What does your website say about your business?

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Ian Loew

What does your website say about your business? Is is welcoming? Is it informative and eye-pleasing? Does it capture the interest of your intended audience? These and numerous other questions should be asked of you and your staff so that you have a fighting chance in this demanding economy.

You only have one chance to make a first impression and this holds especially true in the world of the web. You have exactly 2-3 second to grab your visitor’s attention. Your competition is only a few clicks away. When was the last time you looked at your competitors’ sites?

What makes a good website? A site should be easy to browse. The majority of visitors want to quickly comb a site for information and get out and go on with their day. Aesthetics should complement your brand and not detract from the message at hand.

Just like a car mechanic who knows how to fix your car, a great web design firm knows what features need to be incorporated into your site to convert visitors into customers. Furthermore, a web design company will know what design elements need to be used in order to appeal to your intended audience.

At Lform we help organizations achieve their marketing goals through great web design and innovative web technologies. Call now to book your free consultation.

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How Should Corporations Handle Social Media?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Ian Loew

Corporations and social mediaSocial media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) has escalated to under heard of heights within a matter of years. It is a force to be reckoned with and something that corporations and non-profits can’t ignore. Why has social media been adopted by so many? Social media allows people to connect on an individual level without physical boundaries.

Often times organizations misuse social media and instead of connecting with their fans they just blare their propaganda; posting press releases about new hires, partnerships and awards.

Interact with your audience! The next time you’re reading an interesting article online that may be related to your clients’ businesses, tweet it! You might be surprised by the responses. Give free advice on client topics and invite others to share their tips. Show the lighter side of your corporation by showcasing photos from a company event.

The web is all about transparency. Often times I find companies unwilling to acknowledge their flaws. After receiving criticism, deal with your constituents in a fashion that is helpful and insightful. Furthermore, your audience might offer insightful ways to improve. Conversation is key.

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What’s the Best Open-Source CMS?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Ian Loew

Content Management Systems LogosThe ultimate goal of any CMS driven website is the ability of an organization to easily update their site with a minimal level of user expertise. Currently there are innumerable CMS products available but the most popular are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. All three are open source and free to download and install on an independent server.

There many pros and cons to each content management system but it should depend ultimately on your end user’s skill set. Is the administrator a techno savvy geek who knows a little HTML (Joomla and Drupal), or are you dealing with someone who is comfortable with Microsoft Word but finds uploading images to Facebook a little bit tricky (WordPress)?

Joomla and Drupal offer the most out of the box but their administrative tools are not intuitive and include a large learning curve for most users. WordPress, being a simpler package, is less intimidating but allows for a great variety of 3rd party addons, called plugins and widgets, to be installed. Keep in mind that plugins are a great help, and can include photo albums, ecommerce and so on, but each one can add to the overall complexity of administering the site.

Overall I advise clients against using Drupal and Joomla since the code includes many features the client will never use, thus leading to slow load times. Furthermore their Admin Tools look like the cockpit of a 747, unwieldy.

For most clients, WordPress is the best open-source solution with a growing community, great when help is needed. WordPress provides out-of-the-box SEO (search engine optimization); page URL’s have the correct syntax, title tags may be altered and meta descriptions may be littered with keywords. The learning curve for altering content isn’t steep either. Finally, custom development for WordPress is less cumbersome than Drupal or Joomla.

Before making a final decision it is always best to give each system a trial run to see what may work best for your organization. Click below to view the top three open-source CMSs:

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Mobile Optimized Web Sites

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Ian Loew

With almost half of Americans using their iPhone or Android based phones to surf the web, a mobile optimized site is a small but important part to successful online marketing. A mobile optimized site can streamline a users experience with large amount of information in a concise, easy to navigate format. With a few simple taps and/or scrolls users can reach the information they are interested in.

Studies have proven that users don’t mind scrolling nearly as much as clicking. Conversely pinching and pulling and other non-intuitive motions on smart phone screens can prove to be frustrating. Frustrated users are not something any site owner wants.

So what does it take to convert a standard site into a mobile site? It all depends but generally if your site is like most sites, it has a universal stylesheet, which is a document containing code that describes items like the size of text, colors, and what fonts your site should use. By simply adding another stylesheet made specifically for mobile browsers, you can redefine the look and feel of the overall site to better suit mobile formats.

How long does it take? It can range from a few hours to days. The factors involved include the number of pages, the site layout, whether there are special applications involved and so on. The most laborious part of the process is the extensive testing required to ensure the site’s functions remain intact and that it is visually consistent.

Is it worth the expense? Well if your audience falls into the “on the go” category, then yes. If you have Google Analytics installed on your site, be sure to view your view your mobile device statistics (Located in Visitors > Mobile > Mobile Devices). If your bounce rate, which is the percentage of visits in which the person left your site from the entrance and/or home page, is over 50%, I would highly recommend creating a mobile ready version of your site.

If you don’t want to bear the expense, Google has launched a campaign to help small businesses create a mobile landing page. With a few clicks you can publish a template based entrance page. This is a quick and easy solution, especially for a storefront based business. One downside to this approach is that secondary or interior pages won’t be mobile friendly.

http://www.google.com/sites/help/intl/en/mobile-landing-pages/mlpb.html

Maybe you don’t have a smart phone and you’d like to see how your site is rendering be sure to check out iPhoneTester.com. If you are looking to see what your site looks like on multiple mobile operating systems go to CrossBrowserTesting.com.

With the market for smart phones constantly expanding, it is a safe bet that creating a mobile friendly version of your site will be a wise investment.

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Simple Cross Browser Jquery Plugins

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Ji Sohn
Corners, Shading and Shadow to Images

Corners, Shading and Shadow to Images

Corners, Shading and Shadow to Images
Corner.js allows you to add corners, shading and shadow to images on your website.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

Various Corner Effects

Various Corner Effects

Various Corner Effects
Rounded corners without images! Plus lots of other interesting corner adornments like bevels, notches, dogears, etc. You can easily apply different effects to top and bottom corners, or apply an effect to specific corners.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

Rounded Corners with Drop Shadow

Rounded Corners with Drop Shadow

Rounded Corners with Drop Shadow
This is a convenient way to create elements with rounded corners and a drop shadow.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

 

Image Transitions

Image Transitions

Image Transitions
Slideshow plugin for displaying image or non-image slideshows. Lots of available transition effects such as fade, scroll, shuffle, zoom, and many more.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE7+.

Riding Carousels with Jquery

Riding Carousels with Jquery

Riding Carousels with Jquery
jCarousel is a jQuery plugin for controlling a list of items in horizontal or vertical order. The items, which can be static HTML content or loaded with (or without) AJAX, can be scrolled back and forth (with or without animation).
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

Image Gallery with Thumbnail Carousel

Image Gallery with Thumbnail Carousel

Image Gallery with Thumbnail Carousel
Pikachoose is a lightweight jQuery slideshow plugin, with features like previous, next, play, pause button and thumbnail carousel.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

 

Lightbox for images and videos

Lightbox for images and videos

Lightbox for images and videos
prettyPhoto is a jQuery lightbox clone. Not only does it support images, it also support for videos, flash, YouTube, iframes and ajax. It’s a full blown media lightbox.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

 

Image Reflection

Image Reflection

Image Reflection
This reflection.js allows you to add instantaneous reflection effects to your images in modern browsers, in less than 2 KB.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

Text Reflection

Text Reflection

Text Reflection
This plugin allows you to style your headers using only css and does not require additional markup.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE7+.

 

 

Sticky Footer

Sticky Footer

Sticky Footer
In general the CSS Sticky Footer is the best way to go, as it works perfectly smoothly.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

 

 

Styleable Scrollbars

Styleable Scrollbars

Styleable Scrollbars
jScrollPane converts a browser’s default scrollbars (on elements with a relevant overflow property) into an HTML structure which can be easily skinned with CSS.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

 

Smooth Div Scroll

Smooth Div Scroll

Smooth Div Scroll
Smooth Div Scroll is a jQuery plugin that scrolls content horizontally left or right. There are no visible buttons or links since the scrolling is done using hotspots within the scrollable area or via autoscrolling. Unobtrusive and smooth is the key here.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

Content Slider

Content Slider

Content Slider
BxSlider includes features like horizontal, vertical, fade in transitions, carousel, prev/next, pager and more.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

 

 

Image Loader

Image Loader

Image Loader
This is a simple jQuery plugin that will callback a function when all images within each item of the $(selector) have loaded (the ‘itemCallback’) and all images within the entire $(selector) have loaded (the ‘selectorCallback’).
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+

Nested Accordion

Nested Accordion

Nested Accordion
The Nested Accordion plugin provides support for unlimited number of levels. The plugin could easily be customized and used with any website. It allows multiple instances of the accordion on the same page.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE6+.

iPhone Style Radio and Checkbox Switches

iPhone Style Radio and Checkbox Switches

iPhone Style Radio and Checkbox Switches
This is a simple way to create iPhone style switches using jquery and css.
Browser Compatibility: Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9+, Safari and IE7+.

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4 Components Attributed To Site Load Time

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Jordyn Ferri

Many clients wonder what can be done to speed up their site. Below you will find 4 major components that can be attributed to a sites speed.

1. Internet Connection
First, lets cover one of the areas that web designers do not have control over — and that is a person’s internet connectivity. This refers to the user’s signal strength transmitted by their internet provider (i.e. VerizonFios, Comcast, AOL, etc). If you believe that your internet is running slower than it should, contact your internet provider immediately.

2. Computer Speed
There are many contributors involved in a computer’s speed.

  • Computer’s Age
    Is it old, or new? If it’s more than 4 years old, chances are it’s already started to slow down. This is an inevitable aspect of technology.
  • Latest Software
    Always make sure to have the latest software for your computer. That means checking weekly, or at least monthly, for software updates. This will ensure that you have the latest program scripts, that developers improve over time.
  • Memory (RAM)
    Check how much memory (or RAM) is left on your computer. If there isn’t a lot left, it might cause your computer to slow down if multiple programs are running at a time. This might be helpful for further explanation for IE7.

3. Web Browsers
Today there are approximately 5 main web browsers that people use to view the internet: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera. Unfortunately IE7 and IE8 are inherently slower because of the way they were made to read and render code. For example, Internet Explorer cannot render rounded corners (because they do not recognize common web practices use with CSS). Instead, IE will create black boxes before it produces the rounded corner style (which doesn’t happen on any other browser). Some browsers are just faster than others, sort of like how Google Chrome is said to be faster than Firefox. You might also find this article helpful in regards to browser usage/trends.

4. Site Speed Optimization

  • Optimized code
    Less is better. Remember, the best web designers can create amazing functionality with as LITTLE code as possible.
  • Small file sizes
    All images and documents should be saved for the web. This means that all file resolutions should not be larger than 72 dpi (dots per inch).

Computer Speed resources you may want to consider:

Think you might be able to add insight to this post? Don’t be shy, let us know what you think!

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Create Your Own Font with These Font Creation Tools!

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Ji Sohn
YourFonts.com

YourFonts.com

YourFonts.com
This is a tool for those of you out there who have legible handwriting. YourFonts is an awesome online tool that converts your handwriting into fonts! Download their template, fill in all the boxes with you own handwriting, then scan and upload it to the website. Preview your new font and download it to your computer.

FontStruct.com

FontStruct.com

FontStruct.com
Use the FontStruct tool from FontShop to design your own font. You’ll have to sign up to use their editor, but it only takes a few seconds. Their online editor has tons of features that you can use to design your dream font. When you finish, you can download the font or share it with others.

 

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Top CSS Web Design Font Solutions

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Ji Sohn
Font Squirrel @font-face Kits

Font Squirrel @font-face Kits

Font Squirrel @font-face Kits
Font Squirrel is perhaps the most popular font-replacement resource at the moment. Font Squirrel relieves any worry you may have about font licenses, as all of the fonts provided are freely available for commercial purposes. The site has hundreds of fonts to choose from, everything from sans-serif to novelty style fonts.

The site offers @font-face kits that provide you with all the formats you need and also includes the HTML and CSS needed as well. If you can’t find the @font-face kit for the font you wish to use, they also provide a generator which will convert your font file into the multiple formats you will need for free. When using the generator, you need to ensure you have the correct licence that permits you to use the font on your website.

Cufon

Cufon

Cufón
Cufón is an incredibly simple and effective method for incorporating non-standard fonts into a web page and one in which its functionality is not dependant on server-side languages or plug-ins. Cufón operates solely on a few lines of Javascript code and uses combination of VML (Vector Mark-up Language), for Internet Explorer, and HTML5’s Canvas feature to render the fonts.

Cufón provides a font converter tool on their homepage that will allow you to convert your chosen font to SVG and creates a Javascript file for you to reference within your HTML. Nettuts+ editor Jeffrey Way has previously written an excellent step-by-step tutorial of how to integrate Cufón into your webpage.

Free Font Converter

Free Font Converter

Free Font Converter
Free Font Converter, as the name suggests, is a free web application that allows you to convert almost all font format to another on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Besides the common font formats such as TrueType (.ttf), OpenType (.oft) and PostScript (.ps), it also supports other lesser known formats like .dfont, .svg, .bin, and many others.

No need of additional software or registration is required to use Free Font Converter.

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Can’t Find the Font You’re Looking For? Use Font Identification Resources!

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Ji Sohn
WhatFontis.com

WhatFontis.com

WhatFontis.com
WhatFontis is one of the best Font Finder tool for Web designers. Identify information about Fonts from Image through WhatFontis.

 

IdentiFont.com

IdentiFont.com

IdentiFont.com
This is an amazing tool that is as interesting in it’s process as it is in the majestic simplicity in which it performs it’s task. Identifont asks you a series of questions about the characteristics of the font you are trying to identify. As you answer the questions more and more fonts are discounted as viable until you get the font of your choice.

WhatTheFont.com

WhatTheFont.com

WhatTheFont.com
WhatThefont is a font recognition system that helps you identify a font. All you need to do is upload a scanned image or a screenshot of the font and Whatthefont will instantly find the closest matches in its database.

 

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Top 10 Resources to Download Free Fonts

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Ji Sohn
DaFont.com

DaFont.com

DaFont.com
DaFont is an archive of freely downloadable fonts. Fonts are categorized by theme, and can also be sorted by name, date, and popularity. The site also allows users to enter custom text when previewing fonts.

 

UrbanFonts.com

UrbanFonts.com

UrbanFonts.com
UrbanFonts is a great resource for an immense listing of free and commercial fonts. UrbanFont provides a textbox where you can type in your text, play with the font size; tweak it’s font style; font color and background color to get its look-and-feel before you actually download them.

FontCubes.com

FontCubes.com

FontCubes.com
At FontCubes, you’ll find a library of free fonts for both Mac and PC. Fonts are easily searchable by name, artist, dingbats, top rated, alphabetically, or newest.

 

FontSquirrel.com

FontSquirrel.com

FontSquirrel.com
There are a lot of free fonts out there, but it’s hard to find fonts that are licensed for commercial work. But don’t worry, The folks at FontSquirrel scour the internet for free high quality fonts licensed for commercial use and hand select their favorites. Every font on their website looks professional and is sure to impress your clients.

FontEx.com

FontEx.com

FontEx.com
FontEx is an online repository of fonts. These have been handpicked and are ready for immediate download.

 

 

1001FreeFonts.com

1001FreeFonts.com

1001FreeFonts.com
1001 Free Fonts offer a huge selection of free fonts for Windows and Macintosh.

 

 

FontSpace.com

FontSpace.com

FontSpace.com
Here you can download 15436 free truetype and opentype fonts for Windows and Mac.

 

HighFonts.com

HighFonts.com

HighFonts.com
High Fonts offers a large roundup of free and commercial fonts. Browse fonts by letter or search for the font you want! Download from over 3000 free fonts or buy from over 20,000 commercial fonts

FontStock.net

FontStock.net

FontStock.net
FontStock has downloadable TrueType font libraries with comprehensive list of free fonts for Windows and Mac.

 

 

FFonts.net

FFonts.net

FFonts.net
ffonts is a free fonts directory which provides you with an amazing collection of cool text fonts. It enables you to search and browse for a wide range of fonts, based on categories and alphabetical listing.

 

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