The CSS Working Group have designed an aspect ratio unit for CSS. While this isn’t in browsers yet, in this article Rachel Andrew takes a look at the process of designing a new sizing method and explains how it will work. This is a new resolution, so we have no browser implementations yet, but Rachel thought it would be worth writing up the proposal in case anyone in the wider web community could see a showstopping issue with it. It also gives something of an insight into the work of the CSSWG and how issues like this are discussed, and new features designed.
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Take a gander at the revenues of the top mobile apps and it’s easy to get lost in dreams of what could be if only you built a mobile app today. Then again, have you ever considered how much it actually costs to build and maintain a mobile app? When you look at the big picture, you’ll soon realize that mobile apps aren’t a smart investment for most. That’s why you need to give serious consideration to building a PWA this year. In this article, Suzanne Scacca is going to talk about why app monetization needs to be one of the first things you think about before making a choice between designing a mobile app or PWA for your clients.
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If you haven’t already researched biometrics for your user testing projects, perhaps it’s something you’d like to check out as an addition to your current testing. Today, Susan Weinschenk brings you some new tools that are easy and inexpensive to use. Others may take more investment of your time and budget. Or you may want to bring in an outside firm that specializes in these tools. (Some suggestions for outside vendors are at the end of the article.)
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Virtual reality (VR) is an experience based in a computer-generated environment, and following Alvin’s introduction to programming in VR, this article series aims to introduce more VR concepts in the context of building a game. In this article, Alvin Wan will show you how you can synchronize the game state between two devices which will move you one step closer to building a multiplayer game. He’ll specifically introduce more A-Frame VR concepts such as stylized low-poly entities, lights, and animation.
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When inspecting most other grids in DevTools, you’ll notice that column widths are dependent on their parent element. Container units are a specialized set of CSS variables. They mirror the layout functionality found in UI design software where configuring just three values provides your document with a global set of columns and gutters to measure and calculate from. In this article, Russell Bishop will help you understand how to overcome these limitations using CSS variables and how you can start building with container units.
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WordPress is modernizing, allowing us to rethink how to make the most out of newer tools and technologies. In this article, Leonardo Losoviz explains how you can integrate WordPress with Composer, Packagist, and WPackagist in order to produce better code. He will review two projects which provide an integration between WordPress and Composer: manually setting our composer.json file depending on John P. Bloch’s mirror of WordPress’ core, and Bedrock by Roots.
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Brainstorming seems to be just a fancy name for a usual discussion, but when organized right, it becomes a source of innovation. In this article, Slava Shestopalov brings you a step-by-step guide with tips and tricks, examples of slides, and preparation checklists. Brainstorming has a bright side: It’s a civilized process of generating ideas together. At least this is how it appears in the books on creativity. So, can we make it real? After reaching the end of this article, we hope that you’ll be able to organize brainstorming sessions with your colleagues and clients, and co-create something valuable.
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Get ready for March with a fresh wallpaper. Today, Cosima Mielke brings you some designs for the community and available with and without a calendar. Please note that all images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper, and you can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our Desktop Wallpaper Calendar series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?
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Rachel Andrew has been digging around in the CSS Fragmentation spec, and finding browser support is somewhat fragmented. In this article, she explains what fragmentation is, why you might want to use it, and what the state of browser support is. She’ll also show you the current state of browser support and some of the things you can do to get it working as well as it can in your multicol and print projects.
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The popularity of Vue.js shows no signs of slowing down, with a huge amount of credit being due to the framework’s progressive approach. One of the key advantages of Vue.js is that it plays nicely with other code: it is easy to embed progressively into other applications, but it is also easy to wrap up non-Vue code into Vue. In this article, Kevin Ball explores this second advantage, covering three distinct types of third-party JavaScript and ways to embed each of them in Vue.
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