HTML Archive

Keep That New Year’s Resolution and Make the Leap From Print to Web Design

January 16th, 2012 1 Comment

You’ve been designing for print since college and have an eye for what makes visuals work. But the landscape has changed (and for some, might even look a little scary). So when the ball dropped at the start of 2012, your resolution was to learn a little more about the digital side of it all and make yourself that much more marketable.

Now is the time to get started. There are tons of resources out there to help print designers get their feet wet in coding, HTML and digital design. Because of the skills you already possess as a print designer, the transition might even be easier than you think. You already know how to use text, color and images, but need the skills to make it happen in the online format. With a little time and dedication, almost anyone can learn the basics with a few great (and free) tutorials right at your computer.

What Is HTML? The Anatomy of an HTML5 Document

October 10th, 2011 7 Comments

This is the second article in our series on the absolute fundamentals of web development. Our first article explained in detail what HTML is on a conceptual level. We looked at what a markup language is, what tags are and how HTML compares to other important pieces of the web development puzzle such as CSS.

Join us today as we move on and take a look at each basic piece of an HTML document. I’ll explain all that stuff at the top of an HTML file that confuses you and outline the basic structure that you’ll follow for creating your own HTML files.

What Is HTML? Back to Basics

October 8th, 2011 6 Comments

Since I have a background in print, I’m always eager to help designers from other areas get a start in web design and basic development. I know from experience that the transition is an extremely intimidating one that many people simply don’t think they can manage.

Fortunately, I can also attest to the fact that it’s probably not as difficult as you might imagine. In the world of hardcore coding, HTML and CSS rank pretty low on the barrier to entry scale.

Today we’re going to start a series that examines the basic building blocks of web development. HTML, CSS, JavaScript; if you’re a complete and utter beginner who might not even have a basic grasp of what these technologies are much less how to wield them, then this series is for you.

Mastering Markdown: 30 Resources, Apps and Tutorials to Get You Started

August 23rd, 2011 3 Comments

If you’re like me, learning Markdown has been on your todo list for months. I finally took the plunge and instantly became addicted to sorting through the wealth of resources, apps and other Markdown related materials available.

The following is a collection of the best Markdown resources that I’ve found. Whether you’re a complete Markdown newbie looking to learn the syntax or a seasoned expert in the market for a new iPad app, you’ll find something here that’s perfect for your needs.

Embedding Google Maps Into a Web Page: A Beginner’s Guide

July 27th, 2011 4 Comments

Google Maps is one of the best utilities to ever hit the web. It has become the standard way for people to get directions online, view satellite and terrain imagery and perform any other map-related task.

There are a number of reasons that you would want to embed a Google Map into your web page, whether it be for functional purposes, such as guiding users to your physical location, or aesthetic purposes, such as using map for a background graphic. Today we’re going to look at two ways you can go about this task: the quick and easy way and the powerful, flexible API route.

Why Web Design Books Suck and How to Fix Them

June 1st, 2011 8 Comments

Do you have a list of things that you know you should learn but just haven’t been able to pick up? Have you tried to read through a book or two with no success?

Today we’re going to discuss why you can’t get through those boring web design books, how they should be different and what to look for to leverage the way you actually learn.

How to Link to Specific Points in a Page and Animate the Scroll

May 19th, 2011 14 Comments

You’ve seen it done before, you click a link in the navigation and it takes you not to another page but a specific point within the current page. How is this accomplished? With some extremely basic HTML that you can pick up in a few seconds!

To take it further, we’re also going to see how to animate the transition using a little jQuery.

Weekly Freebies: 180 Incredibly Useful HTML Email Templates

February 1st, 2011 8 Comments

HTML Email has seen mass amounts of debate, not only about how it should be done but even whether it should be done at all. However, the popularity of this medium has shown only growth in recent years. As support from email applications grows, so to does the richness of the designs.

Below we’ve included some of the best and most recent free templates from a number of sources. The templates range from heavily designed to extremely basic so that no matter what you’re looking for, be it a simple layout aid or a nearly finished product, there is something here for you.

Introduction to Developing a Custom Tumblr Blog Theme

January 26th, 2011 6 Comments

Tumblr is the fastest growing blog network on the web today. With the ability to quickly reblog any of your followers’ posts it truly revolutionizes the way we interact with a digtial community. Tumblr has taken the popular dashboard feature and expanded it into a personal blog feed.

Amongst the many popular features of the service is the ability to directly customize the look and feel of your page. Each blog has its own theme which is used to give your page its layout and color scheme. There are plenty of free and paid themes to choose from, but it’s much easier and more fun to create your own.

Deeper Study Into the WWW’s Document Object Model

December 28th, 2010 7 Comments

The Document Object Model is a fundamental part of the World Wide Web. DOM for short, this is a set of API standards which define how a browser should construct a web document and how developers are able to manipulate objects.

We’ll be looking a bit further into how the DOM really works. The model has been around for years and currently resides at DOM level 3 (DOM3 documentation here). There is a DOM4 currently in editor’s draft with some brand new specs coming soon. For now we can focus on a brief understanding of how the object model came into being.
Read More