Top CSS-based techniques you should always know

CSS is important. And it is being used more and more often. Cascading Style Sheets offer many advantages you don’t have in table-layouts - and first of all a strict separation between layout, or design of the page, and the information, presented on the page.

Here is the list of 53 CSS-based techniques you should always know -

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Characteristics of a Web2.0 website

The term web2.0 was originally presented by O'Reilly Media (A well known media company publishing books and websites on various computer technology topics). It's a term that refers to a new generation of websites (social networking websites, wiki-based websites etc). These websites take advantage of web application technologies and give web users the ability to collaborate and share their experiences, views, opinions and interests while they surf the web.

The web2.0 is a revolutionary phenomenon. Let's talk about the most basic characteristics of the websites using the web2.0 concept:

• A web2.0 website should be completely interactive and dynamic with a friendly user-interface based on the latest web2.0 technologies like AJAX.
• Web2.0 websites should deliver web based applications to Internet users and allowing them to make use of these applications through a web browser.
• A web2.0 website should implement social networking capabilities allowing users to interact with each other and create friend lists.
• A web2.0 website should be a democratic website where users will be able to add value by interacting with the web based application.
• A Web2.0 websites should allow it's users to exercise various controls over the website data and content (adding/deleting/editing content).

The conclusion is that web2.0 websites are build on participatory web based applications focusing basically on user experience and collaboration.

Examples of successful web2.0 websites

Although this new Internet revolution or trend is not widespread among web developers or Internet marketers yet, millions of users are actually participating in such websites. Not a lot of them are aware of the web2.0 concept but they are already an active part of it.

Here are some super-successful websites utilizing the web2.0 technologies:

- YouTube.com : The concept of YouTube is very simple. It allows Internet users to share their favorite video files with the entire world. YouTube gained so much popularity in such a little time. Everyone was surprised when the giant search engine Google bought the YouTube company for over 2 billions dollars!

- Wikipedia: The most famous online encyclopedia. It's free, it's huge, it's quite a resource for everyone and it's updated every single minute since anyone can edit it's contents. Which is why it became such a popular web place.

- Social Bookmarking websites like Digg.com : These type of websites like Digg.com offer users the ability to create friend lists and share their favorite websites, opinions, stories etc with people all over the globe. The popularity of these social bookmarking websites is increasing every day, making the website owners rich!

- MySpace.com: I bet you've heard of MySpace.com. This website will allow you to create your own profile, friend list and personal homepage adding whatever you want on it (text, images, videos, links, etc). It will also allow to share your profile and web page with other MySpace users. Amazingly simple but so clever. MySpace.com is now one of the most visited websited in the entire Internet.

What do all these websites have in common?

The web2.0 concept. These websites are active web based applications. They all allow internet users to actively participate and customize the way the website looks and feels, thus giving the pleasure and impression of collaborating to the online community. The web2.0 is so evolutionary because of it's simplicity and it will become even more widespread among website designers and internet marketers.

A great resource for everyone interested in the web2.0 phenomenon is this step-by-step web2.0 E-guide that will teach you how to conquer any niche using the web2.0 concept. It's one of the first and most complete guides I've found that will teach you everything you need to know and more! There's a free web2.0 e-letter with loads of information waiting for you there.

Web 2.0: Way of the Future or Marketing Gimmick?

The term Web 2.0 has come to dramatically increased usage over the past few years. Many people have since begun to appropriate this hot new buzzword for their own websites while others are not quite so eager to embrace this new concept, considering it little more than an inappropriately named web-marketing gimmick. It has clearly polarized the web into two opposing camps, of adherents on the one hand and skeptics on the other. Yet in spite of all this-or perhaps because of this-there is still plenty of confusion and controversy surrounding Web 2.0. What is it exactly? And are the changes to the way the Internet has come to be used in recent years really significant enough to warrant this name?

The phrase itself is attributed to O'Reilly media, the company who coined it in 2003. Subsequently, the first Web 2.0 conference, which was held in 2004, brought it into widespread public consciousness. A series if conferences hosted by O'Reilly media has made the term even more popular than ever and facilitated the adoption of it by many industry pundits. The term as it has come to be used by O'Reilly media, refers to what many in the Internet industry perceive to be the second wave of Web-based communities and hosted services, following the first wave of communities which flourished during the initial Internet boom. These web sites encompass social networking sites, wiki sites and folksonomies-all of which share the trait of encouraging and facilitating content collaboration and sharing among its many users.

Perhaps some of the confusion surrounding the use of the tem Web 2.0 stems from the fact that it does not actually signify a change or an update to the technical specification of the World Wide Web as we have come to know it. Instead it more appropriately describes the widespread changes that many systems developers have implemented in the way that they use the existing web platform. The founder of O'Reilly media, Tim O'Reilly has himself termed it a business revolution in the computer industry that was caused by the move to the Internet as a platform. He further goes on to say that attempts to come to grips with the rules for success on that new platform is an integral part of Web 2.0.

On his own blog, which can be found at http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/10/web_20_compact_definition.html, O'Reilly wrote a compact yet more detailed definition of the term and refers to Web 2.0 as his view of the network as a platform that encompasses all the devices that are connected to it. According to him, Web 2.0 applications are the applications that are in the best position to take advantage of most of the inherent benefits of that platform. The means by which they can achieve this is through the delivery of software to the public that is continuously updated and generates its content through the merging of data from many different sources, which may include the individual end user. The Web 2.0 applications in turn generate their own data as well as services in a way that other users can readily mix according to their own needs. This paradigm clearly goes beyond the nature of Web 1.0 into a network that is built upon as O'Reilly calls it "(an) architecture of participation". The end result is a richer web experience for the end user by way of applications that actually get better the more it is used.

To further illustrate the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, it may help to view Web 1.0 as primarily focused on the connectivity between computers and a way to make technology work better for computers, while Web 2.0 strives to link people together and make technology work better for people.

While some people would disagree with this last illustration-and indeed claim that the opposite is actually more accurate-the fact remains that the Web 2.0 is increasingly reliant on the varied input from its users and the dividing line between people and technology is becoming more and more blurred as time goes on.

While computer mediation is still-and will probably remain for the next foreseeable future-an integral part of the new paradigm, the utilization of the collective input from its users will bring about a continuous improvement of the particular application based on the same users' interaction with it.

The clear shift in focus from "technology" to "people" is perhaps no better illustrated by the change in technological demands from the '90s to the present. While many users previously focused their requests on solutions to very specific technological demands, the overwhelming clamor nowadays is for applications that allow for far more end user intervention and input.

The controversy rages on as to the validity of the term Web 2.0, but by all indications it seems that it is here to stay.

Thanks to Mikhail Tuknov is a search engine optimization specialist providing web site search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC) management and web analytics services.

The Top Three Tips To Implement Blog Marketing With Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is basically a bunch of new Internet software features that can help you in your Internet business. I'm sure you've heard of some basic Web 2.0 features such as the RSS, podcasts, social bookmarking and social networking. If not, do read up more on them because these strategies are being practically used by a lot of Internet marketers trying to make their way in the world of the Internet.

Blog marketing with Web 2.0 features have loads of advantages for your business such as bringing you loads of traffic to your blog, increase the number of your subscribers, improve your website conversion rate, give your sites a lot more exposure to search engines and much more.

To properly implement blog marketing strategies with Web 2.0 features you have to:

1. Understand Them

You have to study each Web 2.0 feature and understand how they work in blog marketing. You must ask yourself these questions:

- How can RSS feeds make visitors come back to your site? - How do social networking sites work? - How can social bookmarking help to improve my traffic? - Are there other Web 2.0 features that can help me improve my site's recognition?

The more questions you ask yourself, the more you are inclined to find out how these Web 2.0 techniques work.

2. Apply Them To Your Blog

When you know how these Web 2.0 features work, apply them to your blog and let your visitors know that you have these Web 2.0 features that they can make use of to make them feel as interacted as possible with your blog.

It is best to get articles or ebooks that show you how to apply these features step-by-step, so that you won't get confused. Or, you can just hire a web programmer or designer to help you apply them.

3. Test, Test and Test

One thing about Internet marketing is, you can't just bet that once you have applied a technique, you can see it working. Testing out a new addition to your site is important because you have to find out in which part of the site is the most optimized position to make it work.

For example, your RSS feed logo can be placed at any part of your site for your visitors to subscribe to, but testing it at different parts of the site for a certain amount of time can make you gauge where most of the visitors sign up for your RSS feed at. Once you have found that position, you can then just place the feed there as its final position.

Once you see these Web 2.0 techniques working on your site, you can then focus on other Internet marketing related strategies like how to turn your visitors into your subscribers or buyers, writing a good web copy, how to improve sales and so on. These three tips are the basic fundamentals for you to focus on when you are into blog marketing, so never forget about them when you apply Web 2.0 strategies.

Thanks to Jo Han Mok, is the author of the #1 international business bestseller, The E-Code. Unlock the code for unlimited online profits for yourself by visiting his website today at: http://www.SuperFastProfit.com

Essential Web2.0 Designing Trends

Web 2.0, as described by many, is often used to describe a resurgence in the web economy, a new level of technological interactivity or a social phenomena deriving from new types of online communities and social networks. In whatever ways they might be described, the new web 2.0 sites show a remarkable change in the patterns of design. Certain common styles and trends can be observed in most of these sites, that has probably included designing too as a part of web 2.0 definitions.

The basic patterns that most of the web 2.0 sites follow are:

a. Simple Layout: The layouts generally stick to 1-2 column formats. This provides a cluster free navigation and easy sorting of the contents. These pages read in a straightforward way from top to bottom, and you don't find your eye skipping around trying to work out what to look at. It's a much calmer and more solid browsing experience than in times gone by.

b. Centered Orientation: In comparison to the liquid layout or left-aligned fixed-width layout of yesteryears, the new designs call for a center-orientated layout.

c. Content Designing: It is often said, that the mantra of web 2.0 designing is "Design the Content, Not the Page"! Well, this can also be observed in quite a lot of cases. It is no longer designing a blank page to be filled with content later. Rather it's about designing the content, to make the site look more in sync with its theme.

d. 3D Effects: This is another of the very commonly found designing component for all web 2.0 sites. Glossy effects, reflections, bright colors and drop-shadows, are the latest designing trends.

e. Background Colors: As already mentioned, the page backgrounds are not the main aspects of designing any longer. Rather, they are generally filled with soft natural colors, gradients or simple diagonal or horizontal stripes. These simple backgrounds help to further enhance and highlight the importance of the already designed content.

f. Cute Icons: As with strong color and 3D effects, appealing icons and buttons can add that bit of polish to help give a page a high-quality feel. But used too much, they'll have the counter effect, cluttering the page and confusing the user.

g. Big Text: Important sections of the site are generally written using bigger texts. This is surely to attract the user's attention. However, not all the text should be using the same bigger fonts, simply because then none of them would be bigger than the other.

h. Big Input Fields: Bigger input fields are seen in the recent web 2.0 sites. This probably helps to validate the content design and the bigger text part of layout. Moreover, it somehow emphasizes the user interactivity of the web 2.0 sites.

i. Stars and Badges: Last but not the least, comes the bright stars and badges that have almost created a revolution in the web 2.0 designing. Almost all the sites that claim to be web 2.0 essentially include a bright star or a badge somewhere on their site. Mostly seen in their declaration of a beta release, the stars and badges can also be found in buttons and contents.

In addition to the orthodox definitions, these new, classy and smart web-designing trends also help to define a new breed of websites, the ones known to us now as the web 2.0 sites.

Thanks to Judy Hunter, is a technology and internet freak, an avid blogger and trend analyst who writes for 123Greetings.com and quite a few other websites. She also specializes on relationship management.