Alex Jones: Web Technologist, Barbecue Acolyte, Information Junkie, Austinite

Raising the CSS B.R.A.T.

CSS B.R.A.T. is a great idea, but one that should be seriously thought about before implemented. For those Web folks responsible for supporting intranets, having to wrangle many editors, this is a great tool, but it should be avoided for anything that faces the public. The implementation could inflict much more harm on the presentation and usability of the site in ways far worse than the non-standard markup.

I like to implement styles that override WYSIWYG markup on sites that provide others to include HTML, and I highly recommend that others do the same. For example, Webby folks should ensure the font tag is styled to match the site’s standard font (font family, size, weight…) with !important to ensure it overrules the deprecated tag and its attributes. Other tags can be covered as well including crowd favorites like blink and layer.

As Marco rightly noted “The process of educating editors on the benefits of a standards-based design can be tough enough to do, especially when working with various levels of HTML knowledge. This method is meant to show, educate, and be passed on to other editors for an exponential improvement on the state of web documents. ” It’s also important to think about this as an opportunity to learn which tools your internal clients need. They may have valid reasons for attempting to modify the standard presentation. B.R.A.T. provides a great incentive for editors to contact you, so make sure you capitalize on it! A few well built classes will do wonders for proper implementation down the road and perhaps encourage those clients to give you cookies.

Posted in CSS, XHTML & Tagged: CSS, firefox, JavaScript, web design, Web Development, XHTML

Library of Free Data Models

Library of Free Data Models

Posted in PHP & MySQL, Quick Links & Tagged: mysql, Web Development

Virtual PC set free - further thoughts

After my initial post about Virtual PC and subsequent mailings to a couple of Web dev lists that I am subscribed to, I had a couple of interesting conversations on what this release means and why/if it is important. The question also came up as to whether or not the release is related to Apple’s BootCamp, which I asserted.

I do see a connection to BootCamp and Parallels. Virtualization is a powerful tool for develoeprs on any platform and I think Microsoft has recognized this about a step behind Apple, which has started to push this feature in one of the new commercials.

While Virtual PC won’t allow folks to run OS X software on a Windows box, it will provide a lot of folks the ability to set up a very cheap test environment for multiple operating systems and browsers, which will be important with the coming releases of IE 7 and Vista.

As a developer, I had been pondering the jump to OS X but held off for quite a while as I didn’t want to maintain a PC and a Mac at the same time. Once the Intel-based Macs came out and people started hacking the system to support XP, the need for a separate box for secondary/multiple OSes was gone. Now I can run multiple versions of Windows on my Macbook to test various OS/browser combos in addition to the Mac ones. Ultimately that means that Microsoft, and Windows-centric software makers will get less of my money (I won’t need to buy anything but the OS licenses) and Apple will gain another ardent user who has the ability to ensure his sites are compatible with their software.

This is an interesting battle as Apple sees itself as a hardware company that makes software and Microsoft views itself as a software company that produces products to work on most any “standardized” machine.

This may signal a new front in the war for computer market share; one that I hope will translate into more competition and improved features for all of us.

Posted in OS X, Web Development, Windows & Tagged: software, Web Development, Windows

Virtual PC Set Free

Microsoft has set Virtual PC free. Makes me wonder if the folks in Redmond have taken notice of Apple’s free BootCamp or Parallel’s Desktop app. Use Virtual PC to “run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer. Switch between virtual machines with the click of a button. Use virtual machines to run legacy applications, provide support, train users, and enhance quality assurance.” This is great news for those of us wanting to test IE 7 (or for that matter, Vista) without installing the beta on a production system. It will also prove useful once the full version is out, and we want to keep a version of IE 6 handy.

Posted in OS X, Windows & Tagged: software, Web Development, Windows

activeCollab

activeCollab is a “web based, open source collaboration and project management tool” that aims to clone the functionality of BaseCamp, but allows the developer to run it on their own servers. I’ve wanted a package like this for quite a while, as I love what BaseCamp does, but I don’t want to rely on an outside service, nor do I want to pay a monthly fee as my project management needs are small (and not earning me any money to offset the cost). I also like the ability to hack the software and services that I use regularly. Having the files and database at my fingertips gives me the flexibility I need to do just that.

Now, this isn’t to say that this activeCollab a great solution for everyone - hell, it may not even be good for me (I haven’t tested it yet). BaseCamp is great at what it does - the raves from the community, including many people that I highly respect, shore up the reputation of BaseCamp, and its creators at 37Signals - but what I want out of a project management package or service doesn’t match up to what I’m willing to pay at the moment. Now, this could very easily change were I to create a sizable Web app and needed to work in parallel with a team, but I don’t see that in my near future.

I sincerely doubt that activeCollab will redefine the market, or impact BaseCamp. While they share part of a market, BaseCamp’s service model eliminates the need to install and maintain software giving it a very real edge when compared with activeCollab, especially for folks who do not have the time or inclination to fiddle with something that doesn’t directly contribute to the project at hand.

It’s all about the triangle: time vs. money vs. features.

Posted in PHP & MySQL & Tagged: project management, Web Development