Designing and coding a sponsors page is part of the developer’s life. It, however, follows different rules than those for the other pages of the site. You have to find a way to fit a lot of information and organize it clearly, so that the emphasis is put on your sponsors, and not on other elements of your design.
TutorialZine has written a tutorial about how to create a Sponsor Flip Wall using PHP, CSS and jQuery with the jQuery Flip plug-in, to do just that. The resulting code can be used to showcase your sponsors, clients or portfolio projects as well.
Requirements: PHP, jQuery Framework
Demo: http://demo.tutorialzine.com/2010/03/sponsor-wall-flip…
License: License Free
Accordions are a UI pattern where you click on a title (in a vertical stack of titles) and a panel of content reveals itself below. Typically, all other open panels close when the new one opens. One way to look at an accordion is like a collapsed single column of a table.
The Grid Accordion works with the same theory as most other accordions. Only one cell is open at a time. The big thing is that the column of the current open cell expands to a reasonable reading width.
Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://css-tricks.com/examples/InfoGrid/
License: License Free
Cycle is a script that supports image presentations to easily display multiple images. This script supports a lot of effects and the cycling of html elements. Presentation Cycle is a variation on the functionality of Cycle. Instead of generating a list of numbers that are clickable Presentation Cycle generates a progress bar that shows when the new slide will appear.
Gaya Design has written a tutorial explain how to implement this on your web page and give you some tips on how to adjust the looks of the cycle elements and progress bar.
Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://www.gayadesign.com/scripts/presentationCycle/
License: License Free
Lumzy is a Mockup and Prototype creation tool for websites and applications. By Mockup, we mean that quick sketch that gives an idea of what the site or application you are planning to build will look like.
Further more with Lumzy, you can create prototypes of how the site or application will function by adding events within your Lumzy controls. For instance, what happens when the user clicks a button? You can create Message Alerts, Page navigation or Links to external content, when your client interacts with your Mockup, yet with the hand drawn feel of a sketch.
Requirements: –
Demo: http://lumzy.com/app
License: License Free
You can find a tool for just about anything online, there’s only one problem: they cost money, and in some cases, lots of it! Many online tools offer a free basic package for anyone to use, but these packages are often strictly limited, rendering these tools practically useless until you stump up the cash. In most cases, however, there are free alternatives available, many of which are very, very good indeed.
Below, you’ll find 15 Best Free Online Tools for Web Design and Development. Rather than narrow our focus, we’ve covered various aspects of the design and development process, to include the admin side of freelancing or running a small business.
No two tools listed below perform the same function; we’ve chosen our favorite tool for doing each job. You’ll find the best free online tool for project management, one for invoicing, one for screen sharing, one for instant messaging, one for mocking up layouts, and much more besides.
1. Redmine
Redmine is a great, free alternative to other pricey project management apps available online. It does pretty much everything you could possibly desire, albeit in a less polished way than some of its more expensive rivals. With Redmine, you can manage a large number of projects simultaneously, defining personal roles and assigning tasks to specific team members if necessary. You can track time and issues, create Gannt charts and calendars, create project wikis and forums, and manage documents and files.
2. Billing Boss
Billing Boss is a fantastic, free invoicing tool, designed especially for small businesses and freelancers, which lets you send an unlimited number of invoices to an unlimited number of clients, quickly and easily. All of your invoices are saved automatically and catalogued in a logical, understandable way. Billing Boss supports multiple currencies, is integrated with PayPal and is mobile friendly. You can even share your account with your bookkeeper or accountant.
3. Yuuguu
Yuuguu is a multi-platform screen-sharing tool, which allows Windows, Mac and Linux users to collaborate. You can quickly initiate an instant messaging session with a client or team member, sharing each others’ screens at the touch of a button. It’s perfect for working together on document presentations or for writing and editing documents in a group.
With Yuuguu, there’s nothing to download at either end, which means you can start sharing and communicating in seconds. The free Yuuguu package includes unlimited use with other Yuuguu users and 100mins/month use with non-Yuuguu users, as well as up to 5 participants in a single session. Read the rest of this entry »
TutorialZine has written a tutorial and shown us how to create a “Who is online” widget with PHP, MySQL and jQuery. It will display the number of visitors, currently viewing your site, and it will even be able to detect the country your visitors are from and display it in a slide out panel.
Having access to real time data on your site userbase is a dream to any webmaster. Tools like Google Analytics give a great perspective on your site’s reach, but lack the real time feel a simple widget like this can provide.
Requirements: PHP, MySQL, jQuery Framework
Demo: http://demo.tutorialzine.com/2010/03/who-is-online-widget…
License: License Free
BubbleUP jQuery Plugin is a fun and easy plugin to get you started in jQuery. The effect is a nice starting point for learning the basics and many of the steps involved in creating other more intricate plugins you will make in the future.
With BubbleUP, images in a list will enlarge with a smooth animation when you move your mouse over it. Then, if you move the mouse out, it will reset to the original size with the same smooth animation. It has been tested on IE 7, Opera 10, Firefox 3.5, Safari 4, and Chrome 5 Beta.
Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://aext.net/jquery-menu-plugin-bubbleup/
License: License Free
WebDesignerWall has shared the way he made the Mac-like multi-level dropdown menu using border-radius, box-shadow, and text-shadow. It is called CSS3 Dropdown Menu, which renders perfect on Firefox, Safari and Chrome. The dropdown also works on non-CSS3 compitable browsers such as IE7+, but the rounded corners and shadow will not be rendered.
There is one gradient image is used. A white-transparent image is used to achieve the gradient effect. Because the new CSS3 gradient feature is not supported by all browsers yet, it is safer to use a gradient background image.
Requirements: –
Demo: http://www.webdesignerwall.com/demo/css3-dropdown-menu/
License: License Free
TinyTips is a very lightweight jQuery plugin that gives the ability to add tooltips to pretty much any element on a page. Thoroughly documented and designer friendly. TinyTips is very easy to install and use. Simply include TinyTips and the latest release of jQuery in the <head>. Â You can also give it a nice style by editing the stylesheet.
Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://www.digitalinferno.net/demos/tt-1-0/index.html
License: License Free
Web Icon Set has released a set of Free Mobile Icon Set recently. Mobile Icon Set includes Phone Call, Photos, Messages, Calculator, Wireless, Calendar, Settings, Contacts, Notes, Map. You are welcome to use them on both your Personal and Commercial Projects. The sizes of the icons include 128, 64, 48, 32px. You can use these icons on your mobile applications or mobiles.
Requirements: –
Demo: http://www.webiconset.com/mobile-icon-set/
License: License Free
