Checkout some of the technologies I use when designing.

 

Web Standards

"Web standards is a general term for the formal standards and other technical specifications that define and describe aspects of the World Wide Web. In recent years, the term has been more frequently associated with the trend of endorsing a set of standardized best practices for building web sites, and a philosophy of web design and development that includes those methods."

Wikipedia

Dull, right? But very important. Standards make our lives so much easier its not even funny.

Sites designed with standards in mind will be easier to use, load faster, rank higher in search engines, have faster redesign times, viewable on mobile devices (with style sheet attached), accessible... Need I go on? I could forever.

Don't take my word for it. Find out what others are shouting about!

This list could go to your floor if I needed it to, but the point is: Do you want your site to be forward compatible? If so standards is the direction the web is pointing!!

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XHTM . . . What?

Don't let all the acronyms get you down. It stands for Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, but who wants to say that all the time! This is the code that I use to format your content. Its the heart of web standards. All XHTML documents follow a standard or they cant be called XHTML! Its really simple, if you code in XHTML it should Validate (work properly). It separates content from style.

What does this mean to you? Well not much right now, but later on it will be the difference between a web site that works correctly and looks attractive. It also means faster load times and easier redesigns. Pair XHTML with something like CSS and you've go a sure thing.

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CSS: sort of like the SS on that bitch'n Camero!

Cascading style sheets are the glossy veneer of your page! This is the code that makes your XHTML document look good. Its the other side of the content and style thing I talked about earlier. It contains all the colors and pictures that will keep your visitors eyes awake. Its all about keeping users at your site, reading your content. What better way then to have a great looking page! And a fast loading one.

CSS helps on both fronts. Once the style for your page has been loaded into your browser, your done. Now this style can be applied to all the pages of your site. All your browser needs to do is get the Xhtml document to apply the style to. Which is basically just text. Cool huh?

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Would you like some cream for your JavaScript?

This actually does have a lot to do with coffee, and how much I drink of it. JavaScript is the code that makes things on your site interactive. It can do a plethora of things, but for the most part I use it to make stuff move and change color on your site. All without having to reload your page. This is cool because it helps makes for a great user experience. That thing that keeps people involved with your site. Without positive user experience people will not come back to your site.

It also does lots of other great things like: Checking to make sure your visitors are supposed to be on that page of your site (passwords), Validates forms on your site (is that an email or a phone number that dude put in the email field), and it can check to see how your visitors got to your page and if they are returning (cookies).

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XML (didn't we just go over this?)

Well... sort of. XML is an acronym for Extensible Markup Language. XHTML is based upon this language. It is used for storing data and calling it dynamically. No style here, just brute force. Put it together with JavaScript, bake at 350° for half an hour and you get AJAX. Short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. This means that we can store your data in XML form and then call it via JavaScript and interacted with it on your web page. The page does not even have to be reloaded.

Say, for instance you have a schedule that is arranged on screen by days. This may not be how a user at your site wants to read it. With a click of the mouse the table can be changed to show the schedule arranged by events. Thus making it easier for the user to get the info they need. Just one very small example of how great this language is.

Are you starting to see a positive user experience here? I think so! And I think that that user will return to your site, and not your competitors, the next time they need to check that schedule. That's the name of the game.

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Flash "The meal supplement, not the meal replacement"

Flash is a great tool for creating interactive content for digital, web, and mobile platforms. Want that header on your site to look like a movie? This is what's under the hood. Create ad banners with a style that reflects your identity.

The page titles on the right side of my site are Flash based. If you are patient enough and don't make any noise you may just see one change color.

The possibilities with Flash are endless. Some site are authored completely in Flash. It has the largest installed user base of any software package on the net. Chances are your visitors will already have it once they get to your site.

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