http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ YourTotalSite helps you fine tune your web development skills with simple and easy to use advice. en-us garrett@yourtotalsite.com 2005-11-01T18:23:11-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/miscellaneous/tough_decisions/Default.aspx Update: Based on everyone’s response, I’ve decided to leave the site up and running even though it won’t be updated anymore. Maybe someday it could even be revived. After a lot of thought and internal debate, I’ve decided to flip... 339@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Miscellaneous 2005-11-01T18:23:11-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/usability/usable_forms_tip_2_expe/Default.aspx Usability is defined by things behaving as they are expected to behave. To this end, when creating an application or any kind of form, feedback both before and after submission is extremely important. That feedback and explanation could be error... 333@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Usability 2005-10-17T10:00:55-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/visual_design/capturing_design_inspirat/Default.aspx We’re all inspired by the work we see, and sometimes that inspiration shows through a little, and sometimes too much. A technique we’ve been using for a while at Bright Corner is to screen capture just a small visual cue... 334@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Visual Design 2005-10-13T10:35:36-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/usability/usable_forms_tip_1_the_/Default.aspx With forms, there seems to be one basic tag that is either overlooked or not common knowledge. That would be the label tag. Unfortunately, there are still many major sites that don’t use this simple and powerful tag.... 331@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Usability 2005-10-02T14:45:36-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/information_architecture/redesign_phase_2_inform/Default.aspx The redesign is still happening, and I have some sample wireframes and page description diagrams to prove it. For this phase, I really just wanted to analyze and capture the elements that are important and determine the best way to... 324@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Information Architecture 2005-09-16T21:16:41-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/miscellaneous/yourtotalsite_turns_1_yea/Default.aspx I officially launched YTS one year ago today. It got picked up by a couple of the CSS galleries, and was off and running. Today we’ve got a small group of people helping out, a redesign on the way, and... 316@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Miscellaneous 2005-08-31T10:31:59-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/xhtml_css/semantics_the_redheaded/Default.aspx I first learned to appreciate semantics through Dan Cederholm’s SimpleQuiz series. Until recently, I assumed that anybody who wrote XHTML would also care about semantics. Apparently, I was wrong. I’ve recently spent some time getting intimate with microformats, and I’ve... 302@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ (X)HTML / CSS 2005-08-29T12:46:16-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/information_architecture/labeling_buttons/Default.aspx Let’s get one thing out of the way really fast. I love Textpattern. It’s fantastic. However, it happens to break one of my personal little problems with labeling buttons.... 309@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Information Architecture 2005-08-24T09:04:16-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/javascript/ajax_and_javascript_bec/Default.aspx Every time I hear someone talking about AJAX, I get a little concerned. I haven’t written much about it here because of the fact that I wanted it to mature a little before jumping on board. It’s matured enough, and... 304@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ JavaScript 2005-08-08T10:58:53-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/xhtml_css/architecting_css/Default.aspx The first article for my new column over at Digital Web shows up today. The article is titled "Architecting CSS" and delves into some of the more subtle points of organizing your style sheets, selectors, properties, and more.... 295@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ (X)HTML / CSS 2005-07-18T23:00:48-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/xhtml_css/image_replacement_maps/Default.aspx Most of you are familiar with image replacement techniques for headings and horizontal/vertical menus, but what about using it for menu or image maps that have different X and Y co-ordinates?... 296@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ (X)HTML / CSS 2005-07-18T13:43:46-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/miscellaneous/redesign_phase_1_gettin/Default.aspx With the announcement of the survey, the redesign is officially under way. We've divided the process into severl large steps and will be posting about each step as we go along. Now, this first one might not be the meat... 293@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Miscellaneous 2005-07-12T00:56:21-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/usability/multiselect_lists_vs_ch/Default.aspx Similar to the previous dicussion of Checkboxes, Radio Buttons, and Drop Downs the usage of multi-select lists instead of checkboxes makes for a good topic as well. Every type of input has its own unique advantages and disadvantages, but multi-select... 287@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Usability 2005-07-05T10:44:47-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/usability/checkboxes_radio_buttons/Default.aspx Incorrect usage of checkboxes, radio buttons, and drop downs is one of the most common mistakes I come across. They each have their advantages and disadvantages, and their usage should generally be governed by a few simple guidelines.... 284@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Usability 2005-06-29T10:04:49-05:00 http://www.yourtotalsite.com/archives/usability/email_attachments/Default.aspx We've all done it. We write an e-mail, tell the recipients to check out the attached files, and hit send without attaching the files. Nobody really thinks twice about it anymore. We just accept it and move on, but what... 275@http://www.yourtotalsite.com/ Usability 2005-06-21T09:45:43-05:00