June 7, 2009
It’s been a while since anything was wrote on the blog and it being a wet rainy sunday afternoon and I need to sort out my home office, and I just thought I would add a few words. Since I last wrote lots of things have changed, such as the site is now under the umbrella of a LTD company, not for any particular reason other than it was the best thing to do with the economy as it is.
Things needed to be shaken up a little to ensure competitiveness in a global market and with all industries this one needs to change its ways and start thinking out of the box as it were. Web Design has moved on and yet people are still stuck doing the same mistakes they were 10years ago, SEO is still the big thing and it is going to expand and thats why we have just designed a new program that can simplify things for our clients and give them SEO at an affordable price.
(Random Babblings )
Blogs in themselves are a useful tool as most of us know simply because they can change minute by minute. This means that possibly in five years time this page will still be catalogued by all the bots such as goggle-bot and so on and it can bring people back to either the site or sites that are advertised on the blog or indeed the main site from which the products and services sell.
(Random Babblings End)
Node4 they have gone from strength to strength and are making headlines with their amazing technology and so on. I owe it to them to write a huge paragraph about all this new tech and so on but, to be honest their site says it all and as they are now becoming a household name i see little to no point, other than to say we are still involved with them and will be for the foreseeable future
On the other hand just across the road from them is or at least was IPgenie who seem to have simply disappeared which, I hasten to add is a shame as the guys that worked there were nice guys. I have no idea where they went or what went wrong but, either way they have gone and by all accounts owe money all over the place or at least thats what we are lead to believe as we have had numerous emails asking me for details of them of which I simply don’t have and telling me this and that about them.
Other changes have taken place with regards to Sparkle Web design in so much as we now essentially upkeep our clients many sites and take on slightly less clients than before, not because we are inundated with work but, simply because quality always beats quantity. That and we found that we were not being paid for work that was completed not because it was bad or wrong but, simply because the client couldn’t pay.
There are talks of buying a signage and printing business and combining it with Sparkle Web design so as to enable a full service to our clients new and existing but, talks continue as money is tight and buying a business right now could simply kill both businesses of not make them stronger so there is lots of food for thought.
One thing we do know is that we are in the process of building an adult oriented site, we are increasing our server space to accommodate to our clients needs, so if you want a website give us a call or email us. We are not expensive and we do a wide spectrum of work including simple site updates for clients for their small business, providing email addresses to clients large and small and of course we supply more private intimate sites for some of our clients such as information sites about themselves their family or whatever really.
I hope you have a great day wherever and whoever you are.
Filed under: Everything Else, General Information, Graphics, IPgenie X-Lite, Image Formats Explained, Node4 Telecoms, SEO Search Engine Optimisation, X Lite |
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September 23, 2008
Here are 10 quick tips for decreasing the load time on your graphics.1. Use Height and Width (Size) Attributes.
Here are 10 quick tips for decreasing the load time on your graphics.
1. Use Height and Width (Size) Attributes.
Example: width=”144″ height=”259″
Every time a browser loads a webpage it looks for the height and width attributes (size) of each image in your html code so it knows how to lay out the text and the graphics on that page.
This all takes place instantly behind the scenes. When the proper attributes are used, the browser loads the text before the graphics. This is good. It’s faster this way.
If you do not use the attributes, it causes a delay waiting for the browser to download the images first and then lay out the text. The browser has to play catch-up. It cannot load text onto the screen until it has figured out the exact size of the graphics.
Make sure to use attributes on all your graphics, even those little tiny ones, like buttons and bullets.
2. Size Your Image Correctly
Example: width=”144″ height=”259″Every time a browser loads a webpage it looks for the height and width attributes (size) of each image in your html code so it knows how to lay out the text and the graphics on that page.
This all takes place instantly behind the scenes. When the proper attributes are used, the browser loads the text before the graphics. This is good. It’s faster this way.
If you do not use the attributes, it causes a delay waiting for the browser to download the images first and then lay out the text. The browser has to play catch-up. It cannot load text onto the screen until it has figured out the exact size of the graphics.
Make sure to use attributes on all your graphics, even those little tiny ones, like buttons and bullets.
Lets say you’re trying to place an image with a file size of 30k and height & width attributes of 300 pixels wide by 400 pixels high in a spot on your webpage that is designed to hold an image sized at 200 pixels wide by 300 pixels high.To accomplish this you have changed the height & width attributes in your html code to 200 x 300.
You may think that since the image will be displayed at the lower size (200×300), the file size will be smaller and the image will load faster.
Not true. Regardless of what size attributes you use, that file size is still 30k and it will load at the same speed any other 30k image does.
Use an image editor to change the size of the image to the correct dimensions first. Then use the correct size attributes in your html. By resizing the image before you plug it into your html code, the file size will be smaller and the browser will load it quicker.3. Animations4. Use the Correct Image Format5. Slice Those Images6. Limit the Number of Graphics you Place on Each Page.
Animations are attention getters, but they quickly become annoying. They also slow down the loading of your page.
Limit the number of animated graphics on your page and set your animation at a specific number of repetitions rather than allowing them to loop endlessly.
If your image is simple with a small number of colours try converting it to a gif format. Good choices for this are clipart, bullets, buttons, charts and such.
A word to the wise. Not all images are suited for the gif format. Complex images, photos or those with enhancements such as reflections and drop shadows do not display well in this format.
The jpg format is suitable for complex images with lots of colour variations. A good example of this is a photograph.
The .png format can be used for either. The high-end .png format (png-24) produces a beautiful transparent image and maintains any enhancements you have included. The file sizes are generally higher so if you are at all concerned about load time, you may not want to consider the .png format unless you have the software and skills to slice your images. (See Tip #5)
Image slicing is a technique used to breakdown a large image into smaller pieces to make it load faster.
I use the image slicer feature in Photoshop but there are also many options available to do this if you don’t use Photoshop.
Search for “Image Splitter” - without quotes in your favourite search engine for list of resources for slicing images.
If your pages are loading too slowly, consider removing some of the images. Keep only those that absolutely necessary.
7. Use Thumbnails8. Browser Cache9. Optimize Your Images10. Progressive Optimization
Use a java script to display a thumbnail and load the larger image only when the reader rolls their mouse over the thumbnail.
I use this technique when I have many images I want to put on one page, but the page would be too big if I included them all at normal size.
I got this script from Dynamic Drive. As long as you keep their copyright notice in the html code, you can use their scripts free.
Graphics and text are stored in what is called cache on your hard drive. This makes it easier and quicker to load files that are displayed in your browser. It loads them from the cache rather than over the net each time, if it is available.
To improve your visitor’s experience, take advantage of their browser cache. The best way to do this is by not putting identical images in more than one folder, subfolder or directory on your server. If the browser always calls the image from the same folder, it loads much quicker.
optimizing your images is a great way to reduce the load time. I generally optimize images I make for my clients to about 60%. I have found this to be the magic number that reduces the file to a reasonable size yet does not compromise the quality of the image.
I caution you on optimizing further. Greater percentages of optimization may leave your images blotchy with speckled blocks of colour. It will often make your colours look washed-out and you may lose some of the fine details.
A sneaky little trick I have learned is to select progressive settings when you’re optimizing your images.
This does not really make your images load faster; however, they do load first at a very low resolution and continue to load progressively, with more detail, until they are fully loaded.
Your visitor at least has something to view and content to read while the loading process finishes up. This technique works with JPG, JPEG, PNG and GIF 89 file types.
Filed under: General Information, Graphics, Image Formats Explained, SEO Search Engine Optimisation |
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July 7, 2008
what we do & Who we are:
Sparkle Web Design is a professional internet strategy and design agency based in Leicester. We are proud of our integrated creative team of designers, programmers and marketing professionals. Our business led approach has built us a reputation for creating a positive return on investment for our clients.
Sparkle Web Design specialise in bespoke web site design, online marketing, email providers, flash multimedia, corporate identity and hosting packages. Please browse our site to see how strategic thinking, personal attention and competitive prices can achieve real world results.
Our new offices are equipped with state of the art facilities to better enable us to meet our client’s needs. We currently manage sites for e-commerce traders, publishers who use our e-brochures and several estate agents for whom we designed individual virtual tour sites.
Sparkle Web Design is in a unique position to be able to offer you other services to complement your website. We have special relationships with several leading telecommunications providers which can help you streamline your offices and reduce your telecom bills, whilst still keeping you at the cutting edge of capabilities. Follow the Telecom link for more information on how we can save you money.
If your company is in need of an image overhaul or you’re a brand new business the Sparkle Web Design can help you in so many more ways. Our marketing adviser and the creative team will guide you through logo redesign, paperwork printing and even premises signage. Got a corporate event you need to promote? Then look no further Sparkle Web Designs’ affiliate company can produce every kind of promotional item from t-shirts to pens to mouse mats and banners. Follow the Corporate Services link for more information.
Listed below are direct links to the rest of our site.
Home
Web Design
Hosting
Corporate Services
Portfolio
Telecom’s
Blog
Contact
Terms & Conditions
Filed under: Everything Else, General Information, Graphics, Hosting, IPgenie X-Lite, Image Formats Explained, Node4 Telecoms, SEO Search Engine Optimisation, X Lite |
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May 21, 2008
I have been asked many times about IPGENIE such as what they offer, how the offer it, what are the prices, how quickly can I get it, what platform do they use, where is their equipment made and so on. So it was with this in mind that I set about creating a PowerPoint presentation that explains just about anything and everything there is to know about IPGENIE. If you require a copy of the IPGENIE presentation please send an email to enquiries@sparklewebdesign.com and we shall endeavor to get it sent out to you as soon as possible. We also have the same information about IPGENIE in the form of a brochure and if you would like a copy please call, our offices leaving you name, address and telephone number so we can get a copy sent out to you as soon as possible. From our own personal dealings with the guys at IPGENIE I can honestly say they are a friendly bunch of folks. In business or at home we meet people from all lifestyles and from all sorts of backgrounds. In my experience, I have learnt through a lifetime of business ventures failed and otherwise that sometimes there comes along a company that you feel really has something to offer and that it can really make a difference. To be frank (My name is not Frank and never will be) I have found that IPGENIE fits into that wonderful accolade of being a great business with a bright future. I wish IPGENIE all the best and look forward to continuing to work with them. IPGENIE……….More than just talk
Filed under: Everything Else, IPgenie X-Lite |
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