Converting PSD files to XHTML—is it essential?

Converting PSD files to XHTML—is it essential?

It really needs lot of time and effort to make a great looking website. Not only a good design is important—error free coding is also another vital requirement for making a good website. For this you need professional guidance that can offer cross- browser compatible coding with CSS/XHTML standards and excellent PSD to HTML / XHTML conversions.

Any website designer has a fair idea of making good designs. They also have images, pictures etc., ready at hand, which are mostly saved as PSD files. You can mostly rework in this files whenever there is a problem but there are occasions when you will have to go for conversion. In such circumstances you will have to convert the files from PSD to XHTML, PSD to CSS etc. Especially in using complex designs the designers often face problems. So, in such circumstances converting PSD to XHTML becomes very important.

Another disadvantage of a PSD file is that most files in PSD cannot be uploaded directly to show the work to others. Though these files are designer-friendly, they cannot be easily uploaded, therefore the need to convert PSD to XHTML arises. By doing so, you can easily upload a file on the Web.

Converting a file to proper semantic code is not very difficult but it is advisable that you take the help of expert professionals. Since expert professionals are well aware of the nitty-gritty of the conversion services they can easily offer the best services within a short time. By availing services from a reputed firm or professional you can ensure that the coding is properly done, which is very important for a website’s better performance. Bad coding affects a Website’s compatibility with browsers.

Also, it is essential that all conversions have to be cross browser compatible to gain maximum advantage. In order to popularize a website it is essential that the files are well coded and has the capability to get easily noticeable by browser.

No doubt, Photoshop is great software for designers, and one can create excellent designs by using it but for better performance of a website it is essential that your files are well converted to valid PSD to XHTML, PSD to CSS, PSD to HTML etc.

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How Do Templates Work With Your Joomla Site?

How Do Templates Work With Your Joomla Site?

Joomla is an award-winning open source CMS (content management system) that allows anyone to build a professional site quickly and easily, even if they've never built a website before. Joomla has a number of free plugins that help you extend the power and is a great tool for developers of any skill level.

How Does Joomla Handle Design?

Joomla templates are controled by a array of files that allow you to completely control the look and feel of your site simply by editting a couple of files. If you aren't a great designer there is nothing to worry about. Fortunately there are many Joomla templates around that you can make use of and several are even free. If one of these templates doesn't work for you, you can also make your own template which allows for the utmost control.

Joomla templates allow for anyone, regardless of their level of knowledge, to easily maintain their dynamic website.

What's The Secret Behind Joomla Templates?

When someone visits a page on your site, Joomla searches the database for all information that is relevant to that page. This information includes not just the main content item they are after, but also the menus and other modules that should be shown. Then, using your template's code, Joomla figures out where everything should be displayed.

To make things as easy as possible, Joomla allows for controlling the look and feel of your site using just two kinds of files; CSS and HTML. The HTML controls where elements are placed on the page while the CSS controls the design elements like colors.

Changing any images in the template you need is very simple. Since the image files are ordinarily linked in the HTML files you just need to go in and point the image call to the location of your new image file. If the new image isn't the same size as the image it's replacing you can cause some weird errors.

Just start your process by downloading any freely available Joomla template and then customize it from there. Before long you'll have a great looking website.

How Joomla templates help

In the old days you used to have to hire a web designer who would charge you thousands of dollars for the initial site, then sometimes over $100 just to add a new page to the site. Using templates with Joomla you can avoid all of that expense and easily add new pages whenever you want. It's also incredibly easy to add graphics, music and videos.

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15 Email Design Tips

15 Email Design Tips

Designing an effective email is not difficult, but it has a few unique aspects that should be considered in the design process. Regardless of design however, the message should be clear, simple and easily identifiable. The following tips are basic reminders for good email design.

Do not use too many or too large graphics in your email marketing. Ideally, you would have about 60 percent text and 40 percent graphics in your emails. It is never a good idea to send an email that is one giant image. Keep in mind that many email clients have images turned off by default.

Use the HTML alt tag for important images. Not only does the alt tag display text while images are loading, you can use it to describe the graphics.

Provide a link to allow people to view your email as a Web page. Some people just prefer to look at things in a browser and your HTML email may not render well in every email program out there. Many Email Service Providers (ESPs) have a standard mail merge value such as {{{browse}}} for viewing emails in a browser window.

If you do use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), keep in mind that email newsletters only supports inline CSS. Ideally, you would stay away from CSS altogether in your email design as some email programs will jus strip it out.

Be sure to send a text version of your email along with the HTML version. If you create both an HTML and a text version most ESPs will send the email as a multipart format, which means that the text version will be presented to those services and programs that cannot handle HTML. It is good to remember that some email programs and mobile devices can only handle text emails.

Do not rely on background images. There is no guarantee that your background images will display properly on all the different email programs, and if they are stripped out, they may alter your message.

Since you are designing for email programs and mobile devices, be aware of file sizes of images. You do not want to bog down your emails with large image file sizes.

To accommodate as email programs and mobile devices try to limit your email width to no more than 600 pixels.

Avoid things like flash, javascript, etc., as many email programs do not support these things properly.

Tables are important component of email design and have made a comeback as email marketing has grown. Make sure to use the table attributes to maximum advantage in your email marketing design.

If you do use tables, keep it simple with a two-column table with a row across the top. Email programs are not as sophisticated as web browsers so avoid complex table layouts.

Your company name should be apparent in the "From" address, subject line, and content of your email. This decreases the chances your email newsletter will be mistaken for spam.

The law requires either a physical address or P.O. Box in all email marketing emails. Be sure to include this in every email you send. Most ESPs will not allow you to send emails that do not comply.

Make sure your subject line is relevant and avoid over hyping with all CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks! Email receivers and spam filters have come to automatically associate these things with spam.

Test your emails against a list that includes a variety of email clients, such as Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, and so on. Do this as a quick test before you send out your production email to make sure everything looks all right.

Keep these tips in mind, paired with compelling and relevant information and offers, and the result will be a solid and successful email.

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CSS Menus and 508 Accessibility Compliant

CSS Menus and 508 Accessibility Compliant

The Section 508 federal U.S. mandate requires web developers to create alternative means of viewing content on websites so that people with disabilities can also experience it. When compliant with 508, web content also becomes more available to all users including those using mobile devices, laptops, voice browsers etc. Therefore, while 508 compliance is something every company needs to be working towards by law, it also affords the same businesses certain benefits that are applicable to not only users with disabilities but to all potential users.

The use of certain types of content on a website makes it difficult or impossible for people without sight or the ability to read, for example, to comprehend the given content expressed.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Guidelines and Levels of Compliance

The W3C has been tasked with establishing levels of Section 508 compliance based on the regulations set forth in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

It is not always easy to retro-engineer existing software to comply with Section 508 regulations. The W3C - an impartial group of web and Internet authorities. To help companies work towards compliance sequentially rather than all at once, the W3C has broken the law into three priority levels: A, AA and AAA.

Levels of 508 Compliance:

Priority 1, Level A: Provide content that, when presented to the user, conveys essentially the same function or purpose as auditory or visual content. This guideline emphasizes the importance of providing text equivalents of non-text content (images, pre-recorded audio, video). (text from the mandate itself)

Priority 2, Level AA: Ensure that text and graphics are understandable when viewed without color and that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example
from context or markup. (text from the mandate itself)

Priority 3, Level AAA: Mark up documents with the proper structural elements. Control presentation with style sheets rather than with presentation elements and attributes. Use style sheets to control layout and presentation. (text from the mandate itself)

Validation of CSS Menu Compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

There are several validation tools available to software developers to determine if their products are compliant with 508 standards. Pluginlab employed several validation methodologies to ensure the highest level of 508 regulation compliance. These include:

Cynthia Says by Highsoftware is a premium validation tool for 508 compliance. The software detects inconsistencies between site content and Section 508 standards. Pluginlab passed this validation test with zero errors at levels A, AA, and AAA - validating that Pluginlab CSS menus comply with all accessibility ratings.

WAVE by WebAim is used to assist developers and designers in the creation of software with AAA level 508 compliance. All Pluginlab modules passed without error at level AAA compliance, putting it in a singular class of software.

Site Valet by WebThing provides diagnostics for forms, scripts, HTTP, mark-up analysis and processing, HTML, XML, EARL, Link Checking and spell checking. All Pluginlab modules passed validation with zero errors at levels A, AA and AAA. Once again, a third validation that Pluginlab CSS Menu Modules simplify compliance with 508 regulations.

CSS menus in particular are becoming a primary means of navigating a website's many pages and thus are a key component in 508 compliance. CSS menus that provide the necessary support should include such features as keyboard-only support, voice and text reader support and so on. In turn, this level of compliance will also help with search engine optimization of site pages containing CSS menus.

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CSS Menus - 5 Key Ingredients

CSS Menus - 5 Key Ingredients

CSS menus offer a greatly expanded range of creative options to site designers. But the benefits to using CSS menus only begins with more expansive design flexibility. There are numerous additional benefits to using CSS menu-based navigation - benefits that will save you time and money in the development and management of all of your client sites.

5 Ingredients for an ideal CSS Menu

Because CSS design separates design elements from site text, changes to the look of a site can be made by swapping out one CSS template for another without changing the text. In addition:

1. CSS Menus better be Recyclable. A CSS menu is a template. Once created it can be used over and over, amortizing development costs with each site you design and build.

With a file folder full of CSS templates, you can adapt existing design elements, give them a different look and employ them on another site without any re-coding. Consider how much that will cut down on site development time and expense.

2. CSS Menus need to be Easily Customizable. Pick and click saves hours of expensive hand-coding. Client requested re-dos can be completed in minutes instead of hours. Change the background color, change the type font, the size whatever the request, fixes are fast using CSS Menus.

And, as you build your client base, expect satisfied clients to come back for updates and upgrades to their sites. These updates are simple and cost effective. They also deliver great margins on work for hire assignments.

3. CSS Menus Must be 100% SEO friendly. That makes site navigation readable to bots and menu text is given high priority in search engine algorithms. Sites show up faster in SE indices when CSS complaint menu technology is deployed.

4. CSS Menus should be Section 508 Compliant. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires equal access to all non-classified information. There are also state regulations used by schools, public institutions, corporations, even restaurants and movie theaters.

5. CSS horizontal and CSS vertical flyouts and dropdown menus should be easily changeable for those with low vision, increasing font size and even background colors for easier accessibility. CSS menus are strongly advocated by the W3C in their site compliance rankings.

One other point. There's an active, robust support community for CSS menu design and development. This means there's plenty of access to good, reliable information from professionals who have already discovered the money-saving, money-making benefits of CSS menu modules.

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