own or contribute to other people effort to do it. Use Open Source!
* Influence. This is somehow related to need. Because a company is needing some features in an open source application, they encourage their employees to take an active role in the development of it. In this way they can easily influence the direction in which the open source project is heading. Influence your Open Source!
* Altruism/Knowledge sharing. Some people simply do it because is the right and moral thing to do. They used and enjoyed open source and now it’s time to give something back. Share by Open Source!
* Quality. I know that it may sound like a paradox, but I really think that a successful open source project has a higher quality than a successful closed, private one. Usually an open source project has a more varied and wide pool of users. It means that it also have a wider pool of critics. Moreover, the commercial products will have to constantly improve because of the competition. Improve Open Source!
* Economical. Open source is not entirely free. And here we have to talk about cost reduction and profit.
Cost reduction. A company can develop a project, but due to the lack of resources, they decide to make it open source. If the project is not on their portfolio, but it was merely developed as a library for other projects or to support the internal infrastructure, this is a very good choice. Their business won’t be affected, but their winnings could be huge. In the first place, they win a huge amount of users, which are actually free ad-hoc testers. As the project is growing they can also gain developers or other specialists, thus tremendously decreasing the maintenance costs.
Read More..
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
15 Things Every Web Developer Should Be Thankful For
With Thanksgiving only a couple days away, it’s appropriate to look back on the things that we appreciate best about our jobs. Let’s face it: Web Developers have the best jobs around, right? We’re incredibly lucky to have the professions we do.
Here are 15 things that we all should be thankful for. These are the technologies that we couldn’t live without, or that have previously paved the way and allowed us to be web developers.
1. Mosaic
Graphic designers everywhere should reserve a day in November to give thanks to the software that’s enabled our careers. Without Mosaic’s picture support, the Internet doesn’t need good design. The 1993 launch of this web browsing software opened up a brand new world to web developers and web browsers alike.
2. Firefox
Firefox ended the long tyranny of IE oppression for experienced web users. The extension-enabled browser has forced IE to play catch up and improve their lukewarm browser, which hadn’t seen an update for 5 years.
Aside from pushing a standards-based browsing initiative, the ability to extend Firefox has made the developers life much easier. There are oodles of extensions that are nearly essential to the developer.
3. Browsershots.org
Every web developer knows the awful pain that is making designs constant across different browsers. Thanks to Browsershots, we can easily see a screenshot of any page across a multitude of different browsers, showing potential problems that might arise across different browsers, and giving new reason to invent curses for legacy IE versions.
4. Firebug
Thanks to Firefox, we now have a browser that is also an important tool for the web developer. Firebug is a must-have extension for the web developer. With this nifty little extension you can view just about any aspect of the web page, visible or behind the scenes, and modify it real-time. It’s incredibly useful for designers and programmers alike.
5. Google Code
If you’re trying to find a useful snippet of code, there’s no place better than Google Code. Not only is it a great place to search for entire libraries, you can find useful bits of code that might be hard to find otherwise. If you’re wanting to house a project, you’ll be especially thankful for G Code, as it’s a free and easy way to have a working community for a project without hosting costs.
Also, with Google Code you can use Google’s bandwidth for the javascript libraries included in your projects. Using jQuery? Just call Google’s hosted version and be on your way. No need to slow your own server down with Google’s gracious offer.
6. Frameworks
Frameworks have given developers a major reason to be thankful. Gone are the days of building websites around repetitive code. Using frameworks like Rails, Django or CakePHP on websites needing database interaction and user permissions takes a major burden off of the programmer. They can spend less time on common, tedious code and more on the interesting and unique. It’s a powerful paradigm shift in programming.
Here are some of the major frameworks used today, in no particular order.
- Ruby on Rails (Ruby)
- CakePHP (PHP)
- Django (Python)
- Zend (PHP)
- CodeIgnitor (PHP)
- Symfony (PHP)
7. Open Source projects
Mad props should be bestowed upon the Open Source Initiative and all the software it promotes. It is a fact that we wouldn’t have a) the Internet or b) much of the technology that it runs on without open source projects. Most of the biggest and best projects are open sourced software, and they all run on the basis that the people building and contributing to them are doing it for free. Granted, these folks might make a hefty profit on consulting services and other opportunities around the projects, they’re still opening up the code base for developers to modify and improve, as they see fit.
Open Source is the Internet’s best contribution yet. The free exchange of ideas encouraged by Open Source is the best thing that’s happened to the web, especially for web developers. Show of hands: Who hasn’t ever used open source software to build a site or project? I’m guessing none of us. That is plenty to be thankful for.
8. Creative Commons
On the heels of Open Source is Creative Commons licensing. You can modify, reuse and redistribute Creative Commons-licensed material, in exchange for (at the most) attribution. Ultimately, Creative Commons protects the original work, but allows people to modify and reuse at will.
Creative Commons is a very big benefit for designers and bloggers alike. The pictures seen in posts on this blog? Creative Commons licensed. There is absolutely nothing better for content producers than free media that can be reused and remixed.
9. Paypal
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Paypal and other payment gateways have made collecting payments a much friendlier task on the web. Sure, there are horror stories and bad experiences using their product, but Paypal has revolutionized the way money is exchanged on the Internet. They have an easy to use API, and if you’re wanting something even simpler, they offer a painless web interface to receive money from.
If Paypal has done you wrong in the past and you’re looking for a better alternative to send and receive money, you might check out a CNN article on five Paypal alternatives. Definitely worth the read.
10. Javascript Libraries
Javascript is always one of the most popular aspects of web development, and a big reason for that is the advent of Javascript libraries. Javascript libraries, (like frameworks), have eliminated the much of the need for custom Javascript programming. Aside from the fact that the core files in the Javascript libraries do a great many functions themselves, the ability to use custom plugins gives even more functionality to the library.
Not having to do custom Javascript programming for specific effects has given me a much greater respect for Javascript libs this holiday season. Here are some of the more popular Javascript libraries:
- jQuery
- Dojo
- Scriptaculous
- Prototype
- MooTools
- MochiKit
11. Amazon S3 and EC2
Amazon’s on demand services S3 and EC2 have developer’s lives a lot simpler. Not only do they not have to worry about traffic influxes and scaling headaches, they don’t have to spend buckets of cash on reserve servers. The pay-what-you-use business model to web hosting and file serving is a godsend for developers.
The launch of these “cloud” services has also spawn the change of many hosts to move to the pay-as-you-go model. Amazon’s innovation has helped spurn change for the betterment of web development.
12. Anti-RSI software
There is no friend like RSI-preventing software. RSI (or Repetitive Strain Injury) is typically in the form of carpal tunnel for web developers and typing zealots. Because the typical developer or designer spends at least 8 hours sitting in front of a computer screen all day, there is a likelyhood that RSI will creep into the wrists, hands, forearms, elbows, shoulders, back… and the list can go on and on.
Thanks goodness for RSI software that forces you to take breaks on a regular basis. Many times I’ll find myself fixated at the computer until I finish xyz, and consequently it’s over 50 minutes before I’ve gotten out of my chair away from the computer. With RSI software, you can have a reminder flash on your computer at set intervals that ensures you’re moving your limbs and warding off RSI. If you’re on a Mac, try AntiRSI, Windows and Linux users can try Workrave.
13. Advanced Text Editors
Advanced text editors have sped up the development time by adding a myriad of useful features that can benefit nearly anyone who writes in code, blogger to advanced programmer. Whether you prefer Textmate, Emacs, Vim or some other editor, text editors can save plenty of time on the development cycle.
14. CSS
CSS seems to be one of those technologies that is taken for granted. Can anyone remember what the pre-CSS days were like? It wasn’t pretty. Modifying a web layout’s design meant going through each page and changing each inline style. Ugh. Thanks to the wonderment that is CSS, we can make one change in a single file, and Poof!, it’s reflected across the entire site. Simple, clean, and much less involved.
There are times when I’m not that thankful for CSS (see: Internet Explorer), but for the most part it’s a technology that we’re much better off having.
15. Laptops
Laptops can completely change the effectiveness of a developer. Instead of being confined to the same room, chair, keyboard and monitor each day, the laptop allows for a much-needed change. While the screen real estate may not be as big as your office setup, it offers one thing the other can’t: Variety. Laptops enable you to work from anywhere.
Read More..
Here are 15 things that we all should be thankful for. These are the technologies that we couldn’t live without, or that have previously paved the way and allowed us to be web developers.
1. Mosaic
Graphic designers everywhere should reserve a day in November to give thanks to the software that’s enabled our careers. Without Mosaic’s picture support, the Internet doesn’t need good design. The 1993 launch of this web browsing software opened up a brand new world to web developers and web browsers alike.
2. Firefox
Firefox ended the long tyranny of IE oppression for experienced web users. The extension-enabled browser has forced IE to play catch up and improve their lukewarm browser, which hadn’t seen an update for 5 years.
Aside from pushing a standards-based browsing initiative, the ability to extend Firefox has made the developers life much easier. There are oodles of extensions that are nearly essential to the developer.
3. Browsershots.org
Every web developer knows the awful pain that is making designs constant across different browsers. Thanks to Browsershots, we can easily see a screenshot of any page across a multitude of different browsers, showing potential problems that might arise across different browsers, and giving new reason to invent curses for legacy IE versions.
4. Firebug
Thanks to Firefox, we now have a browser that is also an important tool for the web developer. Firebug is a must-have extension for the web developer. With this nifty little extension you can view just about any aspect of the web page, visible or behind the scenes, and modify it real-time. It’s incredibly useful for designers and programmers alike.
5. Google Code
If you’re trying to find a useful snippet of code, there’s no place better than Google Code. Not only is it a great place to search for entire libraries, you can find useful bits of code that might be hard to find otherwise. If you’re wanting to house a project, you’ll be especially thankful for G Code, as it’s a free and easy way to have a working community for a project without hosting costs.
Also, with Google Code you can use Google’s bandwidth for the javascript libraries included in your projects. Using jQuery? Just call Google’s hosted version and be on your way. No need to slow your own server down with Google’s gracious offer.
6. Frameworks
Frameworks have given developers a major reason to be thankful. Gone are the days of building websites around repetitive code. Using frameworks like Rails, Django or CakePHP on websites needing database interaction and user permissions takes a major burden off of the programmer. They can spend less time on common, tedious code and more on the interesting and unique. It’s a powerful paradigm shift in programming.
Here are some of the major frameworks used today, in no particular order.
- Ruby on Rails (Ruby)
- CakePHP (PHP)
- Django (Python)
- Zend (PHP)
- CodeIgnitor (PHP)
- Symfony (PHP)
7. Open Source projects
Mad props should be bestowed upon the Open Source Initiative and all the software it promotes. It is a fact that we wouldn’t have a) the Internet or b) much of the technology that it runs on without open source projects. Most of the biggest and best projects are open sourced software, and they all run on the basis that the people building and contributing to them are doing it for free. Granted, these folks might make a hefty profit on consulting services and other opportunities around the projects, they’re still opening up the code base for developers to modify and improve, as they see fit.
Open Source is the Internet’s best contribution yet. The free exchange of ideas encouraged by Open Source is the best thing that’s happened to the web, especially for web developers. Show of hands: Who hasn’t ever used open source software to build a site or project? I’m guessing none of us. That is plenty to be thankful for.
8. Creative Commons
On the heels of Open Source is Creative Commons licensing. You can modify, reuse and redistribute Creative Commons-licensed material, in exchange for (at the most) attribution. Ultimately, Creative Commons protects the original work, but allows people to modify and reuse at will.
Creative Commons is a very big benefit for designers and bloggers alike. The pictures seen in posts on this blog? Creative Commons licensed. There is absolutely nothing better for content producers than free media that can be reused and remixed.
9. Paypal
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Paypal and other payment gateways have made collecting payments a much friendlier task on the web. Sure, there are horror stories and bad experiences using their product, but Paypal has revolutionized the way money is exchanged on the Internet. They have an easy to use API, and if you’re wanting something even simpler, they offer a painless web interface to receive money from.
If Paypal has done you wrong in the past and you’re looking for a better alternative to send and receive money, you might check out a CNN article on five Paypal alternatives. Definitely worth the read.
10. Javascript Libraries
Javascript is always one of the most popular aspects of web development, and a big reason for that is the advent of Javascript libraries. Javascript libraries, (like frameworks), have eliminated the much of the need for custom Javascript programming. Aside from the fact that the core files in the Javascript libraries do a great many functions themselves, the ability to use custom plugins gives even more functionality to the library.
Not having to do custom Javascript programming for specific effects has given me a much greater respect for Javascript libs this holiday season. Here are some of the more popular Javascript libraries:
- jQuery
- Dojo
- Scriptaculous
- Prototype
- MooTools
- MochiKit
11. Amazon S3 and EC2
Amazon’s on demand services S3 and EC2 have developer’s lives a lot simpler. Not only do they not have to worry about traffic influxes and scaling headaches, they don’t have to spend buckets of cash on reserve servers. The pay-what-you-use business model to web hosting and file serving is a godsend for developers.
The launch of these “cloud” services has also spawn the change of many hosts to move to the pay-as-you-go model. Amazon’s innovation has helped spurn change for the betterment of web development.
12. Anti-RSI software
There is no friend like RSI-preventing software. RSI (or Repetitive Strain Injury) is typically in the form of carpal tunnel for web developers and typing zealots. Because the typical developer or designer spends at least 8 hours sitting in front of a computer screen all day, there is a likelyhood that RSI will creep into the wrists, hands, forearms, elbows, shoulders, back… and the list can go on and on.
Thanks goodness for RSI software that forces you to take breaks on a regular basis. Many times I’ll find myself fixated at the computer until I finish xyz, and consequently it’s over 50 minutes before I’ve gotten out of my chair away from the computer. With RSI software, you can have a reminder flash on your computer at set intervals that ensures you’re moving your limbs and warding off RSI. If you’re on a Mac, try AntiRSI, Windows and Linux users can try Workrave.
13. Advanced Text Editors
Advanced text editors have sped up the development time by adding a myriad of useful features that can benefit nearly anyone who writes in code, blogger to advanced programmer. Whether you prefer Textmate, Emacs, Vim or some other editor, text editors can save plenty of time on the development cycle.
14. CSS
CSS seems to be one of those technologies that is taken for granted. Can anyone remember what the pre-CSS days were like? It wasn’t pretty. Modifying a web layout’s design meant going through each page and changing each inline style. Ugh. Thanks to the wonderment that is CSS, we can make one change in a single file, and Poof!, it’s reflected across the entire site. Simple, clean, and much less involved.
There are times when I’m not that thankful for CSS (see: Internet Explorer), but for the most part it’s a technology that we’re much better off having.
15. Laptops
Laptops can completely change the effectiveness of a developer. Instead of being confined to the same room, chair, keyboard and monitor each day, the laptop allows for a much-needed change. While the screen real estate may not be as big as your office setup, it offers one thing the other can’t: Variety. Laptops enable you to work from anywhere.
Read More..
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