Category: Websites

In my last post, I talked about an article I found on medium.com. It was an article about responsive web design and was written by Per Harald Borgen. Borgen is the co-founder of the site, Scrimba.com (https://scrimba.com). He is a passionate web designer who likes to share his skills and findings with others, so I chose to explore his site a little bit more in depth and here is some of what I found along the way.

What is Scrimba.com?

Scrimba.com is advertised as a site for users to learn coding for free. The site itself offers various features such as: courses, articles, and “top picks” from the staff and instructors. Its a site that promotes community learning and offers different online course with various instructors. Scrimba promotes learning in a new way, that free and easily accessible.

What I like about the tutorials themselves is that they are done in a video format. In each video, there is an instructor who is taking you step by step while showing you what they are doing with their code. I find this helpful because it is visually engaging as well as keeps you engaged by listening to what the instructor is saying.

The site also describes itself as a platform for interactive learning. Since the layout of the courses are video focused, it allows uses to pause, rewind, fast forward, etc. This makes it easy for everyone to learn and engage at their own pace. I personally like this way of learning best because it allows me to feel comfortable and confident when learning new code. Also, I feel that actually being able to hear and listen to an instructor is very helpful because it keeps me engaged. Oftentimes when I try learning from an article, I get lost and confused very easily and then become very frustrated, leading to me just giving up.

Another feature that I like about the video tutorials on Scrimba is that you get to see exactly what the instructor is doing with their coding, step by step. When reading an article, a lot of times the authors will include pictures and screenshots of their code, however, you do not actually get to see them input the code. This is helpful because it is visually engaging, and makes it easy to follow along with. Also, by being able to watch the instructor input the code, it helps decrease the chances of making a mistake on your own because you are able to see exactly what they are typing in to their software.  

Another benefit of Scrimba is that the site is accessible on any type of device, bug or small. The Scimba team prides themself in their responsive web design, so you can learn and engage on your laptop, tablet, phone, etc. This is a huge plus because you can learn where and whenever you want. Scrimba also promises to be available even on the slowest of internet speed. So, if you chose to watch a tutorial on the go, perhaps while commuting, you don’t have to worry about your internet connection.

Lastly, Scrimba is simple and easy to use. The site is clean and easy to navigate, which makes learning a breeze. Personally, I am not of fan of sites that are cluttered with advertisements and Scimba has none. I find it much easier to focus and learn.

Conclusion

I am a huge fan of Scrimba, and I am extremely happy I stumbled upon it and am able to share it with you. The site offers a huge selection of tutorials, and a lot of them are great for beginners. I will definitely be checking Scrimba from time to time to see what’s new on their site, as well as just continuing to learn and adapt new skills.  

So I recently made a blog post titled “Grids and Flexboxes: What I’ve Learned So Far,” and in that post I discussed my uneasiness and discomfort with some CSS features. In this post I also mentioned how I stumbled upon a tutorial from medium.com (https://medium.com/youstart-labs/beginners-guide-to-choose-between-css-grid-and-flexbox-783005dd2412). This tutorial / article gave me enough clarity on Grids and Flexboxes to at least make me that much more comfortable. Since making that post, I have been exploring medium.com more in depth and I just wanted to talk about some of the things that I have found helpful with this site, and why I recommend it to those who are just starting out with web development.   

What is Medium.com?

Like I said earlier, I found Medium through some google searches relating to some CSS features, Grids and Flexboxes to be exact. The article was intended to help beginner level web developers, which was music to my ears. However, Medium.com is way more than just a site about web development. It is a site that offers posts and articles written by several different writers in various fields.

“Medium taps into the brains of the world’s most insightful writers, thinkers, and storytellers to bring you the smartest takes on topics that matter.” This statement is found on their website when you click on the “Learn More” tab. I truly think this is the best way to sum up what Medium.com is all about. It is a site that offers various perspectives on several different topics of interest. So, there really is something for everyone.

The site mainly focuses on articles related to tech, culture, politics, business, and life. That said, it really is a one stop shop for all your needs and wants. What I enjoy most about this site is that the posts featured don’t just inform the site viewer of current events and what’s newsworthy. They promote engagement by offering different perspectives.

Even though my personal blog focuses more on web development, I wanted to take this time to make a mention of one of my favorite articles that I found on medium.com. The article is entitled “Strategies for Seizing the Day,” written by Ryan Holiday. What I like most about this article is that it offers such a fresh perspective on life and happiness, however I feel that almost anyone can relate to it. The article is insightful and beautifully written, even though it is essentially a “how to” post.

With all that said, I want to incorporate a similar writing style when it comes to my own blog. Reading through this article made me realize that even though I am discussing topics regarding web development, that doesn’t automatically mean that my posts can’t have a lively personality behind them. So, from here on out, I will strive to incorporate my own voice and personality more while writing these posts.

You might be thinking I am crazy, but who says that web development has to be boring!?! I think that is why I have been having some trouble finding tutorials and such that keep me intrigued and engaged to learn more about CSS and HTML. What I have realized now is that a lot of the articles and tutorials that I have been finding (not including those from medium.com of course) have been kind of dry, and for someone who has very limited knowledge on these topics, it’s extremely difficult to find the motivation to read through them.

Do I Recommend Medium.com?

Yes – absolutely! Although the site isn’t specifically revolved around web development, I think this is a fantastic site to learn about various different topics of interest. The site offers engaging posts that make learning fun and interesting.

To be honest, I plan to check in with this site frequently just to see what’s being said, and if I learn something new while exploring than I would call that a win-win scenario.

So for today’s post I’m here to evaluate Sprint’s website (https://www.sprint.com/en/home.html). Why Sprint? Well to be honest, it was one of the last sites that I visited, and I figured why the heck not! Sprint is one of the largest American telecommunication companies that offers services for wireless devices as well as the internet. Essentially they are a massive company that operates within the tech field, so I thought their site would be a good one to evaluate when it comes to their web design. Here are my thoughts.

1. Color

The first thing that I wanted to touch on regarding Sprint’s site, is their use of color. Sprint’s logo encompasses the color yellow as its dominant color, and with no surprise that is also the dominant color on their site. That said, I think they do a very good job at incorporating this color all over their site in a way that is not overpowering. Even though the yellow color is the dominant color of their logo, it is almost used more as a complimentary color on their site. However, it is everyone. You will find the color in their site heading, as well as used for their buttons, and with some words that are in bold.

Along with all this, the color yellow is also used in various pictures on their site. This use of color is very strategic, which helps act as a guide for the site viewers. It gives off a certain flow that kept me scrolling through their site, which is what a web designer wants to happen when a consumer visits.

2. Photo Composition

Going off of what I previously mentioned in regards to Sprint’s use of color on their site, their use of photographs is also very strategic, yet visually appealing for the viewer. Obviously sprint is a large retailer trying to sell a product, so their range of photographs is pretty limited. However, what sprint does well with their choice of photographs is tying in the color yellow. For example, Sprint’s site has a “Featured Article” section, and the photographs for each of the chosen article has some bit of the color yellow within it. This emphasizes their brand, while also giving the viewer something appealing to look at, rather than just a site filled with picture of phones and tablets.

3. Navigation

Lastly, I want to discuss the navigation of Sprint’s site. When logging on to it’s site, the first thing you will most likely notice is their banner, which is topped with a navigation bar, with the options of the following: “Shop Devices,” “Shop Plans,” “Support,” “My Sprint,” and “Activate.”

When you hover over each tab of the navigation bar, you are presented with a drop down menu. What I like with this, is the consistency – I like how each tab offers a drop down menu, as opposed to just a select few. Each tab will bring you to a different page, each being very easy to navigate.

When you scroll to the bottom of the home page, there are featured icons that will also bring you to a different page. I’m assuming these are pages that they want to add emphasis to.

Below, these icons is a large footer that you will also find on each page. The footer includes many features, such as: store locator, coverage map, contact link, policies, etc.   

Conclusion

Overall, Sprint’s site is very well designed, which I am not very surprised about considering that they are such a large retailer. However, I do think it is important to acknowledge the fact that Sprint’s site design is simple, user friendly and get’s to the point. Sprint is trying to sell a product so their simplistic design and navigation works. That said, I admire their minimalist design because it isn’t overwhelming, and that is something that I want to keep in mind while I continue to design my own site.

Recently I discovered an article on Smashingmagazine.com titled “Web Standards: The What, The Why, and The How” (https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/01/web-standards-guide/). The article was written by Amy Dickens, a Developer Advocate Intern at Samsung Internet. She is also a PHD Researcher in the Mixed Reality Laboratory at the University of Nottingham. Her credentials and bio had me hooked and a reason for me to read the entire article. Her interesting background, and clear passion for all things internet was intriguing for me as a reader.

The Why, The What, and The How

One of the first things that caught my attention from this article is when she discusses her poll on Twitter. What she found was that a very large majority of her followers knew very little about web standards, and for me, that is something that I can relate to. So as I continued to read through this article, I surprisingly learned a lot of valuable information that I want to share with you.

Web Standards are basically a set of rules and guidelines that are followed by web developers to create consistent content online. They are in place to make it possible for these developers to follow one language that is recognize by any web software. Along with this, a key aspect of Web Standards is that it allows for the internet to be accessible to anyone. Without Web Standards, browser makers would be the ones making decisions like what should be a feature on a web site. This would then lead to the internet becoming monopolized. Essentially, the rest of this article discusses overall web standards and how they can better creators’ content, as well as why they exist.

Another interesting takeaway from this article is when the author stated, “this is one of the greatest successes of the internet; anyone can learn almost anything.” I found this to be extremely relevant, mainly because HTML5/CSS3 is something that I never thought I would learn about. This is material that never seemed to be on my radar, but now here I am taking this class and using online resources to help me continue to learn.  

This article is also interesting because of how the author discusses the history and evolution of web standards, and overall why they are so important. Web standards are important because they promote a free an accessible world wide web to anyone who cares to hop on and explore, like I mentioned earlier. Also, web standards help better the overall experience of people using the internet, especially when it comes to using search engines. In this case, it’s all about efficiency. Lastly, another takeaway from this article is when the author talked about who decides on what becomes a web standard. “Standards are created by the people.” We are the people who use the internet on a daily basis, so it only makes sense that the standards are ultimately determined by the people using the softwares and search engines.

My Thoughts on Smashing Magazine

Although I have only read a few articles on Smashing Magazine’s website, so far I am finding them very helpful. Each article seems to be written by someone super passionate about the field of web design, however they are able to write their thoughts in a way that is easy to understand for people like me who have very little experience with this sort of stuff.

In my opinion, and based off the few articles that I have read on this site, it seems to me that Smashing Magazine is less of a tutorial site and more of a blog site. Although for a beginner it is nice to find quality tutorials to get started with web design, I enjoy the articles on Smashing Magazine because it gives me a better idea of why this is all so important. Not only do a lot of these articles talk about the history and development of web design, but they also touch on how it affects all of us, not just web designers and developers.

With all that said, I have already bookmarked this site for future reference and plan to check the site from time to time to read up on things that are relevant with my own web creations. I would most definitely recommend this site to anyone who is just starting out with web design, as well as anyone who wants to gain more knowledge on why it is important. h