Thursday, September 30, 2010

Hongkiat.com: Freebie Release: Glossy E-Commerce Icon Set

Hongkiat.com: Freebie Release: Glossy E-Commerce Icon Set


Freebie Release: Glossy E-Commerce Icon Set

Posted: 30 Sep 2010 02:37 AM PDT

For those of you who are planning to run an e-commerce site or related project, this following icon set may come in handy. Here’s a set of glossy looking e-commerce icons with a very self-descriptive name – Ecommerce Glossy. And it’s free.

ecommerce glossy icon set

Ecommerce Glossy is created by folks at Iconshock for hongkiat readers. It consists of 21 different e-commerce related icons in total and comes few different formats, I.e., high quality Adobe Illustrator .AI, Photoshop .PSD as well as .PNG.

Here are some samples of what’s inside the package.

ecommerce icon - credit card

ecommerce icon - gifts

ecommerce icon - lock

ecommerce icon - paypal

Ecommerce Glossy can be downloaded here at free. You can use them for either personal or commercial projects. However, redistribution or re-selling them is prohibited.

Download Ecommerce Glossy.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Hongkiat.com: Top Social Bookmarking WordPress Plugins

Hongkiat.com: Top Social Bookmarking WordPress Plugins


Top Social Bookmarking WordPress Plugins

Posted: 29 Sep 2010 08:27 AM PDT

Writing for a website used to be simple where all you need to do is produce high quality articles and your site will usually be noticed, rewarding you with a good amount of traffic and eyeballs. However, this could be an expiring ideology. Today, without a good amount of social marketing effort, chances are people will not come across your website because you are basically free from acknowledgment. To be fair, not everyone is a social media genius but there are definitely tips and tricks to utilize social marketing tool on your website and blog to increase attention for your articles.

sexybookmark 02 Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

It is pretty common to see sharing and voting buttons of Facebook, Digg, Twitter, StumbleUpon or others social marketing tool in a website. If you are yet to have any of these install in your website, you are potentially missing out tremendous amount of traffic your website may deserve. However, these buttons are not magic buttons. In order for them to unleash their functions, your site must have put in enough effort to at least write a good article and they will make promoting and sharing convenient for you.

In this article, we’ve compiled a list of popular and commonly use WordPress social media plugins that you can use in your WordPress blog. Hope it will help to increase attention your website deserve.

Plugins: WordPress 3.0 Compatible

Sharebar
Sharebar adds a dynamic and fully customizable vertical box to the left of a blog post that contains links/buttons to popular social networking sites.

sharebar Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Follow Me
For people who have more than one social media profile, Follow Me allows you to display links to all your social media profiles in one, easy-to-access button. [Read More]

followme Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Knxdt bookmarks
This plugin inserts a friendly bar at the bottom of your blog entries. A list of social tagging services are there like Meneame, Digg, Delicious, Fresqui, Technorati, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Newsvine, Wikio, FriendFeed and Twitter. Wikio, FriendFeed, Twitter and you can also send an email to recommend the post using an online service Feedburner. [Read More]

KnxDT Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

SexyBookmarks
Adds an attractive social bookmarking menu to your posts, pages, index, or any combination of the three.

sexybookmark 01 Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

sexybookmark 02 Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Share and Follow
Designed for developers and average users this plugin gives links to share and follow the most prominent social networking sites like digg, twitter, facebook, stumble, reddit, delicious, hyves, myspace, linkedin, rss, mixx, email, print, google buzz, yahoo buzz, tumblr, orkut, deviantart, youtube, yelp, flickr, feedback, lastfm, newsletter, xfire, foursquare, vimeo, dailymotion, plaxo, coconex, soundcloud, xing, gowalla, itunes.

share and follow Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Simple Facebook Connect
Connect Facebook functionality to your WordPress with this series of plugins which lets you have an integrated site and also customise according to your likes.

simple facebook connect Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Get Social
This plugin adds a floating social media sharing box on your blog posts. Can easily add any number of additional social media sharing buttons, a plugin with minimal settings. [Read More]

getsocial Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Tell A Friend
Adds a tell a friend, Share/Bookmark/Email/Social Bookmarking button.

tell a friend Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

More:

  • Social Bookmarking Re-loaded. This plugin adds a page in the WordPress admin section that lets you customize itadds the social bookmarks services’s icons to your articles in your blogs in order to submit them easily. Makes it easy for the visitors with the graphic links at the end of the posts.
  • Referrer – Detector. Welcome your visitors or referrers with greeting message which reminds them to digg your story or bookmark you in Del.icio.us.
  • Digg Digg. All-in-One social shared count / vote buttons – Digg, Reddit, dDone, Twitter, TweetMeme, Topsy, Yahoo Buzz, facebook share, facebook like, Polladium.

Plugins: WordPress 3.0 Non-compatible

These plugins are still not WordPress 3.0 compatible when this article is written. They may work, or they may not. But still, they are some social bookmarking plugins worth knowing.

Add to this
Automatically adds Stumble, Technorati, Digg and De.licio.us below your post just by activating this plugin. Bookmarking is implemented with huge images increasing the chances of this getting bookmarked. Compatible up to: 2.5

addtothis Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Social Grid
A WordPress plugin which adds a nice grid of social media icons which links to the your various profiles on the web. Has been expanded to offer links to over 25 different social networks including LinkedIn, Vimeo, and now Posterous. Compatible up to: 2.9.2

sociagrid Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Sociable
Sociable plugin makes it quite easy for you to add links or buttons at the end of your posts make it user friendly for your readers to share your posts with others. [Read More] Compatible up to: 2.8.5

socialable 01 Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

socialable 02 Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

BookMarkify
A plugin which includes more than 50 social bookmark sites, gives you subscription to your blog, still works as a WordPress plugin and does not require WordPress. Compatible up to: 2.9.2

bookmarkify 01 Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

bookmarkify 02 Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Hey Social
Makes use of Javascript effects with the latest Web 2.0 and is the coolest way of interacting with your visitors so that thsy can submit yuor posts to Digg, Twitter, De.licio.us and so on. Compatible up to: 2.6.1

heysocial Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

ComplexLife
A powerful lifestreaming plugin which provides a historical views of your activities online by aggregating it from any service you use. Compatible up to: 2.6

complexlife Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Light Social
The plugin is implemented using the most simplistic html code to ensure fast load and minimal impact on your blog. Inserts the links at the bottom of each post and lets you enable or disable to show your links. Some of the list of used social sites are Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Facebook, DotNetKicks, Google Buzz and many more. Compatible up to: 2.9.2

lightsocial Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

More:

  • I Love Social Bookmarking. You are sure to love this plugin which runs in minimal system resources and features attractive icons in a simple drop-down list quite easy to customise and SEO optimised Compatible up to: 2.3.3
  • BookMark Me. Here is a plugin which focusses only on non-english bookmarks site. Already has russian, italian, french, german, arabic, sweden and espanol to its cresits and still growing. Compatible up to: 2.7.1
  • obsocialbookmarker. Social bookmarking plugin which adds user-submission links at the bottom of each post for various social bookmarking sites. Compatible up to: 2.7.1
  • Google Buzz Button for WordPress. This plugin adds the Google Buzz Bookmark button to your WordPress pages orr posts. Can be inserted manually before or after the content. Compatible up to: 2.9.2
  • Add Me Dichev. Simply renders social bookmark buttons with icons after the post body. The plugin generates automatic bookmarks links for more than 60 social networks. Compatible up to: 2.7

Social Bookmarking Web Services

Add to Any
Add to any as the name goes lets your share your content in 8 different platforms just at the click of a button. Quite easy and time saving.

addtoany Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Share This
Now share your content in 3 easy steps and get your tweets, multi channel buttons and many more instantly. Just choose your website, style buttons and immediately start off to get instant traffic.

share this Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Meebo for WordPress
This plugin installs a Meebo toolbar on your website. Meebo bar consist of various social networking buttons that you can customized via Meebo dashboard. It also allows images to be shared via Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo Buzz or email.

meebo bar

Wibiya
Wibiya is another web toolbar; very similar to Meebo. But in terms of customization leve, Wibiya has more.

wibiya Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

Free Tell-a-Friend
Sharing cant become much quicker than this, Tell-a-Friend allows the visitors to tell about your site in just a click, Place this button in you page and see the difference.

freetellafriend Top Social Bookmarking Wordpress Plugins

(bellefoong)

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Hongkiat.com: Giveaway: 3 Copies of PhpLD Link Directory Script

Hongkiat.com: Giveaway: 3 Copies of PhpLD Link Directory Script


Giveaway: 3 Copies of PhpLD Link Directory Script

Posted: 28 Sep 2010 07:52 AM PDT

What’s up! Today we have another great giveaway and it is something useful for webmasters, entrepreneurs, bloggers, web developers or even designers. We are giving way 3 copies of PHP Link Directory (PhpLD), courtesy of David from phplinkdirectory.com.

phpld oceanic layout

Let’s take a look at what PhpLD is all about and how you can win yourself a copy.

PhpLD is a web directory script, written in PHP. Web link directories are collection of links to other websites, and are usually organized and sort by categories. Here are some examples of some notable web directories on the Internet:

Now, all these can be done with PhpLD script. It’s easy to install, customize and there’s no need to worry about coding. PhpLD can be used as a standalone link directory of a specific niche or you can use it as part of your website. E.g, if you run a web development blog, you can create a directory that consist links to useful Javascripts (MooTools, jQuery, Scriptaculous), snippets and plugin sites.

socialrific phpld Giveaway: 3 Copies of PhpLD Link Directory Script
(Socialrific.com – Link directory site that uses PhpLD)

PhpLD comes equipped with tons of additional features. You are also allowed to control the widgets, layout, and customize the template; that gives you a unique-looking directory. Click here for more demo of PhpLD.

phpld features
(Examples of PhpLD features.)

How to win

If you are interested in winning yourself a copy of PhpLD (worth $80/each), drop a comment below. Contest starts today, ends 5th of October 2010. Good luck.

Graphic Designer’s Journey: Freelance to Freedom (Infographic)

Posted: 28 Sep 2010 05:48 AM PDT

Just when you thought decision making couldn’t get any harder (you didn’t sleep for 2 nights, trying to decide between Helvetica and Times font), real life appeared and forced you to make a resolution about your career.

freelance to freedom

In kindergarden there wasn’t really any competition. You were the one to paint the prettiest house with the white picket fence. But you can’t ride that success forever. So, for all of you ambitious designers out there who find yourselves pondering the future, we hand you this easy to use, yet enlightening Graphic Designer’s Journey: Freelance to Freedom infographic, to guide you in your time of need.

freelance to freedom infographic

Feel free to share it with your fellow professionals to help them see the light at the end of the tunnel, start working and move out of their parent’s house.

Embed this Image on Your Site:

(Source: Wix.com)

Monday, September 27, 2010

Hongkiat.com: Type as a Graphic Image: A Sometimes Ignored Art Tool

Hongkiat.com: Type as a Graphic Image: A Sometimes Ignored Art Tool


Type as a Graphic Image: A Sometimes Ignored Art Tool

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 12:26 AM PDT

It is amazing that one of the least known, ignored, or easily under rated graphic design tools is, believe it or not, the font. That’s right, the font.

previews Type as a Graphic Image: A Sometimes Ignored Art Tool
Image credit.

Type or typography is becoming a genuine art form within the graphics design world. Still, this incredible resource which lies on every computer geek’s fingertips is not always recognized. Even as graphic artists work night and day with type, it is very easy for them to forget the artistry that lies within the font. The challenge when creating graphic design with typography is to design the entire project with fonts. This includes:

  • Titles
  • Information
  • Pictures and/or
  • Images

In Visual Arts, Less is More

less is more Type as a Graphic Image: A Sometimes Ignored Art Tool
Image credit.

Fortunately for the artist, using typography in graphic design is no different than creating any other piece of artwork.

For example, all fine art needs to reflect:

  • Negative and positive space
  • Light and dark

In the world of fine arts, this “white space” is just as important as in typography. In typesetting, one thinks about blank space; in using typography as graphic design, one considers what is called white space. If every inch of a canvas is completely covered with busyness, then the painting will be dull and uninteresting. A painting must have:

  • Opposition
  • Space and form

Designing with typography uses the same principals. Only then, it is on its way to becoming a work of art. So, when you begin to experiment with this kind of graphic design, remember your “white space” is as important as the filled space. This is known as letting a work of art breathe.

Stop Thinking..

Some of the best designs which use typography as well as any fine art have come from limited resources and time. Too much thinking or pondering can sometimes drive the creativity resulting a safe, boring outcome. This does not mean that you don’t need skills and a brain; it simply means art comes together when one lets the creative juices flow and most importantly, combines it with skill. A project will then flow easier and solutions come quicker.

The Experiment: Typography Only, Please

experiment Type as a Graphic Image: A Sometimes Ignored Art Tool
Image credit.

So, for your next graphic design project, take this challenge: limit yourself to only typography. This means every image, as well as headings and information in regular type, will be formed from fonts. Use this experiment to become reacquainted with the beauty of fonts and words. Typography has a class all its own and it can be very rewarding to find out what great products you can create with your own ingenuity using the grace and smartness of type and the different font styles

What can make typography, in graphic design, challenging is to really view it as its own art form. It’s time to find out what kind of magic one can create with the combination of computer skills, art sense and amazing fonts.

Jennifer Moline writes about freelancing, small business and design for the PsPrint Blog. Follow online printer PsPrint on Twitter and Facebook. Image sources: 1, 2, 3

(bellefoong)

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hongkiat.com: Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples

Hongkiat.com: Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples


Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 09:01 AM PDT

We come into this world, we grow, we make friends, we look for opportunities and ultimately, we have to part with our friends and family members. Each one of us has been through this or will cross this path in our life eventually. We wish to live those beautiful and unforgettable moments again by turning back time which is obviously still a fiction. This is why we rely on photographs.

6 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples

We are featuring group photographs today and group photographs are the perfect testimonials of age and experience. You will want to tell yourself you have live the best moments in life in the future therefore do not commit a corny group photographs. Instead of looking fun and young, it might look bored as dough. Therefore we are here to share some awesome group photographs that can give you inspiration on how to make a memorable group photo!

5 tips to better Group Photography

1. Routine to Break

Most of the group photograph I see down the line looks somewhat the same. They are all lack creativity because most photographers tend to follow a basic rule of just setting a group of people, standing stick still in front of the camera, count to 3, and press the shutter. The trick for capturing amazing group photographs is to break these photography rules. We all have a mind that has infinite creativity. Utilize it, be sure to throw yourself out of the comfort zone and be spontaneous. The outcome may surprise you.

break the rules
Image credit.

2. It’s all about timing

A good timing is absolutely necessary for a good photograph. By saying good timing, I am not only emphasizing on suitable time of the day to take photographs, but also the correct timing to press the shutter release button. Having a good grasp on a correct timing to shoot a picture will reduce your efforts of taking multiple shots for the same thing in the chase of that "perfect shot".

3. Lights, lights, lights

Lights are everything, period. Light is actually the ultimate factor in photography. Any good or awesome pictures are determined by skillful lighting control. And that’s exactly what a photographer might lack of. Here are some tips on how to use lights effectively:

  • Make sure everything is brightly lit and there is no shadow overlay on any of the faces.
  • If possible, use strobe lights. They always give better results
  • Ever thought of reflection while considering lights?

lights lights lights Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
Image credit.

Bonus: Did I just say that "Lights are everything"? Well, I also said "Break the rules". Have a look at the following photograph :D. Ultimately again, it’s your creativity with lights and shadows

4. Background Matters

In photography, background is as important as the subject itself. A photograph taken with the same subject in a field could sometimes result better than taking it in a closed room. Although it is subjective, changing backgrounds often results in better photographs. Take your family or group outside. Try photographing in a field or any open space where you can also use the larger surface area rather than just shooting in a room or a studio. Plus you will also have the benefit of natural lights :-)

background matters

5. Don’t stick to the ground

Perspective is what gives a photograph an edge over thousands of others. Want to take an edgy group photograph? Just don’t stick to the ground. By that I don’t mean that you should try out to anti-gravity, but just change your perspective. Take a group photograph from the second floor of a building while making your buddies stand on the ground. Alternatively, go down on your knees and shoot straight up! Use your imagination and just stay away from the ground.

don't stick to the ground
Image credit.

Beautiful Examples of Group Photos

Last but not lease, we’ll end the article with a showcase of some creative and beautiful group photos. Enjoy!

1 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via smashpoppler)

2 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via macmoov)

3 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via vstrash)

4 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via kellyhofer)

5 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via chelseaelizabethphotography)

6 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via talikf)

7 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via d1production)

8 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via gloriazelaya)

9 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via picture_bunny)

10 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via churchillcarling)

11 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via laura_sobenes)

12 Group Photography: Tips and Beautiful Examples
(via Donna & Antti)

More Tips

Here are more photography related articles we’ve previously covered: