after9design- Print + Web

SlideShowPro is a photo and video sideshow player that can be embedded at any web site. SlideShowPro is distributed as a component for the Flash authoring application, as a web gallery extension for Adobe Lightroom, and in standalone form for embedding / customizing without the need for a third party application.

I have recently used this software to create an online website portfolio for a wonderful painting contractor, Wine Country Painters. I was really impressed with it’s flexibility, and with the simple addition of a Photoshop script, how easy it was to produce a professional on-line presentation.

You must understand the Flash interface to use this software. It is added as a component in the Flash program. Once you have installed the extension in flash, you can speed up the process of creating your photo image and thumbnail content by downloading the Photoshop script. Follow the instructions to place this script in your Photoshop presets/scripts folder. I found the on-line training to be generally good, except for the Photoshop script which came with little or no instructions. If you get the script- You Do Not have to create the folders (or the xml file) in the SSP Quick Start instructions, the script creates them for you!

To produce the slide show- Create a root folder for it, perhaps in the local directory of the website you are going to use it on. Collect your images in Photoshop in the order that you would like them to display. You don’t have to size them. Go to: File/Scripts/SSP Export Images. Click on it and you will be prompted to fill in a series of options. Put in the location of your folder, and the size of your images and thumbnails. Click when your done and watch the magic happen!

Next you will create a FLA in Flash and save it to the Slide Show root folder. When you drag the component to the stage, customize and publish, the images will all be there.

This post updated 4/5/10
Ever wanted to add a movie to your topic to embellish your brilliance? The clever marketing wizards at YouTube have made it childishly easy for the blogger (or shameless web designer) to link to their site and therefore forward their relentless pursuit of world domination. We can assist their evil plan and promote our own selfish interests at the same time by using tools cunningly created by YouTube minions for our use.

The following is primarily for Wordpress blogs, see links following instructions for other sites.

First you need a freshly created post (or a moldy old one, it makes no difference) Get on YouTube (you need to have an account) and without getting too distracted (impossible) find the video of your choice ( I chose a funny Mac ad- but then Apple pulled it, so put in a classic anti-Mac ad instead!). Look under the video. To the right there is a selection entitled “embed”. Click it and the empty rectangle below will fill with code. This is the code you will use to create your video.

But wait! Before you select your code, you will want to avail yourself of the player formatting tools. You can select the color of your player and it’s size. There are other selections there, but I don’t want to talk about them.

Go back to the embed box, highlight all of the code and copy it. If I have to tell you how to do this, I wonder how you came to have a blog in the first place.

Return to your post (sounds like your a sentry) and click on the HTML tab at the top of the edit window. Place your cursor where you would like the video and paste it right there! Don’t forget to “Update Post”. When you view your blog the video should be embedded with all the lovely bells and whistles kindly provided by your sponsors at YouTube.

Oh, and by the way: 2 + 2 = 5

Check this out for info on putting a YouTube video on Blogspot
And one for Google Blogger

This is your brain on PHP

I have just changed the theme on my blog. I found, as so many fellow bloggers and developers have found to their dismay, that the old one had none of the features I required. I am currently running a fairly popular free theme. In the mean time I will continue searching for a great theme that allows design and function flexibility.

I have run across a theme called Thesis. Like anything worth having it is not free. A single user option is $87. If you want to get a multiple use developer license, it’s $167. Looking at the gallery of sites and the variety of designs the users have developed, I have to admit I got rather inspired.

The idea of having control over columns and fonts outside of the PHP code was exciting to me. Even though I’m rather OC, and sometimes enjoy the process of trial and error that is customizing the appearance of a blog, it’s easy to get lost. Before I know it, I’ve  screwed up, it’s 2 am and the blog is jumping all over the screen.

Thesis promises a relatively PHP-free environment: a happy world where birds sing, water turns to wine and your making award-winning sites with the touch of a button. It adds controls to the Dashboard for layout and text formatting, which I think is totally bitchen.

Perhaps my dream of creating a fully functioning blog that matches a website design is attainable.

Univac-An early spellchecker

The English Language- Who speaks it- really? Does it matter how well we use it?
Are these dumb questions? Not at all! If you’re designing web pages, you had better know the answers. If you don’t, proceed at your peril.

Q. Who speaks it?

A. According to Wikipedia, English is the second most widely spoken language in the world, with over 1.5 billion speakers worldwide. By comparison, Spanish has a paltry 417 million users (including those who speak it as a second language). English is the language of science, business, communications, radio, and diplomacy. You can’t sing real Rock & Roll or belt out the Blues without it.

Q. Does it matter how well we use it?

A. It’s hard to believe I know, but good English is actually written, uploaded and hopefully, read all over the web. If you’re discriminating, you can find it gracing web pages and blogs everywhere. As a result, some readers have abandoned print altogether for the much more accessible and blessedly cheap haven of the internet.

There is however, (RANT COMING…) a plague of horrible usage on the web, much of it perpetrated by commentators on YouTube. Do not read the comments on YouTube unless you want your brain to rot! (END OF RANT).

It is pointless to put hours of work into a website or blog only to have it ruined by embarrassing composition and pathetic spelling and punctuation mistakes. The truth is that no matter how amazingly clever you are, you will miss things. Don’t look retarded! Hire a copy writer: like my friend Carolyn Alcott who did such a wonderful job picking nits on my site. If you’re cheap or as is often the case nowadays, broke; bribe an educated friend to run their peepers over your work. Perhaps they’ll be flattered that you asked. If not, buy them beer.