I’ve been hearing for quite a while how HTML5 and CSS3 are going to ignite the web (as if it needed any help). Most of this talk started with the release of the iPad and Apple’s anti-Flash stance.
Here’s the problem. Most of the browsers out there do not understand HTML5 yet. It’s the same thing web designers have had to think about when designing for Internet Explorer.
IE6 never did web standards very well so you had to add *hacks* to work around it. Only recently have I begun to ignore IE6 in my designs even though it was first released in 2001. I’ll probably still even have a peak just to be sure my page doesn’t look horrible in it.
Even the newest IE still doesn’t get CSS rounded corners or text shadows. Basic design elements. So you’re left with a dilemma of whether to design something new and cool for your visitors, but worry about how many people won’t be able to see it or is it better to fall back on older more browser friendly techniques.
My deciding factor is usually how well a technique fails. If rounded corners or text shadows fail, you just don’t see them, not too bad. HTML5 might just fail completely. I do see it being eased in as more browsers are comfortable with it, but it’s nowhere near an end all right now and isn’t due to fully kick in until the year 2022 or later.
Right now a few browsers do support HTML5 including Google Chrome and if you would like to see some cool previews Mashable has some
One of the many advantages of hiring me is that you get all the original work, in an open source format. A quality file in a format that’s readable, so you can use it as you see fit.
I’m a one man shop, this protects you.
Any art or logos that I make are made in xcf , an open format.
I use The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) It’s a free open source program that also allows me to open and save as almost any format including Photoshop files with layers.
Customers get a copy of my work, in several formats, as soon as it’s done.
I have a category with some of my favorite site designs on the web. These are not my sites, but they are the kinds of designs that I like in a website. There are different reasons that I picked these site designs, they all look good and are clear and easy to use. Sometimes I just like a picture or the name. Some of the sites are not in English and I still know what they are about.
The newest one is called Paul’s Market. I just surfed into this site and love the look of the main page. Their great pictures stopped me and made me take notice. It was a simple, but elegant way to display them as a menu. Something that looked new and different.
The rest of the pages are nice and carry on the theme very well.
My main complaint is that I don’t like light text on a dark background and I really don’t like darker text on a dark background. Avoid things that makes it harder for human visitors.
First off, it’s not the same thing as ACTUAL stealing or robbery.
My advice, forget about it and concentrate on NOT banging your head against the wall!
It looks like there may be some very significant problems with GoDaddy website hosting. If you are using them you may want to read this.
When I speak with a new customer or an interested person at a networking event the question that I continue to get asked over and over is “How can I get more traffic from the search engines?”
I’ve written before that today, the most important factor is inbound links from other sites. The more highly regarded the site is, the more value the link has. Links have been the backbone of the Internet since the beginning, but how they are treated by the search engines is always changing.
The best explanation of how links affect your search rankings that I’ve read lately is on the Search Engine Guide Site, called
There’s a WordPress slideshow program that I use, like and recommend. It’s called ShowTime Slideshow.
You can just plug it in and it works great, but you can also change almost any setting for your show.
First you post your text and then put your images at the end of the post, in thumbnails one right after the other.
Use the thumbnail mode and press the “link to image” button. So if your visitor clicks one they will see the larger image.
Then anywhere that you want the slideshow to appear you add
You get
(post continues past slideshow)
If the visitor’s browser can’t see the slideshow, it degrades nicely.
You get a row of clickable thumbnails.
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Wade Richards is my customer. Have a look at his site.
He’s a musician using wordpress tools to promote his business and doing a good job of it.
I recently helped get rid of some malware from a site. Bad stuff was inserted into every page.
In addition to the crap in the site’s 16 pages there were over five thousand extra pages with malware. Apparently it was there for quite a while.
We deleted the bad stuff and secured the site and when I was done the owner asked me how to know if this kind of thing ever happens again. Coincidentally Google has just come out with a free service to help. Follow changes to any website is a very cool service that notifies you when a website page changes. Not just a blog, but any page.
Everyone with a website should check this out.
