As promised, here is more on CSS techniques and graphic element implementations. To start I would like to explain what “Sliding Doors� are that I mentioned in my last post.
Simply it is a method of using CSS positioning to fake a rollover with one image that has both instances of the button and there by on the rollover it slides the image over to show the other state of the button. This greatly reduces loading time because there is no preloading required and you only have one image that you are working with instead of a separate instance for each button. The drawback is that you cannot use styled fonts. If you want a non-standard font (e.g. serif or sans serif along with the classic Arial, Helvetica, Veranda, Times New Roman, etc.) this is not the way you want to go because this effect is made by changing the a:link, a:visited, and a:hover background-image position.

I am impatiently awaiting a full support for CSS 3. Just some of the nifty things the newest version of CSS can do is rounded corners through the definition of only two numbers you can define an elliptical radii and thereby set the curvature of your container. This will also set the background to a rounded state even it you have your border set to none. Speaking of borders, CSS 3 has a new “wavy� boarder style that applies a wavy line to the boarder. You can also define images to your borders now just to increase the customization that so many designers have been using hacks and other less desirable methods to achieve the aesthetic quality they demand in their work. Unfortunately this presents us the same problem that exists now with the IE (Internet Explorer) browser support of the PNG file format. IE 6 does not support the alpha channel required to correctly display transparent PNG images. IE 7 however does. Because IE 6 does not we still must avoid the PNG and settle for the GIF format because IE 6 is still widely in use. If we were to try to use a PNG image then we would not be able to make a good design for IE 6, so for now we must ignore the advancements made in IE 7. So Until CSS 3 becomes supported by all browsers we will still have to use our workaround methods and hacks to get a display that will work for everyone. Even CSS 2 isn’t fully supported by all the browsers, or it is rendered differently because of the functionality of that particular browsers interpretation of the CSS.

Some CSS 3 properties are supported by some browsers, but not all. Transparency is one such property. One of the main focuses of CSS 3 was better text / font control for the designers that have wanted to implement some more typographical elements into their web designs. These text / font properties are almost all fully supported, but some workarounds are required still.

To take a look at the new CSS 3 properties for backgrounds and borders follow this link. http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-background/
To view a tutorial for the “Sliding Door� technique follow this link. http://www.expertsrt.com/tutorials/Cd/CSSrollovers.shtml

When most people ponder over bugs, glitches, and weekends with the in-laws, they tend to look unfavorably upon them. But that doesn’t mean you should (speaking for the first two at least), because they help us learn to become better programmers. Everyone’s heard before on how Edison found out how to make the light bulb after a hundred or so ways on how to make it not work. Well, the same applies to coding. Errors, although malicious time-consuming devils, can tell us what we’ve done wrong, so we can attempt to learn from these mistakes and understand more about the nuisances of the language itself. In effect, it makes us better programmers by forcing us to correct our flaws IN our coding. To me, that just seems to be more beneficial than just learning to code well alone.

One of the things I personally struggle with in design is getting the right balance of graphic interest and clean-cut minimalism. I tend to lean a bit to the aesthetic side and toe the line with too many images. My design style is to build it up aesthetically first and then pare down to the essentials based on the function of the site and the user demographic that will be utilizing it. Recently I have been working at paring down my code as well. The less bulky the files, the faster the load time, the happier the users! In achieving this I also need to lessen both the file size and number of graphics being used, so in looking for ways to do this I have found a few “nifty� tricks. Nifty Corners Cubed is a process of making rounded corners without images. Sadly this utilizes and heavily relies upon JavaScript making it unusable for a designer attempting to avoid JavaScript as well as trying to keep code size down. Still a good solution for avoiding images though! CSS is my primary tool in achieving low file and code size. If I can keep my designs to solid colors, borders, and a few simple one pixel backgrounds then I will have achieved that balance between functionality and aesthetic design.

Recently while browsing through good-tutorials.com for inspiration with a possible tip or trick to add to my skill-set, I came across a nifty little tutorial about using the “Golden Ratio” or “Golden Proportion” in layouts. For those who don’t know what the Golden Ratio is. I have started subtly implementing this ratio into my designs and have found 2 things about this technique. First, the banners tend to be a little too large. Not grossly overstated, but just a slight bit uncomfortable for the content body of text. The second is that even though this ratio does help the natural aesthetics of the layout. it tends to not lend it’s self well to multiple column layouts. I am still using the Golden Proportion in my layouts but much more sparingly and only as a subtle addition. I am not trying to rely on it to be a rule or a guide to build the layouts from as a quick or easy tool. Rather I am happy to say that it has merely made me that much more conscience of how the sizes and proportions of the layout can effect the emotions of the viewer. One more step toward being the best designer has just been taken!

When designing a new web-site I am often faced with this one dilemma. How do I communicate the message to the users? Sure, good content is the key to conveying the entire message successfully. What I wrestle with is how to communicate subtlety, sub-consciously to the user in a manner that reinforces the content. This goes beyond just a good color scheme and an intuitive layout and navigation, no this is making the topic recognizable at first glance. The client can help guide me, as well as market research and demographics, possibly even the occasional focus group. Regrettably these are not answers but rather tools to help narrow the scope in which I need to look. Sadly there is no shortcut or quick method to achieve good visual communication; it merely must go through revision after revision until it becomes the medium to translate the intended message correctly.

Love scripting in PHP? Want to use it to create full-fledged windowed applications and not just flat web sites? PHP-GTK allows you to do just that by binding Gtk+, the object-oriented windowing system that makes GIMP’s interface work, to PHP code. Just install PHP (no web server necessary for this type of development) and add the PHP-GTK extension to it like you would any other extension. It is fairly straightforward. The draw I find with this is that you can create PHP code (more-or-less designed for handling web information) with a window (by far a more user-intuitive object). More information about the extension can be found on their web site.

http://gtk.php.net/faq.php

The web is primarily a multi-media frontier. It is a fusion of color, imagery, text, etc. all in an effort to communicate with your emotions as you view the site. The more of a connection that is made with emotions the clearer the point of the site will be, weather the point is to sell something, display information, or just entertain. All pivot on the ability to make a connection with you on some level. My job here at Visionary Web as the new Graphic Designer is to translate our clients’ objective into a message that you can understand and connect with. Through graphical, textual, possibly even auditory senses I work to create a coherent work that communicates to you, the end user, on behalf of our clients. By ensuring that you are given a intuitive, informative, and intelligible experience both you and our clients benefit. In all reality the client of our client is our client to. That is why we have you in mind throughout our work.

Just as you update the software on your computer weekly or monthly (hopefully) to prevent security issues or to increase performance you should also update your site.

Web sites become stagnant and old looking in only a few years – mostly due to changes in design quality or technology that becomes available and makes it possible to do new things. If your site is more than a year old – then it is due for an update!

New viruses and SPAM techniques also make it necessary to update the software that your site uses. Did you know that Visionary can ENCRYPT your email address on your site to prevent SPAM-bots from finding and using your email addresses? No – well you should call us today to have this done!

Did you know that 4 out of 5 web sites aren’t updated even monthly? Did you also know that 5 out of 6 users have said in a poll that they won’t visit a site if it appears not to have been updated recently? Doing simple things like writing a blog, checking your contact information, and changing your copyright notice all lead to more customer visits!

One last thing on updating your site: if you don’t change your site regularly the search engines will not re-index it – this means fewer hits and a lower ranking in the search engines. You should always be adding to and changing your site – it is important to retain customers and to increase your standings in the search engines.

Visionary offers full-service web maintenance packages and a broad range of services. Contact us today for a free quote.

I heard that term again the other day… Hold the fort Mort….
What does that really mean?

My name isn’t Mort and I really don’t have a fort…unless you count our 4,000+ sq. ft. building that we are remodeling.

I think perhaps holding the fort isn’t about slowing down (which is how people tend to use this saying), but is instead about holding out against all odds. I did some research and there seems to have been a Fort Mort during the late 1700’s that was lost during the American Revolution, but could only find a couple of references to it.

Anyway I think the term actually refers to some guy name Mort who was probably a captain or admiral or something who was supposed to “hold the fort” against an enemy.

We here at Visionary are “holding the fort” against all comers! We won’t be outdone and we won’t be bested. Visionary Web provides the best services with the best people at the best prices for the quality of the work that we do.

Visionary Web provides the following services (and more):
Data integration
Web development
Web design
Graphic Design
Custom programming
Translation
Search engine placement and optimization

We can help you do almost anything that you want to do.

Our favorite thing to do? Help our customers get the most out of their websites and the data that is at their fingertips. We have helped our customers make 100’s of thousands of dollars through the use of data analysis and saved them tons of time and money by making their lives easier.

Our goal is to help our customers get the most out of their business and their data.

The term Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of services available on the World Wide Web that lets people collaborate and share information online. In contrast to the first generation, Web 2.0 gives users an experience closer to desktop applications than the traditional static Web pages. They often allow for mass publishing (web-based social software). The concept may include blogs and wikis.
Below you can see a good comparision between web 1.0 and web 2.0 written by Tim O’ Reilly:

Web 1.0 –> Web 2.0
Ofoto –> Flickr
mp3.com –> Napster
personal websites –> blogging
evite –> upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation –> search engine optimization
page views –> cost per click
content management systems –> wikis

Proponents of the Web 2.0 approach believe that Web usage is increasingly oriented toward interaction and rudimentary social networks, which can serve content that exploits network effects with or without creating a visual, interactive web page.
My question to you; have you embraced the web 2.0 age? I would say you have in more ways than one, you just havent realised it yet.