Resource Mania

7 Useful PSD to WordPress Tutorials

Resource Mania Editorial — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:52:10 +0000

For those beginners who are daunted by the seemingly complicated process of making a WordPress theme, below we present 7 useful tutorials for converting images to themes.

1. So You Want to Create WordPress Themes?

2. How to Create WP Themes From Scratch Part 1

5. From Photoshop to WordPress Part I

6. Converting PSD to WordPress Themes

Another alternative to slicing and converting PSDs is to download Divine, a beta program that creates themes from photoshop. Unfortunately, the program is only available to Windows users, but it will soon be released for Mac users. You can download it here.

Screencast: Regular Expression Libraries

Resource Mania Editorial — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:08:57 +0000

As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Often times, in our various articles, we only explain how to use resources through words. In order to facilitate the reader, we decided to now add a new dimension to Resource Mania: screencasts. These video presentations will add simple visual aids and help to explain the use of new tools.

In today’s 3 minute screencast, we present regular expressions libraries. This following tutorial will take you through the process of entering a library, finding the necessary code, and implementing it directly into PHP. Once you have viewed this tutorial, we hope that you will understand how to validate data through regular expressions.

We strongly recommend that you view the following video in HD by clicking the button in the bottom right hand corner.

Thank you for watching. We would love to hear your feedback through the comment form below!

10 PHP References and Tutorials

Resource Mania Editorial — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:44:33 +0000

In the past few weeks, we have provided you with JavaScript and CSS references. To continue with this trend, we thought it would be wise to do the same for PHP. Before we begin, what exactly is PHP?

Put in a nutshell, PHP is a server-side scripting language that enables web developers to validate forms, create forums, make blog systems (WordPress), automate e-mail, and much more. Its uses are just as massive and applicable to web design as those of JavaScript.

With this versatility comes complexity. If you have not programmed before, PHP may be hard to understand. Even if you are comfortable with it, you might find yourself looking at the online manual more than once.

In this article, we present 10 PHP References and Tutorials. Hopefully, these websites will make it easy for you to understand PHP without returning to the documentation frequently.

1. PHP Cheat Sheet

2. PHP Sting Functions

3. PHP Tutorial

4. PHP with MySQL Tutorial

5. MySQL Cheat Sheet

6. PHP Advanced Regular Expressions

7. Object Oriented PHP

8. PHP Predefined Variables

9. PHP References Explained

10. How to Use PHP Namespaces

Thank you for reading and good luck with your new PHP abilities!

JavaFX

Resource Mania Editorial — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:58:16 +0000

Many web developers who want to add interactive content to their sites are not able to invest in Macromedia Flash. An easier and cheaper solution would be to use JavaFX, a client platform that creates RIAs or rich internet applications. With JavaFX, you can create applications for computers, mobile phones, and other devices.

JavaFX is a scripting language built for the Java Platform. To build applications, you need the JDK, Java Development Kit 6 update 11 or above.

Eclipse and NetBeans IDE can build and preview JavaFX programs. Sun offers several bundles that incorporate JavaFX functionality into given programs.

Developers who wish to use command line or other tools can download the standalone SDK. All downloads are available here.

The JavaFX script is easy to learn and is geared toward web developers. Its syntax reflects the visual content of the application and requires no prior programming knowledge. Tutorials for using JavaFX can be accessed here.

JavaFX supports animation, audio, web services (such as Flickr), and media streaming (video and music). Probably the most useful feature of this language is its ability to “bind”. With this feature, synchronizing several data states to user actions becomes extremely easy.

One of the downsides of using JavaFX is that it takes a good amount of time to load as do many other Java applications, such as web applets. Even so, this scripting language is highly suggested by Resource Mania for developers who want to access their clients on multiple platforms without excessive expenses.

11 Regular Expression Testers

Resource Mania Editorial — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:09:01 +0000

Regular expressions can be a great help when sifting through a string of information. They provide an excellent alternative to multiple hand-written comparisons. Unfortunately, they are usually tough to read and debug.

In this article, we present 11 regular expression testers. Each one of these tools will help you debug and validate your regular expressions. Not only will they save you time, but they will do so for free. In addition, most are browser-based, allowing you to use them without downloads. Let’s get started…

1. JavaScript Regular Expression Tester

2. Regular Expression Utility

3. RegexPal

4. RegExr

5. Regex Tester Add-on for Firefox

6. Regular Expression Test Tool

7. JAVA Regular Expression Tester

8. Regular Expression Validator

9. Ruby Regex Tester

10. RegJex

11. Regex Tester

Good luck with your regular expression testing!

7 JavaScript Tutorials and References

Resource Mania Editorial — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:29:57 +0000

JavaScript is an excellent way to provide readers with an enhanced user experience. It can be very beneficial to add subtle animations and effects. Often times, users will prefer dynamic and upgraded content over a white page.

Unfortunately, not everyone knows or can use JavaScript efficiently. Thus, this post will go over 7 JavaScript tutorials and references in order to heighten your coding ability. Follow along as we present important resources to give you a strong foundation.

1. Tizag JavaScript Tutorial

2. W3 JavaScript Introduction

3. Brown’s JavaScript Guide

4. HowToCreate’s JavaScript Resource

5. Quirksmode’s JavaScript Reference

6. JavaScript Basics

7. Eloquent Javascript Book

Learning JavaScript is just a few steps away!

6 Free Text Replacement Systems

Resource Mania Editorial — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:35:26 +0000

As a designer, you often want the best for your sites. Graphics, code, and typography are just a few elements which need to be customized. Unfortunately, when it comes to typography, not all fonts are supported by users. Although some may see your site in full glory, others may have a hard time with the obscure typefaces. Thus, text replacement systems were created.

Text replacement is a way for designers to replace certain parts of their content with images that contain elaborate fonts. This is usually accomplished through dynamic JavaScript, leaving the content completely visible to search engines. In this post, we present 6 free text replacement systems that can solve your typography problems.

1. sIFR 2.0

2. sIFR Lite

3. typeface.js

4. cufon

5. flir

6. P+C DTR

Have fun using new fonts!

8 Free Web Communication Applications

Resource Mania Editorial — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:21:45 +0000

Web designers often do not meet their clients face to face. Even so, the designer still needs to be able to connect with his or her clients.

Below we present 8 free web communication applications so you never have to get up from your computer when you need to discuss with your clients. The applications below include document, calendar, and photo sharing, web conferencing, multiple protocol chat programs, and more.

1. Google Applications

2. Zoho Web Suite

3. Skype (Computer Calls)

4. Open Office Suite

5. Vyew Web Conferencing

6. Pidgin (Chat Client)

7. Meebo (Web Chat Client)

8. Digsby (Chat Client)

10 Amazing Photo Galleries

Resource Mania Editorial — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:14:49 +0000

Using photo galleries is an excellent way to display your sites images creatively and interactively. Below, we present 10 amazing photo galleries. Using these to display photos, graphic design pieces, or other images will draw in more visitors and boost your site’s popularity.

1. Flickr Slideshow

2. Lightbox 2

3. Flash Gallery

4. Suckerfish HoverLightBox

5. Spry Framework Gallery

6. Postcard Viewer

7. Simple Viewer

8. Slide Show

9. FL Show

10. Ajax Image Gallery

Popular Website Trends

Resource Mania Editorial — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:35:10 +0000

For the past few years, website designs have become more image-based and depend heavily on photo shopped images. Websites are also transforming to bring in real life elements, such as a desktop layout, or center around large graphic designs. This list of trends includes new development tactics that attract visitors and designs that have been pervading the web. Regardless of whether you like these new changes or not, you can look over this gallery of trends and come up with new ideas for your site or measure up your old school site with the competition.

Below we present 9 popular website trends. Feel free to use these to try and blend in with the rest of the crowd or to avoid looking like everyone else.