Web Design
January 9, 2010
Hi,
After a couple of months of hard work, we finally got the new video tutorial subscription system up and running.
About the University:
The Killersites University is a subscription based service that gives you total access to our GROWING collection of web design and web design related training videos. Not just a collection of tips and tricks videos, we provide complete video courses on popular subjects like:
* HTML
* CSS
* Dreamweaver
* PHP
* Javascript
* and much more
You can learn more about it here:
http://www.killersites.com/university/
What’s next?
Now that we have the University up and running, we will be able to focus a lot more time on new videos. Subscribe to the RSS feed or one of my newsletters to keep up-to-date.
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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January 1, 2010
Hi,
I occasionally use email questions sent to me as the basis for a quick article; this time around I had a question about Drupal:
Just enjoyed your website introduction video. I am a senior but am still a regular producer of ads books and booklets for my church, having been a printer all my life. A member has set up a Drupal site – I have been asked to ‘smarten it up’ – I am new to it but I don’t see to prospect of arriving at a graphically attractive site from that program. I think I would be better suggesting we start afresh and build our own site.
What do you think?
Kind regards
John
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December 30, 2009
Hi,
In 1995 David Siegel wrote one of the most important books on web design Creating Killer Websites. He taught in the book, the future of how the Web should look.
… I still have a copy on my bookshelf after all these years.
David is about to release a new book that should also be a ‘killer’ – Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web to Transform Your Business
I’ve just started reading about Pull on David’s new site and I’m anxiously waiting to get my copy of the book. This time around, I’m not going to be late to the game.
From the Amazon editorial:
The first clear guide to the Semantic Web and its upcoming impact on the business world
Imagine that, in 1992, someone handed you a book about the future of something called the World Wide Web. This book claimed that through a piece of software called a “browser”, which accesses “web sites”, the world economy and our daily lives would change forever. Would you have believed even 10 percent of that book? Did you take advantage of the first Internet wave and get ahead of the curve?
Pull is the blueprint to the next disruptive wave. Some call it Web 3.0; others call it the semantic web. It’s a fundamental transition from pushing information to pulling, using a new way of thinking and collaborating online. Using the principles of this book, you will slash 5-20 percent off your bottom line, make your customers happier, accelerate your industry, and prepare your company for the twenty-first century. It isn’t going to be easy, and you don’t have any choice. By 2015, your company will be more agile and your processes more flexible than you ever thought possible.
The semantic web leads to possibilities straight from science fiction, such as buildings that can order their own supplies, eliminating the IRS, and lawyers finally making sense. But it also leads to major changes in every field, from shipping and retail distribution to health care and financial reporting.
Through clear examples, case studies, principles, and scenarios, business strategist David Siegel takes you on a tour of this new world. You’ll learn:
-Which industries are already ahead.
-Which industries are already dead.
-How to make the power shift from pushing to pulling information.
-How software, hardware, media, and marketing will all change.
-How to plan your own strategy for embracing the semantic web.
We are at the beginning of a new technology curve that will affect all areas of business. Right now, you have a choice. You can decide to start preparing for the exciting opportunities that lay ahead or you can leave this book on the shelf and get left in the dust like last time.
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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December 5, 2009
Once in a while, I will step away from teaching raw web design and web programming and look at things from a broader, more strategic perspective. This is one example of that …
One of the biggest mistakes people often make, is trying to develop skills in areas that they suck in. For example, you maybe good at writing HTML and CSS code, yet you still have a terrible time at making your pages look good.
… Let’s face it, some people just don’t have that artistic/designers eye.
You can read more about in the web magazine
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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November 29, 2009
Hi,
I wrote a quick article on what you should know (in terms of nerd skills) to be a professional web designer. From the article:
The skills of a professional web designer are constantly changing because the Web is constantly changing.
This fast-paced nature of the Web is considered good by some (because it opens up opportunity) while others hate it because you have to be ready to learn new web design skills regularly.
… Personally, I see it as an opportunity with a headache!
I’m not sure how pretentious it is to quote your own writing .. I’ll let you decide. Anyway, check it out:
The skills of a modern web designer.
Thanks for reading,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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November 6, 2009
Hi,
Yet another blog post based on an email question … the email:
Hello Stefan,
I just got through watching your video on basic web design. Before I decide to purchase this beginning video I wanted to ask a few questions.
I am currently seeking alternate ways to generate income. I live in a small town type atmosphere and think maybe there is a future in business web site development. I have built a web site many moons ago using Front Page and it didn’t turn out half bad for not knowing exactly what I was doing.
My questions are:
#1. Is it possible to gain the knowledge to develop attractive beneficial web sites without obtaining a college degree in computer science?
#2. I realize that starting out with the beginner course is the starting point, but where will (or should) that lead?
#3. What is a typical cost for someone to hire a web designer? I don’t want to rake anyone over the coals but feel I should charge a fair affordable price.
#4.In the old days when all we had was dial-up, the key was to keep website design to a minimum so that the pages load faster and keeps the visitor’s interest (same goes for the number of pages). Is this logic still true or are visitors looking for “wow” when they visit a website?
Thanks and look forward to your response.
Chris
My answer:
I’m going to answer you in point form – check it out:
#1. Yes. The best designers and programmers I know have neither.
#2. Once you understand the basics, your decisions as to what your web-specialization should be will be much easier to make. That decision will be largely made based on what you like to do. For example, some people may choose to get into Flash based work while others may choose to get more into PHP.
#3. Cost varies considerably based on the experience and talent of the designer and on where you happen to live.
#4. Speed of the site is always important. But, since we are in the age of Youtube, you have a lot more latitude than what we had in the 1990’s.
That all said, the best place to start your career as a web designer, is to start by learning the basics of HTML and CSS.
I hope that answers your questions,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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August 27, 2009
Hi,
Once in a while, I use email questions sent to me as the subject of an article, this time the question is about whether someone should use a Mac or a PC if they want to get into web design.
… I’m thinking of becoming a web designer and I was wondering if I would be better off with a Mac or a PC? Is there any advantage to using one over the other when building websites?
Thanks,
Jason
Short answer: there is no real advantage on either PC (Windows) or Mac when it comes to web design. Here are the two reasons why:
- The technology’s behind websites (HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP etc…) are universal.
- All the major software used in web design production can be found on both Mac and PC. The one exception maybe Web Expression from Microsoft.
Outside of web design, some would argue for Mac and others for PC. I use both, but I can see how some might prefer one or the other. That said, prior to the soon to be released Windows 7, Mac has had Windows beat hand-downs … all things considered.
With Windows 7 coming out though, I’ve heard from many reliable nerd sources, that Microsoft has really improved things a lot.
… I will almost certainly be upgrading my XP box when Windows 7 comes out.
Conclusion:
If you are looking to jump into web design, you are pretty much free with regards to which type of computer to get. I would be making my computer choice based on other things, for example:
- Stability of the operating system.
- Ease of use.
- Cost
- What looks nicer to you!
I hope that helps,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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August 14, 2009
I just updated to Firefox 3.5.2 in hopes that it might fix some issues I have been having with it on Mac. I can’t say if it has fixed anything yet, but I did discover something new: Firefox now supports the free Open Video Format.
What? Don’t we have Flash already?
Yes, we have Flash, Windows Media, Quicktime and others to embed video into our web pages, but in all those cases, we need to use an outside plugin. With this new video format, you just use plain old HTML!
Some details from Wiki:
As originally recommended by HTML 5, these browsers support Theora when embedded by the video element:
* Mozilla Firefox 3.5
* Google Chrome as of version 3.0.182.2 [1]
* Opera video build
–
Theora is the name of this free video compression format/codec and it produces video quality that is about the same as h.264 – the video format Adobe has decided to use to replace their own FLV format. So it should be pretty good.
To encode your videos into Theora, you will need to find a video encoder that does this. There are already several out there and I am sure more will come out over time … since already several browsers can play Theora videos. For now, you may want to try a video encoder that you can install right into Firefox!
Learn more about Theora.
Final comment
This is cool except for the fact that until Internet Explorer allows us to embed Theora … it’s a no go. Internet Explorer still has the vast majority of browser market, so we as web designers have to build within its’ limitations.
Thanks for reading,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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July 21, 2009
I am posting this tip again because a lot of people seem to have a hard time finding the answer on the site … I am one them!
… I thought I posted this before, but non of my site searches came up with anything. Here is a common question:
Enjoyed the first video about building web sites. Very clear and to the point. I just have a difficulty since I’m using Mac 10.5.7 and I tried the Text Edit application but didn’t get the same results. I managed to save it to my Desktop as an html file and it did open in the browser but the code just appeared exactly as the code appeared in Text Edit rather than in bold with different font sizes (h6 or h4) or paragraphs and so forth. What am I getting wrong? Am I using the wrong application (SimpleText is an older Mac app).
If you are trying to create an HTML document using a Mac text editor (like Text Edit) and all you are getting is the code being displayed rather than a web page, watch this video on creating an html document with a Mac.
Hope that helps,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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July 13, 2009
Hi,
This is just going to be a quick blog post, because I am still busy getting killersites.com up and running properly after an emergency server move I had to make.
The short story …
I had been using the same hosting company for many years and generally with not too many issues. But in the last year, things started to go downhill fast. The server was very slow (overloaded) and it went down way too often.
The last straw that broke my weak nerd-back, was a complete shutdown of my account by some pencil-necked twit who decided that killersites.com had too much traffic … so this no-nothing nerd suspended the account!
… You have to understand, I had been with these guys for 5-6 years, I’ve spoken to the founder/owner on several occasions and they used killersites.com as a feather in their cap:
‘… we proudly host killersites.com.’
So this unannounced shut down of the entire site was shall we say, vexing.
When it get’s that bad, it’s time to leave fast!
A quick threat of legal action got the site back up quickly, but I was warned killersites.com had too much traffic and I had to move it. So, I moved it to our own dedicated servers right away … within hours.
So why did I not change over to our own dedicated server years ago?
Answer: Configuration.
Killersites.com has been around for about 13 years now and it has a lot of old legacy stuff floating around. Specifically, we are talking about old Perl scripts and a couple of Java based web applications.
… Once you get these sort of things working, you’d best leave them alone. That hassle combined with my general laziness caused me to keep killersites.com sitting on the old server, even when some early evidence of trouble started to brew. You can’t underestimate laziness!
Continued trouble …
So as I write, I have still to get the old Java forum up and running again and the Perl based directory is not fully operational. The nice thing though, is that all the PHP based applications:
– WordPress blogs
– Newsletter script
– PHP based forum (to replace the Java created forum)
… migrated easily and are working fine. Once again, no hassles with PHP and I highly recommend you learn PHP as a web designer.
Bye for now.
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
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