Toggl for Time Tracking

We have started using the web-based Toggl application for time tracking at Communications Tool & Die.  Initially we were tracking our time using a module in our SugarCRM system, but that just seemed to clunky for our relatively simple needs.  We don’t bill by the hour, so we don’t need incredibly precise time accounting but [...]

Zen Cart Templating

One of the services we provide at Communications Tool & Die is custom Zen Cart integration.  Unfortunately, the existing documentation on Zen Cart template creation is…limited.  I have been working on documenting the template page functions internally for our developers but once I have this in a presentable format I am going to release it [...]

Standards Based Design Makes Google Chrome Less Scary

The proliferation of web browsers is a real pain from a development standpoint.  Every new browser is yet another platform to be supported.  Every site now has yet more idiosynchrocies to take into account.  So when Google announced Chrome recently, I was curious to see what the carnage would be for our design and development [...]

Dojo Resource List on Stack Overflow

I recently wrote about the Dojo Docs project and how the existing Dojo documentation leaves something to be desired.  There was a Stack Overflow question asking for Dojo resources and a really good list was provided.  If you’re looking to learn more about Dojo, the Stack Overflow response is a great starting point.

Delicious Day - Checklists and Cheat Sheets

Delicious Day is a new weekly post that will showcase our favorite findings we have bookmarked at delicious.com through out the week.
I am a huge fan of checklists and use many in my personal and professional life. So, naturally, my first favorite is The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period! This page is a compilation of [...]

Stack Overflow Now Public

The other day I wrote about the Stack Overflow Beta.  The site is now publicly available.  The creators are continuing to add improvements and you can follow along with their back end work at their blog and podcast.  As I predicted, while the beta was very Windows-centric due to the social group involved, as the [...]

A General Strategy for Customizing Open Source Applications

In the course of developing web sites for clients, we incorporate a lot of off the shelf open source software. This includes packages such as WordPress, MediaWiki, Gallery2, Zen Cart, and others. To use these applications in our client sites we need to customize the templates and possibly add in extensions, but we [...]

BrowserCam and Word Tracker’s Free Keyword Suggestion Tool

We have posted before about our delicious bookmark list. We try to add links there for the resources we find helpful and we encourage you to check out the list. But sometimes it’s hard to find the real gems, so today we’re starting what I hope will become a regular feature of highlighting [...]

Stack Overflow Beta

I have been checking out the beta of Stack Overflow, a soon-to-be-launched developer Q&A web site. The concept of the site is that you ask a question pertaining to anything in the realm of software development, and people answer. It’s a community site, and the community votes up the best answer which then [...]

Web Design on a budget

As a freelancer or when starting a web design business, the tools of the trade can seem overwhelmingly expensive. HTML editing software, graphics programs, web hosting…the list of potential expenses goes on and on depending on what you’re trying to do.
However, I’ve found that there are ways to slash these costs, so you don’t spend [...]