Chase Crawford

Qdoba Coupons

February 2, 2010 9:29pm • Posted by Chase • 0 Comments

I guess lazy programming is okay when it gets me free Qdoba.

My First Plugin: Custom Scrollbar

January 20, 2010 7:36am • Posted by Chase • 1 Comment

I made this plugin using code from Chris Davis' Custom scrollbars in Safari, Pt. 1 and Custom scrollbars in Safari, Pt. 2. The plugin is extremely simple. It calls two javascript files, and one stylesheet, and uses javascript to wrap a "#customScrollbar" div around your container div.

Notes: This custom scrollbar will only appear in browsers using webkit. This plugin disables the outline on links, which hurts usability. Here is what Chris Davis had to say about it in his tutorial:

Now, there is an argument that we are impeding usability by removing the outline, and there is a great deal of merit to that argument. I don’t believe I would do this on a website meant for commercial consumption, but for a personal site meant for learning, sharing and exploration it sits pretty well I think.

Download: Habari | Wordpress

Updates

0.1.1 - instead of calling my own jQuery file, I used the ones included in habari and WordPress

→ 1 Comment | Tags: habari, Habari Plugins, Wordpress and Wordpress Plugins

5 Tips for Young Web Designers/Developers

January 9, 2010 6:37pm • Posted by Chase • 2 Comments

Everyone has no doubt heard from somebody that this is "the wild west days of the web". The lack of structure has created a niche for young talented and motivated individuals to get jobs working with guys twice their age. However, don't think your on an even playing field with the guy twice as old as you, even if you know twice as much. Potential employers/clients will be investing a lot money into you, and they need to know without a doubt they are right to do so.

Make Your Portfolio a Priority

I constantly made co-workers at my first job wince when I would delete hours of work because I was unhappy with the result. They constantly told me to hold on to everything I did, and now I wish I did. Right now I should have 2+ years of work to show, instead I'm still trying to find ways to display my entire skillset. Even if something you've done isn't something you feel is profile-worthy, put in a folder somewhere for a rainy day. Odds are there will be some point in the future you'll wish you had it. Also, just because its not something your proud of, doesn't mean it won't impress a client or potential employer.

Don't Undercharge!

I'll admit I still have a problem with this. I've seen people with 5+ years experience still have problems with this. You have to know what your time is worth, and then be able to tell that to the client/employer. There is the logic that your young, and should charge less. That is true to a certain extent, but if you compensate for your inexperience with the other points on this list, you shouldn't have to sacrifice too many dollars.

Know Your Strengths

Your young, your still learning. It's good to try to expand your skillset, but don't forget what your already good at. I wasted a lot of time trying to teach myself how to design at the level I was seeing from my co-workers, but in the end I just had to accept that wasn't me. I'm a developer, I'd much rather play with code than play in Photoshop. It's not only something I'd rather do, its more beneficial to my value as a web developer. Do what you enjoy, odds are that's what got you this far. If you have that passion for what you do, others will be able to see that.

Listen To The Guys That Have Been Doing This For A While

We're young, we have it hard-wired into our brains to think we already have it figured out. Not that every person older than you is worth listening to, but odds are their approach to their work has been formed by a myriad of scenarios you have yet to encounter. Not saying to drastically change they way you do things, but definitely take notes. Their way of doing things may not make sense to you or just might not make sense, but I've learned when it comes to the web you must know multiple ways to do the same thing.

Be Patient

It's easy to look the guys who have 6000 followers on Twitter or the guys whose blog post always get blown up with comments and wonder why you even bother. Below is an excerpt from a blog post by my mentor and friend, David Yeiser, who said it better than I could.

Working on the web is thankless. You’ll spend eight hours writing a blog post and no one will care. And it will probably be that way for years. That’s the reality, sometimes you get lucky and you’ll always have 15 minutes of fame here and there, but for the most part it’s an unrewarding endeavor in the beginning.

But keep at it because eventually people will start caring. However, as a word of advice, care less about your perception and clout in the web community and care more about your quality of work. The former comes with the latter, but not the reverse.

Excerpt from Start Smart on Design Intellection.

→ 2 Comments | Tags: Web Design and Web Development

Looking for Wings?

January 9, 2010 6:33am • Posted by Chase • 0 Comments

I have discontinued my development of the theme Wings for Habari. I stopped following Habari's development over the summer, and Wings became out-of-date. Until I catch myself up, I don't want to have something unstable or simply unusable out there with my name on it. I have no timeline for a re-release, but Habari now has plenty of high quality of plugins to choose from. Sorry for the inconvenience, shoot me an email at chase AT chasecrawford DOT us if you need to reach me.

→ 0 Comments | Tags: habari, Habari Themes and Wings

Pages: 1