Cheesetoast

CSS3 Text Effects

Graham — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:53:15 +0000

Looking for ways to jazz up your website? With new CSS3 techniques it’s easy to add some nifty text effects that can make your site really stand out. What’s great about these effects is that they degrade gracefully; that is to say that, if a browser (in this case, Internet Explorer) does not support the new CSS rules, there is a satisfactory fallback. Check out the demo of some text-shadows in action. Continue reading →

SEO – Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

Graham — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:46:51 +0000

If you want to improve your search engine ranking, here are some tips for search engine optimization (SEO).

This article talks about how to write well written content, how interlinking can help with page rankings and, if you're using Wordpress, which plugins can help.

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Cheesetoast has Switched to WordPress

Graham — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 02:07:20 +0000

Cheesetoast has moved from Joomla over to WordPress! Having become more proficient with using WordPress I decided to make the switch. Joomla is a great CMS, but WordPress is just way more fun to play around with.

Writing HTML5 Forms

Graham — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:51:18 +0000

Although HTML5 is becoming more popular with coders, there are still those who are hesitant about adopting the latest markup for fear of the lack of support from older browsers. Luckily, there are some cool new HTML5 form attributes that degrade gracefully in older browsers (even IE6!).

This summary of some new attributes will discuss HTML5 autofocus field, placeholder text, form validation as well as new input types (email, numbers, URL, etc.).

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Recommended WordPress Plugins

Graham — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:09:34 +0000

A short list of Wordpress plugins that I would recommend. These plugins can help with SEO, improving download speeds, database backup and contact forms. Continue reading →

Comments Bubble on WordPress Titles

Graham — Thu, 12 May 2011 23:16:11 +0000

You may have seen a lot of blogs where the number of comments associated with a particular post is displayed subtly next to the post title. I'm going to quickly go through how this can be done with a Wordpress child theme without too much trouble. Continue reading →

WordPress: Frameworks and Child Themes

Graham — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:27:10 +0000

Wordpress is a great way to develop webpages, no doubt about it. It allows you to quickly and easily add content and with the introduction of widgets there is even more customization available for designers. But what if you want that to take it that step further and design your own theme? This article will talk about using a Wordpress framework (specifically the Thematic framework) to design a child theme. Continue reading →

Aesthetics and Usability

Graham — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 22:11:21 +0000

If a web page is made more attractive, does that make it easier to use? Usability and aesthetics have been the topic of much discussion with designers. The word 'aesthetics' can be defined as the study of beauty and artistic taste. Unlike usability, aesthetic appeal is not something which can be easily measured or quantified as it is largely based on personal preference. Beauty itself is a combination of shape, colour and form and can be interpreted in a variety of ways. People like to see attractive websites because they are visually stimulated by them. What researchers are trying to determine is if visual attractiveness aids the usability of a site or if it acts as a distraction. Continue reading →

Website Navigation

Graham — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 23:51:23 +0000

Web pages are more than just a collection of pages containing useful information and forms for interaction. They are a network of interrelated nodes that have been structured and organised so that users can find what they are looking for. Since the structure of websites varies so much, users are forced to relearn how to navigate around them. Users frequently have trouble deciding which page within a site to visit next. This decision usually involves an understanding of their current location within the site, and for poorly constructed sites this can be difficult to determine. One possible reason for this could be that developers design the navigation system around the assumption that users will first visit the home page when they enter the site. This is not always true, as users may be linked to any page on the site from a bookmark, url or search engine result. Continue reading →

Accessibility Online

Graham — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 23:09:15 +0000

For people with disabilities surfing the web can be difficult, if not impossible. Common tasks that most people take for granted such as reading, typing or online purchasing can become complex, time consuming endeavours for people who are less capable. Making websites usable involves taking into consideration the disabilities of the users. Continue reading →