Some great pointers to must haves for agencies or freelancers to set up a fully usable portfolio site. Not all may apply to you, but it’s a good check list to make sure you are not leaving any holes in your approach to attracting the right clients. Read more on Smashing Magazine.
A better way to view your history
TechCrunch has an early review for Safari 4 for the Mac. While its not out officially yet (public beta for now) it is another next generation browser that is on the way. As always its important to keep in mind how things look and function (both good and bad) in multiple browsers so that usability is always at its best for all users. Safari 4 seems to offer a lot in speed and multi page views that very well are showing a trend with all next generation browsers.
Check it out here.
We are pretty fond of Basecamp as a project management tool and also are following RSS feeds, Facebook, and other alert based apps on a regular basis. This article from 37 Signals highlights how AlertThingy can bring your social and business worlds together in one place to simplify all the info. Keeping up with all the latest news and networking can be tough, but I tried this little free app out and so far it seems to help consolidate things and clear the clutter.
Full article here.
“Social Networking” is more than just a fad these days. Agencies are starting to see how these new technologies can be powerful tools at their disposal, but what is the down side? Can clients be shown how these powerful and cheap ways to contact customers can be effective and still not loose sight of more traditional methods? Phil Johnson takes a swing at some ideas that might help bridge between old and new for ad agencies.
Read more here on Ad Age
No longer will users have to download huge files to preview the content. DocStoc lets you post documents and they provide simple links to provide users a popup preview of the document with a much smaller file size. Don’t pull down that 100 MB PDF just to realize its the wrong size, preview it before and skip the download.
More info here.
The number of new registrations of domain names are slowing. With 88% of registered names resolving to an actual site, one can only hope that that percentage might be on the rise rather than parking for profit. Interesting trends none the less…
More detail from TechCrunch here.
The new DSi
If you have (or are) a kid between the ages of 4 and 94 you may be interested in the next generation of Nintendo’s portable gaming device. But what about the non gamer. Why should developers even care that a new game device is out? Simple, it now has a browser! Like the iPhone and many other devices that make the web accessible, each new device that launches with a browser, also means another way for users to view your content.
Many devices use existing technology (iPhones use Safari for example) but keeping up with versions, capabilities, and screen sizes for various devices can be a challenge. As more of these devices come out, computer screen resolution and 2-3 browser’s capabilities won’t be enough. Make sure you know your target audience and choose appropriate web design and features accordingly. There is nothing more frustrating to an iPhone user than to hit an all Flash site with no alternate version of the content. Know your audience, their capabilities, and be willing to customize the experience to the device, or better yet, plan with multiple devices in mind from the start.
More info on the DSi release here.
Basecamp's Landing Page
Solid usability is key for a user experience. The best content or concept is useless if its difficult to navigate and use. Smashing Magazine posted a good summary of 9 common mistakes that are made in web design. While some may not apply to “all” sites, its a great check list to make sure the bigger bases are covered.
Check out the article here.