/ best free open source web resources /

Keep Up with Digital Technology & the Latest Web Design Trend with These 15 Top Tools and Resources

Keeping up with the latest design trends is a challenge. It’s always been that way. But these days, changes come more frequently. This is thanks to the rapid pace of digital design technological advancements.

If it weren’t for the tools that allow us to keep pace, it would probably be a hopeless situation. The problem is, you still have to find those tools. The fact that they’re constantly flooding the market doesn’t make it easy. Most web designers don’t have the time or inclination to test out every new tool that appears over the horizon.

We’ve found 15 we consider the tops in their respective classes, and we’d like to share our findings with you. One or two of these top tools and resources should help you keep pace. You can also deliver better products than you ever thought possible.

We’ll start with:

 1. Elementor

Elementor is the industry’s best website builder. Simple, Powerful & Flexible. Now you can customize every detail without code. With over 2 million active installs and over 4,500 5-star reviews on WordPress, it is by far the most popular page editor out there. What Elementor does for you is to give you a solid website-building foundation on which you can create virtually anything, and do so   without complications, limitations, or constraints thanks to its super-clean code.

Elementor works with any theme and with any plugin. As such it gives you virtually unlimited design flexibility. It won’t slow down your site – a characteristic of all too many page builders. And, it’s powerful drag and drop editor enables you to quickly create pages and websites without ever having to resort to code.

You can dig into Elementor’s library of super useful widgets to build pages from scratch, or if you prefer, start with one of the 100+ pre-designed Elementor templates.

You’ll find a few nice surprises as well; like the Pop Up Builder, the Advanced Forms feature, and Scroll and Hover animations.

In short, with Elementor you can create pages and websites easily and in ways you never could before.

2. AND CO from Fiverr

There are many software applications you can use for creating invoices, but few if any do as much of the work for you as AND CO from Fiverr. AND CO creates invoices for you automatically based on your project terms, contracts, and time tracking—all of which are available in the one app.

AND CO’s invoicing feature integrates perfectly with your project management workflow, enabling it to automatically create invoices when a project is completed or a milestone has been reached.

You’ll be alerted when clients view your invoices and when they’re paid, or when the system thinks it’s time for you to invoice again. Plus, you can set up an online ‘PayMe’ page to allow clients to pay you via credit card, ACH, and PayPal, and deposit the payments into your bank account. You can also set up recurring invoices so that clients who are on a subscription plan have their credit card charged automatically on a recurring basis.

AND CO is an invoicing software that lets you spend less time on invoicing and more time on doing the work you love. Read the rest of this entry »

15 Examples of Cool One-Page Websites & What Makes Them Special

Creating a single-page website should be easier than building an X-page website. Right?

Not exactly.

In fact, the opposite is true. Getting your message or messages across using multiple pages requires some effort. This is if you’re going to get it right. Getting your message across on a single page requires more than “some” effort. It can be a genuine challenge.

It’s really a matter of putting a lot of good information into a small space; without cramming or crowding.

These 5 critical elements are designed to guide you through the process. You’ll find where white space can be your friend. You will see which navigation types engage visitors, and which scare them away – and more.

5 Critical Elements that Can Make or Break Your Design

#1 Identify the GOAL and Work Toward It

Kicking off your design effort before identifying your one-page website’s goal? It is a classic example of putting the cart before the horse. Set the goal first, and then plan and create a design that will achieve it.

There may be an occasional (read that, rare) exception when a one-page website is designed to satisfy more than a single goal. In general, you want to stick to a single goal for your one pager, and a single goal only.

What is your goal? Is it

– to sell something,

– to present a portfolio,

– to announce an event,

– or, something else?

If you have a firm goal on mind, your project will stay on track. You’ll avoid doing dumb things like designing a page that takes forever to load. Forever being anything > 10 seconds.

Several examples:

Bistro Agency

This website features a cool interactive effect above the fold that’s been carefully designed so as not to drag down the load speed.

Be Moving 3

This Be Theme pre-built one-pager tricks you by featuring a static image that appears to be dynamic; thereby avoiding a load speed issue.

Think Pixel Lab

Tiny animated items liven up this page’s illustration without slowing anything down.

Be Product 2

Try avoiding fancy stuff. A page’s fresh look may be all you need to make a great selling point.

Sheerlink

Here’s an excellent example of the power of large engaging images and sliding panels.

Be App 4

A dry, lengthy technical dissertation is a poor way to promote an app. A cool presentation like this one will do the trick. Read the rest of this entry »