The Survey for People Who Make Websites

Jenna — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:23:29 -0700

If you make websites, you should take A List Apart's 2008 Survey. Not just for the industry, but for yourself. It really made me think.

Plus, when you finish, you get to slap this sexily designed banner on your site. Goodness, I LOVE typography.

Via FreshBooks' FreshThinking.

Thoughts on Best Practices in Web Design

Jenna — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:14:37 -0700

Last week, Spanish Computer Science student Jago wrote in asking for my opinion to include in an assignment about best practices in web design. I thought he asked some truly excellent questions, so with his permission, I'm publishing his questions, along with my answers, here. Thanks, Jago!

1. If we believe that the thing that can keep people for longer in a website is its design, do you think it would be justifiable to lose in usability and accessibility if it is the only way to get a design that is attractive enough?

Excellent question. Often, when people talk about "web design", they are referring solely to the graphic design of the page, including colors, typefaces, and images. What is often forgotten is that usability and accessibility are inherently part of design. If you put up a gorgeous building where no one can find the entrance without some effort, you could call it art, but not good design. The same thing goes for websites. If it is difficult for many of your users to take action, like finding the information they want, purchasing goods they are looking for, or leaving feedback, your design has failed. The core of design is planning for utility. The aesthetics of a web site should be complimentary to it's ease of use, not something that takes away from usability.

My main point when talking about aesthetics vs. usability in web is this: no one notices good design, but everyone notices bad design. Good design *just works*, but bad design is obvious because a user has to fight with it. I borrowed this idea from here, which I would highly recommend as further reading for your project.

2. Do you believe there are current trends in web design? Which ones do you think could be highlighted?

Well, one thing I can say with confidence about graphics is that users and designers love gradients. :) Overall though, graphically, I think designers are all over the place. Web 2.0 is here, and it bought a very specific style with it for awhile, that I believe is now on the decline.

I think that designers and developers are just starting to take confidence in pushing the limits of web design, because Internet Explorer 6 is (slowly) on its way out. The easier it is to code cross-browser compliant code, the more interesting design is going to get, in terms of interactivity and responding to user preferences.

3. Do you think "good practices" are necessary in web design? Which one do you think is the most important and should be transmitted to beginners and enthusiasts?

I absolutely think that "good practices", or "best practices", are necessary in web design if you want to reach the widest possible audience, because people are surfing the web using a wide variety of browsers, platforms, and in some cases, devices other than a traditional desktop computer. My main principles include:

1. Coding to standards
This means including a doctype, doing your best to be sure that your HTML, CSS, and Javascript are all valid when run though a W3C validator, and attempting to always write semantically correct code.

2. Using a strong text based design
Whenever you can, use text instead of a graphic: for your site navigation, your page titles, and other elements where you might create a graphic just to represent some text. When you must use graphics, make sure to include an alt attribute, especially if your graphic is representing text.

3. Degrade gracefully.
The information on your site should be accessible without CSS, Javascript, or Flash. If you turn all those things off and the site is no longer usable, your site is not degrading gracefully. In a perfect world, all your users have up-to-date standards-compliant browsers, are surfing with javascript turned on, and have the flash plugin. Unfortunately, many users are surfing with older browsers, or with js turned off, or on a device that doesn't allow the flash plugin. To support as many users as possible, you must always make sure you are
degrading gracefully. Which brings me right into my next point:

4. Accept that the site isn't going to look the same everywhere.
Because the Internet is available to people with all kinds of devices, and different setups on those devices, one site is going to give you many different-looking results. The best you can do is code to standards and cross your fingers. And of course, test test test your site as many places as you can.

The Drupal Song

Jenna — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:34:58 -0700

A slightly bizarre video and song for Famous Web's CMS of choice, Drupal.

The most exciting part, for all you non-geeks, is a chance to see many of the different kinds of sites that have been built with Drupal.

You won't be able to get the song out of your head. The only cure is to contact me, and together, we'll build a site for you or your organization!

I know you're wondering, has anyone remixed this song? Why, of course!

Famous Web Client David Feldman Releases New Comedy CD

Jenna — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:23:51 -0800

David Feldman is now selling his new CD, Left Without Paying, at his site, www.davidfeldmancomedy.com.

The CD was recorded live at the ACME Comedy Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with 11 hilarious tracks. As they say, some material may not be suitable for younger listeners, but as we all know, that is the best kind.

DavidFeldmanComedy.com was designed and developed by Famous Web. The newest feature is the store, which enables David to sell products—like his CD—on his own site, with secure checkout powered by PayPal.

Congratulations, David!

Configuring your email client: Outlook 2003

Jenna — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:43:12 -0800

This is a brief tutorial designed to help you set up your email in Outlook 2003, when you host your site with Famous Web. If you have questions, please contact us.

Open Outlook 2003.
Click the 'Tools' menu, and select 'E-mail Accounts'.
Click 'Add a new e-mail account' and then click 'Next'.
Select POP3 or IMAP and click 'Next'.
NOTE: (mt) Media Temple servers support POP3 and IMAP.
- Enter 'Your Name' as you want it to appear.
- Enter your full email address john@example.com. (Replace 'john' with your username, and replace example.com with your domain.) in the 'Email address:' field.
- Enter your username john@example.com'(Replace 'john' with your username, and replace example.com with your domain.) in the 'Account name:' field.
- Enter your email password in the 'Password' field.

- Enter 'mail.example.com' (Replace example.com with your domain.) in the 'Incoming mail (POP3, IMAP) server:' field.
- Enter 'mail.example.com' (Replace example.com with your domain.) in the 'Outgoing mail (SMTP) server:' field.
- Click on 'More Settings...'
- Click on the 'Outgoing Server' tab.
- Check 'My outgoing server (SMTP) Requires Authentication'.
- Make sure 'Use same setting as my incoming mail server' is also checked.

- Click on 'OK'.
Click the 'Test Account Settings' button and you should see all items with green check marks. Click the 'close' Button to close the test window.
Click 'Next' to save your settings.
Congratulations you have finished the setup of your email account, Click 'Finish' to close the setup wizard.

Now Offering Hosting

Jenna — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:01:10 -0700

Now when you purchase a new web site with Famous Web, the setup and hosting can be handled entirely in-house. That means less work for you, and a single point of contact for all issues. Get in touch today about your web site needs.

In the Media

Jenna — Tue, 29 May 2007 09:46:31 -0700

Famous Web is featured the most recent issue of D-Web Magazine. Read the article here.