KillerSites Blog

Stefan Mischook

Running Windows on your Mac

October 16, 2007

imac

A major question that many Windows users are facing (who are considering the move to a Mac,) is whether or not they will have the choice of software on the Mac, that they have on Windows.

For web designers, this is typically a no-brainer since all the commonly used programs in web design:

  • Dreamweaver
  • Flash
  • Photoshop

… have Mac versions.

That said, there are still some great programs that are simply not made for the Mac.

Runnings Windows on your Mac

Fortunately, there are a few options out there that allow you to run Windows only programs on your Mac. Actually, there are even a couple of options that allow you to run Windows itself on your Mac! This is all made possible because the Mac now runs on the Intel chip (which is the same processor that Windows uses,) so it is much easier to ‘translate’ between Windows and Mac.

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Introduction to blogging: a business perspective.

October 9, 2007

In the following article, using a question and answer format, I try to answer some of the common questions about how blogs fit within a business.

1. Can you describe your introduction to blogging, how you became interested how has it impacted you personally?

I first heard about blogging in about 2001 and dismissed it as another tool for people who didn’t want to learn HTML. A year or so later, I realized the significance of blogging and blogging software:

… it was going allow for the original vision of the Web to actually materialize, where anyone could easily get a website on the Web.

Blogs and the blog phenomenon, made me rethink my whole approach to web design as a web professional: blogs, CMS and other similar content formatting tools where the future of web design.

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PHP Video Tutorial: Creating your own Functions

October 8, 2007

video_tutorial

Hi,

In my continued attempts to teach web designers how to program with PHP (now an essential web design skill,) I’ve just released part 1 of 3, of my video series on creating custom functions in PHP.

We cover the very basics and learn about one of the key advantages of creating functions in php versus just write straight PHP code to your pages.

The Video: Custom PHP Functions

Part 2 and 3 will be out soon.

Thanks,

Stefan

www.killersites.com

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Photoshop to a Website

September 20, 2007

Photoshop to a web page

I’ve been asked on many occasions: how can you take a Photoshop layout and turn it into a web page?

Actually, here is a snippet of an email from a reader:

“I would love to see an example of taking a psd file, which is how I usually start. And then go to Step One, Step Two, etc to turn it into a web page.”

You have a few options … let’s start with the option you should avoid: slicing images.

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Blogs vs. CMS

September 19, 2007

Preamble:

I’ve mentioned several times in the past 2 years, that web designers should learn how to use/edit at least one blog or CMS. Some popular choices:

  • WordPress – a blog.
  • Drupal – a CMS.
  • Mambo – a CMS

.. And there are many, many more.

Why should web designers be concerned?

I won’t go into all the details here, but in a nutshell, a lot of web sites can use the features/functionality provided by blogs or CMS packages. Why reinvent the wheel?

That said, what is the difference between a blog and a CMS?

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The technologies you need to master to be a complete web designer.

September 18, 2007

Web design has been transformed over the last many years. In many ways, the skills a web designer needed in 1996 are totally different from the skills you need in 2007 … and the foreseeable future.

I won’t go into what you needed in the past, because it matters not. So let’s talk about what you need to know today, to be a complete and competitive web designer.

The Web Designer’s Study Guide:

  1. HTML
  2. CSS
  3. PHP
  4. Javascript

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WordPress vs. Drupal and Rebuilding a Website

September 15, 2007

wordpress-logo

Killersites.com was started by David Siegal (of ‘Creating Killer Web Sites’ fame) back around 1996. This was effectively the first version of the site.

drupal-logo

In 2002-2003, I officially took over and started version 2 of killersites.com. It has gone through a lot of changes over the last 4-5 years that has resulted in a lot of web design related content … too much content to manage with html, php and jsp pages running all over the place!

… It is time for a major shift.

WordPress vs. Drupal and Killersites.com version 3:

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Object Oriented PHP Tutorial Updated

August 26, 2007

killerphp.com logo

Hi,

I’ve update my beginners tutorial on object oriented PHP adding steps 12-17. I cover two new basic OO concepts in these steps:

  • Constructors.
  • Access modifiers.

Again this is a code intensive article where I expect you to follow along with your PHP editors.

More to come.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killerphp.com
www.killersites.com

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