Archive for the ‘Blog Design’ Category
Engage your Visitors with Video Game Techniques
Monday, August 22nd, 2011
Did you know that interactive games could teach you a thing or two about web designing? Like website designs, good game interfaces should be enticing and capable of dealing with repetitive actions within a limited time. These game interfaces should also rank high on usability and enhance the user’s experience. While playing video games, people imagine themselves as part of another world. Therefore, the content of the game should be presented in a way so that it does not interfere with the fantasy of the people.
Visitors look for valuable information in the Internet and they want the content to be interesting and simple. People prefer content that they can find easily and does not involve loads of clicking and scrolling. And this is where designers can derive inspiration from video game interfaces. Websites that opt for common game interface tools can enhance the style quotient of the site and rates of repeat visitors. Here are few simple tips.
Pep up the loading screens
Do you remember the loading screens from Fallout 3? Its screen is full of valuable information and contains a green-screen target that acts as the fun element of the game. Designers can use this technique to make their sites attractive and user-friendly. If you are creating a corporate website, for example, you can load crucial information and tips.
Pay attention to cursors
The most common custom cursor is the ‘hand’. However, the latest trend is to opt for interesting custom cursors. Of course, you should exercise caution, while incorporating these uncommon cursors in the site. Opt for these cursors when you want the visitors to notice any crucial information or to highlight any clickable text. Remember that while a particular cursor may look good on a children’s website, it may not appear interesting on a site that is targeting corporate heads.
Use icons intelligently
As compared to staying on a particular page for availing information in sites, people spend more time while playing games. This is the reason why makers of video games emphasize more on icons. However, these days many web designers are relying on icons to enhance navigation. If your site is loaded with information (means visitors have to stay on the page for longer time), you can use icons to accelerate navigation. Take time in choosing the icons.
Make your site interesting by using icons as visual cues. This will allow visitors to notice the key points. You can use icons to break the long text into small paragraphs and thus, retain interest of the visitors. If you get hold of relevant icons, you can also utilize them for topical groupings and navigation. Remember that right icons allow readers to scan the relevant information quickly and this in turn, makes the site more user-friendly.
Apart from incorporating traditional icons, you can consider opting for your customer’s products or services as icons. This technique is simple, user-friendly and has a direct approach that is perfect for a marketing site.
While it is true that video games can teach you many things about design patterns and interaction, you need to modify these techniques according to the theme of the website and your client’s requirements.
Have fun while merging the world of games and designing!
Author: WebGuru India has been a pioneer in the field of website design and flash design services since 2005. We have written and published numerous articles on logo design, graphic design, web development and SEO and internet marketing.
Getting the Right Domain Name for Your Small Business
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Despite all your effort towards great website design and both offline and online marketing, you could be fighting a losing battle if you do not have the right domain name. This is a very important issue to consider, and one you want to get right. Some business builders will even consider changing, or defining their business name, after they can get the URL they want. There is a lot to understand, from human to search engine optimisation factors.
There are a number of issues that you need to consider when setting up your domain name for your website design. If someone already has the URL (domain name) that matches your business name, depending on where you live, you might have some right over it. There are also other issues, your business name might not make a good domain name for you to come up easy in Google’s searches. Here are some of the issues to think about.
- Domain Name and Business Name the Same. This is a good situation in most cases. If your business is called ‘Practical Movers’, it would be best to have your website as ‘www.practicalmovers’ in most cases. There are some other issues related to this (see below). In most cases, those who know your business will be able to find your business pretty easy when they get online.
- Get the Domain Name First. In some cases, it might be better to check if the domain name is available before giving your business a name. This might sound a little like putting the cart before the horse, but it might well work for you in the long run. You might find later it is very difficult to get the domain name that matches your business, so checking first or selecting the domain name first, might be the only option.
- Country After the Dot Com. The internet is more local than you might think. If you are in Australia, and you are looking for business in Australia, it will always pay to have the ‘.au’ at the end of your URL. This will mean that you will come up higher in searches that are for Australia. Having just the ‘.com’ will imply that you are in the USA, or you are making the whole world your market. This might not be a good idea if you are a small business and you are focusing on Australian clients. If you are looking for business from all over the world and Australia, it would be good to register both (and have them both go to the one address). Forget about the ‘.org’ and ‘.net’, these imply you are not a business blog hosting.
- Long or Short Names. Whether the name is long or short, in my opinion, does not really matter. What is important is if people can remember it. ‘phora.com.au’ will be much harder than ‘practicalhomeofficerenovation.com.au’. I think you can understand what we are talking about here. Be sensible about your choice, and just remember, we are all human.
SEO. If you don’t understand a little about search engine optimisation, you are going to have to learn. Alternatively, you can get some help from the professionals. Without this, your website will be a lonely orphan on the internet. Another complicated issue with domain names is related to SEO and website hosting. It will have some influence on how easy your website is found. Let’s say you are in the business of renting apartments in Sydney, ‘sydneyapartments.com.au’ is an excellent choice. It has a certain amount of value already in the URL. ‘ourchoicesydneyapartments.com.au’ is probably not going to naturally work as well. The addition of the terms at the beginning of the name will greatly reduce the rank-ability of your site. Make sure you get your URL confirmed as being the right choice by professionals, before you go building your business and website around it.
The Benefits of Buying Your Own Blog Domain
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
As more writers are choosing blogging as a way to promote their writing and books, they also need to think about buying their own domain for their blog. There are definitely benefits to hosting your own blog, and each writer needs to think about these before making any kind of a decision. Most all writers begin with a free blogging service such as Blogger and only look into finding their own domain and name when they see that they are not seeing the traffic they want to see. There are reasons this may be happening, and there are certainly several reasons to justify cheap hosting your own blog.
Color Equilibrium For Blog Design
Monday, April 11th, 2011
Color Equilibrium For Everyday Design
Color theory is vastly underrated in most aspects of life. But the human subconscious develops an opinion of the subjects it views based purely on its visual qualities in the first five seconds of viewing it. The easiest way to enhance this first impression on your blog is through a well planned, dynamic and harmonious color scheme.
Customizing the Theme for the WordPress Administration Area
Friday, December 24th, 2010
Though WordPress has made a name for itself as being one of the most user-friendly and powerful blogging platforms/CMSs available, it’s admin interface can leave a great deal to be desired.
Dull, gray and not always the easiest to use, WordPress’ interface has its fans, but more than its share of detractors.
Removing Gravatars/Avatars in WordPress 2.7+ Themes
Monday, July 19th, 2010
In WordPress 2.7, the wp_list_comments function was introduced, putting all of the elements of comments in one easy function. The new function comes with an imitation of the old get_avatar function built-in.
So how do you remove the avatars without removing the wp_list_comments function, which is much needed for outputting all of the other elements of the comment section?
The answer is to use CSS to hide the avatar. Place the following code into style.css:
.avatar { display:none; }
Hat tip: rhysboy84 from Sitepoint.
Installing Custom Taxonomies in WordPress Themes
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
This guide is meant for individuals who want to learn what custom taxonomies are in WordPress, how to install them and how to display them in WordPress themes. You do not need to be familiar with the WordPress core coding or know the nitty-gritties of PHP programming to understand this guide.
(more…)
WordPress Threaded Comments – How to Install Them on Your Theme [A Guide for Dummies]
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
So you’ve got an archaic WordPress theme and you would like to install threaded comments on it?
You’ve come to the right place.
Here’s what you will need to complete this guide:
- Absolutely no knowledge of HTML/CSS or PHP
- An IQ over 55 (borderline retarded)
- A computer and an old WordPress theme that needs comments threaded
Let’s get started.
(more…)
Using the WordPress body_class Function to Apply Custom CSS Based on Conditions
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
Yesterday I spent a few hours writing a PHP script for a commenter that would generate an HTML element based on the condition that the visitor was either on the home page or not. The idea was to create a custom background only for the frontpage with a div layer that wrapped around everything within the body tag.
After I completed the script I thought about using a conditional statement to replace the body tag (with one that had its own ID) rather than outputting a div tag in two places (in header.php and footer.php). I took a look at the documentation for the template tag WordPress 2.8+ blogs use in place of the body tag (<?php body_class( $class ); ?>). What followed was a facepalm of epic proportions.
It looked something like this:
Except for the fact that I am not a fat guy, my desk was not clean and my forehead was dripping with blood afterwards.
How to Change Only the Main Index/Frontpage Background of your WordPress Blog
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
With the Custom Post Background, WordPress users can change individual post or page backgrounds in the admin control panel. But what if you want to change the background of the front or mainpage of your WordPress blog? Unfortunately there is not a plugin that will allow you to do that. That is why I have taken the time to write a fairly basic PHP script that will allow you to change only the frontpage of your WordPress blog.
(more…)
The Dirty Blue Theme for WordPress
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Feast your eyes upon the fabulous Dirty Blue Theme for WordPress 2.5+.
Some of the features include:
- Simple two column layout
- Ghastly blue background glow
- Dazzling dark blue color theme with high and moderate contrast colors
- Cross-browser compatibility
- Valid HTML Transitional 1.0
This eye-catching theme is only blue in the dirty sense.
The Dirty Blue Theme is the first official theme release by Blogtap.net. Please let me know if you like this theme or have any constructive feedback regarding this theme in the comment section below. Keep in mind, version 1.4 is only a beta and there will be better versions in the future!
Download the Dirty Blue Theme. Please rate the theme at WordPress.org so I can continue updating the theme and releasing awesome new ones in the future!
Writing blog tags properly for search engines (SEO) and human visitors
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Yesterday, I gave a very thorough definition of what blog tags are. Today, I’m going to tell you how to create blog tags for SEO as well as for human interaction purposes.
The practice of blog SEO can sometimes create a dilemma. Everyone wants their blog to be optimized for search engines but no one wants to make readability sacrifices. Blog posts written to target keywords can sometimes be less legible than blog posts written in ignorance of search engines. With tags however, the more efficient they are for people, the more efficient they are for search engine optimization. In other words, you get the best of both worlds! If you use tags properly of course.
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Featured Posts
Popular Posts
- The Best Blogging Sites and Platforms | Top Blog Sites 63 comment(s) | 229597 view(s)
- Random Topic Generator | Blog Topic Generator 59 comment(s) | 91557 view(s)
- Choosing a name for your blog 4 comment(s) | 26655 view(s)
- The Custom Post Background WordPress Plugin 105 comment(s) | 18003 view(s)
- Why you should use images excessively on your blog 3 comment(s) | 8413 view(s)
- Wp-config.php security leak - hundreds of blogs hacked 9 comment(s) | 5878 view(s)
- What is Akismet? 4 comment(s) | 4843 view(s)
- How to host your own blog in 5 easy steps 6 comment(s) | 4795 view(s)
- Setting up an email subscription form with Google FeedBurner for your site or blog 19 comment(s) | 4114 view(s)
- Controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Takes to Twitter to Counter Critics 1 comment(s) | 4089 view(s)
