360° Flash Panoramas by EP
Contestants – 2009 Miss Mission Beach Bikini Contest in San Diego
panorama photos of Wesfield Horton Plaza Main Entrance, Lyceum Theater Entrance
W3Schools is a web developer’s portal, with tutorials and references relating to web development subjects, including HTML, XML, CSS, and JavaScript. W3Schools is free of charge, and is funded through text and display advertising. The tutorials and references on the website and the related code are proprietary.
It is created and owned by Refsnes Data, a Norwegian family-owned software development and consulting company.
Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɪrlənd/ ( listen), locally [ˈaɾlənd]; Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen); Ulster Scots: Airlann, Latin: Hibernia) is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain. Politically, the sovereign state of Ireland (described as the Republic of Ireland) covers five-sixths of the island, with Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom) covering the remainder in the north-east.
The first settlements in Ireland date from 8000 BC. By 200 BC Celtic migration and influence had come to dominate the island. Relatively small scale settlements of both the Vikings and Normans in the Middle Ages gave way to complete English domination by the 1600s. Protestant English rule resulted in the marginalisation of the Catholic majority, although in the north-east, Protestants were in the majority due to the Plantation of Ulster. Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. A famine in the mid-1800s caused large-scale death and emigration. The Irish War of Independence ended in 1921 with the British Government proposing a truce and during which the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, creating the Irish Free State. This was a Dominion within the British Empire, with effective internal independence but still constitutionally linked with the British Crown. Northern Ireland, consisting of six of the 32 Irish counties which had been established as a devolved region under the 1920 Government of Ireland Act, immediately exercised its option under the treaty to retain its existing status within the United Kingdom. The Free State left the Commonwealth to become a republic in 1949. In 1973 both parts of Ireland joined the European Community. Conflict in Northern Ireland led to much unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s, which subsided following a peace deal in 1998.
The population of the island is slightly over 6 million (2006), with 4.5 million in the Republic and an estimated almost 1.75 million in Northern Ireland. This is a significant increase from a modern historic low in the 1960s, but still much lower than the peak population of over 8 million in the early 19th century, prior to the Great Famine.
The name Ireland derives from the name of the Celtic goddess Ériu (in modern Irish, Éire) with the addition of the Germanic word land. Most other western European names for Ireland, such as Spanish Irlanda, derive from the same source.
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Province :: Population :: Area (km²) :: Area (sq mi) :: Largest city
Connacht :: 504,121 :: 17,713 :: 6,839 :: Galway
Leinster :: 2,295,123 :: 19,774 :: 7,635 :: Dublin
Munster :: 1,173,340 :: 24,608 :: 9,501 :: Cork
Ulster :: 1,993,918 :: 24,481 :: 9,452 :: Belfast
Dublin (pronounced [ˈdʌblɨn] or [ˈdʊblɨn] or [ˈdʊbəlɪn]) is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath ([bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh]) or Áth Cliath ([aːh cliə(ɸ)]); the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning “black pool”. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island’s primary city following the Norman invasion. Today, it is ranked 10th (up from 13th in 2008) in the Global Financial Centres Index, has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city, and is nominated by the GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha – which places Dublin amongst the top 25 cities in the world. Dublin is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the island of Ireland as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administrative function, economy and industry.
NAME
The name Dublin is derived from the Irish name Dubh Linn (meaning “black pool”). In Irish, Dubh is correctly pronounced as Dhuv or Dhuf. The city’s original pronunciation is preserved in Old Norse as Dyflin, Old English as Difelin, and modern Manx as Divlyn. Historically, in the traditional Gaelic script used for the Irish language, bh was written with a dot over the b, rendering ‘Duḃ Linn’ or ‘Duḃlinn’. Those without a knowledge of Irish omitted the dot and spelled the name as Dublin.
The common name for the city in Modern Irish is Baile Átha Cliath (meaning “town of the hurdled ford”). It was first written as such in 1368 in the Annals of Ulster. Áth Cliath is a place-name referring to a fording point of the Liffey in the vicinity of Heuston Station. Baile Átha Cliath was later applied to an early Christian monastery which is believed to have been situated in the area of Aungier Street currently occupied by Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church.
The subsequent Viking settlement was on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey, to the East of Christchurch, in the area known as Wood Quay. The Dubh Linn was a lake used by the Vikings to moor their ships and was connected to the Liffey by the Poddle. The Dubh Linn and Poddle were covered during the early 1700s, and as the city expanded they were largely forgotten about. The Dubh Linn was situated where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle.
See the video spokesman demo on daft.ie website here
Joomla
1. Download script (always from official website)
http://joomlacode.org/gf/download/frsrelease/10785/42655/Joomla_1.5.14-Stable-Full_Package.zip
2. Now there are 2 ways depending of your hosting.
-unzip it localy if you not managing webserver yourself to local folder and upload all files as below:
Then just go to your website http://yourdomain.com/ in the browser and installation will start automatically.
3. That needs to be done about 24h before instalation as DNS changes are propagating with average TTL 24h (it could be even 36h for some hosts). The domain name and pointed it to my server. You need to point DNS record to your webserver. That is basic stuff. I set the domain up on my server and created a mysql database for this application. That’s more basic stuff.
How to create SQL database? It is very simple and you can do it in the Control Panel from you hosting provider, or locally if you are administrator of web server.
The first screen asks you to choose your language. Simple enough. Since I speak English, I kept the default “English” setting and hit the “Next” button.
The next screen checks the server to see if everything is set correctly and if Joomla is able to utilize it’s resources. In my case, everything checked out fine, but I was told that the “configuration.php” was not writable. After reading the instructions, I found out that this is a regular occurance. I actually didn’t see a “configuration.php” file. I clicked to the “Common Issues & Error Handling” page and read about it. The page gave a few options:
* Do a manual installation
* Create a completely empty file, name it as configuration.php and upload it to your joomla_root/ directory before commencing the installation. Joomla! will then enter the details as the installation proceeds as normal.
* Wait until the end of the installation when at Step 7 the Finished Screen is displayed a list of the variables and settings for the configuration.php file will be displayed. These should then be copied and pasted into a new text document and saved as configuration.php
* As with the last suggestion wait until the end and using the information provided in Step7 manually alter the content of the configuration.php-dist file (this is simply an example file and not a part of the functioning installation) included with all Joomla! installations. There is clearly a greater chance with this method of making mistakes so greater care should be taken. Once the variables have been correctly edited, change the name of this file and save it as configuration.php
I decided to go with creating an empty file named, “configuration.php” and upload it to the root directory. I also chmod the file to 777.
This time, everything checked out, so I clicked the “Next” button.
The next screen is nothing but the license agreement. I read the entire thing and understood it. Then, I clicked the “Next” button.
The next screen is the database configuration. Remember that empty database you have sitting there? Well, you have to fill in the required information.
I entered the information and clicked the “Next” button.
The next screen is the FTP configuration. This is the first time I have come across something like this, but I filled in the FTP information. They suggest to create a local FTP account and not use one that can control the entire server.
Since I am getting slow in my old age, I placed in the FTP username and password and then clicked the autofind path button. That worked and filled in the path automatically.
The next screen is the main configuration. I placed in the main (Super Administrator) email address and password. Then, I clicked the “Install Sample Data” button. I was told that the sample data imported properly.
A word of warning: My first attempt at installing this application gave me an error message that read, “Error: the XML response that was returned from the server is invalid.” on the FTP page and when I tried to install the sample data on the main configuration page. The reason for this had to do with the “configuration.php” file. I needed to upload one and set the permissions correctly. After I did that, I was able to pass those pages. You can read more about the issue here.
The last page looked like this…
Basically, the page gives you the option to view your site or log in to the admin section. I always like to log in to the admin section so I can get the URL. Also, the system says to delete the entire “installation” directory. Lastly, I like to download the now populated config file for backup.
To log in to the admin area, the username is “admin.” Obviously, you should change this.
Once you are logged in to ADMIN CP you can make all changes there including template.
go to Extensions – > Template Manager:
and select one of templates with avaliable buttons as above:
by defult there are only 2, but you can easy download some and put it up via FTP in the folder:
/templates/
some free templates avaliable here
and they gonna show up in CP,just click activate and thats it, you can with one click have unlimited number of designs to choose from for your website.
Plus there are thousands of extensions and plugins:
What can make your website even more attractive
More help http://help.joomla.org/content/category/15/99/132/.
What is Joomla?
Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular Web site software available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone.
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What is WordPress?
WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.
see WordPress official website
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WordPress Usability
As Playing with Fire has pointed out Joomla has a lot of catching up to do on the Usability front, WordPress makes simple tasks really easy to accomplish with few clicks to get a task done such as adding an image, publishing a page or publishing a news item.
For the website owner running a business website or a blog I haven’t found a CMS that has better usability than WordPress.
Training
When I train clients on how to manage their websites It usually takes about 40 minutes with WordPress, often a few hours with Joomla, though Joomla has more powerful features, every day tasks the client wants to learn take much longer to train.
Unfortunately once a client has received training in Joomla they often need tips or hints at how to perform a task again a few weeks later, that scenario hasn’t come up once with WordPress.
Why use WordPress over Joomla
If you have a small to medium size business I believe WordPress is currently your best open source option to manage and update your website on a daily basis, tasks are very easy to accomplish, everything is well thought out and I find myself saying this to a lot of clients when training “Everything is where you’d expect it to be” .
WordPress has an amazing community around it and the in depth documentation is second to none, as a designer or a website owner you’ll find everything you’ll need by the very people that make it and then also by enthusiasts such as myself.
Why use Joomla over WordPress
My programmer voiced to me that the main pro for using Joomla is it’s power and flexibility, and its true, with me designing and my developer programming we can make Joomla do anything.
The capabilities of Joomla are endless and custom database work is an area where Joomla particularly shines.
Joomla has a complex multiple user privilege system with user registration and layered content privileges. WordPress does not have a traditional privilege system at all.
When multiple user groups are needed I turn to Joomla, if a business requires multiple users be be able to login and view the website with different content that is user privilege dependent then I believe Joomla is the best open source CMS for the task.
Joomla also has an amazing community based around it, but the official documentation has great depth but is poorly organized, I found the best documentation from external sources.
Conclusion
Joomla was designed from the ground up as a CMS, WordPress as a publishing platform that has evolved into a CMS, giving each unique strengths and weaknesses.
I think both platforms are fantastic for managing a website, WordPress for small to medium business and Joomla for a website that requires multiple user privileges or custom database work.
WordPress is well known for its ease of installation. Under most circumstances installing WordPress is a very simple process and takes less than five minutes to complete. Many web hosts now offer tools (e.g. Fantastico) to automatically install WordPress for you. However, if you wish to install WordPress yourself, the following guide will help, and with WordPress 2.7 and future versions, upgrading is even easier.
The following installation guide will help you, whether you go for the Famous 5 Minute Installation, or require the more detailed installation guide.
Before you begin the install, there are few things you need to have and do.
You need access to your site and its directory and software to proceed with the installation. These are:
Begin your installation by:
Here’s the quick version of the instructions, for those that are already comfortable with performing such installations. More detailed instructions follow.
That’s it! WordPress should now be installed.
Download and unzip the WordPress package from http://wordpress.org/download/.
The WordPress package will extract into a folder called wordpress in the same directory that you downloaded latest.tar.gz.
If you are using a hosting provider, you may already have a WordPress database set up for you, or there may be an automated setup solution to do so. Check your hosting provider’s support pages or your control panel for clues about whether or not you’ll need to create one manually.
If you determine that you’ll need to create one manually, follow the instructions for accessing phpMyAdmin on various servers, or follow the instructions for Using cPanel or Using phpMyAdmin below.
If you are installing WordPress on your own web server, follow the Using phpMyAdmin or Using the MySQL Client instructions below to create your WordPress username and database.
If you have only one database and it is already in use, you can install WordPress in it – just make sure to have a distinctive prefix for your tables, to avoid over-writing any existing database table.
Main article: Using cPanel
If your hosting provider uses cPanel, you may follow these instructions to create your WordPress username and database.
$dbh = mysql_connect("hostname", "username", "<PASSWORD HERE>") or die ("message");
mysql_select_db("databasename");
If your web server has phpMyAdmin installed, you may follow these instructions to create your WordPress username and database.
Note: These instructions are written for phpMyAdmin 2.6.0; the phpMyAdmin user interface can vary slightly between versions.
You can create MySQL users and databases quickly and easily by running mysql from the shell. The syntax is shown below and the dollar sign is the command prompt:
$ mysql -u adminusername -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 5340 to server version: 3.23.54
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.
mysql> CREATE DATABASE databasename;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON databasename.* TO "wordpressusername"@"hostname"
-> IDENTIFIED BY "password";
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)
mysql> EXIT
Bye
$
The example shows:
If you need to write these values somewhere, avoid writing them in the system that contains the things protected by them. You need to remember the value used for databasename, wordpressusername, hostname, and password. Of course, since they are already in ) or will be, shortly) your wp-config.php file, there is no need to put them somewhere else, too.
You can either create and edit the wp-config.php file yourself, or you can skip this step and let WordPress try to do this itself when you run the installation script (step 5) (you’ll still need to tell WordPress your database information).
(For more extensive details, and step by step instructions for creating the configuration file and your secret key for password security, please see Editing wp-config.php.)
Return to where you extracted the WordPress package in Step 1, rename the file wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, and open it in a text editor.
Enter your database information under the section labeled
// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
Enter your secret key values under the section labeled
* Authentication Unique Keys.
Save the wp-config.php file.
For information on enabling SSL in WordPress 2.6, see SSL and Cookies in WordPress 2.6.
Now you will need to decide where on your web site you’d like your blog to appear:
Note: The location of your root web directory in the filesystem on your web server will vary across hosting providers and operating systems. Check with your hosting provider or system administrator if you do not know where this is.
Point your favorite web browser to start the installation script.
If WordPress can’t find the wp-config.php file, it will tell you and offer to try to create and edit the file itself. (You can do also do this directly by loading wp-admin/setup-config.php in your web browser.) WordPress will ask you the database details and write them to a new wp-config.php file. If this works, you can go ahead with the installation; otherwise, go back and create, edit, and upload the wp-config.php file yourself (step 3).
The following screenshots show how the installation progresses. Notice in the screen, Entering the details, you enter your Weblog title and your e-mail address. Also displayed is a check-box asking if you would like your blog to appear in search engines like Google and Technorati. Leave the box checked if you would like your blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines, and uncheck the box if you want to block search engines, but allow normal visitors. Note all this information can be changed later in your Administration Panels.
Version 2.7
WordPress Version 2.7, Entering details
WordPress Version 2.7, All done!
The following are some of the most common installation problems. For more information and troubleshooting for problems with your WordPress installation, check out FAQ Installation and FAQ Troubleshooting.
I see lots of Headers already sent errors. How do I fix this?
You probably introduced a syntax error in editing wp-config.php.
My page comes out gibberish. When I look at the source I see a lot of “<?php ?>” tags.
If the <?php ?> tags are being sent to the browser, it means your PHP is not working properly. All PHP code is supposed to be executed before the server sends the resulting HTML to your web browser. (That’s why it’s called a preprocessor.) Make sure your web server meets the requirements to run WordPress, that PHP is installed and configured properly, or contact your hosting provider or system administrator for assistance.
I keep getting an Error connecting to database message but I’m sure my configuration is correct.
Try resetting your MySQL password manually. If you have access to MySQL via shell, try issuing:
SET PASSWORD FOR 'wordpressusername'@'hostname' = OLD_PASSWORD('password');
If you are using a version of MySQL prior to 4.1, use PASSWORD instead of OLD_PASSWORD. If you do not have shell access, you should be able to simply enter the above into an SQL query in phpMyAdmin. Failing that, you may need to use your host’s control panel to reset the password for your database user.
My image/MP3 uploads aren’t working.
If you use the Rich Text Editor on a blog that’s installed in a subdirectory, and drag a newly uploaded image into the editor field, the image may vanish a couple seconds later. This is due to a problem with TinyMCE (the rich text editor) not getting enough information during the drag operation to construct the path to the image or other file correctly. The solution is to NOT drag uploaded images into the editor. Instead, click and hold on the image and select “Send to Editor.”
For installation instructions in other languages, see WordPress in Your Language.
Detailed information about Installing Multiple Blogs is available.
If you have a sufficiently powerful home computer and a sufficiently fast broadband connection, you may want to avoid certain hosting charges by using your own computer as a server. The following tutorials will show you how to setup a server environment and install WordPress on your home computer.
Manual installation of WordPress on a local server can be painful and time consuming, especially for users lacking technical proficiency. Many users may find that using a pre-integrated software appliance is an easier way to get up and running with WordPress, especially in combination with virtual machine software (e.g., VMWare, VirtualBox, Xen HVM, KVM).
A software appliance allows users to altogether skip manual installation of WordPress and its dependencies, and instead deploy a self-contained system that requires little to no setup, in just a couple of minutes.
Full info: http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress
Your portfolio is the showcase of your work, your skills and your potential for your future employers. The more time and effort you dedicate for a usable and nice-looking design, the higher are your chances for getting better account balance in the end of the month. So how can you make sure your portfolio is better than the portfolios of your competitors? How can you point employer’s attention to your works?
Creating a successful portfolio is easier than you think. Focus on simplicity, ease of use, hitting your objectives, professionally managing the project, and you’ll end up with a successful portfolio. In this article we’ll review 5 pitfalls that commonly plague portfolio design. Then we’ll cover Portfolio Tips that if carefully considered and well executed will deliver quality results for your portfolio.
There are some common mistakes designers make in their portfolios. Let’s review these common pitfalls first to make sure you don’t fall into one of these traps.
Clarity and focus should permeate your portfolio. With language don’t use twenty words when seven will do. Push your best content to the front. When possible place your important content above the fold. Avoid meandering in your language or paths in your website. Keep your portfolio to the minimum of levels deep, while still accomplishing your goals.
Over at Copyblogger there is an article that covers a simple list of writing tips from the man known for cutting out the fluff from writing in the early twentieth century. See the article Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips for
Writing Well. Hemingway championed using short sentences, strong forceful language, and clarity. All principles that make for effective writing on the Web.
The Portfolio of Evan Eckard is an example of a website that promotes the work from the first page and Gets to it quickly.
In the article Creating The Perfect Portfolio author Collis Ta’eed offers portfolio advice from the perspective of a potential employer. One of his section titled Get to it on the reasons to limit the number of portfolio pieces you have and make finding your best portfolio pieces easy. A potential employer needs to review many potential applicants quickly. You are more likely to make the cut if your best work is promoted prominently. The Portfolio of Evan Eckard is an example of a website that promotes the work from the first page and Gets to it quickly.
There is an issue of wanting to say too much in too little space when creating your portfolio. There is a balance that needs to be achieved with how many pages deep you have users clicking for more information and how much information you try to fit on a page. This is an issue to be aware of when constructing your portfolio.
The tighter you pack your portfolio the more likely it will appear cluttered. If you do need to put a large amount of information on a page see the post Grid and Column Designs over at Web Designer’s wall. It will give you some great ideas on how you can use the grid to your advantage when presenting a vast amount of information.
This article will give you some great ideas on how you can use the grid to your advantage when presenting a vast amount of information.
You’re less likely to go wrong if you keep things simple and organized. You can apply this mindset to all areas of your portfolio. Less is more. The more you try to do in your portfolio the more chances there are for things to go wrong.
If you’re trying to showcase eighteen services you offer you’ll have less success than promoting a few prominently. If you show too many types of work or try to show too much work of any type than you’ll likely to drown the user. They won’t find your prominent pieces that show how great your work is.
Designers have an urge to stand out as unique. The last place to follow this urge is in your site’s navigation. It’s a matter of numbers. If a large number of people coming to see your portfolio will have difficulty navigating through it, your portfolio will fail to meet its goals.
On the blog Astheria in the post My Last Portfolio Sucked, Yours Might Too the author points out some excellent examples of navigation choices to avoid. In this article Kyle Meyer reviews 200 portfolios and points out the problems with using them. Navigation problems made up over 32 percent of the issues encountered.
This article presents some excellent examples of navigation choices to avoid.
Consider the purpose of any decorative element you bring to your portfolio. If they fit your goals and compliment your work that’s great. Otherwise remove them. White space helps to give a professional feel to your portfolio. The more visual elements you try to push into an area the more difficult it will be to maintain a feeling of professionalism.
Consider visual hierarchy as a way to lead your viewing through the page. At Boxes and Arrows the article Visible Narratives: Understanding Visual Organization explains the principles of visual Hierarchies.
In the interview Where Visual Design Meets Usability – An Interview with Luke Wroblewski, Part II both page hierarchy and visual clutter are addressed. In the article he summarizes some of Edward Tufte’s teachings on avoiding superfluous data.
Below you’ll find 12 suggestions which you can use to improve your portfolio or get it right first time when designing from scratch. Please keep in mind that some of these suggestions require patience, time and quite a lot of planning. However, it’s worth it. And the examples provided below show that one can achieve outstanding results with just following these 12 simple rules.
As with any project it will help you to clarify your goals before you begin. Once you know your goals then it will effect every decision you make about creating your portfolio.
Below are some common portfolio goals. Also, be aware that often portfolios try to accomplish more than one goal. Or, consider creating more than one portfolio that serves a different purpose.
There are multiple reasons to have more than one portfolio. You may have more than one skill set that you would like to promote separately. You may want to create a portfolio that is targeted to landing a specific job and send it to a marketing director at a company. They’ll appreciate that. It saves them time and shows you really want the job. Even if its a one page portfolio.
Even if you are filling the portfolio with the same work you will still benefit by having multiple portfolios within different groups online. Take the case of Nik Ainley, a UK-based designer and illustrator. He has multiple portfolios that all serve complimentary goals. He chose to participate in multiple portfolio-based communities to build his reputation and network with other designers. His website Shiny Binary has received over 1 million visitors.
He has a Portfolio on Behance. He’s involved in numerous groups there and has a large Inner Circle. And it prominently displays that he is available for Freelancing, Long-Term Contract, Full-Time Hire, or Consulting work.
Nick has a very popular Portfolio on DeviantArt. He’s been a member there since 2004. He has over 80 Portfolio pieces and over 1,000 comments on his work there. He has a lot of fans that have his works marked as favorites.
He is less active though he does have a Gallery on CPLUV. His Portfolio on Depthcore is really good. This site features artists that have to be invited to contribute. So, the quality of work on this site is really high.
Overall Nik Ainley shows how you can benefit from having multiple portfolios online even when the work you are showcasing is similar in each portfolio. That is because you are taping into a different community with each portfolio you create. You’re meeting people, exposing them to your work, and making new connections by placing your portfolio within different communities.
Some portfolio communities to look at:
The more you target your design to a specific market the more it will speak to the visitor within that market. If you are looking to land corporate clients in a conservative industry than present them with work that is clean, marketable, and looks successful. Don’t showcase edgy, grungy, or arty work unless that’s the market you’re going after.
In the article The Secret to Getting a Lot of Web Design Work the author has a section “Design the portfolio you think your clients want to see”. This is the point. Make your portfolio focused on your target market. If you’re trying to get clients then design keeping these clients in mind.
There are more benefits outlined to targeting a specific market. In the article Finding a Target Market the author Barbara Pellow discusses both Vertical and Horizontal Approaches to target marketing. She identifies some of the additional benefits of target marketing. Speaking to a specific audience allows you to become a recognized expert in the field easier. Targeting your market can differentiate your services.
Consider this example: a web designer that specializes in designer Law Firm websites has a different target market than a company that builds Rock Band websites. The language, graphics, and approach sch portfolios take will differ greatly. If a web designer has numerous successful Law Firm websites in their portfolio it will make it easier for a potential law firm client to choose them over another designer or design agency.
A designer is more likely to stand out by targeting a specific market. Their success rate at landing jobs in a specific niche and being perceived as an expert in that area will increase. Take a look at the Dan Gilroy Design Portfolio for an example of a website that successfully targets a specific market.
Having a target market in mind is essential to choosing your portfolio pieces and your approach to designing your website.
Navigation is a top consideration as a user being able to view your portfolio is of paramount importance. See the point about Uncommon Navigation above. Some other considerations are using web standards. This is especially true if you’re looking for a job as a web designer today. Read this article Five steps to a better design portfolio by Jefferey Veen. In it he discusses some issues around best practices in your portfolio in relation to how you will be perceived by a potential employer.
Also, don’t discount the search bots. Work toward better Search Engine Optimization. The blog at SEOBook is a rich resource on this topic. Good SEO will improve the ability for potential clients to find you through the major search engines.
If there are technologies inherent in your job description then it may make sense to build your portfolio with that technology. Sure Flash is cool, but is it right for your website. Probably not if you’re a logo designer. Though if you’re trying to land a job as a Flash Designer at a top notch Interactive Design Agency like Story Worldwide than its the right choice.
The New Media Designer Portfolio of Mathew V. Robinson presents an easy to use navigation. Essential to the success of a Flash site, it’s fast loading. His portfolio is highly usable and looks great.
Consider maintainability when deciding on technologies. Simplifying your portfolio as much as possible will ease the time you’ll have to spend on upgrading or making changes to the website. You should consider how easy it is to add and remove portfolio pieces.
The easier it is the more likely it is you’ll update your portfolio on a regular basis. Jamie Gregory has an simple, elegant, and effective one page portfolio. He would have no trouble adding or swapping out pieces from this portfolio.
Consider enhancement when looking at technology. Often a wise choice is to add a little Javascript or other technologies rather than rely on them. It can help you to achieve your goals without overly complicating your portfolio design. When visiting Marius Roosendaal’s Portfolio take a moment to explore how clean the source code is. This is done while providing elegant Javascript-based solutions.
Choose between creating a static site or utilizing a CMS (Content Management System). One page portfolios are really easy to update and a good way to quickly show your best work. You’ll also have no issues with navigation, as there is only one page. Though there is little flexibility there and you’re not leveraging some additional features that content management systems have for promoting your work, like having a blog.
One of the key ingredients to creating a successful portfolio is to approach it like you would a client project. Manage this project as professionally as you would any other web project you take on. Set aside the time needed to achieve the goals you’ve outlined for the portfolio. Make sure you set up deadlines so that you have key targets to hit.
Your portfolio should be limited to the best work you will promote within the scope of your goals. If you are taking on website redesigns then your portfolio should consist only of that, not logo designs or print work that you’ve done. If its not the work you’re targeting than don’t include it. You will be more successful.
Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain redesigned his website 31three.com back in May of 2007. Before doing so he used to have print and logo designs in his portfolio. In the redesign he clarified his target market by focusing on assisting developers with design. His current portfolio only presents website and interface designs he has created because that is the type of work he is looking for. This portfolio is very successful on many points and has been referenced in many articles throughout the blogosphere.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t do logo or identity design. He does do that, but he’s recognized that logo design is not why people come to him. They come to him for website designs for new or existing sites and logo design may be a part of the package. See more about his process at this article Redesigning the ExpressionEngine Site.
Certainly some designers or firms will have mixed bag portfolios. The more types of work you do successfully the greater challenge you’ll have in promoting that work. When possible keep the work on display to a minimum. Displaying 10 of your best pieces of work is often better than displaying 50 good pieces.
Contact information should be easy to find and in the case of contact forms they should be easy to use. Prominently place this kind of information. The Hicksdesign Portfolio has contact information displayed well on every page.
It helps to build confidence with your target market to clarify your role in the projects you present in your portfolio. If you designed the website, but someone else coded it, then state that. If you did everything then confidently declare that as well.
The Portfolio of Cameron Moll employs this strategy on each portfolio piece.
Providing case studies gives a deeper view into your process. Once a potential employer or client has narrowed down their list they may come back and start to take more time with your portfolio. Case studies will show how competent and thorough your process is. David Airey does a good job of providing easy to find case studies on his portfolio pieces.
Client testimonials are effective for persuading those that visit your site that you will deliver on your promises. It increases the level of professionalism when tastefully incorporating testimonial into your portfolio. David Airey has an article titled The Importance of Client Testimonials that has useful information on this subject.
Your work needs to stand out foremost in your portfolio. If your portfolio site design overpowers the work on display then you’re not likely to meet your site goals. Consider carefully every visual element you add to the design. When unsure shoot for simplicity.
Nick La has a portfolio design that shows his design style and interests. The unique background illustration stands out. It doesn’t interfere with the usability of the site, but it gives it a beautiful wrapper. For some this would be to much and interfere with the work being presented. Though the work presented in his portfolio works fine. He sets the portfolio pieces against a solid white background in a strong column-based design. The work presented fits with the style of the sites background illustration. Pulling off this kind of personal infusion into the design of your site is difficult to achieve.
Doing this well makes your portfolio not only memorable but remarkable! Nick La achieved tremendous success with his portfolio for N.design Studio. Being remarkable in the design of your portfolio often means bringing to fruition the personal design taste unique to you that has been cultivated over the years.
Seth Goden has some excellent points about being remarkable in his post How to be remarkable. Here is a quote from the post “Remarkability lies in the edges. The biggest, fastest, slowest, richest, easiest, most difficult.” This is a good point, but there is a huge risk involved in that pursuing the remarkable edge you ride right off the cliff.
Carefully consider how you will blend your remarkable personal elements into your portfolio without sacrificing usability and without misaligning the balance between the prominence of your portfolio and the design of the site itself.
There are many techniques for promoting your portfolio. Consider joining professional online communities and networking with other community members. We’ve already looked at some communities that you can place a portfolio on. Place a thread in a design forum about your portfolio. Submit your design to gallery websites. Almost any technique that can be used to promote a website can be used to promote your portfolio.
Add a blog to your website. The more traffic you can pull to your website the more exposure your portfolio will receive. Dan Cederholm was an early adopter of this technique and achieved fame with his blog Simplebits. His portfolio resides successfully on the same site.
Leveraging your work involves linking to it when you send emails. Include a link to your portfolio site in your Facebook profile or any other community you belong to. Infuse your portfolio site within your communications and your online identity.
It always helps to have a view toward the future. Your portfolio needs are likely to change many times as you develop different projects over the course of your career. Though even looking at the whole of 2008 and not only at the next week can make a big difference in the choices you make when creating your portfolio.
Putting it all together: a successful portfolio finds that perfect blend of your personality, prominence of work, simplicity, and ease of use that makes your portfolio stand out from the crowd and achieve your goals.
