Tutorials

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.

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.

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.

How to Choose a Great Colour Scheme for Your Site

by Megan McDermott, 8 September 2008 - 1:52am

One of the most important parts of the initial design process is the choice of colour scheme. If your client or topic of interest already has a set of preferred colours, your choice is easy. However, there are many occasions where the choice is entirely up to you. For many people, deciding on the colours can be a difficult task. Armed with a little colour theory, some great online tools, and your own design sense, you can create attractive and unique colour schemes for your website designs. This article will show you how.

How to Design Graphic Mock-ups

by Megan McDermott, 1 June 2008 - 10:22pm

A typical stage in the web design process for most professionals is the creation of a graphic mock-up. A graphic mock-up or proof allows you to focus on the overall design rather than the logistics of creating the design using CSS. This article will outline the process of creating a graphic mock-up and include several examples for download.

An Introduction to the User Stats Module for Drupal

by Liam McDermott, 30 April 2008 - 5:50pm

The User Stats module inserts information on a user into their posts on a site. It is aimed at forum administrators who need to see the post counts, date registered and IP addresses of their users. This article provides an introduction to the User Stats module and shows how it may be used in themes.

Easy PHP Debugging in Ubuntu (using Xdebug and Vim)

by Liam McDermott, 1 August 2007 - 11:54am

A debugger helps greatly when testing or bug fixing in PHP, when working with complicated code, or fixing difficult problems: a debugger is an invaluable tool. This article shows how to set up a PHP debugger in Ubuntu (tested on both Feisty 7.04 and the upcoming Gutsy 7.10) using Xdebug and Vim.

Creating a Custom Home Page in Drupal Using Views

by Liam McDermott, 29 June 2007 - 5:35pm

One of the most popular questions people new to Drupal ask is: ‘How do I change the home page?’ By default the index page of a Drupal site has a bloggy feel, the latest items shown in date order, but it doesn't have to look like that! That is the aim of this article, to show two ways—because there is always more than one way to do something in Drupal—to customize a Drupal home page.

Enabling Clean URLs and the Path Module in Drupal

by Liam McDermott, 19 June 2007 - 8:12pm

Clean URLs and the Path module are complementary features of Drupal. This mixed text and video article shows how to enable this functionality. Many aPaddedCell articles on Drupal expect that readers will have Clean URLs and the Path module enabled.