Advanced Web Design Tutorials

Apple Security Tutorial - Secure Your Mac from Hackers

In the old platform debates, Apple security was always featured as a primary selling point. The truth is technology has caught up to the giant and frankly - a lot of people are simply not using all the existing Mac OS X security tricks of the trade.

Hackers tend to look for the "low hanging fruit", but they also need enough trees to run through. Until quite recently, there just wasn’t a large market for hackers in attempting to exploit Apple security. The combination of unfamiliar OS transfers who want something easy to use and are willing to purchase a luxury good, have come together to produce a decent niche for shady hacker types. Luckily most Mac’s already have the functionality you need, it just takes familiarizing yourself with the settings that lie just beneath the surface. In this blog post we’ll run down the top security holes you may have open, then how to quickly and permanently close them so you can cross “fixing your Apple security settings” off your list!

Wordpress Htaccess - A Wordpress Security Tutorial

Your WordPress Htaccess is a file you should be taking seriously. It can boost security, performance, and seo without a ton of effort. Take a couple minutes and learn a few WordPress htaccess tricks of the trade.

One aspect that makes WordPress so popular is the carefully curated plugins that are so easily installable. In the case of security though, you don't want cookie cutter... You want bulletproof ...and using htaccess effectively is as bulletproof as it gets. While improving your website's security in just a couple steps, we'll also cover a few easy htaccess additions that can have your website running faster and more efficiently. If you're not already familiar with utilizing these files, you'll be amazed by the functionality they add. If you've got a few years of experience under your belt, hopefully you'll still catch a couple nuggets of code you don't have lying around worth keeping.

Creating a Post Joomla Author Bio / Joomla Author Box

A brief author bio helps blog posts on several fronts & in this tutorial we'll show you how to create a Joomla author box from scratch. That means more blog content, added credibility, and no extra work for your clients!

Before moving ahead, let's note the difference between a user and an author - because it's a distinction not often made. If you're logging into the back-end of a site, you're using "user" credentials and it's that "user" that functionally authors a post. Since "user" details are info you generally want to keep private (for obvious security reasons), this leads us to a rational problem - How do we display author info, while not displaying user info? This is the basic hurdle we'll be addressing in this post and luckily it's not as tough as you may think.

Dropbox Database Sync for MySQL & MAMP

Using Dropbox for web development is an easy way to share files across multiple local servers. This tutorial shows you how to setup a Dropbox database sync so you can trigger your MySQL database sync in the push of a button.

Keeping computers in a local testing environment in sync can be a nightmare. While using GIT is certainly preferential, it may not be an option for newbies of those without the needed experience or software. In those cases, creating a file and Dropbox database sync is an ingenious option. As long as you have MAMP and Dropbox on your computer, you'll be able to share your files and databases across any computer you'd like to run a local testing environment on.

Zip Files on Mac Without Invisible Files

Mac makes zipping files easy, But properly zipping files without invisible files takes a little know-how.

When moving files across platforms, cleanliness is key. The invisible files that Mac creates to handle basic functions (like Finder) make your daily usage easier, but like anything good - There's a catch!

Wordpress 101 - Wordpress Search Meta Basics

Welcome to WordPress 101 - This is how you handle the Wordpress search meta when you create a post.

With a surplus of quality CMS's out these days, most clients have a fair amount of control over their website content. Explaining how to consider WordPress search meta when you create a post is a topic that's rarely covered though. Since sometime us tech types forget that 90% of our clients barely know what a CMS is, I thought I'd make up a quick graphic that illustrates how to create a useful WordPress post that covers the seo basics.

How to use MAMP: Setting up MAMP

Utilizing a local development environment is crucial for web developers, but it's not well documented. This guide to setting up MAMP will show you how to create your own PHP development server & how to use MAMP efficiently once you're all setup.

This tutorial will walk you through setting up MAMP so you can take advantage of all the perks of having your own local PHP development server. While this workflow is guided towards folks using a Mac, the steps of the process are almost identical on other platforms. Having your own local development environment allows you to quickly plug through building a website or application without needing to consider all implications of having an accessible product online. We'll show you how to get started with the free version of MAMP, but it should be noted that the Pro version is pretty inexpensive and streamlines your workflow quite a bit. With that said, let's get started showing you how to use MAMP so you can get coding and testing websites like a boss!

Creative Commons Icon Sprite

Like a lot of designers, I find time-management to be tricky at times. That's why I constructed this Creative Commons icon sprite to easily handle project attribution in just 3 steps.

Efficiency is what allows you to focus your energy where it's most useful. Usually that means taking a step back and looking at how you conduct your day-to-day work. Attribution is one element that creative types often overlook, but with this quick and easy Creative Commons tutorial we'll show you how to make properly attributing your work a simple habit. Just select how you want your media treated, choose the coordinating license, and clearly post your attribution. We give you a tiny snippet of Creative Commons code to keep on hand so you can easily display their icons. Let those legal geniuses at CC handle all the "leaglease" just include your Creative Commons icon sprite and you'll have your rights covered.

Clean Custom Google Maps Icons

We created a set of clean custom Google Maps icons to make your website's map a little cooler. We've also included a Google Maps icon vector & variously colored custom icon PNGs so you can coordinate them with your own designs.

Adding your own Google Maps custom icon is easier then most folks think. While it's mostly an aesthetic change, customizing your map icons works wonders for a website's design. An embedded Google Map will generally look out of place on a website, which is to be expected since one color theme can't really fit them all. By making the small change customizing your own Google map icons, you can cross that barrier and tie the whole look together. Follow these quick steps to coordinate your map within 5 minutes and if you'd like to build your own, we've even included a fancy layered Google Maps icon vector at the bottom of the page.

Categorize K2 Articles

One good way to increase your seo and ease navigation is to get more info into your page title...

If you're using K2 and Joomla here is an easy way to include your category and the name of your website into your page title. If you'd like to see the process, just take a quick look below...

Show Hidden Files on Your Mac

Find yourself needing access to hidden files on your Mac?

Find yourself needing access to hidden files on your Mac? Well here's a simple little terminal command that will surely make your day!

Make Custom Facebook Fanpages

Do you have Facebook fanpage envy? Get over it with this simple 7 step tutorial.

Have a Facebook fanpage you'd like to make stand out from the crowd? We'll show you how to utilize Facebook's own version of html (fbml) to easily make custom Facebook fanpages.