Updated on May 21, 2015 in Learn
Developing over the YouTube API with JSON
The process to understand API development is generally complicated but should become easier with practice. Social networks like Twitter and YouTube offer XML/RSS/JSON feeds without the requirement of an API key. However, other smaller networking websites like Instagram and Etsy…
Updated on May 21, 2015 in Learn
Creating Vanity URLs in Rails
A vanity URL is a search engine optimized (SEO) URL. Instead of having a meaningless URL like http://storeofthefuture.com/products/2015 wouldn’t http://storeofthefuture.com/products/hoverboard be better and more meaningful? It’s fairly straightforward to make URLs nicer in Rails. I’ll walk you through the process….
Updated on May 21, 2015 in Learn
Extending Placeholder Selectors with Sass
I recently wrote an article on creating a themable button set with Sass where I used a mixin to define all base styles, then a color value was passed as an argument when included in each theme. Example: @mixin btn-theme($btn-color)…
Updated on May 21, 2015 in Learn
Accessing the Device Camera with getUserMedia
One of the funnest technologies to come to web browsers in the last couple years is the ability to access the webcam and microphone without the need for a third party plugin. When you combine these native media streams with…
Updated on June 30, 2015 in Learn
Writing Your Own jQuery Plugins
jQuery is great. It’s cross-browser, easy to learn, and makes adding interactivity to your website a breeze. It also comes with plenty of plugins to do almost whatever you need it to do. But what if you can’t find just…
Updated on May 21, 2015 in Learn
Creating Vanity URLs in PHP and MySQL: Query String Variables
Vanity URLs can be extremely useful, especially in offline marketing materials. I covered two techniques for creating vanity URLs in PHP in earlier posts: using a subfolder with a header redirect and using rewrite rules in Apache. After publishing those two posts, someone…
Updated on November 21, 2022 in Learn
Tame WordPress from the Command Line with wp-cli
Some people fear the command line. They view it as the deep, dark underbelly of their computer, far from the familiar comforts of the GUI. A place of great mystery where even the angels fear to tread. But then there…
Updated on May 21, 2015 in Learn
Adding Motion into Web Design with Animate.css
Lots of frontend web developers have been getting interested in dynamic interfaces using motion effects. This is all too common with many advancements within popular JavaScript libraries. But there has also been a lot of interest in CSS3 animated effects….
Updated on October 16, 2018 in Learn
Create an Absolute Basic Mobile CSS Responsive Navigation Menu
In this tutorial we will go over the process in coding a very basic CSS responsive navigation menu. We will transform a basic non-list style navigation to a drop down menu using media queries in our stylesheet. There’s no need…
Updated on October 14, 2017 in Learn
Take Control of the Box Model with box-sizing
I get asked a lot about the CSS box-sizing property, especially from beginning designers and developers who’ve dealt with broken layouts and misaligned grids. The CSS box model can be a little deceiving and tricky to work with at times,…
Updated on March 19, 2026 in Learn
Building Custom Controls for HTML5 Video
Browsers ship with built-in video controls, but they’re intentionally minimal and can’t be styled in any meaningful way with CSS. If you need controls that match your design, support keyboard navigation, or expose additional functionality like playback speed, you’ll need…
Updated on May 21, 2015 in Learn
SVG Path Animation with jQuery and Illustrator
As technology in the web moves forward we are offered new tools to build amazing web applications. Scalable Vector Graphics or SVG’s have been gaining traction in the past year or so as most browsers handle the image file extension…