TinyBox is a lightweight (3.5kb) and standalone modal window script – does not depend on any JavaScript frameworks.

At only 3.5KB it doesn’t include any slideshow capabilities built-in but allows for any AJAX or HTML content. It can also be used for images and auto hiding alerts. The popups fade in/out and dynamically size based on the content if enabled. The styling is completely customizable through the simple CSS.

Click here for the TinyBox demo

Go to Source

TinyBox – a Lightweight and Standalone Modal Window Script originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 16, 2009.

p51Labs came up with the Simply-Buttons v2. Buttons auto resize itself to fit text. There are 3 states: Inactive, Active, and Hover. They look and behave the same way in every browser and operating system. However, the caveats are the outlines on the buttons, the text is selectable. And These buttons are not mobile friendly.

With Simply-Buttons Javascript component provided, you can solve the caveats above as well. You can easily modify the buttons look and feel. You can do this by creating your own stylesheet. If you like this, you might be interested in Simple Round CSS Buttons or Colorful and Scalable Buttons or Beautiful Scalable CSS Buttons as well.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://www.p51labs.com/simply-buttons-v2/
License: License Free

Sponsors

Pixmac: Stock Photos, Royalty Free Pictures and Images

Go to Source

Simply Butons v2 with Javascript Enhancements originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 14, 2009.

You've always wanted to learn how to build software yourself—or just whip up an occasional script—but never knew where to start. Luckily, the web is full of free resources that can turn you into a programmer in no time.

Since the invention of the internet, programmers have been using it to discuss software development techniques, publish tutorials, and share code samples for others to learn from and use online. If you’re curious about how to become a programmer, you can get off to a running start using tons of great free web-based tutorials and resources.

First Things First: Don’t Get Hung Up on Choosing a Language

A common pitfall for beginners is getting stuck figuring out which programming language is best to learn first. There are a lot of opinions out there, but there's no one "best" language. Here's the thing: In the end, language doesn't matter THAT much. Understanding data and control structures and design patterns does matter very much. Every language—even a simple scripting language—will have elements that you'll use in other languages as well and will help you learn. In classes I took to get my degree in Computer Science, I programmed in Pascal, Assembly, and C—languages I never actually got paid to program in professionally. I taught myself every language I've used in my career, reusing concepts I already knew, and referring to documentation and books to learn its syntax. So, don't get hung up on what language to learn first. Pick the kind of development you want to do, and just get started using one that works.

There are several different kinds of software development you can do for various platforms, from the web to your desktop to your smartphone to a command line. In this article, we’ll outline some of our favorite starter tutorials and resources for teaching yourself how to program for each major platform. We’re going to assume you’re a savvy user, but a newb when it comes to wrangling code snippets, so we’ll keep things at the beginner level. Even just following through a beginner programming tutorial, you’ll be happy to see how far you can get.

Desktop Scripting

The easiest way to try your hand at programming for your Windows or Mac desktop is to start with a scripting or macro program like AutoHotkey (for Windows) or Automator (for Mac). Right now hardcore coders throughout the Lifehacker readership are yelling at their monitors, saying that AHK or AppleScript are not "real" programming. That may be true—technically these types of tools just do high-level scripting. But for those new to programming who just want to get their feet wet, automating actions on their desktop, these free tools are a fantastic way to start—and you'd be surprised at how much you can do with them.

For example, Adam developed the standalone Windows application we all know and love, Texter, using AutoHotkey, so this scripting language is capable of far more than just small-scale automation projects. To get started with AutoHotkey, check out Adam’s tutorial on how to turn any action into a keyboard shortcut using AutoHotkey. (Then, check out the source code for Texter to see the innards of a full-fledged AHK-based Windows application.)

Web Development

Instead of being bound to specific programming languages and the look and feel of a particular operating system, you can put your killer application in the browser and run it in the cloud, as a webapp. Welcome to the wonderful world of web development.

HTML and CSS: The first thing you need to know to build any web site is HTML (the page markup that makes up web pages) and CSS (the style information that makes that markup look pretty). HTML and CSS are not true programming languages—they're just page structure and style information. However, you should be able to author simple HTML and CSS by hand before you begin building web applications, because a web page is the frontend to every webapp. This HTML tutorial is a good place to start.

JavaScript: Now that you can lay out a static web page with HTML and CSS, things get fun—because it's time to learn JavaScript. JavaScript is the programming language of the web browser, the magic that makes dynamic in-page effects go. JavaScript is also the stuff of bookmarklets, Greasemonkey user scripts, and Ajax, so it’s the key to making all sorts of web goodies. Start learning JavaScript here.

Server-side scripting: Once you're good at making things happen inside a web page, you're going to need to put some dynamic server action behind it—and for that, you'll need to move into a server-side scripting language, like PHP, Python, Perl, or Ruby. For example, to make a web-based contact form that sends an email somewhere based on what a user entered, a server-side script is required. Scripting languages like PHP can talk to a database on your web server as well, so if you want to make a site where users can log in and store information, that's the way to go. Excellent web development site Webmonkey is full of tutorials for various web programming languages. See their PHP Tutorial for Beginners. When you’re ready, check out how to use PHP to talk to a database in WebMonkey’s PHP and MySQL tutorial. PHP’s online documentation and function reference is the best on the web. Each entry (like this one on the strlen function) includes user comments at the bottom which are often as helpful as the documentation itself. (I happen to be partial to PHP, but there are plenty of other server-side scripting languages you might decide to go with instead.)

Web frameworks: Over the years, web developers have had to solve and resolve the same problems and rewrite similar code to build dynamic web sites. To avoid making everyone reinvent the wheel for every new web development project, some programmers have come up with development frameworks that do some repetitive work for you. The popular Ruby on Rails framework, for example, takes the Ruby programming language and offers a web-specific structure for getting common web application tasks done. In fact, Adam used Rails to build his first serious (and impressive!) web application, MixTape.me. Here’s his take on how to build a web site from scratch with no experience. Other popular web development frameworks include CakePHP (for PHP programmers), Django (for Python programmers), and jQuery (for JavaScript).

Web APIs: An API (Application programming interface) is a programmatic way for different pieces of software to talk to one another. For example, if you want to put a dynamic map on your web site, you want to use a Google Map instead of building your own custom map. The Google Maps API makes it easy to programmatically include a map in a page with JavaScript. Almost every modern web service you know and love has an API that lets you include data and widgets from it in your application, like Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs, Google Maps, and the list goes on. Integrating other webapps into your web application via API’s is the final frontier of rich web development. Every good, major web service API offers thorough documentation and some sort of quick start guide to try it out (here’s Twitter’s, for example). Go crazy.

Command Line Scripting

If you want to write a program that takes textual or file input and outputs something useful, the command line is the right place to do it. While the command line isn’t as sexy or good-looking as a webapp or desktop app, for rapid development of quick scripts that automate processes, you can’t beat it.

Several scripting languages that work on a Linux-based web server also work at the command line, like Perl, Python, and PHP—so learning one of those baddies makes you conversant in two contexts. My path never took me too far down the Perl road, but I taught myself Python using the excellent and free online book, Dive into Python.

If becoming a Unix ninja is one of your programmer goals, you absolutely must get good at shell scripting with bash. Bash is the command line scripting language of a *nix environment, and it can do everything from help you set up automated backups of your database and files to building out a full-fledged application with user interaction. Without any experience writing bash scripts beyond a dozen lines, I wound up developing a full-on personal to-do list manager in bash, Todo.txt CLI.

Add-ons

Nowadays, modern webapps and browsers are extensible with with bits of software that bolt onto them and add features. Add-on development is gaining in popularity as more developers look at existing software, like Firefox or WordPress, and think “But if only it could do THIS…”

You can do a whole lot in any web browser with just a mastery of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Bookmarklets, Greasemonkey user scripts, and Stylish user styles are created with the same bits of code that make regular web pages, so they’re worth learning even if you just want to tweak an existing site with a small snippet of code.

More advanced browser add-ons, like Firefox extensions, let you do more. Developing Firefox extensions, for example, requires that you’re conversant in JavaScript and XML (markup that’s similar to HTML, but way more strict in format). Back in 2007 I ran down how to build a Firefox extension, a skill I picked up after I stumbled upon a free tutorial.

Many free and well-loved web applications offer an extension framework as well, like WordPress and MediaWiki. Both of those apps are written in PHP, so comfort with PHP is a prerequisite for getting started. Here’s how to write a plug-in for WordPress. Developers who want to ride the cutting edge of Google Wave can get started writing gadgets and bots in HTML, JavaScript, Java, and Python. I wrote my first Wave bot following this quick start tutorial in one afternoon.

Web Development for the Desktop

The best part about getting started programming in one context is when you can take those skills and apply them elsewhere. Learning web development first is a great way to start because now there are ways to put those skills to work on desktop applications, too. For example, Adobe AIR is a cross-platform run-time environment that lets you build your app once and release it to run on the desktop for every operating system AIR runs on. AIR apps are written in HTML, Flash, or Flex, so it lets you apply your web development skills in a desktop context. AIR is a great option for deploying desktop apps like one of our top 10 apps worth installing Adobe AIR for.

Mobile App Development

Mobile applications like the ones you run on your iPhone or Android smartphone are all the rage right now, so you may have dreams of striking it rich in the iTunes App Store with the next killer app. However, for the new coder, diving headfirst into mobile development can be a rough learning curve, since it requires comfort with advanced programming languages like Java and Objective C. However, it’s worth checking out what iPhone and Android development looks like. Check out this simple iPhone application development example to get a taste of what iPhone developers do. Android apps are written in Java, and here’s a friendly video tutorial of what building a “Hello Android” application workflow looks like.

Patience, Elbow Grease, Trial and Error

Good coders are a special breed of persistent problem-solvers who are addicted to the small victories that come along a long path of trial and error. Learning how to program is very rewarding, but it can also be a frustrating and solitary experience. If you can, get a buddy to work with you along the way. Getting really good at programming, like anything else, is a matter of sticking with it, trying things out, and getting experience as you go.

This article is just one self-taught programmer’s top-of-mind recommendations for beginners. Experienced programmers: What did I miss? No matter your skill level, add your thoughts and recommendations for beginners to the comments.

Gina Trapani, Lifehacker’s founding editor, thinks the best programmers are self-taught. Her weekly feature, Smarterware, appears every Wednesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Smarterware tag feed to get new installments in your newsreader.

Ads by Pheedo

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Programmer 101: Teach Yourself How to Code [Programming] originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 12, 2009.

Google’s dominated search, online document collaboration, e-mail, telephony, and more, so why not programming, too? The tech giant has announced its own open-source, object-oriented programming language, called Go.

The Google Open Source Blog says that “Go combines the development speed of working in a dynamic language like Python with the performance and safety of a compiled language like C or C++.” (If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry about it.) “Typical builds,” the blog continues, “feel instantaneous; even large binaries compile in just a few seconds. And the compiled code runs close to the speed of C.” Go supports multiprocessing, as well as true closures and reflection.
The Go Web site (golang.org) explains
the rationale behind creating Go, mostly citing the change of the
computer landscape that’s occurred over the past decade or so that’s
seen very few (if any) major systems languages spring up: more powerful
PCs, many of which use multicore processors; increased dependency
management in software that’s not reflected in the “header files” of
C-based languages; the growing desire for dynamically typed languages
(such as Python and JavaScript) instead of type systems such as Java
and C++); and the poor support for concepts such as garbage collection
and parallel computation.

Google says that Go takes full
advantage of modern, multicore hardware; that it simplifies dependency
analysis and avoids the overhead present in C-style languages (such as
files and libraries); that Go’s type system has no hierarchy, which
saves the programmer from having to define relationships between types;
and that Go is fully garbage-collected and naturally supports
concurrent execution and communication.

If you’re interested in
getting started with Go, or you just want to learn more about its inner
workings, Golang.org is loaded with tutorials, manuals, FAQs, and other
documentation for easy assimilation. There’s
even a section devoted to C++ programmers who want to learn Go. Also
there to be found are code samples, such as the traditional beginning
to all studies, “Hello, world!”:

05    package main<br>
07 import fmt "fmt" // Package implementing formatted I/O.<br>
09 func main() { 10 fmt.Printf("Hello, world; or ???????? ?????; or ????? ??\n");<br>
11 }

It’s
way too early to tell, of course, what the impact of Go on programmers
or programming will be. But we have a feeling that in this way, as in
so many others, quite a few people will fall behind Google and look at
this as a convenient way of writing programs for modern hardware. If it
won’t spell the end of the various programming languages in common use,
it will undoubtedly represent at least the start of a major C change.

Go to Source

Google Go: An Open-Source Programming Language originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 12, 2009.

Validatious 2.0 is an easy form validation with unobtrusive JavaScript. Validatious requires no JavaScript library. However, if you’re already using one, Validatious can easily work with it, and even benefit from it.

There are several settings allow you to control how and when Validatious does validation, how it displays errors and more. If configuring isn’t enough, callbacks and easy overriding gives you complete control.

You can also add custom validators with only a couple of lines of JavaScript. If your site’s language is not english, you probably don’t want error messages in english. There are several ways of changing languages as well.

Requirements: Javascript Enabled
Demo: http://validatious.org/learn/examples
License: BSD License

Sponsors

Dreamhost: Get $50 Off with Coupon Code: WEBAPPERS

Go to Source

Easy Form Validation Requires No Javascript Library originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 4, 2009.

Validatious 2.0 is an easy form validation with unobtrusive JavaScript. Validatious requires no JavaScript library. However, if you’re already using one, Validatious can easily work with it, and even benefit from it.

There are several settings allow you to control how and when Validatious does validation, how it displays errors and more. If configuring isn’t enough, callbacks and easy overriding gives you complete control.

You can also add custom validators with only a couple of lines of JavaScript. If your site’s language is not english, you probably don’t want error messages in english. There are several ways of changing languages as well.

Requirements: Javascript Enabled
Demo: http://validatious.org/learn/examples
License: BSD License

Sponsors

Dreamhost: Get $50 Off with Coupon Code: WEBAPPERS

Go to Source

Easy Form Validation Requires No Javascript Library originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 3, 2009.

Most people who have designed websites or apps in Photoshop will, at one point or another, have had issues trying to match colors in images to colors generated by HTML, CSS or code. This article aims to solve those problems once and for all.

Color Management to Match Colors Across Multiple Devices

In the print world, color management typically involves calibrating your entire workflow, from scanner or digital camera to computer display to hard proofs to the final press output. This can be quite a tall order, especially when the devices use different color spaces — matching RGB and CMYK devices is notoriously hard.

When designing or editing for TV, calibrating the main editing display and using a broadcast monitor are common; these show real-time proof of how the image will look on a typical TV in a viewer’s home. In such a scenario, color management offers many benefits and is highly recommended.

When building Web and application interfaces, the situation is a little different. The final output is the same device that you’re using to create the artwork: a computer display (putting aside for now differences in gamma between Windows, Mac OS X prior to 10.6 and the iPhone, which we’ll cover later.)

There is a catch, though. Even though you’re creating the Web or app interface on the same device that the final product will be shown on, the colors will have various sources: images (typically PNG, GIF and JPEG), style markup (CSS) and code (JavaScript, HTML, Objective-C, etc). Getting them all to match can be tricky.

The Goal

When designing websites or app interfaces, we want to perfectly match the colors that are displayed on screen in Photoshop and that are saved in files with what’s displayed in other applications, including Firefox, Safari and the iPhone Simulator. Not only do we want the colors to look the same, but we want the actual values saved in the files to perfectly match the colors we have defined in Photoshop. Colors should not shift or appear to shift in any way, under any circumstance.

Why Is This So Difficult?

Photoshop applies its color management to images displayed within its windows and to the files it saves. This is a bad thing if you’re working exclusively with RGB images for Web or on-screen user interfaces. With the default Photoshop settings, #FF0000 will actually display as #FB0018, and #BB95FF will display as #BA98FD. The differences are subtle but definitely there.

How Does Photoshop Differ From OS X And Windows?

OS X’s color management is applied to the entire display at the very end of the processing chain, after the main buffer in video ram. This means that although color management is applied, the software utilities that measure color on screen (like /Utilities/DigitalColor Meter) will report the same values that you have saved in the file or entered as your code. I believe the color management in Windows Vista and Windows 7 (Windows Color System) works in a similar fashion.

Photoshop’s color management is applied only to the image portion of its windows and to the files it saves. This color correction happens as Photoshop draws the image on screen, so software utilities that measure color on screen often report different colors from the ones you have specified. It’s worth noting that OS X’s color management is applied on top of Photoshop’s.

The best solution I’ve found is to disable Photoshop’s color management for RGB documents as much as possible. Doing so forces the RGB colors that are on screen and saved to the file to match the actual color value. If you need to calibrate your monitor for Web and app design work, then you would best be served by changing it at the OS level.

Disabling color management used to be quite easy in Photoshop CS2 and all versions prior, but it now requires a little more skill.

Disabling Photoshop’s RGB Color Management

These instructions are for Photoshop CS4 on Mac and Windows. Setting up CS3 is very similar.

Step 1: Go to Edit ? Color Settings and set the working space for RGB to Monitor RGB.

Step 2: Open a document and go to Edit ? Assign Profile, then set it to Working RGB. This must be done for every single document you work on.

Step 3: Ensure View ? Proof Colors is turned off.

Step 4: When saving files with Save for Web & Devices, ensure that Convert to sRGB is turned off. If you’re saving a JPEG file, then also turn off Embed Color Profile (you may want this turned on for certain photos, but chances are you’ll want it off for interface elements and icons).

Difference Between “Assign Profile” And “Convert To Profile”

Now would be a good time to mention the difference between Assign Profile and Convert to Profile, so that you know which to use when.

Each Photoshop document contains a color profile that’s separate from the actual color data stored for each pixel. Assign Profile simply changes the profile in the document, without affecting any of the color data. It’s a non-destructive action: you can assign a new color profile to your documents as often as you like without doing any damage. Assigning a new profile may change the way your document appears on screen, but the data contained in the file will remain unaltered.

Convert to Profile is quite different. Not only does it assign a color profile to the document, but it tries to keep your image looking the same on screen. It does this by processing the color data contained in the file for each pixel. Converting to a new profile will more likely preserve a document’s color on screen, but the data contained in the file will be permanently altered. Use with caution.

If you’re copying layers from one Photoshop document to another, you will want to ensure that the documents have been assigned the same color profile.

Illustrator Is The Same As Photoshop

If you would like images saved in Illustrator or imported from Illustrator to Photoshop to match as well, then follow the steps below. These instructions are for Illustrator CS4 on Mac and Windows. Setting up Illustrator CS3 is very similar.

Step 1: Go to Edit ? Color Settings, and set the working space for RGB to Monitor RGB.

Step 2: Open the document and go to Edit ? Assign Profile. Then set it to Working RGB. This must be done for every single document you work on.

Step 3: Ensure that View ? Proof Colors is turned off.

Step 4: When saving files with Save for Web & Devices, ensure that Convert to sRGB is turned off. If you’re saving a JPEG file, then also turn off Embed Color Profile (again, you may want this turned on for certain photos, but chances are you’ll want it off for interface elements and icons).

Gamma Differences

Windows has used a gamma of 2.2 since its introduction. Mac OS X has used a gamma of 1.8 for all versions except Snow Leopard (the latest release), which uses 2.2. What does this mean? Prior to Snow Leopard, Web pages looked darker on Windows. Thankfully, both operating systems are now in sync, so a Web page should look very similar on a Mac and PC that use the same monitor.

Information about the iPhone’s gamma is a little hard to come by; I couldn’t ascertain whether it is 1.8 or 2.2. This is another reason to test your interface on an iPhone.

Final Check For iPhone UI

Your iPhone or iPod’s screen and calibration will likely be different from your Mac or PC’s screen and calibration. I often import full-screen images of the UI into iPhoto and sync them with an iPhone to see exactly how the final interface will look on the device (on Windows, you can sync photos using iTunes). This gives you another chance to make adjustments before slicing up images or committing anything to code.

This article explains how to handle the problem that while testing some landscape iPhone app interface mocks, they seem blurrier than they appear in Photoshop.

Please note: For some bizarre reason, the Photos app on the iPhone doesn’t display landscape images at 1:1. Instead, it scales them slightly or shifts them to a sub-pixel position, making the images blurrier than they should be. To avoid any issues, always save images in portrait mode (320 pixels wide by 480 pixels high) to test your user interface mockups (read more about this issue).

On Mac, moving colors between Photoshop and code can be made easier with Developer Picker, Hex Color Picker and Colors (all free).

Conclusion

Now, you’re able to move bitmap and vector images between Photoshop and Illustrator without any color shifts at all, and using any method. You’re also able to grab a color using the color picker in Photoshop, and then use the same HEX color value in your CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Flash or Objective-C code, and it will match your images perfectly. I hope this article has helped. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below.

Related posts

You may be interesting in the following related posts:

• 20 Time-Saving Tips to Improve Designer’s Workflow
• Clever PNG Optimization Techniques
• PNG Optimization Guide: More Clever Techniques
• Clever JPEG Optimization Techniques

(al)

© Marc Edwards for Smashing Magazine, 2009. |
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Post tags: cmyk, photoshop, rgb, workflow

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Setting Up Photoshop For Web, App and iPhone Development originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on October 17, 2009.

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, VBScript, PHP, ASP, SSI, WML, Perl editor without installation.
WeBuilder includes all features of HTMLPad, Rapid CSS & PHP.
Download Portable WeBuilder on RapidShare (7.4 MB)
(md5: 1412c3291173bf555d82901fb4ebd078)

Extract and run WeBuilderPortable.
PHP 5.3.0 will be downloaded if you check PHP Interpreter (Preview php page)
Tools/Preview In/Portable Firefox, Netscape or Opera if found.
Settings of installed WeBuilder should be preserved.

Go to Source

Blumentals WeBuilder 10.02 En-De originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on October 17, 2009.

For as active as iPhone application development community is, achieving success in iTunes has been an elusive affair for those who participate in this vertical.  The two main obstacles presented to anyone who wants to create an iPhone applications are: one, finding resources/developers with the right skill set; and two, marketing the application after the application has been submitted.  The bad news is Apple keeps iTunes a black box.  Unless your application has been reviewed or mentioned on review sites or blogs, no one will be able to find your application outside of iTunes.  This makes marketing your application relatively difficult.  Here’s the good news: the cost to build an iPhone application should come down substantially as it no longer requires a developer with an exclusive knowledge to a specific technology to build an application for iPhone.

When Apple first announced to openly accept applications from developers, the prerequisite for the developer is a somewhat extensive knowledge in a language called “Objective-C.”  For a short while, it would seem as though the developers who could produce Objective-C codes were superstars that also came with a superstar price tag.  Such stardom, however, did not last.  When PhoneGap was introduced as an open source development tool for iPhone via JavaScript, the web development community devoured it like salmon to a hungry bear.  Shortly after PhoneGap’s success, Mono framework was released in the commercial sector that provided the necessary development tools to the vast number of C# developers across multiple platforms.  And to unhinge the final bar from the floodgates, Adobe has just announced that the next release of Flash is capable of compiling a flash project directly into native iPhone application.  Simply put, a project can go from design to finish without even being touched by a developer.

The implication for this phenomenon is a curious one: how will Apple respond to the rush of new applications when the floodgates are finally open?  Will Apple still be able to keep its manual review process intact?  When the market is saturated with developers and applications, will Apple be able to to maintain iTunes exclusive distribution channel and continue to motivate merchants to participate?

How all of this will affect Apple or iPhone developers is yet to be seen.  However, one thing that seems to be true is that when given enough demands, people will find ways to liberate a technology regardless of how businesses are structured around it.

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Floodgates opened for iPhone development originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on October 12, 2009.

Over the last couple of years, mobile devices have managed to gain mainstream popularity. With iPhone, making mobile Web applications finally usable by broad masses, web design can now be applied to mobile applications as well. In this post we are focusing on designs that are specifically optimized for mobile devices, in particular iPhone.

Though iPhone’s Safari browser is able to render any website just like you would see it on a desktop browser, the available screen area is much smaller than in common “classic” displays. This poses a new challenge for designers and developers who now can reach millions of users that use mobile Web. Websites that are specifically optimized for the iPhone utilize the screen to the fullest extent, and use less bandwidth (which is necessary, because the connectivity is not always optimal).

The iPhone browsing experience is quite different than the regular browsing experience. The buttons and hyperlinks have to be bigger because our fingers are not as sharp as the mouse pointer. Optimizing a website for iPhone is not rocket science. It’s the same HTML, CSS and JavaScript that you already know. The only major difference is the screen size.

In the showcase below we present some of the interesting, interactive and beautiful designs that are optimized for the iPhone. You will also learn about some handy tools that will help you optimize your website for the iPhone.

Also consider our previous articles:

• How to Create Your First iPhone Application
• iPhone Apps Design Mistakes: Over-Blown Visuals
• 100 (Really) Beautiful iPhone Wallpapers

1. News / Entertainment

Sevnth Sin
The unique navigation makes this site very interactive. Nice concept, nice colors.

Blip.tv
Perfectly suits the theme: video entertainment! Clean and clear typography.

NBC
The YouTube-style design makes it very easy to navigate and find shows.

Zinio
That’s a kit of magazines, all one-touch away!

Spin The Bottle
A simple bottle spinning game. Good use of graphics.

Daily Wallpaper
Similar to Zinio, but 2 thumbnails in a row make it more easy to navigate around.

AOL Horoscopes
Very well designed for a horoscope site. Matching color scheme throughout.

Yahoo Omg!
Fresh look, vibrant colors and lively typography make this design fun to browse and easy to read. The design also matches the celebrity gossip theme.

2. Business / Corporate

DPTO
Different tones of red make this design look very attractive on the iPhone. The 3D menu looks very nice — perfect for a marketing and design agency.

Mind Medium Creative
The use of gradients make the overall site look very shiny on the iPhone. The menu is very to-the-point. A nice composition and execution.

Redhawk Investment Advisors
This design has a very corporate feel to it. Good use of colors.

Nike Lab
Just what to expect from Nike. Sporty and energetic design.

Procab Studio
Procab studio showcases their work portfolio and other information about the agency. Well placed content. The font size is a bit too small, though.

Hotel Monterilla
The design makes you want to go there for a vacation. The design has a very comforting feel to it. A perfect color scheme.

Viget Labs
A blue background, appropriate padding and rounded corners make this simple design look vibrant and attractive.

Batali Associates
This is one of the good examples of design optimization for the iPhone. It clearly looks like it was really made for the iPhone, not just duplicated.

Ready For iPhone
A company that provides iPhone optimized website solutions. The finger on the “Go” looks intuitive.

Element Fusion
Another showcase website that provides design services. Looks like a cut-down version of the actual website.

Volkswagon
A showcase gallery for Volkswagon. Easy to navigate around. Clean and clear content.

3. Shopping / E-Commerce

Torn Robes
A nice example of a mobile e-Commerce site. Just touch your favourite design, have a look at it and buy it. Looks very vibrant.

Coosh
A single-product e-Commerce site. Branded very well.

Walmart
This design doesn’t really meet the expectations from WalMart — however, the design is still in beta. The usability is good, though: it is very easy to search for products and stores. You can also create shopping lists.

4. Portfolio / Blog

World Ending Blog (Japanese)
Although we did not understand a word there, it is very well designed for the iPhone. Every page is optimized and provides a good browsing experience.

Signal Element
Simple and clean design: just 3 pages, but very well designed.

One Crimson Splash
This is the portfolio of James Finley. The choice of colors and content placement are very good.

5. Education / Content

MIT
What else to expect from MIT? Simple, clean, user-friendly.

101 Cook Books
Not really a fancy design, but it’s the simplicity and clarity of content that makes it appear in this showcase.

Please Fix The iPhone
A good design that provides the desktop browsing experience. It is very easy to find what you are looking for.

1881
The Norwegian telephone directory online. The combination of bright blue, orange and white looks really good.

AOL Food
Heaven for those who love to cook. Just keep your iPhone with you in the kitchen, and let this nice design help you make a delicious dinner.

Deviant Art
A nice way to browse art on the iPhone. The color scheme is good, and it makes the artwork look prominent. Very easy to navigate and search. Also, appropriately sized thumbnails.

Last but not least, some words of wisdom…

Tools to design a website for iPhone

There are some libraries and kits available to help you iPhoneize your design.

• iPhoney
  iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate web browsing environment—powered by Safari—that you can use when developing web sites for iPhone. It’s a perfect tool to see how your web creations will look on iPhone.
• Test iPhone
  A web browser based simulator for quickly testing your iPhone web designs.
• iWebKit (Demo)
  iWebKit is a file package designed to help you create your own iPhone and iPod Touch compatible website or webapp. Comes with various ready-to-use themes.
• iUI
  iUI is a framework consisting of a JavaScript library, CSS, and images for developing iPhone web designs. It makes your web designs look and feel like iPhone’s native applications.
• Intersquash (Demo)
  Not really a helpful tool for designing, but you can instantly create an iPhone compatible site from your RSS feed url.
• WPtouch
  For WordPress users: WPtouch transforms your WordPress blog into an iPhone application-style theme, complete with ajax loading articles and effects, when viewed from an iPhone or iPod touch.
• Jaipho Gallery (Demo)
  If your website features a photo gallery, Jaipho will optimize it for iPhone users.

Further Resources

Don’t stop here. Check out these other great tutorials and guidelines.

• iPhone Reference Library
  Apple’s official iPhone reference library for developers. It has everything you need to get started: guidelines, code-examples, tutorials, etc.
• How to build a website for iPhone
  This step-by-step tutorial includes everything you need to do when building a website for iPhone. Instructions for orientation direction also included.
• iPhone Compatible CSS layouts
  Free website layouts which work in all the common web browsers including Safari on the iPhone and iPod touch.
• iPhone Interface Samples
  This includes samples for iPhone interface elements like buttons, fonts, text, design patterns, hacks 6 more.
• iPhoneWebDev Examples
  Very helpful examples for alot of things. Direction change, events, fonts, compression, etc.
• iPhone Application UI Design Patterns
• cssiphone.com
  A showcase of designs optimized for iPhone.

About the author

Adeel Raza is a young entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience on the web. He specializes in user interface, user experience and beautiful design. He loves finding gems out of dirt and showcasing them on his gallery Inspire Mix. Follow him on Twitter to say hi!

© Adeel Raza for Smashing Magazine, 2009. |
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Post tags: inspiration, iphone

Go to Source

Showcase of Designs Optimized for iPhone originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on September 27, 2009.