Imagine that you are designing an online-store. Since stakeholders are only interested in the number of sells, the success of your work directly depends on how well you manage to drive users to the “Checkout”-button. In this case you might want to consider some design approaches which will set you apart from your competitors. After all, the probability that they’ve done it wrongly is extremely high.

One of the simplest examples of flawed design decisions is the incorrect use of the shopping cart icon — a traditional icon which stands for the virtual holding place for any products of the store. Used properly, this little yet powerful element can help users to buy a product as quickly and painless as possible. As such, it is essential for the purchasing procedure and therefore deserves to be considered carefully during the design process.

Read the rest of Shopping Carts Gallery: Examples and Good Practices

1. There is a terrific list of freeware software for Web designers over at TechnoTarget. There are descriptions and screen captures of each application.
2. Smashing Magazine has links to 100 Excellent WordPress Free Themes including a screen capture for each theme. You should definitely bookmark this site since we discussed WordPress yesterday and will work with it more over the next month.
3. Smashing Magazine also offers Frameworks Round-Up: When To Use, How To Choose?. This article includes links to frameworks for JavaScript, CSS, PHP, Ruby, and more.
4. For those of you who would like to learn more about Photoshop, Smashing Magazine has the article Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Best Of
   .
5. Don’t leave Smashing Magazine quite yet….While you’re there check out Smashing Highlights 2007 for even more terrific articles and resources.
6. Looking for more Photoshop? Try The Best 80 Photoshop Text Effects on the Web for tons of tips on creating cool text effects in Photoshop.
7. Tutorial Blog offers Links for Web Designers : December - A GREAT roundup of Web resources for designers. While you’re at Tutorial Blog check out the other terrific Web resource lists they have compiled. There are so many goodies on this page you could easily spend the day at their site.
8. Web Hosting Keys has numerous compiled lists including: Best Web Hosting, Web Hosting Coupons, Best Free Photo Hosting, Best Free Web Hosting, Best Free File Hosting, Best Free Forum Hosting, Best Free Blog Hosting, Cheap Domain Names, Best Online Backup Services, & Best DNS Tools.
9. Freelance Switch has an article on 7 Things You Can Do TODAY to Kickstart Your Freelancing Career - It’s a good time to start thinking about these things if you plan to start your own business.

Since we just discussed using frameworks in class I thought Frameworks for Designers was a good article for you to review. It discusses the benefits of developing a framework and goes into some detail on how to develop your own.

1. Print and review the XHTML assignment sheet at http://pclab.cccoe.k12.ca.us/webdes/htmlxhtml04.htm.
2. Write down errors that are noted on the assignment sheet in your book. This will help you to remember to refer back to the assignment sheet for helpful tips.
3. If possible, read the lesson/chapter the night before you start it.
4. Always check the online version of the assignment sheet before you start a new chapter. Be sure to visit the extra resources noted on the assignment sheet before you begin each new chapter of your book.
5. Use HomeSite to create your XHTML documents, not Notepad.
6. Always proofread your code carefully; you may find these tips on proofreading helpful.
7. Remember to save all of your work to drive F:\ in the folder called htmlxhtml, do not save your files to the C:\ drive.
8. Remember to order the Design Fundamentals book when you start working on tutorial 6.
9. Start thinking about your XHTML project now.
10. Review the student resources page for general information about classes.
11. Print and review the file management handout.
12. Visit http://www.robinshosting.com and sign up for free account to host your projects/class work.
13. Be sure to bring a binder, notebook, pens/pencils, and highlighters to class every day.
14. Check this site every day for updates! Visit the class forum on a regular basis.

Part 3, Evaluating website accessibility, of the three part series on accessibility from 456 Berea Street is now available.

If you haven’t read the first two parts of this series, check the March 16 archive for links.

456 Berea Street has two new articles on web site accessibility. These are the first two articles in a three part web site accessibility series.

Evaluating Website Accessibility Part 1, Background and Preparation

Evaluating Website Accessibility Part 2, Basic Checkpoints

These are excellent accessibility articles that should be read by everyone enrolled in the web program. They will provide you with an understanding of accessibility, accessibility tools, and a knowledge of best practices when it comes to designing accessible sites for all.

Be sure to keep an eye on 456 Berea Street for the third part of this terrific series.

accessibility, website, coding, tools

A collection of 40 CSS layouts is now available at Layout Gala. This is a wonderful collection of templates that you can use to get started when you’re building a CSS based web site.

I mentioned how useful cheat sheets were yesterday. Here are a few cheat sheets that you may want to print and add to your class resources.

CSS

Jack Daniels’ CSS Cheat Sheet
CSS Shorthand Properties
CSS Properties Table
CSS2 Reference
Efficient CSS with shorthand properties

HTML/XHTML

Jack Daniels’ XHTML Cheat Sheet (PDF)
XHTML cheat sheet

More Cheat Sheets

Lorelle on WordPress, one of my favorite web development blogs, has a great round-up of web development cheat sheets. Bookmark, bookmark, bookmark. Did I mention you should bookmark this resource?

Other Resources

David posted a link to Selecttutorial: CSS Selectors tutorial over on the forum. This is another tutorial that I would suggest that all of you read.

css, xhtml, cheat sheets, resources, development, coding

These sites are a great starting point for someone who knows nothing about building a web site with HTML/XHTML. While I would recommend that you learn to build standards-compliant web sites with XHTML and CSS, you will usually need to know basic HTML first.

Before you begin you should get some kind of HTML editor for writing your code. Notepad or any plain text editor can be used, but there are so many other free programs that are designed to write HTML. Here are a couple:

HTML-Kit
TextPad

You can find a variety of HTML Editors at C|Net Downloads or at NoNags.

HTML Dog - HTML and CSS Tutorials, References, Articles and News - Great resources for people wanting to learn how to write HTML and CSS. A great start for beginners.

DaveSite offers an interactive tutorial on HTML for beginners. This tutorial is broken up into mini chapters so that you can easily learn and review particular subjects.

HTML Primer @ HTML Goodies - A series of primers designed to teach you the basics of HTML.

Lisa Explains it All! is a wonderful HTML learning site originally developed for kids, but I think it’s a great learning place for any age.

Once you understand the basics of HTML I would recommend that you focus on learning XHTML and CSS. You can learn more about the basics of XHTML in Making Documents XHTML Compliant @ tinkertech.net.

XHTML Tutorial from W3Schools - In addition to the XHTML tutorials, the W3Schools also offers tutorials in HTML, CSS, and a variety of subjects.

About.com offers a free weekly course, XHTML 101 - Free HTML Course. This is an 11 week course.

Western Civilisation - offers a variety of courses and guides for learning HTML, XHTML, and CSS. They’re also the makers of StyleMaster, a great program for writing CSS.

These resources have been primarily posted for my friends in the hermit crab community, Stacy, Vicki, Kerie, Sue, and Vanessa. They are all working to build or improve their own web sites.

xhtml, html, css, learn, learning, tutorials, hermit crabs, hermit crab

Roger Johansson has compiled 456 Berea Street highlights of 2005. This is an end-of-the-year summary of readworthy articles that he wrote during this year. Read, bookmark, enjoy!

Seems that web design and development trends for 2006 is the hot topic in blog land. Both Cameron Moll and Andy Budd have posts about the web development trends in the new year.

There are also several articles and posts on fonts and typography surfacing lately. SitePoint offers The Anatomy of Web Fonts which is a good article on typefaces for the web; the only drawback is the lack of discussion of scalable fonts.

The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web is a companion site for the book Elements of Typographic… Both the book and site are devoted to typographic style on the web.

Mark Boulton blogged Semantic Typography: Bridging the XHTML gap - links and patterns between typographic theory and Web Standards.

The Beauty of Simplicity describes why making things simple is the new competitive advantage.