As one of the leading open source blogging platforms, WordPress has inspired hundreds (if not thousands) of plugins and tools to customize your blog. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of more than 300 of our favorites.
This information is compiled from previous Mashable articles. If you enjoy this post, also see ONLINE MEDIA GOD and ONLINE PRODUCTIVITY GOD.
[via del.icio.us/webdesign]
Sometimes you just want to get the information you’re after, save it and move along. And you can’t. Usability nightmares — which are rather the daily routine than exceptions — appear every now and again; and usually almost every time you type your search keywords in Google. In his article “Why award-winning websites are so awful” Gerry McGovern points out that the shiny surface wins awards. Real substance wins customers. and that is absolutely true. Nevermind what design you have, and nevermind which functionality you have to offer — if your visitors don’t understand how they can get from point A to point B they won’t use your site.
In almost every professional design (except from special design showcases such as, e.g., portfolios) you need to offer your visitors
And that means that you simply have to folow the basic rules of usability and common sense. You want to communicate with your visitors, don’t drive them away, right?
In this article we take a look at some of the recent usability nightmares you should avoid designing functional and usable web-sites. At the end of the article you’ll also find 8 usability check-points you should probably be aware of.
Monochrome websites can be very effective, especially when combined with a solid grid layout, continuing our color series today we take a look at 10 of the best …
Natural elements lend themselves well to websites, they bring something that we can all relate to to our screens and soften what can otherwise be a sterile and lifeless environment. Wood is one natural element that has been used frequently, today we’re going to look at some of the best examples in recent web design …
Electric Pulp - I’ve been a big fan of this design since it launched - it blends faux-water color techniques with a dark wooden background
Photography can make or break a website - got a great site with lame pictures, then you’ve got a lame website. Today we’re going to take a look at the ones that got it right…
Incase - Lovely close up photos of the products allow you to see the textures of them. Class
It doesn’t matter, whether you’ve been working with CSS for years or have started to learn it recently. In both cases expert ideas for CSS coding and creative approaches for professional design are extremely valuable and can turn out to be life-savers in the design process. You might never use some of them, but it’s nice to have them right in front of you, on your desk, once you need them.
Recently we’ve published 35 Designers x 5 Questions and 70 Expert Ideas For Better CSS Coding, in which we’ve tried to cover some parts of coding and design in the web-development. Afterwards we’ve received dozens of e-mails, in which you asked us to pack both articles in .pdf-files, so they can easily be printed out for quick reference. And we’ve promised to do it. In every e-mail we’ve received.
So now it’s time to keep the promise. You can download both articles as .pdf-files, print them out and use as a handy cheat sheet for usual problems you might run into in your next projects. Feel free to spread the word to developers who might be willing to use it, but please don’t refer to .pdfs, but to this article. Respect our work. Please.
The third article of this series is on its way.
[via Smashing Magazine]
A designer formats and places text. Technically, the job ends there. But some designers go further, sharpening their clients' content to grab and focus user attention. In so doing, they create more effective sites—and gain an advantage over other designers. Drawing on decades of copywriter lore, Shaun Crowley discusses seduction by headline and other principles of writing that sells.
[via A List Apart]
Family photos, vacation snapshots or creative artistic works: whatever images you have to present, you can present them in a variety of ways. On a big screen, in slide shows or in a thumbnails gallery. However, to convey the message of presented data effectively, it’s important to offer it in an attractive and intuitive way. Furthermore, the presentation itself can make images more valuable and simplify the browsing through hundreds of slides.
There are literally hundreds of solutions for web-based galleries out there. We’ve selected 30 scripts of impressive slideshows, lightboxes and galleries you can use for effective presentations of your images. Most of them don’t have any technical requirements, so you can use them right away. Let’s take a look.
[via Smashing Magazine]
In all the years people have been creating websites, nobody has bothered to gather statistics about who does this work, using what skills, under what conditions, and for what kinds of compensation. It's time for a change. Presenting The Web Design Survey, 2007. Also in this issue of A List Apart: Jonathan Follett on "The Long Hallway"—learn how to work the virtual conference room—and Andy Rutledge on how contrast creates meaning in design.
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