Animated GIFs are popular on the web for good reason. They provide more engagement than an ordinary image, while remaining more digestible compared to a typical video. However GIFs are a terrible format for storing video and are often huge in size leading to slow page load times and high data usage. With HTML5 video, you can reduce the size of GIF content by up to 98% while still retaining the unique qualities of the GIF format in the browser. Today, Ayo Isaiah will show you how to convert animated GIFs to video files and examine how to properly embed these video files on the web so that they act just like a GIF would.
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At Smashing Conferences, we don’t big up speakers to be Idols On A Pedestal — they’re developers just like the audience, who happen to have solved a problem that we think others face, so share that knowledge. In this post, Bruce Lawson brings you the newest member of the Smashing Team — Bruce Lawson — looks back on a successful Smashing Conf NY.
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A 404 page should do more than apologize for poor navigation on behalf of your website. There are some 404 pages that go above and beyond. Rather than the stark white of a standard 404 error page, these pages take an opportunity to speak to users in a more personal tone. Excellent 404 pages are exactly like getting an unexpected treat from a friendly face. In this article, Shelby Rogers will show you why making an effort with a 404 page could better your website’s chances of people coming back despite the inconvenience, and how to track those errors to reduce how often people see it.
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Give your desktop a makeover with this fresh batch of wallpapers. Today Cosima Mielke brings you wallpapers designed by the community for the community and available with and without a calendar for November 2018. The wallpapers all come in versions with and without a calendar for November 2018 and can be downloaded for free. As a little bonus goodie, we added a selection of favorites from past November editions to this post. Because, well, some things are too good to be forgotten somewhere down in the archives, right? Enjoy!
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The Server Timing header provides a discrete and convenient way to communicate backend server performance timings to developer tools in the browser. Adding timing information to your application enables you to monitor back-end and front-end performance all in one place. Over the years developer tools have been improved to help us troubleshoot these sorts of performance issues in the front end of our applications. Browsers now even have performance audits built right in. This can help track down front end issues, but these audits can show up another source of slowness that we can’t fix in the browser.
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Last week, Rachel Andrew attended the CSS Working Group meeting at W3C TPAC, and rounds up some of the discussions in this post — including those things where you can help make a decision. Today, she will explain a little bit about what happens at TPAC, and show some examples and demos of the things she discussed at TPAC for CSS in particular.
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Everyone knows that if a website is slow, users will abandon it. Many studies demonstrate the connection between website performance and conversion rates. Being an easy-to-use inclusive and versatile piece of software, WordPress comes with a plethora of options that are not necessarily utilized in each and every project. As a result, website performance can suffer. In this article, Denis Žoljom shares his experience and the basics of creating a decoupled WordPress.
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Since video files are large, optimizing the video to be as small as possible will lead to faster video delivery, speeding up video start, lowering the number of stalls, and minimizing the effect of the quality of the video delivered. Of course, we need to balance startup speed and stalling with the third metric of quality. In this series of posts on video performance on the web, Doug Sillars takes a closer look at how video is being used today, what we can learn from it, and how to move forward in a way that promotes fast delivery and playback of video content on the web.
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Video content on the web increases customer engagement and satisfaction. Pages that load quickly have the same effect. The addition of video to your website will slow down the page rendering time, necessitating a balance between overall page load and video content. In this aticle, Doug Sillars will examine the important metrics to balance performance and video playback on the web, look at how video is being used today, and provide best practices on delivering video on the web.
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Attribute selectors are magical. They can get you out of sticky problems, help you avoid adding classes and point out some problems in your code. But don’t worry, while attribute selectors are complex and powerful, they’re easy to learn and easy to utilize. In this article, John Rhea will discuss how they operate and give you some ideas about how to use them. By the end of this article, you’ll use them to run diagnostics on your site, fix otherwise unsolvable problems, and generate technologic experiences so advanced they feel like magic.
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