Posted January 27th, 2012
When you use an HTML editor such as Dreamweaver to create an HTML document, you’ll likely see a special line at the very top of your file’s source code, before the opening <html> tag. For example:
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
Perhaps, though, your pages don’t have a line like this. If you’re coding HTML by hand, maybe you usually start directly with the <html> tag. Or, maybe your HTML editor isn’t configured properly to add a line like this.
So, what is this mysterious line, why is it there, and why is it so important?
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Posted January 14th, 2012
Are you still primarily using Arial, Verdana or – please not! – Comic Sans MS on your websites? Until recently, beautiful typography and the internet didn’t play nicely together. Using fancy fonts meant embedding all of your text in images, or risking incompatibility with many users. It was a royal pain!
Today, however, there’s hope. As browsers have matured, support for embedding custom typefaces in webpages has advanced. Many new online tools and services have popped up to make web fonts easily accessible to web designers. Unfortunately, though, most services are rather expensive, and most do-it-yourself tools aren’t easy to use.
In this quick tip, I want to share an option that’s both free and easy to use. Google Web Fonts is a free service offered by Google as part of their effort to help beautify and improve the web. They’re working together with the community and typography specialists to create special fonts that are 100% free for you to use on your commercial and non-commercial projects. Best of all, they handle all of the messy technical details to get them onto your webpages. Adding these special fonts to your pages is as simple as adding one line of code to your page and updating your CSS’s font-family declaration.
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Posted December 31st, 2011
In my work with small technology and web companies, I see certain problems over and over again. One of these is how to get paid fairly for work produced. In this series we’ve been looking at five common reasons why tech and web professionals don’t get paid what they’re worth. To review, the 5 reasons are:
- Benign Neglect – "Everything is going smoothly. We have other issues to worry about."
- Fear of Loss – "I’ll lose clients."
- Misguided Strategy – "We want to be the affordable option."
- Uninformed – "I’m not sure what others charge, but I know we’re competitive."
- Trouble Communicating Value – "I’m not really a sales person."
Last time we looked at how to escape the trap created by fear and a misguided marketing strategy. Today, we’ll wrap up with Reasons #4 and #5.
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Posted December 29th, 2011
Many professionals of all kinds will be raising their rates for the new year. That’s why during this last week of 2011 we’re looking at the issue of rates for professional services and 5 reasons web and tech pros often underprice themselves. To review, the 5 reasons are:
- Benign Neglect – "Everything is going smoothly. We have other issues to worry about."
- Fear of Loss – "I’ll lose clients."
- Misguided Strategy – "We want to be the affordable option."
- Uninformed – "I’m not sure what others charge, but I know we’re competitive."
- Trouble Communicating Value – "I’m not really a sales person."
Last time we looked into Reason #1 – Benign Neglect. We also started to explore Reason #2 – Fear of Loss. We’ll go into more depth on that today, and consider how it relates to Reason #3 – Misguided Strategy.
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Posted December 26th, 2011
I watched her mouth tighten slightly, and her voice became a little tentative as she spoke. This was clearly a difficult subject for her to talk about. The seven of us, all small business owners and professionals, were seated around a small table. We listened intently as she began to explain her problem. "I’m considering a rate increase and need some guidance," she said. This successful young counselor was asking us, her Mastermind group, whether she should raise her rates in the new year. We started asking questions and she answered. She had been practicing over 10 years and had never raised her rates. Other professionals in her area were charging 25-30% more. Her practice was respected and received many referrals. "Would a 20% increase be too much?” she asked us. The uncertainty in her voice and body language betrayed her anxiety about making this change.
As a financial advisor to small web and technology firms, I see a similar scene played out again and again as business owners wrestle with the core issue of “how much do I charge?” For perspective, consider your CPA. If she’s like most of her colleagues, she will start the new year with a new, higher rate for the beginning of a busy tax season. Many other professionals also adjust their rates at the beginning of a new year. How about you? As a web professional, have you made plans to roll out a new rate structure in January 2012?
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Posted December 23rd, 2011
We want to wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. May your holiday season be filled with delight and lead into a wonderful, prosperous 2012!
Posted December 22nd, 2011
Are you using WordPress, the world’s most popular CMS? Then we have great news… EasyRotator for WordPress is coming soon!
Want to help with beta testing and get your hands on it first? Sign up for exclusive first access here.
Posted November 22nd, 2011
For everyone in the US, we here at DWUser.com wish you a sincere Happy Thanksgiving! Our feelings have no geographic boundaries, though – no matter where you are, we’re grateful for the opportunity to serve you and create products that make your job easier and more fun. We’ve had a great 2011 so far, but we’re far from done – look for big things in the coming weeks!
- Greg, Nathan, Drew, Dave, James and Dana
Posted November 9th, 2011
A happy user reviews EasyRotator:
I was really happy to find this extension. Just what I was looking for. Customer service is great, answered my questions quickly and were so very helpful. Easy Rotator is fairly intuitive to use – that’s a difficult thing to achieve – I am impressed and would recommend it to anyone.
– troutlily
Download EasyRotator now!
Posted October 24th, 2011
Happy XML Flash Slideshow Creator v4 customer Steven G. writes:
I finally dedicated a chunk of time to get to learn the v4 software. All I can say is WOW!! And you guys made it so easy to create a slide show that is compatible with EVERYTHING. I am so grateful for your plugin!!
I don’t learn easily from reading manuals, so I have to play with it enough until the concepts and interface sinks in.
You guys rock!!! . . . Best dollars I EVER spent.
A thrilled and grateful customer,
– Steven G.
Steven expresses what most XML Flash Slideshow Creator v4 customers say about the tool – the more they know it, the more they love it!
