August 2011

The Lost Art of Design Etiquette.

Two words spring to mind when inheriting a website created by someone else… fear and loathing (sorry Hunter). What condition are the files in? How clean is the code? All too often one is confronted by sloppiness and laziness, making any future work frustrating and irritating. There is a certain ‘etiquette’ that web designers and developers should follow to make further work run like clockwork. SmashingMagazine enlightens us with the lost art of web design etiquette.

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Learning CSS3: A Reference Guide.

Using CSS3 to build websites is a no-brainer, it’s simply the best way to go. This overview features a hand-picked and organized selection of the most useful SmashingMagazine articles related to CSS3 published over the years. Hone your skills to build better websites.

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50 of the best Fireworks Tutorials for designers.

Take note, Photoshop is not the right tool to use for web and screen design. Photoshop was designed to be used for image manipulation. It was not designed to create effective pixel-precise layouts for computer screens, or  to make quick changes to screen layouts. Fireworks however was designed for this specific purpose. StylishWebDesigner showcases some of the best Adobe Fireworks tutorials for you to get stuck into.

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Elegant WordPress Restaurant Menu Templates.

Having a website for a restaurant is no longer a novelty, it’s a necessity. Readers can check your business hours, menu, wine list, prices and all the other information they need to decide to make a booking. WordPress is the ideal vehicle to create a compelling design that is relatively simple to create, and easy to maintain and update. TripwireMagazine showcase some of the best Restaurant Menu Templates using WordPress.

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July 2011

A Complete Guide to Facebook Fan Pages.

Facebook fan pages are a great way to promote a business, and an important part of any social media marketing plan. Creating a basic page isn’t that complicated, but creating a page that fans will like, share, and engage with is a bit trickier. InstantShift covers how to set up your fan page, finding great apps to use, creating custom content, and more, followed by a roundup of some great fan pages created by some leading companies.

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How to create effective Landing Page designs.

Basically a landing page is a web page that is highly optimized with the single purpose to ‘Seal a Deal’ once a targeted visitor hits your site. TripwireMagazine explains how to optimize your landing page.

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Designing for Android.

Nobody can ignore that Android currently has the majority of smartphone market share and that it is being used on everything from tablets to e-readers. This article at SmashingMagazine will help designers become familiar with what they need to know to get started with Android and to deliver the right assets to the development team.

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How to Add the Google +1 Button to your Website.

Google has released its Google +1 (“plus one”) button to compete with Twitter’s Tweet button and Facebook’s Like button. This is a big step towards adding the social aspects to the search results.  This button can generate potential traffic and exposure to your web site. All your visitors need to have is a Google account to use your Google button. WpArena will get you started.

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Cutting edge examples of HTML5 Web Design.

CreativeFan have gathered up a bunch of different HTML5 design examples, to show you some of the possibilities for HTML5 web design and websites.  These designs show off some of the advanced techniques that you can achieve with both HTML5 and CSS3.

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Five Copywriting Errors that can ruin a company’s Website.

The effectiveness with which a website converts visitors hinges on words. If a new website is going to hit all the right notes, its content must be just as well crafted as its design and programming. However, as you might imagine, there are many ways to go wrong with content in a Web development project. SmashingMagazine discusses errors that have the potential to undo a website.

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