Rahel Bailie has started a new SIG focused on content strategy. SIGs are special interest groups sponsored by the STC, involving other STC members also interested in sharing about the same topic. Rahel writes, We welcome the participation of any STC members who are engaged in content strategy, want to develop the skills to become a content strategist, or simply want to know more about … more »

I recently helped added some map functionality to a blog focused on Bellingham real estate to give users a better sense of the various neighborhood locations in their area. I used the Google XML maps plugin because it seemed to work best, and ever since then I’ve been playing with Google maps. Mapping technology has come a long way in the last several years. You … more »

I’m trying something a little new on my blog. Previously, every time I read a cool post, I submitted the link to Writer River. The problem with that, however, is that posting to another site isn’t such a smart search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Using the Writer River method, people who follow trackbacks don’t follow them back to my site (idratherbewriting.com), but rather go to … more »

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download MP3 (to download, right-click and select Save Target As) Length: 6 min. GuiMags was a vendor booth at the STC Summit that caught my attention. I’m often running into people who want me to create WordPress templates to match their websites. Creating these templates is somewhat tedious for me, and it can take 1-2 days of work … more »

10 Challenging But Awesome CSS Techniques – Nettuts+.

CSS-Tricks #1: Converting a Photoshop Mockup (part 1 of 3).

This week I caught up with Debbie Campbell, a Colorado web designer and developer and the owner of Red Kite Creative, and asked her about the latest trends in web design. I’ve been following Debbie on Twitter for a while. This week she posted a few tweets about web design and WordPress, so I asked her to share a little more.

Introduction to CSS editing using Firebug (youtube) If you work with CSS at all, Firebug is essential.

DesignFloat – Web Design News and Tips

Since I’ve been reading The Non-Designers Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Novice, I’ve started to see the importance of contrast everywhere. The author, Robin Williams, argues that contrast is one of the four pillars of design, and that most people don’t include enough of it. As a result, rather than contrast, they end up with conflict. Williams writes: A design is in … more »

8: Colour Theory – Opera Developer Community

Last weekend I was asked by someone to set up a WordPress blog that would integrate well with his existing site, familyinnewyork.com. I looked at the site and asked why he didn’t just migrate his existing content into a blog, one with a professional design? He said no — he wanted to keep his existing site. When starting blogs, many people have the same dilemma. … more »

Conditional-CSS.

7 Essential Guidelines For Functional Design | How-To | Smashing Magazine.

Preface: I wrote this post after spending a month digging deeply into SharePoint, attempting to customize and brand the site as well as migrate all my help content to it. If you’re totally unfamiliar with SharePoint, this post will not get you up to speed. But for those embarking on a SharePoint customization challenge, most likely you’re already familiar with SharePoint. Reading these ten concepts … more »