Web design
Written by Michael Lankton Wednesday, 04 November 2009 08:57
I am a little obsessive when it comes to good markup. I guess it's a laudable goal, to produce markup that should render exactly the same provided you are using a standards compliant web browser. The fact of the matter is that in my case it's probably equal parts that and obsessive compulsive behavior that motivates me.
I was excited when I first read about the HTML 5 specification, and this blog is valid HTML 5. Writing for HTML 5 is very much like writing strict markup, which means you will spend a lot of time hunting down offending entries as the spec is more demanding in your adherence to good practices. What I really liked about HTML 5 at first glance was the ability to deliver audio and video content that was not dependent on some third party browser plugin. Not every user has control over whether or not they can install a plugin on the machine they are using, but if their browser is HTML 5 compliant then that will no longer matter. It's a chance for web developers to make sure all their users can enjoy the rich content they want to embed in their pages.
Written by Michael Lankton Tuesday, 22 September 2009 13:59
Face it, the average web user isn't too savvy. One click and they've forgotten about you forever, maybe before they saw the content you wanted them to see in the first place. You only get one chance to make a first impression.
In the past, we've always used the "target" attribute of the <a> element to specify how we want external links to open. For external links, many of us like to use target="_blank", which opens the link in a new browser window. The problem is, the target attribute is deprecated, so going forward with strict and HTML 5 markup, it isn't valid code.
What's the solution? Just treat external links like internal links and say goodbye to all those people who surfed in on Google, because they'll be gone in a click?
Written by Michael Lankton Tuesday, 22 September 2009 08:35
I have always had a bit of an obsession with valid markup. My sites always validate, and the tougher the validation the happier I am.
The problem with strict validation is that most, if not all, of the plugins and extensions we would like to use on our websites were coded without a thought towards valid markup. Because of this, you either have to decide to live without certain creature comforts with a strict validating website, or learn how to alter other people's PHP to generate valid code.
So yesterday while converting this site from valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional to valid HTML 5, I was reminded about a simple issue that makes all the difference between validating transitional but not validating strict.
Written by Michael Lankton Thursday, 10 September 2009 07:25
I have to give credit where credit is due. I used to roll my own Wordpress themes, but early on I started to resent the Wordpress handcuffs and I moved to Joomla! and never looked back. Wordpress guys, no need to get all riled up. Wordpress themes have come a long way since then, and the Wordpress designer has a lot more freedom to create more complex, professional looking layouts.
I can't take all the credit for how great my sites look though, because while I have the skills to muck around with Wordpress themes, I don't think I'd be able to make much of a Joomla! template. There's a lot more going on under the hood in Joomla!, and when I first migrated from Wordpress two years ago I realized I would be a lot better going off with someone else'e template and modifying it to my needs.
When I first got to Joomla! I started looking around for templates. The problem was, there just wasn't the abundance of free designs for Joomla! like there was on the Wordpress side of the fence. I didn't know how much a one-off template would cost me, but I figured it would be too much.
