Let's Build the Web We Want
Since I run so many content-centric sites, I’ve never really had much use for Google Analytics’ goals. It’s one thing when you’re doing lead generation or ecommerce. Those goals are clear and easy to define.
Someone filled out a form? Goal reached.
Someone hit a thank you page for purchasing a book? Goal reached.
For content sites, where the aim is engagement goals are tougher to define.
Continue reading “I’m Excited About the New Google Analytics Engagement Goals Feature”
The following is a test of this page of unstyled, generic markup performed in 81 browsers. I used browsercam to take screen captures, then imported the resulting captures into Photoshop. In Photoshop, I zeroed out the top/left coordinates of the HTML canvas (not to be confused with the Canvas element,) and then set the Opacity on each layer to 10%. For the second visualization I simply turned on the difference blending mode at full opacity.
Why? I thought it was an interesting illustration of why we use reset style sheets. There’s almost no consistency in the way these browsers handle even the most generic markup.
Here are the two visualizations:
Continue reading “Default HTML Rendering in 81 Browsers Visualized”
The following is what we use to lay down the most common text styles. This is honestly more than we usually need, but it helps ensure we don’t miss anything when real content is flowed into a design. I thought it might be useful for folks to use in their own projects.
I’ve got a live version here on the site.
Continue reading “Sample HTML Markup Used To Style Common Text Elements”
Here are the books that sit next to me at work.
No, there are no HTML or CSS books. I haven’t felt the need to dive into those subjects, in depth, since 1999. Based on the foundation I got from studying specs and experimenting in 1998-2000, I can read the occasional A List Apart article, look at Quirksmode and keep up to date.
I should add, I’m reading Dive Into HTML5 as it’s released. That’s what the first change in the specs in 10 years will do to a fellow.
I like Mark Pilgrim‘s writing, in general, and I want to learn more about Python.
Read and build. Build and read. That’s my fall, I hope. With the new changes to their app distribution program, I’ve decided I’m going to do something open source.
Continue reading “My Bookshelf. Books on JavaScript, Python, Linux, WebOS, etc.”
I eat this stuff up. The more data like this we get the easier it is to sell performance to team members and clients.
Do faster web pages mean better business? Definitely. We’ve seen hard evidence from major web operators like Shopzilla, Google, and Microsoft. But what about other websites? How big an impact does performance optimization have on the business metrics of a typical media or e-commerce site?