Apologies, I know, i know, it’s been a few weeks since my last entry. I’ve been on holiday in the great English countryside and had to get back into the swing of things…

It’s important for a freelancer to have some time (either weekly or monthly) to get up to speed with new technologies and learn new skills. It’s something I haven’t done for a while, but for a few months now I’ve been hearing about jQuery especially from the Boagworld podcast. I’ve managed to get a few spare hours to read up and try some basic effects out, and I think I can say it will change the way I think about website creation from now on. The fact that its so lightweight is a bonus, but there are so many fantastic effects which are relatively easy to get going, and require just simple coding skills.

If you’re a web designer and have some spare time, it’s definitely worth getting your hands dirty. It could be the wow factor you’ve been looking for…

So, with a lot of work just coming in and a big month or two ahead, I’m currently typing this with one hand. Why? A fractured wrist obtained in extra-curricular activities at an Essex Spartans training session.

Any mac-user reading this will understand the issue with only having one usable arm. Ctrl/cmd clicking becomes an issue. Subsequently this morning, my elbow has never had such a workout!

I must say, all the clients I’ve contacted to say their web projects will be delayed a little have been very understanding, and if this should ever happen to you, it’s the first thing you should do the next morning.

I’m signing off now because my arms getting tired already and my sling needs adjusting. Happy designing!

I’ve just finished the brand new Legacy XS site. New features added since the last update include a gallery, video content and forums section.

Design wise, initially there was some trouble with ie6 not displaying floated divs as they should be, but overall, not too many problems to speak of (I must be learning!)

I wanted to bring the XS site up to date, and needed to integrate some new features. Forum integration was relatively painless; phpbb makes things pretty simple. Another main addition is the video content which is run from our server, rather than youtube/myspace or wherever. For some reason Dreamweaver’s additional Flash code makes the site not validate, but hey ho.

Also added in a new gallery with upload feature. The uploads get screened by me, just in case anything not appropriate gets posted.

That’s about it really. As I said, relatively quick and painless process this time. Check out my other sites at www.faciodesign.co.uk/web_design.html