I always like to start the New Year with a little cleaning and organizing of my browser bookmarks. The fresh clean New Year seems like the perfect time to go in and review all those handy links I just knew I needed, but didn’t take the time to properly categorize or describe.

I’ve spent several hours this morning going through my bookmarks, clicking each link to make sure it was still live, and sorting them into proper categories. As I do each year, I came across some fun and useful things I had forgotten I had, and I thought I would share a few of them with you. I tried not to include too many of the links that, while good quality, can be found easily enough on your own with a quick search, but some were just too good to leave out.

CSS Stuff

Based on the number of links I had on the subject, I seem to have an obsession with 3 column layouts, although frankly I don’t design many sites that use them, so I can’t imagine why I’m so interested. Here are some of the better resources on the subject.

• CSS layout techniques: 3 columns, the holy grail
• CSS-P 3 Column Layout
• A List Apart: In Search of the Holy Grail

The quest for equal height columns creates another CSS layout issue that plagues developers. The best, most elegant solution I’ve found (I used it in the layout for this site) is one laid out in a Sitepoint forum post by Dan Schulz. His passing last year was a tragic loss; this layout technique is just one of the many gifts he gave the online community.

• Sitepoint Forum: Equal Height Columns by Dan Schulz
• Projectseven.com – Tutorials: CSS Equal Height Columns
• Position is Everything: Equal Height Columns

CSS and Browser Compatability

Every web designer who uses css-based layouts has spent many an hour tearing their hair out over trying to get their layout to work properly in all browsers. Here are a few handy references, and one interesting idea for managing browser issues using .htaccess.

• Sitepoint: An Introduction to Browser Specific Hacks
• Hack Free CSS for IE
• Web Browser Standards Support
• Miva Merchant Forum: Serving Targeted Browser Stylesheets via .htaccess

PHP and MySQL

These resources are bits and pieces I’ve picked up in my travels as I’ve expanded my php skills. They are mostly aimed at php beginners, and are in no particular order.

• PHP/MySQL Tutorial (good beginner’s tutorial)
• Bytes: Understanding PHP Sessions
• roScripts: Understanding PHP Security
• PHP-based .pdf Generator (for use on servers that don’t have PDFlib)

Javascript

I confess. I hate javascript. I have a lot of respect for its ability to expand and enhance the user experience on the web, but working with it makes me crazy. Nevertheless, I have, over the years, found some nifty uses for it, a couple of which appear below.

• Diller Design: Javascript Library for PNG Transparency Support in IE6
• JQuery Cycle Plugin
• Replacing <noscript> for accessible javascript

Bits & Pieces

• Apache Rewrite Cheatsheet
• List of Free Photo and Image Editing Software
• Create Your Own Web 2.0 Buttons
• Bulk Rename Utility

And finally, because no one should work all the time, one of my favorite brain squish breaks: Mr. Picassohead.

Unfortunately, when it came to web usability and database security, he didn’t quite put best practices into place.  So, instead of being able to forge ahead with the additions to the code the site owner was hoping for, I’m having to step back and redesign the scripts from a user’s standpoint, as well as put some basic security measures into place.

I’m learning plenty, finding lots of opportunities to get creative, and getting some good ideas from the prior developer, but I have one beef about this project.  Actually, it’s the same beef I have about all php projects.  When working in html and css, when the carefully crafted result isn’t quite what was expected, it’s very easy to point the finger at the browser (usually, though not always, Internet Explorer).  In the case of php, however, it’s not quite so easy to assign blame elsewhere.

The fact is, php does exactly what you tell it to do — which is not necessarily what you want it to do. In fact, I’m taking a break to write this blog post for the very reason that my %&#* script is doing exactly what I’m telling it to, and unfortunately, this seems to bear little relation to what I’d like it to be doing. So if anyone has a crystal ball for php, that I can just hand over to it and say, “Here, look into the ball and you’ll see just what I’m after here,” I’d love to know where to get one of my own.

In honor of Happy Mid-Year, I’d like to express some thoughts on the new Miva Merchant 5.5. A party atmosphere is definitely fitting here. Miva Merchant 5.5 not only provides a more aesthetic admin interface, it breaks out some handy new features for developers and store owners alike.

Among my favorites is the new Quick Find feature in the top navigation. The ability to instantly do a product, category, order or customer search without having to first expand multiple menus comes in very handy.

Another favorite is the new category and product sorting feature. Click through to a category, select Category Order: Show and simply enter the new sort order in the text boxes. Click Update to re-order multiple categories or products at once, or enter the new display order number in a single box and hit Enter on your keyboard to move that item to the new location.

The new SEO options are a great benefit to store owners. Products and Categories now have built-in meta tags and store owners can set up search engine friendly links with just a click.

Designers and developers will greatly benefit from the new Dreamweaver integration and the frameworks system. There are still a few bugs being worked out here, but these features show great promise for helping non-technical designers and store owners build an attractive, user friendly site.

Developers will also be pleased to have full access to the underlying template system. Category tree and attribute templates are now fully accessible without module purchases, making creation of a completely custom layout a breeze.

The launch of 5.5 hasn’t been without its hiccups, but the new MM management has shown great responsiveness in dealing with them. If you liked the earlier versions of Miva Merchant, the new MM5.5 will definitely please.

My only complaint about the new look is that the “Log in securely” link is no longer very prominent on the admin login page. My favorite webhost for both Miva Merchant hosting and non-Miva sites, Hostasaurus, suggested this easy to implement solution. Just add the following lines to your .htaccess file to force admin pages to secure so that remembering to click the link is no longer an issue.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /mm5/admin.mvc
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} !443
RewriteRule (.*) https://www.domain.com/mm5/admin.mvc [R]

Ok, maybe that’s an overstatement — nevertheless, Mr. Nielsen has some interesting points to make about the potential efficacy of the passive voice, particularly as it applies to website users and headline reading patterns.

Passive Voice Is Redeemed For Web Headings

With the beginning of a new year, what better time to take a good look at your website, and do a little housekeeping? A nifty Firefox Extension called Dust-Me Selectors is a very handy tool for cleaning up your site. The extension crawls your site (or just a single page if you prefer) looking for unused css selectors. It stores its results so that as it goes through your site it can cross off selectors that are being used on other pages, and at the end, you have a tidy list that you can use to clean things up.

Want to spruce up your site for the new year, but stumped on where to start? Check out this easy to follow graphics design tutorial from Prochroma. The Design Problems To Avoid section is especially good!

One of several projects that kept things hopping around here was the conversion of the DrapeStyle.com website from Miva Merchant 4 to Miva Merchant 5.

Tiny Queen Designs assisted with template customization and module installation as well as custom features such as lightbox installation, the ability to order multiple fabric samples from a single popup page and multiple display templates for related products, along with consultation services including recommendations to improve page download times.

A Dallas family is suing Australia’s Virgin Mobile company for using a photo of their sixteen year old daughter in an advertising campaign that features her along with the slogan “Dump your pen friend” and the tagline “Free text virgin to virgin.” The young girl’s photo was apparently taken at a church car wash, and later posted to Flickr by her youth counselor, who published the photo using a sharing license from Creative Commons that allows others to reuse work such as photos without violating copyright laws, provided they credit the photographer and indicate where the photo was taken. You can read the full article here.

So next time you’re automatically clicking to accept a license agreement on a website, give a little pause. Take a moment to actually read through the terms of use, and be sure you understand the fine print of what you’re agreeing to. You may be unintentionally giving others rights that you didn’t intend.

Unfortunately, not all hosts are as respectful of client ownership of their own data. This week, Pamela Hazelton of DesignExtend posted a nightmare story of an ecommerce client of hers who had no right through the standard hosting agreement to access, let alone control important customer information. Rather than repeat Pamela’s tale, you can read her story here .

Although the writing style is distinctly light-hearted, it is clear that author Patrick Griffiths takes best practice web design very seriously. If you’re interested in learning to build websites the right way, this book is an excellent read, and even advanced designers can learn a trick or two.

Thumbnail book cover copyright Patrick Griffiths. Reprinted with permission.