Contact details
Address: 3 Bowyer House
Vermont Road
London SW18 2AE
Telephone: +44 (0)20 31382049
E-mail: hello@shapeshed.com
3 Dec 2007
In the final part of the series we look at how to optimise the front end code on your site and cut response times by up to 50%. Read more
28 Nov 2007
Fed up of writing Web 0.1 HTML for emails? You are not alone. Join the campaign to sort out standards support in HTML clients. Read more
26 Jun 2007
Tessellation has been used for many years in wallpaper and other design environments where a large space of indeterminate size needs to be covered. Using CSS similar techniques can be used to deliver designs that look good and stretch to the width of the screen. Read more
9 Jun 2007
Creating a website is often a chaotic process. As the deadline looms it is easy to let quality slip. Here is the checklist I follow to ensure things are not left out. Read more
30 May 2007
Coding navigation in CSS and XHTML properly is important for both search engines and accessibility. Here's my take on how to do it, although I would be very interested to hear what others think. Read more
14 May 2007
Front-end coding is certainly a craft and there are some amazing people doing it. When I visit a good site I often rummage around in the undergrowth to learn from the Masters. Here are ten practices I commonly see from the best coders. Read more
8 May 2007
Managing colour schemes in CSS can be difficult. With a bit of PHP you can take control of colour schemes in your stylesheets. Read more
18 Apr 2007
Allowing sites to be updated by non-technical staff is essential. WYSIWYG editors are a must in Content Management Systems, but can cause frustration too. Read more
16 Apr 2007
Negative margins in CSS have good cross-browser support and are underused. Using negative margins you can improve typographic layouts without compromising the semantics of your document. Read more
25 Mar 2007
With a bit of PHP you can add an additional layer of logic to your CSS. You might choose to add seasonality to your site or change the layout entirely. You are limited only by your imagination. Read more
8 Mar 2007
Here's a short tutorial on how to style quotes with CSS whilst making sure you use the right XHTML tools for the job. Read more
6 Mar 2007
Coding CSS can quickly run into difficulties with different browsers interpreting code in different ways. Designs will never look the same in every browser but you can help yourself by using a default style set when you start coding. Read more
22 Feb 2007
CSS Cookbook is a solid practical guide to using CSS on a day to day basis. A great book for a beginners, it shows how to resolve common CSS problems. Read more
12 Feb 2007
A short tutorial showing how to apply drop shadows to images on your site with CSS. Read more
31 Jan 2007
Here's a quick look about how you can give your site some wallpaper. Whilst you are moving the furniture around there is also some traditional wallpaper design for inspiration. Read more
28 Jan 2007
Curved boxes are straight forward to do in CSS. Here's a quick tutorial of how to achieve curved boxes in CSS and what's to come in CSS 3. Read more
13 Jan 2007
At some stage everyone has laboriously copied and pasted contact details from a website into their address book. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just click a graphic and see the details turn up in your address book? Read more
11 Jan 2007
CSS offers designers a great deal of control over text and has good browser support. Many web designers overlook Typography, a crucial element of design. This article looks at a best practice method for controlling font size on your website. Read more
3 Jan 2007
After a hearty festive period I need to trim down my belly. Whilst I'm at it I might as well trim down a few CSS files. Read more
21 Dec 2006
Forms are often overlooked from a design perspective, resulting in frustrated users. With a bit of CSS and minimal effort you can easily make your forms more usable. Read more
13 Dec 2006
Understanding how the DOM works and using it in your CSS can help produce mean, lean code. Here's a quick overview of how it works. Read more
9 Dec 2006
A tutorial showing how overlapping tabbed navigation is possible in CSS and can be cross-browser compatible, accessible and javascript free. Read more
8 Dec 2006
Software comes and goes and rarely is there a piece of 'must have' software. Firebug, an extension for Firefox, deserves to be to be heralded as an outstanding piece of software and something no web developer should be without. Read more
15 Nov 2006
Coding CSS can quickly get out of control. By following a few simple guidelines you can make your life a lot easier. Read more
29 Oct 2006
Associating icons with links can in my opinion be a powerful design device. With a small amount of CSS it is simple to add icons into your links. Read more
7 Oct 2006
The second in a series of good practices for writing XHTML and CSS looking at writing clean, maintainable code and dealing with browser hell problems. Read more
28 Sep 2006
Internet Explorer 7 is just around the corner and there have been warnings from Microsoft that existing hacks will break layouts in IE7. By limiting the use of hacks your CSS can be both backwards and forwards compliant. Read more
26 Sep 2006
In two articles I’m going to outline my opinion on what you need to understand and write high quality XTHML and CSS. The articles will focus on producing code that stands up to the rigors of the web and future proofs code. The articles are aimed at coders starting out and looking to get to grips with writing professional front end code. Of course if you don’t agree with something the comments box is there for you to add your opinion. In part 1 I’m going to look at what you need to get off the ground. Read more
16 Aug 2006
I recently came across a problem that I couldn't find a solution to. In IE6, IE5.5 and IE5 text within tables was not inheriting the font declarations from my CSS. I declared the font size on the body tag and for all other elements it works fine: Read more
13 Jun 2006
The ever amazing Veerle Pieters has just published an extensive list of CSS resources. There is pretty much everything you need in there - from layout to specifications. Don't take my word for it - go there and enjoy it! Read more
1 Jun 2006
I had to do a template today and I took the opportunity to code using no hacks. With the impending launch of Internet Explorer 7 there are going to be many sites that won't render properly because of existing Internet Explorer hacks. Read more
16 May 2006
With mobile access to the web becoming more prolific it may well be the time for businesses to ensure that their online presence covers delivery over mobile platforms. The good news is that if the site is build using modern methods it is relatively easy and cheap to do. Read more
10 Apr 2006
Until today I wasn't aware of the Fangs plugin for Firefox. Whilst reading an article on evaluating accessibility over at 456 Berea Street I came across the plugin. Roger at 456 Berea Street recommends that developers use this plugin to assess accessibility and I fully concur with him. Read more
Address: 3 Bowyer House
Vermont Road
London SW18 2AE
Telephone: +44 (0)20 31382049
E-mail: hello@shapeshed.com
