written by: ryan coughlin
Hey everyone! I have been extremely busy with the past couple of weeks due to the end of the semester coming and trying to get my finals and projects out of the way. Just about done with my ASP shopping cart application and my usability project. I am just about done with the fall semester, so expect some posts here soon in a week. I also meant to post my iGoogle theme I created, its nothing crazy, but thought I would make some fun of it. Try it out!
If you have any ideas or requests that you would like to see, please let me know, drop an e-mail or comment.
Finally updated my WP and I love the new interface so far, they did a great job on it. Install went smooth as always.
I am currently working on a same page ajax search and highlight script using jQuery, it is almost done, so stay tuned. I am also going to make some tweaks to the layout, I need more color on this temporary one, you will probably be seeing some changes over the next couple of weeks.
Take care! Cheers.
Ryan
written by: ryan coughlin
Kind of a late start here today. I have been reading this book online lately called Learning Rails that covers version 2.0 unlike most of the books that are out there. I was able to follow and understand this book to guide me through Rails and its done wonders. I haven’t seen to many typos and the code is easy to understand. There is one chapter that floats away from the rest and its a bummer because its the rails and Ajax section, but besides that, its a great learning tool.
I released an Illustrator tutorial yesterday on creating nautical floatie buoys, a simple and straight forward tutorial. Let me know what you think!
I was talking to Richard Worth and I am going to be writing a post on working with the jQuery UI and implementing the draggables and selectables together, which is very interesting. I have tried this approach about a year ago with Worth, but it was kind of buggy, Richard released a working version that I will be covering and hopefully try to work it in to the UI API. So stay tuned for that post.
I am also going to be working on some other posts overtime working with jQuery and various ajax methods and functions. Loading data, displaying data, and all sorts of other goodies
I have been making small modifications to the site, as you can see I added in the top menu bar, and I know it is broken in IE, im on it! I will be working in a home made small jQuery menu to bring down subcategories of what you see up top.
Have an idea for a post that you want to see on here? Let me know
Cheers
written by: ryan coughlin
There are various CSS opacity properties out there that allow us to adjust the transparency of an element on our websites, but the thing is amongst the various available properties, which ones apply for which browsers? There are several ways to adjust opacity for an element but each are browser specific.
The below are all of the same but, each work for a certain browser. Besides the last one which is the standard CSS opacity property.
/* Applies to IE5-7 */
filter:alpha(opacity=85);
/* Applies to IE8 */
-ms-filter:"progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity=50)";
/* Applies to Mozilla and Firefox */
-moz-opacity:0.85;
/* Applies to Safari 1.1-1.3 */
-khtml-opacity: 0.85;
/* Standard CSS property */
opacity: 0.85;
Since current browsers do not adopt to the same standards, developers will use the numerous CSS properties to create an equal cross-browser opacity experience, by placing each of those properties within there CSS.
The opacity property is supported by Netscape 7.2+, Firefox, Safari 2+, Opera 9+. The values that this property can accept are: 0.0 – 1.0. The lower the value the more transparent the element is.
The filter:alpha(opacity) property can range anywhere from 0-100. And like the the property above, the lower the value the more transparent.
The -khtml-opacity property was built with Webkit and it is based on the KHTML engine and associated the -khtml prefix to the -opacity
The -moz-opacity property applies for older versions of Mozilla browsers.
written by: ryan coughlin
There has been many websites that i have come across that have inspired me in some way, whether the person behind the design, the articles, design, or the creative edge of the site. I decided I would put together a list of all websites that I have found to inspire me in some way, hopefully they will do the same to you.
Komodo Media
From the first time I saw this site, I was drawn in for many reasons, it is very eye catchy and creative. You can tell just by the image below. The colors and how the whole website has a jungle theme. The tabs on the right provide an easy use or navigation and by far my favorite the “foliage o meter” that uses the jQuery UI slider, you can find this at the site below towards the middle of the page, you’ll see what it does. Another reason why it is inspired me is because Rogie the owner is very nice and open to talk to in the twitter world. The jungle theme that is used throughout the site inspired me to do something similar with my full site launch.
Smashing Magazine
Most of you I am sure have heard of this site and are subscribed via RSS feeds and if not, IT IS A MUST. Excellent articles and resources for both web and graphic designers. You can find just about any type of resource on that site. Make sure you keep this bookmarked for quick access.
Lee Munroe
Another great site for inspiration, great aritcles and posts. The layout is slick and professional. The wording throughout the site, is something that I also payed attention too, such as the small about text and the middle text in gold. I have chatted with him over e-mail and is very friendly. Provides a touch of blog, portfolio site, and great resources.
The Daily Inspired (use to be “Woork”)
This is another great resource that I recently came across this year and I think is fairly new. Started with posts about enchancing HTML forms and in to MooTools scripts with examples that are extremely useful. On top of that, serveral posts on great fonts to use, a must see! As well as Antonios location in Rome, got to love that! He also throws up great CSS layouts using Blogger. My favorite by far was the CNN edition he used.
iStock Photo
You are all probably thinking “what? why this site?” Well to be honest I think it is a great resource to search for objects you want to create in Fireworks, Illustrator, or Photoshop. I just type in whatever I need to look for and narrow it down to “Illustrations” only. If want to design a lighthouse and see what kinds are out there to grasp an idea, iStock Photo is an excellent resource for something like this. They have an extremely broad range of photos on there you can use for your own inspiration. Go ahead and give it a shot!
Yoast
I recently came across this site (about a week ago) and so far I love it! There is a ton of articles on SEO and WordPress that can help you optimize and increase SEO rankings. I have followed several of these articles on WordPress and they so far so good, they have helped me on my WordPress. Yes WordPress and SEO are the main focus of the site but it does not stop there, make sure to check out there tag cloud on the right sidebar when you visit.
Freelance Switch
Do you freelance? Perfect, make sure you check out this website and subscribe to their RSS feeds. They write articles on just about anything freelancing some of their articles include: How long should you be working a day? How to not lose a steady gig, How to spot a dud client and get out when you can, to just name a few, but this is an excellent source for freelancers.
jQuery UI
We all have heard of the Javascript framework jQuery and how they have their UI, which is amazing, and recently updated every aspect of the UI with a full new website. These UI components can be used throughout a website and are full customizable with creating your own theme to match the aesthetic of the website you are working with. They have components such as drag and drag, dialog, color picker, date picker, and much more!
Vectips
An amazing resource for inspiration and quick tips for Illustrator, they provide vector packs, tutorials, articles, and quick Illustrator tips. I am fairly new at Illustrator and when I was starting to learn this site played a huge role in learning the powerfull application. If you design in Illustrator make sure to check this out.
And there you have it, the list of 9 websites that have inspired me in someway with my web and graphic design. If you have any others that helped you out, leave a comment and ill add them to the list for others to see! And you are going to ask why 9? I honestly have no idea 
So what do you think? Did you like it? Others you would add? If you did like it make sure to share and bookmark. Any questions? E-mail me.
