.net > Develop

Design an experience website

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Balind Sieber from RED Interactive Agency demonstrates how to create an experience site with the ‘wow factor’ using Photoshop, After Effects and ActionScript3

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Perfect your progress bars

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:47:00 GMT

Improve your conversion rates in online stores and surveys by paying more attention to progress bars and their underlying markup, says Craig Grannell

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Create the perfect prototype

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:03:00 GMT

Master prototyping and your final site build will be a cakewalk. Odette Colyer of user experience design consultancy Super User Studio explains how to go about it

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Create an interactive poster

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:07:00 GMT

Adrian Rowbotham of digital production agency Pirata London explains how to make a poster that users can customise with their own text and photo

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Embrace mega menus

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:44:00 GMT

Not all drop-down menus are evil incarnate. Craig Grannell explores the mega menu, showing how it can give your users fast and simple access to dozens of web pages

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Create time-sensitive sites

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:56:00 GMT

Stuart Loxton, web developer at design agency Strawberrysoup , explains how to create subtle CSS changes to your site based on time of day

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Create collapsible tables

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:55:00 GMT

Craig Grannell shows you a nifty technique to collapse the body area of website tables, using a combination of CSS and JavaScript

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Integrate your images into grids

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:06:00 GMT

Craig Grannell looks at the difficulties of working with grid-based layouts that include images and columns – and comes up with some simple solutions

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Zoom!

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:10:00 GMT

Nomensa’s Alastair Campbell examines what increasingly common browser zoom features mean for accessible layouts

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Optimise your site for iPhones

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:14:00 GMT

Craig Grannell explores some ideas for fine-tuning websites for Apple’s increasingly popular smartphone and its very smart browser, Mobile Safari

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Guidelines and standards

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:51:00 GMT

This month Alastair Campbell gives us a quick tour of the different accessibility guidelines and standards you should be aware of

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Design the perfect footer

Wed, 20 May 2009 15:24:00 GMT

Just because it’s at the bottom of the screen doesn’t mean it isn’t vital for creating an informative and stylish homepage. Elliot Jay Stocks shows us how

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Enhance internal page links

Mon, 18 May 2009 14:02:00 GMT

Craig Grannell shows you how to use a couple of nifty CSS3 tricks to improve the usability of internal page links on your websites

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Optimise your Flash movies

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:38:00 GMT

Widen your website’s appeal by delivering its content more quickly. Paul Wyatt explains how to streamline your visuals without compromising on quality

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Design a perfect page header

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:09:00 GMT

Make a good first impression on your visitors by designing a homepage header that combines clarity with visual flair. Elliot Jay Stocks shows the way

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Working with PNG

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:40:00 GMT

Craig Grannell delves into the underused but useful Portable Network Graphics format, showing you how it can bring flexibility and visual impact to your websites

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Animation with ActionScript 3.0

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Pushed for time? Deadlines looming? Learn to copy tweened animations to ActionScript and you can save yourself hours of effort. Paul Wyatt demonstrates this handy technique

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Wordpress themes for designers

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:57:00 GMT

It’s never been easier to power your website with WordPress. Elliot Jay Stocks explains how themes work, the simple way to edit them, and how to incorporate some basic plug-ins

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Get the best out of CSS3

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:22:00 GMT

Craig Grannell turns into a cross between Jeffrey Zeldman and Russell Grant, taking a peek at what the future of CSS has to offer – with a little help from Opera, Safari and Firefox

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Make a looping background

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:33:00 GMT

With a few well-placed Flash tricks, you can liven up that dull micro site or standalone promotions site. Paul Wyatt shows you how to create a looping background animation

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Distressing regular fonts

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:03:00 GMT

Give your site a unique look by personalising its typography. Elliot Jay Stocks reveals how you can use Photoshop to distort your fonts beautifully

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Improve your homepage design

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:20:00 GMT

Craig Grannell explores successful homepages and finds out what makes them tick, from the content shown to the underlying structure and code

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Create a Cover Flow-style menu

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

You can create a cool menu for your website in under half an hour using Flash’s clever IgalleryX component. Paul Wyatt explains how

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Get inspired by print design

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling certain aspects of magazine and print design to influence your websites can lead to a more satisfying and visually appealing result, says Craig Grannell

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Build a photo portfolio, part two

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:29:00 GMT

In the concluding section of our tutorial, you’ll learn how to turn your Photoshop grid into a fully functioning website. Elliot Jay Stocks explains how

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Create site maps using lists

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:14:00 GMT

Craig Grannell shows you how to be more creative with lists, using them to create great-looking site maps for showing to clients and helping your users

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Create 3D with Papervision

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:40:00 GMT

Paul Wyatt demystifies Papervision and introduces you to its Flash component. You’ll learn to create a 3D object then apply a texture and mouse movements

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Build a photo portfolio, part 1

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:03:00 GMT

Use an online portfolio to showcase your best work. Elliot Jay Stocks shows you how to design a striking photography website for maximum impact

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Switch site styles with ease

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:27:00 GMT

Nomensa’s Mark Napthine outlines the benefits of having a style-switcher on your website, and then provides a working example of how to create one

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Coding flexible layouts

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:22:00 GMT

Craig Grannell explores how to create flexible CSS-based layouts, based on an underlying grid and gutter structure, for information-heavy sites that are packed with content

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Animated sub navigation

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:28:00 GMT

Paul Wyatt explains how to create slick, user-friendly navigation bars for your Flash websites and integrate them into an HTML page with Dreamweaver CS3

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Design a website masthead

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:04:00 GMT

Craig Grannell explains how to create a striking website masthead using Illustrator – and avoid the worst conventions of Web 2.0

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Scalable graphical navigation

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:15:00 GMT

Craig Grannell shows you how to bring a little visual flair back to your navigation bars, and ensure that everything remains flexible when text is enlarged

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Create a video chapter menu

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:50:00 GMT

Avoid clumsy YouTube content by adding a DVD-style chapter navigation system to your site. Paul Wyatt explains how to customise your videos

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Design with sketches

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:36:00 GMT

Even if you’re no sketch artist, you can still achieve a “sketchy” look to your site design. Elliot Jay Stocks grabs paper and pencil to show you how it’s done

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Creating scalable layouts

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Craig Grannell is a master of getting around varied screen sizes and resolutions that affect how users view websites. This issue, he shows you a flexible method

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I can has Facebook

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:29:00 GMT

Want to spread your message to 47 million people? Rik Lomas shows you how to use Facebook’s Developer Platform to build your very own application

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Manage multiple browsers

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:20:00 GMT

Browser compatibility continues to improve, but each browser still has its quirks. Craig Grannell shows you how to target specific browsers with override style sheets

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Screen readers

Thu, 15 May 2008 15:39:00 GMT

In the first of a new series looking at different technologies, Alastair Campbell tackles the classic accessibility case: screen readers

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Create a striking logo

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:46:00 GMT

Your brief is to create a bold, high-impact logo for a design portfolio. Tom Hartshorn walks you through it, illustrating his design tricks along the way

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Work with print style sheets

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:27:00 GMT

Craig Grannell provides you with a quick and easy guide to taking advantage of CSS for print, enabling you to fine-tune your site’s output

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Add music to your website

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:01:00 GMT

Looking to add audio to a site? Paul Wyatt shows you how to create an MP3 from a WAV file using Sorenson Squeeze, and link it up to a Flash movie via ActionScript

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Common issues

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Nomensa’s director of user experience, Alastair Campbell, reviews the past year of accessibility checks and tackles the most common issues

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Use custom type with sIFR

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Don’t let system fonts ruin the look of your site! Paul Wyatt explains how to make your headers look stunning with Scalable Inman Flash Replacement

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Cater for screen resolutions

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Does your site look great on all monitors, from the small to the ridiculously big? Craig Grannell shows you how to create a layout for multiple screen resolutions

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Sort out your drawers

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Craig Grannell provides you with a quick, easy and modular solution for creating website drawers, using a lean little script that’s just hundreds of bytes in size

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Object-oriented programming

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:38:00 GMT

Paul Hudson takes the blood, sweat and tears out of mastering object-oriented programming, a powerful technique that’s otherwise known as OOP

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Stream audio with Zina

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:53:00 GMT

Promote your mate’s band with Zina, a lightweight audio-streaming solution that’s like iTunes for the web. Karl Hodge shows you how it’s done

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Scumballs To Cancer

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:12:00 GMT

This month, Nomensa’s accessibility expert Alastair Campbell analyses Scumballs To Cancer, a site covering a charity fundraising event

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Publish data dynamically

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:19:00 GMT

XSL transformations enable you to style and lay out XML data on-the-fly. This month, Karl Hodge uses the open source editor HTML-Kit to show you how it’s done

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www.mylo.tv

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:30:00 GMT

Graphic designer Miles Noble was asked to redesign the personal site of dance music saviour Mylo. Alastair Campbell tests it for accessibility

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Better web typography

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:33:00 GMT

Craig Grannell demonstrates how to take a leaf out of print typography’s handbook in order to transform your type using a baseline grid

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Make a podcast

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:52:00 GMT

If you’ve always fancied creating your own podcast, but haven’t known where to start, this is the tutorial for you. Karl Hodge shows you how it’s done using free software

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Produce perfect tables

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:53:00 GMT

The table has been discarded by some web designers, but Craig Grannell wants to drag it back into use with strong structural markup, some natty JavaScript and CSS

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Create an interactive movie - part two

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:32:00 GMT

This second part of our Flash tutorial carries on from the greenscreen shoot, so now Paul Wyatt takes you into the postproduction suite to apply a little pizzazz

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Create an interactive movie – part one

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:59:00 GMT

Paul Wyatt shows you how to set up a greenscreen shoot with a simple DV camera, replicating pro-style special effects along the way

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Build a social network

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:55:00 GMT

With its swift installation and simple set-up, Elgg provides you with all the tools you need to become the next MySpace. Karl Hodge shows you how it’s done

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Create a custom search engine

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:50:00 GMT

Rob Buckley shows you how to make your sitey the sharpest search engine of them all using Google’s Co-op technology. The secret behind it? Refinement and customisation

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Create scrollable page content

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:07:00 GMT

Craig Grannell shows you how to emulate iframes: discover how to place scrollable content within your page designs without moving away from current web standards

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The art of parallax scrolling

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:56:00 GMT

Paul Wyatt shows you how to use the pseudo-3D parallax scrolling technique to add the illusion of depth to your portfolio or showcase sites. Get ready for some clever Flash fakery

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Create snippets and boilerplates

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:20:00 GMT

Craig Grannell shows you how to speed up your web design and hand-coding by creating template documents that can be reused on new projects

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Styling with CSS and Flash

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:10:00 GMT

Paul Wyatt shows you how to use external CSS and text files to produce interactive web content, and how to create a preloader for dynamically loading JPEG images

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Making the most of links

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:42:00 GMT

Utilise CSS to make your website links look much more appealing, while simultaneously enhancing the usability of your site. Craig Grannell explains all...

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Create a navigation bar

Thu, 17 May 2007 09:15:00 GMT

Follow Craig Grannell through the process of generating a horizontal, two-tier navigation bar that you can use as the basis for navigation on as many websites as you like

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Superblogging

Fri, 04 May 2007 09:17:00 GMT

This edition, Nomensa’s director of user experience, Alastair Campbell, checks out whether Superblogging is really accessible.

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Edit and enhance your images

Thu, 03 May 2007 10:02:00 GMT

Paul Hudson illustrates how to warp, stretch, rotate and improve your existing artwork using PHP, saving your artists hours of work in the process

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Create layouts with floating boxes

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Based on the 2000AD Books website, Craig Grannell reveals how to generate a floating-boxes layout that’s ideal for an online portfolio. Even better, you can rework the result again and again

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Garrett Camp from StumbleUpon.com

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 09:06:00 GMT

Navigating the internet is a tough task, even with a search engine. That’s why Garrett Camp and his colleagues set up StumbleUpon.com, a more sociable way to find new sites

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Text-sizing widgets

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:00:00 GMT

There’s always a way to improve your site’s user experience. This issue, Nomensa’s Alastair Campbell looks at text-sizing widgets.

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Toggling content visibility

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Clean, well-structured JavaScript can help you conserve space on your web pages by hiding some of the content, as Steve Tucker demonstrates

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Create styled sidebar boxes

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:03:00 GMT

Craig Grannell shows how to position content on your website in the form of sidebars, and also demonstrates how to style up page structure, headings, paragraphs, lists and links

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Dynamic text replacement

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:16:00 GMT

Steve Tucker demonstrates how easy it is to implement rich text fonts into your web pages using sIFR, giving headings and pullquotes a professional look.

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Sunny Man's Blog

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:50:00 GMT

As well as being good design practice, accessibility can also be a legal requirement. Nomensa’s Alastair Campbell examines blog.eop.org.uk

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Flexible fixed layouts

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Changes in screen size can be a nightmare for web developers, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Craig Grannell reveals the art of creating fixed layouts for multiple screen sizes

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www.psas.org.uk

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 15:50:00 GMT

Ignoring the Disability Discrimination Act can be fatal to your business. Accessibility expert Alastair Campbell looks at www.psas.org.uk

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Syndicate with XML

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:08:00 GMT

It’s all very well mashing up other people’s content, but it’s even better to enable them to reuse your own. This is an ideal job for XML – and our PHO expert, Paul Hudson.

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rawcliffe-leisure.co.uk

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 11:00:00 GMT

You can’t afford to ignore the Disability Discrimination Act. Nomensa’s Alastair Campbell put www.rawcliffe-leisure.co.uk through its paces

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jamesmills.co.uk

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 10:34:00 GMT

The Disability Discrimination Act places obligations for people to provide accessible services. Alastair Campbell tackles www.jamesmills.co.uk

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Roger Greene

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Roger Greene is CEO of software company Ipswitch (www.ipswitch.com). An advocate of corporate blogging, he tells .net how posting your ideas and thoughts can improve business

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Make your own Soap

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:00:00 GMT

No, this isn’t a do-it-yourself version of Fight Club. Our regular PHP expert, Paul Hudson, walks you through how to create your own API for others to use

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Cameron Moll

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:00:00 GMT

Cameron Moll is one of the world’s leading figures on the future of mobile web. .net caught up with him to find out exactly where the mobile web is headed, and why we’ll all be using it

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Designing simple, accessible forms

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:00:00 GMT

John Oxton demonstrates how it’s possible to keep forms simple in order to attract and retain clients, while also ensuring they are in keeping with your site

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daymedia.co.uk

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 10:00:00 GMT

If you don’t want to ignore the Disability Discrimination Act, make sure your site is accessible. Nomensa’s Alastair Campbell examines www.daymedia.co.uk

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www.hungryben.com

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Having an accessible website is more important than ever. Alastair Campbell puts www.hungryben.com through its paces

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huntforproperty.ie

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 23:00:00 GMT

The Disability Discrimination Act places obligation on people to provide an accessible service. Alastair Campbell tries out www.huntforproperty.ie

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www.dkeirle.com

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 11:09:00 GMT

Website accessibility is for some a legal requirement as well as good design practice. Alastair Campbell puts www.dkeirle.com through its paces

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Web-fundi.com

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:02:00 GMT

The Disability Discrimination Act places obligations for people to provide an accessible service. Nomensa’s Alastair Campbell analyses www.web-fundi.com

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Working with Google Maps

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 14:59:00 GMT

Rik Lomas shows you all the techniques you need to incorporate AJAX into your site and use the Google Maps API to best effect

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Create a simple liquid layout

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 09:54:00 GMT

John Oxton explores how to make a simple but effective liquid layout, which will work across browsers and uses absolute positioning

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A positive attitude to development

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:54:00 GMT

The beginning: the best way to ensure your CSS is going to work properly is from the ground up. John Oxton sets the standard for his series on development with CSS. Are you ready to keep up?

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Building dynamic websites

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:58:00 GMT

Use our brief overview to find out about the building blocks that make up DHTML websites – from what HTML really is, to adding interactivity using JavaScript…

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Tourdeglobe.net

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 14:39:00 GMT

When designing your website you should make sure that it’s accessible for everyone. Alastair Campbell shows you how

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The rules of navigation

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 10:11:00 GMT

No website could exist without it but, if you don’t get the planning phases right, it’s very easy to get your navigation all wrong. Jesse James Garrett reveals that location, location, location is the key

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Feedo Style

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:42:00 GMT

Add other people’s content to your site or blog thanks to this nifty – and free – RSS repackaging service

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Site Accessibility

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 15:01:00 GMT

Designing a great site is only half the job: People need to be able to access it, too. We delve into the latest guidlines on accessible site building.

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Store and retrieve passwords

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:21:00 GMT

Think your data is safe? Paul Hudson suggests you think again…

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Building a web chat

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 13:26:00 GMT

Paul Hudson finally climbs to the peak of mount Ajax, with the hardest project yet…

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15 top Firefox extensions

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 13:33:00 GMT

The best Firefox extensions for developers. Firefox has now been downloaded 165,123,014 times, inspiring hundreds of fantastic extensions. Rob Buckley presents the fifteen you really can’t afford to miss.

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Create your own dating site (Part 3)

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 15:18:00 GMT

With PHPizabi you can create a social networking site with messaging and chat features. Karl Hodge shows you how…

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Create your own dating site (Part 2)

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:57:00 GMT

With PHPizabi you can create a social networking site with messaging and chat features. Karl Hodge shows you how…

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Create your own dating site (Part 1)

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:10:00 GMT

With PHPizabi you can create a social networking site with messaging and chat features. Karl Hodge shows you how…

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RoR: Back on track

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 11:50:00 GMT

Even the name, Ruby On Rails, suggests something completely different: not scary, not tiresome but intrinsically valuable.

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Boost your traffic

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 16:26:00 GMT

If your shopping cart is scaring off sales, you might never know – unless you track what works and what doesn’t. Gary Marshall discovers how metrics can shed light on your site

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PHP: Building a poll using AJAX

Tue, 04 Jul 2006 23:00:00 GMT

PHP: Building a poll using AJAX. Just when you thought it was safe to open your web browser, JavaScript is back with a vengeance. Admit it: when you moved from clientside to serverside programming, you breathed a sigh of relief at leaving cross-brows

Form validation

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Discover the holy grail of PHP – A bullet-proof email validation script

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From mess to CSS

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 23:00:00 GMT

From Mess to CSS. The ubiquity of the web makes it easy to forget how young the art of web design is. It's just a little over ten years since a ground breaking aspect of browser markup (the language of web design) was introduced by a privately funded