Smash and Grab Photoshop Tips
As web designers, we come across a lot of resources about web design, css, programming, and more. But what about graphic design? Learning how to create those building blocks (i.e. photos and images) is just as important as putting them together.We've come across some good resources for those looking for some great Photoshop tips.
PhotoshopStar.com - A collection of links and tutorials designed to help you inprove your Photoshop techniques.
Photoshop Roadmap - Links with short descriptions -- some neat info here!
Smashing Magazine - Best Of - Great list -- check out the tutorial on making your images look like a minature model!
Absolute Cross - Some good tips on creating buttons and other graphical images.
Got a favorite of your own? Let us know by leaving us a comment, or dropping us a line!
Happy Photoshopping,
The DMXReady Team
Top
A Great Resource for the ASP Beginner
The great thing about ASP is that anybody can learn it. In fact, compared to PHP, ASP.Net, and other languages, it is almost a breeze.
To prove that point, we've found a great resource for the beginner ASP programmer. ASP Programming for the Absolute Beginner, as the name suggests, gives you all the background you need. It is also good for the ASP programmer who knows how to do it, but has always been curious about the behind-the-scenes mechanics.
Rather than direct you to a link, we've embedded the iPaper here for you:
Happy Reading!
The DMXReady Team
To prove that point, we've found a great resource for the beginner ASP programmer. ASP Programming for the Absolute Beginner, as the name suggests, gives you all the background you need. It is also good for the ASP programmer who knows how to do it, but has always been curious about the behind-the-scenes mechanics.
Rather than direct you to a link, we've embedded the iPaper here for you:
Happy Reading!
The DMXReady Team
Top
Supercharge Your ASP!
One of the great things about ASP is its compatibility with other scripting languages. AJAX, for example, works extremely well in an ASP environment. This blend of JavaScript and XML makes for some nifty web apps.
Miniajax.com is a place where you can download several of these applications for free to supercharge your own website: These pint-size apps can do some amazing things from finding out where visitors are clicking on your web page to creating image reflections, building fisheye nav bars, and more.
Miniajax.com is a place where you can download several of these applications for free to supercharge your own website: These pint-size apps can do some amazing things from finding out where visitors are clicking on your web page to creating image reflections, building fisheye nav bars, and more.
Top
One Way To Clean Up Your Code
One of the hallmarks of good design and programming is nice clean files. And one way to get those nice clean files is to avoid repetitive scripts. You can do this very easily by saving a commonly-used script and calling it into your web page using an include.For example, you use the same script to connect to the database -- why not add save it as a separate file? All DMXReady apps have a single connection script like this one (from Classified Listings Manager):
Then, in every page that needs to connect to the database, you simply add this line of code:
Note that this file is kept in its own separate folder called Connections. All DMXReady applications use this structure. This one line of code looks much cleaner and it helps you organize your scripts a lot easier. Plus, if you ever need to change your database connection string, all you have to do is change this one file.
You can also use this approach for JavaScript and other types of scripts as well -- it all makes for cleaner, easier to read codes!
Happy Scripting!
The DMXReady Team
Top
Is Your Website Design Compatible with ALL Browsers?
Most designers realize the importance of testing websites in several different web browsers. Of course, Firefox and IE are the biggies, along with Safari for Mac.But did you know that there are 36+ web browsers out there?
The folks at All Web Design Blog do. In fact, they've complied a list of them complete with short descriptions, a screen shot, and links to where you can download it.
Now you might not feel the need to test on all three dozen web browsers, but it is still an interesting compliation. And as an extra bonus, they have also put together a comprehensive list of articles about browsers and compatibility issues.
You can check it out here (and we recommend that you do...):
http://www.allwebdesignresources.com/webdesignblogs/graphics/
list-of-web-browsers-a-mega-list-for-web-designers/
The DMXReady Team
Top
Controlling When Visitors Automatically Get Logged Out
Chances are you have been to a secure website that forces you to log back in after a certain period of inactivity. It may be frustrating, but there is actually some very good reasons to do this. Most importantly, it adds another layer of security -- if the user forgets to log out, letting the system log the user out automatically reduces the risk that the next person using the computer can gain unauthorized access. That may not be good for your user, or for you!This is call a session timeout, and it is very easy to use in ASP. Simply add this line of code to the top of the secure page:
The number "360" represents the number of seconds of inactivity that must pass before the session times out -- in this case six minutes. You can change this value to anything you want.
However, make sure you choose a number that is long enough to allow people to comfortably explore your site (remember: reading content on your site appears like "inactivity" to the system...) but short enough that it provides enough security.
In general, you should go no lower than 300 seconds (five minutes) and 600 seconds (ten minutes) before timing out.
And that's it! Now whenever your visitors forget to log out, you have less risk.
But remember, this only works with secure pages. If you don't have a method of password-protecting your pages, DMXReady offers several solutions including Secure Login Manager -- check it out!
Happy Scripting,
The DMXReady Team
Top
Is It Time To Move to SQL?
DMXReady uses MSAccess as its database for one reason: ease of use. New developers and even do-it-yourselfers can create robust, database-driven functionality without taking four years of college courses.But ease of use has a price. One major limitation is scalability. If you online business is growing and you are getting a steady rise in hits on your website, you may start running into database overload problems. This is a sure sign that it is time to upgrade your database.
There are two caveats here though:
One: Some people, especially companies that want to do the conversion for you, may tell you that you should never use Access databases. This is simply not true. If your website is a brochure-type website or even doing light e-commerce, using Access is fine. And, as mentioned above, it is easier for you to customize.
Two: Moving from Access does not mean you have to move from ASP. Some programmers may tell you that you should change to PHP. Again, not necessary. Sure, they will make more money from you recreating your whole website, but ASP is just as powerful and functional as any PHP site once you have upgraded database structures.
Two: Moving from Access does not mean you have to move from ASP. Some programmers may tell you that you should change to PHP. Again, not necessary. Sure, they will make more money from you recreating your whole website, but ASP is just as powerful and functional as any PHP site once you have upgraded database structures.
If you decide that an upgrade is in order, you can probably do this yourself as well. Microsoft has an excellent overview of this, which you can find here.
Happy Scripting!
The DMXReady Team
Top
Create Your Own Facebook with KickApps
Social media and social networking is all the rage lately. Many see it as a way to engage potential customers by creating killer content -- and a killer website experience.
Of course it used to be that if you wanted to create your own Facebook or MySpace social networking site, you would have to program the whole thing from scratch. But not any more. KickApps, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) publishing host, has created a modular system that allows you to build your own social networking community. You can add video, create a forum, and "widgetize" your content allowing others in your community to "steal" your content so that it goes viral.
There are two versions of the service - a free option (with ads) and a CPM option that charges only on the number of impressions you site generates.
But rather than read about it all here, why not just visit the site? (Disclosure: DMXReady is in no way affilated with KickApps, and receives no compensation -- we just think this is a pretty cool app...)
The DMXReady Team
Of course it used to be that if you wanted to create your own Facebook or MySpace social networking site, you would have to program the whole thing from scratch. But not any more. KickApps, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) publishing host, has created a modular system that allows you to build your own social networking community. You can add video, create a forum, and "widgetize" your content allowing others in your community to "steal" your content so that it goes viral.There are two versions of the service - a free option (with ads) and a CPM option that charges only on the number of impressions you site generates.
But rather than read about it all here, why not just visit the site? (Disclosure: DMXReady is in no way affilated with KickApps, and receives no compensation -- we just think this is a pretty cool app...)
The DMXReady Team
Top
A Case for Absolute Links
By default, many designers use virtual or relative links for their
internal pages. Generally this is fine, but often it is better practice
to use absolute links.For example, rather than:
<a href="aboutus.asp">
you should add:
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/aboutus.asp">
There are several reasons for this. First, an "absolute" link is just that -- absolute. Relative links are more susceptible to misdirects. With an absolute link though, the only thing that can cause a broken link is if that page is actually deleted or renamed.
Another real concern is scraper sites, which republish your content on other websites. With relative links, these sites all refer back onto themselves -- which the scrapers love! But with absolute links, the website visitor will quickly be redirected back to your own (valid) website.
You should also use absolute links for images, for the same reasons. PDFs especially should have absolute links so that anyone who saves or prints your documents will have the full links listed. For enewsletters, you definitely need to use absolute links so that your images appear correctly.
There is a downside to using absolute links on your website. If you tend to move your pages within your website, you will have to go back and change all the absolute links to include the new folders/locations. However for 99% of the websites out there, this is not really a problem.
Have any nightmare stories about using relative links? Let us know!
The DMXReady Team
Top
FireFox 3 - Is This the Giant Killer?
After one week of its release, the much-anticipated FireFox 3 hit 19.6 million downloads. It's already going into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most downloads in a 24-hour period (8 million+).And its release has given Mozilla almost a 1% gain on IE7 (up to 19.17% in June, from 18.41% in May, according to the company).
So is this the giant killer? One would think, given FireFox's slick performance and IE7s numerous problems that FireFox 3 should take the world by storm. It has certainly been embraced by first-adopters, especially web and css designers.
But for the average non-techie joe, the familiarity of IE and lack of desire to try new things will keep Microsoft's browser at the top of the heap for the foreseeable future.
What do you think? FireFox 3 or IE7? Let us know!
The DMXReady Team
Top
Next » |
Last »» |
Records 1 to 10 of 28 |
