We cleaned up a few small errors on the site to once again ensure we are 100% XHTML 1.0 Strict compliant. We try to ensure all of our releases meet the high standards of valid coding. There are times when we do stray and have an error showing here or there. I personally feel that using sites like W3C to check for valid code is more of a guideline than code law. Usually we can work around a error when needed. There are a few inherent pitfalls when designing websites. One is accounting for screen resolutions. Many users are still using 800×600 screen resolution which can create problems for designers. Now that broadband is much more widespread and lcd widescreen monitors are getting less costly, designers are putting more and more on a site. More information as well as graphics. Then you have to deal with the differences in the major browsers. What works in one may not always work in another. You constantly have to check a site in different browser situations. Sticking to valid code standards lessens the likelihood that you will have to redo coding for different browsers, but as with anything there are many exceptions to the rule.

I have been testing various forum software for possible use with the site. I am most comfortable with Invision Power Boards but have used others in the past including phpBB and SMF. I wanted something a little less comprehensive for use with wordpress as many of my customers use a wordpress based backend. I stumbled across Simple:Press Forum in my search. It installs very easily and fits most every need I would have. As of this post I have not fully tested all the features and at this point am unsure whether a forum is really needed for this site. I will post a more detailed account of my time spent using this forum. For all you wordpress users interested in a quick and easy but feature packed forum then you should give Simple:Press Forum a try.

This is another one of our older designs that we have tweaked just a bit and decided to re-release. It’s a simple green and orange based design. Please give us a link back if you decide to use it. You can see the layout in action by clicking HERE. View Screenshot by clicking the image below:

  GreenMonster (174 KiB, 137 hits)

The must anticipated wordpress version 2.5 has been released today. This release has been in production for six months. It includes a new look dashboard and gallery. You can get the new version 2.5 by clicking HERE. You can also check to see if your plugins have gone through the compatibility test by checking HERE. We had no trouble upgrading to this version but as always you should backup your database and site files before you upgrade. Note: This upgrade does make changes to the database.

Works on versions older than 2.5. Due to a recent change in the way wordpress handles login cookies, many sidebar login forms no longer work properly. You will receive a “browser blocked cookie” error and the page will direct you to the wordpress default login screen. Thanks to clevermonkey, a fix has been suggested. You can check the comment #41 on this page for his original post. Basically what clevermonkey suggests is to edit the wp-login.php file located in the root of your wordpress location. Open it up in your favorite text editor ( suggestion PowerEdit ) and look around line #315. You should see this line: Replace that line with this code: That should fix your problems with cookies when logging in. *Remember: each time you upgrade wordpress you will most likely have to re-do this edit.

Content management systems (CMS) can be a savior for any webmaster more worried about content than design. I have used many of these systems over the years. In this article I will talk about the *nuke* systems. I am referring to systems like Post-Nuke and PHP-Nuke. I’ve tried these in the past, but never to my satisfaction. Each time I tried I felt stifled, not only as a designer, but as a webmaster. I really hate to speak poorly of anyone else’s hard work, but I feel that what I think needs to be said. The nukes are over bloated, cookie cutter systems. There is no mistaking a nuke system. They are so easily identified its amusing. Full of pointless (and often exploited) code, nuke systems are only for people stuck in the early stages of design. Pages a mile long full of scrolling, flashing text and images. Often in dark, heavily imaged themes, nuke systems are hard to follow for anyone over the age of 15.  For all of you thinking of using a premade backend let me suggest something like WordPress. The possibilities are endless and the system is easy to edit. Try messing around with nuke code and you will find out what I mean. Nuke systems are the past. Its high time people embrace the future of design and sent nuke systems to the recycle bin for a much needed retirement.

Wordpress users: There is a setting in Wordpress that allows you to set the number of posts shown at one time. This is a very good feature. However, if you want to put a listing on the archive page you will notice it pulls from the same setting. I like to have only the topic links of a category on the archive page. This leads to a problem. I want to only list two or three topics on the main page, yet I want to have a larger listing on the archives page. A simple little snippet will fix that for you. On your archive template page, simply add this little bit of code near the top: You can replace the number 20 with any number of listings you want.

A simple green based template. This fixed width layout is W3C compliant and comes with all the files and images needed. Please provide a link back to our site if you wish to use it. You can see the layout in action by clicking HERE. View Screenshot by clicking the image below:

  CircaGreen (72.7 KiB, 169 hits)

A lot of users are looking for a free template that is not only attractive but easy to edit. TechDesigns007.net’s solution to that request is SimpleLayout. It is free to use by the public in any capacity they choose. We only ask that you provide a link back to TechDesigns007.net so that others may use our services. You can see the layout in action by clicking HERE. View Screenshot by clicking the image below:

  SimpleLayout (29.3 KiB, 182 hits)