May 12, 2014 in Learn
The Beginner’s Guide to Grids with Zurb Foundation 5
(Flickr photo by Hey Paul) Most modern websites use a grid to visually organize content into columns and rows, and nearly every front-end framework includes a robust grid system. If you’re totally new to front-end frameworks, I also recommend the…
May 5, 2014 in Learn
5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Web Design Portfolio
If you’re a freelance designer or if you’re looking for your next design job, a portfolio of work is essential. Clients and employers want to see your capabilities and form a quick impression. If you don’t have a portfolio yet,…
April 29, 2014 in Learn
Flexbox: The Next Generation of CSS Layout Has Arrived
(Stretch your CSS layout options with Flexbox. Flickr photo by Duncan Hull.) Flexbox is a totally new set of CSS properties that allows designers to create flexible layouts. This is great news for responsive design because it dramatically reduces the complexity of…
April 23, 2014 in Learn
An Introduction to Perceived Performance
(Illustration by Mat Helme, Treehouse) Perceived Performance Is a Measure of How Quick a User Thinks Your Site Is, and That’s Often More Important Than Its True Speed Performance is important. It can mean the difference between making a sale,…
April 14, 2014 in Learn
The Beginner’s Guide to Ratchet: a Mobile Web App Framework
Ratchet is a front-end framework for building mobile web apps in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Ratchet 2.0 was recently released, so it’s a good time to start learning how to build Ratchet apps. If you just want to see Ratchet in…
April 8, 2014 in Learn
How I Rapidly Prototype Websites
(Photo by Andrés Nieto Porras/Flickr) Treehouse students will often ask me which mockup tool I use to prototype websites, and my response is almost always the same: pencil and paper. I feel like when I give this answer, there’s a small…
April 3, 2014 in Learn
How to Evaluate Front-End Code for Inefficiencies
There’s more to writing good front-end code than knowing every HTML tag, CSS selector, or the latest front-end features and techniques. And as I mentioned in a recent blog post, writing good code takes a lot of patience and practice….
March 27, 2014 in Learn
How Data URIs Speed Improve Website Speed
As our websites grow more complex, web performance is becoming an increasingly important topic. There are many different strategies that you can employ to improve the performance of your websites. These include optimising images, combining multiple CSS files, or setting…
March 15, 2014 in Learn
Using localForage for Offline Data Storage
(Photo by Erich Ferdinand/Flickr) An important step on the path toward robust, offline web applications is the ability to store data in the user’s browser. Technologies like IndexedDB and localStorage have provided this functionality to web developers, but they are not…
March 14, 2014 in Learn
Should I Use WordPress to Create a Website?
(Photo by William Hook/Flickr) You can create powerful, polished sites with WordPress without learning a lot of coding. Once you’re comfortable with WordPress, you can do in a week or a weekend what could take you a month or more…
March 14, 2014 in Learn
Beginner Web Design Mistakes You Should Avoid
Web design can be tough for a lot of reasons. But the biggest challenge is probably that there are so many ways to approach a problem. Many websites set a bad example for beginners. Even big brands known for quality can…
March 12, 2014 in Learn
How to Create an AJAX Contact Form for a Website [Guide]
Conversions don’t always equate to purchases or transactions, they can also appear in the form of newsletter sign-ups and contact forms. Contact forms are one of the most common features on a website. Standard contact forms work just fine, but…