new toys for web-developers…

XRAY is a point-and-click tool that exposes CSS-attributes, inheritance-hierarchy and screen-dimensions of any DOM-element. since XRAY is a bookmarklet, it works not only with Firefox but Safari/Webkit as well.

Yahoo’s YSlow is a plugin for popular Firefox-extension Firebug. YSlow analyzes a webpage’s performance and assigns grades (A-F) regarding number of HTTP-requests, use of expire-headers, use of [...]

wordpress-plugin: Tiger Administration

if you’re bored by the never-changing look of Wordpress’ backend-interface, you might want to try out Steve Smith’ Tiger Administration plugin. don’t expect changes in functionality, since the plugin is purely based on CSS modifications. still, a welcome refurbishment… (found on Christian Spanring’s blog)

dev: create on-the-fly graphics on websites

Mahemoff’s Software-As-She’s-Developed-blog gives a brief overview on eight methods for creating dynamic graphics within the browser. besides more obvious choices like SVG/VML (Vector Markup Language, Microsoft’s equivalet of SVG) or Flash, the post also introduces lesser known options like the Canvas-element (think of a fully scriptable -element – currently supported by Firefox, Safari & Opera) [...]

dev: XHTMLized

XHTMLized is a service claiming to convert your design-comp (think photoshop) to XHTML/CSS in max. 5 days – for an astounding average rate of 150 US$. potential customers can request a particular quote by uploading the compostion. XHTMLized promises valid, accessible and search-engine-friendly code. they even promise a money-back-guarantee in case you’re not satisifed [...]

dev: compressing javascript & css

thinkvitamin.com features a very detailed article by Cal Henderson (flickr.com) on how-to serve large javascript- and css-libraries in performance-critical environments. Cal describes best practices for splitting, compressing and caching of these code-monsters. A must-read for all developers, the article also gives in-depth knowledge about how various browsers handle this type of content.