Introducing htmOWL LLC

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htmOWL logo

I am pleased to announce a reorganization under htmOWL LLC.

You can now find the same quality and value in Web development you found here over at my new web home.

Thanks to all my clients and associates who have supported my freelance efforts.

Please take the time to update your bookmarks and I hope to talk to you soon.

This site will be auto-forwarded to the new domain in the coming weeks.

Facebook like button hates popping up

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A recent client asked me to intall a popup box on his site that contained Facebook’s like button.

I wrapped the like button in a div and set the div to display:none. Using jQuery’s show() or fadeIn() functions worked fine on the box itself, but the like button was behaving inconsistently across browsers. In Firefox I believe it disappeared completely.

The solution, which is actually more of a workaround, is to keep the wrapping div visible, but set it’s margin outside the view of the window. I ended up absolutely positioning the div so that it’s right CSS property was -500 pixels and then using jQuery’s animate() function, I slid the box in so that it rested with a right property of 20 pixels or so.

The Facebook button liked that setup.

Hopefully somebody finds this and saves themselves a few minutes of troubleshooting.

Sync email messages across apple devices with IMAP

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It is possible to sync email messages from unique domains across your Mac, iPhone and iPad, without relying on a third party mail server like Gmail. Apple’s me.com or icloud.com addresses are also unnecessary.

For the last year I have been using my Gmail account to fetch messages from my rickmarkus.com e-mail address via POP. It was adequate. My biggest complaint was the incoming message delay in communications that had a more immediate need — Gmail can default to up to 60 minutes to fetch new messages from outside e-mail addresses.

An alternative? Accessing mail via the IMAP protocol.

IMAP, unlike the POP protocol, acts as a server that can update the status of messages (read, deleted, etc.) in multiple locations, making Gmail an unnecessary middle man.

Using IMAP to sync across devices is certainly not a new strategy (it was documented on MacWorld five years ago).

Today, IMAP is likely offered by a greater number of hosting providers and should be well documented in your host’s e-mail setup instructions. Be sure to use it over the more common POP alternative.

Common culprit for a sluggish WordPress site

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Many factors can affect the loading speed of a WordPress site, but in my experience it usually boils down to plugins.

WordPress is an excellent CMS in no small part due to its ease of customization. As users explore the full spectrum of possibilities, it’s easy to find oneself with a host of plugins that were added after the installation of the WordPress core files.

Simply put: less is more.

Most plugins will slow your site’s load time. Only install and activate plugins that are absolutely necessary.

Can plugins slow down your site even if they are deactivated? Some say yes. Others say no.

I tend to think that if a plugin is installed but deactivated, it can likely be deleted. Make it a best practice.

If you want to run some plugin load testing, developer Dave Clements suggests the P3 Plugin Performance Profiler and details its usage.

JavaScript ‘Click Me’ prank for beginners

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Those new to javaScript can start to get a feel for grabbing page elements and adding events by building a simple application.

The “Click Me” prank is a single button which displays on the page. When the user tries to click the button, the button moves away from the cursor.

You can view the prank here. Feel free to download the file and use it as you wish.

Let’s start with the markup and styling:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
	<title></title>
	<meta charset="utf-8">

	<style>

	#button {
		width:100px;
		height:50px;
		position:absolute;
		top:100px;
		left:100px;
	}

	</style>
</head>
<body>

	<button id="button">Click Me!</button>

<script></script>
</body>
</html>

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Best resources for aspiring Web developers

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Over the past year I have explored a variety of web development education media from traditional classes to books. Each has strengths and weaknesses — effectiveness will likely boil down to individual preference.

I thought I’d share two particular resources that I have found highly useful.

Nettuts+

Part of a larger collection of educational resources from Envato, Nettus+ offers online tutorials on HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP, along with a large number of popular libraries like jQuery.

Additionally, they have full “courses” — usually a lengthy series of video tutorials — they offer via a subscription fee.

When Nettuts+ launched their premium service last year they offered a course titled “30 Days to Learn HTML and CSS” for free. That course is still available as a no-cost example.

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Tumblr approves new Hipster theme

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Hipster Theme

Tumblr has added a second theme I designed and coded to their template offerings.

The Hipster theme can be installed by following this link.

Tumblr theme approval: My experience

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Upon submitting my first design to the Tumblr Theme Garden, I was unfamiliar with the approval process. I had questions.

Unfortunately, there are no quick answers.

After submitting your theme, you will be given access to a theme management page. The link appears at the top of the Theme Garden upon login.

Tumblr Manage Your Themes

Inside will be listed your theme name and a link you may use to manually share your theme with others while it’s under the review process.

And that’s all that is provided. You may click on your theme name to make changes to what you have submitted, but otherwise … crickets.

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Markus template added to Tumblr Theme Garden

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Tumblr approved my theme to their official theme depot.

Here’s a detailed list of features:

Color Selection:

Font Selection:

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Introducing the Markus theme for Tumblr

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Markus Theme

If you are a fan of simple, clean, easily customizable templates, you will enjoy the Markus theme.

The free theme allows users to quickly change colors, headlines and fonts.

The theme is also optimized for Disqus comments, Twitter, Flickr and Google Analytics.

The best way to get the full experience is to install it yourself.

UPDATE: The theme has been added to the Tumblr Theme Garden. Users can find information on updates and support by following this link.