Comments for Chris Burbridge

Comment on Web Design for Print Designers, pt. 3 by Chris

Chris — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 02:02:36 +0000

Thanks, Kathy. You know, I think you’re right–when I work with designers, they spend a lot of time, and make beautiful things, but I am not sure that those things are always in the best service of the client. They obsess about pixels and the perception of the site as an object of beauty / communication — and that’s cool, but not understanding even a concept of what conversion is, or a plan to generate traffic, it’s so weird. The web design world is just about … surreal.

It’s almost an Emperor Has No Clothes type of deal. But still, people put up with it! How odd!

Comment on Web Design for Print Designers, pt. 3 by Kathy Long

Kathy Long — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:51:33 +0000

Chris, I came from a print background. My programmer and web development partner back in the ’90s used to gripe at me for being so anal about font sizes and color and pixel placement perfection because it was such a chore to change it all in PERL. That didn’t stop me though. I took it upon myself to learn PERL so I could get the perfection I was after myself. I even started a club called A.N.A.L which stands for Asinine Nitpickers About Little. Anyone in the print design world know what I’m talking about. And so will backend web developers who struggle with all the design details and designers.

My ANAL attitude disintegrated way back in 1996, I think it was, when I saw a “beautiful” site I had created in HTML tables explode like a broken puzzle in the then new AOL browser which didn’t support tables. It was then that I learned that form follows function and not the reverse, and that getting it to work in the browser was more important than visual perfection.

I also learned another lesson in another site when we trashed a beautiful, artistic and very creative home page with a knockoff of the then new Amazon bookstore home page. Sales tripled in a day.

Consumer behaviors are very different on the web and what works in print just doesn’t online. Web designers need to learn what those differences are. And above all, they need to let go of their perfectionism. It’s just not that important. You can create a site that is attractive, professional, easy to use, and converts visitors into customers without it. Consumers just aren’t that picky.

Nowadays, especially since I do all CMS sites like WordPress that require a template, I pick a ready-made template first, then design for and customize that. (I can hear the designers cringe.) As a developer, it’s much easier that way, it saves the client money in design and development time, and still accomplishes the job. And if all the other pieces are right, pieces I’ll argue are more important like marketing, SEO and usability, the client’s phones will be ringing off the hook – even though their website may not be the prettiest or most perfect in town.

Comment on Web Design Process: Design in the Browser? by Kathy Long

Kathy Long — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:21:52 +0000

Actually, Chris, I am one of those people who wear all the hats. I came from a marketing and copywriting background, then got a degree in multimedia and graphic design, then got technical to appease my analytical brain, even took a half dozen programming classes, and now specialize in SEO. I put it all together when I build a website, and can’t imagine building a website without it all. You can’t! Well, at least, you can’t build a successful one. It’s because I saw this need that I developed my skills in them all, but I don’t recommend this for all web developers. I’ve developed my craft over 15 years. Not everyone has that luxury of time. And not everyone can. It definitely takes both right and left brain thinking.

So I agree with you. If your web developer doesn’t wear all those hats, bring those hats in, and do it BEFORE you start your project. Otherwise, you may be building a house on a bed of sand. I’ve seen that and feel for the business owner. And now my soapbox is to educate them so I see less of it. So, thank you for this! It’s well said and much needed.

Comment on How I add notes to my FaceBook page by Chris

Chris — Tue, 17 May 2011 20:25:35 +0000

I really think that all you have to do is put a return in there to break the line, and 2 paragraphs to create a space between them.

Comment on How I add notes to my FaceBook page by angel

angel — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:33:33 +0000

HOW DO YOU MAKE PARAGRAPHS in a note?

Comment on When You See Untapped Potential, by Definition You Have an Unpopular Idea (Don’t Seek Approval) by Aurea Meszaros

Aurea Meszaros — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:39:02 +0000

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Comment on New developments in web app frameworks-Node.js by (mt) Sara

(mt) Sara — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:09:20 +0000

When you’re ready to install it, head over to the (mt) forums. There are some pretty knowledgeable and helpful community members and you’re likely to get some info or assistance.

Comment on Über-Simple Project Management Solutions: My Solution by Claudia

Claudia — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:23:21 +0000

Teambox has been really useful and fun to use, thanks Chris!

Comment on Created a Plugin to Add List Links Shortcode by Alex Miles

Alex Miles — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:56:20 +0000

Sorry, I negelected to read the above comments. Functions.php but still have the question about placing the shortcode

Comment on Created a Plugin to Add List Links Shortcode by Alex Miles

Alex Miles — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:42:13 +0000

Excellent. Where do you post this code to enable the link shortcode? Also, what would be the shortcode to display a list of link with a catagory i.e. “example”

Sorry if these are noob questions, but this is a much needed feature. Kudos.

Alex