January 22, 2019 — People who read Smashing Magazine, come to our conferences, and sign up as members. Given that we don’t ever get to meet or interact with the majority of folks who visit the site, this can make it quite difficult for us to better understand our readers and subscribers. Today, Rachel Andrew brings you a Smashing Survey. We want to find out about you, our readers, so that we can better bring you the tutorials, articles and resources that you need. Read more…

January 21, 2019 — In the world of APIs, GraphQL has lately overshadowed REST due to its ability to query and retrieve all required data in a single request. Using a component-based API makes most sense when the website is itself built using components, i.e. when the webpage is iteratively composed of components wrapping other components until, at the very top, we obtain a single component that represents the page.  In this article, Leonardo Losoviz will describe a different type of API, based around components, which takes a step further the amount of data it can fetch from a single request. Read more…

January 18, 2019 — Anselm is back with a new edition of his Monthly Web Development Update. A reading list to help you rethink existing systems and habits and find the solution that really fits your product. Read more…

January 17, 2019 — The visual cortex is the part of the brain that processes visual information. Each of the senses has an area of the brain where the signals for that sensory perception are usually sent and processed. Given the way our brains work, there are things you can do that will grab your user’s visual attention. In this article, Susan Weinschenk explains how the visual cortex of our brains plays a vital role in controlling our behavior. Read more…

January 16, 2019 — HTML5 introduced thirteen new types of form input, adding significantly to the number of different fields web designers and developers could add to our forms. These new types all require browsers to support them, and take-up has been slower than some of us would have liked. What is the state of those field types in 2019? Which can we use, and which should still be avoided? Read more…

January 15, 2019 — Climate change may not seem like an issue that should concern web developers, but the truth is that our work does have a carbon footprint, and it’s about time we started to think about that. As web developers, it’s understandable to feel that this is not an issue over which we have any influence, but this isn’t true. Many efforts are afoot to improve the situation on the web. The Green Web Foundation maintains an ever-growing database of web hosts who are either wholly powered by renewable energy or are at least committed to being carbon neutral. So, apart from powering servers with renewable energy, what else can web developers do about climate change? Read more…

January 14, 2019 — Web Standards, and the documentation to support them, provide huge insight into ‘the why’ and ‘the what’ of the world wide web. They are a fantastic resource for any web developer and help people build stuff for the web that is functional, accessible and cross-compatible. In this article, we take a look at the history of Web Standards, how to use them in your work and ways you can get involved in making them. In this article, Amy Dickens will give you an introduction to web standards, as well as ways you can get involved in contributing to new and existing standards. Let’s begin! Read more…

January 11, 2019 — The Multi-column Layout spec is often overlooked as we use Grid and Flexbox. In this article Rachel Andrew explains why it is different to other layout methods, and shows some useful patterns and sites which showcase it well. Rachel will take a look at Multi-column Layout — often referred to as multicol or sometimes “CSS Columns”. You’ll find out which tasks it is suited for, and some of the things to watch out for when making columns. Read more…

January 10, 2019 — Are you considering transforming old cursive handwriting into a modern digital font? Before forging ahead with the design, assess your goals for historical accuracy, identify the idiosyncrasies that make the handwriting special, develop a strategy for connecting glyphs, and decide if you want to include texture. One of the biggest decisions you will need to make is whether you want to capture every nuance of your handwriting specimen, or if you want to design something inspired by that handwriting. Today, Carolyn Porter will help you with that. Let the fun begin! Read more…

January 9, 2019 — The scope of possibilities to apply Google Cloud Vision service is practically endless. With Python Library available, it can certainly help you bring out deeper interest in Machine Learning technologies. Google Vision API turned out to be a great tool to get a text from a photo. In this article, Bartosz Biskupski will guide you through the development process with Python in a sample project. If you’re a novice, don’t worry. You will only need a very basic knowledge of this programming language — with no other skills required. Let’s get started! Read more…