DigitalWorkshop

Looking to add a secure and properly validated contact form, and a polling system to a new site (standard css, js, html and php). Anyone got any suggestions for templates to get me started. I'm looking at 123contactform.com at the moment as they seem to provide a wide range but think they probably host the scripts - which I don't want. TIA Paul

I am using absolute positioning in a relative DIV to position two images over each other and I then want to put the main navigation underneath this banner header. I can't use a fixed height because the content is responsive. Does anyone have any suggestions apart from using a dummy spacer DIV and using javascript to get and set the relevant element heights every time the window is resized (surely there's an easier way). Here's the code and CSS. I want the "nav" div to appear directly under the "banner". <header class="wrapper clrfix" > <div id="banner" style="width:100%; position:relative"> <img class="abs" src="img/photo.png"> <img class="abs" src="svg/vector_logo.svg"> </div> <div id="nav" class="wrapper clrfix"> <!-- main navigation --> <nav id="topnav"> <div class="mnu-toggle">Menu</div> <ul class="srt-mnu" id="mnu-main-nav"> <li><a href="/index.shtml">Home</a></li> <li><a href="info/news.shtml">News</a></li> <li><a href="reviews/index.shtml">Reviews</a></li> <li><a href="blog/index.shtml">Blog</a></li> <li><a href="#">About Us</a></li> </ul> </nav> <!-- end main navigation --> </div> </header> ======== CSS ======== img.abs{position:absolute;top:0;left:0} Thanks in advance. Paul

Thanks for taking the time to feedback. The slider highlights some of the many things you could do with the plugins. I tried a single image and it just didn't cover it. The images look like they are created with PS filters because these are PS filters though providing effects you won't get with other filters. And yes, some of the screenshots look dated as the products are very old - that's why they're free. But what about the layout and mechanics of the site. That's what will become the "boilerplate" not the content. In particular I've looked hard at the font sizes across desktop and tablet so you don't feel like the site is shouting at you.

I'm getting to the point where I'm happy with my design but as it is going to be used as boilerplate for several different sites I'd like a final review before I roll it out. Should be good for tablets and mobiles as well as desktop. http://www.plugincreativity.net/index.shtml The graphics in the slider on the Elemental page have not been optimised so takes a little longer to load than I'd like. One issue I would really like to solve is the "pop" of the slider. Thought I could use a quick-loading element to fix the size and I tried a simple background image to the slider DIV but couldn't get it to do what I needed. Can't set a fixed size to the DIV when it is a responsive design. Currently working on a way to break the home page subhead for tablets and mobiles. Probably go for two divs and swap them in or out as required with "display" or "visibilty" settings. Also considering darkening the text for the plugin product titles themselves. Any suggestions, problems, feedback etc welcome. TIA. Paul

Been following a discussion on LinkedIn about elearning designers needing web design and development skills now that most stuff is online. Anyone here tried applying their skills in other areas like instructional design?

@@fisicx - Many thanks, yes it was a <wrapper> closing </div> had gone walkabout. (And yes. I meant full content width not browser width - apologies) @@Grant Baker - thanks. To adapt a quote from that great philosopher (Forrest Gump's Mum) Simple is as Simple Does :-) Paul

Please can someone check these two pages on a desktop and let me know why one slider fills the page width and the other doesn't. I'm missing something really obvious but I've been over it repeatedly and just can't see it - so just need a new pair of (not so weary) eyes. http://www.plugincreativity.net/index.shtml (not full width) http://www.plugincreativity.net/products/elemental.shtml (full width) (Yes I know it disappears on the mobile version I'm working on that.) Thanks. Paul

I must be missing something obvious. Can someone tell me why this php code won't work! if (file_exists("config.php")) { if (file_exists("cp.reg")) { header('Location: pads/default/'); } else { header('Location: pads/noreg/'); } } else { header('Location: pads/startup/'); } But if I take out the nested if it works fine. But I can't see any reference to the fact that you cannot nest file_exists statements? I realise I could rewrite to set a flag for one of the file exists but it seems less efficient. TIA Paul

Since implementing eu cookie scripts we have been plagued by cookie compliance spam visitors. I am told they don't harm SEO but they skew both page visits and bounce rates which is important, especially when doing small tweaks or, in particualr, launching new pages/sites which don't have much traffic. I've looked at this option for removing ghost spam. https://www.ohow.co/ultimate-guide-to-removing-irrelevant-traffic-in-google-analytics/ which seems to involve whitelisting valid hostnames. Anyone see any issues? Have a better solution? TIA. Paul

I would definitely aim to reduce the clutter on the home page irrespective of the icon or image styles. IMO these pages look like internal content pages not a home page. Actually, I think you've got three categories of content - Tutorials, Information and Free Stuff so I would just have three columns under those headings with those illustrated and list the specifics as "menu" items below that. If you feel the need to have icons for each I'd put a large image to head each column and then put mini "inline" icons against each individual entry. I would also consider having a banner which highlights a particular piece of content and call it "This Month's Highlight" to encourage users to come back repeatedly to see what you highlight next month.

For anyone using/interested in our free photo-editing plugins, we've just updated the Elemental one with lots of new presets including burnt edges and some funky abstract patterns too. Still only 32-bit but still free. You can download it from here. http://www.plugincreativity.net/products/elemental.shtml Did I mention it was free?

Since watching Interstellar again I keep returning to S.T.A.Y by Hans Zimmer and particularly the rather more upbeat Maor Levi remix on Youtube which has the benefit of a brilliant video. I just can't work out what the helicopters might be doing in the early part of the video - are the dropping something/someone into the water or lifting them out?

Yes I'm curious why you haven't simply uploaded your images to one of the many existing microstock sites rather than enter an overcrowded market with your own site. Microstock sites might not pay very well but they do all the work getting the footfall and becasue of the sheer volume and range of material that's where your "customers" will be. And if you're hoping to make money from the advertising and referalls then footfall is what you need which means your offer needs to be very strong. if you're the only contributor then do something different and innovative to try to be unique. At the moment you're whispering into a gale IMO. If you want some pointers for design etc take a look at Unsplash.

Thanks both for the feedback. Sounds like we're approaching ti correctly but we'll do some A-B testing.

I think we're probably talking about two different things. You're probably referring to animating the content of a website product images etc whereas I'm talking about creating animated or interactive content itself. For me those examples are the equivalent of colour cycling of the 80s and 90s. Let me be clear, I accept that efficient UX animations are best done in CSS, javascript etc. But animated and interactive content is a visual skill, requiring a visual development tool. I also agree that the content must justify the overhead but it can be done. It's also not difficult to modify a website's content for limited bandwidth. There was a time when the quality of shockwave material was enough for people to wait to download that and Flash still hasn't gone away and was until recently very popular with design and developer alike even though it has an overhead. Indeed, I'd argue that the success of Flash has prompted many of the scripted solutions you highlight. Further I think you'll find that these script-based solutions will only have to be hand-coded for as long as it takes for someone to put a visual interface on them. And that's ignoring the fact that while you may have the skills to develop material like that efficiently, many people don't - otherwise no-one would be using our products, or Adobe Animate or Google Web Designer etc. In fact no-one would be using DreamWeaver, or resorting to 1&1 for their websites. We've had customers design whole websites in Flash and now in our HTML5 - can't say I'd recommend it but doesn't mean it doesn't work for them - they're usually sites for rock bands or other creatives wanting something different. It's horses for courses.

That's the difference between being a developer and being a designer. Javascript and GSAP are programming tools - fine for programming UX effects or for animations of limited complexity but not for designing creative animation or interactive and doing it efficiently.

I completely agree about animation for animations sake. It can help give a site an initial wow factor but quickly gets in the way. If you want animated content then use an animation tool like Opus Creator, or Adobe Animate where you can actually see what you are doing.

When I first started I would be as available and responsive as possible but those were the days when most people still used landlines with answerphones so few expected an instant response outside office hours but you could still get clients who wanted an answer immediately. As email became more prevalent a quicker response was expected and slightly extended working hours. But it is probably only the advent of smart phones which have made some people start to think you should be available at any time. Now my solution is a compromise. I never answer the phone at weekends except by prior arrangement with an international client. If I'm not doing something specific (event, travel, socialising etc) I check email regularly including evenings and weekends and in the week I try to respond to international enquiries or technical problems if they're out of hours, on weekends I respond if it is really important. Then I pick a time every few months to take some unplugged time - but I warn key customers in advance so they know to schedule their projects accordingly. But bear in mind that for some people, dumping an email, or question on you is their way of drawing a line under their week so they can forget things until Monday - they might not want a quick response.

I prefer the "meatballs" menu because actually to me it's an ellipsis which is pretty universally understood and entirely consistent with what the icon represents. However I'm now aware of what the kind of element is meant to do which colours my view. If I remember back to the first time I saw a hamburger icon I thought it was a design element and ignored it for a long time. Once we know what an element does it can be difficult to see it fresh again and I might overlook all of those hamburger style if I came to them as naively as before before I was aware of how RWD had decided to deal with navigation.

Do you structure your website menus and particularly sub-menus in alphabetical order or do you try to guess user-priority and put the most important elements first or at the top? Most sites (including ours) seem to prefer the latter but with lots of options it might get a bit difficult for users to find things?

Think of our products as Flash for HTML5 (plus an alternative to Visual Basic, and Articulate Storyline - all in one program). The free sudoku sample is here: http://www.digitalworkshop.com/resources/free-samples.shtml

Hours of fun to be had here The odd-numbered options wreck your layout a bit and I feel a bit cheated when I get a double-portion of the same fruit - especially two lots of the same apple variant. And strictly speaking I think coconut is a nut I would agree that the header needs more padding, especially when resized for different screen-widths, and the social buttons don't sit right with me If they must go down the side I'd perhaps consider a different coloured band to give the user the cue that these will not flow in the same fashion as the rest of the site? I'd also say the header is a bit too big, especially on desktop or maybe it all just needs more air.

Thanks for taking the time to look at the site. Yes I'd say you're missing rather a lot - including the point of my post which was about the effectiveness of our responsive design and the responsive content it contains not our software. But if you're not getting any inkling of our USP from those examples that's pretty damning. Sound like we'd better look more closely at competitors other than Adobe. I wasn't aware (for example) of a free (or commercial) tool which allows slideshows in graphical borders of any shape which can be animated themselves, dragged and dropped etc and overlaid with other slideshows or slideshows in slideshows. Most slideshow tools I've seen can't even do different speeds for different images in the same slider and there's little or no flexibility over the control elements... so if you've got a product you can direct me to then I'd be keen to see it. But if we're going to do this one feature at a time then we could be here for a very long time and get very annoying for other members. Maybe I'll start a dedicated topic so people can make their recommendations on a broader basis. Paul

We've (finally) finished the overhaul of our website to make it all responsive and to showcase the responsive content skills of the new versions of our software. I'd welcome any feedback, specifically on the pages showcasing the responsive content examples as they are mostly our existing examples just set to be resizable (except the interactive video stuff). http://www.digitalworkshop.com/showcase/showcase-publications.shtml http://www.digitalworkshop.com/products/info/animation.shtml We haven't yet done any which switch content but it's probably only the quizzes which would need it because of the amount of text in them. (If anyone is interested enough to want a copy of either Opus Pro or Creator at a silly discount send me a message here and I'll give you a code). Cheers, Paul

I agree about it needing much, much more content. There is nothing to bring customers back or recommend it. Very dry design too. Take a look at professional puzzling sites like http://puzzlemagazines.co.uk/ or http://www.puzzler.com/ If you'll pardon the promotional plug - you could use a product like ours ;-) - we even have a free HTML5 sudoku in our sample publications. Paul