Bedrich Rios

After arduous days of CSS coding, cross browser testing, icon resizing, and sleepless nights the new theme for bedrichrios.com is ready. Everything should work fine but please feel free to contact me if you encounter a broken link or a CSS quirk. Also, expect to see some weirdness in the days to come as I will be tweaking the design a bit more. If you are wondering why I decided to redesign the site, well, it has to do with the growth of my blog and the attention is getting thanks to the fact that one my posts is featured on the homepage of csselite.com. In case you haven’t read it yet, make sure to check out the Mootools Style Sidebar Using jQuery post. Because of this post, a lot of ideas have been orbiting my head. The main conclusion, jQuery scripts mean more traffic and love for this site.

jQuery Anyone?

It’s no mystery that I love writing jQuery solutions (well, at least its no mystery to me). As I said before, the blog get the most hits from the posts containing jQuery scripts. Therefore, I have decided to dedicate more time to writing new scripts. Thus, I’m asking that you send me your suggestions for future jQuery scripts to suggestions@bedrichrios.com. This should create a more steady flow of jQuery posts in the future, something that will benefit you and the site equally.

The Future

My hope for this site is to create a more steady flow of posts (twice a week) and traffic. The blog has done surprisingly well to my delight in the past two months and I hope to continue that in the months to come. Also, expect to see some “random” posts from time to time, as I have discovered that sometimes people need a break from web design, development, or whatever that is you may do. The next few months should be very interesting, thanks for visiting the site. Enjoy!

I have been quite busy the last couple of weeks and thus have been unable to update the site much. The stats have not fallen dramatically thanks to the Mootools Style Sidebar Using jQuery post, which is featured on the homepage of csselite.com. However, things are going to change soon.

Homepage

In the month to come, the homepage of bedrichrios.com as you know it well undergo some major changes. In fact the whole site will be restructured around the blog. There will be some redesign work as well.  This means that whenever you visit the site in the near future, you will encounter the most recent post rather than my portfolio. Take a look at my portfolio still though maybe we can do some business.

jQuery and Tutorials

The statistics for my site show that the most viewed posts in my site are the Equal Heights Columns, Again, jQuery Toggle Menu and Mootools Style Sidebar Using jQuery posts the most. Therefore, my goal from now on will be to release jQuery scripts (solutions) at least once every month.

To Summarize

Big, small and all types of changes are happening in the next month. So, please be patient if the site is down for a couple of hours, days, or weeks while all these changes are happening. Leave any comments, thoughts, or suggestion you may have  for new jQuery solution. Adeu.

In my last post I promised a “first impressions” post of WordPress 2.5 Release Candidate 1; however, after a few paragraphs, I realized that for the most part I was outlining the same points outlined in the WP 2.5 Sneek Peek post. Therefore, I have decided against writing the promised post and instead make two lists containing the “Good” and “Not So Good” of WordPress 2.5.

Good

• Text Editor.
• Comments (approving, spamming, etc.).
• Posts and Pages Management.

Not So Good

• Overall tidy-ness of design.
• Media Library.
• Dashboard.

What do you think?

Obviously this is a one man’s opinions, mine. I would love to hear what you think. Is this the WordPress that you were waiting for? Do you think 2.5 RC 1 is not quite what you dreamt of? Leave your thoughts and let a new era of WordPress begin.

I find it hard to call myself a web designer sometimes, I feel like one of those self-proclaimed artist. But that is my job title, for the time being at least. I don’t pretend to know everything about the web or design; nevertheless, I have learned a lot over the last year or so and feel comfortable doing what I do. So, what makes a web designer? Rather, what is web design?

The Misconceptions

In issue no. 249 of A List Apart, Jeffrey Zeldman, wrote an article about the profession titled Understanding Web Design. If you haven’t read it, you should. In any case, one of his key points was the difference between web design and other forms of design. He writes, “Web design is not book design, it is not poster design, it is not illustration, and the highest achievements of those disciplines are not what web design aims for.” and concludes that it is a fallacy to judge web design under any design principle other than web design.

Unfortunately, may people involved in other forms of design and in the fine arts hold this great misconception. The mistaken idea that web design is a transferable skill. In other words, they believe that the skills they posses will transfer into a web medium. This believe could not be further from the true, sadly there are many people who think this way.

The Future

Web design has come a long way since the the introduction of the world wide web to the world. Nevertheless, recognition for the field or those who practice has not seen a similar growth. However, with more and more companies and individuals (myself included) becoming aware of its importance in our every day living, the lack of recogniton towards web designers is soon to change.

No need to be flashy

These days, an increasing number of web design galleries are recognizing web sites for their flashiness. It almost seems as though they want websites to look like a rock band’s concert poster. I am by no means saying that these sites do nothing for web design, they do plenty. In fact, many of the showcased sites are indeed great designs, accessible, and a pleasure to navigate. But again, many are not, many are imitations of other forms of designs, not necessarily suitable for the web.

My Final Thoughts

I am not Jeffrey Zeldman. I am a college student who loves what he does and writes from experience. Obviously experience does a lot for a person, specially a designer. I can only hope this post sparks your desire to learn more about web design.