Archive for category Design

Introducing WWD-CGC.com

I’d like to take this opportunity to officially introduce a new venture to offer affordable web design and custom graphics creation for the small business owner who is either just starting out or is thinking of getting their business on the web.

It’s called WWD-CGC.com and stands for Wilsonsway Web Design – Creative Graphics Company.

The goal behind our new business venture is to offer not only affordable web design but to assist the WWD-CGC.comsmall business owner in helping to get costs under control by promoting Open Source software whenever possible. This way, the often times enormous startup costs can be cut as much as possible by utilizing Open Source software and operating systems.

Once the business owner begins to recover from their initial startup and is showing a stable profit margin, they’ll have the option of either sticking with the original Open Software we assisted them with or go the proprietary software path and begin to purchase the software they deem necessary. The choice will be theirs and we’ll be here to help them with recommendations.

The nice thing about many Open Source applications is that they are cross-platform programs that can run on any operating system. Costs are virtually non-existent compared to it’s proprietary counterparts.

WWD-CGC.com also has it’s own custom Theme designer who can create a custom one off theme for Wordpress, Joomla or Drupal. Standard HTML sites are also offered as an option. The purpose is to help get the client going with a unique presence on the world wide web that will help them with branding and get their business exposure online what it needs to succeed.

As WWD-CGC gains momentum, we’ll expand and grow with our customer’s needs. We plan to be here for our clients down the road.

Did I mention we’re on Twitter too? You can find us under the moniker of wilsonsway! ;)

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tags: , ,

Redefining a Business

Proprietary and FOSS Business Models
Image by TaranRampersad via Flickr

It’s agreed that times are tough especially in these days of mass lay-off’s, sky-high interest rates from our friendly credit card companies and banks and a general feeling of being lost at sea with no land in sight. Sounds pretty bleak doesn’t it? So, why then would someone like myself decide to try to redefine his freelance status with a new look and approach to his website?

I took a new look at things a few days ago and came up with a few things that helped me decide:

  • With the economy being the way it is for who knows how much longer, folks are looking even harder for the best deal they can get. Large corporations don’t seem to be affected as much as the small to medium business owners. This group is having a time of it just trying to make ends meet so when a good deal on anything they deem necessary comes along, it may be best to jump on it before it too passes.
  • Open Source solutions to a lot of folk’s needs are especially beneficial now. Case in point, M/S Office for a few hundred dollars compared to Open Office for free. Both do the same job very well yet one is open source (free) and the other will run you a few hundred dollars.
  • Web hosting has come a long way since it’s infancy with more features thrown in every day. Add to that most servers being used are running Linux software which also cuts costs down for the web host. These savings are passed on to the consumer.
  • A good web site just doesn’t have to break the bank, so to speak. If the design and features thrill you but the price chills you, what’s the point? Making you think that you can’t afford a good, clean, full-featured web site? I think not.

These and others brought me to the point that helped me decide to give things a different view. So, I’ve begun a new venture called WWD-CGC which promotes Affordable Web Design and Custom Graphics Creation for all.
I’m also in talks with some others about this to see if we can’t form a group to assist the ‘little guy’ in getting their message out there for a lot less than they’d expect. I have a page up now with the rest to come shortly but suffice it to say that we as a people are going to need to pull together in order to get past these trying times. WWD-CGC aims to help.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tags: , , , ,

Two Great Ways to Learn HTML

w3schoolsSome folks ask from time to time just how to start designing a page or a website. I usually tell them right off to first visit the W3C Schools Online Web Tutorial site to get up to speed on what all is involved. It’s an excellent resource for learning how to code and what to look out for when designing a site.

Then, when they’ve pretty much think they’ve got it all wrapped up, I tell them to validate their work on the W3C Markup Validation Service page to make sure their work is to standards. It really helps you to find those pesky little stray bits of code that you didn’t realize were there that needed attention.

W3C Code ValidatorOther than that, a good clean and functional design is best in my opinion. Take it from your own creative mind and run with it. That’s what makes for good ideas and good looking web pages.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tags: , , ,

In Need of a Good WYSIWYG Editor

FrustrationLook, not all of us are ‘code-jockeys’ and do everything in Notepad or whatever. Some of us enjoy using a good web page editor that employs a WYSIWYG format for laying out our pages and graphics.

So, tell me why that in Linux, there isn’t a good program for this. Forget Kompozer as it crashes if looked at too hard. NVU is out too as the developers quit working on it. I’ve yet to find a good program in Linux for this and it’s frustrating to have to fire up the ‘ol Windoze box just to run Dreamweaver or what else I have on it.

I use Bluefish for lite editing and other tasks but I’m a visually oriented male who relies on actually seeing how my pages ‘look’ when editing them. Is there actually a good program available in Linux for this purpose?

Helpful suggestions appreciated. Sarcastic replies are not.

Tags: , ,

Designing in Linux

Ubuntu LinuxI was asked the other day what I used to design pages with. The fella asking was stunned when I told him I used Ubuntu mostly and that it was rare that I even started up my Windows box for anything other than watching a Netflix movie or a game. Neither of which happens very often.

He then asked me what I used in Ubuntu and what it cost over what was offered for Windows machines. After a small chuckle, I told him to sit down and hold on. Hehe, he wasn’t ready for my answer. ;) I told him that I was out nothing money-wise for any of the apps I used in my design work but was only out some time invested in learning them. Add to that the cost of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Photoshop, etc. for the Windows environment of somewhere in the hundreds of dollars plus the time invested to learn them and you have one heck of a difference. He was dumbfounded that Linux offered all these apps (and more) freely.

Ubuntu, as well as most all distros, offers a vast selection of freely obtainable applications and programs for use in their OS (operating systems) by way of something called the Synaptic Package Manager. Other distros have similar installation methods called by different names but for this post, I’ll go with Ubuntu’s offering.

A lot of web designers/developers code by hand whereas others use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) type editors. Ubuntu has offerings for both and they’re free to install. Compare that to the proprietary programs that may cost you hundreds of dollars each and the choice for the just starting out designers can be easy. The choice is up to the individual but the results are the same. It all depends on what the designer puts into the app he or she uses.

In any event, it comes down to personal choice when it breaks down to what someone uses and below is a sample of what I use from time to time depending on what I need at the moment. A * beside the app indicates one I use most of the time.

  • Bluefish Editor*
  • gPHPEdit
  • Amaya
  • Kompozer*
  • Filezilla (for FTP duties)*
  • The GIMP*
  • Inkscape

I have used Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Photoshop in the past and in some cases I’ll still use them from time to time but for the vast majority of my work, I use the above mentioned ones in an everyday basis.

What is your favorite app for coding or design work in Linux?

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tags: , ,

Not quite enough Java

Ran into an odd problem yesterday while working on a piece for a client. I was editing some javascript in a few of their pages and when I went to check it’s overall look in a few browsers, I noticed that it didn’t appear in Firefox nor Swiftfox. Opera and the usual slew of IE’s along with Google Chrome did just fine.

I checked my plugins and they seemed up to date however, the darn browsers would just not resolve the script. Seeing as I run Ubuntu 9.04 on my main workstation, I did a quick check to see if I had the latest versions of Java installed. Turns out I didn’t and I immediately installed the Java6 plugin via Synaptic.

Going back to double-check my work once again, the once hidden script now resolved and ran as originally planned. Seeing as more and more folks are going with alternative browsers like Firefox and Swiftfox (which are essentially the same) I really needed to make sure that my edited pages resolved with everything intact. Some folks don’t like using Javascript in their work but I still see a use for it for the time being.

Moral to the story? One can never have enough Java! :D

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tags: , ,

Layout and design for dental site

It’s getting pretty close here to a defined layout for this dental site I’ve been working on lately. Most of what I’ve got already laid out is looking good and all I’m lacking is some really good images for fill-in placement here and there. Might be a trip to their office in the near future for me to get some more shots of things I may feel better about but for the most part, things are coming together very well at this point.

I like it when things start coming together on a project. It just feels right to see all the elements fall in place. I’ll hopefully be able to give a preview of sorts soon. ;)

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tags: , , ,

Artisteer for Wordpress

I downloaded this app due in part to recommendations from a couple people I know that swear by it and they were right on about how simple it is to create a new Wordpress theme from scratch. This program is awesome!

Artisteer allows you to be as creative as you want to be or to try out the many suggested templates themselves that are included. Or, if you find one you like, you can edit it to suit your tastes by selecting from the various menus for the header, footer, menus, layout, background and more.

The only problem I have with it is actually a non-issue in a sense. It’s that it doesn’t run in Linux. Not even under Wine. I’m stuck using it on my Windoze box for now. Hopefully, that’ll change soon.

I’m in the process of creating a theme for our family blog that I hope will incorporate things that indentify us as well as what we are like. Soon as I get it finished, I’ll link to it and show it off.

There is another version that lets you create themes for Joomla as well. ;)

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tags: ,