The Web Development Blog has moved to http://www.heidicool.com/blog/. Please visit me there to read the latest entries and to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds.
April 20, 2008
Embedding YouTube Videos the Standards Compliant Way—SFWobject 2.0
As video becomes easier to produce, more and more people are creating and sharing videso online. Whether you are a professor demonstrating your research, a student working on a film project, or me creating how-to instructions, you've realized that there are times when video can enhance your Web content. Back at the turn of the century, embedding video was complicated. Streaming required a special server, you had to decide what format(s) you wanted to stream, then you had to provide links to whatever software users might need to view your video—in case it wasn't already installed on their computers. With YouTube, that's all changed. Now you can just go to the YouTube page for the video you wish to embed, copy the coding they provide, paste it into your html file or blog entry and publish the page. It's just that easy—unless, like me, you care about adhering to Web standards. In that case, it requires a few more steps, but don't worry, they're not that complicated.
April 15, 2008
Maximize your marketing through blog networks and aggregator sites
Lately I've noticed that I've been subscribing to more and more blog networks/aggregators. As a reader I like these because they help me discover blogs I might not have heard of otherwise. As a blogger and marketer I like the aggregators of which I'm a part or a similar reason; they put my blog in front of new readers -- readers who already have shown an interest in my topic.
April 03, 2008
How did I get by before Firefox Add-Ons?
Last night, whilst catching up on my RSS feeds, I discovered Paul Fenwick's video, "How to Fix the Web with Greasemonkey in 3 minutes." The video offers some clever tips on how one can use the Firefox add-on, Greasemonkey, to make Web sites (not just yours) behave the way you wish. I was particularly amused by the way he made MySpace content disappear. But it also reminded me of just how dependent I am on Firefox add-on's.