Almost anything you can do through Fireworks’ interface can also be achieved by writing a simple JavaScript extension. Dmitriy Fabrikant learned to develop Fireworks extensions by writing the Specctr plugin. While working on Specctr, he had witnessed Fireworks’ passionate community actively support the app (Sadly, Fireworks CS6 is the last major release from Adobe). Now that we can’t expect Adobe to add any more features to Fireworks, the ability to extend the app becomes even more important, because many designers still rely on it, and through extensions, new features and panels can be added. This article is aimed at those interested in developing extensions for Fireworks.
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Creating a typeface in a day is possible, but it takes months or even years to finish all of the glyphs and for testing and production. When one writes by hand, every letter is a little different. In this article Harald Geisler would like to share a hands-on overview of his creation process of creating a handwriting font inspired by the Sigmund Freud typeface. Handwritten text shows a personal side of its author, one that contrasts with the standardized look of digital communication. This contrast is perhaps what makes handwriting fonts so popular. Harald hopes you find this to be a helpful introduction to creating handwriting fonts.
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As designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one—desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. This post features free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for June 2014 that can be downloaded for free. It’s time to freshen up your wallpaper! We are very thankful to all designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month.
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Unfortunately your website will never be completely unhackable. It’s crucial to take preventive measures and regularly improve your website’s security, but responding accordingly if your website does get hacked is equally important. In this article, Daniel Kanchev will provide a simple seven-step disaster-recovery plan for WordPress, which you can follow in case of an emergency. He’ll illustrate it with a real hack and specific commands that you can use when analyzing and cleaning the website.
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In this article, Paul Tero will cover the key concepts that underly the JQuery object. This is a beginners’ guide to JavaScript syntax and how it is used by jQuery, which is just a JavaScript library that has a special-looking function, $, and that encourages the use of shorthand objects, anonymous functions and method chaining. After reading this, you will be able yo look a complex piece of jQuery directly in the face with no doubt or uncertainty in your mind. You will know what it does.
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The best mobile web applications are the ones that excel at handling mobile processors, network connectivity, bandwidth, latency and touchscreen keyboards. In this article, Nick Gauthier will look at how to identify the tasks your users want to accomplish on a mobile device, memorize your users’ situation, presume that their actions will succeed, and also how to predict your users’ next actions, and prepare accordingly. The mobile web is a harsh environment, but by simply focusing on what matters, you will find a clear path to a superior experience.
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Today, we’re pleased to feature an icon set that will help make the wait for summer to finally arrive, worthwhile. In this piece you will find an icon set that includes 50 icons that have been designed by Elena Genova exclusively for Smashing Magazine and its readers. If you’ve been looking for a way to freshen up your designs with even more colors, then this freebie will not disappoint you.
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Why would you even need to generate SVG on the server? The technology is entirely client-side, so what would motivate anyone to move it from there? When we talk about “generating SVG” nowadays, we mean “generating SVG with JavaScript.” The current state of browser support and libraries makes the creation of complex visuals a trivial task. There are a lot to choose from! So the right question is, how do we continue generating SVG with JavaScript while also putting the results of the generation on the server?
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Brian Wood found many web shops faced challenges fitting responsive design into their workflow, and the role of most web designers had changed to include coding in some form or another. Well, a new generation of visual responsive design tools has arrived. These responsive design tools are for anyone who understands HTML and CSS (or is willing to learn) and wants to visually design a responsive website — and have code to show for it. You could use one of these tools in the design process to create responsive comps, regardless of whether you intend to use the generated code. So, let’s have a look!
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MongoDB is a technology that’s revolutionizing database usage., and Node.js has been overtaking the world of server-side programming with surprising speed. And thanks to the fact that they both employ JavaScript and JSON, together they are a potent combination. In this article, Elliot Bonneville will teach you how to wield these tools quickly and easily.
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