Teaching an Old Blogger Dog New Tricks

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This week I spent some time building a client a new website this weekend. Lately I have been spending most of my social media consulting time dealing with new twitter practices, and new iPhone apps that connect people.

But I love the creative side of building a new website. It's rewarding. Now don't get me wrong, I am still not creating blogger templates from scratch. I'm not that talented, and there are plenty of resources out there to get a template started. A simple google search will find you a number of options.

Yet, each blog or website I design has to be manipulated to match the needs of the person or business. For me web design is a lot about trial and error. I can never quite be sure that what I am reading in HTML really translates to what the reader will see when the site goes live.

Today I discovered a website that would show me what the HTML code for each color is. It's not that the site was hidden. All I had to do was google what #ffffff was. It was showing up in my HTML code in the incorrect places. I learned that #ffffff is a light gray color.

In fact, every website has a color schematic running behind the scenes that determines what the font color, and background colors look like. Change the number code, and change the color. It was a great find.

For some of you, this is web design fundamental. The idea that someone like me has been devising websites for 5 or more years without ever learning that little trick is very disappointing.


However, this is why I find the web and social media so intriguing. We all have very different entry and exit points on and off the Internet superhighway. Each of our experiences on the web are very personalized to our specific needs from the Internet.

Knowing this is a good reminder for me. It helps me keep in mind that every reader, every follower comes to the site from a different angle.

Managing that type of dynamic is impossible. But knowing that it does exist should determine some choices we make on design ideas, and writing content.

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