Jeg snakkede med en god kollega i vuggestuen jeg arbejder i forleden, om kreativitet i forhold til vores grundmotorik.
Vores tema lige nu i Dagtilbuddet er kreativitet og min kollega er ved at uddanne sig til motorikvejleder.
Egentlig har jeg holdt lav profil i vuggestuen mht. at snakke om hvor vigtigt det er for børnene (og os voksne) at være kreative sammen og alene, selvom jeg er certificeret Kreativ Coach efter Kaizen-Muse princippet.
At arbejde med vuggestuebørn handler i den grad om at bruge kaizen som betyder “continuous improvement with small steps”, eller løbende forbedringer ved små skridt.
Det at lære at kravle, gå og selv tage tøj på er en lang process af små øvelser. At prøve igen og igen og igen……indtil man en dag kan.
Så det at være kreativ coach er en fantastisk match med vuggestuearbejde og jeg elsker det.
Men tilbage til samtalen med min kollega.
Det var en meget interessant samtale om hvorfor det er vigtigt at små børn har deres grundmotorik i orden.
Det ved min kollega rigtig meget om men lige kort, så er grundmotorik bl.a. at løfte hovedet, trille, kravle, sætte sig, gå, løbe. De er bevægelser i børns udvikling som de laver uanset hvor de kommer fra og hvornår de er født.
Så kom vi til at snakke om sammenhængen imellem motorik og kreativitet.
Kreativitet er ikke en færdighed.
Det er det ikke, fordi kreativitet er udført fantasi (applied imagination), altså vores måde at tænke på og udtrykke vores fantasi på.
Det er ikke hvor god du er til at håndtere saksen der definerer om du udfører noget kreativt. Saksen er dit redskab i din kreativitet.
Et andet eksempel at at skrive.
Du er ikke kreativ fordi du kan tænde for en computer og åbne et Word dokument.
Men det at lave sætninger ud fra dine tanker, dine følelser og din fantasi, det er en kreativ handling.
Saksen (eller malerpenslen, computeren, kroppen etc.) er et redskab for at udtrykke kreativiteten. Et medium.
Kreativitet er personlig.
Kreativitet er ikke rigtigt eller forkert.
Og det er det HELT FANTASTISKE ved kreativitet.
Det kommer indefra, inde fra dig og er derfor unikt.
Det er forskelligt fra menneske til menneske, fordi vi som mennesker er forskellige.
Vi kan have forskellig smag, men det er noget helt andet.
Min kollega har ret i noget.
Det er en fordel at øve sin motorik, også i forhold til kreativitet.
Og det er det bl.a fordi, jo mere man kan motorisk, jo nemmere er det at udforske forskellige former for fysisk aktivitet.
Der er også velvære og glæde ved at kunne bruge sin krop på mange måder.
F.eks. er dans og gymnastik fantastiske kreative udtryksformer.
Man kan ikke sige at man kun kan være kreativ hvis man har styr på sin motorik. Fordi der er kreativitet i stort set alt. Matematik, sprog – at skrive en dansk stil er en kreativ handling – og fysik, kemi og stort set alt andet.
Kreativitet er “hot stuff” nu.
Derfor er det en vigtig samtale og en super spændende én.
Man ved at det er kreativ tænkning der skal til for at finde nye løsninger på gamle problemer vi selv har skabt.
Forskning viser, at mennesker med kreative, sociale og følelsesmæssige evner vil klare sig bedre i fremtiden.
Så skal vi lige have at uddannelsessystemerne følger med. 🙂
En kollega spurgte om jeg ikke kunne skrive på min blog om, hvad det der kreativitet er for noget.
“Du læser alle de bøger på engelsk, men kan du ikke skrive det på dansk?”
Jo, det gør jeg gerne. 🙂
Hvad er kreativitet?
Sir Ken Robinson definerer det som
“udført fantasi som er original og har mening”. (applied imagination that is original and adds value)
Scott Barry Kaufman og Carolyn Gregoire skriver i “Wired to Create” fra 2016:
“Expressions of originality and meaningfulness in daily life”
Jeg tolker de to definationer som værende ens, udtrykt på forskellige måder.
Jeg skal være ærlig og sige, at det har taget mig et stykke tid, at få det ind under huden, at det skal have en mening.
Men det betyder egentligt bare, at din kreative handling skal være betydningsfuld for dig.
Jeg læser virkelig mange bøger om kreativitet og relaterende emner og der er rigitg mange meninger om hvad kreativitet er.
Men det er Sir Ken’s defination jeg ender med at vende tilbage til, når jeg selv skal forklare hvad kreativitet er.
Men jeg vil godt tilføje lidt.
Kreativitet er personligt.
Og det er altså super vigtigt at forstå. Specielt når det gælder i uddannelses sammenhæng.
Det ligger naturligt for os mennesker at drage konklusioner og opdigte historier selvom vi ikke kender alle facts, så er det vigtigt at vide, at kreativitet ikke kan flaskes og sælges som værende en enten/eller ting.
Kort fortalt er kreativitet noget du “tænker frem” fra din unikke fantasi og så udfører det.
Det er noget vi tænker, forestiller og/eller føler og så udtrykker det.
D.v.s at man bruger sin kreativitet mere, hvis man selv udvikler noget, end hvis man “bare” følger en plan fra A til B.
Jeg håber det giver det mening.
Kreativitet er et meget stort og meget omtalt emne i disse år og der er en hel række spørgsmål i forbindelse med det jeg har skrevet her. Og snakken fortsætter.
Men for at have noget definérbart når vi snakker om hvad kreativitet er, er det her et godt udgangspunkt.
Har du noget at tilføje, hører jeg det selvfølgelig gerne 🙂
Hvad tænker du så på, når du tænker på kreativitet?
Hvis du lige fik billeder i dit hoved af mænd i jakkesæt og firmaer og store koncerner, da du tænkte på innovation og billeder af kulørt kunst, kvinder og børn med perleplader, da du tænkte på kreativitet, så er du fuldstændig som næsten resten af befolkningen.
Det er nok den mest gængse opfattelse af hvad kreativitet og innovation er.
En anden opfattelse er, at de er det samme.
Den er bare ikke rigtigt.
Forskellen på innovation og kreativitet
Innovation er resultatet af kreativitet.
Innovation er en nyskabelse, som er blevet til på baggrund af ny kreativ tænkning, en masse fejl lavet og som oftest, af rigtig mange mennesker over en årrække.
Innovation sker når der bliver skabt noget nyt på baggrund af gammel viden og erfaring og tilført ny viden og udvikling. Populært sagt, er det en ny måde at gøre noget på.
Hvad er kreativitet?
Men jeg gør det så gerne igen, fordi det ganske enkelt er et af mine yndlingsemner.
Kreativitet er personligt.
Din kreativitet er det, der gør dig til dig.
Det er dit unikke, personlige udtryk.
Kreativitet er arbejde. Meget arbejde. Sjovt og meningsfyldt arbejde. Og til tider hårdt arbejde.
Kreativitet er, at slippe kontrollen.
Kreativitet betyder, at du skal kunne læne dig ind i det ukendte, på ukendt territorium, ud over din komfortzone.
At være kreativ betyder, at du udfører noget der er nyt på en eller anden måde.
Du skal vise dig selv, give noget af dig selv.
Kreativitet er et kognitivt redskab til at se nye muligheder og udføre nyt på.
Det er en forudsætning for udvikling.
Sir Ken Robinson siger at kreativitet er
“Applied imagination that adds value”
Altså udført fantasi, som har en form for værdi. Ikke nødvendigvis værdi for hele verden, men i hvert fald for dig.
Kreativitet gør dig medskaber til dig eget liv.
Hvad er kreativitet ikke?
Det er f.eks. ikke en kreativ handling at tegne mandala’er. Det er godt for ro, koncentration og fokus, følelser og meditation og alt muligt andet fedt.
Men det er ikke en kreativ handling.
Der skal noget kreativ tænkning, noget didaktik, ind over over, som bliver udført i en handling, før vi kan sige det er kreativt.
Der er absolut intet galt med at male og lave perleplader. Der er SÅ meget fantastisk læring og ro i at male inden for stregerne.
Og så er kreativitet ikke en færdighed.
Der er altså ingen innovation uden kreativitet
Man gør klogt i, at lægge sit fokus på kreativiteten og hvordan man får øvet sig i forskellige kreative udtryk, som man synes kunne være interessant.
Hvis arbejdspladser og firmaer vil have innovation og innovative tiltag, skal man træde et skridt tilbage og kigge på hvordan kulturen er på arbejdspladsen.
Hylder man fejl, eller vil man for alt i verden helst undgå dem?
Snakker man bag ryggen på sine kolleger?
Går lederen forrest eller ved siden af de ansatte?
Bliver de ansatte lyttet til, passet på og opfordret til videreuddannelse?
At svare på de spørgsmål, er et godt sted at starte, hvis man vil have kreative medarbejdere og endda ende med innovative løsninger.
Innovation er fedt og vigtigt.
Men det aller, aller vigtigste er, at arbejde med sig selv på en måde, hvor man er åben overfor nyt, ny læring, nye måder at gøre ting på og så at man lader sig styre af sin nysgerrighed og ikke sin frygt.
Det er ikke noget der sker på én dag. Kreativitet kræver øvelse.
TIP! Blog often. A common, and critical mistake that bloggers make is not providing updates often enough.
Do you feel like everyone has a blog but you? It is hard to avoid running into a blog wherever you go online. A successful blog doesn’t happen quickly or without work. Review this article and read a few more, and you will be well on your way to creating a blog that people will want to read.
TIP! Don’t ever copy things from the web. Nobody takes plagiarism lightly, and employing this tactic will unquestionably be very counterproductive to your efforts at establishing yourself as a reputable writer.
Don’t overuse your keywords or advertisements. This will only cause you to get flagged by search engines and make it harder to find you. Make sure to write naturally in a way you would want to read.
TIP! Invite bloggers who are extremely successful to write some blog blogs on your site. This will enhance your site’s profile and improve its content.
Comment on other’s blogs in order to generate more interest in yours. If you decide to use Google Reader, it is wise to have another folder within it in order to follow other blogs. Comment on these regularly, when there is something you want to divulge.
Don’t copy anything at all. Never plagiarize, as it will rapidly ruin your reputation. Everyday people can become very successful bloggers, just by writing with passion and integrity.
TIP! Address all feedback on your blog without ever taking anything too personally. Regardless of the topic or your thoughts, there is always someone who will see it differently.
You may want to buy a domain name, instead of utilizing a free blog site. Domains are very cheap, but do wonders for your professionalism. This will allow users to find you more easily, and it will also help when it comes to search engine optimization.
TIP! Ensure that your blog remains in tip-top shape. Stay on top of everything from the content and style of your blog to its underlying technical framework.
Make use of images within your posts often. There is a reason that a picture is worth so many words. This is especially true with writing a blog. Images, when combined with thoughtfully written posts, can communicate more than words alone. Therefore, make sure images are included as much as you possibly can.
TIP! Always welcome comments and feedback from your readers. By doing this, your readers will feel that they are actively involved in the site, and it will allow you to have a relationship with them.
As you can see by now, running a blog and bloggers have permeated our everyday lives. The common motivation for all bloggers is to communicate a message to a target audience. Use the information in the piece you have just read to help you craft a blog capable of delivering your message to the right people.
Many people are getting more interested in designing websites. With that being said, there are a lot more people who are going to be your competition when you’re trying to make a profit with website creation. Check out the following article to see how you can create a great website that is the envy of your competition.
A good website should be compatible with multiple browsers, so you should test your website in various browsers to ensure that any visitor can view it correctly. Different browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome may not display content the same way; what works in one might not work in another. Before you website is launched, test the display of each page in all major browsers.
Make sure the combination of colors your site uses is attractive and makes the site easy to read. If the text fades into the background due to poor contrast, the text will be hard to read. Dark text colors on light backgrounds are usually easier to read compared to the other way around. Ask your friends to give you feedback on the colors you choose.
Do not overdo the graphics on your site. They are good for making your site more professional, but too much looks messy. Don’t use graphics as a decoration for your site; they should be used to make it look professional. Having the right amount of graphics that don’t clutter the design can improve the site’s usability, too.
Make it possible for users to cancel action if they want to do so. This could mean ordering products, opting in to an email newsletter, or returning to the homepage from deep within your site. If you do not give your users the option to cancel something, then you are making them do something, which can cause users to be leery of making future purchases or coming back to your website at all.
You should not go overboard using JavaScript. While it may offer many different ways to create a more transparent and responsive website, it can pose difficulties for some visitors. Not all web browsers are alike, and they are updated pretty frequently. It is often the case that people don’t rush to get the latest version. In addition, not everyone keeps JavaScript enabled within their browsers. If you choose to use JavaScript every time, you will prevent some users from being able to effectively use your site.
If your site is larger than a few pages, it should be searchable. Put a search box in the uppermost right-hand corner of your homepage so that users can seek specific topics on your site. You can use Google search or FreeFind, as they both give you access to an engine which is free and simple to use.
To help you design a nice looking website, purchase one of the many web design programs that are on the market today. This type of software is a lifesaver and extremely easy to use. Before long you will be designing some eye-catching sites to add to your portfolio. Should your website not be appealing, then your visitor count is going to be low.
Prioritize your user’s needs. The web designer needs to be focused on the end user’s needs at all times. This is going to have everything to do with accessibility and usability, as well as different types of social interaction. These are the most important considerations to be made. Keep in mind that it is not your view that is most important, but the visitor’s view.
Use free software to set up your own site. Many people falsely believe that they need to purchase expensive software in order to create a good website, however, there are currently numerous excellent free tools on the market that help you to develop a very professional looking website. Do some searching and you’ll find some excellent free tools to use.
Run tests on different browser applications to make sure your site works on all of them. Your site may look quite different on different browsers, so don’t be caught unawares! Utilize the Internet by researching which browsers are the most commonly used. Check how your site behaves on all the major browsers for both PCs and mobile devices.
Make sure to check whether your site works on all Internet browsers. Each web browser has a slightly different way of how they illustrate the website, and in a couple of cases these little differences could have major effects on the experience for the user. A little bit of research will help you decide which browsers are used most often, at that time. Try your website out on various popular browsers. Since lots of people surf the Internet on their smartphones, look at your site through a mobile browser or two, also.
Remember that you do not have to fill up all of the available space on your website. If you are using every single available pixel, the website may feel extremely cluttered. Those visiting your site will actually be relieved by having extra space and not feeling overwhelming. You would be surprised how empty space can often be as valued as content.
Practice all you can. As you understand each little thing, give it a try. This is important so that you will understand well how each step fits into the bigger picture and becomes easier for you to handle. You don’t want to learn something and realize that it wasn’t properly digested.
Avoid putting ads in your website that pop up. Generally people who use the Internet find pop-up ads annoying, so it is best to stick to more traditional ads on your website. People will not want to visit or click away immediately. Keep simple, non-intrusive adds on your website.
There are many good books which can help you learn more about web design. Start out simple by purchasing books that are in line with your level of expertise, then gradually upgrade.
Website counters are pretty unattractive, so stay away from them. While this used to be a way for webmasters to show off their coding skill, it now only serves to make a site look dated. Get rid of that unsightly counter and instead use alternative tools to help you gauge traffic.
Have knowledgeable friends review your website, and ask them specifically to check on your use of Dreamweaver, Photoshop, HTML and the like. You want to make sure that all of the information that you learned was truly retained; the last thing you need is to be in the middle of making a site and become lost or confused.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is not reserving domain names immediately when they are considering owning several sites. The reason this is a problem is that you need to be creative and the names should match your sites but others may have the same name chosen so lock them up right away. You’d be surprised at just how many people have the same ideas. It’s like we’re all connected or something.
If you use FileZilla as your server, use your username, domain and port to configure the menu settings. That way, you only need to select your settings from the personalized menu whenever you need to log back into the server. You will be surprised at how much time this can save you.
Adobe Dreamweaver can help you create a great site. Even novices can easily use this product. It is feature rich, with lots of layouts and templates. It can also help with testing the site so you know how it will look once on the server.
Make sure someone is testing your site for proper functioning as you are designing each step. Have someone test each new feature that you add. You might not think much of a video that loads slow, but another set of eyes can give a differing perspective. Ensure you get the opinions of many people to better your site.
Gather knowledge from online resources when making your first website. Learning as much as you can about creating a web page from the people who know the most about it will be the quickest way for you to get your site up and running. You can avoid shoddy work by sticking with expert advice.
Site security is an important factor to consider. It is probably wise to buy an SSL certificate if you accept credit card or PayPal payments on your site. Check the site host for more features that are available.
Well-placed graphics that look professionally done can really entertain the people coming to your site. Add interest to your site by wrapping text around the images. If you content is surrounded by creative design, visitors will like your site more.
Unused space is something you should consider for your design instead of filling your pages entirely. White space helps people to clearly see your site, which in turn allows them to read and absorb the information much better than a site that is packed with too much stuff.
If you are a web designer, it is good to be an artist. Be open-minded and, when you have an idea, record it so you won’t forget it. Don’t hesitate to use unconventional methods like scribbling a note on the palm of your hand. If you come up with a design idea while you are at work, call your home phone and leave a quick message describing the idea on your answering machine, so that you can refer to it later.
A key principle to apply is to place your most important information to the far left and high on the pages. Because people read from the left to the right, placing key information on the top left of the screen makes it more likely that users see this first before going on to the rest of the information on the site.
Placing new items high and far to the left will draw attention to them. Left-to-right is a natural orientation because it is how we read. Placing items up high and far to the left will cause them to be seen first.
To really excel at web design, you should gain as much knowledge from various sources as you can. Do this so you know something about everything to do with the process.
To really excel at website development, you should gain as much knowledge from various sources as you can. This will give you many different perspectives to take in.
Implement a site map. A site map does a couple things. First, it makes your site easier for site visitors to understand. It makes people have easy access to what they are searching for because they can access anything from a simple map. Secondly, a site map is great for search engine optimization, or SEO. This means that search engine spiders need to look at your map in order to help rank your site.
Learn all about CSS, or cascading style sheet. HTML is the simple stuff, but to get more complex you should understand CSS. The style sheets are actually great formatting reference guides so that your website looks great over multiple pages. This also makes it very easy to universally change things on your site. Then, if you feel like changing all of the font color to green (or purple), you only have to change one line of code.
Make sure you use a descriptive title on your site. Run a search for “untitled document” just to see what comes up. As you will see, page titling is a step that all too may web designers neglect! Your website must have a name. Search engines weigh titles heavily in their ranking algorithms, so make sure every page has a good one.
You want to know all you can so that you can stay competitive with people. While this article has plenty of information to help along the way, you should continue learning whatever possible to stay sharp and ahead of the competitors.
Have links on your own website to make it easier for visitors to share products or information you provide on a social networking site. Not only do visitors appreciate the convenience of such links, they will also be doing you a favor by providing free advertisement and drumming up more traffic for your site.
TIP! When it comes to keywords, ads, images, and plug-ins, do not overdo it. If you do, search engines will flag you and will not list you in their results.
Running A Blog can be a profitable method of using the Internet. There are a number of sites you can use to help you begin to blog. This article’s tips can help you improve an old blog or create a new one in no time. The most important thing is that you have fun doing it!
TIP! Never copy anything you write in your blog. Plagiarism is dishonest, and it is the surest way to ruin your reputation and destroy any chance you have of creating a popular blog.
Don’t ever try to copy something else. If you copy any part of somebody else’s blog or article to yours, you could get caught and it would ruin your reputation. You don’t need to be professional, simply passionate about a subject will garner a quality blog.
TIP! Owning your domain name, instead of taking advantage of a free site, can serve to your advantage. Though there will be some initial expense involved, your blog will have a professional appearance.
Blog about things people care about. Ordinary chores like doing the laundry and cleaning the kitchen are familiar to everyone. Such content would have to be presented in a unique way to get readers to care. Choose topics that you know people care about. The goal of your blog is to draw readers after all!
TIP! Your blog should concentrate on something that will excite readers’ interest. Everyone has certain activities and chores that they do each day.
Differentiate your blog from the mass of “me-too” blogs out there. Readers are drawn to unique content. You can also interest readers by providing information they can’t find elsewhere. Try blog posting about an unusual experience or hobby. Give the intimate details of how a widget is constructed. This way, you give readers reasons to read your blog if they need certain information.
TIP! Embed pictures into your posts. There is a reason that a picture is worth so many words.
Lists are great for blogging. Whether your blog is about the parts needed for overhauling a 1971 Mach Mustang’s Holley carburetor, or the ingredients needed to concoct a new cocktail for an upcoming party, lists are important. A list will provide the reader with your content in a visually appealing and easy to digest format.
TIP! Take the feedback you receive in your post comments into account without getting angry. No matter the topic, there will be people who have criticisms.
The above article has offered several suggestions how you can more effectively use blogs to suit the purpose behind the blog. By utilizing the tips from this article, you can create a blog that is pleasurable for not only you, but for your readers too. Creating a fantastic blog can be quite simple with some dedication and a few pieces of advice, so go out and create yours today!
The biggest cost of business owners seeking to create a web presence is expense of professional website creation. You can save yourself a nice chunk of change if you can design your own site. That said, it has to be done right. The following advice will help you build a site like the professionals do.
Try using fixed-position navigation to let your users navigate with ease. This involves the navigation panel remaining static as the user reads down the page. This is ideal for both visitors and marketers alike, as desired actions are executed much more quickly.
Use graphics that are right for your website. Many people no longer use use bitmap graphics because the files are large and take longer to load. Try GIF, PNG or JPEG files instead. Try using PNGs for images that are not photos or text buttons or if an image has over 256 colors. Use GIFs for something with less than 256 colors. JPEG files are best for photographs.
Speed is king on the Internet, so you need to make sure your web pages load quickly. If a visitor needs to wait while the page loads, they may click off your site and not return.
Test your site to ensure it passes a NoScript test. Download and run the NoScript extension on Firefox and find out if the site is readable? Certain content cannot be read unless scripts are present. A blank site without scripts can create big problems.
You must create a website that is easily navigable to attract and keep traffic. Links should be highly visible and easy to locate. Another way to provide easy navigation is to incorporate menus. To help visitors find their way back, be sure to have a visible link to the main page on all your pages.
Keep your topics separate. If you have many topics on your site, try keeping them on separate pages. Your content will be more readable to your visitors and more visible to search engines, resulting in higher rankings.
Keep your topics separated. When you focus on different discussion topics, give each one its own page. It’ll help people find what they are looking for easier, and search engines will have an easier time ranking specific pages.
Research keywords. While giving viewers quality and up-to-date information should be your main focus, you must try building a customer base. If you want your site to be successful, you must understand how to use keywords properly.
When designing a large website, include the ability to search throughout the site. People have become accustomed to search boxes being in the upper-right corner of the page, so put it there. These should let you at least search for one term, but it’s better if it allows multiple terms. Search functions for websites are available from FreeFind and Google.
On your website you want to incorporate an area where your visitors can provide feedback. This will clue you in to ways that your website falls short of their expectations or doesn’t work properly, enabling you to make the necessary changes. Negative and positive feedback are useful in improving your website.
It is important to have content on your site that is not only interesting, but compelling as well. The overall design is always important, but it’s even more important to use content that keeps visitors coming back for more. When you have relevant content on your site that appeals to your viewers and takes into account what they are looking for, there is a good chance they will want to visit again in the near future.
Apart from the aesthetics of your website, remember that all files included must be small. There is a direct correlation between file sizes and page load times. You want your site to load as quickly as it can. You must keep in mind that not all visitors will have a fast Internet connection. Test to be sure that even computers with slow dial-up modems can connect quickly to your website.
Avoid having pop-up windows on your website. While popup adverts can help you to generate some income from your website, they are also likely to frustrate your visitors. Internet users will be more likely to leave your site and not find it trustworthy if you use pop-ups.
If you feel stuck, do some Google searches to find out how others worked through it. There are millions of websites available to gain inspiration from. There is nothing wrong with using a feature or design idea that you like from another website and making it your own. Remember though, you still want an original design, not a potluck of other site ideas. You have to think of creative ways to improve them.
Make certain that your site is accessible for various incarnations of Internet Explorer. Many people detest Internet Explorer, but some still use these older versions today. Since many elements are not up-to-date you will have to work around it. An example would be the vexing “box model bug” which troubled IE for quite some time.
The harder you are willing to work at learning about site design skills, the easier it will be to master them. Start by creating simple pages you don’t even publish to the web, just so you can see how the basics work. You need to practice at some point, so why not begin now?
If you are fortunate enough to have the funding for a major investment into your site, this does not mean that is a wise thing to host the site on your own. Design as much of the site as you are comfortable with, then allow someone with more experience to handle the rest. This maintains the overall quality of your site, but also gives you the opportunity to focus your attention elsewhere.
Hosting your own site may not be a wise idea, regardless of how much money you have to invest. You should design it yourself (or at least as much as possible), but allowing someone else to host your site frees you up and allows you to focus on other things besides the site’s safety and security.
Try signing up for an email newsletter that covers web design, so that you can reorient yourself should you ever become confused. Regardless of the experience level, newsletters are valuable for all web designers.
You may want to purchase a few books that can aid in teaching the ins and outs of becoming a top-notch web designer. When purchasing instructional books, make an effort to pick those that start from your level of expertise.
Task based usability tests are a great way to determine how effective the design of your website is. The purpose of these is to find functionality or information buried within your website. If you have a well-designed website, then the task should be easy to complete by the user. This may take a while if your site is not constructed well.
If you would like to be a successful web designer, it is pertinent for you to know HTML5. Should you not be familiar with html5, you will want to brush up on the topic. This means you need to put the effort into learning more about it.
Do not feel as though you must design every portion of your site yourself. There are many different components to the web design process, including artwork, user experience, server-side programming, content writing, and optimizing for search engines. Feel free to enlist professional help to make your website better. You always have the option of hiring a company or professional that specializes in a particular area that you are not familiar with.
Someone Else
To be a good web designer it is important that you learn from many experienced people in this industry that you can. This will give you many different perspectives to take in.
Do repetitive testing on your website to make sure it works once each development milestone is reached. Impartial, unbiased feedback will help improve your site. A video that loads slowly may mean nothing to you, but someone else may disagree. Even more importantly, a video may load quickly for you, but not load at all for someone else. Get opinions from the outside to keep the proper perspective.
Put the search box up high on the page and give it no fewer than 27 characters. Pay attention to the wording on your search box and keep it simple, with a command that simply states that your customers can “search” from that location. It’s less likely to confuse your visitors.
You can see if your website is interesting by checking the statistics of it. It’ll help you learn who’s visiting your site, and how they tend to surf. This provides you with information regarding where to make the most effective updates to encourage return visits.
Provide a site map. A site map has two main purposes. One, it makes the site understandable. Things become easy to find when a site map is present. Site maps are also great if you’re into search engine optimization. They make it easier for web crawlers to navigate and index your site.
If you’re going to put a logo on the website, link it back to send users to the home page. It is common these days for sites to have a logo or image that visitors can click on to return to the home page. Imagine your reader’s frustration as they click away with nothing happening! They might think it’s broken, and that your site isn’t as good as they thought. Having a logo that is clickable will make site navigation easier.
With the constant advances in technology, you need to stay current in web design. The days of word of mouth and print marketing are gone, and a successful company depends on their website to identify who they are. Many business owners have found that having a website can help them earn more money than ever before.
Error Pages
Purchase different materials to stay on top of your region. This helps guarantee your domain name is specific to that region of the country. It will also bring visitors that are in your region to the site.
Design error pages that are helpful to your visitors. Viewers often click on broken links that haven’t been removed yet. Standard error pages will often just confuse readers or scare them away. Your error pages should tell visitors exactly what went wrong and provide your homepage link so they can stay on your site.
Sketch out the layout of your site before you begin to build it. You can receive some idea of the way people will react to these sketches by asking your loved ones their opinions on your drafts. By doing this, you can develop some conclusions on which direction your site should be heading in.
Get feedback on your website creation. A designer represents a single person, and others might not like your choices. If you can, try getting some of your target audience to test the site out to provide feedback about what they don’t like and like.
For every page you design, make sure you validate it. There are quite a few WYSIWYG editors that are guilty of putting a great deal of junk code on sites that they design. If those programs are used, be sure that you take the extra effort of utilizing a validation service to validate your code. Validating your code is an important step in web design, but be sure to use a good service.
Keep your links working and up-to-date. A good website is always designed with the user in mind, but if you have link errors, or broken links, it will drive your visitors crazy. Examine the links periodically to check their functionality.
Before you upload your pages, check for broken links. A program like Dreamweaver will check for these links with a simple button click. If visitors find broken links before you, it will annoy them.
It is not easy to become an expert in web design if you’re just starting. You will most likely mess up quite a bit on certain parts of web page design. However the truth is that it’s not difficult and once you use the information given here, the ability to put it all together will be much simpler.
Work with a professional company if you need to. Try to remember that even though you can purchase one of many pieces of software to assist in site design, these easy to use products are not as effective as a design pro with years of experience and several sites under their belt.
TIP! Blog often. A big mistake that many bloggers make is they do not keep it updated and use it on an infrequent basis.
An effective blog is an essential part of enhancing your Web presence. Writing A Blog not only gives you a good reputation, but it can also lead to other opportunities. Writing A Blog can help advertise a small business or advertise your own opinions. You might be able to earn extra money blog posting. Read the following article to learn some running a blog tips.
TIP! When you are creating your blog, consider purchasing your own domain name, rather than using a free site. Domain names are inexpensive and they will give your blog a more professional image.
Do not overuse Adsense ads, plug-ins, images or keywords. These behaviors will ensure the search engines flag your site as breaking the rules, limiting your readership. Instead, write in a conversational tone that flows naturally.
TIP! Don’t burn yourself out on blogging. Not giving yourself some occasional free time can affect your enthusiasm and, by extension, your writing.
Be real. It’s important not to come off like you think you know everything. Portray yourself as forthcoming, candid and giving. Do this always. This will help your blog to stand out as one that it individual in nature and easy to read. Reaching for perfection is probably a waste of time, so focus on improving your site instead. If you are incorrect, then accept that everyone makes mistakes. No two people are exactly alike, so be happy you are you.
TIP! Include images with your posts. There is a reason that a picture is worth so many words.
While you should reply to every comment on your blog, never let any of it hurt your feelings. Whatever the subject is, there will always be people who criticize. Those that are constructive can be used to improve your blog. Negative criticism should just be answered then ignored. This will demonstrate your maturity and cultivate your readership.
TIP! Allow others to post guest posts onto your blog. This helps you develop relationships with other blog owners and can come in helpful.
Learn to use lists effectively in your blog. Lists are an important part of blogging, whether you are writing about the best animes of all time, or the most interesting celebrity hairstyles of 2011. Lists provide a quick touchstone for your readers to determine if your content pertains to them.
TIP! While you should reply to every comment on your blog, never let any of it hurt your feelings. Whatever the topic of your post, someone will disagree with it! Constructive criticism can be a valuable tool, and if you use it effectively, you will improve your blog.
Blogging can be fun and easy, leading to fame, income and promotion of your agenda. Just be sure that you digested all of the information from this article, so if you have to, reread this article, so that you know you didn’t miss anything.
Have you always wanted to design a website but never knew where to start? Maybe you have dreams of becoming an online entrepreneur but your finances prevented you from having someone else build your online presence. The following article is great for anyone looking to jump into website design and create a great looking website!
Try using fixed-position navigation to let your users navigate with ease. This technique involves locking a site’s navigation panel in place as the visitor scrolls down the page. Not only do visitors find this convenient, but so do internet marketers who have calls to action they want in place.
Make sure to view your website in a variety of browsers. What you get on your browser isn’t always what your visitors see on their browser. Always go out of your way to discover what browsers are the most popular and design your site to work efficiently in all of them. You will also want to send your site to someone that’s using a different operating system so you can see that their browser is compatible with yours.
If you are creating a website, make sure you view your site in different browsers. What you may see might not be what other people see. Make sure that your site is compatible with all popular browsers. You will want to have a person using a different computer operating system check on your site as well.
Look at different forums for new information. Google to find the best resources and start your research.
Have some search element which lets visitors search your site’s content. When a visitor wants to find something specifically, they will immediately look for the search tool. If you don’t get one of these, they may move to a site that has something like that. Put the search box near the top right side of the page, since that tends to be common.
Include some way to help visitors search for content. Visitors may look for something specific, and that box will be the one of the first things they look for. If this option is unavailable, they may leave the site for one that allows a search. Always put the box somewhere near the right page’s top because people will look for it there.
To create an attractive website, buy one of the various site-building programs out today. Professional programs are easy to use, so you can create a beautiful site rather quickly. You site will not have a lot of visitors if it doesn’t look good.
Broken Links
Figure out what your subject is about. It is very important that you conduct plenty of research about your subject if you are thinking about using the site as a blog. The last thing you want to do is distribute incorrect information. Knowing your subject inside and out is essential for a good blog or website.
Before publishing websites, check them for broken links. An error page after clicking a link is very frustrating for visitors to your page. You can manually check links or use a program that will find broken links for you.
Photoshop is a good program for creating great content for your new web site. It is also novice friendly. Using this type of program can assist beginning web designers in creating sites that look professional, extremely quickly. If you don’t have PS, it can be difficult and time consuming building a nice site quickly.
Familiarizing yourself with Photoshop and using it from the very beginning of your web designing efforts can improve the results you achieve right from day one. Photoshop or other similar programs, can advance you into a professional arena quickly. If you do not have a top program like Photoshop, it can make it hard and really time consuming to acquire enough knowledge to build a really nice site, quickly.
Make sure your site loads quickly. People are more likely to leave your site if the load time is too long. You can make your page load faster by reducing the amount of content, such as Flash objects and graphics, which both increase the page’s loading time.
Make sure the content on your website is interesting. Though the look is highly important, content is the key to return visitors. When the content on your site is useful to your visitors, they are much more likely to return to your site.
It’s vital that you test your web designs on multiple browsers. Each individual browser will interpret your site differently, and sometimes, the user experience varies dramatically between each browser. It is easy to discover the most popular browsers. Do not neglect mobile browsers, as they are increasingly used by people of all ages; test to see that your new site works across a full spectrum of browsers.
Older Versions
If you feel stuck, do some Google searches to find out how others worked through it. If you need inspiration, browse some of the other websites out there. Find one you like, figure out why it’s appealing, and decide what you can use and improve in your own. Just grabbing the ideas of others is not always enough to guarantee success for your own website. Make those elements better so your site truly shines.
Don’t forget about Internet Explorer 7 and 8. Many people detest Internet Explorer, but some still use these older versions today. The older versions do not render all site elements to comply with web standards, which means using workarounds. Do a little research on the box model bug.
HTML5 is something you need to familiarize yourself with if your web design is going to be successful. If you don’t know what html5 is, then it is important that you buckle down and learn it so you can be the best at web design.
Try and write a decent “About Us” page. Too many websites do not spend enough time creating an original ‘About Us’ page. Try to make yours interesting! Let people see a bit of your personal history. Try including items like, how you entered website development, who inspires you, and what your wishes for your business are.
Don’t force visitors to do things. This means not pushing surveys or offers into their window that they must complete before they continue. If you do this, your visitor will feel coerced and will probably leave your page. He or she may also give you a bad review.
Do not add pop-up advertisements to your site. Generally people who use the Internet find pop-up ads annoying, so it is best to stick to more traditional ads on your website. Pop-ups will cause people to go elsewhere. Banner and text ads are a tasteful way to monetize your site.
When adding bulky multimedia like videos to your site, consider the different connections with which people might be accessing it. If your videos are faster than your clients Internet access, then it will work against you. Videos with extremely high speeds like this will load slowly and buffer frequently for visitors on slow connections.
It’s not always a good idea to host your website yourself, even when you have a great deal of money sunk in the venture. Do as much of the design yourself as possible, but if you hire someone to host it for you, you won’t have to worry about basic security.
When making multiple pages in any subcategory of your site, use the copy/paste feature! Instead of rewriting HTML code for each new page, copy the necessary components, adjust the parts that require it and then save the results with a new filename each time you do this. You can utilize the master copy continuously.
You want to ensure all content is proofread and that it doesn’t look rushed. You don’t want anyone to have trouble understanding what you meant. If you have a lot of errors, your site will be viewed as unprofessional and may actually be ridiculed.
When trying to figure out what to do with ads on your site, never place ones that are too large. You want to make people feel comfortable when they come to your site, not the opposite. Only add content that won’t clutter up other content, and folks will view your site as professional, and a site they’d like to return to in the future.
Graphics make a site more visually appealing. Keep your site from looking bland by wrapping words around images. If you content is surrounded by creative design, visitors will like your site more.
With the way technology is advancing these days you want to make sure you stay up to date with things like web design. A website is crucial to the success of a business, including its ability to find new customers. Websites are an excellent source of revenue for any business and need to look professional and up to date.
You want to ensure that each webpage within the domain, and it’s sub-domains, has a tagline that can be clearly seen. Use large or bold font so that your visitors notice these taglines right away. It has to explain what the page is about so your visitor can quickly decide to stick around or not.
Tools for your visitors to use should be user friendly and consistent. Keep text that is underlined clickable. If you get the design of your site down, your visitors wills tick around longer and they’ll come back to your site again and again.
You can only benefit from consulting a professional who deals with web design every day. If you take this route, you can make the most of an opportunity to develop your own skills.
When targeting local populations on your site, try buying a top level domain with a country code. This will get your name out there in your specific region. A ccTLD can be a great way to help visitors from within your region discover your site. They might not find it without one!
Include a search form on your home webpage, as well as on all your other pages. Customers will appreciate the ability to effortlessly navigate your site. The time and effort required to set up a site search capability are practically negligible, especially when weighed against the very significant benefits.
Gather inspiration and ideas from other webpages, from styles of architecture and design and incorporate them into your web design. This helps you stay away from pitfalls and lets you use good ideas that you wouldn’t otherwise have thought of doing.
Don’t push annoying things on your visitors. In other words, don’t push offers and survey into windows that must be completed before they can continue. When you take away the visitor’s choices by your own demands, you will lose their loyalty and decrease your credibility.
Producing concept sketches to flesh out the general intention you have for your website’s appearance, is a great place to start. Talk to your friends and family members to see what their opinion of these sketches are; it will give you insight into what your visitors will think of your page one day. It will also give you new ideas for your site.
If you want to host any type of video on your website, make sure to first check with the web host to be positive that this is something that is allowed. There are many hosts that restrict videos from being hosted on their servers. The FLV files tend to take up a lot of room on public servers. Be sure to check before doing anything so you are not wasting your efforts.
Keeping your website’s links working, and up-to-date, is vitally important. Good web design relies on being user friendly, and broken links are frustrating to your visitors. Adhere to a scheduled check to make sure links are functioning as they should.
It’s important to work on more than a single platform if you will be making more than one website. Knowing MySQL, Java, PHI and more will benefit you in the future. You need to develop multiple talents if you’re going to be a successful web designer.
Keep your design simple, and use contrasting colors. Stay away from the doom and gloom colors such as black fonts on a grey background or vice versa. This can cause eye strain and makes it hard for users to read the content. Also avoid using busy patterns in the background. This can cause your text to blend into the background pattern. Just keep it simple. Black and white or black and off-white are the best choices.
The site’s interface tools should be user friendly and consistent. Make all underlined text clickable and use different colors for already clicked links. If you do small things across your pages to remain consistent, it will be easier for people to navigate through your site.
Make sure your page doesn’t have broken links. A program like Dreamweaver will check for these links with a simple button click. If visitors find broken links before you, it will annoy them.
By using what you have read here, you will be much closer to reaching your goals in website development. No matter what or who you are promoting, you must have a website of your own. Hoping you find greatness!
Obvious, but important! Refrain from posting a page on the public Internet without proofreading it for spelling and grammar. Poorly written content that appears on your site will make you seem quite unprofessional. You’re likely to lose many visitors quickly if your site’s appearance isn’t professional looking.
There is much to the creation of an actual website. From planning the site to getting all the wording just right, it can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t know what you’re doing. If you use these tips, you will be prepared to handle everything that website design throws at you.
Your website should include a prominently displayed tagline. This tagline should give visitors an idea of what your site is about. Having a tagline is important; most users know if they will stay on a page after about eight seconds, so you need to do whatever it takes to keep their attention.
Consider having your website use fixed-position navigation. This means you need to lock the site’s panel for navigation in a place that scrolls while the visitor does. This is convenient for the user and for Internet marketers since it lets users perform desired actions like signing up for newsletters or buying products.
Your website needs to function properly for visitors who use any kind of browser, so be sure to test out your site for browser compatibility. While a certain element may look wonderful in Firefox, it may appear incorrectly on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Safari. Before you set your site to go live, look at how every page shows up in all the major browsers.
By testing the way your website will work in different browsers, you can ensure that the maximum number of visitors see your site they way you want them to. What works in Internet Explorer may not necessarily show up correctly in Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Prior to releasing your website to the public, you should verify that all of your webpages appear as intended on every popular web browser.
Always give viewers the option to cancel a current action. Types of such actions would include registering an email, filling out forms, or browsing your site for archives or topics. If your visitors feel forced into completing something they no longer want, it may leave a bad taste. They will probably avoid visiting your site in the future.
Try not to use JavaScript too much. JavaScript does open many doors when it comes to website design, but it can also close the door to your website for some visitors. The web browsing softwares out there differ greatly, and they all release new versions with frequency. Every single visitor isn’t going to be using a more recent version of their browser. Also, not everybody has JavaScript enabled on their browser. Both of these factors can determine whether a user is able to access your site.
It is important that your website is easy to read. Various tests on usability demonstrate that most online readers do not actually read all the content; instead, they scan it for something that interests them. Break text into sections with headers that can be scanned easily by your readers. Also, the more important info should be kept towards the top. These techniques assure that the visitor to your page will find what they want fast and this results in higher satisfaction for your readers.
Design your front page to be a minimal as possible. Your front page can be the determining factor whether a visitor decides to stay or simply exits without seeing more. Describe your business and offerings but minimize distractions on the page.
Do not overuse JavaScript. JavaScript does open many doors when it comes to website design, but it can also close the door to your website for some visitors. Everyone uses a different web browser, and all of them have new versions released fairly regularly. Every single visitor isn’t going to be using a more recent version of their browser. Also, not everybody has JavaScript enabled on their browser. If you choose to use JavaScript every time, you will prevent some users from being able to effectively use your site.
You want to thoroughly research keywords for your business. While your primary focus is to offer customers information that is up to date and relevant, the first order of business is to form a customer base. Knowing what keywords people use to find your site via search engines is a must for your website to succeed.
Try using a newsletter for getting repeat visitors. If you provide customers with an opportunity to keep abreast of upcoming promotions or events, they will be more likely to return. Put the form for signing up in a prominent location, such as a sidebar, and use it to compile a list of visitors who opt in to your newsletter. Just send your newsletter to subscribers.
Build a feedback-gathering mechanism into a website to gather visitors’ opinions. This will clue you in to ways that your website falls short of their expectations or doesn’t work properly, enabling you to make the necessary changes. If a visitor feel involved, he or she will want to see your website again.
To help design an attractive looking website, use interesting photos that you have taken. This will make it more appealing to your visitors. People will take more time browsing your site and looking at pictures.
Don’t add any pop-ups to your site. While popup adverts can help you to generate some income from your website, they are also likely to frustrate your visitors. Many visitors to your site may simply exit the site when faced with a pop-up. If this happens, they are unlikely to return.
Don’t use too many fonts when making your website. Depending on what browser you use, or type of computer screen resolution, different fonts might be difficult to read. Many websites use Verdana, which can be simple to read in various sizes and colors.
When you design a website, be aware of the value of leaving blank space in your layout. By insisting on utilizing all the available tips and tricks, you can make a site that is not friendly to your users. When you space things out in an appropriate way and have a sense of organization, this will make users feel like they are in control. Even empty space in some areas serves just as good a purpose as content.
Look for, and remove, broken links regularly. Check on this multiple times before uploading to the server. A visitor who comes across a broken link will question how dated all of the content on your site might be. Give all of your links a double check before uploading in order to prevent this problem.
Even if you invest a bunch into your site, hosting yourself isn’t wise. Even if you create the basic design yourself, do not fall into the trap of spending the inordinate amounts of time necessary to host it yourself.
While you design the site, remember that it is not necessary to fill every square inch of your site with content. Using all pixels within the site could make your website seem overwhelming and cluttered. Give your users a break by allowing space between different elements on each page. It can actually work to your benefit if you allow some space to be left uninhabited.
Practice web design and you will get better. This will help ensure you can build an amazing website. You want to avoid believing that you have learned something only to find out at some future date that you really did not fully understand the information that was presented.
You don’t want to utilize any type of pop-up ads with your site. These ads are always alluring with the promise of making extra profits; however, most visitors find them highly annoying. It will cause people not to want to come back. You don’t need pop-ups; just keep the ads simple.
If you are just starting out in web page design, use a simple template for your layout, then modify it with your own code. Once you get more comfortable with web designing, you can use a more advanced layout.
In order to become a renowned web designer, you first need to become a great artist. Do not be afraid to run with an inspiration when it strikes. Keep a notepad or PDA with you so you can sketch out ideas no matter where you are. If you think of something great during the workday, leave yourself a voicemail detailing the idea so that you can revisit it later on.
You must focus on time management when you are building a website. There are many small, tedious tasks that are easily left for another day if you are not diligent. They pile up quickly into a big problem. You will have the most success by managing your time.
Use empty space to your benefit in highlighting the things that actually matter. White space in your website could improve its readability; your visitors tend to have an easier time absorbing and reading the information there if things are not cluttered.
You should always create a visual sitemap so that you can plan ahead accurately. By using this, you’ll discover how the structure of your website is coming along. This allows you to quickly identify areas of your website that have been overlooked, or could use improvements. Having a visual representation is key to designing a website.
Check your site’s stats with every update you make. You will have access to you who visits your site as well as which individual pages they frequent and spend time on. This information will help you understand what direction you should take when updating your site with new content in order to help keep customer’s attention.
As you set up your site, remember that everyone needs to be able to view it. It’s helpful to have someone you know outside your home country who can check it out. The content may be displayed differently in different countries.
Eliminate Flash from your site and look for an alternative. Flash can look, well, flashy, but Flash can also be very slow, especially on older computers. Furthermore, some mobile phones and tablet computers do not even support flash, so many users will not even be able to access your website.
When creating a website, there are many places to look for creative inspiration. Check out museums, art galleries and magazines. Be watchful! Keeping an open eye on the world will help you find the inspirations you need to always improve your site.
You must know your new technologies in order to keep up with web design. Websites are increasingly critical when it comes to disseminating information about a company and its products. That said, web design can be a profitable area to enter into.
Style Sheets
Try finding some unique inspiration sources when you are designing a site. Television programs, artistic exhibits, even commercials are good sources of inspiration. Watch out for new ideas at all times to help you be inspired.
Become knowledgeable in CSS (cascading style sheets). HTML is important, but CSS is where the real designing comes from. These are style sheets that provide a guide to formatting for your site so that every page is consistent in both look and feel. This also allows you to easily change stuff on your site. If you need to change a font color, for example, you’ll only need to change a single line of code.
Take the time to whip up a favicon for use on your site. This is a tiny graphic that can help users to instantly recognize your site if they choose to bookmark it. You will stand out amongst all of their bookmarks! Choose an icon that corresponds to the theme of your site.
Use social media links to allow your readers to share your content easily. This will assist them in spreading the word concerning your site, which will increase your site’s traffic as a result.
Draw a few sketches of possible looks for your website. Adjust your goals and direction by showing your overall sketch to loved ones and close acquaintances; this feedback is crucial.
The main focus here is about getting your feet wet with web design, not waking up as a professional in the morning. Once you start playing around, you will learn more and more. If you run into any problems, look over these tips again.
It is important that you are always learning when you design websites. It is impossible to learn everything about web design because it changes everyday. Spend some time regularly learning about the advancements in the field.
