Rounded rectangles with a non-repeating background

May 25th, 2009

One problem I have come across on several occasions is creating a fixed-width rounded rectangle that, in addition to its rounded-ness, has a non-repeating backgrund image. Here is an example of what I'm talking about:

So lets start with the rounded rectangle part.  This is the typical html that I might use:

Drupal Modules: Administration Menu

May 16th, 2009

You know that rule about the simplest solutions being the best solutions? Well here you have a module that takes all of your admin tools and places them in a simple dropmenu at the top of every page on your site (for admins only, of course). This module is as simple as they come - no configuration necessary (there are a couple of options if you can't live without fiddling) - but it can save you tons of time when your trying to do some serious site maintainence.

3rd Party HTML

May 14th, 2009

So here is an interesting question I came across while working on one of my sites… The site in question has an XHTML1.0 Strict doctype and I have been very careful to make sure all of the markup validates. Today I received an email with some HTML provided by a third-party content provider that was definitly not valid XHTML (in fact it wasnt really valid anything, but that's not the point) for me to insert into one of the pages. Now what am I supposed to do?

Drupal modules I cannot live without

May 12th, 2009

(This is one of those lists that I plan to keep updating so check back)

Drupal has a little over 3 gazillion modules available these days and while most them are only appropriate for a limited number of sites there are a select few that I must have. If you've ever used Drupal then the fact that many (most? all?) of these modules made my list should not be a big suprise. But just in case I'm going go spend some time getting under the hood of each module (listed in no particular order) that I install without thinking every time I start a new Drupal-based site:

Web safe fonts

May 10th, 2009

During a recent project the bulk of the design work was outsourced and the designs that came back were laden with Arial Black headers. After the initial alarm bells subsuded I began to ask myself if the time had finally come when websites could let loose and go crazy—had the day arrived when the number of fonts choices crept passed seven? So I started looking…

All the everything...

May 9th, 2009

This blog will be nothing special. In it I will cover anything and everything I find useful when designing, developing and maintaining websites. Most entries will focus on a specific technique, a particular plug-in or add-on, or innovations in the web world. I'll write about web standards and best practices; I'll describe the tools I use; and I'll give examples, ask questions and answer them. There likely wont be much here that you can't find somewhere else if you look hard enough, but I hope this blog consolidates some good information and inspires some good ideas.