If you are a web developer, you should certainly check out jsDelivr and JSter.

JSter is a register of over 1,100 JavaScript libraries and tools for web development, where users can rate contributions, and share their experience with others. jsDelivr is a free CDN (Content Delivery Arrangement) where any web developer can host their files, counting CSS, fonts, JavaScript, jQuery plugins, etc. Currently nearly 600 projects are hosted on jsDelivr.

To find out more in this area these two projects, we interviewed Dmitriy Akulov (representing jsDelivr) and Juho Vepsäläinen (representing JSter).

Q: Let’s start with jsDelivr, Dmitriy. According to the site, jsDelivr is “a free super-quick CDN for developers and webmasters.” Clarify a bit more what that means.

A: jsDelivr is a public open-source CDN where anyone can submit a project to be hosted and delivered by our arrangement. Most public probably know that Google hosts jQuery and a few additional well loved libraries. We don’t look at the popularity of the project to approve it for inclusion in jsDelivr. Plus a lot more types of projects are allowed, like CSS frameworks, fonts, WordPress plugins etc. By using GitHub, we allow the community to fully interact with jsDelivr by adding and updating files.

What makes it super-quick is the unique multi-CDN infrastructure we use. MaxCDN (NetDNA) and CDN.net (which is powered by the huge federated arrangement of OnApp) agreed to combine their powers for the excellent of the open source community and to sponsor us and become our CDN providers.

All traffic to our CDN providers is load balanced based on availability and performance for each individual user by another official sponsor of ours, the company Cedexis. This unique system not only gives us the best possible uptime and performance but also allows us to expand dynamically and add new providers on the glide.

Q: There are many CDNs available to developers, webmasters, and others today. Why should they use jsDelivr?

A: Currently we host 570 projects, which makes us the largest public CDN out there.

Plus jsDelivr is free, quick and open source. We have no austere policy, and we don’t take weeks to answer to requests and update projects. Everything happens within a couple of days, and any GitHub pulls are merged even quicker.

Since the project is non-profit everything is done with the users in mind. We do not rely on a single CDN provider, which makes jsDelivr independent, and no single company can shape us with their decisions. As we mentioned, our complex is very flexible, and we have excellent relationships with plenty of CDN providers. So even if it would happen that we experience issues with one provider we can switch without any problems.

Q: Then let’s go on to JSter, Juho. What is it in this area? What motivated its development?

A: You could say the whole thing got started in January 2011. A friend of mine questioned for a list of JavaScript game engines. As I could not find one I produced one, and for one reason or another I shared it at the JavaScript section of Reddit. Encouraged by the feedback I chose to start cataloguing JavaScript libraries and tools. This led to the birth of jswiki.

In all its simplicity, it has proven to be a valuable community resource. Early 2012 I was approached by the developer of Socket.io, Guillermo Rauch. He proposed that it would be a nice thought to take the content and wrap it into an alternative user interface. Some further development and ghw was born. It is a tool that allows me to realize just this, and you can see the results at jswiki.org.

Even though this was a step forward, there was still some functionality missing. Some of it simply cannot be implemented without having some kind of a backend. The developer of Symfohub, Michael Bodnarchuk, contacted me some time after this. Given that he had some technology by now and I had content and some vision on where to take it we chose to collaborate.

As a result, JSter.net was born. The jswiki data provided us a starting point, and it has grown immensely since. Besides having just a register, we have also produced original content for our blog. And we are continuously humanizing the service. Our primary goal is to make it simpler for public to find new libraries and make their own libraries more visible. It is so very simple to miss some awesome library you just might need.

Q: If a name would want to help out with either project, how could they do that?

A: For JSter we are continuously looking for ways to improve our site and want to make it more useful for you, the developers. You can highlight immediate issues via that small “Problems?” button in the corner of the site. Alternatively you can poke us directly through email for more complex queries.

Of course, given that we are basically a library register we may be missing some fantastic projects so we certainly don’t mind if you help us find those. So go ahead and add anything you might feel we’re missing.

In terms of jsDelivr, the best help for us is the support of the community. Add a new project, update an ancient one, submit some feature requests, etc. This helps a lot. And of course use our CDN and integrate it in your services. The increasing number of hits, to see how public use it, that’s what keeps us going.

Q: Finally, can you tell us something in this area the future for either site?

A: For JSter, we have some fascinating things in store. This includes programmatic access to the data, code metrics, and, of course, more blog posts. Basically we want to improve our offering and make it more appealing to the community.

When it comes to jsDelivr, we plot an even larger and quicker arrangement by combining region-specific providers. In addition, we always try to develop new features that will help and benefit our users.

If anyone reading this has some thoughts, just send them to us, we’re always willing to listen to thoughts.

Have you produced a cool web dev project?

We’d like to say a bit thank you to Dmitriy and Juho. Neither project may be that huge yet but the passion that drives these guys to keep developing and humanizing the projects is impressive. We can only reckon that there are huge things in store for JSter and jsDelivr in the future.

Have you produced something cool, some project for the community, which you’d like to share with us? We’d like to hear all in this area it so please let us know in the comments not more than or reach out to us on Chirrup.

This was a post from the guys at Pingdom, a site monitoring service that makes sure you’re the initially to know when your site is down. Check it out for free.

From:
Interview with driving forces behind web dev projects jsDelivr & jSter

For more experienced designers setting text may come naturally but for those who are just starting out I’ve chose to place together a list of the basic do’s and don’ts. Not only will this list lecture you the fundamentals but you can also use it as a check list to work through on future projects. Here goes:

DO set up a typographic hierarchy

A typographic hierarchy can be established by using a variety of methods such as size, weight, affect, and contrast. Its purpose is to give pages structure and guide the user through the content. Without a clear hierarchy the text becomes much harder to scan and therefore generally harder to read. Just take a look at the examples not more than. On the left the text is one size and one weight so it’s hard to differentiate between headings and body text. Meanwhile, on the right, we have the same content but with a clear typographic hierarchy, so it’s much simpler to distinguish between the different elements.

Here I’ve only used size and weight to set up my hierarchy but for even better results you can try to conduct experiment with affect and contrast as well.

DON’T make the text too small

Not everybody has 20-20 vision so it’s vital to make sure that your body text is huge enough for public to read comfortably. In person I would urge no smaller than a size of 14pt.

DO choose an appropriate font for the body text

Another vital factor when it comes to your body text is legibility. Although a typeface like Satisfy might suit a design with a hand-made aesthetic, using a typeface such as this for your body text will have a unenthusiastic impact on your users. This is because it’s much harder to read than your average serif or sans-serif. Look at the examples not more than and you will notice how much harder your brain has to work in order to make out the words on the left compared to those on the right.

DON’T use too many different fonts on one page

Services like Typekit and Google Fonts may give you access to thousands of fonts but it doesn’t mean that you have to use them all. As you can see from the example not more than, unless it’s done really well, using multiple fonts can be very distracting. This is why I usually urge using no more than 2 or 3.

DO give your text room to breathe

A lack of white space between each line can affect readability because it makes it hard for the eye to footstep from one line to the next. Though, this problem can easily be solved by increasing your line-heights, but be careful not to overdo it, too much space can also affect readability in a unenthusiastic way.

DON’T make continuous use of all caps

Public aren’t used to reading large chunks of text set in all caps and because of this it’s really harder for public to read. Not only that but public often associate all caps with shouting or aggression and when it comes to marketing copy it can come across quite spammy. Due to this it’s vital to reckon in this area how and when you’re going to use all caps and to make sure that you use it in moderation.

DO try and limit paragraphs to 40-60 characters per line

If a line is too long the reader gradually starts to lose focus and can often have distress reading from one line to the next. If a line is too small it causes the reader’s eye to travel back too often, which disrupts their rhythm. This can also make them start reading the next line too soon, causing them to miss words from the previous line. This is why the optimal line length for body text is said to be around 40-60 characters per line.

DON’T use large amounts of centered text

Centered text is hard to read because the edges of the text check are uneven which makes it harder to scan because each line has a different starting point. Centered text blocks are also hard to align to additional objects on the page and are often considered to look quite amateurish. This is why, like all caps, it’s best to use centered text in moderation, opting for left aligned text as standard instead.

DO make sure there is enough contrast between your text and the background

Contrast is another aspect of typography that can affect readability. If there’s not enough contrast between the text and the background, the content can become illegible.

Do you have anything to add? What tips would you give new designers just starting out? Let us know in the comments.

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Article source: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/05/dos-and-donts-of-typography/

As any excellent account handler or project manager will tell you, their primary role is to make sure that a project goes as smoothly as possible. This can mean managing public on both sides of the fence, and keeping everyone pleased is no mean feat.

I’m a huge believer that getting a project off to a strong start is integral to the success of that project, and for me that means helping the design team hit the ground running, and making sure they can start doing what they do best as soon as possible.

I’ve read plenty of material recently unfolding account handlers as having a unenthusiastic effect on the creative process of a project. These criticisms range from the account handler not allowing the designer access to the client right through the project, through to making the designer jump through hoops on the whim of a client. Whilst I’m sure these aforementioned criticisms occur every day in the industry, I want to discuss how I believe an account handler can make a designer’s job in a typical web outfit so much simpler.

1. Preparation

For me, the initial the boards of a project is one of the most exciting parts of a new website project. It’s the time you get to speak to the client and really get to know what they want to get out of effective with you and your company. Though, clients can sometimes be unsure of what they want, and if there’s a huge team effective on the project at the client’s end, it’s simple to get mixed messages and issues like design by committee becomes a genuine interest.

Whilst it can be beneficial, at times, for the project’s lead designer to be part of these initial discussions, I don’t feel that’s the best use of a designer’s time. This is especially relevant in agencies where a designer might be juggling several projects at once, and their time is even more valuable than usual. I would despise to reckon of the impact counting the design team on all initial meetings would have on the productivity of an outfit!

I believe the ability to extract and define a clear set of high level project objectives is one of the main signs of a strong account handler, and putting some of the elements mentioned not more than in front of the lead designer in an internal kick-off meeting can get things off to a fantastic start and increase the designer’s confidence in yourself and the client:

1. In the client’s words, define what the company does.
2. What is the ultimate goal for the website, and how will it benefit your business?
3. What are the objectives of the website?
4. Clarify a typical user of your new website.

It constantly surprises me how often clients struggle to answer these questions, and I don’t feel a designer’s time is best spent helping a client come up with those answers. I want my designer to feel motivated by the task at hand, not be fatigued by helping the client work out the finer details of the project.

2. Assets

If you’ve briefed the team on the project and had that all-vital kick-off meeting, it’s more than likely time to start the project’s wireframing the boards. By the time these stages start, it’s vital that an account handler has collected a number of project assets, which could/should include:

1. A signed off website sitemap.
2. A signed off project specification which details features and functionality. This may be absent in the case of an lithe process being implemented, but some thought of the intended functionality is always helpful.
3. Brand guidelines and the files associated with this such as logos, typefaces and colour palettes.
4. The content for the website, to allow for right wireframes and visuals. This is even more vital in a responsive design project, as Steve Fisher and Alaine Mackenzie recently wrote in this area. This can range from text through to video content.
5. Whilst not being vital, I also grant a project preparation document which the client has to the top in. This details things like objectives and goals in the client’s own words, which means the team will always have access to a client-orientated concise right through the process.

Nothing will dampen the enthusiasm for a project quite like the absence of vital materials like the ones listed above. This is the point in the project where it should be all systems go, and having to chase for assets at this the boards can really kill momentum.

3. Embracing change

Plans change, and it’s how you adapt to these inevitable revisions that will choose the overall outcome of the project. Though, it’s also vital that your process is set up to protect a designer and keep their work streamlined. If your designer is complaining that all they’re doing is revision after revision, then something has fallen down in the project process and it’s the designer’s workload that is going to feel the effects of that. If we have fruitfully:

1. Full ample time in the preparation the boards to know the project’s objectives.
2. Agreed the project’s core features.
3. Produced a set of signed off wireframes.

Then change, especially to visuals, should be minimal. It’s also vital though, to be open to change and acknowledge the possibility that even though we have gone through a lengthy preparation the boards, additional value can still be brought to the project in the shape of revisions. I treat a project plot/specification as a detailed guide, but refusing to budge even a small from what has been agreed can have a detrimental affect on the project.

Filtering a list of additions or changes from the client, before they get to the design team, can ensure team members stay focussed and do not start to grow tired of constant tweaks and changes.

4. Rejecting change

We’ve spoken in this area the need to sometimes hug change, and how that can be of a benefit to the project, though there will be times in most projects where a client may request something that sits outside of the agreed specification. This may also have a knock-on effect to deadlines, possibly affecting the rest of the project team.

How we approach revisions in general, very much depends on the account handler’s knowledge of what the designer’s role involves. I’ve heard tales of account handlers needing clarification on what a client was referring to when they mentioned a ‘URL’, I imagine this makes it a challenge to appropriately filter revisions. If, though, you have an understanding of the design and development process, you will know that even the smallest requests can cause hours of work to be undone.

It’s an account handler’s job to process, filter and sometimes reject change, in the interest of the project. This, in my opinion, is one of the most vital responsibilities that an account handler has, and it’s a vital that we protect the project and its team from unnecessary work where possible.

5. Effective collaboratively

Let me start by saying an account handler should never dictate. The designers are the creative part of the team for a reason. I do see it vital to give steer where necessary though, and you should have an opportunity to do this in your internal progress meetings, or just by catching up with the team whilst they’re effective.

How much steer you grant will depend on your knowledge of a) the project and b) the ‘industry’ itself. Taking the time to read up on and know latest industry practises such as responsive design, UI/UX and the conversation around designing in the browser can give you a fantastic platform on which to positively shape a project.

If you have an opinion on how certain things might look or work, mention it. If the designer dismisses this or suggests a route they reckon is more suitable, go with it. You’ll get a chance to grant full feedback before the client sees anything, and you can review things when the designer is pleased to share their work.

It’s vital you grant a designer with the freedom to do what they do best. This can only result in an increase in trust between between yourself and the designer and in turn, they should value your input from project to project.

Summary

To work efficiently, a project team desires more than just a middleman who will pass things from A to B. Take your probability to positively shape the project and continually place yourself in the shoes of your teammates and clients.

A strong effective relationship with your design team is key to a successful project, and I believe the steps I’ve detailed here can only improve the probability of them producing the best work possible.

Do you work as an account manager, are you a designer effective with an account manager? What benefits does the relationship deliver to clients? Let us know in the comments.

Featured image/thumbnail, steering image via Shutterstock.

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Article source: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/05/the-designers-secret-weapon-an-account-handler/

British photographer Kirsty Mitchell has done just that, making a fantastical, fairytale-esque run of photos that were inspired by her late mother. A former instructor and avid storyteller, Kirsty’s mother lost her battle with a brain tumor in 2008. Since then, the costume-designer-turned-photographer has spent countless hours constructing costumes, wigs and sets to turn her vision into reality.

The process was painstaking, with some metaphors taking up to five months to make. All photos were shot within mere miles of Kirsty’s Surrey home, but their rich beauty makes them look otherworldly. Relying upon gorgeous fields of wild flowers, bluebells and more, the patient photographer sometimes waited an entire year for the costumes she produced to match nature’s blooms.

“My aim was to described time passing, an unsaid journey through four seasons, incorporating every colour in the rainbow.”

“

With the three-year project nearly complete, Kirsty has plans for both an exhibition and accompanying book. To the top with regal colors and ethereal characters,

Wonderland is her tribute to the memory of her inspirational mother. It’s a breathtaking work of art — a dream realized and a promise fulfilled.

Which photo looks like it took the longest to make? Have you ever full years on a overstress of like? Tell us in the comments.

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Article source: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/05/fantastical-fairytale-photos/

Even though this is a new language you will pick it up really quick mainly because it’s reformulated JavaScript; it’s essentially prettier, simpler JavaScript .

When writing CoffeeScript don’t forget you are writing code that before being deployed is going to be compiled into JavaScript that follows best practices and passes the JSLint test, so that’s one less thing you have to worry in this area. The output will still be valid JavaScript that the browser will not have a problem in reading. CoffeeScript is to JavaScript what SASS is to CSS: a way to write simpler and more productive code.

Installing and using

CoffeeScript is a node.js helpfulness so in order to install it you need to have node.js installed as well as the node package manager. High and mighty that you have installed these two packages all you need to do is go to your terminal and install CoffeeScript with the package manager using the code:

npm install -g coffee-script

Just with that you have CoffeeScript installed on your machine. In order to compile a .coffee file into a JavaScript file you need to type:

coffee --compile script.coffee

This will compile the file script.coffee into script.js in the same directory but will only do it when you run the command, if you want it to compile in every change you make in the coffee file you need to add the –mind before the compile:

coffee --mind --compile script.coffee

With this added your JavaScript will be compiled every time you make a change to your .coffee file.

Variables

When writing a JavaScript variable we have to prepend the var keyword, with CoffeeScript that keyword is gone and you can just type out the variable and assign it to something. Another thing to look out for is that CoffeeScript uses a lot of notch methods to avoid semi-colons and for the language to know that the variable statement is complete you just need to go to a new line:

age = 21
public = "Portugal"

In JavaScript you would have to type something like:

var age = 21;
var public = "Portugal";

It’s a small example but you can start to see how powerful CoffeeScript is when it comes to simplifying your code.

Logical and comparative operators

Remember all that time you spent memorizing JavaScript operators? Remember wondering why you needed to use === instead of just using is? Well CoffeeScript also takes care of that. It offers some really nice aliases for the operators:

Evaluation operators

• === can now be traded for simply is;
• !== is equally transformed to the more readable isnt.

Logical operators

• Instead of using you can just use and;
• as for || from now on you can type or;
• the small exclamation point that stated a not is switched for the most logical thing: not.

If statements

Another thing CoffeeScript gets rid of is curly braces. It uses the indenting method to declare when you are inside a statement, if statements work like JavaScript but you don’t need the curly braces or the parenthesis; just indent the code you wish to run when the statement is right:

if work  24 and sleep  8
   vacations()
else 
   work()

will compile into JavaScript as:

if (work  24  sleep  8) { 
 vacations();  
} else {  
    work();
} 

I hope that you are starting to see the benefits of CoffeeScript just with these simple demonstrations of how clean it can make your code, and cleaner code means more maintainable code.

Looping through arrays

Looping through arrays is one of the things you are bound to do in every JavaScript app you write and the syntax for looping through them in JavaScript isn’t the simplest or the cleanest, I reckon this is where CoffeeScript really shines. To loop through an array we use a for..in loop , like so:

tasks = ['Design','Code','Groceries']  
for task in tasks  
 alert task

All this piece of code will do is read all the things in the array and then alert then one by one, just to make things even simpler you can even write the for…in loop in one line, like so:

tasks = ['Design','Code','Groceries']  
alert task for task in tasks  

It’s simply far more readable and maintainable than the vanilla JavaScript, speaking of which the code produced by CoffeeScript for those two lines would be:

var task, tasks, _i, _len;

tasks = ['Design', 'Code', 'Groceries'];

for (_i = 0, _len = tasks.length; _i  _len; _i++) {
  task = tasks[_i];
  alert(task);
}

While loops

While loops are also very useful when constructing your JavaScript app and CoffeeScript doesn’t fail to make this simpler to read and write as well, for example:

while sleep  8
   sleep()

Or you can write it all on one line if you prefer:

while sleep  8 then sleep()

Or:

sleep() until sleep  8

In pure JavaScript this would translate to:

//then
while (sleep  8) {
  sleep();
}

Or:

//until
while (!(sleep  8)) {
  sleep();
}

Functions

Functions are also another vital part of any programming language and even though functions in JavaScript aren’t as hard as some additional parts CoffeeScript simplifies this to the max as well, a simple function that takes a name’s name and then alerts it can be written like this:

sayHi = (name) - 
 return "Hello " + name
alert sayHi('Sara')

All you do is name the function, in this case the functions is called sayHi, and then after the equal sign you need to disorder the parameters. Here name is the single parameter, after the base of our function is defined we need to type – followed on the next line by what we want the function to do so that CoffeeScript knows we are inside the function. In this case all I want it do is return “Hello” and then the name of the person and lastly I use a simple alert to call the function with the name. We can also write this in one line eliminating the enter and indenting just by writing what the function will do after the – :

sayHi = (name) - return "Hello " + name

This small snippet of code will be compiled into the following JavaScript:

var sayHi;

sayHi = function(name) {
  return "Hello " + name;
};

alert(sayHi('Sara'));

Of course this was a really simple function but as you can see it saved us 3 lines of code and of course in the JavaScript we could just name the variable as we declare the function like so:

var sayHi = function(name) {
  return "Hello " + name;
};

alert(sayHi('Sara'));

The examples I have given here are what CoffeeScript compiles to and even though in most instances there are simpler ways to type something out, all the JavaScript compiled is valid and semantic.

Conclusion

This is just the beginning of what CoffeeScript can give you, when things start getting more complex this small language will give you a lot of leverage when compared to JavaScript, less code you need to write , more human readable code, and more maintainable as well, so that you can come back to a website a year shortly and know what is going on in that JavaScript.

Stay tuned for the second part of this run where I will show you how to combine CoffeeScript with jQuery and LocalStorage in order to make a simple contact list app.

Have you used CoffeeScript to simplify JavaScript? What parts of CoffeeScript do you prefer to Javascript? Let us know in the comments.

Featured image/thumbnail, coffee image via Shutterstock.

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Article source: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/05/a-taste-of-coffeescript-part-1/

The list of contributors include designers such as Ray Brown, Luke Ritchie, Simon Ålander and Joshua Bullock, all of whom have produced some wonderful pieces of work.

Here’s a collection of some of our favourites:

Which of these treatments is your favourite? Do you have a similar side project? Let us know in the comments.

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Article source: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/05/side-project-the-phraseology-project/