<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" ><channel><title>CSSReflex</title> <atom:link href="http://www.cssreflex.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><link>http://www.cssreflex.com</link> <description>Code Snippets, Tools &#38; Resources for Coders</description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:04:56 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1</generator> <item><title>Top 10 Responsive Websites</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-10-responsive-websites.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-10-responsive-websites.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 19:04:01 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brandon Hill</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Inspiration]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9180</guid> <description><![CDATA[Thanks to mobile devices, responsive website design is becoming standard practice at web design agencies. For efficiency purposes, the goal is to design once and make it look great on all platforms, browsers, screen sizes and mobile device resolutions. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks to mobile devices, responsive website design is becoming standard practice at web design agencies. For efficiency purposes, the goal is to design once and make it look great on all platforms, browsers, screen sizes and mobile device resolutions. Some designs really hit the mark with cool, innovative and stylish responsive sites. Among  them are these 10 responsive websites that prove that creativity doesn&#8217;t have to be compromised for functionality in a responsive design.</p><h3>1. BBC News</h3><p><img alt="bbc Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bbc.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>What stands out about the BBC is its ability to make a responsive news site without compromising its reputation for big, stunning photos. The BBC News responsive design is perhaps the best of the lot because it scales perfectly and quickly to different devices. The visual design is exquisite and the layout keeps in line with the familiar look of the BBC News desktop website.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://bbc.com/news" target="_blank">View site</a></p><h3>2. Contents Magazine</h3><p><img alt="contents1 Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/contents1.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>Contents magazine has managed to make a responsive website that goes above and beyond visual appeal expectations. The design is eye-catching, the typography beautiful, overall design and layout inviting, and navigation a breeze. What’s innovative about this responsive site is the way the illustrations for each article wrap around the text using various techniques to accommodate breaks in the content. The goal for the mobile friendly site was to keep the issue content front and center, and it was achieved with balance. It is the perfect example of a print magazine making a seamless transition to online, all the while making it reader-friendly for mobile devices.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://contentsmagazine.com/" target="_blank">View site</a></p><h3>3. Microsoft</h3><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9198" alt="microsoft1 Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/microsoft1.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" />      You would expect a technology giant like Microsoft to be ahead of the responsive design curve, but its new site exceeds all expectations. Microsoft has done some real innovative things here, with drop-down menus behind click or touch events rather than :hover, good use of white space and a real hip style presentation. What’s more, the designer found a way to successfully deal with a lot of navigation while keeping the layout and design simple and uncluttered.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.microsoft.com" target="_blank">View site</a></p><h3>4. Skinny Ties</h3><p><img alt="skinny ties Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/skinny-ties.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>This is perhaps one of the most attractive e-commerce sites, no matter what device it’s viewed on. A simplistic design in color blocking style coupled with concise product information and a perfect selection of solid and patterned product images prove that responsive techniques can be used for more complex sites like e-commerce. Web design agencies know that visual is key to e-commerce and Skinny Ties raised the bar high with its usable design across all viewing resolutions. It loads quickly, the search options are plentiful and the navigation couldn&#8217;t be more functional, despite the use of :hover. This site could be used as a case study in how retailers should create a responsive website.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://skinnyties.com" target="_blank">View site</a></p><h3>5. Time Magazine</h3><p><img alt="timemagazine Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/timemagazine.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>Print and online news magazines and newspapers are quickly discovering the importance of responsive websites since much of their readership access their sites on mobile devices. Time magazine is tops among responsive news sites with its prominent images, headline and content readability, and scaling options that accommodate any size mobile device. The website designer accomplished the transition to mobile without losing Time’s identity. It’s a really good unified site that gives all Time readers, no matter how they’re accessing the magazine, the same experience.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine‎" target="_blank">View site</a></p><h3>6. Polygon</h3><p><img alt="polygon1 Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/polygon1.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>With any gaming site, creating a responsive website challenges web design agencies to maintain the richness of big graphics on different size platforms. Polygon is one of those gaming websites that hit a grand slam. Big graphics, yes, indeed. Responsive architecture, you bet. Ease of navigation, count on it. Polygon’s gaming features are amazing across the board and the site is a model that other major gaming sites should follow.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.polygon.com" target="_blank">View site</a></p><h3>7. University of Notre Dame</h3><p><img alt="ndu Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ndu.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>Traditional academia sites tend to lean more towards text and less towards graphics. But as web design agencies know, that combination doesn’t translate to mobile. The University of Notre Dame gets high marks for its user-customized responsive design website that emphasizes big graphics. Take a look at some of the cool responsive techniques the Fighting Irish incorporated into its site: Geolocation for its Campus Tour feature that shows which locations are close to where you are on campus; server side technologies to lighten the page elements for small screen devices and well-placed branding elements. Plus, the university maintained its clean and classic look while turning its traditional site into a smart, responsive one.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="www.nd.edu" class="broken_link">View site</a></p><h3>8. AIDS.gov</h3><p><img alt="aidsgov1 Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/aidsgov1.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>It’s good to see the U.S. government on top of responsive web design with its AIDS.gov campaign. A strong message that promotes awareness needs a strong web design and the website designer did not shy away from the task. The goal was to make HIV information accessible to all on any device and it is successfully achieved with techniques that allow site information to be reused across social media platforms. The crisp navigation nicely complements presidential images and provides easy access to an array of HIV information and resources.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://aids.gov" target="_blank">View site</a></p><h3>9. United Pixelworkers</h3><p><img alt="pixelwork Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pixelwork.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>It’s color blocking at its best on the responsive website of United Pixelworkers. The website designers for this e-commerce site relied on a grid layout that nicely scrolls on any device. Responsive e-commerce is always difficult, but the bold color text blocks nicely balanced with product blocks is a smart design technique for simplifying navigation and providing a positive shopping experience. There is good usage of large typography, nicely arranged menu buttons and drop-down bar navigation, and a well positioned shopping cart. From the home page to the product pages, United Pixelworkers shows how to make a fun, inviting and responsive e-store.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.unitedpixelworkers.com" target="_blank">View site</a></p><h3>10. Starbucks</h3><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9206" alt="starbucks2 Top 10 Responsive Websites" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/starbucks2.jpg?resize=800%2C450" title="Top 10 Responsive Websites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>The king of coffee is the king of responsive website design, too. The site is fluid, functional and consistent with the Starbucks brand. Although the site is rich in content, design techniques make it easy to view and read from any device. It’s clear the Starbucks web designers took a think-out-of-the-box (or should we say coffee cup!) approach when it came to marrying big, detailed images with content and navigation. The web designers certainly earned their grande latte!</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.starbucks.com" target="_blank">View site</a></p><p>With responsive design, there’s no cookie-cutter approach. Web design agencies respond first to the diverse needs of their clients and then formulate a design that is innovative in functionality, yet in line with the client’s established branding or business strategies.</p><p>There’s no mistaken that technology has dictated the need for web designers to invest in responsive website design in order to best serve their clients and remain competitive.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-10-responsive-websites.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-10-wordpress-themes-for-small-business-sites.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-10-wordpress-themes-for-small-business-sites.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 20:55:58 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Azalea</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9145</guid> <description><![CDATA[Choosing the right WordPress theme design will have a significant impact on your site. The good news is that you need not hire a website designer to make a particular theme for you. You can simply browse sites like ThemeFuse, ThemeForest, StudioPress or WooThemes and choose the design that best suits your business. The biggest [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Choosing the right WordPress theme design will have a significant impact on your site. The good news is that you need not hire a website designer to make a particular theme for you. You can simply browse sites like ThemeFuse, ThemeForest, StudioPress or WooThemes and choose the design that best suits your business.</p><p>The biggest advantage of using these WordPress theme designs is that they are ready-to-use from the get-go. Just install the codes to your WordPress site and be amazed at the makeover. Also, these WordPress theme designs almost come with virtually unlimited customizable options so you can really set your site apart from others.</p><p>Just to give you a head start, I’ve compiled a small list of awesome WordPress theme designs you can use for your small business. Here they are:</p><h3>1. Qlassik</h3><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9156" alt="qlassik theme Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/qlassik-theme.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themefuse.com/wp-themes-shop/qlassik/">get it here</a>]</p><p>Whether you want your site to be a portfolio or a small business website, Qlassik is a good choice for a WordPress design theme. It features countless shortcodes, five color variations, five homepage sliders and one-click auto install. Qlassik will help to set you apart.</p><h3>2. Enterprise</h3><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9158" alt="enterprise theme Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/enterprise-theme.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://my.studiopress.com/themes/enterprise/">get it here</a>]</p><p>For entrepreneurs looking for a classy and corporate website design, Enterprise is what you need. It features one-click auto installation, animated slider, custom icons, built-in SEO options and more.</p><h3>3. Coffee Lounge</h3><p><img alt="coffee lounge theme Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/coffee-lounge-theme.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themefuse.com/wp-themes-shop/coffee-lounge-wordpress-theme/">get it here</a>]</p><p>The Coffee Lounge Bar WordPress theme is perfect for a bar, bistro or coffee shop business. It features a creative homepage slider that allows you to display your best products. There is the one-click auto install feature and countless shortcodes to unleash your inner creativity. The Coffee Lounge theme will make your visitors drool every single time.</p><h3>4. Crystalline</h3><p><img alt="crsytaline Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/crsytaline.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themeforest.net/item/crystalline-ultimate-business-wordpress-theme/4645701">get it here</a>]</p><p>The Crystalline WordPress theme allows you to turn your site into a functional blog, portfolio site, product presentation site or a classic corporate site. Crystalline features maximum flexibility with a huge collection of shortcodes, custom header style, boxed and full-width layouts and the addition of sliders. Crystalline features a very clean and neat style.</p><h3>5. EWA Bootstrap</h3><p><img alt="ewa Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ewa.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themeforest.net/item/ewa-bootstrap-multipurpose-wordpress-theme/4661526">get it here</a>]</p><p>The EWA Bootstrap V1.0 WordPress theme is among the favorites of WordPress users. The theme design features a fully responsive design, drag &amp; drop visual composer, multiple slider (2D and 3D), 15 homepage layouts, 500 Google fonts, SEO and WRML ready, unlimited colors/headers and a whole lot more.</p><h3>6. Interio</h3><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9159" alt="interio theme Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/interio-theme.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themeforest.net/item/interio-responsive-multipurpose-wordpress-theme/4616897">get it here</a>]</p><p>Another favorite is the Interio WordPress design theme. The Interio features 250 theme options, 650 fonts, unlimited colors and sidebars, revolution slider, 3 custom posts, 11 custom widgets, 70 shortcodes, 450 icons and many more. With Interio, you can turn your website into anything you wish.</p><h3>7. Hot Topix</h3><p><img alt="hot topix theme Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/hot-topix-theme.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themeforest.net/item/hot-topix-modern-wordpress-magazine-theme/4641602">get it here</a>]</p><p>Are you looking for a magazine-like WordPress theme? Hot Topix is the one you’re looking for. It features a modern and chic yet professional display, fully responsive, five ad units, retina-ready, wallpaper ad, mobile ad unit, drag &amp; drop homepage, sticky menu bar, slideshows and many more. Your visitors won’t get enough of the hot topics you have!</p><h3>8. Map Directory Template</h3><p><img alt="themaptheme Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/themaptheme.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themeforest.net/item/the-map-premium-directory-template/4657541">get it here</a>]</p><p>The Map Directory Template is the perfect theme design for directory, map and city guide sites. This theme is multilingual and WPML supported. The theme uses a mobile device detection system for better mobile experience.</p><h3>9. Quest</h3><p><img alt="questtheme Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/questtheme.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themeforest.net/item/quest-all-purpose-wordpress-theme/4649777">get it here</a>]</p><p>Quest is an all-purpose WordPress theme and can be used for any type of site. With just minutes, your site will look modern and clean. Quest features a shortcode manager, one-click installation, multiple page types and layouts, retina-ready, unlimited color variations and sliders, different theme options and etc.</p><h3>10. Welcome Inn</h3><p><img alt="hoteltheme Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/hoteltheme.jpg?resize=680%2C300" title="Top 10 WordPress Themes For Small Business Sites" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>[<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://themefuse.com/wp-themes-shop/welcome-inn/">get it here</a>]</p><p>If you’re running a hotel or spa, the Welcome Inn theme design is perfect. This theme will allow you to turn your website into a hotel, spa or ski resort site with each one featuring a unique layout. Moreover, Welcome Inn has a one-click auto install feature and countless shortcodes to work with.</p><p>Which one do you like best? I hope that now, you already have a good idea on what WordPress themes offer and how you can use them for your small business site.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-10-wordpress-themes-for-small-business-sites.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Managing Multiple WordPress sites from One Centralized Location</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/managing-multiple-wordpress-sites-from-one-centralized-location.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/managing-multiple-wordpress-sites-from-one-centralized-location.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:46 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Simmon Pierre</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9120</guid> <description><![CDATA[WordPress is the most preferred CMS for many. It is an amazing story how WordPress started as a simple blogging platform and established itself as one of the major Content Management Systems with time. Being open source there is a huge community support; hence getting started with WordPress is quite easy and you will get [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>WordPress is the most preferred CMS for many. It is an amazing story how WordPress started as a simple blogging platform and established itself as one of the major Content Management Systems with time. Being open source there is a huge community support; hence getting started with WordPress is quite easy and you will get continuous support too. There are lots of themes, plugins to add functionality to the websites.</p><p>As a result, a lot of people are building their websites with WordPress. If you have a series of WordPress websites, or if your client wants you to maintain all their WordPress installs on their behalf, then just imagine how painful will it be to log-in to all the sites separately and manage? What about a centralized place from where you can control all?</p><p>WordPress 3 has the multisite feature; it allows you to create a network of WordPress websites with a single install. However, if you need something more than what WordPress 3 offers, there are some other options available for you. Let us know more about them.</p><h3>WP Remote</h3><p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/wpremote.jpg"><img alt="wpremote Managing Multiple WordPress sites from One Centralized Location" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/wpremote.jpg?resize=842%2C631" title="Managing Multiple WordPress sites from One Centralized Location" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p>WP Remote is a plugin that allows administrators to control multiple WordPress installations and do some basic things. You need to install the plugin on each WordPress sites you intend to manage; then you get a central dashboard on the WP Remote site.</p><p>These are the things you can do with multiple WordPress installations on a single-go through WP Remote.</p><ul><li>Mass update all WordPress installations</li><li>Update plugins, provided they can be updated through the plugin page of WordPress dashboard</li><li>Off-line backups</li><li>Update themes, provided they can be updated through the themes page of WordPress</li></ul><h3>ManageWP</h3><p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/managewp.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9135" alt="managewp Managing Multiple WordPress sites from One Centralized Location" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/managewp.jpg?resize=1002%2C581" title="Managing Multiple WordPress sites from One Centralized Location" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p>ManageWP offers a lot of free features; the free version allows to manage 5 WordPress sites maximum. To control more than 5 sites through ManageWP you have to go for the premium version. There are multiple paid packages for the users to choose from.</p><p>ManageWP Free offers following features.</p><ul><li>Update all sites through one dashboard by just one click</li><li>Login to multiple WordPress sites in just one click</li><li>Install and mange themes and plugins</li><li>Remove spam comments</li><li>Post revisions</li><li>Optimize databases</li><li>Restricted IP address access</li><li>Login authentication via email</li><li>Site traffic stats</li></ul><p>The premium version offers following features.</p><ul><li>Create new posts and pages in bulk</li><li>Review websites from SEO perspectives</li><li>Manage users</li><li>Google Analytics integration</li><li>Automated backup scheduling</li><li>Monitor uptime</li></ul><p>There are three paid plans; you can manage any number of WordPress installations through the paid plans. There must be many such options; choose the best one and start managing your WordPress sites efficiently.</p><h3>Infinite WP</h3><p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/infinitewp.jpg"><img alt="infinitewp Managing Multiple WordPress sites from One Centralized Location" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/infinitewp.jpg?resize=966%2C623" title="Managing Multiple WordPress sites from One Centralized Location" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p>Infinite WP has a free and a paid version; the free version offers the basic features; but for advanced features you need to buy the paid version.</p><p>Infinite WP Free offers very basic yet useful features; so much so that most of us might not even need to go for the paid one. Here is what the free version offers:</p><ul><li>Download, restore or delete backups</li><li>Update to the latest version of WordPress</li><li>Install plugins and manage them</li><li>Install themes and manage them</li></ul><p>These are the most common task one needs to do. If you need something more, you can go for the paid version. Here is the list of features Infinite WP Premium version offers:</p><ul><li>Install WordPress</li><li>Automated backup scheduling</li><li>Manage WordPress users</li><li>Copy a specific WordPress installation; also known as cloning</li><li>Run custom PHP code on multiple WordPress sites</li></ul><p>Some premium add-ons are also available; which include following things:</p><ul><li>Create Links, Pages and Posts in bulk</li><li>Manage Comments and Posts on multiple sites</li><li>Google Analytics integration</li></ul> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/managing-multiple-wordpress-sites-from-one-centralized-location.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-5-most-popular-sites-of-2012.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-5-most-popular-sites-of-2012.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2013 21:08:11 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Naeem Noor</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9123</guid> <description><![CDATA[Top 5 Most Popular Sites of 2012 That Save Our Time and Money, and Keep Us Entertained I think it’s pointless to put together a list of the top most visited websites, as we all know them very well. These include Google, Facebook, Youtube, Wikipedia and other online powerhouses that we can’t live a day [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Top 5 Most Popular Sites of 2012 That Save Our Time and Money, and Keep Us Entertained</strong></p><p>I think it’s pointless to put together a list of the top most visited websites, as we all know them very well. These include Google, Facebook, Youtube, Wikipedia and other online powerhouses that we can’t live a day without checking. We all use them on a regular basis and they have surely become a huge part of our routine browsing. That’s why I would rather dwell upon the web services that gradually attract more and more users all over the world and are expected to become TOP websites very soon.</p><p>Thus, below I have gathered TOP 5 Most Popular Websites that keep us informed and entertained, as well as help save our time and money, or even change our lives. So, the most significant breakthroughs of the past year were:</p><h3>#1 Pinterest</h3><p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pinterest.jpg"><img alt="pinterest Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pinterest.jpg?resize=670%2C317" title="Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a> is one of the websites I recommend you keep an eye on. It is a new social network that is designed in the form of a virtual pinboard where you can ‘pin’ whatever grabs your attention. Besides ‘pinning’ visual objects you can take part in a brief Twitter-like conversations just below them. Pinterest design is the elegance at its finest. It has a very simple navigation, and is very handy in keeping all your posts organized. Pinterest is especially popular with women.</p><p>The most popular categories used there are travel, food, cars, humor, home design, fashion, art and sports. This social network is also very popular with teachers and students, as it helps planning lessons (especially when it comes to organizing sources and collaborating on projects).</p><h3>#2 Kickstarter</h3><p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/kickstarter.jpg"><img alt="kickstarter Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/kickstarter.jpg?resize=670%2C317" title="Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p>I can’t help but mention this great web project. It is a real godsend for those who have great, creative ideas, but lack funds to implement them. With <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.kickstarter.com/">Kickstarter</a> it is possible to make your dream come true (of course, just in case you have a unique concept that can make people donate a couple of dollars). This crowd-funding website is primarily aimed to help filmmakers, musicians, photographers, designers and other artists. Each project must fall into one of the thirteen creative categories. So, if you’re an avid art fanatic, or an artist &#8211; don’t hesitate to check out this project.</p><h3>#3 Quora</h3><p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/quora.jpg"><img alt="quora Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/quora.jpg?resize=670%2C317" title="Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.quora.com/">Quora</a> is a new question-and-answer website co-founded by two former Facebook employees. This web resource is completely organized and edited by the community of its users. On this platform visitors can ask, answer and vote for the best answers. Because the question-and-answer websites are nothing new, Quora founders decided to broaden the functionality and attractiveness of their website by involving celebrities and industry professionals into the Quora discussions.</p><h3>#4 Switchcam</h3><p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/switchcam.jpg"><img alt="switchcam Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/switchcam.jpg?resize=670%2C317" title="Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p>The main target of this excellent web resource is to help users create awesome videos from different angles. It helps find records of the same event filmed by different people. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://make.switchcam.com/">Switchcam</a> allows you to watch events from the multiple perspectives with zero editing. It is especially popular with musicians, and many famous celebrities use this resource to make their video compilations.</p><h3>#5 uCoz</h3><p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ucoz.jpg"><img alt="ucoz Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ucoz.jpg?resize=670%2C317" title="Top 5 Most Popular Sites Of 2012" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p>This website differs from the aforementioned projects in that it can serve as a platform for such projects! <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.ucoz.com/">uCoz is a website builder</a> that allows you to create practically any kind of a website in a matter of minutes. It is primarily oriented on non-techies, and doesn’t require any professional sitebuilding experience. uCoz-powered websites have a professional look and excellent functionality. This platform can be used both for entertainment and business. What’s more, it has a completely free version, that you can try anytime.</p><h3>Summary</h3><p>I think that all these websites are worth your attention. As for me, they are truly useful, unique, fun and enthralling. With their help you’re able to create a full-fledged, dynamic website, find answers to topical questions, create awesome videos, embody your dreams and share your preferences. Isn’t it amazing? If you have already done at least one of these actions, don’t hesitate to share your experience in the form a comment ;)</p><p>If you have any suggestions or questions on this article or related topic, feel free to contact me via Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.</p><p>Victor Moore enjoys discovering fresh, useful online projects that help people state their personality and share unique concepts. He’s a skilled webmaster, the founder of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://easystepstocreateawebsite.com/">EasyStepstoCreateaWebsite.com</a>. In his articles he gives advice on building websites.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/top-5-most-popular-sites-of-2012.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>3 Ways to Get High Rankings Despite Algorithm Changes</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/3-ways-to-get-high-rankings-despite-algorithm-changes.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/3-ways-to-get-high-rankings-despite-algorithm-changes.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 15:33:47 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Colby Hetrick</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9105</guid> <description><![CDATA[Representatives from Google have said they change search engine algorithms as many as hundreds of times per year. This reality hit the Internet world particularly hard in 2012, as many of the algorithm changes that occurred meant that people who specialized in search engine optimization had to completely change strategies because those that had been [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Representatives from Google have said they change search engine algorithms as many as hundreds of times per year. This reality hit the Internet world particularly hard in 2012, as many of the algorithm changes that occurred meant that people who specialized in search engine optimization had to completely change strategies because those that had been used in the past were no longer valuable. Failing to take action meant that pages could dramatically drop in rankings or disappear altogether. Keep reading to learn more about how things have changed, and ways to give yourself an ideal chance of success even when the future seems uncertain.</p><h3>Create High Quality Content</h3><p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/google-high-rankings.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9113" alt="google high rankings 3 Ways to Get High Rankings Despite Algorithm Changes" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/google-high-rankings.jpg?resize=961%2C323" title="3 Ways to Get High Rankings Despite Algorithm Changes" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p>It&#8217;s already known that people don&#8217;t generally have the patience to sift through dozens of pages of search results in hopes of finding something relevant. After all, that&#8217;s what created the need for search engine optimization. When done properly, it helps certain sites become more visible and can encourage visitors to not only click on links but linger for longer periods of time when browsing content.</p><p>New search engine algorithms place a higher importance on content that is written well and relevant to things users search for. In the past, it was sometimes enough to simply use particular keywords for a precise number of times, and let the content quality take a backseat. By switching tactics and becoming committed to producing content that viewers want to read, you&#8217;ll have a better chance of making them respond to your content in ways that make sense for business goals.</p><h3>Market Content in Several Ways</h3><p>Details about the new algorithms also make it seem that it&#8217;s no longer enough to focus on one or two methods to promote your content. Instead, it&#8217;s worthwhile to start by submitting articles to directories, and then going a step further by also creating a social media buzz. You can recruit readers to help in this regard by adding sharing buttons to your content pages that connect to websites like Facebook and Twitter.</p><h3>Make Your Website Work Well On Multiple Devices</h3><p>Although there is not yet strong evidence that usability plays a role in search engine rankings; it&#8217;s worthwhile to prepare for that possibility by using technology that&#8217;s friendly to multiple devices. In 2012, Google conducted a study and found that there may be as many as 1 billion people who primarily access the Internet on a mobile device. Traditional computers aren&#8217;t going anywhere in the near future, but statistics like that make it clear that it&#8217;s wise to make your website reflect the changing times. If word spreads that some elements of your homepage become nearly unusable when accessed on a mobile phone, no amount of search engine optimization strategies could compensate for the frustration that users may experience. Remember, the goal is not only to attract attention online, but to inspire a favorable response from people who visit.</p><p>There are still many questions about the future of the Internet and what it means for people who build entire livelihoods out of helping websites rank highly in search engine result pages. Fortunately though, the three principles outlined above should help you prosper in spite of algorithm shifts, because they offer advice that stands the test of time and don&#8217;t rely on gimmicks. Try them today and breathe easily even when you hear rumors that algorithms are about to change once again.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/3-ways-to-get-high-rankings-despite-algorithm-changes.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>How Custom Blog Design Benefits Your Business</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/how-custom-blog-design-benefits-your-business.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/how-custom-blog-design-benefits-your-business.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2013 07:35:54 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Naeem Noor</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9043</guid> <description><![CDATA[It is no secret that the ever-expanding arena of online social networking has seeped into the daily consciousness of most individuals in varying sectors of the economy. This is far more pronounced in the younger generation who will soon be the stakeholders and powerful figures that shape what the fabric of post-modern society will look [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It is no secret that the ever-expanding arena of online social networking has seeped into the daily consciousness of most individuals in varying sectors of the economy. This is far more pronounced in the younger generation who will soon be the stakeholders and powerful figures that shape what the fabric of post-modern society will look like. A large part of social networking is the proliferation of blog sites and blog posts, wherein every individual has an open forum to express his or her viewpoint. What makes this different than traditional media outlets is that with the correct design and optimization, blog posts allow the writer to have access to an infinite number of viewers. The set up of a blog is of the utmost importance, as readability is what retains a viewer’s interest; for these purposes a custom blog design should be unique yet accessible.</p><p>The motivation behind starting a blog are wide-ranging; some blogs exist for informative purposes, others for advertisement, and yet other for simple entertainment. OF course, any blog post has to hold the interest of a viewer, and thus companies who utilize this forum to increase their client base must work hard to create intriguing and interesting content. When it comes to custom blog design, content is king but the design is the throne it sits on. Nobody wants to read a post, no matter how well thought out, if it is not aesthetically pleasing. In addition to having a pleasing design, with all the color and image display technique this entails, all the content must be easily maneuverable. There is little in the online life more frustrating than attempting to glean information from a website but not being able to easily access it; a successful blog post archive will be easy to maneuver so as to encourage more sustained site traffic.</p><p>Individual blog posts are by and large available for the catharsis of its author and the entertainment of its viewers, but blog posts utilized by businesses are a terrific free resource for public relations and advertisement. A company website that simply lists essential information does the bare minimum of catering to an existing client base, however if a company hopes to reach a wider audience there is much more that needs to go into their online presence. Having a custom blog design for a company website not only provides a forum for product updates and information, but can add a humanistic touch to any company. By allowing consumers to see the changing face of a company and its employees while still being kept up to date on products, viewers learn to connect with a brand. A pleasing website that is properly optimized (and therefore shows up more prominently in search engines) goes a long way in making sure information is not only distributed but retained in the minds of consumers.</p><p>After determining he importance of an effective custom blog design, the next step is deciding whether or not to tackle this project individually, or with the assistance of a design company. The successful completion of a website requires technological savvy and an eye for design; one must posses the necessary skills to set up and maintain the functionality of a site as well as ensure it is aesthetically pleasing. If an individual falters on either of these areas, then it is likely a good decision to outsource to an individual or company who knows the website deign world intimately. This frees up time for other endeavors and also ensures that the website will be up and running far quicker than if the project was taken on individually. Another consideration of course is cost; hiring a website designer is going to be more costly than building it individually. However, the cost of a successful online presence is well worth the increase in site traffic and expanding customer base with its accompanying revenue. Having a sub standard website does more to harm the image of a business than anything, and thus a professional and well laid out site is imperative to success in modern society.</p><p>The world of social networking and blogging is varied and vibrant; so much so that individuals and companies alike are jumping at the chance to have a successful site and blog. With the right <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.99medialab.com/web-design-development/blog-design/">custom blog design</a>, businesses can benefit greatly from a boost in site traffic and reputation.</p><p>This article was written by an editor of 99MediaLab.com</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/how-custom-blog-design-benefits-your-business.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/useful-social-media-plugins-for-wordpress.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/useful-social-media-plugins-for-wordpress.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 02 May 2013 03:23:41 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Devesh Sharma</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9046</guid> <description><![CDATA[Social media plays a great role in driving traffic to your blog, for most people it&#8217;s the second biggest source for Search engines. Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Reddit and StumbleUpon has the power to make your content go viral. While, there are ton of ways to share the content but to [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Social media plays a great role in driving traffic to your blog, for most people it&#8217;s the second biggest source for Search engines. Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Reddit and StumbleUpon has the power to make your content go viral.</p><p>While, there are ton of ways to share the content but to maximize the result you need to integrate social media in your WordPress website. This will help you get more traffic &amp; social shares.</p><p>In this post, I am going to share 8 useful social media plugins that you can use to improve your website.</p><h3>Social Media Plugins</h3><h2>1. Digg Digg</h2><p>The most popular and well established social media solution owned by Buffer team. The plugin easily lets you add social media plugins at various places with just few clicks. It also has an option to add a social vertical floating bar to the left or right side of your blog posts.</p><p>There aren&#8217;t many plugins that comes with so many options to integrate social media buttons to your website. It displays all the popular social sharing buttons with counts including sites like Pinterest, Flattr, etc.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.wpkube.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/digg-digg.jpg"><br /> </a><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6918" alt="digg digg 8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/digg-digg.jpg?resize=563%2C290" title="8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>It also comes with an option to enable lazy load to improve the website performance. In simple words, it will display the social media buttons once the site is loaded.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/digg-digg/" target="_blank">Download the plugin</a></p><h2>2. ShareBar</h2><p>If you&#8217;re just looking to add a vertical floating social media buttons either to the left or right side of the blog posts, than ShareBar is the plugin you should be using. I have been using it on my WordPress blog and the plugin works like a charm.</p><p>It easily allows you to rearrange, disable or delete current buttons through the settings page.</p><p>Though, it doesn&#8217;t come with Google+ &amp; Linkdin buttons, but adding new social media buttons is easy &amp; takes less than a minute.</p><p><strong>Add new social media buttons</strong></p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.wpkube.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/sharebar.jpg"><br /> </a><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6919" alt="sharebar 8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/sharebar.jpg?resize=584%2C460" title="8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p><strong>Change the Background, size, colors from settings page.</strong></p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6920" alt="sharebar settings 8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/sharebar-settings.jpg?resize=542%2C514" title="8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sharebar/" target="_blank">Download the plugin</a></p><h2>3. Shareaholic</h2><p>Shareholic adds sexy social media buttons to your blog. You would be amazed how many social media buttons are packed in this one single WordPress plugin.</p><p>One of the most downloaded and oldest plugin in the WordPress Respiratory. The plugin is packed with a ton of nicely designed social media buttons that when hover over displays the full button.</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6922" alt="shareaholic 8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/shareaholic.jpg?resize=552%2C178" title="8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>It also shows a background image that says &#8220;Sharing is caring&#8221; which can be easily be modified or removed with a few clicks.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sexybookmarks/" target="_blank">Download the plugin</a></p><h2>4. Social Toolbar</h2><p>Social Toolbar plugin puts a toolbar at the bottom of the blog posts with some nice options. The toolbar shows your latest tweet, social profile links, social media buttons with counts and an option for normal users to hide the toolbar.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.wpkube.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/social-toolbar.jpg"><br /> </a><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6921" alt="social toolbar 8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/social-toolbar.jpg?resize=523%2C172" title="8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>The concept is very similar to Wibiya, but with social toolbar plugin you don&#8217;t have to show credit or anything for that matter.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/social-toolbar/" target="_blank">Download the plugin</a></p><h2>5. SocialPop</h2><p>Social Pop is a premium plugin which you can use to show the social media buttons. The display settings allow them to appear right after the content section of the page. You can also manually insert them wherever you like, including widget areas using the Manual Insert Settings option.</p><p>Although, it&#8217;s a great social media plugin but it doesn&#8217;t show any count or social shares for that matter.</p><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6917" alt="social popup plugin 8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/social-popup-plugin.jpg?resize=327%2C271" title="8 Useful Social Media Plugins for WordPress" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://codecanyon.net/item/socialpop-a-social-media-plugin-for-wordpress/110958" target="_blank">Download the plugin</a></p><h2>6. ShareThis</h2><p>Sharethis is used by more than 1 million websites and has access to 120 social media channels. The plugin comes with 7 types of displays including large icons, Horizontal count, vertical count, classic, Regular buttons, Regular buttons without any text and normal buttons.</p><p>Sharethis comes with two different widgets:</p><p>1. The Multi post option allow visitors to share the content without living the website.</p><p>2. The Classic option redirects visitors to the relevant service.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/share-this/" target="_blank">Download the plugin</a></p><h2>7. Social Media Counters</h2><p>This is a simple and useful sharing plugin that adds social media buttons with counts &#8211; Twitter, Facebook, Linkdin, Stumbluepon, Google+ and Sharethis.</p><p>This plugin lets you configure buttons for top of posts, bottom of posts and excerpts. This Social Media plugin can also be enabled on custom post types.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/social-media-counters/" target="_blank">Download the plugin</a></p><h2>8. SocialBox</h2><p>Social Box is a premium plugin that displays your social media channels with followers count. It can be used in the sidebar to get more likes &amp; followers on Facebook and twitter.</p><p>This beautiful plugin has 8+ services and that includes Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Github, Dribble, Forrst, Vimeo and Feedburner.</p><p>Download the plugi<strong>n</strong></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/05/useful-social-media-plugins-for-wordpress.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Essential Tips To Get A High Page Rank</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/essential-tips-to-get-a-high-page-rank.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/essential-tips-to-get-a-high-page-rank.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:24:14 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Louisa Krist</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9030</guid> <description><![CDATA[Web design is often related to aesthetics, presentation and eventually user experience. While it is important for websites to cater to user expectations in terms of site design, presentation, content, ease of use etc., it should be noted that the buck does not stop with creating a great website. The site should be noticed by [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Web design is often related to aesthetics, presentation and eventually user experience. While it is important for websites to cater to user expectations in terms of site design, presentation, content, ease of use etc., it should be noted that the buck does not stop with creating a great website. The site should be noticed by Internet users looking for the products, services or information on the popular search engines. In simpler words, the website should rank prominently; say within the top 3 pages of the search engine result pages to get user attention.</p><p>With almost all websites that target a specific niche or industry vying for top SERP rankings, it is important for web designers and web masters to also draw the attention of the search engines&#8217; ranking algorithms by adopting certain search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to prove their mettle in a given domain.</p><p>Here a few simple, yet effective, SEO techniques that can be systematically incorporated into website design to achieve that elusive ranking. Organic or natural SEO, however, does take time and effort to yield results.</p><h3>Website Structure</h3><p>Website structure should be search engine-friendly, allowing the algorithms to neatly map a navigation path and pagination. Broken links, invalid or empty pages should be carefully monitored and corrected to ensure that site showcases relevant content to its visitors.</p><p>HTML and XML site maps are helpful for search engines to understand the structure of large sites with multiple pages, while image maps enable images on the site surface on image results of the search engines.</p><h3>Site Speed</h3><p>It is important to consider the amount of code involved in getting the site up and running. Large images, rich content, etc. may cause the site to take a longer time to load. Optimizing code, layout and type of content on the page is an important aspect of SEO.</p><h3>Keywords</h3><p>Keywords form the core of the SEO process, as they play a vital role in establishing relevance of the website in a specific search context. Search engines use keywords to map a search query with the vast content available on the web, and churn out the most relevant content on the SERP.</p><p>Keywords are popular search terms or strings people often use to search for information on the web. Use of a varied set of popular keywords in all elements of a web page is a neat systematic way of implementing SEO. URL names, html and image file names, alternate texts for images, page title and other headings on the page, anchor texts for links and content should contain an optimum density of keywords, which actually make sense to the reader. Keywords should be relevant and continuously flow with the content on the page.</p><h3>Flash Content and Images</h3><p>Minimizing flash content and images, or optimizing them accordingly using necessary text elements help them being considered for website ranking</p><h3>Directory Structure</h3><p>Constantly version-ing files that relate to the website content and revamping the folder structure causes several broken links in the process, reflecting on the SERP rank of the website. Alternate arrangement to manage source code is also an important, yet unnoticed aspect of SEO.</p><p>Web design should not necessary stop with the visible design elements and layout of the website. It must also include regular SEO techniques right from the early design stages, to ensure that the site automatically conforms to SEO guidelines applicable to most search engines.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/essential-tips-to-get-a-high-page-rank.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>HTML5 Tips For Web Designers</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/html5-tips-for-web-designer.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/html5-tips-for-web-designer.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:57:30 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brandon</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Web Design]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=9009</guid> <description><![CDATA[HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, is the programming language responsible for structuring web content and controlling the overall appearance of a website. HTML serves as the framework for all other programming languages as it is utilized by all other programming languages in order to help control the way content is displayed to visitors. With the [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, is the programming language responsible for structuring web content and controlling the overall appearance of a website. HTML serves as the framework for all other programming languages as it is utilized by all other programming languages in order to help control the way content is displayed to visitors. With the release of HTML 5, webmasters now have even greater control over their content and can design websites more efficiently. However, there are several important things to keep in mind while developing websites in HTML 5.</p><h3>1. Keep It Responsive</h3><p>One of the most important aspects of HTML 5 and modern web design practices in general is to ensure that every website that you design is able to adjust itself to the user’s screen size and that content is structured in a way that all users can access the same information without significantly impairing the appearance of the website. Responsive web design also consists of displaying content in a way that can be viewed by all platforms and operating systems.</p><h3>2. Keep It Simple</h3><p>While flashy slideshows, pop-up media, and other fancy layouts are visually appealing, they have a way of confusing visitors who are just trying to find information as quickly as possible. Exotic media may also not be displayed properly on mobile devices, which is another reason that webmasters should strive to keep their websites simple enough for users and search engines alike to quickly find what they’re looking for.</p><h3>3. Make It Mobile-Friendly</h3><p>In keeping with a simple layout, a mobile-friendly website should display all of the same information that a regular website contains, but in a way that mobile users can access the information without having to scroll through hundreds of options. Mobile-friendly websites should also be responsive enough to adjust themselves to the screen size of any mobile device and allow mobile users to access on-screen items via their device’s touch screen capabilities.</p><h3>4. First Impressions Are Everything</h3><p>While websites should be kept simple, webmasters may feel a need to spruce up their homepage with a little “flash” here and there, which is perfectly fine. New visitors that come to your website will usually decide whether they like your website or not within 5-30 seconds. Your visitors expect to find information fast, be entertained by a nice layout, and have access to social networking features without having to look around too hard.</p><h3>5. Keep Everything Connected</h3><p>In addition to social networking, all of your website’s pages should be connected to each other in some way or another and visitors should have access to your site’s most important pages at all times. For example, your products and services should all be listed on a Products/Services page, even if they have their own dedicated pages, and your most important pages should be showcased in your navigational menu. Another option is to activate “breadcrumbs” on your website so that visitors always know where they are and can quickly jump back to a different section if necessary.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/html5-tips-for-web-designer.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>10 Tips For WordPress Theme Designers</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/10-tips-for-wordpress-theme-designers.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/10-tips-for-wordpress-theme-designers.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Sat, 13 Apr 2013 10:35:06 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Naeem Noor</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=8980</guid> <description><![CDATA[WordPress is one of the best content management systems available today. The platform offers many templates that a user can choose to design their blogs or websites. Below find useful tips and guidance for templates designer. 1. While using CSS (cascaded style sheets) in templates, it&#8217;s a good idea to follow standard WordPress architecture, this [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WordPress</strong> is one of the best content management systems available today. The platform offers many templates that a user can choose to design their blogs or websites. Below find useful tips and guidance for templates designer.</p><p>1. While using <strong>CSS</strong> (cascaded style sheets) in templates, it&#8217;s a good idea to follow standard WordPress architecture, this will make it easier for users to understand and implement your custom made design.</p><p>2. Ensure that you close all the necessary <strong>HTML</strong> tags that you use in the design. If the tags are not closed the theme will have issues once a user applies that particular theme. Ensure that you use utilities such as HTML validator to check your code for any inconsistencies</p><p>3. Use comments or notes to explain your theme, this will be useful to users who would like to use your theme and wants to make adjustments or slight modifications. The comments will guide the user and explain to them the structure of your template. The way you arrange your code should follow standards set by WordPress.</p><p>4. Always test your template thoroughly using different views. When you make changes in the notes, comments, search or sidebar, test the template in the various views such as single post, pages, and archives to ensure that it works well otherwise your template will be rejected by users.</p><p>5. be creative and use what is available within WordPress  Use the resources provided within WordPress in a creative manner and you will end up with a unique template design that will attract many users. Determine the way the content will be displayed, is it on a single page or will the posts appear on a different pages.</p><p>6. Debug your template and ensure that they are free of errors. This can be achieved by thorough testing before releasing the template to end users. If a template is free of any bugs, it will gain popularity.</p><p>7. Use Jquery intelligently- if make use of J query intelligently, you will encounter less error codes when coding or programming your template.</p><p>8. Use the breadcrumbs carefully and check out how tags, categories, and categories appear. The breadcrumb is an intelligent way of reducing the amount of programming effort in your templates.</p><p>9. Look for a good testing live environment or sandbox, where errors can be identified, and fixed accordingly. This will give you more room for innovation and introduction of new features in your template</p><p>10. Make sure that your template will be able to work seamlessly with the inbuilt WordPress plugins, otherwise very few people will be willing you use the templates. Use the relevant programming code to make sure that plugins can be used in a user-friendly manner.<br /> In conclusion ensure that the final WordPress template released is attractive and free from any bugs. Engage May different method of testing as well as many users to test the template. Incorporate ideas from the users who have participated in the testing process and your template could be one of the best. Lastly Keep on researching about the new WordPress commands and use them while designing your templates.</p><p>Robert is a designer and blogger, interested in mobiles, art and <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.ticodo.com/">Ticodo</a></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/10-tips-for-wordpress-theme-designers.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/top-15-stunning-css3-animation-effects.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/top-15-stunning-css3-animation-effects.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:42:40 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Debarshi Ghosh Dastida</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[CSS]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=8912</guid> <description><![CDATA[Computer animation is a part of computer graphics and is in wild use today using which you can create moving objects and images using your PC. CSS 3 animations are used to push the HTML5 applications to a better level. Without seeking any kind of help from professional developers, the web designers can create beautiful [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Computer animation is a part of computer graphics and is in wild use today using which you can create moving objects and images using your PC. CSS 3 animations are used to push the HTML5 applications to a better level. Without seeking any kind of help from professional developers, the web designers can create beautiful and stunning animations using CSS3 animations. Your experience in creating animations will be easier hereafter because of the CSS3 animations. Many interesting experiments have been conducted till now to test the potential of the CSS3 animation scripts and the results are no doubt to be positive.</p><p>The below given CSS3 animations will let you know what CSS3 is capable of in terms of creating animations. Just try to use it for your own experiments and you will get to know what kind of usability CSS3 can offer you.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://css-tricks.com/examples/CSS3Clock/" target="_blank">Analog Clock</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8921" alt="Analog Clock Demo CSS3 anim Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Analog-Clock-Demo-CSS3-anim.jpg?resize=600%2C599" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>Build your analog clock without using any javascript and using CSS3 power to build it. The clock will come with a clock face and three hands. The current time is grabbed through some dynamic transformations.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://devfiles.myopera.com/articles/1041/image-gallery.html" target="_blank">Image gallery</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8929" alt="image gallery showcase CS Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/image-gallery-showcase-CS.jpg?resize=600%2C296" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>You can build an image gallery using CSS3 with fading captions. The CSS3 transitions will be actually used to create animations.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://dinolatoga.com/demo/webkit-image-hover-effects/" target="_blank">Image Hover</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8920" alt="Amazing Image Hover Effects Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Amazing-Image-Hover-Effects.jpg?resize=600%2C274" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>You can create a transparency effect for the images using this animation effect. Here, transparency isreferred to as opacity. You can use it for text, images and in all possible places.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.romancortes.com/blog/pure-css-coke-can/" target="_blank">Rotating coke can</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8933" alt="rotating coke can CSS3 an Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/rotating-coke-can-CSS3-an.jpg?resize=600%2C526" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>You would need to use the displacement maps logic to be applied to this cylindrical can to make it rotating. You will need a very little code here and will be very simple to understand and follow up.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.zurb.com/playground/osx-dock" target="_blank">Recreating OS X dock</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8932" alt="Recreating the OS X Dock  Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Recreating-the-OS-X-Dock-.jpg?resize=600%2C589" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>Recreating the docks cannot be anymore simpler than this. You can create a dock of icons by taking the links as input using this animation effect.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://media.24ways.org/2009/14/5/index.html" target="_blank">Polaroid gallery</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8931" alt="Polaroid Gallery CSS3 ani Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Polaroid-Gallery-CSS3-ani.jpg?resize=600%2C330" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>Just want to change your ordinary pictures into a set of extraordinary Polaroid? Then, this will be useful for you to turn your old and regular looking images to cool Polaroid style pictures.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.the-art-of-web.com/css/css-animation/" target="_blank">Animated rocket</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8923" alt="Animated rocket CSS3 anim Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Animated-rocket-CSS3-anim.jpg?resize=600%2C304" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>The moving rocket will appear with a dotted line background where the dots indicate the placement of DIV which contains the rocket image.It will get translated in the screen and the image will be rotating inside.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.zachstronaut.com/lab/text-shadow-box/text-shadow-box.html" target="_blank">Text shadows</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8936" alt="text shadow box CSS3 anim Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/text-shadow-box-CSS3-anim.jpg?resize=600%2C407" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>You have to move your mouse cursor over the text to cast shadows with the focus on it. You can get a perfect shadow for the text using CSS radial gradient which replaces the PNG spotlight.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://demo.marcofolio.net/jquery_dj/" target="_blank">JQuery DJ</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8930" alt="jQuery DJ Hero CSS3 anima Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/jQuery-DJ-Hero-CSS3-anima.jpg?resize=600%2C409" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>You can see record which will start spinning in lower and faster speeds where you have to provide input for the same. Scratching is also possible here. Some sound versions are also there.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://development.tobypitman.com/css/menu.html" target="_blank">Tab Menus</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8935" alt="Tab menu CSS3 animations Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tab-menu-CSS3-animations.jpg?resize=600%2C447" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>You can create tab menus without using java script. Just roll over your mouse to any of the tabs and it will get highlighted.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://samples.webmatze.de/rotating_image_gallery.htm" target="_blank">Rotating gallery</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8934" alt="Rotating Image Gallery CS Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Rotating-Image-Gallery-CS.jpg?resize=600%2C602" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>You can create a rotating effect for a picture using this animation. It will be built using Webkit Nighty build using CSS transform and transition features.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.cssplay.co.uk/menu/css3-animation.html" target="_blank">Frame by frame</a></h2><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://anthonycalzadilla.com/css3-ATAT/index-bones.html" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8927" alt="Frame by Frame CSS3 anima Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Frame-by-Frame-CSS3-anima.jpg?resize=600%2C446" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></h2><p>You should keep on clicking the images to see it frame by frame. Once you reach the last frame, the image will wrap around to its starting point.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://anthonycalzadilla.com/css3-ATAT/index-bones.html" target="_blank">AT-AT walker</a></h2><h2><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8924" alt="AT AT Walker CSS3 animati Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/AT-AT-Walker-CSS3-animati.jpg?resize=600%2C465" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></h2><h2></h2><p>It’s a CSS3 animation of AT-AT walker. Using very simple concepts in CSS3, you can make the war machine walk.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://anthonycalzadilla.com/css3-ATAT/index-bones.html" target="_blank">Animated buttons</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8922" alt="Animated Buttons CSS3 ani Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Animated-Buttons-CSS3-ani.jpg?resize=600%2C765" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>You can create differently styled and hovered animated buttons using this animation. The animated buttons will contain all the details in it. It is build using CSS3.</p><h2><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://cssdeck.com/labs/google-doodle-in-css-follow-up" target="_blank">Google doodle</a></h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8928" alt="Google Doodle CSS3 animat Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Google-Doodle-CSS3-animat.jpg?resize=600%2C205" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>Google doodle is very popular and it’s a small trial to present Google doodle using CSS3 animations and without making use of Java script.</p><h2>Can hazur cursor?</h2><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8925" alt="can haz your Cursor css3 f Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/can-haz-your-Cursor-css3-f.jpg?resize=600%2C351" title="Top 15 Stunning Css3 Animation Effects" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p><p>This one is my favourite. It’s a cursor monster developed from the Simurai laboratory. Just move around the cursor on the image and see how it responds to you.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>You have a lot more animations in CSS3 that lets you create animated effects without using java script. The CSS3 animations will work on specific browsers alone and it will vary with each animation type.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/04/top-15-stunning-css3-animation-effects.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>WPMU DEV giveaway: win a 1 Year Membership (Winner Announced)</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/03/wpmu-dev-giveaway-win-a-1-year-membership.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/03/wpmu-dev-giveaway-win-a-1-year-membership.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:46:01 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Naeem Noor</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Giveaway]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=8882</guid> <description><![CDATA[We&#8217;ve got a very exciting announcement today, we are holding a giveaway in collaboration with WPMU DEV. WPMU DEV is the web&#8217;s leading WordPress-related community, featuring an award-winning WordPress development support staff, more than 150+ premium plugins, amazing themes, and 24-7 support response. More than 160k members have enjoyed DEV&#8217;s great membership. You can check out their Google Plus page here. [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We&#8217;ve got a very exciting announcement today, we are holding a <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Giveaway" href="http://www.cssreflex.com/category/giveaway/">giveaway</a> in collaboration with <a href="http://wpmu.org" target="_blank">WPMU DEV</a>.</p><p>WPMU DEV is the web&#8217;s leading <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.cssreflex.com/category/wordpress/" target="_blank">WordPress</a>-related community, featuring an award-winning WordPress development support staff, more than <a href="http://premium.wpmudev.org/projects/category/plugins/" target="_blank">150+ premium plugins</a>, amazing themes, and 24-7 support response. More than 160k members have enjoyed DEV&#8217;s great membership. You can check out their Google Plus page <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/113918261231562979642/posts" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://premium.wpmudev.org/join/#signup" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-8894 aligncenter" alt="wpmu dev giveaway premium account WPMU DEV giveaway: win a 1 Year Membership (Winner Announced)" src="http://i2.wp.com/www.cssreflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/wpmu-dev-giveaway-premium-account.jpg?resize=600%2C446" title="WPMU DEV giveaway: win a 1 Year Membership (Winner Announced)" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><h2>How to Join this Contest ?</h2><ul id="internal-source-marker_0.8888825884776947"><li>All you have to do is create an account at <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://premium.wpmudev.org/join/#signup" target="_blank">http://premium.wpmudev.org/<wbr></wbr>join/#signup</a> and then comment with your username here down below.</li></ul><h2>Contest Schedule:</h2><ul id="internal-source-marker_0.8888825884776947"><li>The contest has now ended and the winner is: <a href="http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/03/wpmu-dev-giveaway-win-a-1-year-membership.html/#comment-844621511" data-action="profile" data-user="18061564">WordPressThemeInfo</a> (WPMU Username: <strong>wpdhaval</strong>)</li></ul> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/03/wpmu-dev-giveaway-win-a-1-year-membership.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>15</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Key Design Factors To Use From Science Fiction Movies</title><link>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/03/key-design-factors-to-use-from-science-fiction-movies.html/</link> <comments>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/03/key-design-factors-to-use-from-science-fiction-movies.html/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Sun, 03 Mar 2013 20:34:26 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Naeem Noor</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Design]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.cssreflex.com/?p=8857</guid> <description><![CDATA[Science fiction has an interesting relationship with the future which has often been explored by philosophers and culture writers. On the one hand of course, science fiction is supposed to anticipate and guess the future, and of course that&#8217;s what it does for the most part. Sometimes it gets this right, but more often than [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Science fiction has an interesting relationship with the future which has often been explored by philosophers and culture writers. On the one hand of course, science fiction is supposed to anticipate and guess the future, and of course that&#8217;s what it does for the most part. Sometimes it gets this right, but more often than not it gets it wrong as was the case with flying cars and jetpacks which every movie and book seemed to think would be a part of every day life by now.</p><p>But what&#8217;s more interesting perhaps is that science fiction can also sometimes <em>influence </em>the future. Take for instance the automatic doors that many shops and facilities use. Apparently these only exist thanks to Star Trek which provided the inspiration.</p><p>When it comes to working online though and creating web design, the science fiction influence that is felt most commonly is the touch-screen interface featured on Minority Report and countless science fiction movies since. Minority Report features an interface that was designed by a &#8216;think tank of futurists&#8217;. Steven Spielberg gave them the job of creating something that would be &#8216;like conducting an orchestra&#8217; but that would also be a realistic prediction for the future.</p><p>Fast forward a few years and suddenly <em>every </em>new interface is touch based and uses a range of intuitive commands such as pinch to zoon and twist to rotate. There&#8217;s also a lot of blue. The iPhone you could say owes its career to Minority Report, but so too then do many of the other new and upcoming developments. The Kinect was actually devised by one of those same guys from that think tank, while Pixel Sense which is being used for &#8216;table top computing&#8217; seems to take the whole concept even further.</p><h3><strong>So what can we learn from all this?</strong></h3><h2><strong>Minority Report and Web Design                                                                                </strong></h2><p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/haritsu/3077680241/"><img alt="3077680241 db152ba06e Key Design Factors To Use From Science Fiction Movies" src="http://i0.wp.com/farm4.staticflickr.com/3272/3077680241_db152ba06e.jpg?resize=500%2C328" title="Key Design Factors To Use From Science Fiction Movies" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p><p>Well what&#8217;s important to remember is that Minority Report is a piece of science fiction and a <em>movie</em>. What works well onscreen is not necessarily what&#8217;s the most practical to use in real life, so copy-pasting Spielberg&#8217;s design wholesale isn&#8217;t really going to be practical.</p><p>For one, the use of dark colours and blues is something that will quickly give your visitors eyestrain. White is perhaps the most important colour in web design, and will help your site to look spacious while at the same time providing the perfect contrast for your writing so that it stands out.</p><p>That said though transparencies are something that you can use to great effect as long as they are used sparingly. While you shouldn&#8217;t place your text on a transparent background, you can nevertheless use transparencies for borders and images and this can give your site a great sense of colour depth that is hard to achieve with bold colours. Using multiple shades of the same colour can also be a good way to accomplish this.</p><p>The best lesson to take from Minority Report however is that the best interfaces will always be intuitive. Minority Report&#8217;s UI works well because the audience understands intuitively how Tom Cruise is interacting with it without requiring any exposition. This is something that you should aim to accomplish for your site so that people see it and instantly know how to interact with it. Think outside the box, make your site fun and tactile to navigate, but keep it obvious at all times.</p> <address>This guest post can be credited to Vadim Kirichenko. He is an SEO and runs a firm dedicated to <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.businessmedia.ca/">web design in Toronto</a>. He likes sharing web designing advice on his blog and also recommends watching science fiction movies as he finds them a useful resource to gain more knowledge about interface design and other useful aspects.</address> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.cssreflex.com/2013/03/key-design-factors-to-use-from-science-fiction-movies.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>