Web Technology and Design SIG

July Meeting - Tuesday, July 20th - canceled

Please note - Our July meeting is canceled.

At our next meeting we will continue our discussion on web analytics.

In the next couple of days I will post more about the specifics of our next discussion.

SitePoint has all their books on sale in celebration of the World Cup. I highly recommend any of their books. For those of you who are interested, on July 12th, one of them will be given away for free!

I hope all of you had a nice July 4th holiday celebration.

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader

June Meeting - Tuesday, June 22

This month the Web Design Special Interest Group will continue our discussion of web analytics by focusing on clickstream analysis and metrics.

We will start with the building blocks of metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). There are eight critical web metrics that deserve your attention. However, there are some recommended methodologies that are not worth your time.

Get better at diagnosing the causes of poor web performance and learn how to develop strategically aligned tactics that have a positive impact on your website and your web metrics.

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader

April Meeting - Tuesday, April 27

This month the Web Design Special Interest Group will discuss how to convert an existing page from a table based layout to CSS on Tuesday, April 27.

For many years, the only way to create compelling web pages was to use tables and spacer images. The smallest change could become a major task in column and row manipulation resulting in multiple nested tables. Pages got more and more bloated with maintenance taking more and more time.

The introduction of CSS is reversing this trend. It is now possible to do almost anything tables did in the fraction of the page weight with changes a snap. But updating an existing site can be a daunting task. Where do you start? Join us as we use a step-by-step approach to take a table based design and simplify markup using proper html structure and CSS. Find out how to incorporate CSS into your site and take advantage of the design flexibility and cool visual effect CSS offers.

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader

March Meeting - Tuesday, March 23

At our monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 23, the HALPC Web Design Special Interest Group will address “CSS: A Web Designers Secret Weapon”.

Imagine if you could radically change the look and feel of your entire web site in a few moments by just changing a few items on one page. This is not wishful thinking.  It is reality if you use cascading style sheets (CSS). Proper use of CSS makes web pages lighter, and easier to build, change, and maintain. Separating structure from design is no longer a fringe endeavor. It is the standard by which all website development projects are now based.  Isn’t it time you did too?  Learn about CSS and how it can be the best tool in your web design arsenal.

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader

January Meeting - Tuesday, January 26

You built your web site but will they come? The hide and seek game now begins. Landing at the top spot of a search engine’s results can help you generate more business. There are more than 150 million people online in the US alone, and 80% of them use search engines on a regular business. That’s why the practice of improving your websites standing on the most popular search engines is a critical element of your marketing plan. An understanding of what search engines are looking for and how they look for it will help get you in front of their eyes.

Find out what search engine optimization is all about. Learn practical tips and techniques that you can immediately implement to optimize your web site and boost your search ratings. It’s important to realize that without actively marketing your website, it will never succeed.

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader

The Web Design SIG will not meet in November or December due to the Holidays.

We will meet in January and continue our discussion on Flash and search engine optimization.

I look forward to see you January 26.

Happy Holidays!

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader

October 2009 Meeting - Tuesday, October 27

Our last meeting of the year will be filled with a variety of different tasty morsels to whet your web development hunger. In keeping with the theme, I will try to squeeze in as many tricks as possible concluding with a long awaited treat.

We will start by discussing how to incorporate a WordPress blog into your current site by making css edits so that your blog is consistent with your current branding.

Have you ever been to a website that has simple instructions in the text boxes to let you know what you need to enter into the text box? The text in the box is usually a light unobtrusive color and it disappears as soon as you place your cursor in the text box. I came across a cool technique that shows you how to add thie polished look to your text boxes for a more professional look. All it takes is a little JavaScript.

Several articles discussing potential changes on HTML 5 have come across my desk that are worth sharing. If some of these changes happen, creating pages might be easier than ever. It may even possible negate the need for Flash. It is too soon to count on that. However, many people have asked me about leading some Flash discussion. Starting in October, I will treat the group to a series of Flash tips for the following months for as long as interest prevails.

I look forward to seeing you on October 27, as we discuss various short topics to fill your Halloween goodie bag this year. If there is something you want me to add, let me know.

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader

Go beyond the world of static web pages. Join us as we explore the world of database driven websites. It is not as hard as you think. You just need a few tools and you too can have dynamic pages built on a fly.

I look forward to seeing you on September 22 as we discuss Apache, MYSQL and PHP. These three tools are all you need to be ready to go.

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader

The Web Design SIG will not meet in July or August. In September we will discuss using PHP and MySQl to build your own content management system.

Rita Trelewicz
Web Design SIG Leader