Choosing your web building software

by Megan McDermott, 23 July 2010 - 9:29am

To build a website you need several types of software: a code editor, an FTP client, a graphics editor, and a selection of web browsers are the basics. This article will describe these tools and suggest popular software to try. In most cases, there are many alternatives available. It's a good idea to try several of them and see what works best for you.

How to create a Drupal 6 theme from scratch

by Megan McDermott, 16 March 2010 - 4:38pm

Drupal theming can seem complicated and overwhelming. Even basic starter themes are filled with confusing PHP and convoluted CSS. What's a designer to do? Never fear, there is a simple way to create your own theme from scratch. This article will demonstrate a step-by-step process for creating your own Drupal theme, including a .info file, page template, regions, and CSS.

How to centre a div, and other CSS centring tricks

by Megan McDermott, 28 February 2010 - 6:13pm

If you're just starting out with CSS, there are several problems that may be a mystery to you. Centring a div is one of these problems. In fact, there are several things you might want to centre with CSS. This article will cover centring a containing div, centring images and tables, centring a div vertically, and centring a background image.

SSH: It's really not that scary

by Megan McDermott, 29 October 2009 - 12:50am

For a long time, I avoided using ssh. As a designer, I thought it would be too complicated and difficult to learn. As it turns out, I was wrong! For the most part, ssh (and the shell commands needed to perform tasks) isn't that difficult to do. Being able to use SSH will make it easier and faster for you to perform many common tasks on your web server. Even if you're on a shared hosting account, you may be able to access your website using SSH (check with your hosting provider to find out).

How to create a multi-column, widgitized footer for Wordpress

by Megan McDermott, 13 June 2009 - 7:14pm

Multi-column footers are a big trend in web design these days. It's a great way to provide more information and links to visitors without cluttering up the top part of your layout. On content pages, this information appears just when the user has finished reading your article, leading them to find more great content on your site and other ways to interact. This article will show you how to make a 3- 4- or more-column, widgitized footer in Wordpress.

Using Grids in Web Design

by Megan McDermott, 28 April 2009 - 1:38am

Using a grid to define your page layout results in a more attractive, logical layout. A grid is simply a regular series of lines and boxes that define sections of a page. A solid structure makes layout decisions easier and helps create a pleasing layout.

How to automatically include your header, navigation, and footer on every page

by Greg Sanderson, 8 March 2009 - 5:28pm

Have you ever wondered how large websites handle those repetitve elements that appear on every page? The navigation menu, header, and footer usually stay the same on every page of a website. But what happens when you want to change something? Do you have to edit every page and change it separately?

PHP offers a wonderful method to resolve this with the include() statement.

The ADDIE model for website design

by Megan McDermott, 25 January 2009 - 6:41pm

ADDIE is a 5-step process for web design: analyse, design, develop, implement, and evaluate. Following this process will help to ensure that you cover all aspects of a successful site and make your site as effective as possible.

21 ways to streamline your CSS

by Megan McDermott, 11 November 2008 - 7:57pm

These days, CSS development is a complex process. You may be working on sites with large CSS files, multiple developers ,and long development timelines. The more complex your CSS files become, the more difficult it is to work with them. This article will present some tips and tricks for keeping your CSS files organized and easy to work with.

How to Build a Home/Small Business Web Server in no Time

by Liam McDermott, 19 September 2008 - 10:45am

This article goes through a quick and easy process for building a home or small business web server. The finished server will have Web server software, PHP, Perl, Ruby, MySQL, PostgreSQL, quotas, e-mail server software, anti-spam and anti-virus software, and a lot more good stuff. To top it off it will have a Web based GUI to control it all. Read on to learn how.