webRulon » Web Design & Development

Top 50 Online Invoicing Tools

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:05:41 +0000

It can sometimes be a struggle in this world to, you know, get paid. This is made harder when your billing system is a mess, never knowing what should go where and to who. As anyone with a successful business knows, moving away from the paper realm to Web-based technology can be a major boon to your organization and productivity. Well here are fifty of the best and brightest online invoicing tools available. They are grouped into three of the major groups that need online invoices: Small businesses, freelancers and web designers. Enjoy!

Small Businesses

AcceptPay is from credit card company American Express. It’s often a pay service but does offer a free option with AcceptPay Lite. This allows you to email 10 invoices per month and maintain an unlimited number of customers in your account. The full version is $20/month. It may be worth it as it integrates with QuickBooks, accepts online payments, ACH, and eChecks.

Ballpark is an online invoicing service that focuses on communication. Their dashboard tracks the back and forth conversation between you, your customer, and your team. They offer a free personal plan and the small business plans start at $6/month. Not bad a deal.

BambooInvoice is free and open source The two magic words. You load it on your own servers. It doesn’t offer it’s own hosting capabilities which can be a drag but hey it’s free. It offers a good online support forum as well. This is the only open source application of it’s kind.

BillingBoss is a service that if useful for both small businesses and freelancers. A really cool thing you can do with this software is you can use your existing merchant account with their Payment Plus option for $5/month. The main invoicing tool is free.

BillingOrchard offers an amazing Auto-Invoicing feature that is all the rage in the online invoicing world. It’s free to try for 15 days and then the lite version is $9.95/month. When you use the auto-invoice features, there is an additional cost per month, by number of transactions.

Blinksale targets small businesses and creative professionals who want to send well-formatted invoices with no sweat off their backs. Their lowest price plan starts at $6 for 6 invoices a month, but you can have as many customers in the system as you want. It also integrates with Basecamp.

CannyBill is a web-based billing service that could work for small businesses or web deisgners. It offers a fully functional free account with up to 10 invoices per month. Pricing ranges up to $48/month at the enterprise level.

Cashboard is all free and lets you invoice, send estimates and accept payments online. The service also offers desktop widgets for Mac and Windows as well as as an iPhone app. There are a number of payment plans and a free lite option.

CurdBee has a free unlimited version. It even allows you to accept Paypal and Google Checkout. However, the free version puts a logo stamp on everything. Curdbee Premium level is only $5 a month and lets you remove the Curdbee logo from emails and invoices.

Endeve offers an eternally free plan with an unlimited number of invoices and customers. The Professional Plan is $20/month and allows you to create Pay Now buttons with Paypal, customize your invoice layouts, and manage your expenses.

Enliven Software is well suited for small or medium sized businesses. It is integrated with Microsoft Dynamics GP, Peachtree, and QuickBooks and automates accounts receivable and accounts payable processes for vendors and for customers.

Freelance Total is actually aimed at small businesses, despite the name. Their web-based software allows you to take a client-centric approach to invoices as you manage the project. Plans start at $4.95 a month. They do, however, offer a free trial.

Freshbooks is more or less the market leader in this kind of thing. It has all the bells and whistles, like time tracking and the ability to manage subcontractors who are also working on your project. They integrate with other accounting and project management systems such as QuickBooks and Basecamp. They offer a fully free plan with limitations to plans that go all the way up to $149/month.

Invoice Journal is completely free. It doesn’t offer any pricing info and suggests it will be free forever. Not the most featured of the bunch but serviceable.

The Invoice Machine is a flexible program. You can add line items in your invoice manually or from the project time tracking tool with a few clicks. You can create an HTML email invoice or attach one as a PDF. The plans range from free to $48/month.

InvoiceMore is an online billing and invoicing solution for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and businesses. It offers multiple features so that you can create, download, store, backup, print, and email PDF invoices to clients. You can also track overdue balances. They offer a free plan and plans up to $95/month.

InvoicePlace is a free service that offers payable options to the tune of $20/month. Check out the tour as it explains the suite’s many features.

Invoicera offers invoices, estimates, and client reporting that you can use to track by specific product or service. You can add team members to a client and track their invoicing as well. Plans go from free to $149/month.

Invoices Made Easy offers an online invoicing service exclusively for small service-oriented trades. From landscapers to consultants, they offer the standard online invoicing options, but they also have an “EasyMail” service which will send your invoice via postal mail. Free 30 day trial, then $9.95/month.

Invotrak is both an online invoicing and timesheet tracker. They offer good reporting tools as well as iPhone and iPod Touch apps. They have a limited Free plan up to an Unlimited plan at $45/month. It integrates with Basecamp. Fully featured.

LiteAccounting offers four simple plans from free up to $18/month. The dashboard showcases three main options: Products/Services, Customers, and Invoices. They have a nice demo which answers most questions so you can decide without all the hassles of a sign-up.

Nett30 provides an online service for small businesses and contractors who need to make invoicing quick and user friendly. You can view real-time account summaries at any time. Send invoices as PDF, e-mail or have clients access them online. They have four varying price and service plans.

PaySimple comes at online payments with a Merchant Account background. Their service is oriented at credit card payments, ACH, eChecks, and online payment forms. They have a free setup (usually $129) and $34.95/month, then transaction fees.

Ronin is perfect for large or small businesses. Clients can log in to get their invoices or you can email them. You can try it out free without any worries of a time limit, but the free version is branded as powered by Ronin. After Free, plans range from $15/month up to $48/month.

SantexQ is a project management and time tracking tool that also lets you bill clients directly from the service. It offers web-based reporting, but also lets you export to Excel for customizing reports as you like. For a single user it is free, but limited, then only $9.95 per month for unlimited users.

Sbzone.com is a comprehensive online application suite combining sales, customer management, and accounting functions in one place. It offers a 30 day free trial and two plans: Limited Free plan and a $39.99/month.

Simplybill offers a clean and fully functional timesheet program. The dashboard offers three tabs: Invoices, Quotes, and Clients. They offer the ability to keep in contact with your customers via reminders and thank you notes. There is the standard 30-day free trial, then $5/month up to $25/month.

Simplifythis offers two services that start at $9/month: EasyBill and EasyBook. There’s no credit card required to start the free trial so why not give it a shot?

Simply Invoices keeps it simple(Like the name.) Check out the tour on their website. They offer a completely free plan and a paid $25/month plan.

Winkbill offers a robust online invoicing app at the free level all the way up to their platinum plan for $39.95/month. You can put your own logo on invoices with the free plan, but you can’t send them as a PDF. They also offer gads of templates.

Moobiz is a great suite of software with features that handle accounting, invoicing, CRM, Ecommerce, project management, website management and Email marketing. Work from anywhere, online.

Freelance

InvoiceMore is an online billing and invoicing service developed for freelancers. It provides a simple web interface for creating and sending invoices to clients and recording payments for them. You can email and generate PDF invoices, print and snail mail them, and just keep track of your clients and their payments in an easy and organized way. Not bad, guys.

Bill4Time is a web based time management and time billing software for lawyers, accountants, consultants, and other time billing freelance workers.

Zoho is an easy-to-use online invoicing program that helps you send invoices for your projects and customer expenses, receive payments and track the overall health of your freelance accounts.

BillMyClients is the perfect piece of billing software for freelancers that have a lot on their plate. Simple and easy to use.

LessAccounting is a piece of invoicing software that was developed using the Ruby On Rails platform. Again, perfect for freelance workers.

INTUIT is fast, easy and free. It allows you to create customized and professional invoices and also to send them by email. Save time by tracking overdue payments and invoice status. The all-in-one resource.

Sendinvoice does what the title purports it to do. It sends invoices to clients you are working with. The format is easy-to-read and easy to return with payment.

Invoice Journal is a web application that handles the creation and dispersal of business invoices. It is primarily for freelancers looking to get paid.

Paper Free Billing is an easy to use, safe and convenient way to send and manage your online invoices. This is a great solution for graphic artists, photographers or anyone that bills their clients directly.

Siwapp is an open source web application meant to help manage & create invoices in a simple, straightforward way.

Kashflow is another easy-to-use invoicing program aimed at freelancers.

Working Point is aimed at both freelancers and small business owners, but freelancers seem to get more use out of the product.

SideJob Track lets you quickly and easily manage your side jobs with simple, straightforward project tools. Side Job Track’s flexible data entry lets you to decide how to best fit your specific needs.

Web Designers

WORKetc offers a wide range of functions, including contact management, calendars, email marketing, project management, and of course invoice management. There is even a 14 day guarantee since web designers are so indecisive and all.

Time59 is designed for independent web designers. It can handle time and expense tracking as well as invoicing and payments. The price is only $49.95 per year and there is a risk-free 30 day trial.

Invoice2Go provides over 300 professional invoice templates to choose from. You can also send the invoices and track payments, with a free trial that lasts for thirty full days. Sort of like Netflix!

Veetro is a great little software suite aimed toward web designer. Draft invoices, send them out and keep track of payments.

Invoice2go is the perfect tool for creating invoices, purchase orders, quotes and all types of business documents. Invoice2go is the fast and easy way to invoice, estimate, bill, collect and report.There are over 300 Templates to choose from.

Top 25 Plugins to Transform WordPress into a Powerful CMS

admin — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 23:03:48 +0000

Wordpress is not just your friendly blogging program. It’s also, thanks to a suite of powerful plugins, a complete CMS. Let’s take a look at some of the best plugins around that will have you webmastering with the best of them in no time.

1. Simple Fields

This simple, yet useful, plugin acts as a replacement to custom fields and adds textboxes, text areas, checkboxes, radio buttons, and dropdowns. It also adds the ability to group fields together in easy-to-navigate groups. Useful little tool.

Download Plugin

2. Blog-in-Blog

Want to have the functionality of a CMS system but still be able to retain a little blog on the side? Then this is the plugin for you. This plugin lets you assign a specific category that will reroute content to a separate blog of your choosing. These are hidden from the main page so you can basically do anything you like.

Download Plugin

3. CMS Tree Page View

This plugin adds a CMS-like tree overview of all your pages to WordPress. This is just like the view afforded by a page-focused CMS. This plugin allows you to you can edit pages, view pages, add pages, search pages, and drag and drop pages to rearrange the order.

Download Plugin

4. Content Sort

This marvelous plugin adds a grid under “Posts” in the admin where users can use drag and drop to sort posts published on the first page. This functionality gives users more control over posts without having to write complicated custom loops.

Download Plugin

5. White Label CMS

This amazing plugin helps you brand Wordpress into your own fully-functioning CMS. It slices, it dices, it allows you to edit the navigation menus and dashboard to suit your site’s needs. Only only those last two.

Download Plugin

6. Inline Editor

Want to edit your content from the front end of your WordPress blog? Want to do this using the exact stylings of your blog or CMS? Then this is the plugin for you.

Download Plugin

7. CMS

This is more or less a collection of plugins that, used to together, will help your Wordpress give you the feel and usefulness of a true CMS. It includes multiple content blocks, Page manager, aFAQ plugin and more.

Download Plugin

8. Front Page Category

This plugin allows you to easily choose posts in any of your categories to appear on the front page. Also lets you exclude any categories so that they show up only in the archive pages and not on the front page.

Download Plugin

9. CMS Dashboard

This handly plugin creates a useful dashboard plugin. It features large and easily pushable buttons to make navigation a breeze. This is perfect for new Wordpress users who may not be well-versed with all of the functionality.

10. Page.ly MultiEdit

This plugin allows you to create multiple content blocks on page templates. These are fully editable and use custom fields to create simple tinyMCE regions on those page templates.

Download Plugin

11. Dashboard Heaven

Dashboard Heaven offers Widget to User-level/role customization. It lets you control which user levels see which widget. Pretty useful.

Download Plugin

12. Edit Flow

The Edit Flow plugin improves the WordPress Admin interface for a multi-user newsroom’s editorial workflow. It gives you the ability to perform custom post statuses, post metadata and editorial commenting, and editing user groups.

Download Plugin

13. CMS Press

Want to create and manage custom content types? This is your ticket. It adds the flexibility to have more than just posts and pages for content by allowing the user to register their own post types in whatever fashion they choose.

Download Plugin

14. Magic Fields

Magic Fields is a great little plugin. It focuses on simplified content management for the admin creating custom write panels.

Download Plugin

15. Multiple Content Blocks

This lets you use more than one content block on a template. You need only insert one tag inside the template. User-friendly is the name of the game here. It even allows you to specify content blocks on your pages that can be easily edited by clients.

Download Plugin

16. Core Tweaks WordPress Setup

This plugin automates the proper setup of your WordPress blog for SEO use. This handles just about every aspect, including changing the permalink structure to deleting the Hello World sample post and comment, and all the options are accessible from one single page.

Download Plugin

17. Pods CMS

This is another highly usable CMS framework. It allows you to easily add and display your own content types, among other things.

Download Plugin

18. Flutter

Flutter is a plugin that gives the admin the ability to write panels with radio buttons, file uploads, image uploads, checkboxes and more. It also features simplified templating.

Download Plugin

19. WP-CMS Post Control

This gives you absolute control over the write options you use just about every user level and role. It even lets you hide unwanted items like custom fields, trackbacks and revisions.

Download Plugin

20. Menus Plus+

This plugin lets you create multiple customized menus with pages, posts, categories, and URLS. It lets you drag and drop to your heart’s content. A real time saver.

Download Plugin

21. PageMash

This plugin gives you an Ajax interface that also allows you drag-and-drop pages to place them in whatever configuration you like. This functionality also works toward modifying the page structure however you like.

Download Plugin

22. Role Scoper

Role Scoper is gives users a useful access control solution. It gives you CMS-like control of reading and editing permissions. Assign restrictions and roles to pages, posts and categories.

Download Plugin

23. CForms II

This is a powerful program that helps WordPress users get what they want out of their CMS. It offers convenient deployment of multiple Ajax driven contact forms throughout your blog or even on the same page.

Download Plugin

24. Scissors

Scissors acts a sort of mini-Photoshop for your CMS, allowing you to crop, resize, and rotate images. This plugin also allows automatic resizing of images when they are uploaded and supports automatic and manual watermarking of images.

Download Plugin

25. Multi-Level Navigation

This handy-dandy plugin adds an SEO friendly, accessible dropdown menu to your WordPress blog. It has a host of features and customization options.

Download Plugin

The Ultimate Guide to Wordpress 3.0

admin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:51:57 +0000

Wordpress 3.0 has arrived! The codename this time is “Thelonius” and it comes packed-in with a host of features that is going to make your blogging life a lot easier. There is a lot of information to pack in here so let’s skip the formalities and get started. Wait, are there formalities usually?

New Default Theme “Twenty Ten”

There is a new default theme in town. “Twenty Ten” has replaced the “Kubrick” theme as default and even though we can shed a tear for Kubrick, the new one is a much nicer experience. It features built-in support for child themes and header customization. It also comes with the ability to complete a host of background alterations. It truly does offer users a fresh look when they boot up their Wordpress. Below is a photo of it in action.

Let’s talk a bit about the header customization. You can upload your own headers right into the admin panel. One step. No hassles. Also, there are eight pre-installed header options to choose from. They are pretty cool, actually. Here is a photo.

Now let’s talk about the background customization options. “Thelonius” allows you to change the background of posts and pages from the back-end administration panel. There are a gad of options here. You can change the color. You can upload your own images. The sky is just about the limit. It just requires a simple line of code or two in your themes function.php file. Below is an image of the custom background panel.

Shortlink

Shortlink is Wordpress 3.0’s micro-blogging and Twitter integration. This functionality also gives you the ability to generate branded short links. Think Tinyurl etc.

Menu modifications

Wordpress 3.0 offers a supremely intuitive menu system. Simply drag and drop stuff when you want to change anything. No coding experience is necessary, even when you want to add an entirely new menu option. The system is the same for outgoing links, categories, pages and whatever else you can think of. It truly is a simple and functional marvel to behold.

Custom Post Types

This is something users have been clamoring for a while. Wordpress 3.0 makes content management a lot easier thank to this feature. This will allow WordPress theme developers to create custom content types outside pages and posts. Custom post types finally catches Wordpress up to similar services offered by Drupal and the like.

Improved Custom Taxonomies

Custom taxonomies in WordPress is another neat feature. This reduces the effort put in by developers in the creation of large websites greatly. This was available in Wordpress 2.8 but in 3.0 the system gets a welcome revamping. They now allow for hierarchical relationships and are much easier to string together to make usable lines of code. This feature may go unused by the laymen but it is a boon to experienced developers.

Multi-Site

Wordpress 3.0 allows you to manage as many blogs as you want, hundreds even, with just one install. 3.0 has merged with WordPress MU to enable this feature. Say you are designing for a client who is an umbrella company with tons of subdivisions, brands and companies. Imagine the work this new feature will save you as you go about creating websites for every facet of their business model. Word of advice though: The feature is not enabled automatically and must be turned on via wp-config.php by adding “define(’WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE’, true);”

Final thoughts

Hello fully functional publishing platform. Wordpress 3.0 has finally inched us ever so closer to getting there. The new features represent a sea change of sorts of the program and it’s massive userbase. It’s evident the masterminds behind Wordpress are dedicated to simplifying the user experience while, at the same time, making it more feature rich and adaptable. This is an important balancing act and one that the company can be proud of. What features are you most excited by? Drop them in an email or the comment box.

IE9 – What does it Means for Web Design?

admin — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:02:30 +0000

Microsoft’s search engine division came roaring back to life this week with the release of the Internet Explorer 9 Beta. IE9 brings a whole host of innovations to the table, which finally brings IE to the adult’s table to sit with Firefox and Chrome. In some instances, actually, it shoves those other browsers right to the kiddie’s table.

So what does it do? Well for this post we are going to focus in on what the new update means for web designers. However, let’s do a general overview. First and foremost, the browser is thin. It doesn’t use that many resources, unlike IE iterations of the past. Even Firefox is becmoing quite the resource hog in recent years so this makes IE and Chrome the skinniest browsers of the lot. This is important for, well, just about everyone. Who wants a browser who is gonna muck up the entire waterworks? Nobody.

The browser even looks thinner. Check out the photo below.

Microsoft is so dedicated to this aspect that IE9 comes standard with a function called “performance monitor” which does just what the title implies: It monitors your browser’s performance and lets you know about any situations that are causing lag and gives you the tools to stop it in it’s tracks. This is far and above what the competing browsers have offered.

Now we come to the main course. What’s in it for you burgeoning web developers? Well, first and foremost, IE9 features robust connectivity with HTML5. The use of HTML5 is opening up new arenas for developers to create all manner of applications and in-browser games. This, potentially, could work as a more “legit” and well-rounded version of the Firefox add-ons system. Steve Ballmer of Microsoft has likened his vision to that of the Apple App Store. This is great news for developers. It’s about time Microsoft decides to team up with developers and not try to bury them.

These applications could come in the form of helpful apps to make browsing easier, games or entire websites. Check out this neat game of pool made with HTML5 for IE9 below.

The functionality is full of little touches to make lives easier for developers. For instance, IE9 lets you use a wide variety of fonts without having to Photoshop images of them. No more dragging images in and out. Over and over and over. This feature alone could save dozens of manpower hours for each individual application.

HTML5 isn’t alone. Internet Explorer 9 allows the use of CSS 3 code also. This is pretty standard with the major browsers but, until now, has been conspicuously missing from Microsoft’s product. So now you all can make rounded corners until you are blue in the face. This should go far to make IE9 an all-around flashier experience.

Best of all, it’s free to use and free to get started developing for. That’s the great thing about browsers. They are free and easy to take for a test spin. If it doesn’t work out, Chrome and Firefox are waiting in the wings.

The Foolproof Form Design Formula

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:29:57 +0000

So you’ve found yourself in the position of implementing a form(or forms) on your website or blog. Where do you start? How do you ensure it’s not hacky and hard-on-the-eyes?

Research

This is first and foremost. Get out there and research! This is the fun part. Just fill out lots of forms and take note of what part of the experience you enjoyed and what part was distasteful. Make a list of what works for you and what doesn’t. Pay special attention to websites that traffic in similar content as you do. Try to adhere to your “to do” list when you finally tackle your form.

Look at the examples below. If your website dealt with fitness, for instance, you should have checked out these related forms and figured out what worked and what didn’t.

Keep things clear

Now we get to the good stuff. You have to keep things clear in form-world. What does this mean? Well, the clearer a form is the less mental effort the user will need to extend in order to figure out how to fill it out. You want the end result to be instantly recognizable to the people that surf to your page. Although this seems simple, it can be a bit tricky. Look at the example below.

At first glance this looks fine, but notice the form fails to clarify if the user should consider gross or net income. This ends up hurting the user and the form-maker, as the information ends up useless anyways. Strive for clarity at all times when drafting up a form.

Keep things concise

This important. Nobody has all day to fill out an Internet form. You want to get the information needed in the quickest way possible. Look the “wrong way” example below.

See the problem here? Why not just say “How many children do you have?” and make sure “0″ is an option. Always strive to find a simpler and more direct way to ask something. The human brain processes information quickly and tends to get annoyed when they are still reading something they understand already.

However, do not mistake concise with short. You have to get the information you have to get. Don’t sacrifice information for the sake of shortness. Just figure out a concise way to get it. Don’t use counts of pages, screens or questions as a measure of the quality of a form. It can swing both ways.

Keep it clever

Cleverness is a necessity when it comes to form. Now, let’s something straight. I don’t mean clever “haha.” I simply mean the form is designed in a clever fashion.

This comes in the form of “sequencing.” Simply put, sequencing is is how you direct the user around the form. Ever feel out a form and it allows you to skip questions that don’t apply to you? That sort of smarts is sequencing 101. So much of that can be built in. Nothing is more tiresome than having to fill out a really dumb form. Below is a really dumb form. Look at how it fails to recognize the address as the correct address. It’s stupidity like this that makes people leave your site in a huff.

Keep it co-operative

The best forms work with the form-filler. The cooperation, in this case, is between the form and the form-filler. Remember those notes you took earlier? Now is the time to put them to good use. You were the form-filler in those cases. What made you feel good? What made you want to slam your laptop down in disgust?

Here is what you should be looking for a co-operative form to do.

* Manage expectations

* Provide explicit boundaries and definitions of all fields

* Handle everything with consistency, but remain flexible

* Confirming before submission and allowing modification

* Being free of bugs and viruses

* Take care to not frustrate the user

A great example of an unco-operative form is one that asks for your location, then only gives a limited amount of options.

In the example below, Gmail does their best to remain co-operative and submitting to the “provide definitions of all fields” thing we talked about earlier.

One of the easiest ways to frustrate users is to ask for lots of personal information without giving any real reason.

What not to do

People make all manner of mistakes when dealing with forms. Here are five things people tend to do that send would-be customers packing. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

* Asking for information that isn’t easily accessible. Keep questions to things that are sure to be memorized.

* Asking for a whole lot of information without spelling out why it’s needed.

* Working against the user, and not with them in regard to inputting data.

* Failing to provide reasoning when a user generates an error message.

* Splitting in forms into too many segments without detailing rhyme or reason.

Finally, here are some resources to have bookmarked whenever you are creating a form.

A List Apart – article on usable forms

Informit – a nice general article about web forms

Sakuzaku – How to manage character limits in free-text fields

Don’t stress out and try to have some fun with it. A successful form can be a great way to gather information. This is the information age, after all.

Top 25 Free Wordpress 3.0 Themes

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:45:01 +0000

Wordpress. It keeps getting cooler and cooler doesn’t it? The premiere blogging platform has recently one-upped itself with the release of ‘Thelonious’ (WP 3.0). As updates go it is mostly free of glitches and bugs. However, there have been some compatibility issues with certain themes. As the geniuses over at Wordpress work that out, we decided to scour the web and collate twenty-five amazing(and free) themes that are sure to work with the new update.

For newbies, a theme is a general feel or aesthetic of a particular blog or website. They take the hard work out of making your blog look snazzy and cool. Without further adieu, here are the top 25 free Wordpress themes that are guaranteed to work with WP 3.0. Enjoy and happy e-decorating.

The Morning After by WooThemes

This could be the most popular theme of all time. It has over 100,000 users and climbing. Thankfully, those users who have moved on to WP 3.0 will continue to live a worry free e-life.

Structure by Organic Themes

This theme is available in four variants and a variety of color schemes for the discerning blogger. It integrates easily and fits just about any blog type.

Mansion by GraphPaperPress

This is the perfect theme for you photo bloggers out there. It has a slew of functionality, including the ability to use a flexible-width thumbnail grid for both images and photo journal entries. Perfect for those who adhere to the “a picture is worth 1,000 words” mantra.

Twenty Ten by The WordPress Crew

This is the default Wordpress 3.0 theme. That’s right. It comes with the update. Don’t worry. You won’t looked down upon if you use it. It’s great!

Magazeen by WeFunction & Smashing Magazine

This theme has both style and substance to spare. It’s called Magazeen because, well, it is meant for users who intend their blog to capture the feel of a print magazine. It does so in spades.

Mystique by Digital Nature

This is the perfect choice for CMS publishers and tech-savvy bloggers. The options here are almost limitless. Widgets, an intuitive interface, tons of color choices. You name it. The perfect theme for someone who likes to switch things up every once in a while.

AutoFocus+ by Fthrwght (Allan Cole)

This is another theme designed primarily for photographers. Showcase your favorite images on a 800px, 8 column grid. The typographs out there will also be happy with the theme’s 22px baseline grid. Classy and functional.

Gadget by ThemeJam

This theme is sharp and sleek. Consider it the iPad of Wordpress 3.0 themes, or at the very least, the Lexus. Perfect for tech-blogs.

Suffusion by Aquoid

Suffusion is known for it’s supreme versatility. You can see from the photo above just all of the options that are available to users of this high-quality theme. It features 10 widget areas, one-column, two-column and three-column fixed-width formats, 10 pre-defined templates, 17 pre-defined color schemes, two customizable multi-level drop-down menus, featured posts, a magazine layout, tabbed sidebars, widgets for Twitter, Social Networks and Google Translator, translations in many languages and RTL language support. Wow!

Titan by The Theme Foundry

This theme sure is handsome aint it? It doesn’t rely on it’s looks, however. Titan allows you to integrate Twitter, Facebook, Feedburner and Flickr with ease. And they say hotties aren’t smart.

Magnifolio – The Gallery/Blog WordPress Theme

As the text reads, this theme is ready, willing and able to be integrated into Wordpress 3.0.

Genova – Minimalistic WordPress Theme

This elegant theme features 12 color schemes and, most importantly, is browser-safe.

Expose Gallery WordPress Theme

The Expose Gallery theme has three skins to choose from and comes with full video support and a suite of widgets and plugins. Not bad guys. Not bad.

Asylum – Premium WordPress Theme

This theme is so stylish it gives classic Frank Sinatra a run for his money. Five skins, three fonts and a shortcodes. It should be asked to join the ratpack.

Vision – Corporate and Portfolio WP Theme

This is the perfect theme for the large corporation in your life. It features five different themes so a multi-branch company can separate each limb by style.

UniSphere Minim Corporate and Portfolio

As the tag-line goes, awesome. This theme comes in a variety of flavors. Perfect for any blogger and their varied tastes.

Evolutionary Theme

The “evolution” in Wordpress 3.o themes. This theme comes in four color schemes and offers a ton of customization options, including the ability to both widgets and animations.

Imperial

This tech-friendly theme comes in two colors, black and white. It also has many useful columns for bloggers who like to keep many information conduits open on their front page.

Dimenzion

This is the perfect theme for blogs about celebrities, movies or other cultural ephemera. Cute colors too.

Channel Theme

This is an extremely useful theme that can help turn your blog into a media megasite like Slate or Huffington Post. Media friendly to the max.

Magazine Basic Theme

Here is another useful theme for bloggers who want to resemble an online magazine.

Yieldon

This is a great and simple Wordpress theme for bloggers who take a no frills approach to their information dispensing.

deStyle Theme

This is a simple yet classy Wordpress 3.0 theme that is perfect for music or fashion bloggers.

Designora

This functional theme could be used for just about any blog imaginable. It comes with RSS buttons and the ability to include widgets. Great for beginners.

Enertia

This is the perfect theme for the blogging arm of a small business or enterprise. It’s elegant, unobtrusive and functional.

So there you have it. Have any favorites that didn’t make the list? Drop us a line. Also, keep an eye out as more themes become 3.0-ready every day.

Use the Google Font API to Implement Awesome Fonts on your Website

admin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:26:14 +0000

Until recently, the font-world has evolved slower than a dinosaur stuck in superglue. This holds especially true for people on the web, who have been stuck with the same old fonts(Arial, Georgia, Verdana, Times New Roman) since, well, forever.

The Google Font API is here to change all of that. At it’s heart, the Font API is a databaes of “web fonts.” Web Fonts are, obviously, fonts for use on the web. The Google system is so much more than that, though.

Today we are going to go over the basics of Google Font API and how to make the best of the service in order to assure your websites are maxed out with the best fonts available.

Implementing Google API requires no programming skills, however a basic grasp of html and web skills couldn’t hurt. If you lack even the rudimentary skills needed to implement the suite, then make a web-savvy friend do it for you. Offer them dinner or beer in exchange. It will take them only five minutes, promise.

How it works

Google Font API uses a CSS property called @font-face. Don’t worry if this is Greek to you. You don’t need to be well-versed in the nuances of CSS in order to navigate your way around Google API.

The property @font-face allows you to use font files. Font files typically come with the extensions .otf and .ttf. These may be familiar to you from programs as Photoshop and Microsoft Word. Font file extensions haven’t changed in a long, long time so chances are you are at least somewhat familiar.

The problem in the past has been that each particular browser were built to handle different font faces. For instance, Firefox only accepts .otf while Explorer only accepts .eot. Websites have been forced to scramble and invent workarounds on the fly that mock different extensions. It has been problematic at best. Google Font API has finally solved this problem.

The benefits

The obvious benefit is the implementation of web fonts is greatly simplified with using Google Fonts API. Obviously, there will be no more need to worry about the quirks of various browsers. API also works around tricky licensing issues regarding the legality of using certain fonts. This is because the fonts are open source and supplied by Google themselves. No more worries about using illegal fonts.

Also, did we mention it’s free? You don’t even have to enter an email address in order to use the service. There are reasons it is becoming the gold standard of the web-based font world.

How to use it

The font previewer now does a lot of this automatically so if you want you can skip below to that. However, for those interested parties, here is the nuts and bolts of how to use Google Font API.

There are two steps to get started.

What you want to do at first is reference the CSS stylesheet you need within your HTML document. Put this in the tags found around the top. Make sure this is in all the pages you want to use the API with. If you use a template such as Wordpress, you just have to do this once and the software will automatically import it across all of your pages. If not, you may have to go in there manually. Don’t worry. It won’t take too long.

Look at the example below. The tag is where you are referencing Google API. Note: Fontname is whatever font you wish to use in your page. Please replace with an actual font found in the Google Font Directory.

Home Page

/>

Step two is to use CSS to specify the use of the font we have just requested. If we want to use the mythical Fontname font on all of our pages, it would go something like this:

p {
font-family: 'FontName';
font-size: 12px;
}

See. Easy. You don’t really need to know anything about CSS in order to get it working. Just remember that Fontname is the name of the whatever font you choose and 12px is the size.

Multiple fonts

Let’s say you want to use more than one font on your page. You aren’t boring, after all! Here is what you do. Just append your request with an | symbol followed by another font name. Look at this example:

Do you see where you place words to italicize or make text bold? It’s really as simple as that. You aren’t missing anything.

Tools

There are a few handy tools for use with Google Font API.

Google Font Previewer

This lets you experiment with each font before you “commit” to adding them to your site. It truly is useful. It lets you adjust the size, the weight, the look, just about anything. Then, voila, it generates the necessary code you need to slap on your site. So, basically, the previewer allows you to ignore the tutorial we just laid out. Hey, it’s good to know how stuff works though, right?

Google Font Directory

The directory lists all of the fonts that Google has vetted that are available for use. It’s a good way to get a bead on what is out there so you can start planning your site accordingly. It also features the ability to snag the code for implementation. It’s a user-friendly experience that is designed to, of course, simplify things for web designers. Those crafty cads at Google, always making things easier!

Web Font Loader

This is for the experienced programmers out there. This is a JavaScript library that allows great flexibility and experimentation with fonts. If you need control over the fonts used in your webpage, then this is for you. Newbies, stay away.

That is it! Google Font API. It sounds useful doesn’t it? Head on over and give it a try. Your dusty old webpage will thank you.

5 Small Business Web Design Trends to Watch

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:11:21 +0000

Small businesses have it tough. Their web budgets are usually much smaller than that of large companies. At the same time their need for web exposure is much greater. However, instead of just curling up and giving up, many small businesses have begun to wow competition by offering up some innovative and cool ideas. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way” springs to mind.

There is quite the tool-set available to small businesses nowadays. First of all, there are many companies out there that will design and implement the site for you. Sure, this may not be the most budget-conscious solution out there, but once it’s done it’s done. Additionally, many hosting companies offer do-it-yourself software suites that are intuitive and graceful.

For stone-age companies, let’s go over why you want a website in the first place;

Discovery - Once your online, customers can find you just by plugging your name into a search engine. Consumers nowadays don’t rely on the Yellow Pages or other antiquated notions of business location. They are going to Google and whatever they find they are going to use.

Engagement – In addition to finding you, customers can also find information on who it is you are what it is you offer. This can be make or break in the race to set yourself apart from the competition.

Sales – Engagement, often, leads to sales. Once a customer is assured you are on the up-and-and and you offer a service they are interested in, sales will often follow.

Service – This entices return customers by offering a suite of services that make it easier on consumers. This could be as simple as being readily available via email. The sky is really the limit here.

So. You want to make or update your website. What now? Well let’s go over five web design trends that are capturing the imaginations of small businesses everywhere.

1. Minimalism

This tip is about as old as the web itself. You don’t want a cluttered and awful workspace do you? The same should go for your web space. In short, keep things simple. This helps users get a bead on your company and what it is you do quickly and succinctly. That is the point, isn’t it?

Also, page weight now affects your Google ranking, so you are going to want to make sure your site is as streamlined as possible. Here are some steps to help you get that site up to snuff.

* Snip off anything unnecessary. This includes widgets and other accessories that serve no real purpose.

* Make good use of whitespace. This is the space between the various design elements. This helps the human eye figure out what is going on easier. Notice it in the photo above.

* Color choice is key. You are going to have less going on so what colors are used is important. Make sure to choose colors that work well together.

* Browse the site often as if you were a consumer. Keep an eye out for anything “off” and also feel free to have friends and family do the same.

2. Unique Photography

Stay away from cliched images. You’ve seen them all before. Two men shaking hands. A smiling doctor who looks like a model. These images are the equivalent of using Printshop to make greeting cards. People will gloss right over them and mentally think “Next.” It’s important whatever images you use are unique(To the best of your ability) and offer up a new point of view for the consumer.

Use custom photography or artwork whenever possible. Of course, you are a small business and this can be expensive. So follow this at your own budgetary discretion. You may, after all, have to rely on stock images. Here are some tips to make the most of it.

* Research competition and note what images they use. Stay away from these images or images that are eerily similar.

* Avoid being too literal in your image choices. Sometimes abstract can allow consumers to link things on their own, which gives them a sense of satisfaction.

* If you can afford it, opt-out of cheap lo-res images. These can make your site look unprofessional.

* Stay away from the bland and predictable. Try to spice things up a bit.

3. Bold Typography

Typography is more important than people often realize. Consider the website a conduit of information. With that said, isn’t every facet of how that information is presented important? Of course it is. Typography is the literal clothes upon your information’s back.

Big and bold typography has become a happening web-trend lately. This has happened for a few reasons. First of all, well, big and bold stuff is easy to read. It also tends to make the other design aspects “pop.” Finally, over-sized text establishes a hierarchy of information whereupon you can decide what is most important via text-size. Here are some tips for successful typography.

* Figure out the single most important idea you are trying to convey and find a type-set that fits. A singular idea is important because too many can lead to choice paralysis.

* Find a typeface that matches what kind of work you do. For instance, if your company embodies the feel of an Old Style font, you should consider Bembo, Garamond and Sabon. Decidedly, if you make astronaut supplies, avoid these fonts.

* Surround the typography with a good amount of white-space. Please see the entry on minimal design for more information on this.

* Test some of the various font replacement options such as Typekit or Typotheque. These are great resources that allow you to “try on” fonts in your website without purchase or any real change.

4. Clear Calls to Action

What is it you want your visitors to do? Whatever it is, this is a call to action. Calls to action can be anything from downloading something to filling out a web form. These are some of the most important, and oft-overlooked, elements of a webpage.

Easing your visitors to jump through the hoops you have provided for them can be tricky. Here are some tips to turn calls to action into actual action.

* Language – Keep the prose short and to the point. Try to start every call to action with a verb. Be sure to amp up the urgency as well. Words like ‘now’, ‘hurry’ and ‘offer ends’ are great and, as always,’free’ is a fantastic word to use. Some things never change.

* Positioning – Calls to action need to be in the right spot. It does no good to place them in a sad little corner somewhere. Look at the photo above. Notice the “Try it for free” button and where it’s placed.

* Color – Make sure the call to action stands out from the rest of your design elements. Do this with proper use of color. Contrasting and generally pleasing color combos will result in your call to action button getting the attention it deserves.

* Size – Make sure the call to action button is the biggest button on the block. It doesn’t have to be the biggest design element, as seen in the photo above, it just has to be the biggest button. This helps let the user know how important it is.

5. A/B Testing

Competition is fierce online. You want to make sure your website does it’s best to convert visitors to actual customers. You can get a head start on this by continually measuring site performance, usability and conversions.

One of the best ways to measure and optimize your web design is via A/B testing, otherwise known as split testing. A/B tests examine the effectiveness of landing on one page over another. It works by randomly showing users the two versions of said page to see which one generates the best results. You can then evaluate the performance of each and use the very best version.

Just about everything can be tested. Here are some tips to make the best of it.

* Define the goal. Don’t start a test unless you know what it is you seek to find out. For example, if you want to increase sign-ups, you’ll want to test the type of fields in the form, the length of the form, and the display of privacy policy.

* Start with testing the things that can be changed easiest. No use to reinvent the whole house when just the kitchen will do. For example, you could tweak the copy on your checkout button to see if conversions can be improved.

* Don’t use A/B testing in a vacuum. Pair it up with other services to get a clear picture of what is going on with your site. Other tools include Feedback Army and User Testing. Taken together, these can give you a clear picture.

So that’s it. What changes would make the most sense for your business?

How to Make Great Presentations

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:39:20 +0000

Presentations. They are a terrifying and important part of adult life. How else to emphatically get information across to a large group of people at the same time. And no, the Internet doesn’t count. Still, it takes a certain kind of person to really knock presentations out of the ballpark. Or does it? Read along and practice these tips and you are sure to have them rolling in the aisles. Don’t worry, you won’t have to imagine anyone in the audience naked.

Plan. Plan. Plan.

This might seem obvious but a presentation is really only as good as the amount of practice that went into it. Write it out. Tinker with the words until they are perfect. Then, practice. Practice for your loved ones. Practice for your hated ones. Practice for anyone that will listen. While you are planning it all out, always consider the audience. What are you trying to convey to them? What is your main point? Never lose site of that.

Metaphors are your friend

Often you will find yourself giving a presentation on a complicated subject to a group of people who are not in the know. How do you make sure they get your main point? Well one good way is by use of metaphors, comparisons and analogies. Re-brand the idea to a simpler set of terms that the audience is sure to follow. For example, “PPC is like your direct marketing, but with the advantage of instant feedback”

Demonstrate

If at all possible, show your idea in action. This could be via Powerpoint, a short film, or even via a chalkboard. Take the famous adage “A picture is worth 1,000 words” to heart. Many people simply can’t process information by the spoken word alone. If all else fails, go for a case study. A minor caveat: Do not rely solely on Powerpoint, however. This is a common mistake made by presentation newbies.

Get the audience involved

This may seem like a no-brainer but it’s amazing how many presentations I’ve seen where the emcee doesn’t use their most valuable asset: us. Do whatever it takes to get the audience actively engaged and involved. Ask for questions and comments. Conduct a Q&A session. Hand out relavent paraphernalia. Remember, there are those that learn via the spoken or written word and there are also those who learn via visual cues. Finally, there is a third set of people who learn via active engagement. Be sure to target all three groups.

The big question

The big question your audience members are running through their heads is “Why should I care?” This must be answered almost immediately upon beginning your presentation. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and try to figure out what problem is solved via whatever idea you are discussing. Tackle that quickly and succinctly and you’ll have their attention and, hopefully, their admiration.

Short sentences rule

There is a reason the 140-character Twitter has taken over the web. People love to have ideas delivered to them clearly and concisely. The more you can reduce your idea, the easier it will be to impart to the audience. Edit. Edit. Edit. This isn’t to say you should speak like a caveman. Just go at your notes with Occam’s Razor. Anything that isn’t absolutely vital can go. Which leads us to.

The rule of three

The rule of three can be used to maximize your audience’s understanding. Keep your presentation, and your idea, distilled to three main points? Why just three? Think about how effective this rule has been in drama(Plays have three acts) and humor(Most jokes follow this rule to a tee.) There is something about the human brain and groups of three that just seem to gel. Besides, you want your audience to remember just about everything you said. Why makes things more complicated than they have to be? You aren’t reading from a textbook. You are giving a presentation.

Heroes and villains

Throughout the “narrative” of your presentation, you should develop some clear-cut heroes and villains. The villain should be whatever is the problem you are looking to solve, or some kind of representation thereof. The hero, then, should be the idea you are proposing to solve said problem. If dirty floors are the villain then the wonder-mop you are discussing is the hero. Get it? More PPC-speak, the villain could be antiquated media channels. Both hero and villain will become obvious once you’ve worked out your idea well enough. Also, begin this narrative early on. The villain should be pronounced as soon as you can. You want to get people thinking about it.

Talk about what you love

Now this isn’t always possible in the real world, but love is infectious. You are going to have a certain amount of trouble faking excitement. You are in the business, and not acting, world after all. Try to stick to presentations on subject matters you are actually interested in. Trust me. The audience will pick up on this and your excitement will soon become their excitement.

That is about it. Remember, don’t stress out about it. At the end of the day it’s just a presentation. Follow these simple steps and you’ll do fine.

200+ Free Twitter Icon Sets

admin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:57:45 +0000

Do you Tweet? Are you a Twitter devotee? Then this is the post for you. It is my honor to present Webrulon’s first annual “Ultimate Free Twitter Icon Set” giveaway! Icons of every stripe and flavor to suit any mood or need that could come up during your Twitter tenure. There are over 200 here so have fun, take what you like and, remember, Tweet hard and Tweet often.

Twitter Social Icons
This marvelous set of six social icons(Digg, Twitter, Delicious, RSS, Reddit & Stumbleupon) are free to use in websites and blogs however you wish! Made by Designreviver.
30 Free Vector Twitter Buttons Download
30 twitter buttons in EPS format.
31 Twiiter Button
A Little Bird Told Me
Inspired by Twitter and other vector designs. By mattknow
Create a Twitter Style Bird Mascot
Tutorial on how to create a Twitter mascot for your blog or website.
FREE Twitter Icons For Your Website/Blog
Flockey’s Twitter Icons for websites and blog. Availablei n .PNG, .PSD and .AI file format.
Twitter Icon
Created by PhireDesign.
Twitter Bird Icons & Illustration
Free Twitter Graphics
Here are some free graphics to put on your linking purposes. Embed your Twitter HTML under it and voila.
Twitter Birdy Icon
Cute birdy icon created by Kailoon. Available in transparency PNG format.
IconTexto Webdev Social Bookmark
Free Twitter Icon Set
This set contains 4 different poses of the Twitter bird. The zip file includes PNG and PSD files so they got you covered.
Twitter Icons with Attitude
Pracktika Free Icon Set
This set was designed by DryIcons and released by the venerable Smashing Magazine. The icons are available in resolutions 64×64px, 128×128px and 256×256px, in 32-bit transparency PNG.
(max)Icone Blog, Set 3
Web 2.0rigami
Twitter icon, origami style.
Free vector twitter icon
Royalty-free vector icon.
Feed & Twitter Monster Icons
Feed and Twitter icons as monsters.
Twitter icon for a fluid app
Really big Twitter “t” icon.
High Resolution Twitter Bird Icons
The Blue Bird
Who doesn’t like the cute little Twitter bird? Comes in high resolution .EPS and transparency .PNG file.