Over on the Reflect website, we are starting to feature websites being built using the CMS. The first of our showcased sites is from our good friend Jina Bolton. She recently launched a new website, Sushi & Robots that is sitting on top of our Reflect CMS. Congrats to Jina! The site looks great, and thank you for all of your great work, valuable feedback, and patience.
It’s hard being a web designer. The unmotivated need not apply. You have to constantly educate yourself. There are plenty of tutorials out there on using web design tools like Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, and so on. But teaching Excel is not the same as teaching business. Knowing how to use Photoshop and Illustrator doesn’t make you a web designer. (Jeffrey Zeldman)
This is an excellent article in response to this fine journalistic piece. You know, the one that states:
All you need to know is that a block of HTML -- essentially, a bunch of gobbledygook words and symbols -- can add extra features to your site. And numerous third-party sites offer handy HTML blocks you can plug into your site, as easily as copying and pasting text in Microsoft Word.
Absolutely brilliant!
We tend to use new tools to do less. We try to save time and money at the same time, and end up depersonalizing and commodifying what we do. (via)
The first thing that comes to my mind when I see things like this is: is CSS really that hard? I don't say that in a condescending way, but does it really need to run through a PHP (or C) processor, adding unnecessary overhead? I think it is good for some systems to output the CSS based on variables in their backend CMS or storage system, but it should be cached as to not require parsing with each request. In this instance, the CSS doesn't change based on variables coming from a backend system, it only changes based on the browser requesting it.
I can slightly understand the need for @variables inside of CSS, but I just don't get the point of adding a middleman parser to do things like this. Am I interpreting it wrong?
Campaign Monitor has posted a tutorial today on Making Certain Fields Required
You can see I've added
class="required"to the text fields I want to make compulsory, andclass="email required"in the case of the email address. I've also added anonsubmitparameter to the form tag, which will run our validation function when the submit button is clicked.
The example shows how to add JavaScript validation to your form fields from Campaign Monitor. A good tutorial, inspired by DOM Scripting. My only question is, they make it a point to use CSS classes for their hooks, yet add an inline onsubmit to handle the validation itself? Wouldn't it have been easier to wrap it all into one unobtrusive package?
Jonathan Snook recently posted an article entitled Don't Bring Me Down which brings up discussion points related to properly archiving content between re-designs. While I would agree with him for the most part, I appreciated a comment by Bryan Veloso where he states:
[...] People blog differently, people feel different magnitudes of attachment to either blog posts or search engine rankings. Me? I don't give a crap about where I'm placed. I don't blog to get ranked, I blog because I happen to like doing it. If my ranking goes down because I nuke my posts, hypothetically, then I'll go boo-hoo for a day, but that's it. (via)
I have always been an advocate for businesses building websites to be sure to keep their content properly linked up, even if things are shifted around. Moving content isn't the main issue at hand for them, it's about putting the proper redirects in place so that their content is not lost. On personal sites, however, much of that can change.
My blog has been a personal playground for me in many aspects. When I reflect back on the things I wrote when I initially started this blog, I fail to see any value in what I wrote then. At that point I was just writing to fill the blog up with content, then I began to search for my voice, my reason for blogging at all. So in that aspect, I see nothing wrong with purging older posts that contain very little (or no) value. I may end up with some broken links. I may end up with some broken bookmarks (doubtful with some of the posts, he). At the end of the day, it isn't entirely about the search engines. It's about personal values, personal and professional goals, and quality content. There is a difference between a personal designer blog and a business in it to profit from one avenue or another (advertising, services, products, etc).
One thing that I come across often through reading books: broken links to examples on the web. Many times designers or developers will point to their colleague's blogs or other sites as examples of what they are trying to show. It can be frustrating trying to maintain offline bookmarks such as these, but I do think it's important to weight it in when you are thinking about removing content all together.
Not every piece of content will be meant to be sticky. There are some posts, like this one, that are opinion pieces or responses to things taking place elsewhere on the web. In fact, this message will self destruct in 10 days. Will it be missed?
The media wants overnight successes (so they have someone to tear down). Ignore them. Ignore the early adopter critics that never have enough to play with. Ignore your investors that want proven tactics and predictable instant results. Listen instead to your real customers, to your vision and make something for the long haul. Because that's how long it's going to take, guys. (via)
Most importantly: ignore every other source of “feedback” — competitors, reviewers, two-bit commentators, whatever. If what these other sources have to say matters, you’ll hear it from your market directly. If you don’t, what the other sources say is irrelevant. (via)
See, as a creative professional, getting out of the house and into the world is crucial component to supporting, enriching, inspiring and informing your art. Here’s why: [...] (via)
In light of yesterday's discussion on the title of a designer, Seth Godin has an interesting post today that shows a move from designer to architect.
Architecture, for me anyway, involves intention, game theory, systems thinking and relentless testing and improvement. Fine with me if you want to call it design, just don't forget to do it. (via)
The catchall term “designer” works for some, but I hate the generality. It’s the difference between an “appliance” and a “kitchen appliance”, the latter has an implied duty and place. I don’t design furniture, and I don’t decorate living rooms, I specifically work with type and image to communicate. Unfortunately, the term “communication designer” is practically unknown outside the industry, leaving most people to wonder just what it is you design for the phone company. (via)
I've really been enjoying his posts since his shift in design. I personally like the design of this discussion, so be sure to check it out in context, not just your feed reader. And be sure to check out some of the previous discussions and layouts.
Many think of a content management system as a magic bullet that solves all of their content woes. Unfortunately the cost of a CMS is greater than its price tag. Before making a decision about whether to adopt a CMS, or indeed which CMS to choose, you first need to be aware of the hidden costs. These include:
- The cost of training
- The cost to quality
- The cost to functionality
- The cost of redundancy and flexibility
- The cost of commitment
It is important that you understand the impact of each beginning with the cost of training. (via)
Paul Boag recently wrote this article on Vitamin about the 5 Hidden Costs of Running a CMS. I think his article was very well put together and a good resource for those currently shopping for a CMS.
When it comes to a CMS there is no bulletproof solution. Take some time to do the research to make sure the CMS will fit your business goals and needs. As a developer behind Reflect CMS, I fully believe that Reflect will not fit the needs of everyone. While I am very passionate about the work we have put into making it a great CMS option, we are realistic in knowing we won't be able to please everybody. Do yourself a favor and do the research when you are shopping. Ask yourself the questions that Paul lists in his article. If time allows, get in and play around with the different systems. Don't settle for something that won't fit your needs, and don't try and shoehorn your needs into a system that wasn't designed to handle those needs (Yes, I am looking at you, Wordpress).
Why does spam exist? Because (some) people respond to it. Why are ineffective pharmaceuticals so heavily marketed? Because (some) people demand that doctors prescribe them. Why are so many local stores struggling? Because so many customers cross the street to the big box stores. (via)
In other words, the task is not always to make people passionate about something, it’s to show them how technology (or your product, etc) can make them even better at what they’re passionate about. (via)
I can attribute nearly all of my technical knowledge to the Web community. There are so many authors providing a better education than any university could, and they’re doing it for free. (via)