Interesting article with tips for accessibility for dyslexics. Wondering if white text on black backgrounds is also a problem for these people, like black text on white backgrounds.
Social Media Engagement is Essential
Latest stats on Australian usage of social media show that it is imperative for businesses to become involved, savvy users. Let Sibagraphics know if you need any assistance becoming engaged in social media – we can help.
Twitter for Business 2
Information supporting the use free social networking program Twitter in business is proliferating.
Paul Rasmussen has some very useful tips:
Follow industry leaders who post links to important resources and influence conversations
* Post questions for quick answers and answer others’ questions to establish your credibility and expertise
* Create links to your Web site or blog (don’t over do it!)
* Keep up on the buzz in your industry
* Network with like-minded people.
Twitter takes only a few minutes to set up and using it could prove to be one of the best business decision’s you’ve made. You can use your mobile phone to update your tweets and the immediacy of the medium means it can be used as a convenient instant contact and support facility for your customers while you are on the move.
WordPress directions at #wordcampau
#wordcampau participants were lucky to catch up with advances in the popular, versatile blogging software, WordPress with a keynote address by Matt Mullenweg, the developer of WP. WordPress 2.7 will be available in December with loads more features. Matt alerted participants to a new WordPress template http://monotonedemo.wordpress.com/, where page colours and widths alter according to the colour and size photos which are added – could be a winner for a photography site. He tantalised the audience with a reference to the WordPress 2.6 Maxtrix Easter Egg.
The impending release of collaborative plugin BuddyPress was foreshadowed, an innovation set to energise and transform WordPressMU (the multi-user version of WordPress) with social interaction.
The beauty of WordPress is the user friendliness of its CMS (Content Management System), its extensibility with a wide choice of plugins, easy to read Help section and ready availability of templates. A collaborative networking facility will be the icing on the cake.
The online presentation was nifty, demonstrating the versatility of WordPress with integration of video streaming via Stickam, photos via Flickr and the inclusion of a Twitter stream using Monitter.
Other useful hints – collaborative tool ProjectPier, SlideShare, a site for sharing online slide presentations and of significant interest to businesses, the WordPress e-Commerce Plugin highlighted by developer Dan Milward.
Twitter for your Business
Here’s a list of useful links to help businesses use the social networking tool Twitter to explore new marketing methods and enhance communication with suppliers, clients or customers.
Twitter for Business : 10 Things To Consider Before You Get Started.
How Twitter will change your business
Getting the Hang of the Twitter Culture
Social Media for Accountants Presentation
Twitter your Vids with Ffwd, if you dare
Australian CEOs are using Twitter – read their feeds and discover how Twitter is implemented in their businesses.
Twitter Business | The Business of Social Media
Lots of Twitter Tools to augment your tweeting experience
More Twitter Tools
Follow Sibagraphics on Twitter.
Once you have set up your twitter, follow @Twitter_Tips for handy hints on improving your use of Twitter.
Social networking tools and customer complaints
Please feel free to add your Twitter related link in the comments section of this post!
Prosperity, intellect and wisdom for 2007
This year, we send our best wishes for prosperity and peace – it’s about time all of us had a bit of a rest from interminable bloodshed over resources, religion and global supremacy. Rather than using reason to develop a logical, secular code of ethical behaviour which considers the best interests of fellow human beings as well as their own, it seems too many humans depend upon crude instincts and irrational brutish faith to justify baseless feelings of cultural superiority and barbaric slaughter of and stealing from other humans.
To celebrate our alternative peaceful vision for enlightenment in 2007, we’ve made a desktop wallpaper featuring Ganesha, a Hindu deity symbolising intellect, wisdom and prosperity.
We’ve also taken the time to add some of our latest artwork and greeting cards to our online art gallery.
Enjoy!
CSS and div layouts
While I have long been a fan of fixed width 3 column site layouts, here’s a reference site which has a library of percentage based column layouts.
Looking forward to trying them with images in some of the columns. I have employed my own three column div layout designs on several of my sites using a fixed width method – for example view source at Success Foods, the Medicine Room, Mike Jackson, Eurofilter Asia Pacific and Richard’s Corner.
Mike Jackson – Australian Family Entertainment
Sibagraphics has completed the code revamp and optimisation for the site of famous Australian children’s and family entertainer, Mike Jackson. Well known for his Dr Knickerbocker song, Mike is now launching his new Uke ‘n Play book and CD kit.
The site has been upgraded to a 3 column div layout in XHTML 1.0 which has streamlined the markup, reducing page size and loading times. Pages have been individually metatagged and matched with content.
LimePlus site
Soil enrichment specialists, LimePlus have launched their new site which promotes their supply, delivery and spreading of organic and inorganic fertilisers on the Sunshine Coast.
The site employs advanced CSS list rollovers and positioning.
Styled Scroll Bars
Although IE only styled scroll bars can look ‘pretty’, I’ve lost patience with them because they are a proprietary, non-web standard addition which needs to be dodged round to ensure W3C CSS validation. And since IE only has 87% or thereabouts of the browser market these days and coloured scroll bars only work in DTD Quirks mode … why bother.
Here’s how I include them when desired, in a way that permits validation. Firstly, use a free visual scroll bar styling program like this online tool or this one and obtain the scroll bar css. Then convert it to javascript (HTML Kit has a nifty plugin that does it with a click of a button), save it with a .js file extension and link it in the head of your markup document/s.
<script language="JavaScript" xsrc="js/css.js" mce_src="js/css.js" type="text/javascript"></script>