Author Archive
Web Design Software Pick of the Week: Aptonic DropZone
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I don’t normally like to promote a tool that is OS-specific, but this is a tool I use every single day. And I only started using it a couple weeks ago. DropZone is a Macintosh drag-and-drop utility. On the surface, that doesn’t sound very exciting. But it has really improved my workflow. Out of the box, DrapZone comes with tools to allow you to launch applications, install applications from DMG, upload to Flickr, FTP upload, save text, copy or move files, and zip files and email them. I can hear you thinking “so what? I can already do all that.” But the sweet thing about DropZone is how easy it is. Now I can take a screen shot, drag it to my DropZone FTP icon, and the screen shot is published. Before DropZone I had to take the screen shot, open my FTP client, change to the correct directory, and upload the image. Since I have to upload images and XML files to different directories and servers all the time, this has sped up my process immensely. DropZone isn’t free, but the current price ($10 US) is so cheap, I bought it after only a few hours of the trial.
Do you use a similar drag-and-drop utility for Windows? Please let us know about it in the comments.
- Macintosh Drag-and-Drop Utility: Aptonic DropZone
- Best FTP Clients for Macintosh
- Best FTP Clients for Windows
- How to Upload
- See all the Software Picks
- Suggest Software for the Pick of the Week
Web Design Software Pick of the Week: Aptonic DropZone originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 14:29:47.
Only 1 Week Left for Nominations
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Wow! It’s already 17 days into 2010, and that means that there is only 1 week left to nominate your favorite sites and software in the About.com Reader’s Choice Awards. While it may be tempting to nominate your favorite site in only the Best Overall Web Design category, remember that only 5 sites will make it to the voting phase. Your favorite page or software may stand a better chance if you nominate it in one of the categories that has fewer submissions. There are three main categories you can nominate in on the Web Design / HTML site:
- Best Web Designs – 7 categories
- Best Web Design Software – 4 categories
- Best Web Hosting Companies – 4 categories
Feel free to nominate a page or company to more than one category, if you feel that they qualify.
And be sure to visit the other About.com sites participating in the Reader’s Choice Awards:
- Browsers
- Desktop Publishing
- Family Computing
- IM
- JavaScript
- Macs
- PC Hardware and Reviews
- Smartphones
- Web Search
Only 1 Week Left for Nominations originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 06:00:28.
Who makes the best non-editor software for Web designers?
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Designing Web pages requires more than just a Web editor. To do it well, you’ll probably need a graphics software tool, maybe a video editor, link checker, HTML validator, or something else. What non-editor tools do you use every day? Nominate them as best non-editor tool for Web designers. Only the 5 most popular sites will make it to the voting stage. And don’t forget to nominate for other categories like Most Unusual JavaScript Script, Best Mobile IM Client, Best Free Email Service, and Best Reseller Web Hosting.
Who makes the best non-editor software for Web designers? originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 06:00:46.
Now you can save your BrowserLab shots locally
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Ever since Adobe BrowserLab came out in June 2009 I’ve been using it fairly regularly to test my Web designs. I like that it’s integrated directly into Dreamweaver (with an extension) or that I can use it standalone when I’m working in a different editor. But I hated that in order to show how the pages looked to clients and colleagues I had to take a screen shot myself. While this isn’t hard, it was annoying. Today, Adobe released a new version of BrowserLab that lets you save your screenshots to your local hard drive. You just right click (option-click) on the image and select “Save Locally”. And it’s saved to your hard drive. Now, if it would add in a few more older browsers and some mobile devices (or even just the iPhone) it would be the perfect tool for testing.
Now you can save your BrowserLab shots locally originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 13:40:54.
Poll: Do you do Web design every day?
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Practicing the craft you want to perfect can be hard, but if you set aside even a small amount of time every day to practice, you will see improvement. I’ve been doing the daily design challenge every day for the last few weeks, and I’m already amazed at how much my drawing has improved. Yes, it’s still rudimentary and simple, but I’m starting to relax into it and that’s making it easier and more fun. While I am focusing on drawing for my daily design practice, you can do the same thing with Web design. If you want to get better at the craft of Web design practice is critical. And it only takes a few minutes a day.
Poll: Do you do Web design every day? originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 10:25:50.
What page has the best form design?
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Forms are a great way to interact with your customers and get information about them. But many forms are boring looking and hard to use. What are some of the best forms you’ve ever seen online? Last year sites like Twitter, Knol by Google, and Plurk were nominated. And the winner was Martin(ish).
But just because a site was nominated last year doesn’t mean it will be this year. It’s up to you to decide which site has the best form design. Nominate your choice for the page with the Best Form Design.
Only the 5 most popular sites will make it to the voting stage. And don’t forget to nominate for other categories like Best Mac Consumer Image Editor, Best Monitors, Most Useful JavaScript Script, and Best Online Web Software for Web Designers.
What page has the best form design? originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 06:00:41.
Wordless Wednesday – Reader’s Favorite Designs – Brandt’s Candies, Inc.
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Get your site featured on About.com: What is your favorite Web design?
More Web design resources and help: Follow me on Twitter
Wordless Wednesday – Reader’s Favorite Designs – Brandt’s Candies, Inc. originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 12:38:11.
Who has the best Linux Web Hosting service on the Web today?
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Linux hosting is very prevalent on the Web, but how do you find a good one? If your hosting provider runs on Linux, and you like them, you should nominate them in the Best Linux Web Host category. Only the 5 most popular sites will make it to the voting stage. So if you really like a site, you should get as many people as possible to nominate it.
Please note, there is also a Best Cheap or Free Web Host category. If your host is both Linux and costs less than $10 per month, you can nominate them for both categories. And be sure to nominate in other categories like: Best Search Engine, Best Free iPhone App, and Best Product Page Design.
Who has the best Linux Web Hosting service on the Web today? originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 06:00:31.
Are You Considering Drupal?
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Sams Teach Yourself Drupal in 24 Hours is a good book to get. In 24 lessons, each designed to take an hour or less to complete, you will have a full installation of Drupal up and running.
More Help with Drupal
- Sams Teach Yourself Drupal in 24 Hours by Jesse Feiler
- How to Install Drupal
- How to Set Up Multiple Sites to Use Drupal CMS
- Additional Drupal Links
Are You Considering Drupal? originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 14:41:31.
What site makes the best use of color in Web design today?
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The Web is not black and white, and color is an important design decision. But while it’s easy to use color poorly, good color design can make a site stand out for a long time. Last year sites like Idea Bubble, Color MD, and My Baby Our Baby were nominated. And the winner was Abduzeedo.
But just because a site was nominated last year doesn’t mean it will be this year. It’s up to you to decide which site has the best use of color in the Web design. Nominate your choice for the site with the Best Use of Color in Web Design.
Only the 5 most popular sites will make it to the voting stage. And don’t forget to nominate for other categories like Best Source of Free Fonts, Best Parenting Blog, and Best Web Designer’s Web Page.
What site makes the best use of color in Web design today? originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 06:00:07.