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Here’s a tip for both web designers and web developers – beginners and advanced. After creating a new page or even after making a small change to a current page – always, always, always validate the page.
You can use validation tools that are built into development environments like Dreamweaver, but I recommend the W3C validation tools.
W3C Markup Validation Service.
http://validator.w3.org/
W3C CSS Validation Service
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
Here’s a great article at the Slate. It covers usability, web design errors, and reading trends online. It’s not an all encompassing article, but it does touch on a lot of good points.
Also, it makes you wonder why Arial is still king when fonts like Verdana, Trebuchet and Georgia are fonts which are designed for the screen.
Here’s a little script that we have used over and over again that will display the version of ASP.net that is running on a web server. This script has been particularly useful when working with virtual hosts.
Copy and paste the following code into a file (example: test.aspx) and upload to the webserver.
<%@ Page Language=”VB” %>
<script runat=”server”>
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
lblASPDOTNETVersion.Text = “This server is running ASP.NET version: ” & _
System.Environment.Version.ToString()
End Sub
</script>
<html>
<head>
<title>Test ASP.NET Version:</title>
</head>
<body>
<form id=”form1″ runat=”server”>
<asp:Label ID=”lblASPDOTNETVersion” runat=”server”></asp:Label>
</form>
</body>
</html>
The output should be something similar to:
This server is running ASP.NET version 1.1.4322.2032
This method still uses JavaScript, but it is paired with CSS to produce a less annoying and invasive outcome.
1) Develop the content that you would normally open in a pop up.
2) Create a div tag in the “opener” page. Hide the div tag using the visibility and display properties and specify the position property as “absolute” and set the z-index property to a plane that is greater than 1 and by itself.
3) Use the newly created/hidden div as a container and paste the content from step one between the opening and closing tags of the div.
4) Create a JavaScript function that “unhides” the div – unleashing all of the content you created. Once the div is “turned on” the div breaks away from the content around it and it “floats” to the plane that you specified with the z-index. The example below is a javascript toggle function that will turn the div off or on depending on which state it currently is in.
function div_toggle(id){
var imagediv = document.getElementById(id);
if (imagediv.style.display==”none”){
imagediv.style.display=”block”;
imagediv.style.visibilty=”visible”;
}
else{
imagediv.style.display=”none”;
imagediv.style.visibilty=”hidden”;
}
}
Play around with different CSS positioning techniques to give you your desired affect.
To see a live working example, go to our portfolio page and click on a thumbnail of any of the websites.
If you are interested and seeing more detailed instructions, send us an email.
I recently got my hands on the Verizon Wireless SMT5800 — a practical smart phone from HTC. I’ll do a full review of the phone later on. But, I just wanted to pass along a tip that could save any potential buyers some cash.
Looking at the “modified” USB port on the 5800, I thought I would try my old chargers from my Motorola Razor V3c to see if they would be compatible. Both the car and wall chargers worked perfectly, even though the chargers use a standard USB mini connector and the phone’s USB mini port looks a bit different.
Try your old chargers at your own risk — it could save you from buying a car and/or wall charger.
