Flickr Public Domain Photographs

Struggling to add illustrations or graphics to your website design or blog posts? Consider Flickr public domain photographs.

The photos are mostly collections from public archives and as explained on the Flickr usage page http://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/ the photos became public domain for one of these reasons:

1. The copyright is in the public domain because it has expired;
2. The copyright was injected into the public domain for other reasons, such as failure to adhere to required formalities or conditions;
3. The institution owns the copyright but is not interested in exercising control; or
4. The institution has legal rights sufficient to authorize others to use the work without restrictions.

Free to use does not mean free to package and resell as a collection. Please respect copyright when using content for your projects online or in print other than material you own. The Flickr commons is a great resource for photographs to use in your website design or blog posts, but be warned to watch the clock. It is easy to become engrossed in thousands of options and you could end up spending long hours away from your design.



TAGS: advice copyright design graphics illustrations web design

Firefox v3.5.7 and v3.6rc1 Review

Here's a review of the latest Firefox release candidate browser. I took the leap and chose to test out and review the latest BETA version of the Firefox browser earlier today. See the download and release links below if you decide you want to help out and be a BETA tester, too.

I stumbled across the option when rebooting Firefox resulted in a message Want a sneak peek of the newest, fastest version of Firefox? which included a link to download and test Firefox v3.6rc1 BETA. The RC1 release candidate versions are language specific with over 70 choices and you may select from Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux.

Download link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html
Release notes: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.6/releasenotes/

A disclaimer on the splash page states: This is pre-release software: you may encounter compatibility problems with some websites and add-ons. If you find a problem please let us know or file a bug. For more details, read the release notes and known issues.

The installation was remarkably fast, and first tests of typical load problem files like videos in full screen and large audio mp3 files was very impressive. I did notice the overall look was different, so checked themes and discovered 1 out of the 3 themes which included the default was not compatible from v3.5 to v3.6, so that was a minor disappointment.

My second choice and even the default theme were fine, yet I decided to search an alternative and tried the recommended theme found here https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7517 and entitled Sivermel. It's simple yet not cramped, and an excellent choice considering my work in web design keeps me at the computer 12 plus hours a day.

Taking a closer look at add-ons, I discovered that ColorZilla, CoolPreviews, FoxTab, and ScreenGrab are not compatible in v3.6rc1, so ceased to function. The add-ons I use the most are web design related and all were compatible, so other than missing ColorZilla I'm very pleased.

As far as an indepth review, I don't use many add-ons, so readers are cautioned that the warning about compatiblity of add-ons should be considered before becoming a BETA tester.

In conclusion, my recent experience with Firefox upgrades had been disappointing because browsing speed seemed to drop to a crawl. That explains why I was anxious for what they called "the fastest version" and decided to see if the difference was noticeable. From my initial experience which was subjective and not scientific, I am very pleased with the performance of the Firefox v3.6rc1 browser and glad I took the plunge.



TAGS: advice browser firefox review web design

Problem Web Design Clients

Eric Miller, a writer for About.com Guide published a great piece for freelance designers in graphic art or custom web design like me. The article is entitled "10 Early Warning Signs of a Bad Client" and Eric writes on each of these points in detail.

1. Everything is "Easy" or "Quick"
2. Promise of Future Work
3. Unrealistic Deadlines
4. Questioning Your Rates
5. They Fired their Last Designer
6. You Don't "Get It"
7. The Disappearing Client
8. Spec Work
9. Disorganized from the Start
10. Trust Your Gut

Follow this link and read the entire Eric Miller article for advice evaluating potential problem clients to save headaches on both sides of the bargaining table. No order is better than a bad order if a difficult situation becomes impossible and hurts your reputation.

As mentioned to a client over the weekend, when all is said and done Any contract is worthless if either party resents the deal. It has to be win-win to retain mutual respect and the value of your reputation as a designer, so know when to say "no" to a client.



TAGS: advice design clients web design

Ignore Those Link Exchange Requests

My advice is ignoring ALL link exchange request emails, or any email that does not address you by name but starts out like "Dear Webmaster" or a similar impersonal salutation.

Links to your site are like votes when found by Google, but the value is zero if the links are reciprocal. You link to me and I'll link to you negates the value because it was not a voluntary one way link to a website based on merit.

I teach natural linking and organic seo search engine optimization methods that hold value long term.

Other link schemes use 3-way linking to deceive search engines. Site A links to B and B to C then C back to A. The links are no longer 2-way "reciprocal" yet they were not earned based on merit, so 3-way links are another attempt to trick search engines. Google's supercomputers easily catch this tactic and punish those websites with poor ranking, or if too blatant your website could be blacklisted.

Some designers or site optimizers who do not keep up with the latest trends will insist you need an active campaign to acquire those backlinks. Sadly, an aggressive campaign that worked wonders 3-5 years ago may backfire today because so many website owners have exchanged links (including for payment) as a deceptive means to increase Google ranking and traffic.

I warned about this and documented evidence from an actual case study 2 years ago in a blog post I wrote in November 2007 entitled Update on Backlinks and SEO Value. The facts and points made in that blog post are still valid today.

Provide a quality visitor experience and continue to add original quality content often to attract other site owners to link to your site. Avoid those link exchange requests or any other unnatural method of improving your ranking based on a scheme. The best strategy is keeping your site content fresh and interesting.



TAGS: advice design links seo strategy

Web Design Trend Predictions

Some things never change. In December 2008 I created a pdf report extracted from a podcast episode transcript entitled "2009 Web Design Predictions", and upon review a year later the web design trend predictions I made were spot on.

Looking ahead the advice from the 2009 web design trends report looks good for 2010, also. I estimate that 9 out of 10 websites will need a makeover in 2010 to keep up with what their site visitors really want, so it is time to take a critical look and consider an annual budget for keeping your website fresh.

The basics of providing a quality experience for your visitors begins with the web design layout, and I still recommend a standard web page width of 960 pixels wide. Besides an attractive web design, navigation for site usability continues to be key for keeping visitors on your site. It's time to consider using video, flash, and audio for an enhanced visitor experience, also.

The seo or search engine optimization advice in that report is still valid, plus I'll be reviewing new seo trends to consider for 2010 in the near future. A cms or content management system of web design is still the best way to add original quality content often, so again, some things never change.

You may view online or download the 6 page 2009 Web Design Predictions Report from this link (252kb pdf). As usual, you do not have to register or reveal an email address to get your copy.



TAGS: advice cms predictions seo search engine optimization web design

DupeFree Pro Software Survey Taken

The developers of DupeFree Pro software for checking duplicate content and testing article keyword density, just to name two great features, are asking existing users to reply to an online survey of possible new features. If YOU have taken my advice for downloading their free program and receive their survey request email, please take the time to comply. Here are some of the comments I included in my submission.

For me DupeFree Pro is used mostly for keyword density and article word count. It might be nice to have the option to set a target density for a keyword, ie 4 percent, then test and if the density is low, have a value displayed in DupeFree Pro for the number of times to add that word to achieve my target percentage.

That's easy to achieve by trial and error yet with a number it would be easy to copy/paste that key word X number of times in appropriate places within the article while maintaining human readability. Otherwise, with trial/error and copy/paste I compromise the target and stop while thinking "good enough".

In addition, I made the following comments

You have a great product which I am happy to promote and suggest people use. Many have. A 50 page PDF tutorial I wrote on custom cms web design and do-it-yourself seo makes reference to free resources for research and testing of website content.

The free ebook has been downloaded 1000's of times, and includes DupeFree Pro as recommended for testing keyword density. The 4 percent target keyword density mentioned earlier in the survey is what I suggest within the 1.5-6.5 percent in your documentation. It has worked very well for me.

My core business is custom cms web design. I truly believe holding my position on Google page one at #1 and #2 for custom cms web design for the last 2 years is due in part to your fine software. Thanks!

Finally for my readers, given the opportunity please take the DupeFree Pro survey to help them in deciding on future developments and enhancements of their software.



TAGS: advice content DupeFreePro seo web design writing

TimeStamp Date and Time Code Converter

The challenge of the day was learning new php and mysql related terms involving a web design upgrade, and then finding a timestamp date and time code converter. The research began without knowing the right words to describe what was needed! It's time to share the solution for novice designers facing the same mystery.

Searching the date and time code 1190073600 plus php or mysql, and then words like translate or convert, did not explain how that timestamp code translates to midnight on September 18, 2007. Knowing how to create similar dates and specific times in a proper 10 digit code was a variable necessary for importing updates to a searchable database being considered in a web design project.

Don't even try to find a date or time in that code. 1190073600 is more cryptic than the 07 meaning 2007. The code 0000000000 translates to midnight on Thursday, January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 (GMT). That timestamp is the unix epoch, or reference date for unix based servers, and time is calculated in seconds from that "zero" time and date. Therefore, the mystery time code definition of 1190073600 is that moment in time 1,190,073,600 seconds after the unix epoch.

Noontime today when converted to a unix timestamp would be human readable as Thursday, November 5th 2009, 12:00:00 (GMT) and translates to 1257422400 as the unix timestamp. Without an understanding of how that 10 digit date and time code was created, it took persistent and stubborn research before finding this online timestamp (date and time) code converter.

With the solution and clearer terminology in hand, Google "standard time to unix online tool" and the first tool in search results today was this standard time and unix timestamp converter which converts the code or datetime either way. The linked 4webhelp.net version interface and display was nice, yet others in the top 10 results were adequate online tools, also.

Will I be disappointed if I can integrate and update the database without needing that date and time code converter? No. The solution was fun to research and will hopefully help others as curious or stubborn as me.



TAGS: advice design database tool timestamp unix web design