“WordPress Plugins That Make Your Life Easier” plus 2 more - Speckyboy Design Magazine Feed |
- WordPress Plugins That Make Your Life Easier
- Dealing With Your Ego as a Designer
- jCSML – A New Cross Platform Animation Library
| WordPress Plugins That Make Your Life Easier Posted: 10 May 2012 01:09 AM PDT Whether you’re a designer, a developer (or both), chances are you don’t have a lot of spare time. With that in mind, here are some of my favorite WordPress plugins that can help you get things done and move on to the next project. You may also like… WordPress Plugins to Help Make Your Site Responsive → 10 WordPress Plugins to Help Optimize Performance → Mobile Toolbox for WordPress (Tutorials, Plugins and Themes) → Useful Plugins and Resources for Improving User Interactivity with WordPress → CMS DashboardThis one’s installed on each WordPress site I create. It creates a simple, easy to understand menu of some common tasks. This is especially handy for helping your clients understand how to update their own website. I advise them to focus on what the CMS Dashboard plugin displays, and forget about the sometimes overwhelming menu on the left side of the WordPress Dashboard. Display WidgetsEver need to display widgets only on specific pages of a site? This is a quick and easy way to do it. The plugin simply adds a dialog to the bottom of any widget you add to a sidebar that lets you pick and choose what pages, posts and categories you want to display it on. Ideal for smaller sites. List Category PostsWhile you can create a page template in your WordPress theme to list posts from a specific category, List Category Posts will do the same thing using either a handy shortcode or widget. The nice thing about this plugin is that it will also allow you to create your own custom templates. So, how you display category listings on one page can be completely different on another. Raw HTML SnippetsWordPress will often filter out certain HTML tags within a page or post. If you need to place some specific HTML or Javascript inside, Raw HTML Snippets provides an easy means to do so. Just paste your code into a new "snippet", and the plugin will give you a shortcode to paste into your page or post. It then loads your code without any interference from WordPress. It’s also very handy for keeping clients separated from critical code. SB Child ListUse a simple shortcode to display a list of child pages in an unordered list of links. There is also another shortcode included that allows you to display the parent within a child page. I often like to use this at the bottom of a post as a handy means of navigating through a set of content. Search and ReplaceOften times, when working on a new project, I need to use a temporary URL before the site launches. Once the domain name is pointed to the new WordPress installation, there may be a few outdated links still pointing to the temporary URL. While WordPress takes care of some of these issues automatically, there are some links it doesn’t update (especially in certain widgets). Search and Replace makes it easy to search for any references to the temporary URL and replace it with the new one. Of course, you could also use this to search and replace other items in your database, so be careful! Smart WYSIWYG Blocks Of ContentIf your widgets will require things like images, formatted text, custom links and the ability to process shortcodes, Smart WYSIWYG Blocks of Content can be a real timesaver. This plugin creates a custom post type called "Smart Blocks". Add a new post, and, using the full WordPress WYSIWYG editor, add it as a widget on your sidebar. A simple way to add some unique widgets. Smart WYSIWYG Blocks Of Content → WP DBManagerIt’s the very definition of "set it and forget it". Install WP DBManager, customize your settings, and get a backup copy of your database emailed to you (and saved on the server) at whatever interval you’d like. Peace of mind made easy. YouTube ShortcodeNeed to quickly embed a YouTube video on your blog? This plugin creates a shortcode: [youtube_sc url=any_youtube_video_url]. All you need to do is past the URL of the video you want to embed. In ConclusionWhile all of the functionality of all of these plugins can be duplicated by writing your own code, plugins do provide a very quick method of getting things done. And, in a hectic environment, saving time (and the occasional headache) is a very good thing. So, what are your favorite time-saving plugins? Feel free to share them below. You might also like…WordPress Plugins to Help Make Your Site Responsive →
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| Dealing With Your Ego as a Designer Posted: 09 May 2012 01:40 PM PDT A fundamental difference between programming intensive web-development work and graphic-focused web-design is that everyone – client to business associates – has an opinion and an alternative vision for the latter. The technically-steep learning curve of coding, whether it be the front-end or server-side configuration, tends to elicit few opinions and observations, simply because only a handful of clients actually possess the technical skills to analyze and interpret such work. Not so with design. Design, in any medium or form, is a manifestation of individual tastes, which, again, are influenced by any number of factors ranging from natural predisposition to upbringing and education. It is particularly difficult to work for a living in any design-oriented field, as clients and associates will often have opinions and suggestions that run contrary to your own vision as a designer. It need not matter if these critics actually possess the training or the skill to spot good design from bad design; the mere fact that design elicits an emotional response also causes them to be opinionated. Every designer, in due time, must learn to deal with these criticisms and tame the ego before walking into any job, for these suggestions and opinions often can prove helpful to the design process. The Visual ResponseDesigners deal with visual media. As human beings, we are primarily a visually-oriented species, sight being one of our most well-developed senses. What we imbibe through the eyes often resonates at a far deeper emotional level than something that can be analyzed and interpreted (such as programming work). A picture, after all, speaks a thousand words. Working in a visual medium allows designers to create stories sans the use of language or words. The right tinge of blue, the precise tilt of a logo, or the round curves of a particular font can often arouse different emotional responses. The color red is often associated with power, green with vitality, and blue with calmness. The Von Restorff effect dictates that colors and elements that stand out from the rest of the design can dramatically alter recall rates of a product or a message.
While there are certainly protocols and templates that designers can fall back on, creating a unique design for a client often comes down to the designer's own vision – something that may not always be aligned with that of the client and can become the source of much friction and ego-bruising on either side. Often, it comes down to a showdown between the customer and the designer's ideas. There are two ways to deal with this: a stick-to-your-guns approach, exhibited most volubly in popular culture by Mad Men's Don Draper and his steadfast belief in the superiority of his own vision; or, a show-and-grow approach that would take the best of all parts to build a better sum, but perhaps sacrifice parts of the initial vision. Show, Tell, and LearnIn technical tasks, there are strict protocols to follow and yardsticks to measure success against. A site that doesn't load in under 4 seconds is inefficient. A user authentication system that grants back-end access to unauthorized users is insecure. A website template that utilizes HTML tables instead of CSS is simply outdated. The same isn't true for design, where the difference between good and great design can be a matter of perception. Of course, usability testing can offer some statistical insight to help separate design efficiency, but on the whole, design remains a highly personal endeavor. There are often instances when it isn't obvious as to whose ideas should prevail, or if a certain vision is worthy of pursuit.
To lead in a design-oriented setting is to be willing to accept suggestions and endeavor to change. This can include feedback from colleagues as well as clients. A designer's job is to fulfill a client's requirements, which can often involve listening keenly to their ideas, and even incorporating some of their suggestions into the final design, even if it alters your own vision (but be careful: there is a thin line between alteration and compromise). The PointThe point being: there is no place for your ego in a workplace setting. When being hired by a client, a designer's job is to please that client and create functional, visually engaging designs. It is not to create art, to the extent that such artistry prevents the fulfillment any of the previous goals. Art is profoundly ego driven; design should not be.
To not consider suggestions from colleagues would be akin to workplace-suicide and will impact your bottom-line as well as your ability to gain referrals. The same goes for listening to clients. Not all clients are perfect; but you must seek out clients who can share your vision and engage in a relationship where there is mutual appreciation for one another. Neither should you be afraid to accept input from the masses at large. A crowd-sourced opinion on a particular design can often help make better decisions and gather statistical data on the emotional responses a particular design elicits. Consider using services such as Feedback Army to get instant design critiques. For more in-depth feedback, consider options such as Usabilla or ConceptFeedback. The ExceptionsBut what about those who have shown bald-faced defiance for the norms and the opinions of peers alike, yet have succeeded? I certainly don't deny – these individuals exist. But they are the rare exception, not the standard towards which a designer should stridently aim. It is like aiming to be Picasso: many have tried, most have starved. The Bottom LineDespite what may have been paraded around in pop design culture, ego-driven design is hardly successful – in business, or in creative zest. Learning to manage your ego, recognizing that there are no absolutes in design and that everything is open to interpretation and change, is one of the hallmarks of a good designer. You may also like…Good Old Static HTML Sites Aren’t Dead Yet. Should They Be? → Browse all of our Freelance Articles →
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| jCSML – A New Cross Platform Animation Library Posted: 09 May 2012 07:58 AM PDT With mobile access and tablets, cross-platform media compatibility has become one of the most important features for new web technologies. With Adobe Flash not being supported on iOS and HTML5 not being native to earlier versions of Internet Explorer, the jCS Media Library has arrived just in time. The developers of jCSML originally created the library to streamline the development of Flash-like web animations in a way that their clientele could access easily. The problem being that the majority of their corporate client base still uses IE 7 and 8 and jQuery does not natively support Z-axis rotation or Opacity animation on .PNG files with the older browsers. As opposed to other solutions where significant browser-tweaking is required, jCSML provides a structured approach to creating complex animations. Completed animations can be packaged up and incorporated into a website with one line of code with just a few parameters. All developers need is jQuery, the jCSML library, and an understanding of the simple jCSML script structure. Here is an example of the code… //Set up your image list. var imagelist2 = ['YourImage.png']; //The simplest script structure. It is always the same structure for your animations. //Note: You can have multiple sequences in a single structure by chaining them! var animseq = [{CFG:{parent: 'aImage', playing:true}, SRC:{src:imagelist2, index:0}, SEQ:[{INI: {top:350, left:-75, angleZ:720, opacity:0}, NXT: {width:72, height:72, left:400, top:5, angleZ:0, opacity:1}, FX: {duration:3000, easing:'swing'} }] }]; //Create and play our animation sequence. var anim = new jCS.mediaObject(animseq);…and here is the codes demo. Given that the library doesn't use Flash, Silverlight, SVG, CSS3 Animations, or HTML5, as it is jQuery-based, jCSML works on all browsers and devices that the developer has tested to date. These include “true” IE7/8 browsers (as opposed to emulators), IE9, Chrome, Firefox 3.6+, Safari, iOS, and Android. jCSML has a free version that contains all the files you need to get started immediately and is powerful enough for most. The Free version does not have the same functionality as the far more powerful jCSML Elite version that boasts more Anidynamics and event support. The most extensive version includes the functionality of the Elite version, but also includes more examples and over 150 .PNG special effect images and website-ready transition templates. Useful URLsjCSML Media Library Homepage →
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