Last week we published a review of Paul Boag’s new book “Website Owner’s Manual” and offered readers the opportunity to win one of six free copies courtesy of Manning Publications. To enter all you had to do was leave your best website owner’s tip in the comments. With over 50 tips by the deadline Paul’s job wasn’t easy.

Here in no particular order are the six winning tips for website owner’s chosen by Paul. If you have won please forward your full name and mailing address from the email you gave when entering your comment to thinkvitamin@carsonified.com.

1. Jackie
   My tip is – sometimes it’s OK to ignore tips :) But first, you have to do your research and know what you want to accomplish and who you are doing it for.

   Otherwise you won’t know which tips to ignore and which to follow in your particular project.

2. Glennette Clark
   My number one tip for web site owners is to have a content strategy.

   Oftentimes, content gets the short stick in lieu of design, when it should really be the other way around.Web site owners should know their audiences, know what they want to read, and know how to present it to them.

   Without some kind of upfront discussion about content, the web site becomes a place for pretty pictures and not an effective tool for building brands and building businesses.

3. Greg Wolkins
   My #1 tip is *Be Responsive*. Be eager to engage with your readers/customers/viewers. If someone leaves a comment, starts a discussion, has a question, etc, be sure to respond quickly. Let them know that you are paying attention and are receptive to their input.

   Even if it’s just to say “I don’t know, let me look into that and get back to you”. A site that appears to be abandoned will quickly be forgotten.

4. Cornelius Bergen
   My tip would be to never assume that once the site or a feature goes live it’s done. Your site will require regular attention like a garden.

   Every feature launched on the site is like a seed and without nurturing, it will die. And sometimes you’ll need to pull out things that are just wasting space.

5. Dan Millar
   My number one tip for website owners is don’t over complicate your site. Spend time at the start planning your content and functionality. Then sit back, read through, and strip out anything which isn’t absolutely necessary.

   Once the site is launched keep reviewing your analytics, if features aren’t being used either investigate why and adjust your architecture (if business critical feature) or strip it out.

6. Jeff
   My Tip is always keep the goal and the purpose of your website in mind, especially when adding features.

   If you keep your content good, and your site simple and easy to use people will come back again and again.

We live in a world saturated with stories, then one day along came the web and suddenly anyone could design, write for and contribute to a mass of websites, and storytelling got lost in the mix.

This needn’t be the case though. Storytelling is the most powerful way of organising and communicating information so it lends itself nicely to the web, we just have to think of more appropriate ways of telling stories online and this can be achieved in several ways.

Know your story and your audience

Don’t assume you know your audience. Invest the time in finding out who is visiting your site and what their goals will be. Once you know this you can think about the story you want your site to tell.

For a small design studio for example, it might be the story of how the company came to exist and the work they do and the people they do it for. Every business has a story to tell.

When you are clear about the audience and story you will be able to tell it in the most appropriate way.

Vital to any project is thinking about the story at the beginning, it is too late when you reach the end or when design visuals are signed off, the story should be part of the process from conception to implementation.

The words you use and how you use them

Once you know your audience and story you can then convey this literally in the words you use. There doesn’t have to be a strict narrative but consideration to the actual words, the tone of voice and accounting for any cultural, political, or social factors will help with your storytelling.

However, with the web we often have to be succinct in our copy and tone of voice can be misinterpreted or hard to convey so the second strand to storytelling on the web is the design itself. For designers they have a story to show as well as one to tell.

Designing the story

Branding

If you have a brand or are developing one as part of your project then it can help tell the story. Key to branding are business goals and how they wish to be represented.

Typefaces, logos and colours communicate all of this, and at the heart of it all are the brand values.

Typography

Typography is also an invisible communicator. Different typefaces connote different meanings and values.

You only have to look offline at the mastheads of newspapers to see how their typefaces are representative of the type of reader.

Colour

Colour is an extremely powerful communication tool. Colours can have cultural, political and social meanings behind them and the moods and qualities that they connote can help tell your story.

If you are writing a case study relating to a project you did for a local farm shop for example, then colours linked to nature such as green and brown would help in your storytelling.

Ed: For more on how colour can communicate meaning read Rob’s article from October 2009

Signposting

Signposting is an article in itself but having signposts throughout your site that will help the user navigate and achieve their goal, is all part of telling your story.

It is important that your user knows where they are (the present), where they have come from (the past) and where they are or can move to next (the future). These three tenses are also linked to the old adage that every story has a beginning, middle, and an end.

Imagery

Imagery, when used in the right way, can tell far more than many words. If you choose the right image and put it in the right context then this can enhance your story.

Storytelling

Storytelling is the best way to emotionally connect to people. We all have stories in common so instead of listing facts and figures on your website, tell the story behind them. Instead of listing projects and clients, tell the story behind them.

An advantage to storytelling on the web is that because of the interactive possibilities and the fact that user’s can enter your story at different intervals, you don’t need a linear narrative, you can get creative, and that is after all one thing that both stories and the web needs, creativity.

A complex weave

If we think of all the individual elements discussed above as the thread, when we weave them all together we end up with the story. There are more strands to this than my word limit will allow me to mention so if you have your own storytelling process or ideas then please share them in the comments below.

Ed: You can learn more about how to run a successful web app business at Future of Web Apps Miami in February 2010 – buy your ticket online today!

Recently I received a copy of  “Website Owner’s Manual” by Paul Boag. Unlike other books that deal with the technical aspects of web sites this one is aimed at those who project manage, run and maintain web sites on a daily basis.

Paul is the host of the popular web design podcast Boagworld and is also one of the founders of Headscape, a web design agency based in the UK. He’s passionate about helping those involved in websites, be they designers or “owners”, communicate better with their clients and stakeholders and this shines through in the book.

In each chapter Paul offers “website owners”, i.e. those responsible for the running of the site, proven strategies, crafted from his ten years in the industry, for dealing with the web site process from start to finish.

Much of the book focuses on the non technical aspects of owning sites and covers issues such as how to tackle “design by committee”, creating persona’s for your users, community and dealing with feedback effectively. For me this is one of it’s main strengths and a welcome change to the more technical books I usually read.

One nice touch is the way in which each chapter concludes with “next actions”. For example at the end of the chapter “Ensuring access for all” Paul advocates the following three actions:

1. Get your team on board – The first and most important step is to ensure that your developers and content providers understand the importance of standards and accessibility
2. Create an accessibility policy – Begin by writing a rough draft yourself. Don’t worry too much about specifics at this stage, but concentrate on creating a skeleton for discussion
3. Finish what you start - After you’ve completed these actions, consider your long-term strategy for ensuring accessibility

If all you do is read these pages, you should obviously read more, then you will be left with a solid strategy for your next web project.

What’s covered?

The book is broken down into 12 manageable chapters which take you through the journey of starting your web site right through to testing, promotion, user engagement and beyond.

1. Secrets to a successful website (Download chapter as PDF)
2. Stress-free planning
3. The perfect team
4. Differences over design
5. Creating killer content
6. User centric design
7. Ensuring access for all
8. Taking control
9. Decoding technobabble
10. Driving traffic
11. Engaging your visitors
12. Planning for the future

Is it for you?

If you are involved in any aspect of the web design process then you will learn some valuable lessons by reading “Website Owner’s Manual”. It never hurts to understand more about the process from a non technical aspect and there are a lot of ideas and strategies that will improve how you create your web sites.

It’s definitely the kind of book I wish I had been able to leave on my managers desk when I worked on web projects in a large public sector organisation a few years ago.

Win a copy

We have 6 copies of Paul’s book to giveaway. To be in with a chance of winning a copy all you have to do is leave your best “website owner’s tip” as a comment. Paul has kindly agreed to pick his top six.

Any entry up to 6pm GMT Monday 14th December 2009 will be entered.

Readers offer – 30% off

Thanks to the lovely people at Manning Publications Think Vitamin readers can get 30% off any version (print or ebook) of Website Owner’s Manual.

Simply use the checkout code “tv30” at www.manning.com/boag to redeem your offer. Offer valid until December 31, 2009

Ed: Paul has spoken at a number of industry events including our own Future of Web Design New York. Here’s a video of his presentation “Getting client’s to say yes”. A full transcript is available.

Do you have a geek in your life? Someone who is incredibly hard to buy Christmas presents for that has no idea what they want and a wardrobe full of unwanted/unneeded jumpers? If the answer is yes then read on for Think Vitamin’s top five gifts for geeks.

1: The Mifi

The Mifi comes strongly recommended by our friend and mobile guru Sam Machin.

The Mifi is an “intelligent mobile hotspot” that creates a local “cloud” of high-speed Internet connectivity which can be shared between users and Wi-Fi devices, a maximum of 5, such as laptops, cameras and gaming devices. A big win for train journeys, meetings in the coffee shop and BarCamps.

Available in the US ($299) and Europe (£209) from Amazon

2: Apple Magic Mouse

Multi-Touch in a mouse, how very handy. We have heard great things about the new wireless mouse from Apple. Increase your productivity by “scrolling vertically, horizontally, and diagonally  simply by touching anywhere on the top surface.”

$69/£55 from Apple

3: Dot Grid Book

One for the UX designer in your life. The Dot Grid Book from Behance makes a nice change to your trusty Moleskine. Complete with 50 dotted pages and a semi-hard suede-touch cover it makes a great starting point for your next web project.

$14 direct from Behance

4: Chrome Messenger Bag

Instantly identifiable by the airplane seat-belt buckle strap Chrome bags appear to be the geeks messenger bag of choice. Made in San Fransisco they come in various shapes and sizes and are a perfect fit for laptops as well as leaving ample room for books, clothes and whatever other accessories you might need. They must be cool, they even have a “design manifesto“.

Buy direct from the Chrome website, from $120

5: The Eye-Fi

Who hasn’t got an online photo sharing account? Photos and videos are geek currency these days but who honestly likes the upload process? The Eye-Fi takes away that pain and will automatically upload photos and videos to your computer and to the web.

The Eye-Fi card looks, stores media, and fits into cameras just like a regular SD/SDHC card. On top of that, the Eye-Fi card has built-in Wi-Fi that uses your wireless network to effortlessly transfer photos and videos to your chosen web site, including Flickr, Facebook, Picasa and more.

Check out the options at http://www.eye.fi/

Ed: In this article Alex Hunter discusses why web developers and entrepreneurs can not afford to forget about their brand. Alex will be hosting an in-depth online marketing workshop at Future of Web Apps Miami in February 2010 – buy your ticket online today!

Brand is one of those things that often falls by the wayside with developers. Developers are constantly creating amazing technologies and incredible platforms that are fundamentally changing the way marketing and branding works.

Applications and platforms, i.e. social networking, now exist that allow consumers, i.e. users, to connect with brands for the very first time. Consumers today have the power and the tools to research, get feedback and participate. Today as a result of the platforms and technologies that YOU’VE created, and that’s beautiful irony, users have a really loud voice.

Why is brand important for web applications and products? Well, there are thousands and thousands and thousands of web apps out there. You’re in direct competition with them, every single one of them. You have to stand out in the crowd and get people coming back to your site.

If you’re developing a competing application to an incumbent you’re going to have to work ten times harder to get people to change. As sites start to use even more social currency, points systems, giving more “value” to a user, it will be harder and harder to bring them over. Bottom line: you’re going to have to work your ass off.

With this in mind here are some quick DOs and DO NOTs for building and managing a successful web brand:

What to DO

DO: Define your values

What are you? Your values are going to be the foundation of what you are, and more importantly, what you will be – now, tomorrow and in ten years time. Set them early and set them well because they will define you for the rest of your existence. It’s really, really easy to half-ass this. Don’t, because it will come back to bite you if you do.

The convenient thing would be to dump all of your “values”, your product, and brand name into a blender, dump out the contents and proclaim “There, we’re done!” It’s not that easy and more importantly, what comes out won’t be an accurate representation of what you are.

So to do this right, take the best of what your team, vision, and product represents, in appropriate doses, and create a whole new identity. Remember, this is NOT something a single person (e.g. founder) can do on their own. Involve the team, involve friends, involve advisors. Stop trying to do it yourself, take a step back and get people involved.

P.S. Everyone wants to be “fun”, “ethical”, “challenging” and “revolutionary.” Skip those values from your brainstorming and consider them as given.

DO: Be emotional

How are you going to get the public to love you? How are you going to get people to have that emotional connection with what you do? And let’s be clear this IS about emotion, so please BE emotional.

This is your baby, your blood sweat and tears that you’ve poured into your project. Your users will be able to connect emotionally if they sense the emotion, a key ingredient of loyalty, that you’ve put into your creation.

DO: Be transparent

Transparency, especially at the beginning when you’re building something or when it’s just an idea, is really beautiful because it brings people into the journey. It’s why reality TV is so hard to look away from.

The development cycle IS dramatic, emotional and painful with “4 o’clock in the morning” caffeine-induced coding frenzies, the wins, the losses, the highs and the lows. Bring people along on that journey.

But remember, when things go wrong, hold your hands up and admit to it – be transparent, be human. Don’t hide behind a brand name or a product name. People will engage with that. You don’t hear people talking about Spotify’s massive data leak very often, do you. No because they came clean, notified users, fixed it and busted ass to continue making a great product.

DO: Extend your brand

Despite what you might think, your app is not the be all and end all. Don’t believe this “if you build it, they will come” mantra, that is “weapons-grade bullonium”. It’s just not true. You have to extend the reach of what you do with content and engagement, physical and digital engagement. Build up a voice and personality around your brand.

Consider Digg, who are masters of brand extension in the web world. Their blog is written by the people who are responsible for rolling out new features, managing the database, marketing the site, not just the founder or the VP of PR. Real names, real faces, real people that we as users can connect with.

Whenever they roll out a new piece of technology or a new development, the person responsible blogs about it, explains what they did and asks for feedback. That breeds loyalty. They take it further with Diggnation, Digg Meetups, and DiggDialog.

DO: Bridge the gap between online and offline

Bridging the gap between online and offline with real world events breeds loyalty. There are a lot of web companies that are getting really good at hosting real world events where users meet up and are rewarded on a macro level, for example Digg or Qype here in Europe.

Both introduce users to each other and to the people that curate the community they’re involved in at events that are tailored to the users’ interests. Launch parties and regular user meet-ups get people talking and get people connected. That really breeds loyalty. It’s astounding what that can do in terms of competitive advantage and brand awareness.

What NOT to DO

DON’T: Ignore your brand

As web developers, application creators and programmers, we don’t think about brand nearly as much as we should. We don’t care. We don’t think it’s important. We’re busy building our apps. We’re not focussed on brand, it’s not our core activity. But you cannot afford to ignore your brand at any point in its existence.

Brand loyalty is getting harder and harder to gain and, ironically, easier to lose. As marketers get savvier and people are convinced that the same product is better just because it has a certain brand, the harder you’re going to have to work to build a loyal user base.

DON’T: Half ass your brand development

You have to put the time and energy into this that it deserves. Do this and do it well. So many people think that brand is about product name. Cute name, great brand, done. WRONG. So wrong it hurts. And besides, we can’t even get that right.

So many web apps out there have thoughtless names. There’s no rationale or logic behind the names at all, they just think it is cute and memorable. It’s oh-so-fashionable to drop a vowel here and there or misspell something and be done with it. That doesn’t mean anything and it’s lazy. Don’t do that. Or if you do, have a reason for it. Give your brand development the time and energy it deserves.

DON’T: Put your interests ahead of your users

I know this is hard because, ultimately, you have to pay the bills. But a reputation of looking after your users, being ethical, will put you head and shoulders above anybody else.

I often cite the example of Amazing Tunes, a site for unsigned artists. Sure, there are other unsigned artists sites out there, but not that give 70% of the profits back to the user and not that have a DAB radio station that artists are featured on. THAT is looking after your users. That’s the definition of an ethical web company.

DON’T: Be Precious about consistency or message

People often say to me “The more people I give the message or brand to, the more watered down it becomes and the less consistent the message is”. Big brands are especially scared of losing the refinement of their message. But realistically, they’ve been doing it for the last 30 years because the person who answers the phone in the call centre is the first point of contact that a user has with their brand.

The call centre employees are representing your brand. The receptionist is representing your brand. So giving someone an account on Twitter to do the same is no different, it’s just a little bit more of a public stage. But, that’s a GOOD thing because people can see you responding to positive comments and negative comments and reacting and helping people and participating in the CONVERSATION in a very public forum.

Ultimately, you’re giving people the tools to go and evangelise your brand and product – don’t fight that.

Ed: Need further convincing? Check out the video of Alex’s presentation at Future of Web Apps London 2009

Ed: In this article Ben Bodien from Neutron Creations recalls his experiences of naming his new web company. You can learn more about running a successful web company at Future of Web Apps Miami – buy tickets online today!

Starting a company around an exciting idea will be one of the best experiences of your life, as any entrepreneur will tell you. Company ownership is a roller coaster of a ride, and the infancy of the business will bring you some of the best of times as you charge headlong into your new world with unbridled optimism and vigour.

One of the first decisions you will make as an entrepreneur is the label to be proudly stickered onto your new venture – the company name. Of course you can plan your business model, carry out market research and put some other pieces of the puzzle into place first, but if you’re anything like me then the question of the company name will bug you until you’ve decided on one.

Selecting a name is an arduous process, as you have to find something that meets a whole bunch of selection criteria. You want a name that suits your business, ideally goes some way to describing what it is you actually do, is snappy and memorable, and isn’t a rude word for a part of the human body in a foreign language. Beyond all these basics though, you’ll also need to make sure that nobody else is already out there doing what you are planning to, using that name or one very much like it.

When names clash

With everyone so passionate and naturally protective about their businesses, it’s quite understandable that you won’t make any friends by starting up with a name that’s similar to one used by an existing company, particularly if you operate in the same industry.

When we started our company, we were eager to register our company with our chosen name of “Nucleus Creations” and get started with making a name for ourselves. We did a bit of research into companies with similar names, checking Google, domain registrations, the company registration database for the UK, and then we were off. Had we been a bit more thorough at this stage, we probably would have spotted the company who we would receive a letter from a few months later.

The letter in question was a cease and desist order from a company with a similar name, which smugly pointed out that they’d been in business for decades and had a huge client base of multinational, household brand names, and that we’d better abandon our use of the name unless we wanted to taste their metaphorical legal steel.

Our reaction

After a lot of deep breaths and cursing at the sky (mostly out of inward “how could we have been so careless?” frustration), we started thinking. After verifying that their claims were valid, and realising that we had indeed made an oversight, we worked out our plan of action. A simple cost/benefit analysis that fitted neatly on a post-it note made the picture clear:

• Launch what would surely be a suicidally expensive defence of our rather tenuous legal position
• Realign our branding, which would only be a minor headache given the early stage of our business

Since we were bootstrapping the company rather than taking funding from investors, we simply didn’t have the money to fund a legal battle so there was really only one option. We had recently paid good money for the design of our logo and our website which was based on our chosen particle physics theme, so we switched from Nucleus Creations to Neutron Creations (http://neutroncreations.com), allowing us to keep our designs, changing only the text in the logo.

In total, the cost of the re-branding amounted to less than £100 (new domain registrations, business card printing, and an admin fee with the UK company register), plus a bit of paperwork for our bank, and an hour’s worth of renaming accounts for web apps we’d starting using like wikis and issue trackers.

Note to web app owners and developers – please make sure it’s possible for your customers to rename their accounts completely (usernames, subdomains, etc), as it is very frustrating to get stuck with an account in your old name that has all your data in it!

How to avoid the problem

Nobody wants to get themselves into this situation, so here are a few tips for avoiding it in the first place

1. Select a name you can claim some rights to. It’s a lot harder for someone to claim they have more rights to a name than you do if the company name is your name, so naming your company after yourself or its founding partners is solid strategy. You could also go for a name based on your company’s principal location, such as a street address. Of course it helps if your offices have a catchy address like “101 Super Avenue”.
2. Check with your legal jurisdiction’s intellectual property (IP) registration directory to see if your chosen name is in use as part of a trademark or patent registered by another company operating in the same industry sector. In the US, check with the Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (search forms: http://www.uspto.gov/main/profiles/acadres.htm), and in the United Kingdom you can search the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/).
3. Search for your chosen name on your country or state’s company registration database. In the US, each state has its own register, and most if not all have online search tools. In the UK, you can look up companies using Companies House WebCHeck (http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/info). Make sure you look up subtle variations and alternative spellings of your name, as well as the more distinctive component words of it, if it’s made of two or more words (for example, “Nucleus” in “Nucleus Creations”).
4. Do your Google homework, searching for existing organisations’ brands which may not necessarily be registered as companies. If they aren’t legal corporate entities themselves, they’ll have a hard time making a case against you, but you’ll still have to shoulder your way past them for position in search engine result pages, if organic search traffic is important to your business model.
5. Once you’ve identified a safe name, plant your flag. Register domains (optionally including foreign market domains that you may want to expand into later, but this is by no means necessary), apply for trademarks on your logo, sign up for accounts on Twitter and any other social media or web applications that you will use to operate and market your business. The earlier you create all these records of your existence the better, as who came first is one of the big questions when it comes to name ownership.

What to do if this happens to you

Should you find yourself on the receiving end of a challenge over your company name, remain calm, don’t lash out, and try the following.

1. Research the case – Make sure their claims are valid by reading up about their business, and that they aren’t just squatting the name. If they haven’t provided proof that they own a particular piece of Intellectual Property (IP) and you can’t find any evidence either, ask them to send you copies of relevant registration certificates.
2. Consult a legal professional – Unless it’s a clear cut case (as ours was) in which the only sensible option is to back down, you will need to seek the expertise of a lawyer who can give you case specific advice. A case review consultation won’t cost a ton – you’ll only face the infamous legal fees if you actually retain their services to take up the defence case.
3. It’s probably better to re-brand – Unless you have a really well established name and re-branding would be devastatingly painful, as the saying goes; once it goes to court, only the lawyers win.

Writing for the web is a challenge. There are usually word length restrictions, the fact that users scan rather than read every word, and sometimes style guides to adhere to.

There are enough writing tips online to keep you reading for longer than you probably desire. Here are 1o tips that have been the most useful to me:

1. Know your audience

   This sounds obvious but is often taken for granted. The only way you can write relevant copy that is targeted at the right audience in the right tone of voice, is to understand who that audience is. Depending on where your audience are located, you may have to include local expressions or if writing for a wide audience be specific with things such as dollars. If it is US dollars then say so. If it is Cardiff in Wales then say so as there is also a Cardiff in New Zealand and other countries.

2. Decide why you are writing?

   Linked to the previous tip, as well as knowing who you are writing for you need to know why you are writing for them. Is it to get them to register, persuade them to buy something, deliver information to them or get them to subscribe to something?

   Your answer to this question should determine what you write.

3. Headlines

   A well thought of and clear headline can generate four times the interest of a poor one. Headlines shouldn’t be longer than 7 words and should be written in the present tense.

4. Upper case

   Avoid the use of ALL UPPER CASE in your copy as it takes 57% longer to read. Also avoid starting every word with a capital letter in your headings.

5. Choose the right words

   Certain words can hold the reader’s attention whilst others can turn them off. Words that people like include thoughtful, imagination, progress, and ambition. Less popular words include dispute, failure, weak, and extravagant.

   Use contractions. That is, use ‘you’re’ instead of ‘you are’ and ‘doesn’t’ instead of ‘does not’. Whilst some are of the opinion that the contractions are bad English, they do make the copy less formal and more conversational which is often the tone of voice and style that is required on the web.

6. Acronyms

   Avoid using these if possible. It would be careless to assume that everybody who visits your site will understand the meaning of any acronyms you use. However, this is linked to knowing your audience. The same rule here applies to jargon, avoid as best you can, cutting out any unnecessary complexities.

7. Punctuation

   Minimise punctuation as best you can. Punctuation marks can be difficult to discern on screens, especially semi-colons, so try using commas or shorter sentences instead.

8. Effective Hyperlinks

   Your hyperlinked words tend to stand out against standard copy so should be relevant and motivate the user into carrying out an action. I don’t like ‘click here’ but if this is used, it is more effective to use it along with some contextual information, so ‘click here to apply for a loan’. This way the user knows exactly where they will be led.

9. The right length

   Keep your sentences short. If they are too long then reader’s interest will dip and your message will become muddled. One rule of thumb is that sentences should be between 15 and 20 words long. Please don’t count all my sentences in this article, just in case I broke the rule!

   Paragraphs should be no more than 5 lines of type long, or in depth. Also, a good measure to abide by is that there should be no more than three sentences per paragraph.

   Make your copy digestible by using sub sections, headings and lists where appropriate. If you do use lists try not to have more than 6 items in each one.

10. Proof read

    Another obvious point but not always one that is carried out. Proof reading and editing should be a matter of course when it comes to writing. If a user is deep in your text and spots an error it will immediately break the connection between them and your site.

They are some of my favourite tips. If you have any of your own then please share them in the comments below.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of sitting at the back of “Handcrafted CSS“, a workshop led by Dan Cederholm and Ethan Marcotte. The workshop was based on their recently published book of the same name, if you don’t own a copy definitely add it to your holiday shopping list.

As attendees leafed through the book during the breaks I realised how much of I have relied on and enjoyed learning about web design and development from books. Funnily enough Dan’s first book, “Web Standard Solutions“, released in 2004 was the the first book I ever bought on CSS. It turns out it was the first CSS book for many designers I know. It taught me a lot and is still very relevant.

It got me thinking about the most inspiring web related books I have on my shelf. Here in no particular order are my personal top five. Some of them have been updated and superseded but all remain great reference material.

• Web Standard Solutions by Dan Cederholm
• Transcending CSS by Andy Clarke
• The PHP Anthology by Harry Fuecks et al (1st edition no longer available)
• The Definitive Guide to Django by Adrian Holovaty and Jacob Kaplan-Moss
• DOM Scripting by Jeremey Keith

What are your favourites? Link up your must have’s in the comments, I have an Amazon voucher I need to spend and love a good read.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who has filled out the survey so far. There were almost 150 responses in the first day and some common themes are coming through. Your feedback is really valuable – thanks.

This blog has undergone a few changes in 2009 including two visual redesigns (a modified Woo Theme and the current look and feel by Mike Kus), the addition of a Twitter powered news feed and a ramped up publishing schedule. We want to make Think Vitamin even better in 2010 and as a result of recent organisational change it now has a full time editor to oversee the development of the blog and it’s content.

Earlier this year Ryan asked for contributors and since then we have published many of the submissions. If you wrote in and haven’t heard from us we apologise. I have a full inbox of great article suggestions and will be getting in touch shortly.

We want to make Think Vitamin as relevant to web designers, web developers and web entrepreneurs as possible. With the holiday season approaching we thought it was as good a time as any to ask for your help. We really value your readership and RSS subscriptions and need your feedback. If you would like to help the future direction of this site please spare a few minutes to fill in our simple “Think Vitamin Holiday Survey” below.

The form is also available directly on Google.

Thank you for taking time to complete the survey, we appreciate it.

Thanks to everyone who took time to enter our Vimeo competition. We had a lot of fun watching the videos and seeing what you thought the Future of Web Design holds. After much deliberation, it was close, we all agreed that Tim Lum is the worthy winner of the free conference pass to next weeks Future of Web Design New York.

We would also like to give a special mention to Adam Soffer for his cool guitar and vocal entry.

Tim – please email keir[at]carsonified.com and I’ll let you know how you can collect your free conference pass. I hope you can make it.

The Video – The Future of Web Design is Creativity

Watch the video directly on Vimeo