Web Design

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Coloured boxes - now in Brazilian-Portuguese

Colored boxes - one method of building full CSS layouts has now been translated into Brazilian-Portuguese by Mauricio Samy Silva - Layout CSS passo a passo

0 comments Wednesday 20 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

Some links for light reading (19/2/08)

0 comments Tuesday 19 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

Website user experience & CSS workshop

Website user experience & CSS workshop

A hands-on workshop with user experience expert, Donna Maurer, and CSS expert, Russ Weakley.

Over two full days you will build detailed websites layouts from the ground up - starting with page layout, navigation and form design; and ending with clean markup and elegant styling using XHTML/CSS.

Day 1: Planning and designing the user experience - Donna Maurer

On day one you will plan and design a website - focusing on the user experience: designing the navigation, page layout and forms.

Day 2: Building beautiful sites using CSS - Russ Weakley

On day two you will build your website from the ground up - starting with structural markup, adding accessible markup and then styling your layout using CSS.

Dates

  • Canberra - Monday 31 March and Tuesday 1 April
  • Melbourne - Thursday 3 April and Friday 4 April
  • Sydney - Monday 28 April and Tuesday 29 April
  • Brisbane - Thursday 1 May and Friday 2 May

More information

0 comments Monday 18 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

Some links for light reading (12/2/08)

0 comments Tuesday 12 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

Sorry day

On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will deliver the apology to the Indigenous people of Australia. This will occur over 10 years after the Bringing Them Home human rights report recommended that the government apologise for the policy of removing indigenous kids from their parents.

This historic event will be streamed live across the nation by the ABC. Reconcile Australia has information on viewing locations.

Some additional resources…

  1. Redfern Park Speech
  2. Indigenous Australia Timeline: Pre-Contact
  3. Indigenous Australia Timeline: 1500-1900
  4. Indigenous Australia Timeline: 1901-1969
  5. Indigenous Australia Timeline: 1970-2000
  6. The Stolen Generations’ Apology – 7 Handy Mythbusters (PDF)

0 comments Monday 11 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

Anatomy of a comment

The Australian Museum web team recently began looking at commenting. We wanted to see what sort of items could appear in a comment.

After a look around a wide variety of sites, we came up with a list of possible aspects that could be included in a comment:

  1. Author name - who wrote the comment
  2. Authors url - the authors website
  3. Authors avatar - the digital representation of the author
  4. Permalink - a permanent link to the specific comment
  5. Number - A reference number for the specific comment
  6. Date - date of comment
  7. Time - time of comment
  8. Comment - the actual comment
  9. Edit this comment - allows authors to edit their comments (suggested by IM)
  10. Other comments by this person - see example
  11. Site owner flagging - some sort of visual distinction to shows comments from the site owner/s

Below is a chart showing some of the aspects listed above, checked across a range of blogs. This chart was prepared by the ever-patient Rose Cox.

The biggest surprises for me was the number of sites that did not include a permalink to each comment.Only 18 out of 70 sites checked used a permalink. I was also surpirsed by the variety of methods used to “house” the permalink. These included:

  1. Date
  2. Time
  3. Date and time (by far the most common option used by the 70 sample sites below)
  4. A graphic icon
  5. The # symbol
  6. The word “permalink”
  7. Comment title

So, are there any aspects of comments that we have missed?
Do you include all of these on your blog/site?
Specifically, do you include a permalink to your comments?
We’d love to hear!

Update: The chart below has been updated. The permalink column was incorrect. If you see other errors, please let me know.

Comment comparison chart

URL Author Avatar Permalink Date Time Comment Number
70/70 11/70 45/70 68/70 54/70 70/70 25/70
Jeffrey Zeldman yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
456 Berea Street yes no yes - using number yes no yes yes
Andy Budd yes no no yes yes yes no
Hicksdesign yes yes no yes no yes no
clagnut yes yes yes - using icon yes yes yes no
Weblog about Markup & Style yes no yes - using " permalink" yes yes yes yes
meyerweb.com yes no yes - using number yes yes yes yes
mezzoblue yes yes no yes yes yes yes
Signal vs. Noise yes no no yes no yes no
Nick Bradbury yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
Meryl’s notes yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
AdamPolselli.com yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
The Man in Blue yes no no yes yes yes yes
Si-blog yes yes no yes no yes no
SuperfluousBanter yes yes no yes no yes no
Ryan Brill yes no yes - using "#" yes yes yes no
Authentic Boredom yes no no yes no yes yes
Jeffrey Veen yes no no yes yes yes yes
Molly.com yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
IEBlog yes no yes - using "#" yes yes yes no
Mike Davidson yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes yes
Jason Santa Maria yes no yes - using icon yes yes yes yes
The Hivelogic Narrative yes no no no no yes no
CollyLogic yes no no yes yes yes no
ShaunInman.com yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes yes
Zooiblog yes yes yes - using date/time yes no yes yes
box of chocolates yes no yes - using time yes yes yes no
drew mclellan yes yes yes - using date/time yes no yes no
Boxes and Arrows yes yes no yes yes yes no
evolt.org yes no no yes yes yes no
SitePoint yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
UsableType yes no no yes no yes no
Brainstorms and Raves yes no yes - using word "permalink" yes yes yes yes
Karmakars.com yes no yes - using date/time yes yes no yes
Juicy Studio yes no yes - using "url string" yes yes yes yes
Matt Cutts yes no yes - using time yes yes yes no
Berkun blog yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
Bruce Lawson’s personal site yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes yes
Pen and Ink yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
rachelandrew yes no yes - using time yes yes yes yes
f berriman yes yes yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
fadtastic yes no yes -using "#" yes no yes no
Diary of a website yes no no yes no yes no
snook.ca yes no no yes no yes yes
lesscode.org yes no yes - using date yes no yes no
Citizen Agency yes no yes - using word "permalink" yes yes yes yes
ThePickards yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
Presentation Zen yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
D. Keith Robinson yes yes no no no yes yes
O’Reilly Radar yes no no yes yes yes no
Dexagogo yes no no yes no yes yes
the 200ok weblog yes yes yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
Surfin’ Safari yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
Wait till I come! yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
findability yes no no yes no yes no
Jens Meiert yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes yes
The NeoSmart Files yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
Rave About It Blog yes no yes - using "#" yes yes yes no
Cross-Media Entertainment yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes yes
Ben Balbo yes no no yes yes yes no
Jason Yip yes no no yes yes yes no
Bokardo yes no no yes no yes yes
FactoryCity yes no yes - using word "permalink" yes yes yes no
Read/WriteWeb yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes yes
Molt:n Core yes no no yes yes yes no
Notes on Design yes no yes - using date/time yes yes yes no
Smashingmagazine yes no no yes yes yes yes
A List Apart yes no yes - using comment title yes yes yes yes
Standardzilla Yes no yes - using time yes yes yes no
Engadget yes yes yes - using date/time yes yes yes no

0 comments Friday 08 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

?Background images for bullets? - now in French

Background images for bullets has now been translated into French by Rodrigue Hunel and the developpez.com team - Des images à la place des puces de liste

0 comments Thursday 07 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

Idiocy - it is a skill that cannot be taught

Ok, some people may think that they have a good handle on idiocy, but I am hear to tell you that I RULE in this department. Let me give you a snapshot of the last 24 hours or so…

  1. Drive to airport.
  2. Find a narrow parking spot at airport car park and decide “its very close to the terminal. It will do”.
  3. Realise when you have pulled the car into the space that it is VERY tight due to cars on either side being well over their lines.
  4. Tell yourself “bugger it, they will be gone when I return” and jump out passenger door.
  5. Leave car headlights on.
  6. Go through security with a cork screw opener in your bag (which turns out to also be a pen-knife). Have your bag opened up and inspected by security. Feel like a criminal.
  7. Misread flight departure time. Sit in flight lounge casually while somewhere else your name is called three times before the plane doors shut. Then discover to your horror that for the first time in your life you have missed a plane and you are one of those idiots who has to be paged for a flight.
  8. Stand in line for 30 mins in order to get a new ticket - because you have given someone your word you will “be there”
  9. Purchase a new and hugely expensive full-cost ticket
  10. Arrive very late in the destination city as the new flight is very delayed due to weather.
  11. Take a taxi from hell, with a driver who knows less about the city than you. Pay a fare that would normally cover the cost of a cross country jaunt.

Things take a positive turn here, and you begin to feel that all is going well. What could possibly go wrong?

  1. Return flight to home city is also delayed, and you stress as you promised to be home in order to take kids to school.
  2. Return to car to find:
    • a flat battery (because you left the headlights on)
    • the poor parking job means that you cannot get in the drivers door
    • the only way to get into the car without a powered up battery is through the drivers door
    • you suddenly realise that the car beside the drivers door is actually abandoned and you may have to wait a LONG time before the owner will ever show up.
  3. You are now completely and totally stuffed. You cannot get into your car, you cannot jump start your car. More importantly, all of this is entirely your fault.
  4. For the hell of it, ring your beloved partner and when she couldn’t solve the problem immediately, snarl at her (which pleases her no end).
  5. Rush off via train to work to do presentation to entire staff on future of their new website
  6. Discuss possible solutions with partner re car. Come up with evil plan to solve car problem - using a child, and some matchsticks.
  7. Talk partner into driving to airport with two rabid children, in peak hour traffic and torrential rain.
  8. Catch train back to airport and meet partner/rabid children.
  9. Lift 7 year old child through drivers door from above (the only way he will fit) and get him to open passenger door.
  10. You now have access to the car, which is sort of down hill. With a bit of luck , you can hill start the car and be free.
  11. You stuff up the hill start and slowly roll to a stop, blocking the valet parking entrance.

Finally, at 6pm, 10 hours after your flight landed, you drive out of the Airport parking station and home.

Is it possible to top this within a 24 hour period? I think not!

0 comments Thursday 07 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

Some links for light reading (5/2/08)

0 comments Tuesday 05 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

Coloured boxes - now in Spanish

Colored boxes - one method of building full CSS layouts has now been translated into Spanish by Ayuda Wordpress - Manual CSS Cajas Coloreadas

0 comments Friday 01 Feb 2008 | admin | Web Design

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