Social Ink

Crafting Hope launches

mattp — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:53:02 +0000

Announcing the launch of Crafting Hope The Movie, where you can watch the trailer for Erisa production’s upcoming documentary film. Social Ink is proud to have worked with the movie’s production team to design and develop the site, and we wish them the best of luck in their upcoming release. (View our portfolio entry.)

Crafting Hope

mattp — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:49:58 +0000

Client:Crafting Hope
Project Description:Crafting Hope is a documentary film to be released is 2010. It follows the inspiring story of several women who are finding empowerment and economic stability through their work with paper and textiles. Social Ink was responsible for the design and development of the promotional website, including typography and layout. We implemented the Wordpress CMS (Content Management System) to give Crafting Hope complete control of their site moving forward.

Cobblestone Foods

mattp — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:44:39 +0000

Client:Cobblestone Foods
Project Description:Cobblestone Foods, a local gourmet foods boutique and catering company in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, needed to revamp their website. We took their existing design and made it more consistent across the board, assisted in reconfiguring the information architecture and added photo slideshows and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques.

Infographic Roundup!

mattp — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:22:47 +0000

Infographics. We love them. So much so that we are considering doing a pro bono / collective art project doing some infographics from odd data sources. If you have any ideas or want to join us, let us know.

Meanwhile, here is a great round up from datavisualization.ch.

The Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO)

mattp — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:58:10 +0000

Client:The Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO)
Project Description:Complete site overhaul for ONO, an international body providing resources and a communication platform for public editors and ombudsmen. Project included logo redesign and rebranding, CMS integration, UI and information architecture overhaul, complete site redesign,javascript navigation and multimedia slideshow techniques, a system for member contributions and content, and an email newsletter integration.

Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS)

mattp — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:51:18 +0000

Client:Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS)
Project Description:Website overhaul for GEMS, a New York City-based non profit fighting the sexual exploitation of young women through programs and outreach. Project included CMS integration, UI and information architecture overhaul, complete site redesign, icon design, javascript navigation and multimedia slideshow techniques, Constant Contact newsletter integration, and e-commerce integration.

Usability: Open New Windows, Go Home

mattp — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:34:40 +0000

Often clients ask us to force certain links to open in new windows. This may seem somewhat intuitive, especially for external links which might take users away from their site. But wait–let’s give our end users a little more credit!

Usability studies have proven that the technique of forcing new windows or tabs to open on certain links is a frustrating and confusing experience for users. While there is near universal understanding of the ‘Back’ button and browser controls, many users do not understand how to switch windows (switching tasks) or have developed a system of window/tab management that they don’t want foisted upon them by a web developer that thinks they know better.

Which is all to say, don’t use target=”_blank” or target=”_new”, developers!

Respect the user’s abilities to negotiate their own links, but give them a little help when it comes to finding their way home. Here’s a surprising study that reveals that many users don’t realize they can click on the logo to go home (a standard practice we employ). Incud e a ‘home’ link, and help them out a bit.

Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO) Launches today

mattp — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:52:55 +0000

We are delighted to announce the launch of the Organization of News Ombudsmen’s new site, at newsombudsmen.org. We have been working with ONO for the past several months to overhaul their visual identity and integrate a dynamic new site and content management system. Thanks to the good people at ONO for the opportunity and best of luck leading news ombudsmen into the new decade.

Ditmas Park Blog

mattp — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:04:30 +0000

Client:The Ditmas Park Blog
Project Description:Web development, interface, and logo design for a local neighborhood blog in the Ditmas Park section of Brooklyn. Work included migration from old blogger/blogspot blog, integrated rotating advertisement sidebars, rss feed mashup, and email newsletter.

…

Wordpress Tips: Removing “Comments Off”

mattp — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:18:26 +0000

So, you have a site with limited commenting. Since having comments off is the default behavior, we only really want to let people know when comments are *on*. Sure, you could hack into the backend and edit a line in wp-includes/comment-template.php, but that will get replaced every time you upgrade.

Instead, edit your comments_popup_link where it appears in archive.php, single.php, etc.

You want probably have something like this:
comments_popup_link ( 'No Comments', '1 Comment', '% Comments' )
Which is actually expandable, you can define a css class to wrap the comment notice and define the comments off message:
comments_popup_link ( 'No Comments', '1 Comment', '% Comments', 'MyCssClass', 'Comments Off' )
then, of course, remove the comments off text, leaving only the single quotes:
comments_popup_link ( 'No Comments', '1 Comment', '% Comments', 'MyCssClass', '' )

et voila!