Designed for success

Learning HTML5

logojones — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:17:08 +0000

HTML 5 is the emerging standard of html design and shows a lot of potential. In reading through the article on webmonkey.com “Building Websites with HTML 5” it clears up some of the questions I was having about html 5 and the new tags that would make up the language. If you have any questions I suggest reading it to get a better understanding. I like HTML 5 for the fact that it shortens a lot of the tags and elements we had to use earlier. Maybe now Mr. Batchelder will stop hounding me a bout my divs, I liked my divs( lol). The problem I have seen with the some of the structural elements is that we always talk about semantic webpages and naming them by content and not presentational value. In all the examples I have seen, you name things as a section or article. It doesn’t allow you to name thee things any different like you could in HTML 4 with classes or divs. At least I haven’t found any that show how to do this.

My opinion on HTML 5 is that the structural elements are cool and will prove useful in building sites. The time tag and datetime tag will increase the access of crawlers and search engine to more detailed and useful information. I’m not sure about the usage of some tags and if they are ever going to be used like the aside tag and the dialog tag. The dialog tag ay not be so bad since a lot of websites are doing the magazine layout type website. The article I read Building Websites with HTML 5 suggest that it would be a good idea to use for blogs.

Once I get into the coding and use of HTML 5 it will be as simple as HTML 4. The website HTML 5 demos shows a few of the possibilities when you combine HTML 5 with CSS3 are pretty nice. It gives the opportunity to create a lot of things inside one program and reduces the need for MIME types.

Progressive Enhancement

logojones — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:58:59 +0000

The term progressive enhancement at first made me think “oh no more technology to learn”. As if what we are doing now isn’t enough. So once I started researching what it was i started feeling better and better. Learning that this was not a new technology at all it’s how we decide to utilize the technologies we already know. I read several articles that suggested how progressive enhancement should be implemented and it makes perfect sense. Create web pages for all users, with the basics so all users with all browsers can view them. Then add more functionality to the pages for users with newer browsers can have a more pleasant experience. It’s like creating a hotel with basic rooms for those who are a little more budget conscious. Then on the top floors we create more luxurious rooms for the guest who have a little more money to spend. They all get to stay in the same hotel but some may enjoy their stay a little more because of the extra amenities that were provided. That was a great analogy on my part right?! This cuts down on development time because now you won’t have to use hacks and a bunch of other things to make sure that your site can be viewed by all.

Progressive Enhancement Designs

Understanding Progressive Enhancement

What is progressive Enhancement

S.E.O

logojones — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:01:41 +0000

Creating a website is one thing, but getting it to be visible to search engines is a whole other ball game. The process of making a website S.E.O friendly doesn’t seem relatively hard but to me it sounds like it limits your design a little. I’m sure that it will eliminate a lot of unnecessary text and images from web pages to cut down on load times. Since I personally am not that well versed in the art form of S.E.O i have listened to what other students and instructors have had to say. A lot of the things they talked about were using keywords to up your their search results. The page that is titled S.E.O basics says that this is not a good idea it can remove you from google index searches.

In creating S.E.O friendly websites i’ve seen there are numerous things that can lead to a a better ranking site profile. Even the title of your web page can increase your search results. But the example I seen used a back end scripting language like php. I think in order to really find the best way to rank a website you have to implement a little of all these things into your site.

11 ways to make a website S.E.O friendly

S.E.O Basics

Best Practices

logojones — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:15:48 +0000

Numerous websites offer best practice information on laying out web page layout and design. I personally like a a workflow that allows me to get to the point and get started on creating (which has not always proved best for me). Some of these sites outline the very thing we have been doing at AI. Here are some of the sites I ran across during my research.

8 web usability and best practices

35 essential web design resources and best practices

6 web design workflows

3 site topics

logojones — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:19:56 +0000

I’ve found trouble deciding what three sites I would potentially build for this class. The first is an e commerce site for skateboards. I chose this because I feel that the design would be visually appealing and demonstrate my knowledge of html and css skills. From the sites I previewed skateboard websites tend to be pretty dark. I hope to create a sit e that displays more color and aesthetic appeal to any user not just those interested in skateboarding. Although i dont feel anything can really be done to differ from the competition it will still make a good site. My second idea for a site is for go-kart racing site. I found the idea while searching the internet for good ideas. I looked up some sites and they are very informational but the architecture of the sites are bogged down and cluttered with info and links all on the home page. My third idea is to re-fresh the site that I did during Intermediate client side. It was a site about exotic fish and information on how to care for them. I would like to revisit the site and create a better design and organize the content better.

a little class room help please.

logojones — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:35:46 +0000

I need a little help generating a really good idea for my final project. Ive coe up with an idea of creating a site that talks about exotic fish. The site would contain thing like products that go towards the care of the fish, different fish, which fish go well with others and which are to aggresive to be put with others. Also it would have tips on how to care and maintain the tank. Characteristics on the most popular fish and how to have a very colorful and diverse tank? I think it has potential what do you all think?

I can float can you?

logojones — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:27:10 +0000

Floating a column with css is not really that hard of a concept to understand. With all things though in theory versus application there are flaws that i stumble upon. When it comes to adding margin, padding, and borders I tend to forget that it always adds to the width of the container. Needless to say it gets a little frustrating when I’m creating a site and it just won’t respect me. I like the diversity floats can add to the content of a web page. In researching css floats I ran across some things that I had no idea about. Like z-index it creates a stack order of elements. Before I had problems placing text over images without placing them as back-ground elements. Floats have different position values also called absolute and relative. I haven’t truly used these things to there full extent. On yourhtmlsource they reiterate the use of these position possibilities and have a few examples to illustrate. On the article found on smashing magazine “The Mystery Of CSS Float” it addresses on of the problem that i have ran into and often do. Its when an object doesn’t want to stay inside the intended box it tells one how to fix such problems. Another site called complexspiral.com talks about this and has a little better illustration with code that shows you how to fix it. Heres a site i found on clearing floats. It seems so simple but when not done right it will become a headache.

Project Idea

logojones — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:36:30 +0000

I want to do a project site for a business consultant firm that helps clients with online resource management and business plans. Another idea I have is for an online magazine that displays fashion models parties and different music venues.

Riding the HTML5 wave

logojones — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:28:27 +0000

It has come to my attention (thanks to Mr.Batchelder) that html 5 is making its way to the web and has some really nice qualities. It will change the way we receive some info from web pages. In the article I read on Life Hacker it has the ability to stream audio and video files from the browser which cuts down on loading times. Im not sure thought if i agree that it will make such programs like flash and silverlight obsolete. I have never used silverlight and very limited in flash experience but I have seen the things produced with it and i dont think that they will just be done away with.

I can say that the interview article I read with Ian Hickson was pretty nice. He details how html 5 came about and how tough its been putting it all together. I didn’t realize how much goes into the process. Until i read this i wasn’t so sure about what exactly html 5 and all the hoopla was about but then I came across this line in that interview where Mr. Hickson said “The bulk of HTML 5 is actually just defining how browsers already do things”. For me a light came on and that cleared up a lot. As I continued reading the article stated that html 5 is stricter on the code than html 4 was. What shocked me was me was that he said microsoft hasn’t really offered much help or showed any interest in html 5. You would think that they would try and be more into these sorts of things.

Fantasy football is here.

logojones — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:57:14 +0000

Last year i got into a league with Mr. Mullins and got my butt whooped. I talked to ali and he has a pretty good squad this year. I probably wont be playing but if i were i think my top picks would be Adrian Peterson at runnign back, Larry Fitzgerald at receiver and its a wild card but i would pick up Vick too! I haven’t keep up much with whose out there. I think Favre would be a good choice just given his track record. Last year with the Jets her threw over 3,000 yards. I personally think he should have left after the Packers era. But i can understand getting replaced by Aaron rodgers has to hurt a little. Not to take anyhting away form the guy he is the veteran qb of the NFC east now but i doont think he’s no Favre. I’ll be watching closely this season because next year im going to strike with a vengeance.