Most web projects are initially done locally. When doing multiple web projects on the local computer (the ‘localhost’) you run in to the problem of managing them. This is because only one web server can run at a time on the standard web port. Well… you can run multiple instances of the same web server on different ports. But that’s not the way forward if you are serious about testing, etc. An alternative is to make directories and use folder names as part of the URL. This however results ugly URL names like localhost/project_name and framework-based projects render issues on production environments. Read the full story →
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important to a web master. SEO is the governing factor for a web site to appear on all major search engines’ first page. Top search engine spiders index web pages based on the way they ‘see’ them. If your site is not getting listed for the right query string combination then it is a hint that search engines do not interpret your web site’s content properly. The easiest way to interpret a web page like a search engine spider is to use a text-only web browser such as lynx. But if you are a windows box guy, then this means unfamiliarity in large part. Read the full story →
www.amdcci.org (offline) was a simple website project done for the Ampara District Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The website was designed by Ulead PhotoImpct and hosted only a few static web pages. The site played a major role in providing information related to the damages caused by the Tsunami to the Ampara district. Since the site is currently offline, only screenshots are shown here from the local copy.
Note: the color theme of the website was chosen by the client.
I often observe how other people use products and services in their day-to-day life. This has helped me to identify user experience blunders in other products and remember not to do the same in mine. A recent observation made on Facebook made me realize the importance of context in natural interaction flow.
Apparently everyone is in a hurry to give their site a new look and Mozilla falls no short. Check out the new Firefox Add-ons site with the hip search bar and pretty inner pages. Although the previous website didn’t have any serious usability pitfalls in its design, the new look-and-feel is very compelling to use. I love the fact that they’ve decided to show a couple of thumbnails on the main page and provide a clear rating and reviewing panel on the convenient right-hand side of the page. Furthermore that green color search box somehow invites me to explorer more. Another good example for effective use of color to uplift the usability of a design.
It is also worth mentioning the drop-down categories list on the left hand side of inner pages that is so well designed that it is not one of those “hover me and I’ll show you myself” kind-a-design. A note to all you AJAX loving, “I’d do whatever the dudes do” web designers, learn from the pioneer.
I’m somewhat new to blogging. When I decided to change my static site to a dynamic site I ended up using WordPress as the engine. The designer in me however didn’t allow me to use someone else’s theme but to make one on my own. The current theme1 you are seeing on this site is the fifth iteration of the effort.
When I started designing this theme, I didn’t have any expertise on WordPress. The principles of blogging were completely new to me. I looked into many other blogs to figure out the essentials of theming. Ironically most themes were structurally the same except they looked different in presentation. But is this commonly accepted structure really usable? This is what I discovered. Read the full story →
Last week Engadget, TechCrunch and many other tech sites reported Gmail going IMAP. That’s a big deal for anyone who prefers to have control over their email messages. But for a long time the Gmail inbox was available as an RSS feed. Several people blogged about this feature on their sites soon after discovering it. But now you don’t have to follow the old School method of manifesting credentials on the RSS URI anymore. It’s as easy as subscribing to any other RSS feed out there. All you need in an RSS aware web browser and an email client. Here’s how to do it. Read the full story →
I listen to Leo Laporte on several of his Netcasts (a.k.a. Podcasts). He recommends audiobooks from Audible on most of his shows. That’s how I ended up listening to NEXT by Michael Crichton, The Chopin Manuscript, etc. Listening to audiobooks is the best habit I have developed after a long time. It is the best way to utilize your commuting time otherwise wasted for no particular important thing.
On many occasions I heard Loe recommending the book On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee. I never got the chance to add it to my library for some reason. So I thought of adding it to my collection today. Guess what, according to Audible, my geographic location prevents me from listening to this great book (see screenshot). My question is, if I can buy and listen to other audiobooks from Audible, why not this? I find the notice ‘We are not authorized to sell this title to your geographic location’ somewhat a feeble excuse. Read the full story →
http://www.meteo.slt.lk is the Department of Meteorology website. Although the website is poorly (or perhaps badly) designed, it has all the weather related information on Sri Lanka. Detailed information on Sri Lanka weather, forecasts, statistical information and warnings are available freely. To my knowledge recent forecasts from the department has been somewhat accurate compared to those days where the common understanding was “if the forecast say it’d rain, one may leave the umbrella home”.
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Flickr is my favorite photo sharing service. I always start from Flickr search whenever I want an insight to a real-world scenario. The irony is that sometimes the most interesting photos seem to have missing the All Sizes button. As a result the photo cannot be downloaded even if it’s declared public. Flickr hides the source URL of the image by using a decoy ‘space ball’! This post explains how you can overcome this issue with a simple trick. Read the full story →
Anyone using the Internet must have at least hit on this page once. It’s the most famous HTTP response status code of all time: 404 file not found. Modern web browsers don’t show all HTTP response codes for obvious reasons, although there is one for every HTTP request. Read the full story →
by Michael Crichton