How to Create a Theme Development Environment for a Live WordPress Site
January 11th, 2010 — 47 Comments
Any good website owner knows that they need to be constantly looking at ways to improve their site even through small little tweaks. If you’re using WordPress you’ll notice that it isn’t easy to create a development version without creating a separate installation. Of course, you can make changes directly on a live WordPress site but that isn’t recommended for anything other than minor tweaks.
With the help of an excellent plugin for WordPress called Theme switch and preview, this tutorial will allow you to easily switch between the live site and development versions using two different themes on the same installation of WordPress. We’ll do this by creating a bar at the top of the page which will clearly show you if you’re viewing the live theme (what everyone else sees) or the development theme with a link to switch between the two.
While there may well be a Worpdress plugin that does everything below, it’s much more rewarding and satisfying to create your own solution.
Read more...A Look Back at the Best Redesigns of 2009
January 7th, 2010 — 28 Comments
With 2009 complete, we can take a good look back and realise that it was a great year for web design. It’s time to reflect and see what redesigns really were the best of the bunch from such a great year. While redesigning Inspect Element, I took the time to see what other sites had done to reinvent themselves and breathe new life into their projects. Here are just some fantastic examples from the last year and what makes them so great.
Fantastic Presentation Styles of Web Designers' Portfolios
January 4th, 2010 — 26 Comments
Portfolios are an important part of a web designer’s job hunting arsenal. In most cases they are the only thing that a prospective client or employer have to decide if you are the right person they are looking for. More importantly, portfolios are extensions of our own work so don’t just think of them as dumb pages to show off your work. Treat your portfolio design as just another piece of your own work as they deserve to be.
This is something I’m currently researching myself as I start preliminary work into redesigning my own rather dull portfolio display so it would make sense to share my findings with you all.
Previously we’ve looked at web app homepage design and the key ingredients of great single page web design and now it’s the turn of web designers’ portfolios. There are a number of different ways to present your work. Here they are as well as some of the best examples:
Read more...New Year, New Design, New Motivation
January 4th, 2010 — 19 Comments
The first six months of Inspect Element have been great but it’s time to step it up a level. If you’ve been following Inspect Element lately, you’ll notice that everything looks new! Times have changed and the site was in desperate need of a redesign in order to grow and improve. Although saying that, I wanted to carry over the fundamentals from the previous design including keeping a minimalistic appearance to keep the focus on the content.
Hopefully this new design conveys a sense of higher quality, something that I have been trying to do with my writing after writing for the last couple of months.
Read more...Back in the New Year, Happy Holidays!
December 24th, 2009 — 5 Comments
The first six months of Inspect Element have been amazing and before I launched it I didn’t think I would still be doing it but here we are and the important thing is that I’m still enjoying it. I firmly believe the work that I have put into Inspect Element has helped me become a better designer and will continue to improve my skills as time goes on.
I’ve decided to take a break until January 4th to recharge my batteries, spend time with my family and friends through Christmas and New Year, play some video games (Xbox Live GamerTag – KennySim) and make sure that Inspect Element returns in 2010 bigger and better than before.
Talking of better…
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Build Working Concepts to Communicate your Ideas more Effectively
December 21st, 2009 — 11 Comments
The general convention in web design is to present static images of designs to clients but what happens when you have an idea that can’t be visually presented in this form? Perhaps it is some form of interaction or animation that can breathe extra life into the design.
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