Apress has just released a book called “Pro CSS for High Traffic Websites”, written by by Antony Kennedy , Inayaili de Leon (ISBN-13: 978-1-4302-3288-9 – 400pp ).
The book covers the development processes required to smoothly set up an easy-to-maintain CSS framework across a large-volume website and to keep the code reusable and modular. It also looks at the business challenges of keeping branding consistent across a major website and sustaining performance at a premium level through traffic spikes and across all browsers. Defensive coding is considered for sites with third-party code or advertising requirements. It also covers keeping CSS accessible for all viewers, and examines some advanced dynamic CSS techniques.
What you’ll learn from this book:
The value of process
Making reusable, robust, and modular CSS
How to maximize the performance of your site
Integrating with third parties
How to keep branding consistent
Best practices for cross-browser and accessible CSS
Dynamic CSS techniques
Who this book is for:
This book is for Web developers building and maintaining premium, successful, high-traffic websites using web standards. This book will also help team leaders responsible for code that will be shared over multiple projects, as well as project managers with a high churn of contract staff.
Joomla! is an open-source award-winning PHP/MySQL based content management system (CMS). Since its available under the GPL license it`s free to download, modify and use it for your website.
Version 1.6 introduces many improvements for front-end users and administrators. New features in Joomla 1.6 include
Finer access controls for viewing and editing content with configurable user groups and viewing levels
A user-defined category structure, from simple one-level to complex multi-level categories
Installation improvements allowing for multiple extension installations in one package, updatable with a single click
Expanded language support for easy production of multi-lingual sites
Start and end publishing times for modules with more control over where they display,
Fresh new templates and semantic markup to please the eye as well as the search engines
More creative control through template styles
Hundreds of additional features, streamlining workflow and productivity
The book guides you trough changes including the new interface, articles, menus, access control levels (ACL), templates, extensions and SEO features.
This book is written for users, developers and designers who are familiar with Joomla 1.5 and want to know what’s new in Joomla 1.6.
Packt has asked me if I’m interested in reviewing this book by the famous Dutch Joomla expert Eric Tiggeler.
Inkscape is an open source vector graphics editor with an intuitive user interface that has enough depth to make quality graphic designs with an attractive layout comparable to what you would make using Illustrator or CorelDraw. But choosing the right tool and the best approach to creating the desired effect can be challenging. Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator’s Cookbook makes it super-easy for you to make your own vector-based graphics with the powerful Inkscape editor.
Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator’s Cookbook provides you with the latest recipes to quickly create scalable vector graphics. Recipes in this book teach you about some of the most useful time-saving features in Inkscape accompanied by a list of keyboard shortcuts that you can easily memorize. In addition to covering use of Inkscape tools and their advanced features, examples from the recipes uncover solutions to common graphics problems.
The book starts off with familiarizing you with the tools and techniques in Inkscape that you can use to draw 2D shapes, calligraphic shapes, and 3D boxes easily. It then guides you through the most common color-changing steps performed in Inkscape along with some convenient procedures that can save your time when dealing with colors. It explains drawing using linear and radial gradients, which are irreplaceable, usage of clones to create interesting effects in illustrations, and live-path effects that can help you speed up constructing a shape and make the process more natural. You will learn how to make those tweaks on some of the ready-made filters, and in the final recipe we will create a filter from scratch. This practical book also contains recipes showing how to use Inkscape as a raster editor and how to achieve photo-realistic effects in Inkscape. For each important technique and skill, you’ll see some simple recipes, then some more advanced recipes followed by an explanation of how Inkscape works to produce the desired effects in your illustrations.
By the end of this book you will be confident enough to create your own vector-based graphics with Inkscape.
Get solutions to common graphic problems to achieve photo-realistic effects with Inkscape
What you will learn from this book :
Introduce you to the fascinating world of two-dimensional, calligraphic, and three-dimensional objects, using the Inkscape’s powerful tools
Assist you in adjusting color using hue, brightness, saturation, and stroke width, until you find the perfect look and feel
Guide you in recreating iconic images from cult movies, with the help of gradient colors and complex vector shapes
Leverage Inkscape 0.48’s advanced path editing tools and techniques, producing great looking text and beautiful drawings
Help you produce professional looking posters, calendars, and wallpapers, packaging them so you can print or share them on the Internet
Illustrate the spectacular, and often surprising, effects of the many extensions and image filters found in version 0.48
Teach you to develop a standards-compliant and gorgeous looking Web 2.0 site layout, complete with widgets and buttons
Help you design and build your very own HTML5 and AJAX powered web games, presentations, and business applications, using JQuery powered SVG animation
Aid you in extending Inkscape by writing your own plugins in the Python programming language
The famous dutch Joomla expert Eric Tiggeler has written a book about Joomla! 1.6 called Joomla! 1.6 First Look. The book got releases last month and I will be reviewing it this month.
Joomla! 1.6 First Look is a concise guide to the new features of Joomla! 1.6, targeted at existing Joomla! (1.0 and 1.5) users and developers. The book guides readers through topics like upgrading, new features and changes.
What you will learn from this book:
General changes to the Joomla! interface and the practical effects this has on creating and maintaining sites with Joomla!
Changes in Joomla! 1.6 that affect the day to day routine of organizing, adding and editing articles
Changes in menus, that make it easier to manage menus and add new menu items fast
Access Control Levels relevant to website administrators in need of fine grained user permissions control
What’s new in selecting, using and editing templates
The Joomla! 1.5 Top Extensions Cookbook is one of Packt Publishing’s cookbook series meaning that it contains recipes. This book contains over 80 different recipes to use extensions to add maps, image galleries, slideshows, audio and video players, security, forums, shopping cart, guestbook and other functionalities to your site. Each recipe is a articles with an idea and how to work it out (step by step), just like a regular cookbook.
Joomla! is an open-source award-winning PHP/MySQL based content management system (CMS). Since its available under the GPL license it`s free to download, modify and use it for your website.
This book is written for Joomla! 1.5 users without programming or webdesign knowledge. Basic knowledge of setting it up is recommended.
For basic Joomla! Knowledge I can recommend Joomla! 1.5 Cookbook which I reviewed earlier: Joomla! 1.5 Cookbook review.
Most of the content of this book is also valid for Joomla! 1.6, although not all extensions will work fine. The same counts for users of PHP 5.3.
