Recent Work: Leavitt Partners
Master Sensei,on the topic of  Business, Design, News, Portfolio, Tools, Usability, Web Development, WordPress
01.17.2012   |   0comment

Leavitt PartnersLeavitt Partners, in collaboration with Codella Marketing, came to us wanting a fresh start on their out dated corporate site, blog and newsroom. After planning the sites with Mark, Luke worked with Leavitt Partners to solidify the design.

After the design, Tim coded each site. The main corporate site, leavittpartners.com, is built using WordPress and features three Custom Post Types: the slideshow on the homepage, the homepage content and the Team page.

The main Team page is broken up into staff levels but each worker is entered into the system the same way. A checkbox is used to differentiate their level. Also, another checkbox is used to flag if the worker is part of one of the several different sub-teams in the Leavitt Partners corporation. The individual team page highlights the workers accomplishments and also calls in their author RSS feed from the blog as well as any news highlights. continue reading “Recent Work: Leavitt Partners”

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Sharpening the Blades: Website Usability, Analytiks and impress.js
Master Sensei,on the topic of  Apple, Browsers, Business, Design, JavaScript, Project Management, Tools, Usability, Web Development
01.10.2012   |   0comment

Mashable 22 Essential Tools for TestingChad, 22 Tools for Testing Your Websites Usability
One thing that we here at Code Greene have been trying to do is pushing our limits by getting faster and better at development. But with this we have realized that we need to help the pursued the client to get the best site they can. These clients come to us with an idea and they know their industry well, but it is our job and responsibility to take their ideas and build it in a way that is needed to give the end user what they want and need quickly.

Luke, Analytiks iPhone App
A little while ago I stumbled upon this little app for my iPhone. For those of us that don’t sign in to our Google Analytics often but know we should this app will be very valuable. Analytiks shows me just the important information I’d like to know about my websites on my phone. I can check it quick and get back to whatever else is going on that day. The interface is quite nice. I would ditch the rusted sign look myself but other than that it is fantastic. It is 99 cents in the app store.

Impress JSBenjam, impress.js
It’s not much in the way of content, but the way that content is displayed. It’s simple… yet eye catching and very intriguing. Makes me very excited about where the web is heading.

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Helpful jQuery Tricks, Notes, and Best Practices Part I
Brian,on the topic of  Browsers, JavaScript, jQuery, Tools, Usability, Web Development
12.16.2011   |   1comment

If there is one bad thing about jQuery, it’s that the entry level is so amazingly low, that it tends to attract those who haven’t an ounce of JavaScript knowledge. Now, on one hand, this is fantastic. However, on the flip side, it also results in a smattering of, quite frankly, disgustingly bad code (no one is immune to this). But that’s okay; frighteningly poor code that would even make your grandmother gasp is a rite of passage. The key is to climb over the hill, and that’s what we’ll discuss today. continue reading “Helpful jQuery Tricks, Notes, and Best Practices Part I”

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Sharpening the Blades: Magento Guide, Textured Backgrounds & PHP 5.4
Master Sensei,on the topic of  Design, Magento, PHP, Tools, Usability, Web Development
12.13.2011   |   2comment

Luke, Tuesday Total Textures
When designing websites sometimes a slight texture in the background can create just the right feel. Getting those textures can also be fun. They are all around us. I’ve snapped plenty of close up pictures of dirt, rocks, asphalt, cement, etc. Most of which don’t end up getting used or if they get used it’s quite a ways down the road when it fits with a specific project. The web is another resource for finding textures. One site that has weekly textures is abduzeedo.com. Each Tuesday they post a ‘Total Tuesday Textures’ post. Every so often I grab a texture from their site for safe keeping. Check it out for yourself and post some links of how you have used texture in your design projects.

Tim, Magento Project Guidelines for Designers
Magento is a beast and we all know it, however, TutsPlus comes through again with a great walk through of the basic Magento views. I have been guilty of overlooking the seldom used views, but this guide will walk you through all of them to be sure your design elements are consistent throughout the site. The part I like most about the article though is the FREE PDF download that I highly recommend sending to a client as soon as you can to help educate them about the ins and outs of Magento.

Benjam, New to PHP 5.4: Traits
PHP 5.4 is right around the corner, and one of the new features added to this version are class traits.  I won’t go into too much detail, you can read the blog post for that, but it makes reusable OO code even more reusable by allowing multiple unrelated classes to pull in the same traits from a master trait object.  Like built-in mixins.

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Don’t Overlook Hosting
Mark,on the topic of  Business, Marketing, Project Management, Tools, Usability, Web Development
12.02.2011   |   1comment

I have seen the overlooking hosting problem over and over as the years have gone by, but was recently reminded of this. The first time I saw this problem was when we worked on a project with a local marketing firm for a company that has a fairly large National brand that sells their product heavily during the holiday season. The marketing firm we were working with recommended a $5/month “unlimited” hosting solution to the client, despite our arguments against it, after they had just paid top dollar for a premium website.

Here’s what happened. Every Saturday morning for a month the site shut down. When we called the hosting company, we were put on hold to talk with someone, like that credit card commercial where the man says “This is Peggy.” We were told there was an out of control script running. After multiple weekends we finally got them to tell us what the script was. It was the index.php file which is their homepage. So apparently the hosting company promised unlimited hosting, but had a cap on CPU usage and when people came in droves to the site on the weekend to get information on their product, it shut the site down. We’ve seen this over and over with only slight variations to the story. continue reading “Don’t Overlook Hosting”

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Plugins Every WordPress Site Should Have Installed
Tim,on the topic of  Business, Tools, Usability, Web Development, WordPress
11.18.2011   |   0comment

We build several WordPress sites each month and our clients are always asking what plugins they should be using for their new WordPress site. Depending on the functionality of the site, the need for plugins vary. For example, if the client has a blog or plans to have a place for comments, I will always recommend Disqus over Intense Debate and the default WordPress comment system because I think it functions better overall. I like the interface for Disqus much more then any other comment system and they have an Android app that makes it easy for me to moderate comments on the go.

When it comes to site performance, there is only one caching plugin that needs to even be talked about and that is W3 Total Cache. This plugin is so complete that it is shocking. It is packed with features and accounts for every type of WordPress user. It is very easy to configure and it actually works! I run a Lacrosse news website where I recently installed W3 Total Cache. According to the Google Analytics Site Speed metric, from September 17 to October 16, the average load time was 3.47 seconds. From October 17, the day I installed W3 Total Cache, to November 16, the average load time was 2.36 seconds. That is a difference of 1.21 seconds! The plugin also shows your Page Speed Report on your Admin Dashboard so you can see how well your site is performing. Every time I visit the site I am pleased with the results. continue reading “Plugins Every WordPress Site Should Have Installed”

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Sendmail in Development Environment
Brian,on the topic of  Linux, PHP, Tools, Web Development
11.11.2011   |   2comment

A few times in my career, I’ve had the need to test emailing in one form or another. I’ve also had the unfortunate experience of accidentally sending a test email to a real person. As you can imagine, this may cause confusion, embarrassment, lectures, and possibly the death of a small pixie or two. Fortunately, there IS a preventative measure you can take.

When it comes to mail() (as well as many other things), PHP prefers to delegate the heavy lifting to another piece of software: sendmail (or a sendmail compatible command-line mail transport agent). By default, PHP will call your sendmail binary, and pass it the entire message, after composing it from the headers and body supplied by the developer.

One of the side-benefits to this system is the ability to override PHP’s default, and seamlessly hook in your own sendmail-esque binary or script. My favorite parts of this hack, is that it doesn’t require a recompile of PHP or anything all too complicated, just a small change to your php.ini file. continue reading “Sendmail in Development Environment”

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Sharpening the Blades: Firebug and Landing Pages
Master Sensei,on the topic of  Browsers, Business, Design, Tools, Usability, Web Development
11.08.2011   |   0comment

Chad, Firebug Guide for Web Designers
Firebug is one of the most common developer tools used out there. I know that for me it is something I use to try to discover what is going on with a clients site and try to give some insight to the developer to fix it. So last week I came across a great article that gives a good introduction to using firebug.

Mark, Your Landing Page Sucks!
When we do our planning here at Code Greene we always wait until the end to do the homepage with our clients. The homepage of any website in my opinion is often the very most important page of the site. The homepage acts sort of like the grand unification of the website. I see the purpose of the homepage is to be a place that user’s initial reaction is “oh this is a good site” and secondly its used to point them to the most important parts of the site. In some cases a site can be really flat and the homepage  or landing page may do almost all the work of the site, in those cases it has to be perfect. Recently I saw an article on landing pages and thought it further delved into some good examples. Check it out and rethink your homepage or landing page if it sucks.

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Cross Device Compatibility
Mark,on the topic of  Apple, Browsers, Business, Design, Tools, Usability
10.28.2011   |   0comment

I recently read a series of articles on smart phones and tablet devices in The Economist and saw some pretty interesting statistics. Smart phone use worldwide is projected to grow 20x in the next 8 years from 1 to 20 Billion, and right now 1 in 4 Americans have smart phones.  Tablet devices are likewise expected to grow really fast as well. On a small side note, I initially thought, how can the iPad be really any different than an iPhone when they mostly run the same apps? But everyone I talk to seems to feel the larger experience is a reinvention they love, so I anticipate a lot of growth here as well.

What all this has meant to us at Code Greene is that finally more and more of our customers are asking us to design and build for these devices in addition to regular browsers. It has been our philosophy to not venture down dark and lonely roads, so we will often sit back a little to see where new technologies are headed before diving into a pool with potentially only one foot of water in it. Admittedly there have been times we’ve missed waves, but there are other times we’ve ended up saving ourselves a lot of wasted energy. We are at the point that cross device compatibility is now a well lit path we are going to travel on. continue reading “Cross Device Compatibility”

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Sharpening The Blades: Texture on the Web & JavaScript Powering Linux
Master Sensei,on the topic of  Browsers, Design, JavaScript, Linux, Tools, Usability
10.25.2011   |   0comment

Art and The Web Texture

Mark, Art and The Web Texture
I thought this was a nice article and analysis of Textures by Nick Petite. Though to many people texture may seem like a subtle thing we feel it is an important part of a website for creating the right mood. The thing that Nick points out is how much more dynamic a website can seem once a more interesting texture is added. In web design, I personally really like the layered texture strategies because it helps to neutralize an otherwise potentially overbearing texture, Nick covers the gambit of options and provides some examples, check it out.

JavaScript Powers Linux In A BrowserBrian, JavaScript Powers Linux In A Browser
I get asked all the time ‘Why Linux?’ and ‘How lightweight it is?’. My usual reply references how Ive seen a Linux web server run off a 2GB thumb drive, but this article trumps even that. With all the overhead the operating systems of today require, people usually assume a servers absolute minimum is even higher. Running Linux in a client-side script like this just blows my mind!

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