Web design & FOSS
Front-end web technologies and Free Open Source Software.
Tuesday 29 April 2008, 6:17 PM
Nubuntu? Schmubuntu!
The Problem With Linux
or
My Problem With Linux
or
My Problem
With everyone raving about how wonderful the new Ubuntu is (well, everyone except ZDNet – whatever were they thinking shipping Firefox 3? Oh, Fool Hardy Heron…), I thought it time for a whinge.
On Windows I used the lovely Scintilla-based Notepad++. On the Mac, I used to use BBEdit, then Textmate or Smultron. But on Linux, I've had real problems finding a slick GUI text editor. And no, I don't want to learn Vi. I've settled with Bluefish, it's pretty cool (and fits in nicely with Gnome) but its configuration is tricky.
And this is my beef with Linux, is that Configuration has been my biggest stumbling block. I'm a front-end sort of guy, I'm no geek, no command-line guru. So when it comes to fixing something, like the syntax colouring in Bluefish, I'm kind of stumped when presented with Perl regular expressions. Eeek.
And yes, this is a My Problem ;)
The plus side of all this is that I asked for help on the Bluefish mailing list and received answers from two of the main developers within 24 hours, with a quick workaround. Ahh, isn't Open Source great?
Wednesday 23 April 2008, 12:04 AM
My first Joomla! site!
aka “Shameless Self Promotion”
I built a very simple web site for the artist Edward Bell, using Joomla!, an open source content management system. I must say that I’m mightily impressed with it’s ease of use. And a real plus is that someone without an in-depth knowledge of XHTML/CSS/PHP can keep it all updated. Ahh, ease of maintenance :) I also love the JCE content editor utilities that give you sliding pop-ups. How childish is that?
Interestingly, the utilities are released as free software under the GPL, though the author makes a bit of money by charging for access to the site. Isn’t this against the spirit of Free Open Source Software?
Edward and I have agreed to use barter as the economic means of exchange. Hopefully I will come into the possession of a couple of lovely paintings. Or a sheep.
Saturday 19 April 2008, 12:52 PM
Colourful building blocks
In the midst of hacking my first Joomla! web site, I’d like to share a handy tip:
Use background colours on elements to understand the CSS layout.
For example: div#header { background-color:yellow; }
After being metaphorically smacked in the face by primary colours too many times, I started using softer, paler colours:
khaki
yellow
greenyellow
yellowgreen
navajowhite
palegoldenrod
There’s a full list over at W3 Schools.
On a related note, Net Batchelder has created a whole list of “Hex color words”, my favourites being #f1eece and #efface. And did you know that Jeffrey Archer’s prison number #FF8282 is a lovely shade of salmon pink?
Thursday 17 April 2008, 11:40 PM
Skinning CSS Cats
I am building a very simple site for an artist friend in Joomla!, part of my learning new skills in the dash for the green hills. (His name is Edward Bell, and I really admire his paintings). The CSS is written one line per property eg
div#horiz-menu {
background: yellow;
height: 36px;
}
Whereas I much prefer multiple properties per line:
div#horiz-menu { background:yellow; height:36px; }
It’s shorter, it’s neater, you can see more lines in the window at any one time. For my money, it’s a more efficient way of having an overview and understanding of your CSS code.
However, I have found that it really doesn’t matter if you just to want quickly hack the code – simply fire up Firebug in Firefox, click on the element and you’re told exactly which line and file that property has been defined in. Wondrous.
Thursday 17 April 2008, 3:46 PM
Remote working revisited
“Communication is what's heard, not what's said.”
Dan Buzzo, April 2008
With these words of wisdom ringing in my ears, I was speaking to a friend in Bristol who works remotely. She offered some pithy advice, which I’m forwarding to you in a listified format:
* You are beholden to technology (broadband, email, video-conferencing, collaborative applications and web sites). This is the most difficult hurdle for most people. If something breaks, can you fix it?
* Have at least a detailed phone call before making a pitch (you probably won’t be able to afford to meet all potential clients in person).
* Communicate clearly (see above)! Use the “Repeat Back To Me” technique for any spoken instructions, no matter how seemingly simple.
* Absolutely insist on a face-to-face meeting with client when starting the contract. This helps get a feel for the people and the organisation, helping you understand the client and the brief.
* Does the client even know what they want? Are they agreed amongst themselves? Advise the stakeholders to meet up before they meet you, so that they can nail down the strategy. I recommend this excellent A List Apart article.
* Fix milestones and future dates for communication (use video-conferencing (eg Skype) to communicate, as you can see the non-verbal communication so much more clearly).
* Set up an upload area where you can share files (I used Basecamp quite successfully). Agree upon the file-naming convention.
There, now to follow my own advice!
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