Tag Archives: Social Networking
Photomatix Tutorial
Posted on 31. Aug, 2010 by Tutorial Blog.
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How to design websites that appeal across cultural divides
Posted on 14. Jul, 2010 by Adriana Margineanu.
When you’re designing websites for a global audience, you need to be aware of cultural differences that will affect the way they are viewed in different parts of the world. You cannot expect the exact same website to be well-received around the g...Continue Reading
Beginning Photoshop Tutorials: Start Here
Posted on 28. Jun, 2010 by James Mowery.
Photoshop is one of the most versatile tools available for the graphic designer or artist. Many people don’t realize how truly powerful the program can be when it comes to altering and enhancing images, but the fact is that most commercial images...Continue Reading
Beyond the Blog: Get on the Wordpress Bandwagon
Posted on 18. Jun, 2010 by Barbara Holbrook.
Wordpress, long known as one of the most popular blogging platforms, has turned into so much more. With the release of Wordpress 3 “Thelonious”, the platform really steps into its own as a powerful content management system for writers, des...Continue Reading
6 Tips to Secure Your Joomla Site
Posted on 16. Jun, 2010 by William Smith.
It has been a boom year for hackers and web hacking. Tom Canavan, Joomla web security expert, identifies an increase of greater than 600% in overall hacking this last year. Tom’s book “Joomla! Web Security”, a Packt publication, expands on the th...Continue Reading
How to Create a Hover Effect Using CSS
Posted on 27. Apr, 2010 by Barbara Holbrook.
Hover effects, rollovers, super-fancy link styles — regardless of what you call them — are a great way to get extra bang for your buck when putting together a website. Today we’ll be learning how to add a unique and creative feature to your w...Continue Reading
Getting Work Done for Free: Best Microsoft Office Alternatives
Posted on 15. Mar, 2010 by Derek Walter.
Microsoft’s Office suite has long been the king of productivity software. And with good reason—it is the most full-featured office suite available. Not only is MS Office deployed extensively throughout enterprises, but many consumers rely on it...Continue Reading
Cheap Wordpress Themes: 5 Semi-Premium Designs for Business Websites
Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Barbara Holbrook.
We’ve talked about Premium Wordpress Themes ad infinitum on TutorialBlog. But, sometimes you need a cheap WordPress theme that you can get online and looking good in less than an hour. What do you when you (or your client) want it all … a...Continue Reading
Social Networking Software: 12 Ways to Build the Next, Best Social Network
Posted on 16. Feb, 2010 by Barbara Holbrook.
Do you want to be the next YouTube, Flickr, Match.com or Facebook? Then, you need to find the right social networking software. Dating sites, friend networks, video sharing portals are all built on networking platforms that give members control over th...Continue Reading
Facebook Connect: Plugins to Integrate FB and Wordpress
Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by Barbara Holbrook.
When I first decided it was time to add Facebook Connect to a website, I figured it would be no big deal. Facebook is a social media powerhouse, I figured, so they must have tools to simplify the process. Plus, I use Wordpress! So I was fairly confiden...Continue Reading
Awesome Customizations: 10 websites based on the Yamidoo Magazine Theme
Posted on 14. Jan, 2010 by Barbara Holbrook.
Premium WordPress themes can be a designer’s best friend. But most websites worth visiting know better than to use a theme straight “out of the box.” Your site design is part of your branding and it’s the first impression visito...Continue Reading
How to Use Google Maps with WordPress Blogs: 5 Plugins to Get You Started
Posted on 15. Dec, 2009 by Barbara Holbrook.
It wasn’t long ago that Mapquest was the only quality mapping tool online. Then, the rise of Google Maps, possibly the best and most sophisticated mapping tool available online. Google Maps inspired regular people to become cartographers — map...Continue Reading
Sync Your Life: Great Tools to Sync, Backup and Store your Files
Posted on 02. Dec, 2009 by Derek Walter.
You probably remember that one time when you really needed a copy of that spreadsheet for the meeting; only to realize it was sitting on your hard drive at home. Or the time you wrote up that great list of ideas and forgot to e-mail it to yourself. If ...Continue Reading
Freelancers: Invoice your clients
Posted on 23. Nov, 2009 by Oli.
Create invoices and manage account receivables online using one of these 9 web apps. You’ll save time and maybe even earn more money. The ability to successfully run a freelance design business, requires more than just graphic skills. You’l...Continue Reading
Target Your Marketing Campaign with Facebook Ads
Posted on 04. Nov, 2009 by Barbara Holbrook.
Facebook ads are quickly becoming the top choice for targeted online ad campaigns. Whether your goal is lead generation, sales, or improving brand recognition, a targeted campaign will always have better results. Google Adwords used to be the king of ...Continue Reading
5 Photo Gallery Plugins for WordPress
Posted on 02. Nov, 2009 by Spencer Spellman.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If so, then these photo gallery plugins for WordPress must be worth volumes. Each plugin creates the photo gallery a bit differently — jquery slideshows, flash slideshows, automatically from your flickr...Continue Reading
Free Photoshop Shapes: Download Custom Shapes Sets
Posted on 22. Oct, 2009 by Barbara Holbrook.
Photoshop shapes are different than Photoshop brushes, although some people use the terms interchangeably, they refer to completely different tools. Both tools will allow you to easily add custom elements that be stamped out over and over again, used t...Continue Reading
5 WordPress Comment Plugins to Engage Users and Promote Discussion
Posted on 21. Oct, 2009 by Spencer Spellman.
If you’re a new user to WordPress, then you’re probably perfectly content with the comment features you already have. You may not yet realize the positive effect that adding a comment plugin (or three) can have on your site. Better comment ...Continue Reading
What’s this about Web 2.0 anyway?
Posted on 30. Aug, 2007 by Dave.
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So, what’s it all about? Authentically, Web 2.0 is a phrase given by O’Reilly Media, referring to the professed notion of second generation of Web based societies and hosted services such as folksonomies and social-networks which aim to allow interaction and sharing between like-minded groups of users across the web. Or at least that’s the theory. However, is this actually new technology? What was wrong with our old web, and how does this really work?
Technology infrastructure
Granted, many of the technology components of “Web 2.0″ have existed since the early days of the Web, however today we’ve put it all into practice; social networking, blogging, discussion groups and the like is become a hugely powerful medium and people are just starting to grasp how effective that can be. Moreover there is one major substance, which happens to be the foundation of this concept, and that is interaction. Interaction or networking simply means that you and I can download and upload various data in hope of enhancing our knowledge.
The online encyclopedia Wikipedia is a perfect example of a very large group of people in mutual cooperation who all share a common interest. Likewise the photo sharing services Flickr adopted by Yahoo in mid 2005 provides its users with an opportunity to express and share their creativity with like-minded individuals the world over. And besides these we mustn’t forget our plentiful virtual social communities.
Social networking websites
Leading the virtual social experience is, of course, MySpace followed by Facebook which boasts over thirty million active members as the fastest growing social networking website thus far. Facebook is totally free you simply create a profile, give them your email, make up a password, log in and start meeting people. Facebook lets you keep in touch with your friends, schoolmates and or relatives whom you may not otherwise see everyday. Basically users log on and connect with friends by writing a few lines about what they’re doing right now or later.
Likewise it’s an opportunity make mutual friends with one of your friend’s friends or join a group to discuss your views with those who share a similar interests. Most social networking websites feature a number of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and this might sound a little clingy, even satellite tracking. Whether you are struggling with diabetes, trying to conceive, drowning in debt or fearful about the future? There’s a community for all of these and anything else that may go bump in your head.
From a designer’s perspective Facebook is the winner with its clean feel and streamline good looks, which corresponds with our Web 2.0 perception of style earlier mentioned (i.e. central layout, better allocation of text and brighter color surfaces readily attributed to Web 2.0 templates) as opposed to MySpace’s inexplicably gauche feel, making Facebook more accessible to people of all ages.
Security awareness
The biggest risk here is privacy and not in the way one might think but from what I like to call “over sharing”, some people simply share way more than they need to, too much information, they simply post things about themselves that they would never want to shout out from a street corner. While Facebook, unlike MySpace, does have the ability to limit the availability of your profile to only your friends and other people on your networks, it is still up to the user if he should decide to want to censor himself. Granted it isn’t easy for a whole generation of show-offs to remain in secret.
Not that there’s anything wrong with the whole idea of interacting and sharing in itself but, the reality is that most of these social-networking sites suffer from a lack of real community. Online communities are not communities in the real sense – they are a slightly more sinuous interpretation of the former. MySpace for example is a complete disgrace and nothing more than a narcissist reservoir where the socializing on offer is not only poor in quality but also impetuous and vain not to insinuate that Facebook is any better or anything, not by a long shot. Notwithstanding, in the real world people know that they will be held accountable for their behavior, in other words while we still have the freedom to exercise our first amendment rights we must do so with respect towards others and in the spirit of up-building our fellow neighbor and not just me, only me, always me and me, me, me, me.
Having said that, Web 2.0 is truly about bonding with the world today through a common base the Internet well as offering genuine solutions. And everyday, online communities, large and small, do just that. Ladies and gentlemen, there’s hope and there’s reason for hope.
About the author:
Dave Collado is the Senior Design Consultant at www.foamers.net who provides quality website templates customization, WEB 2.0 templates, Flash templates customization, CSS templates, web design tutorials, and many other web design and web hosting services. This article may be republished providing it remains fully intact.
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