This post continues the excellent write-up by Andy Fielder about installing Magento on a 1&1 Shared Server. Following his guide results in a workable install of Magento.

However, on the frontend every URL will contain that pesky “index.php.” So instead of “yoursite.com/account/manage” you’ll have “yoursite.com/index.php/account/manage”. Not good. After much trawling through the forums, I eventually found enough info to make an educated guess at the solution. And here it is:

Firstly, enable URL rewrites. You can do this on the install page or, if you’ve installed Magento already, by navigating through System > Configuration > Web > Search Engines Optimization and setting “Use Web Server Rewrites” to “Yes.”

Now comes the fiddly part. In your .htaccess, locate the line that says RewriteRule .* index.php [L]. You need to change this to RewriteRule . /index.php [L]. If you’ve installed Magento in a subdirectory (such as “yoursite.com/shop”), you’ll need to change it to RewriteRule . /shop/index.php [L]. Hey presto, you’ve got search engine-friendly URLs on a 1&1 shared server. Boom!

Well hello world! This website has been a while in the making, and today we launch in beta. If you do notice any bugs or glitches, please leave a comment with the details. If you’re still using Internet Explorer 6, you’ll get no love as I’ve formally ditched all IE6 support. Sorry guys, but IE6 is from a different century, exposes you to phishing and scamming attacks, and is holding back the evolution of the web.

A little bit about me

It actually feels quite good dropping the “Royal We” I’ve used around the rest of this site. During the copywriting process, I spent a lot of time leaning out of the window gazing expectantly at the sky, wondering why the Red Arrows had failed to fly over, again. At least I made some friends, albeit distant ones, during the hours I spent gazing down at the hustle and bustle of the Old Street roundabout, louchley rotating my wrist at passers-by. So, this is me, wannabe Queen of Web Design in Shoreditch. I live just at the bottom of City Road, where the glittering ooze from the City of London seeps into the colourful rapids of Hoxton and East London. I’ve been working as a Freelance Web Designer for a year and half now, and the launch of .web{devign} signals the proper birth of my web design business.

This blog

I’ve learnt a huge amount reading tutorials and articles that other web designers have written. Open source doesn’t just apply to software and code; in this industry, knowledge is open source too. I will share code snippets, tips, tricks and the occasional tutorial on this blog, and hopefully help somebody somewhere get to grips with web design.

Responsive Web Design

This site embraces Ethan Marcotte’s new approach to web design. It uses images with flexible widths, and is constructed on a fluid grid. This means you can view it on a 44″ cinema display or a mobile phone, and you’ll always get an optimised layout. Responsive web design poses a number of challenges that the fixed-width designer usually avoids. A simple jQuery image slider, as seen on the homepage, becomes very complicated indeed when you’re having to think about widths and heights as percentages instead of simple pixels. But if it saves you from having to code an entirely new mobile version of the site, it’s definitely worth the extra work.

It’s wonderful to see web design evolving to fit its medium. Designing for the web means designing for an infinite combination of operating systems, browser versions, screen resolutions and accessibility devices. As designers we must embrace this sea of difference, and code sites that sail smoothly over it, rather than getting buffeted about by the winds of change, and sunk under the fast-rising tide of tablets, mobiles, and internet-enabled TVs. Responsive web design is the future, and I’m very proud to embrace it.

So please Web Surfers, browse around the site, explore, and do let me know what you think. I eagerly anticipate your feedback.