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	<title>Webdesign-Tricks.Com &#187; Web Design</title>
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	<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com</link>
	<description>Web Design Resources, CSS Tricks, Articles, Tutorials and more</description>
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		<title>Logos in Various Forms and Styles</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/logos-in-various-forms-and-styles/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/logos-in-various-forms-and-styles/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:12:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Free Icons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[logos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Icons]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=743</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Logos for a company gives a corporate identity and public image to it. Based on your business type and the audience that you deal with, it influences the shapes and size of the company logo. You can find many types of logos from which the most suitable one has to be selected. If you take [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Logos for a company gives a corporate identity and public image to it. Based on your business type and the audience that you deal with, it influences the shapes and size of the company logo. You can find many types of logos from which the most suitable one has to be selected. If you take professional help from logo designers, they can guide you and design the apt logo for your organization. </p>
<p>1) Symbol Logo- As the word suggests, symbol logo is devoid of letters and words, it contains only images, shapes and symbols. You must be thinking for what type of companies or situations would profit more from symbol logos. If your organization is already well-established venture and is known to the masses, then having stylish and clear symbolic logo helps. When you had used combination logo for quite sometime and want to exceed your brand recognition in the market, the option of symbol logo is a better choice. Having a unique symbol for your company will not make you lost in the rat race of capturing the targeted market. If you have time and energy to make the symbol logo trademark for your company, make it legalize by completing legal formalities. </p>
<p>Selection of symbol has to be made very carefully as it might have diverse meanings in different cultures, especially when your business is spread globally. Many unspoken messages can be communicated through symbols. But if your company is new on the block and it’s just the starting point with a fixed budget then avoid going in for symbol logo. </p>
<p>2) Text Logo &#8211; Text logo contains mainly your company’s name, here graphical elements can also be inserted. Borders, lines, boxes, letters, etc can be used in logo designing for better interaction. The use of graphic element should not dominate this type of logos. For situations like the business name being too big and contains many words altogether that cannot be abbreviated, should go for text logo. In case your business has a unique name, using it in text logo gives unforgettable one. </p>
<p>Many times a company offers wide range of products/services that cannot be alone symbolized through a solo image or picture. Here text logo accomplishes the goal of such companies. Text logos should have trademark protection which would make it unique and outstanding. </p>
<p>3) Combination Logo- This type of logo contains both graphic image and business name. It works best for business that are small or medium sized, or a company that has started their business recently. Combination logo helps in creating strong brand recognition and is visually very strong. </p>
<p>The symbol can speak to the services that the company offers, while the company name increases the company recognition.</p>
<p>Those where three main types of logos, their selection is largely based on your business and exact professional requirements. However take suggestions and do research before doting on the final logo design. Logos are essential part of any company and its identity. It also makes easy to beat the competition and build up customer trust and faith in your brand.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Success of E-commerce Website Design</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/success-of-e-commerce-website-design/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/success-of-e-commerce-website-design/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:03:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[e-commerce]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=739</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The websites are developed with the aim of sharing information. This information exchange may be reciprocal or non-reciprocal basis. The reciprocal exchange of information can not be promoted as a way of sharing information where visitors visit Internet Web pages to collect relevant information for the purpose. The reciprocal exchange of information is known as [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The websites are developed with the aim of sharing information. This information exchange may be reciprocal or non-reciprocal basis. The reciprocal exchange of information can not be promoted as a way of sharing information where visitors visit Internet Web pages to collect relevant information for the purpose. The reciprocal exchange of information is known as two way information sharing website where visitors can actually engage in the exchange of information and progress to the next step of exchanging information, doing some shopping or subscribe to some newsletters, etc. </p>
<p>E-commerce Web sites are a sort of reciprocal information exchange. E-commerce websites are designed with the sole purpose of simplifying the online shopping experience of a web visitor or to guide the visitor to make a purchase online. The web site design involves many complexities, but a designer working in electronic commerce web design needs to understand the principles of selling online. </p>
<p>For a viewer the e-commerce web design and web design may look similar normal because both follow the same principles of website design is attractive, the systematic organization of the elements, correct color palette to boost spirit website. The differences begin to troops in once you have a close look at some of the e-commerce web design and web design eCommerce Web designs. Every must follow some simple principles, such as the sale of: </p>
<p>1. Simplifying online shopping experience: Users prefer online shopping to avoid the hassles of offline purchases. Therefore, it becomes the priority of web designer to ensure that the design of the website offers the best online shopping experience for the user. </p>
<p>2. Providing authenticated information: The user must have the reason to believe your site and how easily it can get to you. </p>
<p>Customers are more attracted to the array of things for virtual shopping. It becomes very difficult for the designer of websites to which the virtual purchase agreement through the web design. It is far easier for the web designer to display the objects without the hassle of space limitations. It is relatively difficult for the web designer to attract customers to shop through the web design. </p>
<p>Customers prefer to design e-commerce website, which will take you to the right with the minimum number of clicks. Web designers often use some unconventional techniques to promote e-commerce web designs. Sometimes, a web designer can utilize the full potential of the Web page is only through the integration of the order form at the end. Many people perceive sales letter as a good example of e-commerce web design. In fact, sales of the letter are not a good example of web design and e-commerce that are specific niches and may sell a single product. However, the sales letters are capable of high conversions because they present the product information in an intelligent way. </p>
<p>Supermarkets and shopping centers are similar to both online stores showcase products. As in the commercial centers of the arrangement of things, it seems much simpler to shop online. It is difficult for the user to navigate through the complex web page to look for things. The e-commerce web sites make it easier for the visitor of the website to browse the product section easily with the help of personalization technology. This technology also casts spell on customizing the design of e-commerce websites. </p>
<p>Patterns play an important role in the success of e-commerce web design. Most website designs e-commerce is distinguished by their designs. These e-commerce websites are always looking for a simplified design to attract customers to buy things. The average time for each customer spends on a website is about 2 minutes before leaving the site. So these two minutes should be utilized to maximum in order to attract customers. Much research has been conducted to find the most accessible website design. Found that most of the first customers to see the central left and central part of the website. By balancing these regions with the content in an elegant design of these web pages web designers know how to create an easy way for visitors to browse the online store and make the purchase easy.</p>
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		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Building a Blog site in few Simple Steps</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/building-a-blog-site-in-few-simple-steps/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/building-a-blog-site-in-few-simple-steps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=737</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ There are certain points which you need to take care when you&#8217;re learning how to build your own website. You can follow a simple game plan to set up your own website which will help you to start generating traffic right away. Imagine, how much pleasure you will get out of realizing that you [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> There are certain points which you need to take care when you&#8217;re learning how to build your own website. You can follow a simple game plan to set up your own website which will help you to start generating traffic right away. Imagine, how much pleasure you will get out of realizing that you can actually make a good living from your website. It is very easy to make a blog at blogger.com or more traditional website at weebly.com. Remember one thing, these websites are extremely user friendly and you can make a website of all sorts in few minutes. Making your own website for free sounds like a great idea, but is it really? Before you make your own website for free, check out if making your website can make a world of difference for you? </p>
<p>Below are few points which will help you to set up your own website. </p>
<p><strong>1) A Blog: Set up a blog website with no cost </strong></p>
<p>There are many websites available online which will allow you to setup a blog for free using their own embedded software. In a matter of minutes, you can set up a website using one of these platforms. Do some homework and find out which website offers this type of service for free or with minimal charges. </p>
<p><strong>2) A website with minimal content: A website with couple of paragraphs and content only </strong></p>
<p>If your interest is to set up just a happy looking small website to begin with, there are many websites where you can type in content according to you and add graphics and so forth that are included within the website. You do not require any expertise in respect to HTML and the best thing is you can set up a website in very short period of time very easily. In your small website, there would be a problem wherein you&#8217;ll have more restrictions as to the format that you will be allowed to use and the content which you can include. </p>
<p><strong>3) Domain: Buy a domain name for your website </strong></p>
<p>Once you select a format or platform that you want to use and are ready with basic requirements for your blog website, you need to register a domain name at a place that offers domains for a very low price. Now you have total control over the content of your website and you can start building back-links to it. Knowing that any effort that you put into it will be benefiting you instead of someone else website.</p>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Importance of a Good Web Design for Websites</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/importance-of-a-good-web-design-for-websites/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/importance-of-a-good-web-design-for-websites/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:53:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=729</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Websites are similar to homes. Just as homes of an individual represent the outlook of the person living in, his style, his attitude along with way of living similarly websites are regarded as the outlook of a company. They represent the status and position of the respective company in the current market. There is constant [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Websites are similar to homes. Just as homes of an individual represent the outlook of the person living in, his style, his attitude along with way of living similarly websites are regarded as the outlook of a company. They represent the status and position of the respective company in the current market. There is constant race of out doing each other. The main reason to this is the exponential increase in the volume of traffic that is directed to websites.</p>
<p>These days’ websites are referred as online service providers for a particular query. Websites are available in numerous numbers and are based on every possible and imaginable dimension of the world. Hence people can easily get answers to their queries in minimum time. Companies are putting in their best efforts to attract customers towards it thereby diverting traffic to gain business. </p>
<p>Websites are made in accordance to this fact and are designed specially to attract the increasing volume of traffic. Various tools and techniques are available in market which is meant to aid in design and development of a website. Web design is one such process which enhances the outlook of a website.</p>
<p>Web design uses hypertext and hypermedia to convert the static web pages into dynamic in nature. It also incorporates various markup languages like HTML and DHTML along with ASP and JSP pages. These are the known elements which help a website to be menu driven and be highly user interactive.</p>
<p>A good design is very important for a website as it represents the outlook of a company. If a website is attractive enough it can attract traffic towards it and increase in traffic always result in increase in business. People who have their expertise in designing web pages and converting static nature of an website into dynamic can make a good amount of money as such skills are in great demand in these times. Web design companies are making a lot of profit due to this fact. Such companies have individuals, which are experts in fields of designing and developing of web pages. It is a lot easier to communicate with them as they can understand what is required from a website and they work in accordingly.</p>
<p>A good website is often characterized by periodic changes in design and content of a site. This helps in displaying dynamic appeal of a website and maintains a fresh look each time a user visits a website.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Can I Use a Free SSL Certificate for my HTTPs Pages?</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/can-i-use-a-free-ssl-certificate-for-my-https-pages/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/can-i-use-a-free-ssl-certificate-for-my-https-pages/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=724</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Question: Can I Use a Free SSL Certificate for my HTTPs Pages?
Most Certificate Authorities (CA) charge a lot of money to verify your company to use an SSL certificate. So it can be very tempting to use a self-signed, free certificate for your https server. But is that okay?
Answer:
The short answer is that it is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Question: Can I Use a Free SSL Certificate for my HTTPs Pages?</strong></p>
<p>Most Certificate Authorities (CA) charge a lot of money to verify your company to use an SSL certificate. So it can be very tempting to use a self-signed, free certificate for your https server. But is that okay?</p>
<p><strong>Answer:</strong></p>
<p>The short answer is that it is most definitely possible to set up a secure website without buying an SSL certificate from a CA. But there are some problems with doing this:</p>
<p><strong>Web Browser Warning Messages</strong></p>
<p>When a customer comes to your website that is secured with a self-signed or free SSL certificate, most Web browsers will post a scary error message like the one displayed here. While some people will click past this message, install the certificate and go to your site, most will click the &#8220;Get me out of here!&#8221; button and never come back.</p>
<p><strong>Security Risks</strong></p>
<p>The other, more serious problem is that if you have an self-signed certificate on your server and somehow your site is hacked, that server is now compromised even though it apears secure. Customers who ignored the error message above would then be even more vulnerable because they would believe they were secure.</p>
<p><strong>When to Pay for an SSL Certificate</strong></p>
<p>There are a few situations when paying for an SSL certificate is just the cost of doing business, including:</p>
<p><strong>ecommerce</strong></p>
<p>All ecommerce sites must have a signed SSL certificate if they expect customers to enter their credit card information. You can get around this if you use a company like Paypal to handle your transactions. Then the purchasing process is handled on their secure server.</p>
<p><strong>collecting private information</strong></p>
<p>If your website needs to collect private or sensitive information like addresses or social security numbers then you should collect that information on a secure server with a signed SSL certificate. Otherwise, you are asking your customers to send private and sensitive information over the Internet in clear text, which can easily be hacked and used for identity theft.</p>
<p><strong>sites that are expected to be secure</strong></p>
<p>If you are running a site for a security conscious community such as an Internet security services company, then if you do not have a signed SSL certificate your site will not look secure, and your customers will not believe what you&#8217;re providing.</p>
<p><strong>When a Self-Signed SSL Certificate is Okay</strong></p>
<p>I don&#8217;t believe that any site that needs a SSL certificate for customer-facing pages should use a self-signed certificate. I also don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a good idea to use a self-signed certificate on any Web server that is live on the Internet. That is just asking for hackers to set up a man-in-the-middle or other hack on your server to try and trick people into providing information they shouldn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>The only time a self-signed cerificate should be used is for testing behind a firewall. Such as your desktop computer that is behind a software or hardware firewall on your home network.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Designing Cutting Edge Web Sites</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/designing-cutting-edge-web-sites/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/designing-cutting-edge-web-sites/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:24:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[CSS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=722</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are so many new and exciting features of Ajax, Dynamic HTML, and other &#8220;bleeding edge&#8221; technologies, but it can be hard to decide whether to use them. Before you decide to write your pages at the edge of HTML, there are some things to think about:
1. How many new features are on the page [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are so many new and exciting features of Ajax, Dynamic HTML, and other &#8220;bleeding edge&#8221; technologies, but it can be hard to decide whether to use them. Before you decide to write your pages at the edge of HTML, there are some things to think about:</p>
<p><strong>1. How many new features are on the page already?</strong></p>
<p>If a page has too many flashing lights, gizmos, and special effects, your readers may be turned off rather than impressed. Also, things like java applets can take up system memory for your readers and can cause their browser to crash if there is too much going on. </p>
<p>A good rule of thumb is to limit your page to 1 special effect of any kind. This includes music, streaming video, java applets, Ajax applications, and Dynamic HTML.</p>
<p><strong>2. What are you trying to achieve with the effect?</strong></p>
<p>Try to design your pages with purpose. If you want a rollover, add it to the areas of the page that might not be clicked on if you didn&#8217;t call attention to them. Use dynamic positioning to serve a purpose. </p>
<p>Fancy effects that have a purpose will enhance your Web page rather than detract from them.</p>
<p><strong>3. Can you achieve the same effect with an older technology?</strong></p>
<p>The older your effects are, the more likely it is that they will be supported by multiple browsers. If you can create a motion effect with an animated GIF, more people will see the animation than if you use DHTML, Ajax, or Flash. </p>
<p>The more you can keep your site browser non-specific, the more readers you will have.</p>
<p><strong>4. If you want a browser specific effect, have you thought how other browsers will see the page?</strong></p>
<p>Even if you want your customers to view your site with Internet Explorer, you&#8217;re certain to get Firefox, Opera, and Safari viewers. But if you show them nothing, you&#8217;ll lose readers you could have saved with just a few more lines of HTML. </p>
<p>When using an effect, keep in mind how other browsers will see (or not see) the effect. Many effects have built in support for non-compliant browsers. For example, if you use the <iframe> tag, you can include text inside the tags that can explain what the non-iframe compatible browser is missing.</p>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Will My Readers Leave If I Accept Guest Posts?</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/will-my-readers-leave-if-i-accept-guest-posts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/will-my-readers-leave-if-i-accept-guest-posts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:16:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=716</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Overall the risk you are talking about is the one of having your own visitors stop visiting your blog after they discover the one of a “competitor” through a guest post you accepted. Is this a real risk? In my opinion, no, and for several reasons.
First of all if your content is good (and it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Overall the risk you are talking about is the one of having your own visitors stop visiting your blog after they discover the one of a “competitor” through a guest post you accepted. Is this a real risk? In my opinion, no, and for several reasons.</p>
<p>First of all if your content is good (and it should be, else all other tactics will fail), your visitors will return no matter what. Even if all your posts contain links to other useful blogs, sites and resources your readers will come back because they’ll want more of that. If your content adds value to your readers, they are coming back no matter what.</p>
<p>The second reason is the fact that bloggers on your same niche should be seen as partners rather than competitors. If you had a website selling a product or service, then yes another website on the same niche should be seen as a competitor, because once the visitor purchases the product of the competitor he won’t be looking for what you have to offer anymore. </p>
<p>With content based websites, however, the same is not true. Web visitors can consume a very big amount of information, so the fact that a visitor will read another blog on your same niche does not mean that he won’t read yours, too. He can read both. Heck, if he is interested in the niche he will probably read ALL the good quality blogs around. </p>
<p>On top of that there is also the fact that blogs on your same niche will make the niche grow. If you blog about green tea, for example, it would be a positive thing if other blogs about green tea popped around, because they would bring more readers to the niche, would get more people exposed to it, and in the long run you would gain from that effect as well. </p>
<p>In summary: I would not be worried about accepting guest posts from blogs on your same niche. You should see this as an opportunity to network and grow together with your fellow bloggers.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/top-ten-mistakes-in-web-design/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/top-ten-mistakes-in-web-design/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:25:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=701</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[1. Bad Search
Overly literal search engines reduce usability in that they&#8217;re unable to handle typos, plurals, hyphens, and other variants of the query terms. Such search engines are particularly difficult for elderly users, but they hurt everybody. 
A related problem is when search engines prioritize results purely on the basis of how many query terms [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>1. Bad Search</strong></p>
<p>Overly literal search engines reduce usability in that they&#8217;re unable to handle typos, plurals, hyphens, and other variants of the query terms. Such search engines are particularly difficult for elderly users, but they hurt everybody. </p>
<p>A related problem is when search engines prioritize results purely on the basis of how many query terms they contain, rather than on each document&#8217;s importance. Much better if your search engine calls out &#8220;best bets&#8221; at the top of the list &#8212; especially for important queries, such as the names of your products. </p>
<p>Search is the user&#8217;s lifeline when navigation fails. Even though advanced search can sometimes help, simple search usually works best, and search should be presented as a simple box, since that&#8217;s what users are looking for. </p>
<p><strong>2. PDF Files for Online Reading</strong></p>
<p>Users hate coming across a PDF file while browsing, because it breaks their flow. Even simple things like printing or saving documents are difficult because standard browser commands don&#8217;t work. Layouts are often optimized for a sheet of paper, which rarely matches the size of the user&#8217;s browser window. Bye-bye smooth scrolling. Hello tiny fonts. </p>
<p>Worst of all, PDF is an undifferentiated blob of content that&#8217;s hard to navigate. </p>
<p>PDF is great for printing and for distributing manuals and other big documents that need to be printed. Reserve it for this purpose and convert any information that needs to be browsed or read on the screen into real web pages. </p>
<p><strong>3. Not Changing the Color of Visited Links</strong></p>
<p>A good grasp of past navigation helps you understand your current location, since it&#8217;s the culmination of your journey. Knowing your past and present locations in turn makes it easier to decide where to go next. Links are a key factor in this navigation process. Users can exclude links that proved fruitless in their earlier visits. Conversely, they might revisit links they found helpful in the past. </p>
<p>Most important, knowing which pages they&#8217;ve already visited frees users from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over and over again. </p>
<p>These benefits only accrue under one important assumption: that users can tell the difference between visited and unvisited links because the site shows them in different colors. When visited links don&#8217;t change color, users exhibit more navigational disorientation in usability testing and unintentionally revisit the same pages repeatedly. </p>
<p><strong>4. Non-Scannable Text</strong></p>
<p>A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience. Intimidating. Boring. Painful to read. </p>
<p>Write for online, not print. To draw users into the text and support scannability, use well-documented tricks: </p>
<p>subheads<br />
bulleted lists<br />
highlighted keywords<br />
short paragraphs<br />
the inverted pyramid<br />
a simple writing style, and<br />
de-fluffed language devoid of marketese. </p>
<p><strong>5. Fixed Font Size</strong></p>
<p>CSS style sheets unfortunately give websites the power to disable a Web browser&#8217;s &#8220;change font size&#8221; button and specify a fixed font size. About 95% of the time, this fixed size is tiny, reducing readability significantly for most people over the age of 40. </p>
<p>Respect the user&#8217;s preferences and let them resize text as needed. Also, specify font sizes in relative terms &#8212; not as an absolute number of pixels. </p>
<p><strong>6. Page Titles With Low Search Engine Visibility</strong></p>
<p>Search is the most important way users discover websites. Search is also one of the most important ways users find their way around individual websites. The humble page title is your main tool to attract new visitors from search listings and to help your existing users to locate the specific pages that they need. </p>
<p>The page title is contained within the HTML <title> tag and is almost always used as the clickable headline for listings on search engine result pages (SERP). Search engines typically show the first 66 characters or so of the title, so it&#8217;s truly microcontent. </p>
<p>Page titles are also used as the default entry in the Favorites when users bookmark a site. For your homepage, begin the with the company name, followed by a brief description of the site. Don&#8217;t start with words like &#8220;The&#8221; or &#8220;Welcome to&#8221; unless you want to be alphabetized under &#8220;T&#8221; or &#8220;W.&#8221; </p>
<p>For other pages than the homepage, start the title with a few of the most salient information-carrying words that describe the specifics of what users will find on that page. Since the page title is used as the window title in the browser, it&#8217;s also used as the label for that window in the taskbar under Windows, meaning that advanced users will move between multiple windows under the guidance of the first one or two words of each page title. If all your page titles start with the same words, you have severely reduced usability for your multi-windowing users. </p>
<p>Taglines on homepages are a related subject: they also need to be short and quickly communicate the purpose of the site. </p>
<p><strong>7. Anything That Looks Like an Advertisement</strong></p>
<p>Selective attention is very powerful, and Web users have learned to stop paying attention to any ads that get in the way of their goal-driven navigation. (The main exception being text-only search-engine ads.) </p>
<p>Unfortunately, users also ignore legitimate design elements that look like prevalent forms of advertising. After all, when you ignore something, you don&#8217;t study it in detail to find out what it is. </p>
<p>Therefore, it is best to avoid any designs that look like advertisements. The exact implications of this guideline will vary with new forms of ads; currently follow these rules:<br />
banner blindness means that users never fixate their eyes on anything that looks like a banner ad due to shape or position on the page<br />
animation avoidance makes users ignore areas with blinking or flashing text or other aggressive animations<br />
pop-up purges mean that users close pop-up windoids before they have even fully rendered; sometimes with great viciousness (a sort of getting-back-at-GeoCities triumph). </p>
<p><strong>8. Violating Design Conventions</strong></p>
<p>Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles: when things always behave the same, users don&#8217;t have to worry about what will happen. Instead, they know what will happen based on earlier experience. Every time you release an apple over Sir Isaac Newton, it will drop on his head. That&#8217;s good. </p>
<p>The more users&#8217; expectations prove right, the more they will feel in control of the system and the more they will like it. And the more the system breaks users&#8217; expectations, the more they will feel insecure. Oops, maybe if I let go of this apple, it will turn into a tomato and jump a mile into the sky. </p>
<p>Jakob&#8217;s Law of the Web User Experience states that &#8220;users spend most of their time on other websites.&#8221; </p>
<p>This means that they form their expectations for your site based on what&#8217;s commonly done on most other sites. If you deviate, your site will be harder to use and users will leave. </p>
<p><strong>9. Opening New Browser Windows</strong></p>
<p>Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer&#8217;s carpet. Don&#8217;t pollute my screen with any more windows, thanks (particularly since current operating systems have miserable window management). </p>
<p>Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. But even disregarding the user-hostile message implied in taking over the user&#8217;s machine, the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites. Users often don&#8217;t notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed out Back button. </p>
<p>Links that don&#8217;t behave as expected undermine users&#8217; understanding of their own system. A link should be a simple hypertext reference that replaces the current page with new content. Users hate unwarranted pop-up windows. When they want the destination to appear in a new page, they can use their browser&#8217;s &#8220;open in new window&#8221; command &#8212; assuming, of course, that the link is not a piece of code that interferes with the browser’s standard behavior. </p>
<p><strong>10. Not Answering Users&#8217; Questions</strong></p>
<p>Users are highly goal-driven on the Web. They visit sites because there&#8217;s something they want to accomplish &#8212; maybe even buy your product. The ultimate failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for. </p>
<p>Sometimes the answer is simply not there and you lose the sale because users have to assume that your product or service doesn&#8217;t meet their needs if you don&#8217;t tell them the specifics. Other times the specifics are buried under a thick layer of marketese and bland slogans. Since users don&#8217;t have time to read everything, such hidden info might almost as well not be there. </p>
<p>The worst example of not answering users&#8217; questions is to avoid listing the price of products and services. No B2C ecommerce site would make this mistake, but it&#8217;s rife in B2B, where most &#8220;enterprise solutions&#8221; are presented so that you can&#8217;t tell whether they are suited for 100 people or 100,000 people. Price is the most specific piece of info customers use to understand the nature of an offering, and not providing it makes people feel lost and reduces their understanding of a product line. We have miles of videotape of users asking &#8220;Where&#8217;s the price?&#8221; while tearing their hair out. </p>
<p>Even B2C sites often make the associated mistake of forgetting prices in product lists, such as category pages or search results. Knowing the price is key in both situations; it lets users differentiate among products and click through to the most relevant ones.</p>
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		<title>Top Five Web Design Tools</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/top-five-web-design-tools/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/top-five-web-design-tools/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:38:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Photoshop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=699</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just like in most other professions, a web designer’s set of tools is what brings a concept into fruition. There are many applications available to our disposal, but there are some that just stand out from the crowd. The tools in this article are what’s regarded as the most popular tools used for web design.
Last [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just like in most other professions, a web designer’s set of tools is what brings a concept into fruition. There are many applications available to our disposal, but there are some that just stand out from the crowd. The tools in this article are what’s regarded as the most popular tools used for web design.</p>
<p>Last week, you were asked to vote on what you thought was the best web design tool. Close to 280 of you shared your opinion on what the best web design tool is.</p>
<p>In this article, you’ll find the five web design tools that garnered the most votes.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/fireworks/"><strong>5. Fireworks</strong></a></p>
<p>Adobe Fireworks is a commercial raster and vector graphics editor hybrid from Adobe that’s available for the Mac and Windows operating systems. Designed specifically for web designers (unlike Photoshop), Fireworks brings you a plethora of tools and options that make full web layout prototyping a breeze.</p>
<p>Among its notable features are: &#8220;slices&#8221; for slicing and dicing a design mockup into HTML/CSS for rapidly creating prototypes (though you should avoid using auto-generated source code for the end-build), the ability to package an entire site design as a PDF with clickable components for interactive and impressive site prototypes, and optimization tools for making your web graphics as lightweight as possible.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/"><strong>4. Dreamweaver</strong></a></p>
<p>Adobe Dreamweaver is a commercial application for web development that’s available for the Mac and Windows operating systems. Its featured-packed suite of tools and options include: syntax highlighting and very smart Code Hinting, a built-in FTP client, project management and workflow options that make team work effortless, and Live View – which shows you a preview of your source code. Dreamweaver tightly integrates with other popular Adobe products such as Photoshop, allowing you to share Smart Objects for quick and easy updating and editing of graphics components. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.panic.com/coda/"><strong>3. Panic Coda</strong></a></p>
<p>Panic Coda is a shareware web development application for the Mac OS X operating system. It seeks to reduce the amount of applications (such as an FTP client, CSS editor, a version control system, etc.) you need to develop websites and to improve your team’s workflow. Coda’s one-window web development philosophy uses a tabbed interface for text editing, file transfers, SVN, CSS, and even &#8220;Books&#8221; which embeds web books that are searchable (it comes with The Web Programmer’s Desk Reference but you can add your own).</p>
<p>It’s simple and intuitive interface allowed Coda to garner the Apple Design Awards Best Mac OS X User Experience in 2007.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/"><strong>2. Photoshop</strong></a></p>
<p>Adobe Photoshop is a very popular commercial graphics editor available for the Mac and Windows operating system. Created for professional photographers and designers, it is the ideal application for manipulating images and creating web graphics. Photoshop has all the necessary tools and options you need such as: Filters – which automatically adds effects to your image or a selected section of your image, extensibility and automation with Brushes, Actions and Scripting, and workflow enhancement features like Layer Comps and the Revert option.</p>
<p><a href="http://getfirebug.com/"><strong>1. Firebug</strong></a></p>
<p>Firebug is a free, open source in-browser web development tool for the Firefox web browser. It’s many features include: on-the-fly HTML and CSS editing for tweaking or debugging, a Console for logging, analyzing and debugging JavaScript, and an intuitive Document Object Model (DOM) inspection tool to help you quickly see how the elements of a web page relates to one another.</p>
<p>Firebug’s popularity is so immense it’s one of the few Firefox extensions that have its own extensions (like YSlow and FirePHP)!</p>
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		<title>10 basic tips on how to improve usability in webdesign</title>
		<link>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/10-basic-tips-on-how-to-improve-usability-in-webdesign/</link>
		<comments>http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/10-basic-tips-on-how-to-improve-usability-in-webdesign/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:20:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.webdesign-tricks.com/?p=697</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Web page usability is a vital criteria in any web design project as it is this factor that can get repeat visitors to a website. Improving usability of web pages may not be an easy job even for the most skilled web designers. Usability based web designing is all about habit formation, it cant be [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Web page usability is a vital criteria in any web design project as it is this factor that can get repeat visitors to a website. Improving usability of web pages may not be an easy job even for the most skilled web designers. Usability based web designing is all about habit formation, it cant be achieved in one day. The designers need to gradually evolve themselves into designing websites high on usability. The following are some tips that can help web designers to improve website usability:</p>
<ol>
<li>See that your website loads faster. A slowly loading web page can only irritate the visitors. A website can be made to load faster through efficient coding, like use of CSS and optimal use of multimedia content.</li>
<li>Make your web design simple and conventional so that people need not spend time in learning how to use your website. Don’t add flash intros about your company, this only tells the visitor that you don’t care about their time and that you are more interested in singing your own praises.</li>
<li>Don’t go for too many unnecessary features, widgets, flash content, video, images etc. This can only slow up your website. Instead, use only elements that cannot be missed. You can add vital elements like those needed to get customer information like their email for example. This doesn’t mean you have to make them fill huge forms.</li>
<li>Keep your website open for user comments regarding your web site’s usability. Note down these comments and make the necessary improvements.</li>
<li>Avoid using irritating gifs, unnecessary background audio, pop ups, scrolling messages etc.</li>
<li>Compress your images to make them load faster, you can use image optimizers to do this.</li>
<li>Keep web page length to a minimum. Instead of going for one huge web page, you can have several smaller webpages that are more readable and easier to navigate. This can also help avoiding unnecessary use of the dreaded scrollbar.</li>
<li>Always include a Site Map. A site map is a diagrammatic representation of the architecture of the website. A site map is not only a good way to improve the navigation in the website but also your ranking in search engines. </li>
<li>Always go for contrasting Colors that can make your text more readable. Whenever you are using a dark background you need to use bright colored text. Also see that the text is big enough to be easily read.</li>
<li>Provide relevant content that can be useful to the user. Adding too many advertisements and content that is not useful can drive the visitor away.</li>
</ol>
<p>Finally, you need to do a complete usability test of your website before hosting it online. Check whether your website loads on all the popular browsers, check whether it can address the disabled visitors lie blind people. See that all links are working properly, check spelling mistakes, Load speed etc. And don’t forget to Validate your code. All these steps can improve the usability of your website and improve its popularity in a big way.</p>
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