plainbeta

I am Back - and am Now a Student

2008-10-06T17:48:17Z

Well. Since my last post was in May, I think an apology is due - if there is anyone even reading this blog still.

Over the summer I was a staffer at a summer camp. I must say it was a lot of fun! Though very distracting… I hardly did any web design and (obviously) no blogging. I plan on changing that.

I will now be posting something every Monday.
I also am still working on another theme. And I may have something I like - no promises though.

At any rate.
I am now a college student at Abilene Christian University working on a degree in Information Technology with a minor in Graphic Design and in Bible.
Quick one sentence update on my life.

And now…
Back to homework…
I’ll catch y’all next Monday - and I’ll try Dunno how “spectacular” it’ll really be though…

Whiteboard - A Free Wordpress Theme Framework

2008-09-22T20:44:28Z

When designing Wordpress themes, a large amount of time is spent writing the same code over and over again. I found it annoying. Granted, I know there are themes out there like Elliot Jay Stocks’ Starkers Theme (which I used), but none of them were quite to my style.
Whiteboard is the result.

The Whiteboard theme is the basic framework of Wordpress.

It is designed to speed up the process of designing and coding a Wordpress theme by eliminating the time spent on Wordpress’ back-end PHP that is used in every theme.

Whiteboard is clean, noted, and compact (only 104 KB in size). It includes all the standard PHP tags and PHP files needed for a Wordpress theme - plus a few extras.

It’s free - no strings attached

Feel free to use it for commercial and non-commercial ventures.
You don’t even need to include a “designed by” link! (though I would appreciate a link… )

Files Included: 404.php, archives.php, archives.php, categories.php, comments.php, footer.php, functions.php, header.php, index.php, page.php, search.php, searchform.php, sidebar.php, footer.php, and style.css.

Extra Features:
Categories Page Template
Archives Page Template
Pagination Posts
Socialization Links (Technorati, Stumble it!, Digg, de.licio.us, Yahoo, reddit, Blogmarks, Google, and Magnolia.)

Download Whiteboard now! (downloaded over 1,700 times!)

plainbeta’s New Design - Pier 3

2008-05-08T18:33:23Z

As you can tell, plainbeta looks a little different!
While it doesn’t look like I previously talked about, its new, and custom. So I’m happy.

Why didn’t I use that grid that I was so excited about?
It wasn’t working for me. It’s a great idea, I’m just not ready for it. So that theme will come later.

At any rate.
This design.

The Theme - Pier 3

I have dubbed this theme Pier 3. The three columns and the way they’re formatted just reminded me of a pier jutting out into sea. When I get sick of it I’ll make it available for download as a Wordpress Theme.

Half the time I like it, half the time I don’t - so I’ll probably end up making another one by the end of summer, or the end of the year at the latest.
I already am tossing a few ideas around in my head…

What’s Special about Pier 3?

If you haven’t noticed, the search bar, RSS links, and category links are all contained in a lightweight javascript accordion - though I am considering switching.

Other than that, the color scheme, and the inclusion of PIXELATED, Pier 3 isn’t that different than what I had before.

It’s a nice change, and I hope it keeps me happy until I come up with something else.

It’s still new, so there may be a few bugs here and there - if you see any, let me know.
~~Further more, I’m still working on it… so it’s not quite done… I still need to format the comments a little more. I don’t like how they are now.~~

I also updated my “comprehensive” list of design showcases - it now includes 77 showcases!
I’ll be submitting plainbeta to them all today or tomorrow…

World Design Association Soft Launch

2008-05-03T03:54:15Z

On May 5th the World Design Association will be having its soft launch!
I haven’t worked out all the details, but it’s going to happen.

So What is the World Design Association Anyways?

Well.
It’s rather simple.

The WDA is an archive of designers, a high-quality unique showcase, a design forum, and design blog.
It is meant to be “for designers, by designers” - so y’all can feel free to get involved. Since it is for designers, you will not find a single ad anywhere.

If you would like to learn more about the individual components of the WDA, check out the post: Welcome to the World Design Association (I know… it’s a lame title…)

Something to Look Forward To

With the launch of the WDA (which requires a community), there won’t be much content.
That gives y’all an opprotunity to be featured on main pages, such as the home page, the designer’s home page, and the showcase’s home page.

If you’re interested in getting added to the designers archives, or a web site added to the showcase, or become a guest (or regular) blogger - contact me!

Be sure to come back on the fifth for more info!

If it’s Not Broken, Improve It!

2008-04-25T01:09:08Z

Warning… this may come across as a rant…

Let me give you a hypothetical situation.

You have a blog.
It’s a fairly nice blog…
Your blog has about 200 loyal rss subscribers and a fair amount of daily traffic. You update it 2 to 4 times a week and each post averages over fifty comments per post. The design is a free theme that is not very well known and you customized it to fit your blog - not perfect, but fits very well.
Pretty good right?
Now you can sit back and relax, right?

No.

Never settle for the mediocre.

Always strive to improve - no matter what it is - strive to improve.
If it’s a blog, hunt down more subscribers. If it’s a web site, add more content, features, etc to obtain a larger visitors base. If it’s a hobby, strive to achieve the next level!
Always strive to improve what you have.

How does this apply to design?
Simple.

Look at one of your design works.

Is a pixel off?
Could you add some effects?
Should some be taken away?
Could the content pack a greater punch?
Is there anything that could be improved?

If your answer to any of those questions is yes, then fix it.

Never settle for the mediocre.
Always strive to improve.

There.
Got that off my shoulders…

New IconKit - PIXELATED

2008-04-25T01:08:51Z

PIXELATED is an IconKit I have developed for my upcoming re-design.
Rather than keeping it to myself, I expanded it slightly to 21 total icons and have made it available for download in both dark and light versions.

What’s so special about PIXELATED?
First off, PIXELATED is extremely lightweight - the icon file sizes average 60 bytes!
All icons contain only two colors #222 and #EEE. (I’m considering releasing a developer’s package with PSDs so users can easily customize their colors)
Since the icon’s edges are hard, these transparent GIFs will work on any background.

The icons are free to use - no strings attached.
However, if you link to me, I would greatly appreciate it.
Furthermore, if you use the IconKit, let me know and I may even link to you!

Note: More icons may become available upon request.

How to Use Your Sidebar to the Max

2008-04-23T19:34:24Z

Sidebars are often overlooked, but in truth, an effective sidebar is key to retaining visitors.

Why?
Lemme explain.

With a standard (well designed) web site, visitors can arrive at a page (ideally) within 3 to 4 clicks. The nature of a standard static web site allows the navigation to work that way.
Blogs cannot work that way.

Blogs rely upon new an unique content that is sometimes posting new content 20+ times a day (like Engadget). It is impossible to build a site’s navigation to allot for that much content.

That is where the sidebar comes in.
The sidebar’s purpose is to drive visitors further into your web site.
Not all visitors may be drawn in by the particular posts that happen to be displaying on your home page at the time of their visit. Or even if they do, the sidebar should be designed to further grab their attention and turn a one-time-visitor in to a subscriber.

This requires a well designed and pruned sidebar for your web site.

What Goes in a Sidebar?

Common elements of a sidebar:

RSS Buttons

Search Form

Recent Posts

Advertisements

Popular Posts

A List of Categories

Navigation

Sideblog (a Asides, or Twitter Updates)

Author Info

All blogs are different - therefore what goes into the sidebar will vary from blog to blog.
New blogs won’t be able to have a “Popular Posts” section, some blogs won’t need a Sideblog - all blogs will vary. Some blogs won’t even need their RSS feed in the sidebar if they have it elsewhere!

Use it to the Max

When designing your blog, make a list of all the components you want in your blog (search form, popular posts list, RSS buttons, advertisements, etc.)
Then figure out what is going in the header and footer - what ever isn’t going in either (and is necessary) put it in your sidebar.

More important items should go towards the top.
Items like your RSS buttons, search box, and advertisements should always be above the scroll.
After those items the rest should follow in order of importance.

Each item should be unique and different from one another. Naturally, the more important items should stand out more.

Good Sidebar Designs

ProBlogDesign.com
PSDtuts.com
Skelliewag.org
I Love Typography - though possibly a little big…
Abduzeedo

It comes down to a logical thought process - analyzing your blog’s needs and the options before you.

Further Reading
ProBlogDesign.com’s Sidebar Redesign Thought Process
Sidebar on the Left or Right? - Pro Blog Design
50 Tips to Unclutter Your Blog (Including 27 tips on how to unclutter your sidebar) - Skelliewag

Plugins
Sideblog Plugin
Twitter for Wordpress
Popularity Contest - note, plugin does not work with Wordpress 2.5 as of 4/23/08

Onto Wordpress 2.5

2008-04-09T09:30:16Z

Upgrading Wordpress has been one of my greatest fears since my first upgrade back in October of 2007 - after all, I nearly lost my blog in, what I’ve dubbed, my near Wordpress disaster. For that upgrade, the wonderful Automatic Upgrade Plugin wasn’t working for some reason, so I had to do it manually - nearly resulting in disaster.

However, this time around, the Automatic Upgrade Plugin worked and upgrading was a breeze.

Thoughts on Wordpress 2.5

Though I have only been using Wordpress 2.5 for a few minutes, I must say it’s beautiful. The interface is wonderful - user friendly and very versatile.

The Dashboard’s Re-Design

While the blue is a little too ‘baby blue’ for me…
They layout is extremely well designed and easier to navigate.
There are also many new subtle (and very nice) features - but if you’re curious to what they are… fire up the Automatic Upgrade Plugin and give it a whirl.

My One Problem

I do have one problem with Wordpress 2.5 - though the blame isn’t entirely at the geniuses over at Automattic…

The Popularity Contest plugin does not work. I’m hoping that Alex King (the author of the plugin) fixes it soon - because I would have no clue where to begin.

In the mean time, I look forward to exploring the many new features of Wordpress 2.5 and can’t wait to launch my new look - because this one is really starting to bother me…

plainbeta’s New Look is Finally Coming

2008-04-09T08:13:17Z

Yep.
The time has finally arrived.
I am seriously going to have a fully custom look for plainbeta.com.

I have it drawn up in PSD format and have a static XHTML and CSS version.
Over the next few weeks I am going to start putting it in a format for Wordpress. It’ll take a while because I have a bunch of custom feature I am going to employ.

In the mean time I thought I’d share a preview.

plainbeta’s new look is going to be a dark grid based layout.
The grid is absolutely beautiful, I am surprised I came up with it.

There it is - though I have all of the content fields covered. So it doesn’t look that great… but the grid is still beautiful.
It shall be employing a few elements I have never seen used and several that I rarely see.
So this layout could be considered an experiment - I hope it goes well.

I am also still working on the World Design Association and the blog should be ready by the end of the week with the launch to come a few weeks after that.
I’ll keep y’all updated on that.

Until next time!
brianpurkiss

Photoshop World 2008 Update

2008-04-02T22:29:44Z

Hey y’all!

I’m at Photoshop World and I’m loving it!

Unfortunately, both the convention centre and my hotel don’t have free wireless internet - and I’m not about to pay $24.95 to use the internet for one day.

~~So unfortunately I won’t be able to post updates, tutorials, and the like until I get back. (I’m using a computer Photoshop World provided)~~
UPDATE: I have found a free hotspot!
I will probably post about the Adobe Keynote later tonight. Right now I’m tired and I’m going to go up to my room, take a nap, and prep the post.

I have a lot of material that I want to share.
Look forward to a post-a-day for at least a week when I get back!

For a quick teaser of all the cool stuff I’m seeing… Check out Adobe’s latest free service: Photoshop Express
I got to see the Adobe Keynote that unveiled this internet marvel!
I’ll post an overview of that when I can.

Until then!
brianpurkiss