It doesn’t matter if a download link (or any other link) is blue, green or orange. It does however matter that the link, whether it’s text or an image, stands clearly out from other page elements.

It’s incredible how often you see sites offering downloads in one form or another, yet the download links seem to be invisible to the naked eye. It’s not that the the download link you’re looking for isn’t there, it’s just that someone didn’t realize how important it is to put it on top of the visual hierarchy.

Even though users have gotten used to scrolling, putting important items such as a download link beneath the fold, can’t be categorized as anything else than stupid. It’s like putting the eject button on your DVD-player on it’s backside. Sure enough, most people will find out where it is eventually, but why make it harder than absolutely necessary?

Read make that download link visible!

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Writing Posts

The first thing that stuck out to me (and that I had been waiting for) was the tag suggest feature. Simply start typing a tag, and an auto-suggest feature will give you a dropdown of existing tags to choose from. Before, it was too easy to end up with tags like “web development” and “webdevelopment” since you had to remember them (no one actually looks them up).

This brings me to the new way media is managed/added. I haven’t had the need to add videos or sounds to my site, so I’ll stick to the images. In the end, I like the new way it works. The Flash uploader is nice, and the addition of a medium option for each image (thumbnail, medium, full size) is a welcome change.

However, nice as it is, there is one thing about it that is REALLY annoying. Full size isn’t actually full size. It’s 500px wide! What’s the point of calling it “full size” and then not making it “full size!” If they want small, medium, and large, they should call it that (although I still think there should be a full size option). There is however a simple solution. You can set $content_width inside your theme’s functions.php file, and it will use that instead of 500 for the max width. I set mine to 1024:

$content_width = 1024;
Unfortunately, this isn’t a standard that was in place, so themes do not have this. It’s a hack, and it’s shouldn’t be needed.

The last thing I wanted to mention, which is very minor, but annoyed me, is that you can’t resize the editor window when in HTML mode. I almost always use HTML mode, and I thought they had removed the ability to resize the text area. as it turns out, you need to switch to the visual editor, resize it, and switch back.

Admin Layout

I don’t like static width layouts. Have dual screens that both run at 1680×1050, and I run my browser full-screen because that’s the way I like it. My laptop runs at 1920×1200, and I even run full-screen on that. Instead of having more room to work, I am rewarded with more than 40% of my screen wasted as blank white space. Having said this, I’ve seen far worse layouts, and it’s fairly intuitive. You can expect plenty of plugins to fix this. Right now (as I’m typing this), what I have done is use firebug to inspect the HTML, found div#wrap, and altered the style by removing max-width:980px;. This seems to work fine for me.

Plugin API

For me, this is the most exciting change. I love the new shortCodes. They are a little rough around the edges, but they are extremely handy. As a matter of fact, I just finished a Google Maps Plugin that uses the shortCodes. It generates a shortCode based on the settings a user chooses, and inserts it into the editor. It later handles those shortCodes by changing them out for a Google Map. Unfortunately it relies on the ticket referenced above, so I’ll release it once that gets figured out.

Summary

WordPress 2.5 is definitely a big step forward. It has some small inconsistencies, which I expect to be easily fixed in upcoming minor releases, but nothing that should keep you from upgrading. Go try it and tell me what you think.

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“It prompts me to allow or deny every two minutes!” Not true! While Vista does have a security feature that prompts you to allow certain things, it is no where near annoying as commercials make it look.

Pretty much anything involving altering your computer (installing/uninstalling programs, connecting to the internet via a non-browser program, deleting important files, etc.) prompts the allow/deny popup.

But for running your programs, saving your files, and pretty much everyday computer-use stuff, you won’t be seeing much of the allow/deny prompt. But if you’re annoyed by the prompt, you can very easily turn it off and it will never bother you again.

“It crashes a lot! There’s Blue Screens of Death EVERYWHERE! AHH!!” Also not true! Unlike XP and the Windows’ before it, Vista does NOT crash often.

I’ve been running Vista for months now and the only time I’ve seen it crash was when I overloaded my graphics card by playing a game that didn’t support it.

Furthermore, the blue screen of death is more like the blue screen of reboot these days. A simple reboot usually fixes whatever caused the pretty blue screen.

“It stole from Mac OS X! Bill Gates is a pirate!” Not really true. The biggest similarities between OS X (which is really 4 different Operating Systems) and Vista are the quick search and sidebar.

First of all, Vista didn’t steal the quick search from OS X. It might have taken the concept of an instant search (which I find to be faster than OS X’s anyway) and recreated it, but it certainly didn’t steal the technology.

Then theres the sidebar, which lets you dock little widgets on the side of your screen, or let them hover around on your desktop.

OS X has a very similar feature, but again its more of concept recreated for Windows than it is stolen from OS X.

This might sound like a case of “well technically its borrowing, not stealing”, but its not that at all.

The fact of the matter is that OS X and Vista share similar concepts and each does it differently. If companies didn’t do that, we’d all be using the Nexus (also known as “World Wide Web”) browser.

So in conclusion, some of Vista’s rumors are true, and some aren’t. Microsoft is usually pretty good with fixing problems when they release Service Packs, so hopefully most, if not all, of Vista’s bugs and problems will be cleaned up by the SP.

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In this article, I’ll be covering a few of the most popular rumors. Feel free to email me rumors you’ve heard (at toxicityj@gmail.com) and I’ll gladly update this article and reveal the truth behind the rumor.

“You’ll need to buy a new computer for Vista, because your computer isn’t good enough” This one might be true if you haven’t upgraded in a while.

For example, if you’re like my mom who lives off of 128 megs of RAM and uses the cheapest graphics card Dell could find, then you’ll need to buy a new computer (or invest a few hundred and upgrade your RAM and graphics card, which is very easy to do).

But if you’ve been good to your computer and have a nice chunk of RAM (512MB required, 1GB recommended), a decent processor (800MHz required, 1GHz recommended), and DVD ROM drive (required), you’ll be fine (I would suggest going for the recommended rather than the required, but that’s your choice).

In the long run, if your computer isn’t up to date as far as specs go, you’ll probably be dishing out maybe $200-$300 in upgrades.
“Nothing works on Vista! UGH!” While “Nothing” might be a overstatement, it is true that Vista has a few backward compatibility issues (meaning it has a few issues running things that worked fine on XP, ME, 2000, 98, etc.).

In fact, most programs work fine on Vista but there are some that simply don’t work. Hopefully, this will change with the release of a Service Pack. So if you want to be 99% sure that your programs are going to work on Vista, wait for the SP to come out before you upgrade. Or, just grab Vista and live without a program or two for a while.

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Round One: Installation

First off, Internet Explorer requires you to have Windows XP Service Pack 2 (or a few copies of Windows XP that hardly anyone has) and it has to validate your copy of Windows before you can use it (so if you have a pirated copy of Windows running, IE7 is out of the question). Firefox and Opera, on the other hand, will download and install on almost any operating system.

Second of all is installation file size. Firefox’s install file is 5.7mb, Opera’s is 4.7mb, and IE is a whopping 14.8mb. So if you’re still using dialup, Firefox or Opera are the browsers for you.

Once you’ve downloaded the browser, its time to install. Both Firefox and Opera have a less than two minute install, while Internet Explorer has a much longer one that requires a reboot (FF and Opera do not).
So the winner of Round One is both Opera and Firefox, which both have small install file sizes and install quickly on just about any computer.

Round Two: Browsing

Any web designer will tell you that Internet Explorer 6 was the worst browser of the time and it was an absolute pain to code for. Thankfully, Microsoft has taken a step up from the IE6 days with IE7. IE7 still has its share of issues, but nowhere near as many as it did when it was IE6. Opera and Firefox are hardly perfect and have their own issues with displaying websites. But between the three, Firefox has the least amount.

Another important part of browsing is Tabbed Browsing. Opera did it first, but Firefox made it popular. Microsoft finally realized its importance and included it in IE7. All three use tabbed browsing the same way, but Internet Explorer has one difference. IE7 has Quick Tabs, which allows you to view all of your tabs on one convenient page (Click here for a screenshot). Firefox and Opera can have a similar view, but they require add-ons.

Despite the Quick Tab feature that IE7 has, Firefox is the winner of this round. One feature does not make up for IE7′s displaying issues.

Round Three: Add-ons, Extensions, Plugins, Etc.

Right off the bat, Internet Explorer gets to sit out of this fight. Unlike Opera and Firefox, IE7 has no add-ons/plugins to speak of. Firefox has extensions, which allow you to add onto the various “bars” of Firefox. There are well over 2,000 extensions available from Mozilla. Opera has Widgets, which allow you to add features on top of Opera (just like Mac’ OSXs widgets) . There are a little over 300 available at Opera.com. Another major difference between extensions and widgets is that newly installed extensions require a restart of Firefox, while newly installed Widgets start working right away.

But, with almost seven times as many extensions as there are widgets, Firefox has more to offer. So the winner of this round is Firefox. Both Opera’s and Firefox’s websites provide helpful tutorials that teach you how to create your own extensions/widgets.

Round Four: Skins

Once again, IE is out.

One of the greatest features about FF and Opera is the ability to skin the browsers. For starters, getting skins for Opera and Firefox is very easy. Firefox takes you to a page on their site where you can automatically install skins, and Opera opens up a pop up window that lets you view a list of skins. The biggest difference in picking a skin is previewing. Opera provides a VERY useful previewing feature. Just click on a skin and it temporarily changes Opera’s skin. Firefox provides no preview at all.
Installing your skins is a quick process for both browsers, but its much easier for Opera. Opera instantly changes the skin, while Firefox requires a restart.

Opera is the clear winner of this round, due to the ease of changing its skin.

Round Five: RSS Feeds

Subscribing to a feed is done the exact same way in all three browsers. When you view a page with an RSS feed, an RSS feed icon appears. Clicking it will subscribe you to the feed. Accessing these feeds, however, is different between the three browsers. Opera is the easiest, because it has a Feeds drop down menu at the top of the browser. IE7 is the second easiest, because all you have to do is click the Favorites Center icon (a star) and it will list your favorites and RSS Feeds. Firefox, on the other hand, seems to have gone out of its way to make it a pain in the butt. You have to open up your bookmarks menu, find your feed, and then select which entry you want to read.

A comparison of the way feeds are display can be found here.

The winners of this round are Opera and IE7.

Round Six: Performance

Performance is broken down into three aspects: Program loading time, web page loading time, and memory consumption.
First is program loading time. Firefox loaded in roughly 15 seconds, while Internet Explorer loaded in only 10. Opera loaded in a speedy 8 seconds.

Next is page loading time. Having used all three of the browsers for quite a while, I can tell you from personal experience that Opera loads pages the fastest. Firefox comes in second, and IE7 is in last€¦ again.

Last is memory consumption. To test this, I viewed Zilla Designs’ homepage in each browser and viewed how much memory it was using up to display one page. Firefox devoured 39,332K, Opera took up 31,728K, and IE7 used up only 30,272K. Firefox has always been known to use up a lot of memory, but I was surprised to see how little memory IE7 used.

Because of the quick loading times (both program and web page), Opera wins this round.

Round Seven: Overview

The overall victor is Opera (4/6 rounds won). Opera is much more than your usual browser. It is so much more. Opera has a built in email client, torrent downloader, and much more. Opera was created to be an all-in-one web using program.

Does this battle mean that Opera is better than Firefox and that everyone should immediately use Opera instead? No. I use Firefox AND Opera. When I want the extensions I’ll work with Firefox. When I want to browse quicker, I’ll use Opera.

All this battle really proves is that IE7 isn’t a good browser.

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Let’s start with what the obvious misconceptions could be:

Bloggers only blog for financial gain

This has to be one of the bigger misconceptions, it’s just not true. There are so many blogs out there that aren’t monetized and it’s not because they don’t have the traffic to be…it’s because they choose not to. Just because you get popular doesn’t mean you have to monetize, it also goes the other way that just because a blogger doesn’t monetize, it’s because he doesn’t have enough traffic.

Bloggers get stale

It’s true to a point, bloggers do tend to get in a rut, but look at SOB.com, Liz manages 3 blogs, not 1 or 2, but 3! She has managed to keep the blog fresh, full of a variety of content and maintain a healthy readership who actively partake in her blogs.

Blogging is an exact science

I’m sure there are readers who expect nothing less than perfection from bloggers. They tend to forget that behind a blog there is a real human and a good many of us don’t do this for a living

Making a living out of Blogging is easy

I’ll bet this one is very true, everyone thinks you start a blog, get Adsense on it and you’re in the money. Making huge amounts & living the good life. It’s possible, yes, no doubt. Just that it takes lots & lots of work to get to that stage.

Blogging is easy

It’s really not, coming up with new content is quite difficult as there are so many competing blogs out there. Not active competition, but all existing in the same blog-world and with limited audience. It takes dedication, time and tons of effort, try it!

Originally posted at my blog.

From the comments received on the original post so far, here are some more Misconceptions

Liz Strauss:

Misconception: You can write exactly like you talk and people will appreciate. Um er like I don’t think so, dude.

Misconception: Every blogger takes every comment personally. Some do and some don’t. Some days we all do . . . Some days we all don’t.

Misconception: Bloggers should tell EVERYTHING on screen to be authentic. Please, there’s some information I really don’t want to know.

Char:

Misconception – If you start a blog, the traffic will magically appear€¦wrong. You have to work at that.

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Being new at it means I’ve had a lot to learn, plenty to experience along the way and loads of expert help from friends like Viper. Even with my short time in the world of blogging, I can say I’ve learned enough to compile a small list of things every new blogger should be aware of:

• Get your own domain & hosting: Regardless of whether you’re in it for the long run, of just don’t think it’s necessary, it is. It’s cheap, there are numerous hosts out there with a variety of hosting plans just waiting to be used. Having your own domain allows for freedom+control that you will just not get anywhere. Think of it like owning a car versus renting, the pleasure in owning is all it’s own. Utilizing a good theme, aimed at your target audience like katiebird has done, makes a world of difference in keeping readers coming back.
• Blog frequently: I don’t mean 10 posts a day, no, a post a day will suffice. Don’t make it a one-liner either, blog if you have something to talk about, after all, that is the purpose of a blog.
• Get readers involved: Readers love to take part in your blog, by way of comments & thus adding their perspective to what you have written, make it interesting for them so that they see the need to come back and read some more.
• Build a community: Bloggers often keep a small list of regularly visited blogs where they comment, they cannot (as no one can) visit every single readers blog, it’s just too much. So keep that tight nit community involved, by being a regular on their blog as well.
• Commenting: Commenting on blogs is essential, it gets you noticed and it’s basically free publicity for you. High ranking blogs such as Donncha’s blog and largely visited ones like Photo Matt can be a boon for a new blogger.
• Join blog directories: You might not see them as a valuable source of traffic, but they are. Some you can join like technorati, some you are given a chance to become a part of, as in the case with SOB. By far SOB is one of the best places to comment & join in the discussions, there are just so many bloggers and potential readers you can get from there.
• Give credit to bloggers: If you’re mentioning a blogger or a post of theirs, be fair and give due credit by linking them, trackbacks/pingbacks are a respect to other bloggers for the work they put in.
• Contribute to blogs: Some blogs look for either pay-per-post or freelance writers, one such place I’ve recently joined is Attackr.com, I think it’s a great way to get your name out.
• Other things you might want to look into: Gravatar’s are great, they personalize your comments in other blogs and do the same for others. Sitemap creation to submit to services like Google are important. Tagging your posts with services like technorati help you as well. Have a look at my plugin page to see other useful plugins that can aid you in getting your blog customized the way you want it.

So that’s my short lesson, if you could call it that, into Blogging For Beginners 101. Please feel free to add any more info you have, to make this a better resource.

Originally posted at my site.

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At the beginning are plugins which should have everyone but not just web developers.

• PDF Download. When a link lead to some pdf file, thanks to this plugin you’ll have a choice: download the file, open it in acrobat reader or view a html rendering of it.
• Link Alert. This plugin changes a mouse cursor to indicate a target of a link. It works with most common file extensions.
• AdBlock. You don’t like advertising? You won’t have it after setting up this plugin.
• MinimizeToTray. If you are a windows user and don’t like the process of browser’s loading, you always can minimize it to the system tray with this plugin.

The next category contains plugins which makes firefox the best web development platform.

• Web Developer. The king of plugins. It has a lot of useful abilities like CSS viewing and editing, working with images, window resizing, outlining html elements, standarts validating and so on. The plugin is really must have for everyone who works with web sites.
• IE Tab. A lot of people use Explorer so every site need to be IE optimized. With this plugin you can do this from your favorite browser!
• ColorZilla. You want to know what colors was used in some site? The plugins helps to do that like you can do in any graphic editor with an image.
• ScrapBook. Web designing is a process when you need inspiration. Save and organize all sites you like with that plugin. You can read more about it here.
• FireBug. Another must have for every web developer who works with JavaScript. Besides some useful things it can do with html/css it has JavaScript debugger.
• HTML Validator. Code validation on fly? Easly!
• View formatted source. Sometimes when you debugging an html code it’s very useful to look at code structure. The plugin formats the code without any troubles.

In the end I must say that FireFox have plugins for almost every modern social service and you can find them Mozilla’s site.

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One of the points from the article I’d like to highlight is something that I see a lot around various sites and forums and I’m sure you do too:

Stay on topic.

Bloggers and forum moderators enable comments on specific posts to hear more about the content of the post. Don’t change the subject. There’s nothing more annoying than seeing a comment on a post about Hurricane Katrina that reads, “By the way, do you know anything about turtles?”

I suggest that people take a look at the article link I referenced to see some of the guidelines that are pretty good food for thought and maybe start to use them in your daily work and personal life while commenting around the internet.

Cheers,
-Sean

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