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web designs

Web design in its purest form is not unlike a foreign language. There is a large bank of people who are fully conversant in it, and others who know enough to get by. Then there are people who have no grounding at all in it, and others who have a grasp of the basics, which will nevertheless not be enough to get them where they want to be.

It is mostly for this last group of people that the WordPress revolution has been such a major benefit – it acts, in a way, as a translator to give them an opportunity to make themselves understood without having to put in the time and effort to become fluent.

Creating a website is hard to do if your expertise lies elsewhere. However, not everyone can afford to outsource their web design, and there are several people, too, who feel that by giving the job of creating a website to someone outside the business they will lose something of the message they are trying to convey. WordPress has succeeded because it makes it possible for just about anyone to set up their own website. it would not have been so successful, however, if it were simply a one-size-fits-all entity that created a standard website from a little bit of original data. WordPress rewards effort.

If you create a website using WordPress, there are several applications you can use to make your website more interactive, more streamlined or more business-friendly. It may have an identity in most people’s minds as a blogging platform – and it is true that this is how WordPress really began – but it is a lot more than that. WordPress is innovative and user-driven. If you don’t want a blog, your site doesn’t need to be a blog. If you want to include a blog among many other things, you can also do that. Really, WordPress is simply a creation that makes it easier to have a quality website.

Another reason that WordPress has become so popular is that it is free. Although the free WordPress themes that are available to those who use it in its most basic form are not particularly diverse, and you may find that paying for a more niche theme suits you better, the software is free at the point of delivery. Considering the expense that is involved in setting up a website from scratch using specialist software – or handing the process over to an expert – this is something that makes WordPress a tantalizing option for the beginner.

Although there is an increasing field of competitors for WordPress’ crown as the site to head for if you want to create a good website, there is definitely an advantage in its position as one of the groundbreakers in this capacity. The name is well-known and associated with quality for free, something that is very much in vogue in a world that is still getting over a period of major financial uncertainty. Though there will be challengers to the position, WordPress remains a market leader.

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Probably the most popular usage of Joomla is by content creators – particularly writers – who know what they are good at and know that it is not web design. There has for some time now been a wide range of blogging platforms which allow good writers to create content and display it in a way which makes it easier on the eye. However, up until now that has rather been the problem. There is a certain amount of (largely unjustified) snobbery directed at blogging which has had the effect of discouraging some people from reading and others from writing blogs.

Although some people view Joomla as a blogging platform – and it certainly can be if you want it to be – it does have the advantage over a wide range of other sites in that it is really a lot more than just a blogging platform. Although the stigma attached to blogging is an unfair one, if you are capable of writing informative and interesting articles, you may find that they are better displayed in another way. Joomla allows this kind of versatility and is, for that reason, very popular among content creation experts.

When creating an article in Joomla, the first place to go to is – unsurprisingly – the “Add Article” button. This will take you to the “article composition” screen, where you will be presented with a range of options for your article. On a step-by-step basis, you create your article as follows:

  • Enter The Title: This will be the heading for your article, and will show in bold at the top of it. Search engines give titles more prominence than the body of the article, so it should be a relevant title. You may also add an “alias”, which will not be seen by your readers but will be used by search engines.
  • Select A Category: You have the option here to choose a “section” and a “category” for your article. This is helpful for navigation (for your readers) and for categorization (important for search engines).
  • Type Your Introduction: When you look at articles written online, you will note that often, after a paragraph or two, there is a link saying “Read More”. This allows the display of your site to be tidier, while still making it easy to find and read longer articles. Your introduction is everything that is included before that point.
  • Write The Rest Of The Article: A major point in Joomla’s possibility is its ease of use. When you want to move from the introduction to the main article, you click the “Read More” button. In the text box this will be illustrated by a red line underneath the intro text, so you know what is in the open and what is under the link.
  • Say Who Wrote The Article: On the right-hand side of the screen there will be a section for information about the author. Into this you can type an author alias (which may be your real name, if you wish). If you leave this blank you will be identified as “Administrator”.
  • Update Metadata Information: This is not an obligatory step, but allows you to include keywords and a description which will get you a better search engine ranking.
  • Save Your Article: It won’t display unless it is saved.

That’s it! You have created your first article in Joomla.

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Before we can understand the advantages of Flash web design, we need to know exactly what Flash is. Flash is a multimedia format developed by Adobe (previously Macromedia), which has come a long way since its inception. The current version of Flash is a powerful design and animation authoring tool with an object-oriented dynamic scripting engine, bitmap rendering anti-aliasing precision and advanced audio and video playback. This multimedia format actually comprises of three components: a player, a file format, and an authoring tool.

Flash allows web designers to create and develop animations and interactive movies or images that can be embedded into a web page. In its early stages, Flash was mostly used in the development of vector based animations, which meant that Flash movies could have small file sizes, so they could downloaded and rapidly played over the internet. Initially Flash became popular with web developers as a means of producing animated ‘splash screens’ or presentations, to make a web site seem more fun and attractive. However unfortunately this technique was over used and diminished the value of this amazing multimedia tool.

More recently, Flash technology has become more powerful, and developers have now begun to truly appreciate its potential to create more sophisticated web-based applications. Flash is now used to create small tutorials complete with interactive animations and self-testing exercises. It is a great e-learning tool.

Uses of Flash
Flash can be used as a in the following to make them more attractive and interesting:

  • Advertising banners
  • Online presentations
  • Offline presentations
  • Websites
  • Internet animations
  • Multimedia online movies
  • CD-ROMs
  • Screensavers
  • Software applications
  • Games

Advantages of Flash Web Design
So what are the main advantages of Flash web design? If implemented properly, flash can provide a number of useful advantages over traditional web designs:

  • Flash can make a web site more attractive, interactive and dynamic.
  • Within a 30-second period, Flash can show a whole company presentation or profile on a website.
  • As Flash movies are displayed by a Adobe Flash Player plug-in, Flash-based work is likely to be rendered the same on all browsers and computer platforms, therefore allowing designers to escape from the constraints of more traditional XHTML-based design interfaces.
  • Flash has now become a very well-recognized format on the internet, and it is estimated that over 90% of web users now have the Flash Player installed on their computers.
  • In addition to being embedded within a web page, Flash movies can also be exported to construct stand-alone executable applications, which are ideal for CD-ROMs.
  • Flash movies can be stored in very small file sizes, so they can be downloaded rapidly.
  • It is now possible to import external information from say a database into a Flash movie. This facilitates the construction of more sophisticated Flash-based applications that can automatically update themselves. What this means is that one can use the same Flash interface by simply editing the external XML file.
  • Flash can also be used to create innovative advertisements, games and movies that can be displayed a web site.

Flash Facts

  • The fact is that Flash is a flexible software package that can be programmed to run comprehensive applications and online multimedia movies.
  • Flash is the most efficient means of animation on the web at the moment. It is primarily used for Vector based for animation.
  • Flash is a multi-platform application that will appear the same on all browsers and platforms as long as its plug-in has be downloaded.

Flash Myths

  • Flash is slow to download. This is the biggest myth about Flash. Flash is designed to be both quick and effective; however it is only as good as the person using it, as it is an application based software.
  • Flash is only a gimmick. This is not true as a Flash presentation can be very effective in marketing a product. It is important to use Flash only when necessary, overusing it can hinder your objectives as some people are only interested in quick information not a presentation.

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