5 HTML Tutorials You’ll Find Useful

5 05 2011

If you haven’t started learning HTML 5 yet, then you’re behind the curve ball. It won’t be long before HTML 5 is out of development and in common use. Then will be too late to learn how to use it. Your competition will be way ahead of you and you’ll be playing catch up.

Here are 5 HTML 5 tutorials that you’ll find helpful today and that you’ll continue to use when everyone else is programming with it as well.

  1. Using The Canvas Element In HTML 5 – You’ll need to know a little JavaScript in addition to HTML, but this powerful feature will allow you to create graphical applications more simply and have fun doing it.
  2. Using The HTML 5 Section Element – This is one you’ll use often.
  3. Using HTML Definition Lists – For specific use with Visual Studio 2010.
  4. Introduction to Off-Line Capabilities With HTML 5 – Help your site visitors use your apps off line with this great tutorial.
  5. Creating Credit Card Payment Forms With HTML 5 – An advanced tutorial. You’ll learn how to create credit card forms easily using HTML 5 as your basic programming code.

HTML 5 is revolutionizing web development. It will be easier and more fun to design dynamic websites with HTML 5. Take a few tutorials and learn how to design your next website with HTML 5.





10 New Markup Elements In HTML 5

29 04 2011

HTML 5 has a lot of new developments for web designers. If you have gotten used to HTML 4 and think that HTML 5 will be easy to learn, you could be in for a shock as you’ll have to learn a whole new language (almost).

There are still some common elements, however, HTML 5 does introduce some new markup. Here are 10 new markup elements introduced by HTML 5:

  1. Article – This markup element is for using syndicated content from another website.
  2. Command – Used for a button, radiobutton, or a checkbox.
  3. Header – Introduces a section or a document and could include navigation.
  4. Nav – Used for a section of navigation.
  5. Video – Video elements now have their own markup in HTML 5.
  6. Keygen – Generate keys to authenticate users.
  7. Embed – For embedded content, such as a widget or a plug-in.
  8. Hgroup – For a section of headings. For example, H1 to H6.
  9. Aside – Separate content that is related to the surrounding content. Resembles a sidebar in print design.
  10. Figcaption – Defines the capture of a figure element, which can include a group of stand-alone content, photos, or videos.

There are plenty more new markup elements in HTML 5. This just barely scratches the surface. To learn more HTML 5 markup with a tutorial and a free download, visit HTML Atoms.





10 Tutorials Websites To Sink Your Teeth Into

27 04 2011

Web developers are always looking for tutorials websites. I’ve got quite a list of developer tutorials that you can delve into. With these sites, you’ll spend hours learning new code that you can use in your website development. Don’t go anywhere until you try these 10 tutorials websites.

  1. AJAX Tutorials – Web 2.0 is here so you might as well learn how to code for it. These AJAX tutorials will get you started.
  2. ASP.NET Tutorials – If you are a Windows server coder, this website will give you the basics and lead you on to some advanced tutorials.
  3. CSS Atoms – Learn CSS from the bottom up.
  4. HTML Atoms – There’s no better place to learn HTML.
  5. Dot Net Tutorials – This site has more advanced .NET tutorials than any other site around.
  6. JavaScript Atoms – You can try to design a website without JavaScript, but you won’t get far. Learn how to code with JavaScript with easy-to-follow tutorials.
  7. Programming Help – This tutorials website features tutorials on CSS, AJAX, .NET, and many other coding languages.
  8. Photoshop Atoms – You can’t build a website without graphics. Learn how to create stunning graphics with this Photoshop tutorials website.
  9. The Web Made Easy – The tutorials on this website are easy, and fun.
  10. SQL Atoms – Learn SQL the easy and fun way with these awesome tutorials.

I highly recommend these website tutorials. You’ve got a lot to dig into now. Start digging. 🙂





Will HTML 5 Save The Web?

25 04 2011

HTML 5 is in the late development stage and it’s looking pretty good. I like a lot of the new ways of making certain web design elements work. I like the definitions of web design elements. And I like the overall direction that HTML is taking with the fifth generation. But will it save the Web?

In truth, the Web is in no danger of going anywhere. It’s not in the running for sudden destruction. It’s not even in decline. However, HTML is.

Let’s face it. HTML 4 is outdated and almost irrelevant. If you look at how most websites are being designed these days, the bulk of code that is going into them is CSS, PHP, and JavaScript. The Windows server equivalent is ASP.

While HTML is still being used, it makes up a small percentage of the actual code for most websites. But HTML 5 could change that.

CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and ASP will still be used after HTML 5 is released to the public. But HTML 5 does show some promise for reducing the amount of code overall in web development and the over reliance of other code in particular.

HTML 5 offers many new web design developments and some of them are based on elements that have typically not been associated with HTML. The Web may not be in danger of dying, but HTML 5 will certainly improve the way website designers and developers are creating their billboards.





Build A Web App Without Code

22 04 2011

Do you have an idea for a Web app or a mobile app but don’t have the coding skills to pull it off yourself? Instead of paying someone hundreds of dollars to develop the app for you and hope it works right, why not create your own app using an app service like iBuildApp’s Web Apps.

With iBuildApp, you can build your own Web apps for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, and Windows. You can customize your apps with icons, graphics, pictures, skins, and even social media. The app service allows you to change fonts and add your own images. Plus, you can add features like events, locations, ecommerce, and even audio and video streams.

With those kind of features, you can build just about any kind of app for any niche under the sun. The service includes a preview so that you can preview your app as you are building it.

I knew it was just a matter of time before some brilliant Web developer came up with a system like this to help non-developers build a creation of their own design for mobile and Web apps users. So, when are you going to jump up and build your own Web app? Now is a good time.





5 Tech Revolutions Happening Right Now

20 04 2011

The world changes. Constantly. And so does the Web.

In fact, some of the biggest changes in the world right now are happening on the World Wide Web. Here are 5 technology revolutions taking place right now before our very eyes.

  1. HTML 5 – You may not think of HTML 5 as a technology revolution, but if you’ve seen the changes that are being proposed to the Web’s basic language, you’d think HTML is getting a complete overhaul. The truth is, these developments are updating how the Web has evolved since HTML 4 was released in 1998.
  2. CSS 3 – Since HTML is getting an overhaul, the folks responsible for developing CSS 3 thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the Web’s most prolific support language. Web design is itself in its own state of revolution.
  3. Social Networking – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn …. The world has gone social. And social media websites are right on the cutting edge of technology today.
  4. Mobile Apps – The average Web user has not discovered one of the most powerful digital tools in history – the mobile app. The future of the Web is mobile. Savvy on-the-go Web users know this and that’s why they are going Android, SmartPhone, and iPhone crazy.
  5. Search – You can’t leave out search. While no earth-shattering developments have taken place in search for awhile, you can bet that search technologists are hard at work to improve how we access information online.

In truth, these 5 technology revolutions are all a part of one single revolution – the digital revolution, but they can be seen as independent revolutions on their own right.





Why CSS Is Necessary

15 04 2011

You already know that HTML is necessary. It’s the basic language of the World Wide Web. But did you know that CSS is necessary? It absolutely is.

CSS is necessary because it takes an HTML document and enhances it across an entire website. It does this by allowing the web developer or website designer the freedom to define certain elements of a website across multiple pages.

For instance, navigational elements are typically common across multiple pages of a website. You can define those elements in CSS. Other elements that can be defined through CSS and that are typically common across multiples pages of a website include:

  • Background features
  • Menus and buttons
  • Font attributes
  • Header and footer attributes
  • Link attributes
  • Wrapper attributes
  • Embedded features

This, of course, is just a short list. There are plenty more website features and attributes that can be defined across multiple pages of a website and CSS is the perfect language for doing that.

Particularly helpful is when you have common features within a single section of your website but that are different from features of other sections. In that case, you’ll need more than one CSS document. Each CSS document defines the features of its respective website section.

You can learn more about CSS and take a few CSS tutorials from one of my favorite websites, CSS Atoms.





11 Web Page Sections Of HTML 5

13 04 2011

Just in case you aren’t keeping up with the developments in HTML 5, I thought I’d share with you the current definitions of 11 sections of a web page document. They’re simple, but I think they are essential to understanding where HTML 5 is going to take us.

  1. Body Element – Just as in HTML 4, the Body element defines the body of a web page.
  2. Section Element – New to HTML 5, the section element defines a specific section of a body element on a web page.
  3. Nav Element – Also new to HTML 5, is a specific section of a web page that defines the navigation of a website, providing links to other pages on that site.
  4. Article Element – Another new feature of HTML with version 5. This is a self-contained element containing content that is independently re-usable or able to be syndicated.
  5. Aside Element – Continuing with new HTML 5 features, an Aside element is akin to a sidebar in print. It is content that is not related to the main content on the page and therefore is separate.
  6. H-tag Elements – Section headings.
  7. Hgroup Element – Groups H tags of a single section into one element. New to HTML 5.
  8. Header Element – Defines a web page’s header.
  9. Footer Element – Defines a web page’s footer.
  10. Address Element – Defines the contact information for the nearest Article or Body element author.

HTML 5 has a lot of new features not currently defined in HTML 4. I think they are generally an improvement and I look forward to future HTML 5 developments as they are rolled out by W3C.





Should Facebook Dictate Your Web Design?

8 04 2011

Since Facebook is the most trafficked website online and it’s becoming more and more “cool” to create a website that is interactive through Facebook (and Twitter) – well, through social media in general – we must ask ourselves whether we can go too far in making our web design “Facebook-friendly.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against Facebook. I’m not even against making your website Facebook-friendly, or social media interactive. In fact, I highly encourage the use of APIs to include elements of social into any website. But let’s distinguish between making your website more social and socializing it to a degree it is overly so.

Some websites demand it, of course. If you are building a social network and you want your niche social network to be viewed as an extension of Facebook, then incorporating Facebook’s API makes sense. But if you are building a business website through which you hope to obtain new business, then letting your visitors know they can interact with you on Facebook is enough. Making your website a mini-social network is overkill.

Website owners must use critical thinking in determining the extent to which they make their website social. Don’t do it just to be doing it. If it makes sense for your visitors, then go for it. Otherwise, less can often be more.





Why Facebook Is No. 1

6 04 2011

It’s no secret that Facebook is the most trafficked website online. But how did it happen? It seems to have happened just out of the blue.

Well, in business, word of mouth is the most powerful advertising in the world. Google rose to prominence largely because of word of mouth. It is the most popular search engine in the world and was the most trafficked website until Facebook took that position. These achievements were done as a result of a good product that got talked about.

That’s true of Facebook as well. But Facebook has another thing going for it, which makes it easy for that word of mouth to spread. It is by its nature a social site. Google isn’t, and never was.

For online businesses, word of mouth spreads in two ways: Online and off line. Google’s rise to prominence came about as a result of webmasters spreading the news online about the search engine’s search results. Then they told their friends off line.

Facebook took off as a matter of course when MySpace wasn’t meeting the needs of its users. Facebook had a platform that was easy to use and made hooking up with one’s friends simple for everyone. Word quickly spread through Facebook’s own network, all across the Web, and off line to users’ friends.

Word of mouth still works.