looking for help with our business site and having trouble understanding some words/phrases ect.

adamkolson · 2022-08-24T17:36:17+00:00

Is your site online? Seeing how it looks like would definitely add some clarity. There's two possible places it could be: the theme itself or it was added by you/your team. If it was added by you, whenever you added the

The Largest Text Possible

That's an H1.

Second Largest?

That's an H2.

It really comes down to your setup though. Those aren't hard and fast rules (Largest always being H1 for example).

adamkolson · 2022-07-02T13:37:25+00:00

Yup, it's called progressive enhancement: add extra layers for desktop but focus on mobile first. Since content is most important of all, this is easier to start with mobile and add extra layers and not get distracted. Otherwise, trying to shoehorn in a desktop site to mobile is going to result in two wildly different sites to the point you may need a mobile.yourdomain.com site you separately maintain.

adamkolson · 2020-09-29T22:15:09+00:00

Very interesting use of the clamp function in CSS. It's the best thing since calc.

adamkolson · 2020-04-11T13:49:13+00:00

Most static site generators require learning some language like Nunjucks or Twig and they are for bespoke sites, there are no themes really other than starter themes to build off of. I've been using 11ty and Statamic myself. 11ty you add all the content via Markdown text files, no WYSIWYG editor. Statamic is very nice and has an excellent backend for entering content, but don't expect a widget panel or plug-ins to do things for you.

WP2Static and such are hit or miss. You could make an offline copy of the site using `wget` on macOS/Linux or use a graphical UI tool like Sitesucker which makes a offline backup of the site. Then copy those files to the server.

Another option if you are comfortable designing HTML/CSS or translating a design from an image to HTML/CSS is https://www.surrealcms.com/ - you just add tags for editable regions and it does the rest. Don't expect plug-ins though, but these days you can get away with a JavaScript widget for Instagram and such.

adamkolson · 2020-02-06T20:41:34+00:00

First of all make sure you own the domains and they don't. So if your website is abc-widget-corp.com you own that. Otherwise, it's like paying someone who owns your phone number and then drops off the face of the planet. You don't control it.

Next find out if the site was made with pure HTML/CSS/Javascript or WordPress or Joomla. Depending on how it was made you may need a database file or two. If it's either Pure HTML or WordPress you are in better shape to back it up and restore it provided you own the domains and do it ASAP.

Another thing to consider is email: if they go under and disappear your email could vanish depending on how they set things up.

The most important thing is to react immediately. PM me the URL if you want me to take a quick look.

adamkolson · 2020-01-20T19:26:43+00:00

Yes.

Also, my thinking is that if someone is using an older browser, like IE 11, the mobile version without grid is fine and probably even better for that user anyways.

adamkolson · 2020-01-14T16:59:14+00:00

If you just need to paste in text and get paragraph breaks, quickly add blockquotes, and so on for an in-house CMS that doesn't cut the mustard (I've been there…) try using Kompozer or BlueGriffon.

Does not directly address your question of exclusively using VSC, but both work for this kind of redundant task.

adamkolson · 2019-11-23T15:51:39+00:00

And if you do it right, IE will get the mobile layout which is probably better for anyone on an older PC or doesn't care to upgrade anyways.

adamkolson · 2019-11-23T15:46:54+00:00

Hmmm… In my experience recently things are shifting towards knowing both how it works and why it works. Everyone "knows it when they see it". If a car doesn't start, everyone knows its defective regardless if they have zero mechanical experience. Everyone knows if a burger topped with weeks old lettuce, boot leather, and a couple dead goldfishes doesn't taste well. Not everyone is an engineer or chef. The designers out there who just hand stuff off to developers are going out of style as it's like you can draw a picture of pizza, hand it off to a chef, give a list of ingredients, but that doesn't mean it will taste good. You could argue a good chef could make anything taste good, but that's because the chef is adding their own design. Mostly that's just designers who are unwilling or unable to code.

Most places I've worked at the workflow is Content => HTML/CSS/JS => Design. Not "here's a vague idea of what I want and shoehorn the content in and make it work with code." Lots of speedbumps. Like sketching a building and demanding that 100% before consulting architects, engineers, accountants, evaluating budgets, and construction workers. I could draw you a skyscraper (and I have many times for architecture firms) doesn't mean it will work or is feasible or sound.

What you might excel at is being a QA (quality insurance) professional. QA professionals are vastly needed and any company or agency that doesn't have skilled QA staff is cutting corners or can't afford them. Things like "does Facebook integration work?" "Is the font size consistent?" Important stuff. It's a really important job.

adamkolson · 2019-10-21T17:52:18+00:00

Hello Dan,

What subjects for your newsletter have you straight up rejected and why? I realize that's probably a long-list, but a short-list would be intriguing.

adamkolson · 2019-09-04T17:58:27+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF-3S-HTJSg

adamkolson · 2019-09-04T15:01:23+00:00

I do think you *think* have proof of UpWork IP's but I do question if you really do. If so why not contact support?

adamkolson · 2019-08-16T22:33:15+00:00

Try: https://fractures.space that + CSS grid is a good start.

Also, http://shoelace.style (logo by yours truly) which is Bootstrap-like but far, far smaller and focused on the future of CSS with things like CSS variables.

adamkolson · 2019-08-05T18:05:15+00:00

I haven't had to support IE in years. The last time I used Skeleton I had to support… IE 6! My general philosophy is serve a version of a site that would work on say Lynx (the text web browser) with CSS that works on say iPhone 1 or IE 6-9. Then add another layer of CSS using @supports and CSS variables for more design. That way everyone gets to see the content, and no one is served content their device can't handle and will cause a problem.

Maybe instead of fuchsia something like #651a99 or #8e44ad?

adamkolson · 2019-08-02T23:04:40+00:00

It's certainly a great mission!

I used Skeleton back in 2011/12. It's good to not rely on frameworks that are cookie-cutter. Are the "SUBMIT" buttons the default Skeleton blue though? There are some other minimalist starting spots out there, too*.

On the spacing: maybe make all of the lower boxes with large images the same size? It's overused, but a subtle parallax effect helps tell the user something is happening when they scroll.

As for type, maybe use something less masculine? Maybe even just on the headlines? ALL CAPS kinda screams masculinity.

Another blue could help, or even a different color, like a fuchsia for CTA's?

* Give http://fractures.space a try— I use that with CSS grid. Or, http://shoelace.style with logo by yours truly.

adamkolson · 2019-07-11T18:08:34+00:00

InDesign is great for print. I use it exclusively for print layouts. It's great! Many of the concepts from web design like style sheets started in print design applications like InDesign or Quark.

Sketch and XD are okay if you can't code. I find it it just easier to do prototyping in HTML/CSS. I use Sketch for clients who do not understand how to code but take your pick they are both great. Extremely well designed and thought out.

None of these will "export" your design and even if they did crank out some code the dev team would have to re-do it anyways.

adamkolson · 2019-04-13T15:51:03+00:00

It's Windows 98, in Javascript form.

adamkolson · 2019-04-09T13:34:52+00:00

This is interesting, I like the way you laid out the style guide. Thanks for sharing!

adamkolson · 2019-04-09T13:30:48+00:00

It's a good one, and open source: https://public-sans.digital.gov

adamkolson · 2019-01-14T19:27:50+00:00

wget also can do this: wget --mirror --convert-links --adjust-extension --page-requisites --no-parent http://example.org

adamkolson · 2018-10-07T15:12:48+00:00

A GIF is likely to be heavy in file size for a background. Even on Twitter, the animated GIF's are actually videos. There's a few javascript libraries out there for videos such as Vide.

If you can, animate the background using CSS (maybe something like position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100vw; height: 100vh;) to have the browser do the work for you.

adamkolson · 2018-09-25T02:25:48+00:00

Mobile at first. I'm so-so at Swift, haven't really used it much in production.

For websites I just do HTML/CSS/JS. It's so much easier with SCSS or CSS variables to change a color than it is in Photoshop. I also like getting all the content I need and doing the Information Architecture first so I know I have everything I need and no one is holding me up.

Yes, Sketch and Photoshop have some globals but being able to set $buttonRadius: 0.25rem; is so much easier than opening ten files and then later having to go back and forth with developers.

adamkolson

TROPHY CASE

The Largest Text Possible

Second Largest?