Video tutorials: Learn to write XHTML and CSS manually

After being asked about HTML/CSS coding tutorials for beginners, I ran across a site with a number of excellent guides: LearnWebCode.com. In a number of simple steps, you can learn the basics of both (X)HTML and CSS, and along with the texts you can find a number of videos that give you a visual guide on how it works. After viewing several videos and reading a number of the tutorial posts, I can warmly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn how to build websites from scratch using manual coding. Read more by following the links below:

XHTML and CSS tutorials (text with code examples)
CSS video tutorials
HTML video tutorials

Thanks Brad for these guides, I think that they could be really useful to a lot of aspiring site builders…

The Grid v2.1 released

The Grid v2.1The second version of The Grid template has been updated to version 2.1, fixing a minor error in the sample content. A package of sample layouts built from the template will be released separately at the end of this week, showing the flexibility that the grid system provides for creating both simple and complex layouts.

Download The Grid v2.1 (.zip, 164 Kb)

Notepad++ 2.5.8 released

The code editor of my choice, Notepad++, has been updated to version 5.9.8. It is a minor update, but it includes a welcome addition of drag-and-drop capability in the project manager.

Sharing buttons and commenting using your Facebook, Twitter or Google account

I have spent this weekend on adding two new features for the site. Here is a short rundown:

Share buttons for pages and posts

Buttons for Google +1, Facebook Like and Tweet this have been added to all pages and all blog posts – as well as to the front page. If you click on one of the buttons (for example the "Facebook like" button) on any page or blog post, you will "like" that specific page or post (rather than the main URL, andreasviklund.com, which was shared on the previous version of the site). The sharing buttons now display the number of +1's, likes and tweets for each page, which is also a new feature.

Comment using your Facebook, Twitter or Google account

Comments can now be posted using your Facebook account, Google account or Twitter account, as well as by manually filling in the name and e-mail address like before. If you post a comment by connecting your Facebook account, your comment will also be posted on your Facebook wall along with a link to the post you are commenting on. I don't know if this will be useful to anyone, but I thought that it could be worth trying it out.

More features will be added during the next couple of weeks, as the site is in constant development now. If there is any specific feature that you would want to see, feel free to post your suggestions and requests here.

How do WordPress plugins affect site performance?

One of the best things about building websites with WordPress is the flexibility you get from the wide range of WordPress plugins available. But every plugin that is added affects the performance of the website. If the number of installed plugins is high, the difference can be quite significant. Dev4Press has published a detailed test showing how 35 different plugins affect the performance of a WordPress website, and it is a really interesting post that provides a good point on optimization by simplification. In some cases, it may actually not be worth installing some plugins as the negative effect on performance is bigger tan te positive effect of the added feature. Check it out, and if you know about more tests similar to this, I'd be happy to know about them.

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