studio 6 Design Company

Tips, Tricks and Resources for Your Design Project

The Latest On WordPress Themes

Posted by Staff on March 18, 2010 - (0)

As WordPress and blogging become more and more popular, the list of customization options continues to grow. One can attribute that to each user wanting his or her blog to be unique or very much personalized. Who knows, one day a theme can be just as unique as the blog’s author! The following is an overview of the latest developments on WordPress themes.

WordPress Widgets

The blog software developer has recently come up with an edition of this plug-in for the full-version WordPress. A Widget here refers to those tools you can use to modify your site—its sidebar, design, or general layout—without having to know and use HTML codes. About a hundred Widgets are featured in the WordPress Widgets blog, and they are classified in categories such as photography, music, discussion, video, income, and links, among others. It is a fun and easy way of customizing your site, so that it features everything you care about, and nothing you don’t.

Not all themes are ready for these Widgets, however, and some modifications need to be done to include this fun feature in the sites that make use of such themes. http://Automattic.com gives full instructions on how to go about making your WordPress site Widget-friendly. WordPress is continuously adding to their already-vast selection of Widgets to suit their user’s whims and personalities.

Canvas Plugin

This blogger-friendly plugin has recently allowed blog users to create their very own theme for their WordPress blog. The good news is that this plugin allows users a pretty good level of customization without them having to study and use codes. The result: a site that looks very professional built within the range of a few minutes to a couple of hours. Even better news is that this plugin comes for free.

This stand-alone plugin opens up to a bare starting point, with a selection of blocks that you can include in your layout by drag-and-drop method. Among the many features of Canvas are Banner, RSS, Static Text, Feature, Digg, Flickr, Random Tagline, Comment, Category List, Asides, Archive, Description, Calendar, Search, Post, and Navigation functions. Meanwhile, an Ink tab gives the user the freedom to determine the styles to be used on the page, sans the need to check the actual stylesheet. This tab proves to be quite useful for beginners, because it features help links that corresponds to each theme component, the style of which you may be about to identify. These links load the template with an indication of the part in question, to give the user a clear idea of what effect the change will have.

“Being Moderated” Notification

It does not come as a surprise that some comments are being moderated by the recipient blog’s owner or moderator. However, it would be nice for you to let your eager comment writers know that you have received their comment, when the system is programmed to delay posting of comments on your blog until it has been read and approved by you. Without this notification activated, some of your readers may think that their comment just got lost and they’ll have to write their comment all over again, when in fact your blog has secured it and it’s only waiting for your approval. However, the blog author may need to be familiar with code to activate this feature. Nevertheless, it is one way to deter comment spammers from infiltrating your blog. Your may also word the notification in your liking. Here’s an example: “Thank you for your comment. It may take a while before your comment may be published. Please check back later.”

More Themes to Match Content

While it is all up to the blog author to decide, it would be quite useful to have a theme that will give first-time readers of your blog a pretty good idea of what to expect by simply looking at the design in use. For this reason, WordPress theme designers are coming up with more specific themes to match a variety of specific types of content. Experts say that the first several seconds spent by a visitor on your blog determine the impression they get of your site. So if your site fails to capture attention right away, then it’s most likely that you’re losing potential repeat readers or site visits.

When designing your site or choosing the appropriate theme, keep in mind that the first concern of a site visitor is whether or not the site has the kind of information needed by him or her. The visual elements, being much faster to grasp than the textual, will help in a big way. If the theme you choose does not correspond to the general content of your site, then attracting more followers will need more effort. Whether we like it or not, looks matter for a lot of people, as this is how beliefs and opinions are initially formed.

WordPress Theme Contests

To ensure your steady stream of new themes, WordPress and certain partners have organized theme contests to discover and recognize the best themes that have cropped up lately. Last year even saw several competitions that attracted theme creators and users alike. This year, however, the WordPress camp has witnessed a slowing down in the production of themes, perhaps due to the fading novelty of it all, not discounting the fact that a lot of those who submitted themes before did it for free.

Nevertheless, customization of WordPress blogs still holds quite a lot of promise, with the arrival of new customization features, such as the Canvas and Widgets plugins. It also promises more highly-customizable themes in the future. For now, you would already be missing out on a lot if you are not already trying out the latest WordPress customization plugins. You can also try modifying some basic features, such as whether your front page should show excerpts or the full blog entries, or changing the number of posts that will show up on your blog index, or both. Whatever you choose, there are hundreds of themes available and other options for you to use, to get as close as ever to your most desired look for your blog.

Posted in Blogs and CMS | No Comments »

Domain Name Games.: An article from: New York Times Upfront

Posted by Staff on March 18, 2010 - (0)

Product Description
This digital document is an article from New York Times Upfront, published by Scholastic, Inc. on November 29, 1999. The length of the article is 972 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Domain Name Games.(Brief Article)
Author: Patrick McGeehan
Publication: New York Times Upfront (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 29, 1999
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Volume: 132 Issue: 7 Page: 22

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale
Domain Name Games.: An article from: New York Times Upfront

Posted in Webmaster Tools | No Comments »

Buying A Branded Computer: Choosing Specific Components

Posted by Staff on March 18, 2010 - (0)

When it comes to purchasing a branded computer, you will sometimes get confused if what manufacturer is offering a reliable computer. These computers also come in different models, sizes, and performance depending on the needs of every buyer.

You can choose from a variety of top brands such as HP, IBM, Toshiba, Dell, and MSI. Selecting the right computer is a hard decision to make, especially if you are a first time user.

If you do not know the technical aspects of a computer, let me tell you some of the common requirements you need to know in finding a suitable computer.

The first question you need to ask yourself is the possible function of this computer. Are you going to use just for typical office or schoolwork, entertainment, or gaming applications? You need to determine first what will be its use so that you can clearly define the components to satisfy your needs.

If you frequently travel and you want more mobility, it is best if you purchase a laptop, which is lightweight and with medium-sized lcd monitor. If you only want to use it insider your house, better choose a desktop computer to setup your mini office at home.

Second, you have to determine the specifications you want in your computer. Let me give you some ideas for your computer in different purposes.

For games – If you always play games, choose a quad-core processor, with 4GB of memory, 1Gb or higher graphics card, 19inches or higher size monitor, and 160Gb or higher storage to be able to install various games. Also, invest in a good earphone or speaker.

For typical office or schoolwork – A dual-core processor is fine, with 1GB of system memory, 512mb graphics memory, 17inches monitor, and 100Gb hard disk drive.  

For entertainment – If you regularly watch movies and listening to music, dual core processor will do, plus 19inches or higher wide screen monitor, 512mb or higher video card, 300Gb or more if you want to store lots of movies on your computer.

A good computer speaker is a must in this application to feel the true sound effects of your movie. Do not forget to invest on a high-capacity sound card to experience better sound quality.

Include a DVD player and writer combined in one device, whether it is external or not. You are going to use this in playing your movies, music, and copying whatever contents you want into a DVD or CD-ROM disc.

Selecting the right kind of computer either for schoolwork, games, and entertainment is not so hard to imagine. What is confusing is the type of manufacturer you are going to trust. Always look for reviews on various users online to have a better idea on what brand will satisfy your necessity.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Gain Productivity on Your Notebook Computer with a USB Mouse

Posted by Staff on March 18, 2010 - (0)

Does the touchpad on your laptop give you nothing but trouble? I know the feeling! Unless a laptop is your main computer, you may have a hard time switching from a mouse on your main machine to the touchpad.

I know that a lot of people find trackpads hard to use. It’s very easy to accidentally send your mouse cursor flying across the screen with a stray touch of the pad. This really becomes a problem when trying to do work that requires precise control of the mouse such as photo editing or organizing a large number of files.

The easiest way to fix this is to simply plug in an external mouse. Many people find external mice easier to use, more comfortable and more precise.

There are two choices when it comes to mice. With a cord or without. Corded mice are inexpensive and widely available. Almost everyone has an extra mouse laying around. The drawback is the cord. They are usually very long and tend to get in the way or get caught on objects on your desk or work area.

Cordless mice have no wires at all and take up very little space on your desk. Some models store the USB dongle in the body of the mouse when you aren’t using it. Just pull out the dongle and plug it into any available USB port. That’s it! Battery life is the only drawback to wireless mice. The battery always tends to run out of juice right when you are in the process of doing something very important on your computer. Carrying an extra battery or using rechargeable ones can help with this issue.

One tip that really helped me out when using an external mouse on my netbook is to go into the mouse settings and turn on the option to disable the trackpad when an external mouse is plugged in. This will eliminate accidental touches of the trackpad. A simple but very helpful feature!

The best way to improve the usability of your laptop is to start using an external mouse. Quit fiighting with your touchpad and test it out. It really does make using your laptop more enjoyable!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Instant Traffic Dominator.

Posted by Staff on March 18, 2010 - (0)

At LAST!!! Learn How To Drive Massive Traffic And Back-links To Any Website For Free. Increase Your Customers And/or Subscribers And Your Bank Balance!
Instant Traffic Dominator.

Posted in Internet Marketing | No Comments »