Some website designs from my archive
Until I had to switch to doing mainly technical work on web projects, I used to do a lot of design work. I came across my old designs when clearing out my home office and thought you'd like to see a few of them.
Blog posts about Internet
The internet plays a huge role in my life, from a place to share photos and videos, to a career, to a means of communication linking me to friends and family all over the world.
Some website designs from my archive
Twenty Sixteen
2016 sees the tenth anniversary of this website. I decided that this was to be the year when I'd do some major overhaul work on my site: improved technology and a long-awaited clear out of some legacy data problems. That's all been completed, so now it's time to work on the appearance of the site.
How to share documentation online in a modern way
Why processes based in outdated print media routines can be massively optimised by adopting modern practices, and how process efficiency can lead to negative employment effects.
WordPress plugin to get rid of the need for CAPTCHA images
“Comment spam” is a term which relates to automatically-generated website comments. People with too much time on their hands make software to submit to websites like mine. It’s then down to me to ensure that the nonsensical or downright abusive comments don’t appear on my website, and that my email inbox doesn’t get swamped with approval request messages generated by the…
Adding a post thumbnail to the WordPress backend list view
In an effort to share more of my work with the open source community, I’m gradually starting to submit more plugins to the WordPress Plugin Directory. The latest addition, approved recently and made public today, is a plugin which extends the backend list view with a small thumbnail-sized preview of the post thumbnail (where one is available). I’ve been…
Technical case study: CSS Flexbox for BEKB Flash
CSS Flexbox has been ready for mainstream use for a while now, and I've implemented it on a third client project for my employer.
Comment subscriptions on Permanent Tourist
I’ve added a feature to the site which allows you to get an email when someone replies to a comment you’ve left on this site. Let me know if you encounter any problems.
Life without JavaScript
Many web developers (and web project managers) are insistent that we shouldn’t be concerned with the availability of JavaScript in the browser. “Who turns off JavaScript these days?” is often the argument. The problem isn’t related to who turns off JavaScript, but what happens when a CDN copy of jQuery isn’t available – the server is down or a DNS problem blocks…
Flickr settings fields plugin for WordPress
A technical goal for 2016 is to make more WordPress plugins, and to submit them to the official WordPress plugin repository, so that other users can benefit from them. The next addition to the set of plugins I’ve contributed is a simple one to add fields to the Settings » Media screen in the WordPress backend for Flickr API information.
Tracking click events using Google Analytics
A colleague from the WordPress Bern meetups asked for advice on how to track clicks on certain page elements on his website. Having looked into this for a few different purposes over the past year, it was quick and easy to knock up a simple jQuery plugin for the purpose, which speaks to Google Analytics. The principle is to add a…
The headless CMS
The Next Big Thing* in the world of CMS-based web development is the headless CMS solution. A headless CMS is a more pure – and therefore technically more simple – content management system. A system in which the focus is 100% on managing content and providing a way to access it: for example, creating new articles, updating existing articles, defining page…
Sicherheit rund um WordPress
Notizen aus dem letzten Treffen der Berner WordPress-Gruppe. Das nächste Treffen (Thema WordPress Themes) findet morgen Donnerstag Abend statt. Sicherheit rund um WordPress – 24.02.2016…
Web developers: don’t depend on dependencies
Building a website or app based on third-party code and solutions may work… but what happens when that code breaks or becomes unavailable?…
Store your design assets in one place with Lingo
The new Lingo app (from The Noun Project) allows you to collate and manage your design assets in one place.
EMs and REMs and CSS media queries
The key principles behind the complex relationship between pixel-based and relative sizing units in CSS for web design.
Vertical rhythm in web typography
…doesn’t have anything to do with jumping up and down to music. Sadly. Typographic principles are just as valid in designing for the web as they are in designing for traditional media. Through the application of a very simple mathematical principle, a design becomes more peaceful and the visitor is calmed by a subliminally identifiable pattern. (Our brains, like computers, like the…
There is no perfect dropdown
Andy Budd made a very important point during episode 93 of The Web Ahead podcast. In it, he's answering a question raised about where a less-experienced web designer can find resources to see what the current “best practices” are for site element design.
Optimizing layout changes with separate CSS files
HTTP/2 allows you to separate your CSS, JavaScript and other template resources into individual files, without running into problems with multiple requests.
The CSS :not() selector
One of the best CSS tips I’ve come across in recent months is the :not() selector. Rather than having to define a set of rules for an element, then re-defining new rules for the element when it has a certain class or attribute, you can use :not() to be more specific in the first place. In my most-used cases so…
Technical case study: !frappant
My employer re-branded recently, which meant a new corporate identity and a new website using Zurb Foundation, CSS Flexbox and TYPO3.