Absalom Media :: CSS design and accessible CMS support

Notice anything different?

That's right. We have a new design for this site.  It's not all that's happening either. With new toys, new web portals , new business streams and upgrades on existing software applications in the works, the Absalom Media studio is a hive of activity.

Comments, feedback, flames are all welcome. Spam and other nasty stuff will be ignored and handled by the extensive web security systems we have in place for our clientele.

The online brand of a business is something that is more than a brochure, yet some corporates treat it with kid gloves. Those who do invest in it require a return on investment that is comparable to the work delivered. Yet, at the end of the day, in order to progress business online, risks have to be taken. As a manager and creative director, I find businesses that time and again get sold short on what the aims of their website should be, based on current trends. Why is this so, and what can be done to rectify it?

One of the key factors in delivering a successful product is research and development. This research and development may take many forms, either from an engineering perspective or from a creative perspective. If a product is designed to look good, but fails to meet the use the consumer requires, it will fail. If a product is designed based on an engineering perspective alone, it usually will have a poor consumer response. So the dilemma remains. What is the best design to capture the consumer?

I've managed to get involved in the latest Barcamp incantation at Brisbane today, after helping co-ordinate the Joomla! Melbourne User Group and networking with Tequp, another unconference. Notes, presentation slides and photos to follow as it gets pushed out to the wider web stream.

This is a good opportunity for the wider web design community in Queensland to focus on quality design, development and training, having come from my interactions with the Web Standards Group, the Australian Web Industry Association and the Guild of Accessible Web Designers. As GAWDS is an international body, it doesn't have a local chapter in Brisbane or the greater South East, either in the Gold or Sunshine Coast. Yet both the WSG and AWIA are national bodies, and neither seem to be greatly encouraged or represented in this state.

Perhaps it's time for a change.

To help develop professional artwork and press collateral for clientele, you need to understand  the development of independent publishing in general. The online space is driven primarily by open source, open standard principles in order to build networks.

Community matters. People who use the products of Absalom Media to increase the value of their online presence are respected. That does beg the question, however. What is the Joomla! community ?

Just a quick note to say we're investigating an issue between IRC Maxell's Page Cache tool and Bad Behaviour. We apologise in advance if the site 403s unexpectedly.

Need to create a professional template in Joomla! ? Need a course in CSS design ? Then the Joomla! Template Design book from Packt Publishing will help get you started.

Like the title suggests, this post is about the benefits of creating non-GPL compatible works, regardless of whether or not people get them for cost. So commercial and proprietary by and large have no place in this discussion.

Need to create your first application for Joomla! 1.5 ? Have no idea how to do it ? Then "Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development" is for you. This book, written by Joseph Le Blanc, who has produced component tutorials for Joomla previously, covers the basics of extension development.