My Favorite Newspaper Websites
Posted by Bob Duncan on Monday, September 10, 2007
I spend a lot of time browsing through and analyzing newspaper web sites. There are a few sites that I visit daily and I would like to share them with my readers:
The Globe's site is my absolute favorite newspaper website. It provides a nice blend of clean design, semantic mark-up and unobtrusive ad positioning. I would love to hear about your favorite newspaper sites so please leave a comment.
40 Unusually Useful Websites
Posted by Bob Duncan on Saturday, September 08, 2007
I stumbled up this ridiculously useful website that highlights 40 amazing web sites that serve a unique purpose. Of the 40, I found the following web sites to be the most interesting:
- BugMeNot – instantly get disposable login details for any popular website that forces you to register.
- DailyLit – read your favorite books by email (on your PC, mobile, etc.)
- Google SMS – provides mobile users with a quick access (via SMS) to a wide range of practical information and tools (i.e. business listings (pizzerias, shops, etc.), weather, movie listings, driving directions, currency converter and lots more.
- ListenToaMovie – lets you ‘listen to a movie’, i.e. stream the audio part of various movies and some TV-shows.
- IQzone – post your classified ad to a number of online and print classified networks directly from your mobile.
Don't Make Me Think | A Must Read
Posted by Bob Duncan on Thursday, January 25, 2007
During the Christmas break, I decided to begin reading a couple of books that have been itching at me for quite some time. The first book that I decided to tackle was Steve Krug's, Don't Make Me Think. One of the best things about the book is that it practices what it preaches.
Don't Make Me Think is such a quick, easy read, that you can polish it off while on a short flight. Although most of what it covers is common sense, it is really nice to have it front of you in plain English.
I got the most out of the book from the following sections:
- Navigation
- Home Page Design
- Usability Testing
Web Directions North
Posted by Bob Duncan on Tuesday, January 09, 2007
I thought it would be a good idea to mention that the Web Directions North conference is fast approaching… I can't wait. With speakers such as Cameron Moll, Kelly Goto, Jeremy Keith, Dave Shea and many others, it is going to be a very informative experience. The early bird price of $895 has been extended to January 14 so I recommend you sign up now.
See You Later 2006 | It's been a Blast
Posted by Bob Duncan on Thursday, December 28, 2006
I have to say, the year of 2006 is one for the books. I've managed to get married, buy a dog, buy my first house and land my dream job all in one shot.
2006 has been a very busy year for the web industry as well. Web 2.0 is in full swing, Microformats are becoming standard and XHTML/CSS has obtained more acceptance than ever. Things are going great!
I'm really looking forward to seeing an even bigger growth in 2007. One of the technologies that I am really hoping to see more of is SMS. When the blockbuster movie "Snakes on a Plane" used Samuel L. Jackson's voice to call people to force them to go to the movie, I immediately saw the power of SMS. Since then, I have been able to pay for my parking, check movie times and find restaurant locations.
As a final post for 2006, I want to leave you with a list of the sites that I visited the most:
The Key to a Successful Website | Project Management
Posted by Bob Duncan on Tuesday, December 19, 2006
I have been spending so much of my recent attention dealing with Search Engine Optimization that I feel like I have neglected Project Management. Without a doubt, Project Management is the glue that holds every web project together.
A properly managed project takes a lot of extra effort but in the long run it pays off big time. Simple procedures such as site maps, wireframes and detailed content inventories make project budgets and timelines a less daunting process. It helps to keep you on track and ultimately leads you through to a less stressful launch date. In fact, I feel that if a site isn't properly managed and if information architecture isn't executed properly that the site will be unsuccessful and will eventually flop.
The good news is that there are a handful of resources that can immediately set you on the right track. The first thing that I would do is read Avoid Edge Cases by Designing Up Front, an amazing article that was recently posted on Alistapart. There is no doubt that this article will blow you away and you will run to your local book store to pick up a copy of Web Re-design 2.0. This book is created for re-design projects but it is just as useful for new projects.
If you have any other questions or comments, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.
Firefox Extention | Firebug
Posted by Bob Duncan on Sunday, December 10, 2006
A couple of years ago, I, along with every other web developer on the planet fell in love with Chris Pederick's Web Developer Toolbar. This amazing extension does everything but code the site for you. Features such as easy access validation, outlining and live css editing help to ease the struggle of developing under tight deadlines. Needless to say, my projects wouldn't be the same without it.
Until recently, I couldn't fathom the idea of another Firefox extension taking title of being the ultimate tool for web developers. Then, I found Firebug.
Instead of going through all of the cool features available is this wonderful little utility, I urge you to watch the screen cast and download the extension. I'm sure that you will agree, Firebug is a welcome addition to any web developer's tool kit.
CMS Search | Strike Two
Posted by Bob Duncan on Thursday, December 07, 2006
For the past three weeks, I have been trying out text pattern as a CMS. I want to clarify my headline by saying that text pattern is a great cms/blogging tool. It's just that it isn't the right tool for the project that I am working on.
Installing and configuring textpattern was an absolute breeze. I found a ton of support groups and modules that I could use to get the most out of the cms. Standards support and css customization was extremely easy to implement on this open source application.
The biggest problem that I ran in to was the inability to create sub sections. For example, I needed to have /site/books/drama/something.html and all that was available was /site/books/something.html. I'm sure their is a way around this, but I didn't want to get in to the whole, I have a new CMS tool that I love but have to customize it to meet my needs. This road block gave me an immediate bad taste and I decided to code the CMS myself.
In the end, I have to say that text pattern is my new favorite blogging tool and I will probably use it for smaller sites. If you are working on larger news sites or are creating a website that requires a relatively deep site structure, look elsewhere.
CMS Search | Strike One
Posted by Bob Duncan on Monday, November 27, 2006
Through out the past few weeks I have been searching high and low for a scalable, accessible, standards based CMS. I really thought I hit a home run when I stumbled upon Live Story Board. This CMS had everything that I was looking for. It was cost efficient, hosted, and best of all, standards based.
After speaking with the less than professional representative at Live Story Board, I realized that this was too good to be true. My test demo was ignored twice and they stopped responding to my emails. This could have been the dream CMS that I was looking for but I will never know because the Customer Service was so bad. If you are looking for a new CMS for your upcoming project, be sure to avoid Live Story Board.
SEO Myths
Posted by Bob Duncan on Thursday, November 23, 2006
I came across an interesting page that lists some of the myths associated with SEO. Take it for what its worth, but don't read in to it 100%.
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- Website Design
- Website Development
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- Accessibility Optimization
- Content Management
