How to write a CSS rule that will affect every element:

25 of October2007

Sometimes there’s a need to reset all of the margins on a page, or you simply want something specifically applied to each element without having to count on inheritances to do the job. The solution: “*” or “universal selector”. This seems familiar from other languages right? Well, it should be. It simply means “everything” in a selected area.

The following will apply a gray background to every element on a page.

* {
    background-color: #eee;
}

What if you want to get more specific?
With this code, everything within the div with the id=”wrapper” will have a gray background.

div#wrapper * {
    background-color: #eee;
}

Obviously any properties can be used here. Enjoy.

Give me a voice.

17 of October2007

My newest pet peeve: Blogs that don’t allow you to comment.

It’s human nature to need interaction in a time of ever decreasing social abilities.

I enjoy reading blogs. I enjoy reading the comments that go back and forth. I enjoy reading about Design and other teachnical stuff.

Two blogs I have started reading regularly have sparked this: Northtemple and I hereby Decree.

Both are very much worth my time. Oftentimes I have questions. I don’t understand what’s being referred to. Or, I feel strongly on the subject. Let me talk to you. Let me give my opinion. Let me interact with you. Let me be human. So please, give me a voice. Allow commenting, and I promise, I will comment.

People who say “it can’t be done” are usually dead-wrong

15 of October2007

As as UI designer I am in a field where I am constantly trying to find new solution to existing problems. These are problems that other people either don’t even think about fixing, or they think it’s too hard, so they don’t bother.

Frequently when I ask somebody if Task A “can be done”, I get the typical ” No, that can’t be done.” or “I would require a LOT of work”. Well, here’s my declaration to the world:” People who say it can’t be done are usually dead wrong“.

I can’t even count the times an “expert” has told me something can’t be done, and (oftentimes) with just a little research I figured a way to do, what “couldn’t be done”. So here’s to you. Don’t take no for an answer. Ask why it can’t be done, and then try to solve that hindrance. You will have amazing results.

Please, leave me a comment and tell me how you feel about this.

WordPress Update

12 of October2007

I just updated my WordPress version. Some of my “custom” styles went whacky. I apologize if the blog doesn’t look like it should. I will fix it later today or tomorrow have now fixed it. Everything should be back to normal

Why is Usability so important?

3 of October2007

If you’re a web designer or a web developer, sooner or later you will be confronted with the concept of Usability. Some of us take it very seriously. Some of just shrug it off as not being important. I feel like there are many resources explaining details about Usability, but not too many that simply explain why it is important.

Usability is giving the user what they expect. Giving it to them in a simple, easy manner to avoid frustration. Why keep the user happy? If they get frustrated, they won’t come back. This means lost opportunities, lost customers, and in many cases, lost money.

Here’s an experience I had just the other day on blockbuster.com. We’ve been using their online rental service for a few weeks now. I had the movie “Next” at the top of my queue. It was Monday morning, and Blockbuster was about to ship out a movie 5 or 6 hours later from my queue.

I didn’t want to receive the movie in the mail. I changed my mind. So I went to my queue, and hit “delete” for that movie. The screen refreshed, but nothing happened. So I tried it again, same result. Very frustrating. It’s like driving a car, turning left, but the car goes right. Or hitting the brakes, and they don’t work. Would you continue using that car? I wouldn’t. I am the user, and I want to be in control. That’s what I expect.

So then I just moved “Next” to the end of the queue, so I wouldn’t receive it. That seemed to work. Well, guess what happened the next day? I received “Next” in the mail. What the?!? What’s the point of having a queue if it doesn’t behave the way I want it to?

After complaining to customer service they explained that it there is a certain time period where the movie is being prepared to ship out and it cannot be reversed. I guess that’s fine, but tell the USER about it. Several weeks ago the same thing happened, but when I tried to delete, an error message came up. Several times. That is NOT user-friendly. If there has to be a delay, tell me about it. I can live that. But no message.

As a result, I am seriously considering canceling with Blockbuster and trying their major competitor. Chances are that other customers feel the same way. Just because the site didn’t behave like I wanted to. Just because it wasn’t usable.