Creating and using subdomains with MAMP Pro – easier than you think

This weekend I was trying to set up subdomains in MAMP Pro to replicate the server set up for a new project I’ve taken on.  Although this task is actually quite straightforward in the end, I couldn’t find any decent documentation on it until coming across an article by Mark Van Der Putten that got...

Online Marketing Training – resources from recent presentations

Right then – this post is primarily for those who attended my recent online marketing workshops which took place in Derry through September – but there’s plenty here for anyone interested in understanding more about how websites work – especially in relation to search engines and social media. So, I’ve broadly categorise the resources as...

The Semantic Grid System

Really, this should be filed under ‘probably too good to be true’ … but let’s hear it out. So, here’s the problem: there are a ton of great grid based CSS frameworks for designers to work with – frameworks which provide a baseline for dividing up the page into a usable grid via a series...

Definitive Guide To Forms based Website Authentication

Ah – this is great, a complete low down on how to set up your forms for web based authentication.  I love Stack Overflow … I have it set up as a standalone application using Fluid App.  Whenever I have a web-dev question, it’s Stack Overflow first, google second. The Definitive Guide To Forms based...

jQuery plugin for select elements / long dropdowns

UPDATE: Thanks to a query on WordPress.org, this post is getting a bit of traction … so I wanted to point out that I now use something else entirely to style dropdowns. I use the Selectric plugin for jQuery. It’s super versatile, degrades nicely, and has some great styling options. Check it out! A while ago,...

Password Strength

So, this made me think – the latest cartoon from XKCD.com.  I urge everyone to be using strong passwords for their email, their FTP information, their wordpress installation – etc. etc.  And I normally go with the approach outlined in the first row of images below – choose a common enough word, throw in a...

Beautiful design systems

So, I was reading this article from Happy Cog and it struck a chord with me as regards systems for design. Whenever I start a web design project, I’m looking for elements from previous projects that can be re-used in planning the new project.  I might lift an HTML code base from one, a set...