Photos Light

Photos Light is my new stock photography blog on Tumblr. License information will be posted with each photograph along with any other relevant information.

Ad Block Plus

Ad Block Plus does an exceptional job at blocking ads. There are ready to use features including subscriptions to block ads. There is also the option to add your own filters.

Better Privacy

Better Privacy allows you to limit tracking by getting rid of Local Shared Objects (LSO).

Flashblock

Flashblock not surprisingly blocks flash content initially and allows you to either ignore the flash content or click and view it.

ColorZilla

ColorZilla is an advanced eye drop tool for getting information about the color from anywhere in the browser and pasting the information into another program.

Firebug

Firebug is a popular ad-on for helping with web design. It includes the ability to debug javascript, examine HTML, analyze performance, view a page with the style or images removed, see changes highlighted, resize the browser window, show ID and class information, and otherwise provide tools for designers.

Web Developer

Like Firebug, Web Developer provides tools for web designers. Web Developer allows you to validate a page (HTML, CSS, Section 508), debug javascript,

When looking for inspiration it can be automatic to look at web sites, posters, or whatever else you are planning to design yourself. However, sometimes it is best to step outside of the box and get some inspiration from the outside world.

Astronomy Picture of the Day
Wikimedia Commons
Astronomy Pictures (Matthew T Russell)
Hubble Heritage Gallery
Russell Croman Astrophotography
Dick Locke’s Astrophotography Gateway Page
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Hubble Site Gallery
Catching the Light: Astrophotography by Jerry Lodriguss
Galaxy Photography Images by Jason Ware
MGS MOC CAptioned Image Releases

On Flickr

Astronomy Photographer of the Year
Astronomy Group
Astrophotography Group
Astronomy for All
Astronomy, Stars, Planets, and Space
Astronomia
Space for All
Astronomy 123

Information about Astronomy Pictures

Astronomy-Pictures

iPhone Apps

Astronomy Picture of the Day
Distant Suns (Paid)
NASA App
Planets
Space Images (JPL)
Star Walk (Paid)

Astronomy Magazines

Astronomy Magazine
Sky & Telescope Magazine

Credit Information: The pictures in this page are from the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Introducing Inspirational and Funny Quotes Tumblr Blog.

Yesterday while looking at sports news I came across a picture with a caption that did not include the name of the players pictured, but did include the phrase “Dummy Text” repeated several times. This is hardly the first time I have seen dummy text end up in the final publication.

Filling in text is a fact of life for designers. Simply knowing that the text is supposed to go in a certain section is not enough. You need to be able to see the text. In many cases this also functions as a means to check your CSS.

Lorem Ipsum is a popular option, but it has its flaws. Very few websites are written in Latin and few people are fluent enough in Latin to be able to read and comprehend it. It is harder to get a good sense of the flow of the text and experience reading it if you cannot read the language it is written in.

Another option is to fill in a rough draft of the text that will appear. This has the advantage of giving you the best preview of the design. Unfortunately, you do not always have the information to do write a good rough draft and unless your rough draft is similar to the final text, the advantage is limited. Furthermore this can be a time-consuming option and if you charge by your time a client may not feel that their money will well spent by having you spend 40 minutes writing a rough draft that will be completely changed.

Some designers make up their own text, but there are also horror stories of designers and journalists who accidentally left in their text with embarrassing results. The phrase Dummy Text repeated five times may not impress a client, but it is better than a client seeing text reviewing your neighbor’s hair or suggesting exactly what you want to do with Internet Explorer 6. While you know you would always make sure all of the dummy text has been removed, it is still a good idea to use some common sense with your dummy text.

A compromise option is to use passages from public domain eBooks written in the same language as the website. Project Gutenberg and The Internet Archive have huge collections of public domain books. There are a variety of books from poetry collections to novels to scientific texts to travel diaries to children’s books. While the website you are designing may be about Stephen Hawking’s contributions to science text from a book about Albert Einstein’s contributions complete with diagrams and equations can give you a better sense of how the final text will look than Lorem Ipsum. While Ireland has changed in the past hundred years, if you are creating a website for your friend’s trip to Ireland text from a public domain book about Ireland is an easy way to get an approximation of how the final website will look.

Credit: The text from the picture above comes from Sherlock Holmes which is available from Project Gutenberg

Tumblr is a microblogging platform that is excellent for short posts. Just as television has not displaced listening to music, Tumblr does not displace the need for WordPress or other blogging platforms, but for some types of posts it is the better choice.

It is Free

While you can pay for custom themes or extras such as promoting your blog, Tumblr can be fully utilized for free.

It is Easy

For many users the biggest advantages of Tumblr is its ease-of-use. There are a wide variety of free themes most of which allow for some customization. There are also a variety of apps along with the ability to post by email or phone making it easy to update your Tumblr even when you are away from your computer. The Tumblr user interface is simple. There are seven buttons with one for each type of post. The buttons are logically labeled in non-technical language and the rules are clear. Tumblr also includes an optimized layout for viewing on a mobile device. Unlike many sites, Tumblr makes it easy to delete your blog.

There are numerous free Tumblr themes. Choosing and customizing themes is easy. The customization options for themes varies radically. If you are using a free theme it is good to check the customization options as well as the look of the theme. The Theme Customization options are listed under Appearance.

Tumblr allows a user to create multiple Tumblr blogs under the same account. Thus, you can create a blog for your photography, one for your love of reading, and one for sharing silly stories about your pet.

Just a Quick Post…

Tumblr is particularly suited for the times when Twitter is not enough, but WordPress, Moveable Type, or another full blogging platform are more than you need. Whether it is the link you wanted to share, but which you also wanted to include your thoughts beyond the Twitter character limit, the one picture or texture you wanted to post, the long quote you wanted to share, or the video you just posted on YouTube, Tumblr provides a good platform.

Tumblr also allows for pages separate from posts. Many layouts automatically include these pages in the menu. These are good for “About” pages and for providing more information about the subject of the blog.

The Social Side

One of the challenges of having a blog is getting people to visit it. Tumblr makes it easy to “Like” a post or reblog a post. Following a blog only requires clicking the Follow button. The posts will then appear in a feed. As with Twitter, there is a search function to find posts and others who have similar interests. You can promote your blog for free by being recommended or you can pay to have your blog featured in the Directory.

The Customizations for the social side of Tumblr can be found under “Community” and “Advanced”. Tumblr has good integration with Twitter. Your Tweets can be imported into Tulmblr and you can have send your Tumblr posts to Twitter. Tumblr also has Facebook integration. Tumblr includes several additional options for promoting your Tumblr blog and RSS customization options.

Tumblr allows for group blogging with multiple Tumblr users able to submit posts which can them be approved or denied.

Can I have some privacy, please?

Tumblr is primarily intended for public posts and your primarily blog is public. However, you can create a password protected blog using the same account.

Category Options and Rules

All categories include options for tags, publication date in case you do not want to publish immediately or wish to initially publish privately for editing purposes, the option for a custom URL, and a box to check if you wish to allow Photo replies.

A Text post is similar in format to a blog post with an optional title and the content of the post. A photo post gives you the ability to upload a photo and include an optional caption. A quote post has separate boxes for the quote and the source, thus, easily allowing quotes to be formatted differently than regular text. A link post can include just the URL or also include a title and caption. A chat post works similar to a quote post in that it allows a chat to be formatted differently than a regular text post. The audio post is similar to the photo post with the option to upload an audio file or use an externally hosted audio file and an optional description. Audio files have extra rules and only allow MP3s, one audio post per day, and have a limit of 10 MB. Video posts can be embedded from external sources (ie YouTube) in which case you simply paste the Embed tag. There is also room for an optional caption. Alternately, you can upload five minutes worth of video a day with each file being less than 100 MB.

Advanced Use

While Tumblr is excellent for those with limited or no design and programming knowledge, it also has enough options for those who are more comfortable with design.

Tumblr blogs can easily be embedded in your blog simply by copying and pasting the available code. This allows for additional control over the layout. It also allows you to keep a blog on Tumblr for the social networking and other advantages while easily having it integrate into your website. Tumblr offers additional API information.

Helpful Links

• Tumblr Help
• Creating a Custom HTML Theme
• API
• Themes
• Content Policy
• Privacy Policy

My Tumblr Blog Knot of Light is focused mobile device resources particularly app reviews and iPhone wallpapers.

• Price: Free
• Available Formats: PDF and ePub
• Annotated list of sites with free eBooks including categories and eBook format
• General information about eBook formats, eBook readers, and additional tips
• Numerous non-fiction categories including cooking, finance, health, history, internet, medicine, peer-reviewed journals, programming, religion, sheet music
• Many fiction categories including adventure, drama, fantasy, mystery, romance, science-fiction, short stories
• I do not work for the eBook stores, apps, or eReader companies listed nor have I received any financial compensation or benefits for including a site on this listing or for my comments about a particular site.

PDF format
ePub format

Wallpapers were made with Photoshop. The planets use some of my own photographs for the texture.

This work by http://www.literaryspring.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Why are you designing this website? What is the ‘topic’ of your website?

Your subsequent decisions from the design, to your hosting plan, to whether to include a blog will be determined by your website topic. You can adjust the focus as your site and traffic grow, but it is important to have a general idea of the content.

Combining a personal and business website or a personal and portfolio website means that the material on the personal part of your website can damage the professional impression you give on the business and portfolio parts of the website. While adding a personal touch to your website can give your website an extra boost and encourage repeat readers, truly personal sites should be kept separate.

Who is your ‘target audience’?

A clean professional layout often benefits a business site, but can backfire if the site is intended to have a more personal audience. A person looking for Photoshop brushes, advise about getting a cranky two-year old to take a nap, or researching a cancer support group is less likely to be impressed by a design that gives the commercial focused impression. Looking like you are trying to sell something can damage your reputation as a reliable source of impartial information. The same principle applies to political or social issue sites where appearing to being beholden to a political party or candidate may affect your credibility.

How ‘word focused’ do you want your website to be? How easy do you want to make it to translate your website? Do you want your website to be readable by those who are fluent in the language in which you post or by those who have a more limited vocabulary? A website that is dedicated to your academic papers should have a professional and academic tone. Conversely, if your website consists of Photoshop resources you will expand your potential audience by making it accessible to people regardless of language.

How much are you willing to spend to create the website?

Many programs used in web design (Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc) are expensive. Consider not only the actual design, but the design elements (a Twitter icon, etc). Creating the design elements yourself gives you the most flexibility and uniqueness, but the cost of the software can quickly become prohibitive for all, but serious designers. Hosting costs also vary. In most cases you can start with a cheaper hosting plan and then upgrade as your traffic expands. If your website is composed of only a blog or pictures there are free alternatives to a fully hosted site, but if you want a full website you will have to pay for hosting as the standard free hosting options are inferior.

How do you want your website to be organized?

It is highly recommended that you create a general organizational structure before you start designing. Viewers get frustrated quickly if they can’t find the material they want. Especially if you are new to web design get input from others about your organizational structure. Does putting pictures of your dog in the same section as information about old fashioned ice-cream make sense to others or just to you?

A Sitemap is an excellent back-up option as it means anyone who does not understand your organizational structure- and no matter how well you design or how much feedback you get there is someone in the world who will not understand it- can skim through the sections and find the material they want. A search option is also crucial for many websites, but do not rely on it as an excuse for poor design and navigation.