Web development, design, and site optimization

http://browsershots.org

This site/tool lets you test your website(s) not only in Firefox, Opera, IE and Safari, but also in  other alternative browsers.

When you submit your URL, it will be added to the job queue; so it depends on the server load when you can observe the taken screenshots. Therefore it’s useful to set a bookmark and visit the site later . You can also download all screenshots in a .zip-file.

While working on the new logo for my site I discovered that my nice .PNG image with its transparency effect which allowed the site background to shine through did not work in older versions of Internet Explorer. Instead of being transparent, there was an ugly square glow around the entire logo when viewed in Internet Explorer.

Luckily though I was presented with a quick and easy method of resolving this with a Javascript. All you need to do is upload this file (pngfix)to your server and then insert the below code into your Header. And voila, transparent PNG in Internet Explorer and Firefox.

<!–[if lt IE 7.]>

<script defer type=”text/javascript” src=”pngfix.js”></script>

<![endif]–>

Because getting something for free is always great, I am passing this message I received today along to all of my readers:

I have long been wanting to get a more professional logo for DropTheMike.com. I have toyed around with various self-made ones, but I am honest with myself, I am about as artistic as a 2 year old. I am now working with a professional in getting myself a “REAL” logo. We will see how this pans out. For now though, you will have to deal with my less than stellar effort.

So who am I working with on the logo design? A talented company out of North Carolina, OnWired (www.onwired.com).

If I had any sort of budget I would also look at getting a custom Wordpress Design, but right now with an 8-month old, there is no budget for that. The Studio Press template I use is more than adequate and integrates my Google Adwords very cleanly.

Whether you are a professional or novice, editing or building a site, at some point you are likely going to find a need to invest time and potentially financial resources into an HTML editor to help you perform your tasks as quickly and as professionally as possible.

Most have heard of at least two editors, those being Macromedia Dreamweaver and Microsoft Frontpage. For all intents and purposes, they are both suitable solutions for most users. Both have their positives, both have their negatives. One of which they share is that they will both cost you $$$ that you may or may not have in your budget.

Over the past few years I have moved from using Frontpage to a great little (but still powerful) application called NVU (http://www.nvudev.com/download.php). NVU is an open source, free, HTML editor that packs a big punch and is a viable alternative to the big boys. What I like most about it is I can easily edit the site in both a WYSIWYG mode and in a source HTML code mode. Being somewhere between a Novice and a Pro, I find it beneficial to use both modes on the fly.

About Nvu

Nvu (pronounced N-view, for a “new view”) is an Open Source project started by Linspire, Inc. Linspire is committed exclusively to bringing Desktop Linux to the masses, and realized that an easy-to-use web authoring system was needed for Linux to continue its expansion to the Desktop. Linspire contributes significant capital, expertise, servers, bandwidth, marketing, and other resources to guarantee the continuation and success of the Nvu project.

Linspire is pleased to have been able to contract with Daniel Glazman from Disruptive Innovations to be the lead developer and maintainer for the Nvu project. Daniel has been the chief architect for Mozilla Composer and brings at tremendous amount of experience and expertise to the Nvu project. Other developers are also encouraged to get involved in this project.

Nvu was started from the Mozilla Composer code base. The Mozilla Internet suite is in the process of being broken up into individual pieces (browser, email, etc.). Nvu will pick up where Composer left off, adding additional features, functionality and ease of use.

Nvu is open source and covered under the MPL/LGPL/GPL tri-license.

For more information, visit our FAQ page