Developed by Alex Sirota (iosart), Ultimate CSS Gradient Generator created gradients using pure CSS3 without needing to create any images and apply them as repeating backgrounds for gradient effects.

To use this tool, you need a recent version of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera or IE. The resulting CSS gradients are cross-browser – they work effectively in these browsers and also will degrade gracefully to a simpler gradient in older versions of Internet Explorer.

Features include:

• Powerful Photoshop-like interface
• Cross browser CSS output
• Horizontal, vertical, diagonal and radial gradients
• Sophisticated multi-stop gradients
• Opacity support with multiple opacity stops
• Hex, rgb, rgba, hsl, hsla color formats
• Support for full multi-stop gradients with IE9
• Import from image (convert image gradient to CSS)
• Import from existing CSS
• Alter gradient by hue, saturation, lightness
• More than 135 gradient presets
• Saving custom gradient presets
• Sass output
• Flexible preview panel
• Gradient permalinks for sending and sharing

Performing multiple queries at once can be an effective and fast process using less code without any extra calls to the database. mysqli::multi_query can help you do that by executing one or multiple queries which are concatenated by a semicolon. However, not all servers have mysqli installed and when you also sell a product that requires a database import during the installation wizard you want to make sure that even the servers without mysqli will make the import successfully. [Read more…]

In 2012, every day, more and more people decide to launch a blog. However, not everyone realizes that there are actually many kinds of blogs, not only simple text-based online publications.

That’s why I’ve decided to publish this list of 7 most common kinds of blogs to give you a broader look at the blogosphere before you take the final step and launch your own blog.

1. Traditional blog

This is what comes to mind when someone says “blog.” Traditional blogs are mostly text-based, with some images published inside the posts every now and then. Quality traditional blogs rely on publishing insightful content, usually featuring some kind of “how to” advice.

2. Photo blog

Used mostly by photographers or other people interested in photography or graphics in general. Photo blogs usually have themes that allow them to publish content that’s wider than in a traditional blog. There’s rarely any text inside the posts.

3. Video blog

The idea is very similar to a photo blog, but this time it’s all about videos. Thanks to services like YouTube we no longer have to take care of hosting videos ourselves. We just have to upload them to YouTube and then grab the ember code. Video blog themes are usually equipped with some shortcodes that support various video platforms and such.

4. Magazine style blog

Most of the time when we see an online magazine we don’t even realize that in the background it’s run by WordPress or some other blogging platform. Magazines feature a large amount of content and often publish multiple entries every day. Such situation requires themes that can handle this much content and are able to showcase it in a visible form. That’s why a traditional blog theme won’t do the trick here.

5. Portfolio blog

Portfolio blogs are quite similar to photo blogs but they do contain some text along with the photos. The goal here is to showcase the author’s skills or services they offer. For this, the works of the blog owner have to be showcased in an attractive form (so the portfolio can do its job). That’s why portfolio themes usually feature some kind of Flash animations or jQuery magic.

6. Micro blog

In its beginnings, Twitter was supposed to be a micro blogging platform, but the idea has soon become extinct. In essence, micro blog is a place where the author shares very quick entries consisting of just a couple of sentences (or one sentence). For example, the most common case here is a “quotation blog.”

7. Company blog

Company blog isn’t actually a separate kind of blog. It’s more like a combination of some of the previous kinds. The idea is that various businesses/companies want to have a blog as an addition to their sites. They usually don’t publish content very often, so the theme the blog uses has to be good at showcasing past articles and not bringing too much attention to the fact that a new piece of content hasn’t been published in a while.

This closes my list, but feel free to comment and let me know of some other kinds of blogs you can think of.

There are many content management systems out there, but the two most popular are WordPress and Joomla. Both of these are known for being great with SEO, and they can be configured for nearly any type of website. If you are thinking of using one of these systems, then read this article to see which CMS is best for your needs.

SEO Comparison

Both Joomla and WordPress have plugins that enhance their SEO prowess. At the same time, which system is best without plugins?
Joomla has a lot of SEO power. You can set metatags and keywords, and you can change the URL architecture for the best SEO potential. This will help you rank your articles and blog posts.
At the same time, Joomla does not have the same SEO potential that WordPress has. WordPress allows users to customize all the same things that Joomla does, but it also includes automatic pinging.
A ping is a signal sent to the search engines. This is used to tell them that something has changed about your website. While pinging abuse can be bad for your website, a moderate amount of pinging will quickly bring search engine spiders to your page.
The worst part about WordPress SEO is that it takes a lot of work to configure everything you need for the best SEO potential.

[Read more…]