An FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Client is an application, or web tool, that allows you to send and receive files between your computer and a web server.
One of the most common uses for these types of tools is to upload (send) files to a web server. For instance, if you are going to install WordPress or another type of content management system to your web server, you can use an FTP client.
(more…)
I had the pleasure of meeting with a user experience expert yesterday, Carl Heaton from Web Courses Bangkok. Carl showed me a great tool for website owners called UserFly (affiliate link).
Userfly allows you to test the usability of your website as each visitor goes to your site. You start by adding a small JavaScript to the web pages you want to track. It’s that easy.
(more…)
As we continue our series on Online Generators, we begin to focus more on sites that can provide more than just single components of a site. Today’s entry touches on an area that interests most of us … the ability to create your own WordPress Theme online.
One general comment is that we were very pleased by what was available today. But I personally feel that there is still some effort needed to make these sorts of tools easy to use for the masses.
We hope you enjoy our selection.
(more…)
With many web design projects, it is seemingly the items with the most subtle results that can require the most effort. This is certainly true with backgrounds.
You have probably seen some cool effects like stripes or other background patterns that seem to set off the design of a web page perfectly. Well now these professional, subtle looking effects can easily be implemented into your own pages with a minimal amount of effort thanks to the efforts of a few programmers.
The following is a list of online background pattern generators that will create a background pattern for you to download and use in your web design. We hope you find these useful.
(more…)
In another one of our projects, we had a design that required a white content area with the area behind it filled with a pattern. Unfortunately, the background pattern was something that the client was not happy with at all.
In the interest of time, they asked us if we could find something nice and fix the pattern. Even though this background pattern is a fairly small part of the website, it has a large visual impact on the site. Therefore, it was important that I spend some time finding several options for the client to review. As I carried out a frustrating, time consuming search for mediocre patterns, I ran across the Tiled Backgrounds Desginer website.
Within a few minutes I had three different homepages for review, each with a diiferent pattern and corresponding style. The tools is very easy to use and provides a tabbed interface for building your own background patterns. You have the option of specifying your colors, pattern images, scale, opacity, canvas and even the rotation of the pattern.
I highly recommend this tool for every Web Designers arsenal of tools.
Finding a tool that let’s you polish up your photos for the web is not an easy task. Some photo editing tools are so feature packed, they become a little too difficult to use for the average computer user. So we went searching for online photo editing tools to see what was available and we’ve found three products that we think meet the needs of most.
The tools are Picnik, Splashup and Snipshot. All three allow you to upload a photo from your computer or from the Internet. Both Picnik and Snipshot also have a Premium upgrade that gives you far more photo enhancing effects to choose from than just the standard freebie package. Here is our brief take on each of the tools.
(more…)
We’ve just run across this wonderful new tool from COLOURlovers.
Getting the perfect color or color scheme for your web site, or graphic can be difficult. The most difficult part is remembering those cryptic hex codes or RGB codes for your favorite color.
So the folks at COLOURlovers created a color picker tool. But the best part is this tool is free, and they’re making the code available to put on your website.
As we are always scouring the web looking for useful Web Tools for our visitors, we will be putting this on our site. But we thought we should let our visitors know they have the option to get a hold of this tool as well to benefit their web design efforts.
I can’t tell you how many times I have been designing a web site and come to a point where I say to myself, “I wish I had a really cool looking button for this section.”
So I start up Adobe Photoshop, of which my skills are somewhat lacking, and I attempt to create a stunning button. Hours later, I have a so-so graphic that looks like something a 3 year old drew with a crayon. Not my desired result and a major waste of time.
So I was very pleased to run across this fantastic online tool for creating very cool looking buttons. It takes very little effort on my part, but looks like I know my stuff when it comes to creating graphics.
In four easy steps, you too can have a Web 2.0 button that looks as stunning as the one shown here.
Step 1 – Select the size of your button with the handy slider bar
Step 2 – Select a color for your button
Step 3 – Optionally use a predefined, or uploaded, icon in the button and size it
Step 4 – Select your Text, font style, size and color
Click ‘Apply’ and there you have your newly created, stunning looking Web 2.0 button. Don’t like it? Then revisit any step and click ‘Apply’ again. When you like what you see, just download it to your computer by clicking the ‘Download’ button.
What could be easier? And better yet, what else can make me look like the web design professional I wish I was?
