Tweet-Parade (No.33 Aug 2011)

Hello Saturday! .. And you know what that means: a brand new Tweet-Parade! A Tweet-Parade is a post filled with the best articles of last week from the various blogs around the world. It’s all about webdesign, graphic design, typography, social media and more. A broad scale of topics, but never-the-less the underlying focus is on Design.

Also I see this as my personal bookmarks of great articles from the Community of the last period. The different articles and post are categorized by their main topics. The best way to keep track of these tweets is simply to follow me on Twitter.

 

Webdesign, CSS, HTML, jQuery, Usability, etc.

font dragr (Drag and drop font testing) – Revolutionary way to test custom fonts in the browser. No coding, no uploading, just drag and drop. font dragr allows you to easily test custom fonts, through the @font-face at-rule, without the need for any CSS coding or knowledge of CSS coding.

Gridless - Make future-proof responsive websites with ease. Gridless is an optionated HTML5 and CSS3 boilerplate for making mobile first responsive, cross-browser websites with beautiful typography.

What Makes For a Semantic Class Name? - Semantics in HTML is always a hot topic. Some people strive for it at all times. Some people critisize a dogmatic adherence to it. Some people don’t know what the heck it is. I’d describe semantics as it relates to HTML as tags, classes, IDs, and attributes describing but not specifying the content they enclose.

The 6 Easiest Mistakes Mobile Web Designers Make - Articles, tutorials and community discussion over adaptive and responsive design have been building increased momentum in the last few months, inspiring more and more designers to jump into mobile web development.

8 Best jQuery Mobile Plugins - Its our pleasure to share some best article related to the design and development on ZoomZum. This time we come with some best jQuery Mobile plugins for Mobile device users. As we said in last articles – jQuery is the popular JavaScript library, you can include this library in web project to make it easier and more effective than others.

Ultimate Guide to A/B Split Testing – Articles, Tips, Case Studies, Tools and Resources - First of all, what is A/B split testing? In basic terms A/B split testing is a variety of marketing testing where customers randomly receive almost identical, yet slightly different, test samples. This method can efficiently be used in various niches such as brochures, email campaigns and landing pages.

Thoughts About Responsive Design - When offering thoughts on developing a responsive workflow I mentioned that responsive design is ushering in a new phase of web design. It’s more than a few techniques slapped together under a new name. I see it as a change in thinking about how we design and build websites and it’s going to challenge a variety of existing processes.

Top 10 Mobile Web Development JavaScript Frameworks - Creating web apps and sites for the Mobile Web has its own sets of challenges and techniques. From UIs optimized for fingers instead of mouse cursors to the bandwidth limitations that most portable personal devices have, developing for mobile devices requires a paradigm shift for those of us who’ve traditionally created products aimed at desktops.

HTML5 And The Document Outlining Algorithm - By now, we all know that we should be using HTML5 to build websites. The discussion now is moving on to how to use HTML5 correctly.

10 online tools to simplify HTML5 coding - HTML5 is definitely going to revolutionize the way we create website and web apps. In this article, I have compiled 10 awesome tools to simplify and enhance your HTML5 coding.

Opinion: 11 hard truths about HTML5 - HTML5 heralds some nifty new features and the potential for sparking a Web programming paradigm shift, and as everyone who has read the tech press knows, there is nothing like HTML5 for fixing the Internet.

Circular Content Carousel with jQuery - Today we want to share a simple circular content carousel with you. The idea is to have some content boxes that we can slide infinitely (circular). When clicking on the “more” link, the respective item moves to the left and a content area will slide out.

Creating an optimal customer experience - Customer engagement is thinking and acting as customers do: as a series of inter-related interactions that, together, create their ‘customer experience’.

Breaking The Rules: A UX Case Study - I read a lot of design articles about best practices for improving the flow of sign-up forms. Most of these articles offer great advice, such as minimizing the number of steps ..

10 Fresh and Awesome Resources for Web Developement Lovers - Web developers who really cares about their project always need speedy solutions to customized web apps in modern way. These resources are very useful at the time of web development.

The Anatomy of an Effective Homepage - At one time the homepage would be the primary landing page of a website; the first page a user would see before continuing on through a website to find the page ..

Golden Grid System - Golden Grid System (GSS) splits the screen into 18 even columns. The leftmost and rightmost columns are used as the outer margins of the grid, which leaves 16 columns for use in design.

The Mistakes We Don’t Bother in Web Designing - Web designing mistakes being committed by designers is a very common thing. These are even more common in aspiring designers, who in the desire to implement new ideas fall victim to such mistakes.

10 Must Have JavaScript Tools For Developers - JavaScript tools are still one of the most difficult issues when it comes to web-development. Many tools and applications could make your developing life pretty fast and simple.

5 Principles of User-​​Centered Interface Design - Thankfully, we live in a world where subjects like user-​​experience design and user-​​interface design are established enough disciplines that we feel inclined to shorten them to UX/​UI design and people still know what we are talking about.

Responsive web design has created opportunities across the board - From time to time, an industry experiences fundamental changes that radically alter it. Along with this comes an explosion of opportunity ..

5 Proven UX Strategies - Whether dealing with large corporations, game developers, small businesses or a sole proprietor, most business goals tend to amount to the same needs.

10 Oven Fresh jQuery Plugins for UI - This is collection of most interesting fresh jQuery plugins for user interface. This is various plugins including wizardnotifications, editable tables, masks and other interesting plugins.

10 Principles for Keeping Your Programming Code Clean - A common issue in almost every profession that can drive people completely insane is having to continue from what somebody else started.

Good developers are illusionists - A major part of being a good developer is efficiency. Not just with efficient code, but efficiency in making your life easier, being cleverly lazy, and making code do the hard work for you.

Elements of a Client-Converting Design Portfolio - If you’re a designer and don’t have an online portfolio, you’re missing out on some serious potential for business. Online design portfolios are the quickest ..

Developing Visual Rhythm in Web Design - In design, rhythm is created by simply repeating elements in predictable patterns. This repetition is a natural thing that occurs everywhere in our world.

CSS Selectors: Just the Tricky Bits - div > p + div[id*='header'] – If you saw this jumbled mess of selectors in someone’s CSS, could you decipher it? If not, then you’ll want to read this primer on funky CSS selectors that you should know!

Real World CSS Practices - I’ve been working with CSS for quite a few years now. Based on that experience, this article will share some of the best habits and practices that I have found to be helpful and beneficial in the areas..

Cross Browser CSS Box Shadows - Box shadows have been used on the web for quite a while, but they weren’t created with CSS — we needed to utilize some Photoshop game to create them.

 

Graphic Design, Brand Identity, (Web) Typography, etc.

CSS3 Cookbook: Cutting Edge Text Effect and Web Typography Tutorials - One of the spheres CSS3 has changed dramatically is web typography, everyone’s favorite toy in web design. Text styling and neat effects can now be achieved without using images at all.

Mind Your En And Em Dashes: Typographic Etiquette - An understanding of typographic etiquette separates the master designers from the novices. A well-trained designer can tell within moments of viewing a design whether its creator knows how to work with typography.

5 Typography Do’s and Don’ts Everyone Should Know - So you love typography, who doesn’t these days? The question is, how sloppy are you when it comes to implementing type in your designs? Today we’re dishing up some great and simple typography tips that everyone who works with type should know.

5 More Typography Do’s and Don’ts Everyone Should Know - Read on to see if you’re guilty of any of the following blunders and how to make sure you never do it again.

Quick Tip: Lighting Effects Using the Color Dodge Blending Mode in Adobe Illustrator - With the help of the Color Dodge Blending Mode you can get very bright and sharp images, this is what this mode is intended for.

Little-Known CSS3 Typographic Features - The CSS3 fonts module has a number of interesting CSS3 properties and features. Browser support for many of these is pretty limited right now, .. [alas]

Unique Selling Proposition as It Relates to Freelance Designers - A product’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is what makes it different from competing products, and more importantly, what leads customers to buy it.

The Inside Secrets of Logo Development: Part 2 - In Part 1 of The Inside Secrets of Logo Development, we talked about basic techniques on working with clients looking for a corporate logo and tips for bidding project work.

 

Blogging, Social Media, WordPress, Writing, etc.

8 Excellent WordPress Caching Plugins to Speed Up Your Site - If you use WordPress as your publishing platform and are concerned about speeding up your website, caching will help you. This is how WordPress caching works: it generates a copy of your web pages and stores them in your server as static files (i.e. as HTML documents) and/or cached database queries.

HOW TO: Protect Your Business’s Identity On Twitter - Small and medium business owners are increasingly turning to Twitter as a tool to engage with customers, offer support and market their products and services.

10 Tools for Measuring Your Social Media Influence - Meaningful exchanges constantly take place all over the social Web on a variety of platforms, connecting people and enabling them to share, critique, and interact with content and with each other.

Better Facebook Fan Page: Essential Tips, Apps and Examples - Facebook has changed all of our lives. Whether you’ve ever had an account or even visited the website, it’s difficult to ignore the hundreds of Facebook’s “Like” and “Share” badges seen all around the modern web.

Top 10 Preferred WordPress Theme Development Frameworks - WordPress has become the most used (CMS) Content Management System on the internet. With it’s fast growth and adaptation by millions, WordPress is on everybody’s radar.

Add Facebook Comments To Your WordPress Theme - Facebook launched the social plugins for developers in 2010. You all know at least one of them, the “like” button that you see on lots of blog posts across the net (like this one, pardon the pun!).

Using Twitter to Promote Your Freelance Career the Right Way - Twitter is one of those tools that is rarely used properly, but when it is, it’s gold. More and more often, social media is being used for business marketing and self promotion.

Designed QR codes: the next level - Say what you will about QR (Quick Response) codes: they are just a fad, they will be forgotten once augmented reality takes hold or they’re just an extra step in inputting a URL but they are here and people are enjoying using them, so make the most of them!

How to Redirect Logged-In Users - WordPress provides a variety of ways to redirect logged-in users. In this DiW post, we explain each of these methods along with some useful tips and tricks along the way.

10 Things You Should Know About Social Media - Have you mastered your social media strategy? Do you know how to leverage the power of social media to create meaningful relationships, build your business and learn from your virtual mentors?

How To Spend Less Time With Social Media - With Google+ hitting the scene, many in the design and development communities have had their productivity schedules thrown up in the air.

6 Useful Techniques to Put Up a Better Blog - It’s an age of technology and internet and these two sources has create a large number of departments for survival, in the flux of internet blogging is also one of the department which is a source of survival for many people.

7 Reasons Why a Business Blog is Valuable - I am a huge fan of blogging (obviously so, seeing as how I have been writing for this one for the last four years) for numerous reasons.

10 risky default settings in social media that you need to check - Do you read every single “Terms of Service” you come across before clicking “I Agree” to? If you’re anything like me, the answer is no.

A Guide to Networking With Bloggers - Have you ever hooked up with a blogger? For designers, the benefits of networking with bloggers can be pretty big. For bloggers, their network of designers is usually pretty small.

Quick Tip: Improving Shortcodes with the has_shortcode() Function - One of the mistakes that many developers make when creating shortcodes (in themes and plugins) is always loading all scripts and styles.

Install WordPress Locally on Windows with Xampp - Today I’ve got a reader-requested tutorial about how you can install WordPress on your Windows  computer.

Create a Child Theme for WordPress in One Click - Child Themes are a must with the latest versions of WordPress. They help you to keep your customizations in a safe place so that you are always in a position to update the parent theme for your site.

Parallax: Free WordPress Theme - This free WordPress template has been designed to help you make your stuff look awesome, it’s focus is on clean, elegant looks and simplicity to allow your work to shine.

 

Search Engine Optimalization, Rankings, Analytics, etc.

Tools to revamp Page Loading Speed - There are numerous tools available online, which allow you to test and analyze page loading speed of your Website. You can either use them online or download them for testing purpose.

SEO Competitive Analysis – 2011 Edition - Sometimes I have to laugh at how far the SEO industry has come, even if the laugh is pointed directly at a column I wrote years ago. Today, I conducted a search for [seo competitive analysis to see what had been written about ..

Some Nifty SEO Bookmarklets To Make You More Efficient - Being a chrome junkie and also a keen productivity evangelist I’m predictably a huge fan of javascript bookmarketls. I use them all day long and over time I’ve built up a few that I have made myself that I thought I’d share today.

Successful SEO Tactics: On-Site Optimization - On-site optimization has long been a cornerstone in any organic search effort. It’s an expansive topic and to fully cover it within one article would be impossible. We’re previously discussed keyword selection.

How 5 Popular Landing Page Optimization Tips Can Also Hurt Conversion Rates - Everyone should know by now that landing page optimization is a critical tactic in your overall online marketing strategy.

7 SEO Myths You’re Probably Following - SEO. Just the mention of it will flood your Twitter stream with spam replies and start the “gurus” knocking at your inbox door. But really, SEO isn’t as big of a mystery as many would make it out to be.

Freelancer’s Guide to SEO – More Visibility, Traffic, and Clients - To describe SEO as a simple process would be a lie, but it’s not magic. There are quite a few simple things you can do for yourself that will improve SEO on your website.

20 Tricks to Increase the Speed of your Hosting and WordPress Blog - Today’s generation don’t have patience and time for any thing in life. They want every thing in their possession within a short time frame. Gone are the days when people use to wait patiently for surfing the net.

New Sites Shouldn’t Expect Overnight Internet Marketing Success - One of the most important things to remember about most of the components of an Internet marketing campaign is that they are long term.

Write SEO Articles Effectively - I bet many of you whether website owners or visitors have at least once heard about SEO articles. If not, than we are here to explain what is this and how do they work ..

 

Tutorials

Basics of the Mesh tool in Illustrator - Illustrator’s Mesh tool, one of the hardest tools to master in Illustrator, but if you want to achieve a 3-D look in your illustrations, you have to really understand how to use this tool properly.

How To: Auto Feed Fresh Content To Your Twitter Feed! - I have many times been asked how we feed our Twitter account with fresh content every time something gets published, and how you could do the same thing.

The top 10 SEO myths - Chance are, if you’re readying this, you’ve dabbled with SEO to varying levels of success; from minor frustration to Google gratification.

 

F*cking Brilliant, a great Read or just magnificent Tips!

Streamline Your Design Workflow - We’ve read countless articles, heard tons of presentations and own lots of books on “The Design Process,” and we see the awesome work that results from following it. You can’t help but drool at the extensive amount of research,..

Reasons Why Too Much Perfectionism is Not Good - Most designers are perfectionists . It is an advantage for designers to aim for perfection for this will make your work better. When you are a perfectionist, you always want to make every look the way you want it and they way you expect it.

Should designers do spec work? - Speculative work. In its strictest interpretation, this refers to any project that’s undertaken with no guarantee that you’ll be paid. Many web designers think this is a very bad thing indeed, driving down fees, devaluing the profession and encouraging a culture of poor design.

Four Things I Learned From Designing in-Store Advertising - In-store advertising and marketing is a unique area of design that presents an interesting set of problems. Today we’ll talk about some of the lessons that I learned from the years I spent in this area and how all designers everywhere can apply these lessons in their own work.

Vital Tips to Follow While Consulting with a Web Designer - Launching a website isn’t such a big deal as it was some years ago, but there is still a long way to go until people are fully educated about the power and the huge possibilities of the online medium.

How Small Businesses Can Encourage Social Email Sharing - Social email sharing can be an effective marketing method, but many oversee this opportunity. Some small businesses are still perplexed as to “this whole social sharing thing”, and especially how social sharing can successfully join forces with the workhorse of promotion, email marketing.

Trade Work is Fools Gold - For some reason, this kind of request always resounds with my entrepreneur side, and I undoubtedly start a dialog about their product and what they’re looking to do. I’ve learned the same lesson: working for trade or equity is fools gold.

7 Tips for Shifting from Freelancing Part Time to Full Time - Part-time freelancing is a fantastic way to utilize your skills and talents, fulfill your entrepreneurial yearnings and make some extra money. While many part-timers are content to keep their sideline just that, ..

3 Simple Techniques to Getting Your Message Seen, Heard and Out There into The World - But every day, the Internet makes it easier to inform, educate, and connect with customers. Their false assumptions don’t stand a chance when you use these three techniques to get your message out and engage with your prospects.

Weekly Design News – Resources, Tutorials and Freebies (N.99) - This is our weekly column were we share our favorites design related articles, resources and tutorials all from the previous week.

The Importance of Setting Short-Term Goals - Remember that anxious feeling you got when you were assigned an essay or project in college, and the crushing pressure to get a good grade? Thinking about the amount of work and data-crunching that would be needed scared the hell out of me.

“How do I get freelance work??” - I, and other designers and illustrators that are doing fairly well in the field are asked this question constantly. Each time, I wish I had a precise and perfect answer to give to the sender, but I don’t ..

How to Write a Good Freelancer Bio - Unless you want to spend the rest of your life in a cave and never have a freelancing assignment again, you need a good bio.

Business Design Tips to Keep you on the Right Track - Having a design business is both fun and challenging. It is fun because you surely enjoy making some designs for it is your passion.

Usability in Icons - In many apps, icons are used to illustrate a specific function — it can be used for everything from information to actions. But if the user doesn’t understand the icon, what’s the point?

The Dangers of Designing for Context - In case you haven’t noticed, there is a growing excitement around mobile or device oriented web design. This excitement is fueled mostly by the high adoption rates of devices that ..

5 Self-Promotion Tips That Aren’t Sleazy - As a web designer, you’re probably having to constantly sell your ideas and promote yourself. You have to sell your work to your clients, your co-workers and your bosses.

The secrets to success as a designer, illustrator or artist - There are certain questions that cross the mind of every working creative. They might have greater pertinence at different times of a career, but they are ..
 

I hope you have enjoyed these hand-picked great articles? Please let me know by sharing your opinion in the comments-section. Did we miss a great article, please let us know  .. To keep up to date with all the cool links, simply follow us @gonzodesign_