Adaptive CSS-Layouts: New Era In Fluid Layouts? | CSS | Smashing Advertisement Fluid web designs have many benefits, but only if implemented correctly. With proper technique, a design can be seen correctly on large screens, small screens and even tiny PDA screens. With bad coding structure, however, a fluid layout can be disastrous. Because of this, we need to find ways to work around most, if not all, of the cons of fluid design. If you as a designer are going to go through all the extra work of creating a functional fluid layout, why not go a bit further and make it compatible with all resolutions, instead of just most? In this article, we’ll discuss effective techniques to create 100%-functional adaptive CSS-layouts, and provide details on other tutorials and practices. Also consider our previous articles: Fixed vs. 1. Most of us have heard of the 960 Grid System for designing fixed-width Web pages. What Is a Fluid Grid? A fluid grid can be created through a smart use of DIV layers, percentages and very simple math. The Benefits A Note About Margins 2.
30 Inspiring Dark and Sleek Web Designs The skilled use of color gradients, lighting and glow effects, and details such as inset pixel dividers can lead to a gorgeous and sleek web design. When choosing a color palette, designers can often decide among a dark theme, a neutral/light theme, or a bright/colorful theme; this showcase presents dark-themed web layouts. In this collection, you’ll find some terrific and inspirational examples of dark and sleek web designs. 1. 2. 3. 4. coda.coza 5. designthis 6. 7. 8. 10. nclud 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. just.dot 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. atebits Related content
40+ Helpful Resources On User Interface Design Patterns | Develo Advertisement If there is a commonly reoccurring need for a particular solution, there is a great probability that someone has – by now – solved that need and has finished the legwork involved in researching and constructing something that resolves it. At the very least, you will find documentation on general solutions to related problems that will enable you to gain insight on best practices, effective techniques, and real-world examples on the thing you are creating. A design pattern refers to a reusable and applicable solution to general real-world problems. For example, a solution for navigating around a website is site navigation (a list of links that point to different sections of the site), a solution for displaying content in a compact space are module tabs. There are many ways to tackle a specific requirement – and as a designer – the most important thing you can do is selecting the option that best reflects the needs of your users. Yahoo! Flickr Collections and Groups
Web Design Toolbox: 130+ New Tools to Make You a Better and Fast Last year we did a post on 50+ tools for Web design. A lot has changed in the past year, and there are tons of new tools available to designers. Whether you're just starting out and need a drag-and-drop builder or you've been coding for years and need tools to help you be more efficient, there's something on this list for you. Here are over 130 tools to make you a better and faster designer. Feel free to add more in the comments. Beginner Resources YAML Builder - Easy to use YAML (Yet Another Multicolumn Layout) XHTML/CSS site layout builder. Sky CSS Tool - JavaScript CSS authoring app. The Box Office - CSS formatting tool for wrapping text around images. CSSTXT - Online CSS text style generator. izzyMenu.com - Free CSS menu builder. pForm - HTML form builder. Roxer - Drag and drop website creator. Wirenode - Create your own mobile websites. dotemplate - Template site that allows you to customize templates before downloading them. templatr - Online tool for creating website templates. SeeYouThen!
10 UI Design Patterns You Should Be Paying Attention To | How-To Advertisement Design patterns were first described in the 1960s by Christopher Alexander, an architect who noticed that many things in our lives happen according to patterns. He adapted his observations to his work and published many findings on the topic. Since then, design patterns have found their place in many areas of our lives, and can be found in the design and development of user interfaces as well. In short, design patterns are solutions to recurring problems. You may be interested in the following related posts: 1. To fully appreciate the problem of registration, we should consider an annoyance that has led to the opinion that sign-up forms must die6. When would you actually use lazy registration? 7 Amazon lets you browse and add products to your shopping cart before signing up. This pattern is meant to allow users to use your system and take action before registering. 8 Picnik is another good example of lazy registration. Recommended reading 2. 3. 4. This can be done in two ways:
Web Development Toolbox: 120+ New Tools for Web Development Last year we did a post on Web development tools. A lot has changed in the past year, and there are tons of new tools available to developers. Options include drag-and-drop application builders, code repositories, project management and testing apps, and frameworks for working with a variety of coding languages, from Ajax to Ruby to Python. Which do you use? Tell us more about your experiences in the comments. Application Builders DreamFace - Framework for creating personalized Web apps. Organic Incentive - Tools for creating viral widgets with a drag-and-drop interface. dbFLEX - On-demand business application development platform. app2you - Online tool for creating custom Web applications. Qrimp - An affordable database platform that builds applications around your data (which you can upload in an Excel spreadsheet). Lightspoke - Application builder with drag-and-drop application design, dynamic filtering and sorting, and a true relational database backend. ErrorKey - Error code search engine.
Social Network Design: Examples and Best Practices | How-To | Sm Advertisement According to Nielsen Online, social networks and blogs are now the 4th most popular kinds of online activities. 67% of the world online population are now visiting them and the time they’re spending on them is growing by three times the overall growth rate of the internet. Social networks are now visited more often than personal email is read. There’s a lot of variety out there in the realm of social network design. Also consider our previous articles: 9 Common Usability Mistakes In Web Design4 which details how to prevent common usability blunders.20 (Alternate) Ways to Focus on Users5 shows ways to get more information about your users’ experience on your site.More Web Design Trends For 20096 offers information on some important design trends for this year, many of which can be applied to social network design.Clear And Effective Communication In Web Design7 tells how to make sure you web site communicating efficiently with your users. 1. What’s It For? 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Social Media Beginner’s Guide Are you using content marketing as part of your digital strategy to grow your business? If so, you're not alone. According to the Content Marketing Institute, the lion's share of marketers (some 92%) report using content marketing. In the fast moving world of digital strategy, things are always changing. What should you expect in 2014 to change in the world of content marketing? Hana Abaza of Uberflip has put together an infographic detailing five key content marekting trends for the coming year. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
The 65 Most Annoying things about the Web Today | UXbyDesign.org 2.7K FlaresFilament.ioMade with Flare More Info'> 2.7K Flares × Using the Web can still be a very annoying experience! We’ve come a long way on the web today. Or have we? While we’ve innovated in many areas, we’ve also continued to disregard pre-existing issues. Poor Design Illegible text. Unfindable Information Dysfunctional site search. No Content Strategy No focus. Auto-Behavior Auto-playing home page video. Evil Forms Unreadable captchas. Intrusive Advertising Pop-ups. Accounts Remembering user names and passwords. Abuse Spam. Technology Explorer 6. Waiting Slow page load. Bradley is a User Experience Leader with over 15 years of interactive experience.
Test your Website: A 57-Point Checklist for Maximum Usability | So you’ve got a website, but do you know whether it’s usable or not? The answer to this question can make the difference between a successful site and one that’s just ignored. Go through this checklist to make sure your site is up to snuff. Do you answer your user’s questions?: Users visit a site because they want answers, so it’s vitally important that your site gives them what they are looking for.Is your navigation clear and simple?: Make sure that your navigation lets the user know where they have been and where they can go in a clear, consistent manner.Do you provide anchor text? New here?
100+ Resources to Boost Your Social Media Savvy in 2009: Top Tip Are you using content marketing as part of your digital strategy to grow your business? If so, you're not alone. According to the Content Marketing Institute, the lion's share of marketers (some 92%) report using content marketing. In the fast moving world of digital strategy, things are always changing. What should you expect in 2014 to change in the world of content marketing? Hana Abaza of Uberflip has put together an infographic detailing five key content marekting trends for the coming year. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 35 Excellent Wireframing Resources | Developer's Toolbox | Advertisement Wireframing is one of the most valuable parts of any web design project. It can save a designer tons of time by hashing out the details of a site’s architecture, functionality, and content prior to actually starting a visual design. But if done inefficiently, it can end up costing more time and can even create bigger headaches for both the client and the designer. Below are more than 35 resources for creating better wireframes, including tutorials on different methods and a variety of tools available. 1. Here are more than twenty wireframing articles, guides, and tutorials to help you improve your wireframing process. Wireframes Magazine This site offers tons of resources and articles about wireframing. Wire Frame Your Site A great introduction to the benefits of wireframing from Sitepoint. Ajax Wireframing Approaches A post in a series from Particletree about prototyping Ajax, this covers wireframing techniques. Framing the Problem An article about wireframing from ClickZ.
8 Layout Solutions To Improve Your Designs | How-To | Smashing M Web Design Industry Jargon: Glossary and Resources | How-To | Sm Advertisement There are specialized terms referring to all sorts of aspects of web design. For someone just getting started in web design, or someone looking to have a site designed, all the technical jargon can be overwhelming. Especially the acronyms. Below is a guide to industry terms that should get you well on your way to understanding what web designers are talking about. Accessibility Basically, this is the ability of a website to be used by people with disabilities, including visually impaired visitors using screen readers, hearing impaired visitors using no sound, color blind people, or those with other disabilities. Stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Anchor Text The text a link uses to refer to your site. Automagically A portmanteau that combines “automatically” and “magically.” Back End The back end of a website is the part hidden from view of regular website visitors. Building the Back-End of a Photo Site13 from Nettuts+ Backlink Bad Neighborhood Bandwidth Below the Fold Em Ex