Sam Cohen, Local Development

Designer and Developer at SamCohen.net

• It's time to stop cowboy coding (ie: editing sites directly off the file server)
• Instead develop your site locally using XAMPP, MAMP, WAMP or my favorite InstantWP
• Use RAMP to deploy content from dev to live environments

Chris Ross, Free is Not A Business Model

WordPress Designer at ThisIsMyURL.com

• In business school, they teach you that "Free is not a business model." With WordPress, it is.
• WordPress allows you to make money by giving things away for free.
• Make free plugins and charge for support
• Make free plugins and get freelance gigs (to customize)
• Ask for donations
• Write / publish free content and get donations or ads
• Write / publish free content and make affiliate sales
• Google is now notifying site owners that they need to upgrade WordPress (through Google Webmaster tools)

Wally Metts, Communication

Communications Professor at Spring Arbor University

• An adjective is the enemy of the noun. Avoid adjectives, use stronger nouns.
• Active writing means using better verbs.
• Vivid writing means using better nouns.
• ie: don't use "they made a decision" use "they decided"
• When communicating "unpad" everything. Remove meaningless, doubled and inferred words.

David Wilemski, WordPress Security

• A large part of keeping WordPress secure is being "less hackable" than everyone else
• Most attacks are not targeted (attacks try thousands of WordPress sites, looking for the most vulnerable.)
• Common vulnerabilities:
• Privilege escalation
• SQL Injection
• XSS
• CSRF
• Some easy fixes:
• Change your WordPress table prefix
• Rename the "admin" account
• Use SSL in your admin
• Use 755 file permissions for for directories and 644 for files
• Use the wp-config.php secure keys
• Limit login attempts (or login via specific IPs)
• Be prepared backup regularly, including:
• Database
• Theme
• Plugins
• Uploads
• When hacked, clear and reinstall (there could be hidden hacks)

Overall Takeaways

Having used WordPress since 2006 I didn't expect to learn new things, but the community continues to impress me (or maybe I'm not as smart as I think.) I often go to events such as WordCamp for networking and opportunities, not for education. However there are so many smart WordPress experts willing to share their knowledge for free. Additionally, WordCamp Detroit demonstrated the breadth of the WordPress community. The best presentations were not about core WordPress functionality, rather the surrounding topics of being a website owner, developer, designer, etc...

A year ago I would have said mobile can be an afterthought, now this isn't the case. In fact, some authors stress you should design for the mobile web first. I can't say I disagree, it's a solid strategy. Mobile web design sounds easy, you're "just" designing a simplified website right? If only it were so easy.

The first consideration many overlook is the method of delivering a mobile website. The second is that the user experience of mobile interfaces are inherently different. As this is a mobile 101 post, we will first look at the approach to designing and delivering a mobile version of a site. Mobile UX will be examined in a later post.

Even before we discuss design methods, we must first clarify the difference between a mobile website and a mobile app.

Website vs Application

While seemingly basic, many still confuse mobile applications with mobile websites. The distinction is different because users interact with an app differently than they do a website. An application is a program which is downloaded onto the users phone. The program resides on the users device and can (but doesn't necessarily) connect to an online server. A mobile website isn't downloaded nor is it stored on a users device. It is accessed by visiting the site URL through a browser.

This can be confusing (especially for users) because some designers choose to style their mobile websites to look like mobile applications. There are some circumstances where this makes sense as the user is likely familiar with the interface and conventions, but often times they are just as familiar with web browsing (even in a smaller, more basic form.) Unless you are specifically trying to emulate a mobile application through a website it's best to avoid the "application style."

Mobile Application Usage

The use of mobile applications is very intentional. A user must search for the application (or a type of application), decide to download and install it and then learn how to use it. There is little chance of them "stumbling" onto it. Many mobile apps remain unfound because no one would think to try and find them. A shopping application for a local designer shoe store for example, will get very little usage for this reason.

Mobile Website Usage

Mobile websites are much more accessible. A user doesn't need to search, download or install anything. They just visit your website. Any marketing targeting your website also promotes the mobile version. It requires less effort for the user and the company/organization. The only drawback is lack of persistency. An app remains on the users device until they decide to remove it. A website is gone until the user decides to access it again.

Once you understand the distinction between application and website, you can consider your approach to mobile design.

Approaches to Mobile Website Design

There are four primary approaches to mobile website design, each with strengths and weaknesses. They are:

1. Do nothing
2. Modifying the existing design for mobile (using css)
3. Designing a separate mobile site
4. Design a responsive website

Modern smart phone browsers provide an acceptable (but lack luster) mobile web experience.

1. Do Nothing

As stated earlier, modern mobile browsers are capable of handling most websites "as is." Most mobile browser allow users to zoom in for reading and out for navigating a page. While clunky, users are getting acclimated to the workflow. Doing nothing is the cheapest of all the options because you literally "do nothing." It's also the least effective method. Sure mobile browsers are greatly improved, but as a whole mobile users are less experienced than before. It won't detour all mobile users from browsing your site but it will detour some.

This site has a mobile specific stylesheet which simplifies the layout but uses the same markup.

2. Modify the Existing Design

Maintaining the original markup but tweaking the design for mobile devices is a long standing method of improving the mobile experience. Typically this is done by giving mobile browsers a different stylesheet which simplifies the layout, hides large graphics/animation and makes the navigation easier to use.

Pros:

• Low cost to maintain and implement since you are only modifying presentation
• Capable of producing an improved experience over the "do nothing" approach

Cons:

• Limited in the amount of changes that can be made
• Content is still downloaded causing speed and bandwidth issues (for the user)
• No ability to change content based on the context of the site
• Difficult to design for multiple mobile devices or screen resolutions

BestBuy.com has a mobile specific site with a different design and contextually relevant content.

3. Design a Separate Mobile Site

For those with flush budgets, the most desirable approach is a separate mobile specific site. The mobile site is designed, organized and populated from the ground up with focus mobile users needs. Because the site is completely independent of a companies primary website it can be completely different. Even the content can be changed (and often should). This provides the best experience for the user, when they access the primary website they are identified as a mobile user and forwarded onto the mobile specific version. They can then browse a site design specifically for their mobile needs and tasks.

Pros:

• Completely customizable for the best mobile experience

Cons:

• Expensive to build and maintain
• Some users are accustom to the desktop version of the site and would prefer to browse normally
• Difficult to design for multiple mobile devices or screen resolutions

Web Designer Wall has a responsive design which expands / collapses based on the users screen resolution.

4. Design a Responsive Website

Responsive design is the new kid on the block (and his parents bought him a BMW.) Responsive design is useful and practical hence it's rise in popularity. The concept behind it is simple, rather than having one stylesheet which (hopefully) works for all resolutions, you use different stylesheets for different resolutions. The result is a site that expands and collapses based on the size of the browser window. Responsive design allows you to maintain the best presentation regardless if the user is on a mobile phone, tablet or desktop with a large monitor.

Pros:

• Capability to design a good visual experience for multiple resolutions
• Less expensive than a mobile specific site

Cons:

• More expensive to design / build than a mobile specific stylesheet
• There is little capability to modify the content/context of the site based on mobile usage
• Layout is constrained by source order

Summary

The first step in designing any mobile site is selecting your approach. The approach reveals design constraints and capabilities. Currently, their are four conventional methods each with strengths and weaknesses. The oldest, most customizable and expensive method is designing a mobile specific site. The lower cost long standing method is using a mobile specific stylesheet and the new (sexy) approach is to create a design which responds to different screen resolutions. If budgets are tight and mobile visitors infrequent, you can always do nothing. Modern mobile browsers offer an acceptable experience on their own.

The organization of content, elements and objects on a page such that users can scan over the arrangement and understand the relative importance and relationship of everything they see.

To elaborate, successful layouts organize elements on the page based on importance and relationship. The more organized your page is, the easier it is to look at, understand and use. An important distinction to make, is that organization is more than arranging things in a neat and cleanly way. Organization is much deeper, the arrangement of elements must inform the user about them.

Applied to the web (and layout specifically,) organization means elements on the page are arranged based on how they are related or connected. Elements are arranged based on their relationship to other elements on the page and the context of the website. Interrelating elements are placed in close proximity to form a cohesive group. Elements involving the sites goals are more important, and are given more space and visual prominence. For example, a site designed to sell books would arrange book listings so they are seen first. Users coming to the site will be looking for books, so placing them in an visually obvious spot (top center of the design, for example) informs them of the site context and makes their primary action (browsing books) effortless.

In order to design an effective layout, you must first understand the relationships of page elements. Only through understanding the relationships can you arrange them in the most organized way.

Understanding The Relationships

As I eluded to earlier, there are two types of relationships you should seek to understand. First, is the relationship of an element to the user or clients goal. Elements that are vital to conversion (a user performing a desired task, like purchasing a product) or user's goals are more important and should be organized as such. Second, is the relationship of elements to each other. Users interpret everything they see, one universal interpretation being that elements in close proximity are related. Great layouts are designed around these concepts, allowing users to understand a design without conscious thought.

Relationship to Goals

Example user and client goals for an online book store

How an element relates to user and client goals is the most important aspect of layout, so you will find it best to start here. To do so, you must first know what the client goals and user tasks are. Hopefully you have already uncovered this during planning and discovery phases, if not there is never a better time to clearly define why the site exists. This information can be obtained in many ways, interviewing clients and stakeholders, looking at site statistics, performing field research, etc... Design research is a subject best left for another post. Regardless of your method, first understand what users and clients want from the website.

Important elements should be placed in larger spaces with more visual prominence, like a content well. Lesser elements can be placed in smaller, ancillary areas like a sidebar.

With this information in hand, list all of the site goals (for both your clients and the users) and then rank them based on importance. Having a clear hierarchy of objectives will make future decisions to prioritize easier. The most important elements should be given the most space and most prime locations. Elements of lessor importance can be placed further down the page.

Once the list is created, create a second list containing any element which relates to the goals (ie: call to action button, primary headline, photo of product, etc...). Elements which relate to the most important goals should receive the most visual prominence, those which relate to non-essential goals can be deemphasized.

Identifying the most important elements is half the battle, but you must still consider how elements relate to each other.

Relationship to Each Other

On a form, the submit button and cancel link are related. Laying them out next to each other is visually logical.

Elements on a page have relationships. Some elements are intimately related, others are practically unrelated (the only commonality between them being the website they live on.) A pair of submit and cancel buttons are closely related as they both control the functionality of a specific form. The cancel button and a home link however, are almost completely unrelated.

Adding a home button is illogical and confusing because it's unrelated to the elements surrounding it.

When designing a site you will understand these relationships intuitively. You know enough about the context of the page, user and clients where relationships will be obvious. Users however, have no idea the relationship between elements. This is why the layout must communicate it to them.

An example of grouped elements, an a group with a sub-group

Related elements should be grouped together into a common space. Unrelated elements should be kept far apart. Often times you will end up with groups and subgroups of related elements. A sidebar for example, typically contains non-critical information and actions. Within a sidebar -- which is a group itself -- you typically have sub-groups of related elements. The "Stay Updated" section of this blog contains several related elements all grouped within the site sidebar. The "Stay Updated" section has a headline, latest tweet (which has the tweet itself, the date and user handle), icons and links to RSS and E-MAIL subscription. All of these elements are closely related.

The grouping instantly tells the user the relationships of the elements. On a broad level, one doesn't need to read every word in the "Stay Updated" section to know the elements within deal with the same subject mater. On a micro-level, the layout informs the users the RSS icon and the Entires RSS link are "one unit."

Another good example of this concept is the split column approach in the Categories / Archives section. These links essentially take the user to the same place, a list of previous articles. They only differ in how the list is filtered. Rather than creating two separate sections (which communicates non-relation) they are contained in a single section (which communicates a relationship.)

With in groups are "micro-groups" where closely related elements become perceived as a single unit.

To understand the relationships simply create an inventory of all elements on the page and document how you would categorize them. You can do high level categorization such as "navigation, primary content, actions, etc..." or detail level such as "archive links, calls to action, utility navigation, etc..."

If needed, you can always use card sorting (a common IA practice) and put each major element onto a card and pill them together based on their relationships.

Layout Next Steps

Once you understand how elements relate to site objectives, user goals and other elements you can begin crafting a layout. Because the function of layout is to best organize and display the elements on the page understanding the relationships is essential. The word "organization" by definition means "the structure or arrangement of connected items," relationships determine connectedness.

Read the Whole Series

Fundamentals of Web Design Layout Part 1

To respect the role of layout requires a solid understanding of what it is.

Layout Defined

The classic definition of layout is "The way in which parts of something are arranged." In web design specifically, layout is "The way elements, content and graphics are organized on the page." A key distinction here is the substation of "arranged" for "organized." Arranging elements without organizing them doesn't create a layout, it creates visual vomit.

The purpose of a layout is organization, more specifically layout uses organization to:

• Convey relative importance of content
• Group similar content and separate unrelated
• Optimize visual flow
• Establish a basic visual hierarchy

Each aspect of layout might not be compelling alone, but together they make or break a design.

When Good Layouts Go Bad

A great layout makes design look easy. Every element fits so well within the design, you would never consider putting them anywhere else. The "logical" organization of elements makes navigating the website easy. Users don't need to think where desired content is located, the layout tells them. If users are looking for important content, they know to look in the primary content area, typically located in the area with the most space. If they are looking for something less important, like navigation, they look for secondary or tertiary areas which are smaller and placed in less prominent locations.

Because layouts are purely visual, the best way to understand what works and what doesn't is through example.

Well Organized Layouts

Information Architects

The Information Architects website, while minimal to the point of being plain, has a beautiful designed layout. The layout is so predominate, it's actually the strongest design element.

The design makes no attempt to hide the underlying grid structure. Ample whitespace makes it easy to identify where each section within the layout starts and stops. The few graphical elements that are on the page receive maximum attention because they heavily contrast the otherwise white and text heavy design.

In terms of layout, the first element a user encounters is the top navigation which is broken up into four columns (1). That same four column structure is retained at the bottom where the footer navigation lies (2). By using the same column structure, users can easily extrapolate that the footer elements are also navigation. This occurs based on principles of consistency. Elements which look alike are thought as related, elements that look different are considered to be unrelated.

The primary area is bold, and large, equipped with a massive photo and supported with text which is broken up into three columns (3). Immediately below lives a news section, which for all intensive purposes is a single column. By shifting that column to the right and confining it to a smaller column whitespace and legibility are maximized (4).

Why this Layout Works

The primary goal of any layout is to clearly organize and locate information. The Information Architects website does so beautifully. By observing the layout you can decipher what's most important and in what order. Larger, higher up elements are clearly most important and as elements become less importance they shrink and are moved further down the page. The grid keeps everything organized neatly, everything falls into place in a logical way and your focus is never divided between two elements that seem equally important.

In this design, the layout is fitted the content.

Mark Boulton Design

The Mark Boulton Design website also employs a well executed layout. Like Information Architects, the design uses a grid to clearly organize content on the page. Unlike Information Architects, the design is bold, vibrant and graphical in nature. This demonstrating that using a grids and organization doesn't mean the site must be graphically stark.

The page header is placed at the very top of the page and is larger than anything else by a factor of at least 100. This clearly communicates it's the most important element (1). The header content is case studies, intentionally telling the user that above else, they should be aware of the companies previous work. Once you travel past the header, there is a full column tagline describing what the company does (2). Because the tagline is smaller and placed further down the page, it's apparent that Mark Boulton Design feels previous work is more compelling.

Below the tagline resides four equal width columns (3). The content with in those columns seem unrelated, but their size and placement indicates they are of equal importance. The ample whitespace makes it easy to read and digest content within a column, if you choose to do so.

Why this Layout Works

It doesn't feel like it, but there is a lot of content on this page: Case studies, navigation, a logo, the mission statement (or tagline), a brief company description, news, contact information and a portfolio section... phew! Because the content is laid out in a logical, well organized way it is easy to read and comprehend. The layout tells you what to look at and in what capacity.

With a quick glance you know what's most important (the header), almost as important (the tagline) and that everything else is equally important. Additionally, by using four equal width columns you can easily scan the headline of each to determine if the column contains the content you are seeking. If not, you continue scanning until you find the one that does.

Again the design puts content together like a puzzel. Everything fit's into place perfectly.

What's Next

Hopefully these examples illustrate what a well designed layout is composed of. Specifically, the layout organizes the content on the page based on it's importance and relationship. More important content is placed in large containers and located at the top of the page. Less important content is contained in smaller cells and placed lower on the page. Similar content (or content that's related) is grouped together which communicates their relationship.

In our next installment we will cover how to design your own layout in the most effective way.

Read the Whole Series

Fundamentals of Web Design Layout Part 1

Fundamentals of Web Design Layout Part 2

• According to Apple mobile web usage increased over 140% in 2009
• Experts predict that there will be 1.1 Billion smart phones in use by 2013
• New forms of mobile devices are entering the market every month (iPad, eBook readers, PDA’s, etc...)

Mobile Web Design

Designing for mobile devices is tricky. There are countless different devices capable of browsing the web, all with different technological capabilities, browser software, resolution and screen sizes. Because of this we have to give up some control and sophistication and accept that our primary goal is to make the sites simple and usable not pretty and exciting.

Screen Size & Resolution

Different phones and operating systems run at different resolutions. An article published by PhoneArea.com recorded that half of all the smartphone traffic worldwide was done on an iPhone. Android based phones had grown to 11%, Blackberry had a declining 7% and Symbian OS (Nokia) accounted for 25% but was also declining.

Much like in traditional web design you typically want to design for the most common denominator. These days on the web you are looking to design a site with in the 1024 x 768 window. When it comes to mobile over 75% of the phones display a screen resolution of 240x320 pixels or more.

Based on this you can take two approaches. One is to try and stay with in this window to ensure an optimal experience for the largest possible audience. Alternatively you could make your mobile site fluid (meaning that the design scales with the window) and let the browser figure out how wide it should be.

Browser Capabilities

Another common mobile design challenge is the differing technological support of phones. Currently very few devices support the flash platform and almost none of them do a great job working with javascript either. For these reasons it makes sense to try and keep your sites as simple as possible. Sticking to clean XHTML and CSS is the best way to go.

Even if the browsers don’t support CSS (which some don’t) they can still render HTML and the site will be usable.

Common Browsers

• Mobile Safari (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)
• Mobile Chrome / Android Browser (Android)
• Opera Moble (Smartphone compatible)
• Blackberry Browser (Blackberry’s with varying levels of support)

These browser behave a lot like full browsers, often only missing a few capabilities such as Flash or Javascript. However this doesn’t mean that you should be aware of the users experience if they are using them. Keep in mind that on mobile devices you are not going to be able to take advantage of OnClick or :hover capabilities, so even if the users is accessing your site on an iPad you will still want to make sure the site is usable.

• Constrained Browsers
• Opera Mini
• Blackberry Browser (depending on the generation of the Blackberry)

These browsers try and simplify the website as much as possible automatically before displaying it to the user. This can be good and bad. It might mean that you have less to worry about when a user accesses your site, however it also means you have less control. Being that it is automated you can be sure that it is not going to present the perfect solution.

Text Browsers

Many mobile browsers are incapable of rendering graphics or complex layouts. Again there are varying levels of capabilities with text based browsers. Some of them have basic CSS support where others strip out all styling and can only render HTML or WAP-HTML.

Planning & Approach

There are many different ways you can go about making your site mobile friendly. Each of them can work perfectly well and which one you should use is entirely dependent on the situation. The best way to approach this is to understand the pros and cons of each technique and then develop a plan as to which avenue best fits your use case.

1.Altering the Design but Keeping the Content The Same

The first and most obvious method is to alter how the design looks to better fit a mobile browser while keeping the content and site structure entirely the same. Typically people will simplify the navigation, remove unnecessary design elements and shrink the overall design to better fit in a smaller window.

This not only will save the users bandwidth (which many pay for by the megabyte), but it will also make accessing the content much easier. This is of course what they are on your site for in the first place, not to see your cool looking design in super small scale.

Example Sites

2.Tweaking Both Design & Content

While altering the design will make your site mobile “friendly” it ignores a very important fact about mobile web users. Typically people accessing your site on a mobile device are doing so for very different reasons than they would if they were at a desktop.

Think of the common situation, a user needs to find some information, is unable to access a computer and doesn’t feel that it is worth waiting. While what type of information they are looking for is going to change depending on the situation it wouldn’t take too much insight to come up with a clear plan of how you can alter both the design and what content the site shows to better fit the users needs.

A common example might be IMDB.com (internet movie database), if someone is looking up the site on their mobile device chances are they really want to look up some important details. The chance that they care about the news desk, what is coming out on DVD etc... is pretty slim.

IMDB.com would benefit from a “search centric” mobile version of their homepage.

3.Completely Different Mobile Site

Sometimes users will be accessing your site from a mobile device so much, or their needs will be so different than a traditional site that it makes sense to develop a completely new version of your site for mobile users. This frees you from all constraints and allows you to create the most optimal mobile experience possible.

Sites such as Twitter and Facebook are both good examples. Both sites have a high frequency of mobile users and the goals and actions of the mobile users are going to be significantly different than computer users.

This approach isn’t limited to large scale social networks either. Even small businesses can benefit from this approach. Consider any local service provider, if someone is looking at their site from a mobile phone chances are they are looking for contact information. To provide them with a mobile specific site that has phone, fax and directions would greatly increase a users experience. You can always give them the option to navigate to the full site afterward.

Now it is important that if you do have a mobile specific version of your site, you want to give users the option to switch back to a standard version of the sit. Especially if you are automatically redirecting mobile browsers to said version.

Mobile Usability

Even “usable” version of mobile browsers such as Safari can be tricky and difficult to use. Let’s face it, there is a lot working against a mobile web user. The screen is small, the keys are small, the software is still in it’s infancy...

Doing everything you can to make your mobile site as usable as possible is what is going to really bring a notable return on your investment. There are some key ways to make your mobile site usable and the most effective ones are:

1. Simplifying your site
2. Have a high quality search function
3. Make the navigation extremely accessible

1. Simplify

The first step to any mobile site should be simplifying. I recommend a simple audit of the entire site, using the following method:

1. Determine which user tasks are likely to apply to mobile
2. Remove any content that doesn’t apply to your list of tasks
3. Remove any graphics or styling that doesn’t assist in the tasks or branding
4. Turn complex multi-column layouts into one simple column

2. Search

Having a high quality search function is another great way to maximize usability. It is difficult to click, and navigate through multiple pages. Rather than making a user hunt around, you can simply let them search for what they are looking for.

3. Navigation

Many mobile web designers will place the navigation as the very first thing on the top of the page. This way it can’t be missed and is one of the easiest elements to access. Remember unless you have a one page mobile specific site chances are the user is not going to find what they are looking for on the first page.

Methods of Making Mobile Specific Sites

Anyone can build a mobile version of their site, but unless you find some way to get mobile users to it you really haven’t accomplished much. Not unlike everything else in web design there is more than one way to skin a cat.

1. Mobile Specific Styling

If you are simply changing the design and hiding unnecessary content then a mobile style sheet might be the best approach. A mobile style sheet is like any other style sheet, only it is only activated when a browser acknowledges that it is a mobile device.

The sheet can then completely change the layout, hide unnecessary elements (through display:none) and improve the overall experience for the user.

There are two approaches to using mobile specific style sheets, by including a mobile specific stylesheet in your HTML or by importing mobile specific rules through an existing style sheet.

Creating a Handheld Media Stylesheets

The first technique simply requires you add a media=”handheld” attribute to your stylesheet mark-up, for example:

You can then add any amount of simplification or mobile styling into that mobile.css stylesheet, perhaps changing the width, hiding a third column or moving the navigation to the top of the page.

    #pageWidth { width: auto; }
    #columnThree { display: none; }
    #mainNavigation { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; }

The @media Include

If you are including a mobile specific styling through an existing stylesheet you would use the following code:

     @media handheld { /* rules for handheld devices */ }

OR

     @import "handheld.css" handheld;

When to Use Which Method

It seems like one could use either technique depending on their personal preference. However you should know that some mobile devices will not load a stylesheet that is defined as media=”handheld” but will still pay attention to the @media handheld { } styling.

These are often fully capable browsers such as Opera Mobile / Mini, Safari, etc... So if you are looking to optimize for these devices through a stylesheet it is important to know that doing a media=”handheld” HTML link will not work.

2. Mobile Device Detection

A more sophisticated method would be to detect the user agent of the browser and decide send mobile users to a specific version of the site that is better suited towards their set of tasks and specific design needs.

The user agent in reference to the web is simply the software that someone is using to browse the site. So you can use a script that identifies mobile user agents and forward them to a new address accordingly.

The benefit here is that you can completely customize the user experience for mobile specific situations. Not only in layout (which can be done through a stylesheet) but also in content and information architecture.

The trick is that you need to ensure that your method of detecting and redirecting different user agents is up to date, if a new browser enters the market it might be ignored by your out dated script all together.

Luckily there are some great plug-ins and existing scripts available to do this for you. If you are interested in taking this approach I recommend you look into one of the following resources:

Mobile Detection Scripts

• http://detectmobilebrowser.com/ (Has a version for most languages / scripts)
• WordPress Mobile Edition
• Mobile Drupal

3. Mobile Specific URLS

For heavy trafficked mobile sites it can make sense to build a site specifically around mobile use. While you may also want to employ the user agent detection method above, it often makes sense to promote the mobile site separately to encourage more mobile users to try accessing the site.

Common examples of this would be Facebook, Twitter and Bank of America. All three sites actively promoted their mobile specific site as a way to encourage users to try using the site through their mobile device. All three sites also employe the detect and forward concept illustrated earlier.

The Bottom Line

There are so many different variables in mobile web design that you are unlikely to find a perfect solution for everyone. Because of this you will end up making the best design choices by really understanding your target audience.

The better you understand what technology they are using, what content they want and when they are trying to access it you can tailor the mobile experience to that situation. If you don’t understand these key points you are just guessing and could even be making the experience worse.

Ultimately the growth of the mobile market is so dramatic that you should be thinking about (if not implementing) a mobile web strategy right now.

Adding new and complex new features to the system may sound sacrilegious. Wasn't the whole point that it was simple and easy? The truth is that WordPress has always been a limitless solution... if you were a capable WordPress developer. However now there are easy to "enable" features that make it the ideal solution for designers. What previous required heavy hacking or several plug-ins can be integrated into your themes right out of the box (or should I say download?)

What you will find is that the WordPress team has addressed the most common requests by top designers with this 3.0 release. Where previous version have made large strides towards a better system none have included quite so many notable capabilities. This now allows designers who use WordPress to add new layers of visual interest and style to their designs with the knowledge that not only can it be done in WordPress, but the design features can be administered easily as well. While the features are powerful and have already created waves in the design communities, there are so many different capabilities that many are unaware of what now can be done with ease.

WordPress 3.0 has included the following key designer features that we will cover:

• Custom background images
• Custom header images
• Custom content types
• Author templates
• Custom menus

Custom Background Images

With the adoption of broadband and better server technologies, a visually rich background image doesn't pose a major experience issue on most users. As a result it is common to see more sites with different visually interesting background images.

Visually interesting background images are a great way to draw a user in and engage them. WordPress 3.0 has given us the ability to upload and select different background images through the administration interface.

Why Designers Should Care

As designers we are no longer held back by complicated implementation issues. We also can give our clients the ability to manage and select different background images with ease. The new functionality includes a full administration interface that has such features as image sizing/editing, positioning, tiling and uploading.

As a site grows and evolves there may be good reason to change the background. Being able to easily switch the background image allows designers to use the background as a tool rather than just an area to fill. We can now design sites with the idea that the background can on the site from time to time (seasonal backgrounds anyone?)

How To Use Custom Background Images

The first step to implementing custom background images is turning on the functionality through your themes functions.php file by adding the following line of code:

if (function_exists('add_custom_background')) { add_custom_background(); }

This will turn on the capability through the WordPress Administration so that users can upload and manage different background images. This functionality puts custom CSS in the head and stylizes the body element.

Custom Header Images

Sticking with the theme of making WordPress a more media rich tool, we now have the capability to upload and manage header banners through the administration panel. The system is sophisticated enough where it will resize large images to fit with in the desired area.

While you could previously force this sort of functionality through post thumbnails it lacked the polish and sophistication of the new custom header images. With WordPress you can now define the size, set the default image and manage them all in one place.

Why Designers Should Care

It used to be that design agencies would design a homepage and subpage for clients. The client could input what ever content they develop into those templates and be on their merry way. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this process the header images rarely could be contextually relevant for every page of content on the site. It is more common these days to have a different header image for each page.

How to Use Custom Header Images

Using and working with custom header images is a bit more tricky than backgrounds, but with a few functions added to the functions.php code you can setup the functionality and turn the keys over to your staff or clients.

(This code was found in the new TwentyTen theme, thanks to wpbeginner.com for the tutorial)

	if ( ! function_exists('customtheme_setup') ):

		function customtheme_setup() {

		add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );

		define( 'HEADER_TEXTCOLOR', '' );
		 array (
		     'url' => '%s/images/headers/customHeaderOne.jpg',
		    'thumbnail_url' => '%s/images/headers/customHeaderOne-thumbnail.jpg',
		    'description' => __( 'Business People', 'customtheme' )
		),
		    'cherryblossom' => array (
		     'url' => '%s/images/headers/customHeaderTwo.jpg',
		     'thumbnail_url' => '%s/images/headers/customHeaderTwo-thumbnail.jpg',
		    'description' => __( 'Chess Set', 'customtheme' )
		),
		    'concave' => array (
		    'url' => '%s/images/headers/customHeaderThree.jpg',
		    'thumbnail_url' => '%s/images/headers/customHeaderThree-thumbnail.jpg',
		    'description' => __( 'Puzzle Pieces', 'customtheme' )
		)
		) );
		}
		endif;

		if ( ! function_exists( 'customtheme_admin_header_style' ) ) :
		/**
		* Styles the header image displayed on the Appearance > Header admin panel.
		*
		* Referenced via add_custom_image_header() in customtheme_setup().
		*
		* @since 3.0.0
		*/
		function customtheme_admin_header_style() {
		?>
		<style type="text/css">
			#headimg {
				height: px;
				width: px;
			}
			#headimg h1, #headimg #desc {
				display: none;
			}
                </style>
                }
                endif;

		

This will setup your theme so that you can upload and manage new custom images. Additionally it allows you to set the banner size so that images that don't fit those dimensions can be cropped to fit. This is half of the work that needs to be done, the next step you must actually insert the code to render the banner into your WordPress theme templates. In most cases this will end up in the header.php file.

<?php
    // Check if this is a post or page, if it has a thumbnail, and if it's a big one
    if ( is_singular() &&
        has_post_thumbnail( $post->ID ) &&
        ( /* $src, $width, $height */ $image = wp_get_attachment_image_src( get_post_thumbnail_id( $post->ID ), 'post-thumbnail') ) &&
        $image[1] >= HEADER_IMAGE_WIDTH ) :
        // We have a new header image!
        echo get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID, 'post-thumbnail' );
    else : ?>
        <img src="/images/wp/<?php header_image(); ?>" width="<?php echo HEADER_IMAGE_WIDTH; ?>" height="<?php echo HEADER_IMAGE_HEIGHT; ?>" alt="" />
    <?php endif; ?>
			

		

This code will go through the process of identifying the type of page, if there is a thumbnail and then if the attached image is large enough to fill the space. If it is the image will be rendered, otherwise it will output a default header.

Custom Content Types

One of the areas that has always pained me with WordPress is the lack of Custom Content Types. Systems like Drupal and Joomla have had this capability for a long time and in most projects you are going to end up with situations in which the site has different types of content. Whether you have employee bios or need individual listings for homes just having a standard "page" is rarely ideal.

WordPress 3.0 now has the capability to have Custom Content Types. No longer are we restricted to trying to make all content fit with in a post or page, we can define what ever content we need.

Why Designers Should Care

Previously if you were designing a site you couldn't design any sort of standard layout that differed greatly from your standard page as there were no great ways to implement it. Meaning if you had a standard set of employee information, unless you worked with more complicated plug-ins or taught your client how to use custom fields you had to keep the content pretty free form.

Now that WordPress supports custom content we can customize the administration panel, add our own custom fields and inputs and then design rich interfaces around them.

How to Use Custom Content Types

I will be honest and say that WordPress hasn't made this extremely easy at this point in time. Certainly not as easy as the visual interface of building Custom Content of Drupal's CCK (Content Construction Kit). Much like the other features if you are doing this by hand you will be adding a fair amount of code to your functions.php.

If you are the type that likes to get your hands dirty I recommend you read this great article about setting up custom content types and fields.

If you are like me then you would rather be designing than hacking through your functions.php, in which case you can choose from a wide range of capable plug-ins that will help you build the new content types easily.

Author Templates

WordPress has always had a very flexible templating system. Creating new templates for different sections of your site, blog or categories has always been as simple as creating a new file and adding a comment to give the template a name.

Previous releases of WordPress have resulted in category specific template capabilities, and to make a strength even stronger the new version of WordPress now features the capability to have author specific templates.

Why Designers Should Care

Experienced designers will agree that context is everything. Not only is it important that the template match the content and context of the site, but also the author.

While this won't apply to all sites, it is becoming more and more common to have different authors writing for a single blog. When you have faced with multiple authors you are going to end up with different writing styles, opinions and content. With these differences it simply makes sense to have different templates for the different authors.

Now of course I am not suggesting that you have a drastically different design, rather a slightly different template that indicates and reflects the author and their characteristics.

How to Create Custom Author Templates

Creating an author specific template is incredibly simple, WordPress will look for an author specific template when ever a post is rendered. Finding none it will use a default template. So all you have to do is create a varied template using the WordPress naming structure:

author-{nicename}.php

or

author-{id}.php

Custom Menus

The custom menu system developed from the WooThemes crew is one of the most significant advances in this release. WordPress always had ways to outputting a menu based on page structure, but it was hardly ideal. Often times you had to use a few plug-ins to hide unwanted pages and it really only worked for a primary navigation.

The new menu system makes it easy for clients and designers alike to design and work with rich menu systems with out hacking and extra plug-ins.

Why Designers Should Care

Beyond the fact that it makes designing menus easier it also opens up several new options that we previously couldn't do well with WordPress. We can now have multiple menus that don't need to be hard coded. This means easier footer navigation, utility navigation, etc...

Additionally the new menu system gives us a wide range of additional options such as custom CSS classes, descriptions, etc... This gives us a whole range of options that were difficult before, such as:

• Icons for each menu item
• Menu item descriptions (more popular)
• Better placement / styling through .first and .last style classes
• Better Microformat support through XFN

This really opens up a whole new level of design options that were previously very difficult to do.

How to Use Custom Menus

When it comes to adding custom menu support for our themes there are two steps, the first involves altering the functions.php file to add menu support.

			add_action( 'init', 'register_menus' );

			function register_menus() {
				register_nav_menus(
					array(
						'primary-menu' => __( 'Primary Menu' ),
						'utility-menu' => __( 'Utility Menu' ),
						'footer-menu' => __( 'Footer Menu' )
					)
				);
			}
		

This code here calls a function to register the different menus we wish to create. In this example we are creating a primary menu, utility menu and footer menu. The regster_nav_menus() function will create areas in which we can define menus through the administration panel. We just populate the array with the menu name and description (which can be what ever you would like).

From this point we can include the function to display the nav menu in our WordPress theme through the wp_nav_menu() function.

<?php wp_nav_menu( array( 'theme_location' => 'primary-menu' ) ); ?>

This will output the menu we have defined as 'primary-menu'. WordPress will automatically output an unordered list containing the complete menu that is created through the administration panel. By default it also includes quite a bit of extra xhtml and css, but luckily the function can be customized fairly easily. If you are looking to customize your mark-up a bit more consider reading the reference for the wp_nav_menu() function.

Those of you looking to display the description can do so by using the walker function of the menu, which you can read more about here.

Conclusion

The new version of WordPress has given designers a whole new tool set of functionality and capabilities. We can now put a whole new layer of polish and depth into our designs to provide a better experience for our users.

There is no doubt that WordPress will continue to evolve as a formidable platform and framework for designers and developers alike. As a designer, what features and functionality do you find most useful?

However one of the great presentations from the conference reminded me not only how easy they are to implement but also reminded me of the benefits as well. As a result I have started to write them into the web development standards at 3.7 and have also posted an article with more information on the company blog. If you are at all interested in Microformats give it a read.

Minimalism is great for several reason, it puts more emphasis on what elements you DO keep on the site, it makes using the site easier and is distraction free.

One of the interesting trends that has come forward with the minimalist look is the use of simple and complete circles in web design. For some reason these were far from common through most of the history of web design. Maybe it is because it is so much simpler to design on the web using boxes and hard angles (due to the limitations of technology). Or maybe it is just a design trend that was popular in previous decades and is just now resurfacing.

Either way there are designers who are putting plenty of personality into their designs with a "circle accent." Take a look at the following:

1. Monk Design

2. Daring Fireball

3. Cool & The Guide

4. Tobiashlin

5. Design Schneider

6. Effektive Design

7. Thorsten Van Elten

8. 70 Folk

9. Mighty

10. MIX Online

11. Kha Hoang

12. Sort

13. Jax Vineyards

14. Things

15. iLTD

16. Extra Polish

17. Simon J. Hunter

18. Frank Chimero

19. Indextwo

20. Lecia

21. IO

22. Alex Cornell

23. Royale

24. Reknit

25. Concentric Studio

26. Mercy

27. Behind My Scenes

28. Oliver James Gosling

29. The Import

30. Digital Podge

31. Rebecca Berry

32. Jay Hollywood

33. Digital Mash

The Voices That Matter team contacted me about going and also wanted to provide an offer to readers of this blog for early bird registration. See the details below:

New Riders’ Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference, now in its fourth consecutive year, will take place June 28-29 in San Francisco and the timing couldn’t be better! Web design is undergoing an historic transformation: while the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript haven't changed, the new and evolving functionality in the HTML5 and CSS3 specs, the number of new ways in which people access the Web, and the rise of social media mean that Web designers need to know more than ever.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet face-to-face with industry greats and discuss Web design’s most critical topics! We’ll open with a keynote address from Jesse James Garrett, author of The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web and close with a keynote address delivered by Steve Krug, author of the well known book Don't Make Me Think and the brand new book Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems. From start to finish this conference will blow you away.

SPECIAL SAVINGS! As someone that reads this blog, you can save $150 off the conference fee by providing priority code WBNBLGA when registering. Register before May 14th and save $250 as this $100 discount is combined with the early bird pricing!

If you plan on going let me know so that I can plan to say hello and thank you for being a reader of this blog!

To say that the golden rectangle is powerful is an understatement. Powerful and skilled designers can use this ratio to improve their designs dramatically, and what is amazing about it is that people won't be able to directly place their finger on how or why the design is so effective.

The Golden Rectangle Explained

The golden rectangle is a rectangle with its sides in the 'Golden Ratio' or 1 : 1.618. Where most people get this wrong with they might account for the ratio to divide a canvas horizontally (ie: into two columns) but they don't account for the fact that the ratio also specifies a height (vertical divisions). Failing to account for the vertical ratios will reduce the impact and effect of using this tool for visually pleasing designs.

The Photoshop Guide

To make it easier to use this principal we have created a simple tools that lays out a golden rectangle and it's divisions (on all four corners) that you can overlay onto any of your designs. While it is originally designed for a 960 pixel wide canvas, it was created using vector shapes so it can be easily re-sized to any dimension with out losing any quality.

It also is organized based on folders so you can hide / show any portion of it to best fit your design needs.

Downloads and Suggestions

I am open to all suggestions, thoughts or improvements. I am releasing this under the creative commons, so if you choose to post it somewhere or repurpose it please do the right thing and at least attribute me with a link (or two).

Download the golden selection PSD guide here and let us know what you think!