Web Design News. straTechnologist

Web Design News

Case Study: Increasing conversion rate using Google Website Optimizer

1 Feb 2010
by Ben Hunt
A case study on increasing conversion rate with split testing using Google Website Optimizer
via [Web Design from Scratch]

Order Your Copy of the Blogging for Business Pre-Release DVD

28 Jan 2010
by Ben Hunt
Order your pre-release copy of Ben Hunt and Mark Attwood's "Blogging for Business" seminar
via [Web Design from Scratch]

The Simple Shall Inherit the World Wide Web

17 Jan 2010
by Ben Hunt
The case for simplicity in web design, with tips and guidance for designers
via [Web Design from Scratch]

Conversion Rate Optimisation Case Study - Bible Timeline

8 Jan 2010
by Ben Hunt
How Scratchmedia's designers tripled one customer's web site's conversion rate
via [Web Design from Scratch]

Ben's New Year 2010 Newsletter

31 Dec 2009
by Ben Hunt
Ben Hunt's web design review of 2000-2009 and a look ahead to web design in the 2010s...
via [Web Design from Scratch]

Web Design is Dead

6 Dec 2009
by Ben Hunt
Why the familiar creative-driven web design process fails, why combining creativity and testing works so much better, and how to do it successfully.
via [Web Design from Scratch]

Semantic HTML Handbook - Benefits of Writing Semantic HTML

15 Nov 2009
by Ben Hunt
Free article on Semantic HTML. Why you should learn Semantic HTML. Benefits for SEO and code reuse explained.
via [Web Design from Scratch]

Complete List of HTML/xHTML Tags, With Guide to Proper Semantic Use

15 Nov 2009
by Ben Hunt
My Complete List of HTML/xHTML Tags, With Guide to their Proper Semantic Use
via [Web Design from Scratch]

A Few Tips and Tricks to Write Better Semantic HTML

15 Nov 2009
by Ben Hunt
Tips and tricks for writing better semantic HTML or xHTML from a professional web producer
via [Web Design from Scratch]

Set up a WordPress Blog for Your Business in 1 Hour

21 Oct 2009
by Ben Hunt
Shows you how you can set up hosting and a professional-looking WordPress blog in less than one hour
via [Web Design from Scratch]

Digital Web Magazine closes its doors

9 Mar 2009
by Nick Finck
As some of our regular readers have guessed, yes it is true. Digital Web Magazine has ceased publication. For the reasons cited in Time To Change, it was clear to us that what we had was no longer working. We called upon both our staff and readers for ideas on what we could change. We receive... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

Digital Web Magazine's 500th article

13 Dec 2008
by Nick Finck
As 2009 comes to a close and we enter our annual winter hiatus I am proud to present our 500th article, Time To Change, written by yours truly. With every year that passes we look back at the year and all of the things we have accomplished and then we set goals for ourselves for the year to come. ... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

Matthew steps down as Editor-in-Chief

5 Dec 2008
by Matthew Pennell
After a great two years with the magazine, I’m afraid the time has come for me to step down as Editor-in-Chief here at Digital Web. It has been great fun and very rewarding, and I have met some fantastic people both online and in person, but I have decided that I want to spend more time ne... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

Thanksgiving Giveaway: Free hosting and domain for a year

27 Nov 2008
by Nick Finck
We at Digital Web Magazine want to say thanks to our readers and authors for their dedicated patronage. As some of you may know, today in the U.S. is Thanksgiving day. To celebrate and say thank you to our readers and contributors we are going to be giving away a gift certificate for free hosting a... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

New Issue: Digital Web Seeks a New Tune

26 Nov 2008
by Tiff Fehr
Digital Web is headed into our winter breakâ€”we take December off to gather our resources and review the year past. But before we hibernate, we have a holiday season present for our readers. It’s a bit of a departure, but we’re thrilled to have Chris Wright join us to ask a light-hear... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

Free CSS book from Sitepoint

20 Nov 2008
by Matthew Pennell
The folks over at Sitepoint are giving away a free PDF of their book, The Art & Science Of CSS (co-written by one-time Digital Web columnist and all-round nice guy, Jonathan Snook). All you have to do to bag a copy is follow them on Twitter — full details can be found on Twitaway.com.
via [Digital Web News Feed]

New Issue: RESTful CSS

18 Nov 2008
by Tiff Fehr
We have a very interesting article this week from new contributor Steve Heffernan, who brings us RESTful CSS. Our last few CSS articles sparked quite a row in the comments, so I hope the same audience takes a long look at Steve’s proposals, even if web app languages like Ruby on Rails isnR... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

New Issue: Review of 'Website Optimization' and Are Accessibility Statements...

12 Nov 2008
by Tiff Fehr
Digital Web is happy to bring you another quality “twofer“â€”a two-article issue to get you through November. First up is returning contributor Andrew Stevens who reviews the new book Website Optimization by Andrew King on O’Reillyâ€”the nighthawk book as it were. King looks bey... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

New Issue: Extract from Paul Boag's "Website Owner's Manual"

7 Nov 2008
by Tiff Fehr
Digital Web is happy to feature a chapter from Paul Boag’s new book Website Owners Manual, entitled Know Your Site. Paul Boag is a well-known podcaster and web guru, with a lengthy resume throughout Headscape and Boagworld. His new book is a primer for website owners, and poses excellent que... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

Your views on politics and web design

4 Nov 2008
by Matthew Pennell
Last week we asked you how politics affects the jobbing web designer, and many of you responded with your thoughts. It was gratifying to see that, in the main, our readers are politically aware and realize the effect that national politics can have on their day-to-day lives — but what specific... continues
via [Digital Web News Feed]

9 Free Adobe Illustrator CS3 Brushes and Symbols

5 Apr 2008
by Shirley Kaiser
Looking for free Illustrator brushes or symbols? I created 9 free Adobe Illustrator symbols and brushes for anyone who needs rounded triangles or alert symbols, warning symbols. These free brushes and symbols are all fully editable within Adobe Illustrator, so you can change the colors, sizes, and c... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Reviews

16 May 2007
by Shirley Kaiser
Wondering whether or not to upgrade to the new Adobe Photoshop CS3? Wondering which version of Photoshop CS3 (Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended) might be best for your particular needs? Considering whether or not to buy Photoshop CS3 for the first time? Curious about what the experts are writing... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

Creating a Blog Entry Date Calendar Icon Look with CSS, Mostly

22 Feb 2007
by Shirley Kaiser
I've received numerous inquiries about how I created the entry post calendar icon look for Brainstorms and Raves. So today's post shares the basics of the CSS and the two tiny background images I created to achieve the calendar icon look. (1308 words, 2 links, 12 images)
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

Inspiration, Insight Behind the New Happy Cog Redesign

10 Feb 2007
by Shirley Kaiser
Do you ever wonder what goes into brainstorming sessions and creative ideas from some of the top names in the Web design field? You'll find that and much more with blog posts earlier this week by three creators of the latest redesign of Happy Cog's website - Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, and D... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

Tool to Automatically Harmonize Colors

16 Jan 2007
by Shirley Kaiser
Andy King has a new article out on a fabulous color tool that automates the enhancement of color harmonies for photos or images. Automatic Color Harmony Tools first explains a bit about color harmonies and color psychology, and even snails' involvement in creating purple dye. Andy then describes how... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

Join Us! BrowserCam Subscription via Fundable Available

18 Dec 2006
by Shirley Kaiser
The BrowserCam pool via fundable.org that I belong to is up for its annual renewal. It has a few openings for subscribers this time around. This subscription is for the BC-Complete plan, and the cost is US $26 for the 12-month subscription via fundable.org (information below). US $499.95 is the cost... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

Part 2: User-friendly Contextual Navigation with Simple PHP Includes

9 Oct 2006
by Shirley Kaiser
Building on the previous post, User-friendly Contextual Navigation with Simple PHP Includes, I thought I'd take things one small and simple step further by using PHP once again, this time to add a CSS class for the current page. Then it's easy to use this CSS class to create a helpful visual cue wit... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

Usability and Design News: Screen Resolution, Page Layout, Hot Spots

1 Aug 2006
by Shirley Kaiser
Jakob Nielsen and Andy King both have new articles at their sites that cover window resolution, user-friendly website design, and related issues. This important topic is also regularly discussed and debated in Web design and development discussion lists. Below I've highlighted their articles, but be... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

New Color Scheme Tool

25 Jun 2006
by Shirley Kaiser
While there are certainly quite a few color tools available for creating color schemes and color matching, there's a new one out now by Genometri - GenoColor that takes a very different approach to creating color schemes. GenoPalette will help you create eye-popping color schemes, color combinations... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Design]

WebsiteTips.com Relaunch!

23 Mar 2006
by Shirley Kaiser
I've been buried the last five months quietly working hard on a major redesign and restructuring of WebsiteTips.com. I'm now excited to announce that the all new WebsiteTips.com is now online. Read the complete post to learn all about it! (426 words, 11 links, 2 images)
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

Visionary Workshops and WebVisions 2005 in Portland July 14-15

7 Jul 2005
by Shirley Kaiser
WebVisions 2005 is coming up next week already in Portland, Oregon. I attended this fabulous conference a few years ago, so I can speak from firsthand experience that it's a terrific time to learn a tremendous amount, meet fascinating people with common interests, and have a lot of fun. (177 words, ... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

New Web Design Usability Article

30 Aug 2004
by Shirley Kaiser
Mastery, Mystery, and Misery: The Ideologies of Web Design is the latest website usability article by Jakob Nielsen. Whether or not you agree with everything he's written in the past, in this new article Nielsen covers some terrific points about what works and what doesn't work with sites. I think w... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

Information Design, Interconnectedness, and Assault Weapons?!

21 Jul 2004
by Shirley Kaiser
Earlier today I was looking for information design tips, so naturally I went to visit Beth Mazur's IDBlog. While there I got sidetracked with one of her recent posts, Blogs, Power Laws, and Assault Weapons, about Tom Mauser's Petition to Renew the Assault Weapons Ban. The animated map of Tom Mauser'... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

More on Friends, XFN, and Hyperlinks

8 Apr 2004
by Shirley Kaiser
Several new and interesting XFN-related posts and a new XFN tool prompts this new entry on XFN right after my previous post, Friends, XFN, and Hyperlinks. (198 words, 11 links, 1 image)
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

Friends, XFN, and Hyperlinks

4 Apr 2004
by Shirley Kaiser
XFN, a simple way to represent human relationships within hyperlinks, is part of the efforts of the Global Multimedia Protocols Group, GMPG, founded by Tantek Celik, Eric Meyer, Matthew Mullenweg. Below are a few links that explain more about XFN and how to implement XFN within your site. (286 words... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

Site Organization Standards?

7 Jan 2004
by Shirley Kaiser
This article is just as timely today as it was when it was written in 1998: A Standard for Site Organization, by Greg Knauss (with several brains and contributors) at Stating the Obvious. The example root level site structure makes a lot of sense for visitors and for developing and maintaining a web... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

Friday Feast #63: Information Architecture, Standards, Best Practices

24 Oct 2003
by Shirley Kaiser
This week's Friday Feast takes a look at an insightful new interview of Jeffrey Zeldman, A List Apart's new site design that everyone's talking about, and user-friendly approaches to website information architecture. (1086 words, 25 links, 2 images)
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

Friday Feast #60: CSS, FeedDemon, IA, the Web

26 Sep 2003
by Shirley Kaiser
There are so many new sites, articles, helpful CSS tools, and fun and fascinating things to read or watch. Today's Feast highlights a few of my favorites for the past couple of weeks. (506 words, 16 links)
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

What's a Wiki

6 Sep 2003
by Shirley Kaiser
In response to a recent comment, What on earth is a Wiki? I thought I'd go ahead and create a post about it, including links to more information, resources, and examples. I think of a Wiki as a collaborative website in which anyone can add or edit the content. They're growing in popularity for shar... continues
via [Brainstorms and Raves - Information Architecture]

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