Advertise here with BSA

Video players both HTML5 and flash-based are becoming more popular. Faster Internet connections are leading towards a full technological breakthrough all around the world. We are now able to share content with people in almost every country – and streaming video is one of the cornerstones to Internet media.

I want to look into just a few video player styles from some popular social networking websites. Of course YouTube is known as one of the titans in the industry. But there are some other savvy companies and startups which are pushing the boundaries for online video players. The user interface design is a very important concept and it is worth a deeper study.

Trilulilu

The Romanian social networking website Trilulilu has been online for a long time. Their features allow users to upload photos, audio, and video contents which are stored and streamed out of their servers. What I especially like about their webpage design is the custom media player styles which match up perfectly to the website’s branding.

If you check out the bottom interface buttons you will see they are all flush and square with each other. Everything is organized very neatly and precise. Some videos will come with an HD button for streaming in high definition. You also have access to a side menu for swiping between similar videos or other types of popular media.

I do not think Trilulilu has found the perfect video player solution. But I greatly admire their current design because it just works. And that is all you can ever ask for when building & launching your new projects online. You just need everything to work properly and stay online, then update as you go along. Trilulilu is a good example of stability when crafting a working video player.

Dailymotion

The video player styles on Dailymotion are more familiar and related to the general format of other similar Flash players. Each video page will have a small lightbulb icon for dimming the background – just like we used to have on YouTube. This is nice if you do not want to make the player fullscreen since all the text and featured videos will be hidden in contrast.

All of the buttons and icons are translucent for being hidden over the player. I also like how these videos are naturally bigger than other sources. Just because you can put something fullscreen doesn’t mean that the player itself should be resized smaller than natural. What I like most about Dailymotion is their modern design essence. You can look and understand what theme their designers are going for. Dailymotion is an excellent choice for mirroring videos hosted on other places, since they can stream out to a worldwide audience.

Niconico

The niconico Japanese video network is extremely popular overseas. Quite obviously the majority of content is from Japan and features Japanese users, music, pop culture, and other similar references. My biggest problem with the website is that you must sign up for an account to watch any videos.

Obviously the signup process is completely free. But it can still be a major annoyance when you consider that other similar networks do not require such restrictions. The video player itself is made for the user. Each of the buttons is very large, making it easy to click and easy to determine what it does. The video scrubber bar is a bit smaller than the other icons. But it is still easy to access and skip along to different parts in the video.

I think it is worth considering all of the different features on a video player before determining which are worthwhile and which are not. You have to think about your own needs and how your website can function at its best. Unfortunately I have yet to find the perfect answer, but just keep trying and you are bound to figure out a great UI design for your next project.

Closing

Not every web developer will need to manage videos. The Internet is a very diverse place with lots of different types of media. But for those who are interested you have to keep yourself digging for better ideas and better design concepts. I hope this article may introduce just a few ideas to help on future projects. Also feel free to share other web video players & resources in the post comments.

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Building your own website is certainly a task in-and-of itself. But to then fill up your website will useful content and get those pages indexed into Google is a completely separate task. The obligations are much different and SEO factors a big role into the equation. But webmasters should feel comfortable writing their own copy and putting together pages with great content.

There cannot be any single rule that always tends to work. But we can look at trends over time and see how other websites have followed things in the past. Also don’t be afraid to do your own research on this topic, either. Hit Google and try searching for keywords related to your own niche. Study what is already out there and make a note of things that you could be doing better than the competition.

Pinpoint your Ideas

When you have the task of writing multiple articles on similar topics it will help to split up different ideas into categories. Try writing them down or saving a document with all your listed ideas, and then put them together in an organized draft. It is especially a good idea to list your talking points if the article is intended to be a long, detailed process.

If I am sitting down to write a longer piece I will also go out into Google and do research to see what else is out there. You should know who you are competing with and what the results are for your targeted keywords. If there are lots of results with poor-quality websites then it should be easier for you to capitalize on these keywords.

Google can be very lenient with rankings. Be sure and check out their Webmaster Tools if you are curious about tracking your top keywords and where your website ranks on the page. The best method of securing your place in Google is by predicting which areas need more attention with more useful content, then writing your webpages to fit that description.

Build Writing off your Titles

The HTML title tag is very important because this is what Google users will read before anything else. It should be obvious if you have ever used Google before that top keywords will appear bold in the title and description, as well as the domain name. But most people have become self-trained to only skim the description and really look at what the title says.

Write your web copy based off the initial title tags and their own meanings. Try to add more narrative and talking points which will draw readers deeper into your page. The whole idea of valuable web content implies that you are writing something which contains helpful information on a given topic. You should be adding your own personal touch into the large pool of resources to be found on the Internet.

But never forget that your title tag is the one indicator explaining what your entire page is about. People will naturally associate with this whether you mean it or not. Sometimes it is better to split articles into 2 or 3 different ideas, so they each have their own page full of talking points.

Including Digital Media

Think of some really great websites that you frequently visit for information. Often times it will be the design style, the website layout, and the color scheme which is superior than other alternatives. The text styles and content layout is easier to read and so you would prefer their method over any other.

Keep yourself in this mindset when building content and you will not stray too far off the path. Understanding which styles are “best” for your website is all about repetition. A custom web font may be a solution for spicing up an otherwise bland website. Please also consider the use of digital media aside from text like images or videos.

If you can illustrate a point better than tell it, find some space to include that illustration! Graphics and charts are sometimes much more handy than words. But it doesn’t take much effort to ruin the page using too many graphics. Test the ideas in your head first and determine if the graphics will be a good fit on the page. Does the extra media help to define your content? Ask questions from the reader’s point of view – your writing will turn out much stronger and easier to understand.

Final Thoughts

Keywords and meta tags are always going to be a cornerstone to good SEO practices. But when you delve deeper into the idea of content curation then we have to start thinking about how writers are publishing stuff on the web. Google indexes millions of pages every day and domain rankings also play a big part in how your website appears to others.

I do hope these ideas for writing content may be applied into your other works. It is not an easy process but those who are well-versed in writing and reading comprehension will understand the subtle differences in writing styles. And as you practice more in a specific niche the writing will get easier and more understandable. Keep up with your own works and if you have any questions or ideas feel free to share with us in the post discussion area below.

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Food pictures have become one of the more prominent forms of photography. Years ago no one took the time to photograph food as a hobby but with the growth of picture focused blogs and mobile devices it has become the primary focus for a lot of photographers. Today we are featuring 20 awesome examples of fruit photography. Enjoy!

1. A Glimpse Of Summer

2. Red, White and Blue

3. Summer Berry Fruit Salad

4. The Fruit of Summer

5. Think different

6. Sweetwater

7. Strawberry Basket

8. HAHA i’m taller

9. My first strawberries of this season

10. Mmm diet

11. Fruit cube

12. Fruit Plate

13. Mangoes

14. Fruit Salad

15. Fruit

16. Eid Mubarak

17. Dragon Fruit

18. A frolic of fruit

19. Pitanga fruit

20. Fruit cocktail

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Tumblr is an online social network for blogging and connecting with other users. It is easy to post new photos and reblog what others have posted. I really like this system because of the Dashboard UI, which displays all the latest reblogs from everybody you follow. It is much different than Facebook or Twitter and you can share all types of media, from text to videos and audio too.

But what about the option of using a Tumblr blog for your company? The idea is very popular among new startups which are not interested in hosting their blog locally. This provides an external resource for managing company updates. And users who are on Tumblr may follow your blog to keep themselves in the loop with new posts. I’ll share just a few benefits to using a Tumblr blog and why it may be a good choice for your company.

External Hosting

The concerns of keeping your website up is a more hassle-free way to live. Granted this also comes with the burden of nervousness when Tumblr is having server issues or shuts down for maintenance. But it still gives you a distinct freedom which cannot be applied to managing your own blog.

I think that founders and company CEOs need to decide what their priorities are based on. Would you rather have your own internal team of server administrators to keep your website online? Or even if you want to pay a 3rd party webhosting company, you may still need to handle your own local data backups and renewals for the domains & hosting package. Tumblr is completely free and even offers a custom subdomain if you don’t have your own.

The external service also means you are not constantly working to keep the site updated. When WordPress releases a new version you should consider updating to patch any vulnerabilities or security holes. The same goes for plugins and other WP themes which receive updates. Just remember that while Tumblr can manage a good portion of the nitty-gritty tech stuff, this will remove a lot of control from your team.

Large Existing Memberbase

Consider the amount of people who use Tumblr on a daily basis. Many of these people run 2 or more blogs from the same account! They are constantly checking for new posts and updating with new content, which brings in more users to the network.

When you launch your company blog on Tumblr you can start following similar accounts related to your own interests. People will often check their new followers and follow back if they like your blog or product. Since the company blog will not require a whole lot of marketing, you can use this large network to your own advantage. Do not be afraid of reaching out to other members and letting them know about what you are creating.

Advanced Publishing Features

In comparison to WordPress you can have access to a lot of new features. The Tumblr backend is magnificent for allowing users to upload and store photos, smaller videos, audio files, and photo galleries. WordPress may be customized to handle these post types but it will take a lot more work.

Overall I think that Tumblr is a great choice if you know how to use it. Their services are completely free and you have the ability to redirect onto your own custom domain name. It is a fantastic option since your users will not notice much of a difference. And the people who are using Tumblr may now follow your blog to keep updated on all your new company posts.

Closing

I feel that Tumblr is a generally misunderstood network. There are so many various purposes and uses for their functionality. And because of this we can see a major divide between users in the overall member base. However it is worth your time to learn the system and see how it can give you a stress-free alternative to writing blog posts. If you have similar ideas or questions feel free to share with us in the discussion area below.

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Clean and clear design for User Interface in Mobile, Tablet and Web can make or brake a concept.
No matter how complicated your idea, action or steps is, you need to simplify and translate it to easy UI elements that are:
1. Large and easy to touch or click
2. Clear for their function

Visit Source

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Dear Editor,

Would our new Artlandia SymmetryMill, a web application for
pattern design, be of interest to those of your readers who wish
to create a unique patterns as a part of identity building for
their web sites and elsewhere?

SymmetryMill is the newest member of Artlandia’s family of
pattern design tools. The earlier Adobe plug-ins SymmetryWorks
and SymmetryShop are already widely used by professional
designers everywhere. SymmetryMill goes the next step and makes
the pattern creation process simple for “the rest of us.”

The app also integrates with a new web repository of
repeating patterns called “Pattern Central.” Users can share
their work to the repository and load patterns back in
SymmetryMill to learn how the patterns were created and improve
them further.

SymmetryMill works in Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari
and other popular browsers on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

A one-year subscription to SymmetryMill costs $69. A free
limited version is also available for creating patterns from a
demo image and viewing patterns on Pattern Central. Access to
Pattern Central is also free.

The main pointers:
- Press release and screenshots:

http://artlandia.com/company/press/pr/SymmetryMill1.html

- Product pages: http://www.artlandia.com/products/SymmetryMill/
- Pattern Central: http://www.artlandia.com/share/i/

If you would like to review SymmetryMill, we would be happy to
provide a NFR subscription.

Thank you for your interest in Artlandia SymmetryMill.

Olga Bakshee
Director of Marketing
Artlandia, Inc.

http://artlandia.com

Visit Source

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

This tutorial is done in Adobe Illustrator CS5.
Level: Beginners to intermediate
Time: One hour
Even if you don’t have much experience with Adobe Illustrator you can create this icon and use it for your mobile, tablet, or web site icons.

Visit Source

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Today I wanted to focus on the best WordPress themes that are built similar to Pinterest, these Pinterest themes mostly use the jQuery masonry layout and WordPress custom post types to display the content in a similar fashion to Pinterest.

Visit Source

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA

Advertise here with BSA