Posted November 30th, 2008 in
Learning |
No comments » While I digest what’s left of the turkey and stuffing I ate over the weekend, I want to remind myself (and other Web developers) of something to be grateful for: CSS reset frameworks. These wonderful style sheets override built-in browser preferences to start you off with a fresh palette to textually paint your new Web site. All browser-specified margins, padding, sizes, indents, etc. are gone.
The sheets come in a variety flavors, many inspired by CSS master Eric Meyer. Yahoo provides developers a sheet to link directly to. (You can also steal the source to build your own.)
Your preferences may vary. But to start building pixel-perfect layouts — even in Internet Explorer — these frameworks are a great start. You will be surprised by how many styles are affected, and how you let browsers dictate how your site’s tags look. I use a very basic version of this on NickGehring.com, just setting all margins and padding to 0 with an asterisk.
* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
Yahoo and other frameworks get much more sophisticated with their approaches. It all depends on your needs.
Posted November 16th, 2008 in
free |
1 comment » Google launched a new voice-search app for the iPhone on Friday. The search giant is finally cashing in on its free 411 phone service. As some speculated when it launched, Goog-411 has turned into something more than just a money-losing information service. Goog-411 helps Google collect a variety of samples to construct a voice-guided search-engine application.
I wonder if Google will attach a short, verbal AdWords-like advertisement to these searches? Local search, especially as connected to cell phones and increasingly as linked to the phones’ GPS services, is a HUGE developing market. Imagine having your ad included as a sponsored result for someone’s voice search. “Nick’s Pizza Shack. Just 10 minutes from you in beautiful downtown Akron. Press 1 to call for reservations.” The possibilities are amazing.
Update: And the whole thing is in limbo.
Posted November 11th, 2008 in
Templates |
No comments » Smashing Magazine, an awesome online resource for Web developers, posted a story on online newspaper design trends. Visit enough of these domains and you soon get a feeling of déjà vu.
Smashing lists them:
- Color schemes - Most news sites use a white background with dark (black) text and blue links.
- Header and sidebar banners - Lots of ads in these places.
- Top navigation - Aside the New York Times, many news sites embrace top navigation.
- Tabbed content areas - Cram lots of information in a small space.
- Grid-based layouts - A good way to “manage and organize a large amount of content.”
Visit enough of these domains you and you soon get a feeling of déjà vu. Didn’t I just write that?
Lots of big new organizations of all stripes use templating in their designs. It saves time and probably makes supporting these sites from corporate HQ a lot easier. As things become more centralized and budgets leaner, these standard designs probably save money, too. Why spend months on a redesign when you need to focus all your resources on being able to report?
Advance Internet’s recently redesigned templates for Cleveland.com, OregonLive.com, MLive.com and Syracuse.com. Cleveland.com uses a hybrid of the new template, old template and a third blogging template for some story commenting. It’s rather confusing.
Gannett’s templates for Indianapolis Star, CentralOhio.com, Montgomery Advertiser and Cincinnati.com. Gannett launched these earlier this year, with the design originating from the Indy Star. Apparently the redesigns have caused a lot of turmoil. These templates, very much to their credit, push social media sharing high up on the front page.
Community newspaper powerhouse Gatehouse uses a similar set of templates on many of its 518 newspaper sites. Some are like my former employer’s site, while others are a variation of the Wicked Local brand, and yet others deliver news to the beat of a different template. All seem to have a gradient with a little bit of a drop shadow on each side of the content area.
Fox television stations that use the Fox Interactive Web template look EXACTLY the same. It’s not even worth posting more examples. Just take out “Cleveland” logo and insert “Tampa Bay” or “Twin Cities.” The templates boasts plenty of bevels, shadows and gradients, all in a red, white and blue theme. Very LOUD! I credit the Fox designs for not pimping out the 10 o’clock anchor team that no one cares about.
Smashing also compares blogs to traditional news sites. Blogs, as you would imagine, do a better job of integrating social networking, vital in the battle to turn readers into users, and users into members of an online community. I think more news sites should work like blogs. It’s already starting to trend in this direction — just a matter of getting those darn publishers to give in.
The Financial Times made its new site more like a blog with a vertical news flow called “the river”. FT also ported over the salmon color of its printed paper. Some things never change.
I would love to find designs that break out of the mold. Traditional news sources are unlikely to do this, though. Years of instituational behavior, coupled with taking themselves too seriously, mean few Web news sources are going to deviate much from the norm. Visit enough of these domains and you soon get a feeling of déjà vu.
Posted November 3rd, 2008 in
Techspeak |
No comments » Lost Remote provides a good list of things bloggers should/shouldn’t do. Among them, with comments from me:
- Have a voice - To think in newspaper terms, a professional blog comes somewhere between a story and a well-reported column. Don’t be boring!
- Don’t just post wire stories - Or regurgitate press releases. Ugh! I’ve seen this done word-for-word in a local newspaper’s entertainment blog. That’s lazy reporting and journalism.
- Engage with your readers - A colleague once snorted (yes, snorted) at my suggestion that reporters should act more like blog writers and actually police/engage in the conversations that bloom out of their stories. Many news Web sites treat their story comments like ghettos, where just about any racist or mean-spirited, off-topic comment goes, especially those hosted on Topix.com. That’s only part of the solution, of course.
- If you don’t enjoy it, you shouldn’t be doing it
- Create content that’s easy to read on the fly - What a great idea …
- Make sure you post the entire feed
I will add a No. 7: Update, update, update! Now certainly for me this is a case of do as I say, not as I do. If you want to have any sort of following for your blog, you have to update it. How do you expect to build an audience if your last update was in February? I’ve seen many businesses and trade associations do this. They’ll kick off a blog, make a big deal out of it, then just stop posting.
For a Web developer starting, then forgetting is stupid. Your blog is a vital part of your “brand” and shows your expertise. Not only can you give back to your field in terms of tips and inside information, you build crediblity in that community and with future customers.
Similar opportunities abound for news sources online. Build some credibility through regular, thoughout, kickbutt posts.
Posted October 13th, 2008 in
Bargain hunting |
2 comments » Car searching sucks, and for a guy who hates debt and would rather stick to his ole, reliable car, this process has become the ultimate source of procrastination. Except for a transmission that’s about to go and a lack of heat or AC, my car, Natasha, as I call her, runs as well as the day I bought her.
With another Ohio winter coming, I know this isn’t wise. I’m in denial. But if I ever want to be able to do highway travel again, I’m going to have to replace Natasha.
There is no shortage of sources to help you become an informed car buyer — and certainly there are plenty of Web sites that list new and used cars — however, the process is fragmented. Many dealerships have their own Web sites. And, of course, there’s Cars.com, Auto Trader, etc.
I would kill for a good Web site that aggregates such things. Some sites do this, but they aren’t very good. I would also love to have more specificity when picking models, like not just generic price ranges ($5,000-$10,000) or mileages (0, 50,000, 100,000). What if I wanted a car costing less than $7,775, with 62,000 miles? Can’t be done. I think most of the dealerships in my area use the same design template too. Hurray for consistency of experience; boo for crappy templates. (Note to car dealerships: I will create you a rockin’ site in return for a free car.)
I haven’t started talking to the dealers yet. I’m curious to see how my search will play out in the troubled economy. One thing’s for sure: I have to stay on top of my credit score and credit card limits. Having a low debt-to-available-credit ratio is incredibly important. Some card companies are closing “inactive” accounts and lowering limits in the midst of these economically challenged times. I like my credit rating, and ironically, I’m going to have to start using my cards more (and paying them off!) to make sure the companies don’t screw up my score.
I will secure financing outside the dealership, and I will not spend hours negotiating a price. I hope to have a pretty good deal secured without even setting foot in the dealership, although this will be more challenging because I am not buying a new car.
I find salesmen loathsome. My back tenses up even thinking about having to go through all the BS involved in test driving, negotiating, negotiating again with the finance people, and getting out alive.
But really, enough procrastinating!
My strategy (based on links supplied below):
- Do Web research and find some models I like.
- Narrow it down to a few and test drive. Buy NOTHING the day I test drive it.
- Come back home. Do more research. Get lots of annoying calls from dealers. Try to ignore them.
- Come back to my top 3 cars. Do not be attached to a particular model.
- Try to get into competitive bidding with the three cars via phone, e-mail, fax, etc.
- Close the deal at dealership. Don’t talk in monthly payments; do talk in final payment.
- Meet with financing dude. Explain I have my own financing already and try to get a lower rate than one I have from credit union, etc.
- Sign away life.
- Drive home.
- Victory!
Car-buying resources:
