Original Source: https://www.sitepoint.com/improving-performance-perception-pingdom-gtmetrix/

This article is part of a series on building a sample application — a multi-image gallery blog — for performance benchmarking and optimizations. (View the repo here.)

In this article, we’ll analyze our gallery application using the tools we explained in the previous guide, and we’ll look at possible ways to further improve its performance.

As per the previous post, please set up Ngrok and pipe to the locally hosted app through it, or host the app on a demo server of your own. This static URL will enable us to test our app with external tools like GTmetrix and Pingdom Tools.

We went and scanned our website with GTmetrix to see how we can improve it. We see that results, albeit not catastrophically bad, still have room for improvement.

The first tab — PageSpeed — contains a list of recommendations by Google. The first item under the PageSpeed tab — a warning about a consistent URL — pertains to our application outputting the images randomly, so that is an item we will skip. The next thing we can do something about is browser caching.

Browser Caching

We see that there is a main.css file that needs its Expires headers set, and the images in the gallery need the same thing. Now, the first idea for these static files would be to set this in our Nginx configuration:

location ~* .(?:ico|css|js|gif|jpe?g|png)$ {
expires 14d;
}

We can simply put this inside our server block and leave it to Nginx, right?

Well, not really. This will take care of our static files, like CSS, but the /raw images we are being warned about aren’t really that static. So this snippet in our Nginx configuration won’t exactly fix this issue so easily. For our images, we have an actual controller that creates these on the fly, so it would be ideal if we could set our response headers right there, in the controller. For some reason, these weren’t being set properly by Glide.

Maybe we could set our Nginx directive in a way to include the raw resources, but we felt the controller approach to be more future-proof. This is because we aren’t sure what other content may end up with an raw suffix eventually — maybe some videos, or even audio files.

So, we opened /src/ImageController.php in our image gallery app, and dropped these two lines inside of our serveImageAction(), just before the line return $response:

// cache for 2 weeks
$response->setSharedMaxAge(1209600);
// (optional) set a custom Cache-Control directive
$response->headers->addCacheControlDirective(‘must-revalidate’, true);

This will modify our dynamic image responses by adding the proper Cache Control and Expires headers.

Symfony has more comprehensive options for the caching of responses, as documented here.

Having restarted Nginx, we re-tested our app in GTmetrix, and lo and behold:

The post Improving Performance Perception with Pingdom and GTmetrix appeared first on SitePoint.

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~3/0UZO-ek0L5E/

The goal of any admin area (a.k.a. “Dashboard”;) should be to provide all the functions a user needs and doing so with their ease-of-use in mind. Using the popular Bootstrap framework, you can create an administration area that excels in both form and function.

Here are 10 free Bootstrap-based themes that will help to turn your custom admin area into a user-friendly powerhouse.

All the Admin Templates You Could Ask For

2M+ items from the worlds largest marketplace for Admin Templates, Themes & Design Assets. All of it can be found at Envato Market.

DOWNLOAD NOW

AdminLTE

AdminLTE is a lightweight theme that prides itself on being both beautiful and useful. It’s fully responsive, includes a selection of six skins and is even optimized for printing.

Material Dashboard

Built with Google’s Material Design in mind, Material Dashboard is clean and colorful. The UI is inspired a bit by layered sheets of paper and uses light, surface and movement to create an easy-to-use dashboard.

AdminBSB – Material Design

Those looking for a very Google-like interface will love AdminBSB – Material Design. It follows the principles of Material Design while providing users with a familiar-looking GUI.

BootFlat Admin

BootFlat Admin features an attractive and easy-to-navigate dashboard area. As its name indicates, it uses the BootFlat flat UI kit.

Klorofil

Klorofil features lots of useful elements such as charts, timelines, notifications and ready-to-use page templates. It provides you with all the basics you’ll need to build a perfect backend to your site or web-based app.

Shoppy E commerce Admin Panel

Using vibrant colors and a flat UI, Shoppy is a great choice for a custom eCommerce dashboard. It’s fully responsive and includes lots of goodies like buttons, icons and animated charts.

Paper Dashboard

Unlike a lot of admin themes out there, Paper Dashboard is quite subtle in its use of color. That leads to a beautiful UI that may have a bit more of a calming effect than other, more cluttered choices.

Bluebox

There’s something to be said for simplicity in color scheme. Bluebox does it to near perfection in that the consistent use of blue makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. It comes with lots of UI elements while supporting Google Fonts and Fontawesome Icons.

Blocks – Single Page Admin

Blocks takes a different approach to the admin screen by utilizing a fully-widgetized UI. Also gone is the ubiquitous left-side navigation in favor of a much more subtle menu across the top. This just goes to show that there is more than one way to create an appealing admin layout.

Free Responsive Horizontal Admin

Free Responsive Horizontal Admin also eschews the standard left menu. The theme also makes nice use of white space and sports a muted color scheme. This could be a solid choice for those who need a more simple and minimal type of dashboard.

Admin Themes That Help You Take Control

Admin areas have, to some degree, gotten a bit stale – especially when you look at what some popular CMS are doing. Part of their problem is that you don’t necessarily want to make radical changes to a UI that millions are comfortable with.

So the real innovations are coming in the form of the roll-your-own dashboards, like the ones featured above. Building your own admin can free you up to take a few more chances than the bigger players out there. These Bootstrap-based themes are proof that there is still a lot of room for both improvement and different ideas.

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abduzeedo/~3/ML1RoYZLucI/kogin-embroidered-insect-brooches

Kogin embroidered Insect Brooches

AoiroStudio
Jun 29, 2018

Let’s take a look at this unique project by Hiné Mizushima who is (in his own words) Slow Crafter, Needle-felter and Illustrator based in Vancouver, BC in Canada. We are looking at his Kogin embroidered insect brooches he worked on for a group exhibition happening right now in Osaka, Japan. What is Kogin? It’s a traditional quilting method of Aomori’s Tsugaru region, where its characteristic is the beauty of its design. As you can see in the following, it’s an art and we can definitely appreciate its creativity.

Kogin embroidered insect brooches for a group exhibition, The Kingdom of Specimens at ranbu gallery (2nd floor) in Osaka, Japan, opening June 20th, 2018! I used some of my hand-dyed Kogin fabrics and most of my hand-dyed Kogin threads for the brooches, and I also used tiny Japanese glass beads for the details.

More Links
Learn more about Hiné Mizushima
Follow Hiné’s work on Behance

crafts
embroidery
design

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~3/MUQbtsdKsoU/

Designing a newsletter can be tough. Not only do you need knowledge and understanding of how users/readers expect content to be delivered to them, you also have the headache of making the layout compatible with all of the many emails clients.

It helps if you study the layouts of existing newsletters to get an understanding of how the code and layouts work. That’s why I’ve curated 10 of the best newsletter designs that are fully responsive and up-to-date with modern coding standards.

If you’re planning to launch your own newsletter, these designs should be great inspiration for you.

SeatGeek

With a single column design and large typography, I love the way the SeatGeek email uses icons and simple graphics to grab your attention.

The large typography also takes up a high percentage of the page making it very easy to read. Shorter paragraphs, larger text, and a clear CTA at the bottom of the page all increase usability.

For a simple verification email this does the job well.

PlayStation

If you’re looking for a more complex design, Sony’s Battlefield 1 release offers some nice ideas.

Most of this newsletter relies on images to replicate the official Sony PlayStation website. This is great for building brand awareness and trust, but this also feels a bit light on information since it doesn’t tell the reader what to do or what the message means.

Still, it has a really smooth design and it shows how much quality graphics play a role in email layouts.

Social Print Studio

Email verification messages don’t need to be complex. But you should feel okay adding some details about the website/list the user just signed up to.

This email by Social Print Studio is primarily a verification message, but it also includes points about the site and what new users can expect from using it. This even includes a ‘shop’ CTA leading directly to the site where readers can order prints of their Instagram photos.

An excellent example of coaxing users back onto the site while also increasing signup verifications.

Archant

Here’s a real interesting email newsletter with an update preferences message from Archant (online publisher).

The goal is to connect with users who may have subscription settings that are either too strict (blocking all contact) or too lenient (receiving too many emails). It’s a cool way to connect with existing subscribers and ideally get them signed up to more lists.

WistiaFest 2017

Event newsletters like this one are usually pretty simple. They only have a few goals: share information about the event and encourage subscribers to buy their ticket early.

This newsletter has all of that in spades with CTAs to check out the event’s speakers and to sign up for a ticket. The layout also follows a single one-column design which usually works best for emails.

Lists for events also don’t go out regularly, so it’s crucial to include the logo near the very top of the page. This way subscribers know exactly what the message is about since their last message was probably 12 months before.

Sprout Social Webinar

The Sprout Social newsletters are fantastically well-designed and their codebase is phenomenal. Take a look at this simple design promoting an upcoming webinar.

It’s pretty short and uses graphs to draw attention. It also uses bulleted lists with icons to help sell the webinar as bullet points are much easier to read than paragraphs.

Plus, the big green CTA is well above the fold and pushes their webinar schedule. You can replace many of these elements with your own and see fantastic results.

Sprout Social IG Scheduling

Another example from Sprout Social is this promo email covering their Instagram scheduling feature.

One difference with this layout is the alternating two-column features grid. It uses square icons placed alongside square info-boxes with clear visuals. A great concept and it blends in nicely with the overall design.

If you’re looking for a basic template to study and possibly recreate you should check out the Sprout Social emails. Considering all factors like visuals, copy, and page structure, Sprout Social do email marketing right

Moo Design

From business cards to custom stickers, this promo newsletter really sells the product well. You can learn a lot by studying how other websites promote their content, and this Moo newsletter is a terrific example.

Product photos show how these items could be used and you can also learn a lot from the email’s style and flair.

It feels colorful and fun with a light sense of humor. This tells readers how these products feel and why you might want to visit Moo.

The newsletter uses a two-column product feature with blocks of images and text. An excellent way to grab attention and increase conversions.

Under Armor

The Under Armor brand is very popular in the fitness community. They have tons of great products and their newsletter design sells their items well.

Notice how many unique photographs are used in this design. With some products, it just makes sense to add photos more than text. Block elements with photos and CTAs work well for Under Armor’s newsletter and this is usually a good strategy for all physical goods.

Runtastic

Product feature lists are also great for promoting mobile apps and digital software. This Runtastic email relies on app screenshots and small flat-styled icons to grab your attention.

The goal of this newsletter is to encourage clickthroughs and get new users digging deeper into features. It’s an entire suite of programs and tracking tools so it can take time to learn everything.

But with a great follow-up email you can provide just enough info to get people curious and wanting to learn more.

These are just some of the best newsletter designs I’ve found but there are dozens more out there. And regardless of what you’re promoting or why you need a newsletter, these designs will help you plan usable layouts with clean source code to boot.