Entries Tagged as 'Design'

My Regrets About the ‘copyright dispute’

As I’ve had more time to think about this issue, the more regret I feel for taking part in it, and realize that whether I think New Media Maze responded to me correctly, doesn’t matter.

When the issue first came to my attention, there were plenty of people telling me “not to back down”, and that I “should speak to a lawyer”, etc. I realize now that I got way too caught up in this.

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Wrap Text with CSS Box: Part II

Here’s a continuation on my last post about wrapping text in CSS. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

Whether you blog or have a static website, there are plenty of reasons to bring special attention to certain elements within your page.

In my last post, I showed you an easy way to wrap text in a box using CSS by placing the CSS/HTML code directly in your post. That can come in extremely handy in the right situation. But what if you put this block of info in every post, or every other post, or once a week? Even though it’s not difficult, re-typing that code every time could become a chore. In this post, we’ll look at how to get the same effect by adding the CSS in your stylesheet once, and assigning a class to the div we wrap around the text.

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How to Create a *Special Notice* Box with CSS

Every now and then, you may need to post a short message or notice to let your website visitors know about something out of the ordinary. Actually you can use this little technique for multiple purposes! Creating a back-drop for such notices is an easy process that can truly make this message….noticable! With just a little CSS code put directly into your post, you can make these messages look almost any way you want them to. Here’s an example:

*Notice to Readers - On December 25, I’ll be spending the entire day with my family and visiting relatives, so I will not be posting this year on Christmas day. I will resume my posting immediately after the holidays. Have a Merry Christmas!

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Designing for the Sake of Usability

If I were to ask you what the term web design means, what would your answer be?

If you’re like me, the term generally opens the mind’s eye to different color schemes, different layout choices, and a host of other elements that shape and form the way a website looks. However, the more I learn about design and information architecture, the more I realize that perhaps both the architecture and appearance play equal roles in web design. I’ve spent some time lately trying to improve my website. Part of that has been tweaking the visual design, but more importantly, making my best content as easy as possible to find. I’ve had a few goals in mind for a while now, which I think are a good starting point:

  • Rather than try to impress with graphics, keep usability the central focus.
  • Create better navigation that high-lights some of my better posts.
  • Create an original standards-based theme that focuses on my content.

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Customize Your Theme: Understanding Layout

Tips for Customizing You Blog Theme

Since I started offering Wordpress themes, I’ve noticed that a far majority of new bloggers want to customize their theme. I don’t blame them, that’s what I did too. Many of these new bloggers who are using one of my themes, contact me when running into things that they can’t figure out. I realize that there is a real blind-spot when it comes to how a page is laid out. In this post, I hope to shed a little light and hopefully clear up some of the confusion.

All Themes Are Not The Same

Generally speaking, I think that most of us have probably tried to change a few things on a CSS stylesheet before. It would make sense that what works on one, will work on the next. Unfortunately, there’s a little more to the equation. I’ve noticed that many will assume changing the width of the header, for instance, will have the same effect on all themes, however, this isn’t the case. It truly depends on how the theme is laid out in the first place. Remember, any styles applied on the stylesheet, are adding style to the HTML elements as they are defined within the HTML. So header isn’t necessarily the same from one theme to the next. It depends on how that component is defined within the HTML.

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How to Change the Width of Your Blog Design

Customize Your Theme

Have you noticed a new trend in blog design? There are several actually, but it seems to me that blogs are getting wider. I think this is due to the fact that more people are now using larger computer monitors that easily handle a wider screen resolution, and also to make room for more information and sidebars. However, there are still those who prefer a more narrow view. Here I’m gonna take you along as I actually make one of my free Wordpress themes more narrow.

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