We have a client, that requested to have the last comment posted to a particular post, display on the index.php page inside that post. (Confused? I am.)

Hmmm… after exploring the webs, the internets, and the Expression Engine knowledge base we came up empty (see this thread). Not that others hadn’t asked and tried, but we found no solutions. Evidently, this is an “EE” no-no, showing comments is for post perma link pages only.

Well I have news, James, one of our smart/talented developers, formulated a solution.

This will allow you to show an excerpt of the last comment in a post on the index.php page. Great job, James!

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Fact is most users that visit such a site are there for just a few reasons. One is to find out how to contact your business or get directions. The other is to get a little more information about your products or services. That’s it! This is the reality for most web sites. When’s the last time you have read through in depth case studies presented on a companies web site . . . Aaaaah, NEVER!

The Golden Rule is give the users what they want. Given this fact, I often wonder why more business’ don’t opt for a simpler approach, I have my theories. But why not consider a one page web site?

In the past, “brochure” sites were rather uninspiring and offered a fairly flat user experience. But, one page sites today can contain a wealth of information and functionality. With the deft use of social networking sites, Content Management System software, Ajax and Java Script one page sites can match the same user experience as multi page sites with only half the hassle and cost.

So say for instance, your a restaurant, you could easily posts events, promos and/or daily specials, display menus, link in Google maps for directions, offer an in-page contact form, hook in your Flickr (see sidebar) or Picasa account for displaying photos, and even offer a guest feedback form all within one page. Page navigation is handled with links, like on any site, but happens within one page with a really slick Java Script scroll or you could opt for collapsing boxes or the like.

Honestly, why don’t I think business owners opt for the one page site? Sometimes I think it’s ego, sometimes I think it’s just habit. But there are some real advantages to one page sites. Most importantly COST! From a development and design end it’s faster and easier to develop, design, host and manage one page sites. And when things are easier they are CHEAPER! Additionally, you don’t have to spend hours righting pages of content. Generally, speaking getting content out of client can be an ordeal. So why not minimize the headaches and focus on what your site visitors really want and what will bring your business results.

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Last night we sat down to watch the video documentary Helvetica and at some point, the realization dawned on me, “Hey I am watching a movie about a typeface and I am enjoying it!” None the less, Helvetica is a must see movie for anyone, designer or non-designer alike.

Neue Haas Grotesk, or Helevetica, isn’t just any type face (font) it’s all pervasive, from the logos of the biggest corporations and ordinary signage to your computers system default fonts and one of just a few fonts considered “web safe.” Helvetica follows the journey of Neue Haas Grotesk from creation, to it’s demise at the hands of the “Anything But Helvetica” (ABH) crowd, to it’s rise again in the computer and internet world. A handful of graphic and font designers talk about the profound effect Helvetica has had the way we view and perceive the world.

Don’t miss this opportunity to experience a little designer geek. You’ll enjoy the ride!

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10 Essential Design Tips!

1. The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of It’s Parts. Consider the ideas or values you want to convey through your web site or blog. Make a list! For example, is it important for clients see you as professional and serious, or can you afford a little sense of humor? Do users see your product/services as dynamic, fresh, and youthful? When you determine these values think about how to represent visually, to provide a cohesive statement about your product or services.



2. Less Is More. Edit! Edit! Edit! Having a good editor makes for great design. Don’t make the mistake of trying to jam everything . . . I mean EVERYTHING! onto your web site. Be succinct and get to the point. Allow space for good design to happen.
3. Let Your Width Out. Still stuck at 750px? Most users screen size and resolutions can accommodate larger sites. Try expanding the width of your site up to 900–1,000px.



4. Control Your Color Palette. Controlling your color palette is critical in composing a site that looks uniformed and well thought out. Most of the sites I design start with two primary colors and one accent color. I may add a few shades (primary color plus, black or white) for variety, but don’t overdo it. Use your accent color to add a little pop!
5. White Space and Lots of It! White space is important. Having a web site with lots of white space keeps the user from being overwhelmed and makes your site more user friendly. Increase you body font size and your line height (space between lines) for greater readability. Also, provide plenty of space between design elements. Reading from a monitor can be tiring but adding white space will make your design easy on the eyes.
6. Group Things. Strong design is a process of organization. The key to organizing is the careful grouping of elements. Look at your overall design and make sure similar items, ideas, and themes relate to one another. Use design elements and spacing to correlate relationships.
7. Create a Clear Center of Interest. Create a visual hierarchy that adds interest and pulls the user to certain areas of your page. Avoid designs that have an all over feel. Decide what’s most important and make it larger, bolder, and more prominent. Use other visual cues to direct the user to secondary elements.



8. Use Strong Images Nothing kills a good design faster than bad photography and visuals. Make room in your budget to hire a professional photographer or illustrator. Don’t rely on your brother-in-law Sal just because he will do it for FREE!
9. Don’t Forget the Details. Adding small design elements to your pull quotes, list items, category listings, and so on will add the final bit of polish to your site. Don’t overdo it, but a few well placed graphical elements can go a long way to giving your site a professional, well thought out appearance.
10. Finally . . . Avoid Things that Flash, Scroll, or Blink. It wasn’t long ago that almost every web page on the planet had some kind of flashing, blinking, or scrolling going on. These effects (including copious amounts of Flash animation) maybe effective at first. But users soon tire of the Flash animation that plays every time they reload a page and an element that once created interest, NOW becomes plainly annoying!

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What RSS Means For You

What can “RSS” do for you? Wash the dishes, clean the house, pick the kids up from soccer practice? . . . Well almost . . . LOL . . . RSS allows you to subscribe to a web sites feed and new content will be delivered to you via your “feed reader” (more on those in a minute). The advantage to you is that you do not have to take the time to check back at a web site to see if there is anything new, the web site sends the new information to you. If your like me and visit a number of web sites on a regular basis it’s a huge time saver.

How To Grab A Feed

Generally, there are two ways to receive a feed. All you need to do is click on the “sexy orange icon” in your browser address bar and it will display the address of the RSS feed in the browser window such as, >>bhggraphicdesign.com/blog/feed/<<. Copy and paste this address into your feed reader and you should be all set. Or some sites offer a feed manager service (like we use for cabinfever) such as Feed Burner, if so, the feed manager will have a selection of feed readers. Choose your reader and the feed manager will do the rest, loading the feed subscription into your feed reader.

My Feed Reader? What’s that?

To receive a RSS feed you need an aggregator or a “feed reader”. So now your heads spinning?! Don’t worry getting a feed reader is easy and Google offers a great one. Wikipedia also has links to about 20-25 different client or web based feed readers. Choose the one that works best for you and reflects how you use the web.

More On Google Reader

I use Google Reader because I receive about 15-20 feeds from my favorite sites (news, professional web sites, fun, etc . . . ) And since I am on the internet everyday (occupational hazard!) reading my feeds via web browser is the most convenient for me. I have Firefox set to open Google Reader when ever I launch my browser. It’s like opening the newspaper every morning.

Other Feed Readers

One advantage to using a web based reader, such as Google Reader, is that it let’s you access your feeds from any computer that has an internet connection, so whether you are at your computer or not you can always access your feed subscriptions. Google Reader is my choice for a feed reader but any web based reader will offer similar functionality. However, you may find a client side feed reader may suite your needs better. For instance, if you want to have your feeds downloaded so that you can read your feeds off line. Just think of a feed reader like your email client. Email clients like Outlook, Thunderbird, Entourage are client based email applications. Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo mail, and so on, are web based email solutions.

What Are You Waiting For?

RSS feeds are a great tool to help you keep up with important content and before long they will be as common place as email. So take a deep breath, and jump in the pool, before you know it you will be receiving the feed from International Talk Like A Pirate Day web site! Just kidding they actually don’t offer an RSS feed.

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Standards Help Ensure Accessibility

The W3c standards work to try ensure a uniform and consistent user experience regardless of your browser, connection speed, screen size, user physical limitations, and so on. On that note, I said to Brendan, “Just like business’ are required to provide access to clients, customers, and guests regardless of physical limitations, the day would come when web sites would HAVE TO guarantee they provided access to users with certain limitations too. And business’ would be subject to lawsuits when their sites failed to provide access to users.”

Class Action Lawsuit Against Target

What I thought was a future concern, is now squarely here today, as reported by the LA Times on October 3rd, 2007:

Target Corp., the second-largest U.S. discount store chain, lost a bid Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the company’s website wasn’t accessible to the blind.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in San Francisco rejected Target’s request to dismiss the case. She also certified the case as a class action, ruling that all legally blind people in the U.S. who have been denied access to services at Target stores because of deficiencies in the company’s website can join the suit. Read Full Article

It is rare for a clients to ask, “What will (insert name of your favorite web design company here) do to ensure users with physical limitations can access our site?” But can you afford to ignore this issue? If so, for how much longer? The case against Target has gotten the go ahead to go to court and if the plaintiffs win expect more to follow.

What Will This Mean for You?

At the very least, it may entail a costly redesign of your current web site. So why not ask these questions now? At some point, as more of the world jumps on the web this issue will come to the forefront. So doesn’t it make good business sense to be ahead of the curve? I know for my business it does! Are we (bhg) completely there yet? . . . No and neither is the W3c. But, the W3c has drafted guidelines called the Web Accessibility Intiative (WAI). For bhg GRAPHIC DESIGN this means, validating our sites xhtml 1.0 “strict”, working to make our coding of web sites as light and flexible as possible, and keeping abreast on current recommendations regarding accessibility guidelines.

The Bottom Line

Why should your company worry about web standards? Here’s 5 reasons why:

1. Maintenance and adding additional content is much easier. Faster/less manitanence = less $, when your site uses CSS and xhtml, rather than table based layout.
2. You ensure the greatest number of users can and will access your content. More users = more $$.
3. Standards based design works to minimize code and file sizes which allows your site to load faster. Better user experience = more $$$.
4. Search engines can read clean well structured mark up better, ensuring higher search engine rankings and relevance. More traffic = more $$$$.
5. Standards are the best bet that your current site will be compatible with future web technology. Re-designs = BIG $$$$$.

And who knows, a standards complaint site may save you from future litigation!

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Business Week

Business Week on how blogs will change they way you do business.

Jim Horton

Daily entries on Public Relations and communications ideas and trends.

Snap Shots

These great tools can be used to rev up your user interface on your blog or web site.

The Dove Self Esteem Fund

A great link sent to me by a client. Campaign for Real Beauty takes on the beauty industry and our images of women and beauty.

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