Archive for December, 2006

Websites, sound and music.

Published on December 26, 2006 in Web Design. 6 Comments

websites, sound, mp3

One of the first things new web designers are tempted to do is add sound to a web site.

Many times though, this is a bad idea because sound slows pages down and often times, annoys people.

The rules of sound on a website:

  • If it doesn’t help the web site to communicate the message - you should not have sound.
  • Give users a choice whether to listen or not.

Like any other aspect of a website, the decision to add sound should be well thought out.

… just because you like the first few seconds from Dark Side of the Moon, that doesn’t mean looping the mp3 will help your home repair website.

But if (for example,) you had a home repair tip or two, then it would make sense to provide a few mp3’s that people could download - if they choose to.

The best two ways to add sound to a web page:

In a nutshell:

  1. Just link to mp3 files. This is the easiest way.
  2. Embed a Flash based mp3 player so that people can play mp3’s right in your web pages.

There are other ways (Windows media, Apple Quicktime) but the above two are universal and easy to work with, for both the web designer and website visitors.

One last point, if you use a Flash mp3 player to add sound to your website, this will prevent people from copying your mp3’s. Well, it will make it much harder.

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com

Should Web Designers Learn Frontpage?

Published on December 22, 2006 in Professional Web Design. 6 Comments

Though Frontpage is dated (the last release was in 2003) it is still a widely used piece of software.

It has enough attention in fact, that many new web designers ask:

‘Is Frontpage still a program that you should to learn?’

The short answer: no

WHY NOT LEARN FRONTPAGE

The major reasons are:

  1. Frontpage generates dated code that is not considered acceptable these days by most web designers.
  2. Frontpage has just been replaced by Microsoft’s new web design software: Expression. As such, Frontpage will not be updated and Frontpage users will be left in the dust.
  3. Most professional web designers use Dreamweaver - that means most web design companies use Dreameweaver.

Of the above reasons, I think the fact that Frontpage has essentially been discontinued, is reason enough to not get into it.

WHAT SHOULD A STUDENT OF WEB DESIGN LEARN THEN?

This really depends on where you see yourself going: if you plan on working for a web design firm, then you probably need to learn Dreamweaver.

If on the other hand, you are more or less working for yourself, then any web design software will probably do - or even none at all!

That brings me to my last point: learn to build web sites by hand.

BTW: there was a little chatter about MS Expression on the forum recently.

CIAO,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com

The ‘Bargain Hunter’ Web Design Client

Published on December 18, 2006 in Business of Web Design. 9 Comments

The ‘bargain hunter’ type of person, can sometimes be a reasonable sort of human being that respects you as a professional, and is only looking for a good value for their money.

… Then there is the other type; those who seem to have no respect for you and in the end, will just drain you of your mental and emotional energy.

PSYCHIC VAMPIRES

A long time ago, I read a strange (but entertaining) little book that warned of a type of person, a person that would drain you of all your energy just by being around them.

(We’ve all been around them before … after just a few minutes of seemingly light chatter, you feel tired and drained.)

The book referred to these people as ‘psychic vampires’ - leeches that suck your energy, much in the same way a vampire sucks your blood.

Bargain Hunters are often times psychic vampires, and should be identified and then avoided at all cost.

… it is better to be on the unemployment line, than to be in service of a psychic vampire client.

IDENTIFYING THE PSYCHIC VAMPIRE CLIENT

Everyone has their own thing, but there are some common characteristics found with this type of person:

  • They ask a lot of questions - too many.
  • They are whining passive aggressive whelps - little pathetic beast that will hound you endlessly.
  • They will suggest that the work you do ‘isn’t that hard … really’.
  • They will complain that your prices are too high … regardless of reality.

PSYCHIC VAMPIRES SEEK OUT THE WEAK

No matter how experienced you are, you have to always be on the lookout for this sort of person.

That said …

Unfortunately, these most vile of bargain hunters, tend to go after relative noobs to the game … the less experience the better.

They’re attracted to beginners, because they know that their chances of molesting a poor unsuspecting junior (web design) fool, are much better than if they targeted a crusty old web nerd, such as myself.

… So if you are new to the web design game, be extra vigilant!

CONCLUSION

I wrote this piece because I was just the subject of a psychic vampire’s attack.

Fortunately, experience has taught me well, and I was able to quickly identify the blood sucker, and fire his ass before he drained me too much.

Yes, it is OK to fire a client sometimes!

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com

The road-map to becoming a professional web designer.

Published on December 13, 2006 in Business of Web Design and Professional Web Design. 3 Comments

Steps to becoming a professional web designer

I’ve been asked this many times:

‘What are the steps to becoming a professional web designer?’

To make a long story short, you need web design skills (listed below) and lots of practice to develop your skills.

A NERD’S ROAD-MAP TO (BECOMING A) PROFESSIONAL WEB DESIGNER

  1. Learn HTML
  2. Learn CSS
  3. Learn basic design skills - how to make a page look good: color combinations, white space etc.
  4. Learn how to produce images for use on the web. Photoshop or something similar will have to learned.
  5. Build a portfolio of websites.

After you’ve mastered the techniques and technologies of web design, you will need to show your skills - that’s where the good portfolio comes in.

That means it is time to build websites for yourself, friends and strangers.

Practice makes perfect … with each new site that you build, and with each new ‘client’ that you work with, the better you will become.

ABOUT WORKING WITH PEOPLE/CLIENTS

You may have not considered it, but being able to work well with people, is just about as important as having good coding skills!

… You need to learn how to communicate well, because it is crucial if you want to get the job done.

I will get more into that in another article.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com

Book Review: PHP 5 in Practice

Published on December 11, 2006 in Nerd Book Reviews and PHP. 0 Comments

Intermediate level book for active php programmers. From the book’s cover:

‘Recipes and solutions for PHP programmers’

This is a very good book, actually one of the best recipe books I’ve read period.

You can tell that the authors are still actively writing code - you can feel it as you read the chapters. The book consist of a series of techniques (they call recipes) that are commonly needed by php programmers.

Some example recipes:

  • How to Sort Arrays
  • Send HTTP headers
  • Encode a string for use in a URL

… this book is packed with all kinds of php goodies. There is much more to be found .. I just never list too much from a book since you can easily look it up online.

;)

THE ‘QUICK HITS’

After a brief introduction, each chapter provides a bunch of micro-tips related to the recipes discussed in the chapter. They call these tips: ‘quick hits’.

I found the ‘quick hits’ to be very useful because they provide a very concise and easy to read look at aspects of the php language. I can see myself referring to this book often just because of the ‘quick hits’.

I actually keep this book nearby to flip through once and a while, just to give me ideas. It has already helped on a php 5 project I am working on.

CONCLUSION

This I think is a great book. It has lots of practical information and is without a doubt, one of the most useful books on programming I’ve read - and I’m talking all languages.

Buy the book if you work with PHP or planning to.

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com