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Archive for April, 2012

Apr/12

Adobe Illustrator Tutorial: Create a Simple Map Illustration

by Andrei Marius under Feeds, Web Design

In the following Adobe Illustrator tutorial you will learn how to create your very own simple vector map illustration. First, we’ll build the starting shapes using pixel perfect alignment, some basic vector shape building techniques along with a bunch of warp effects. Then we will put on the finishing touches. We will add the colors along with some simple effects and highlights to give it that final bit of character.

Final Image

As always, this is the final image that we’ll be creating:

Step 1

Hit Control + N to create a new document. Enter 7000 in the width box and 500 in the height box then click on the Advanced button. Select RGB, Screen (72ppi) and make sure that the "Align New Objects to Pixel Grid" box is unchecked before your click OK. Now, turn on the Grid (View > Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid).

Next, you’ll need a grid every 10px. Go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid, enter 10 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. You can also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Do not forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Unit > General. All of these options will significantly increase your work speed.

Step 2

Pick the Rectangle Tool(M) and create eight, 120 by 110px shapes. Place them as shown in the following image and fill them with the two colors shown below.

Step 3

Pick the Direct Selection Tool(A), select the anchor points highlighted in the first image and drag them 10px down. The Snap to Grid should ease your work.

Step 4

Now we will help the map sections take shape. Take the first column of blue shapes. Select the top shape and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Upper. Enter the data shown below, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. Again, enter the data shown, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Once again, enter the data shown below and click OK.

Move on to the bottom shape and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. Enter the data shown in the following image, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Again, enter the data shown below, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. Once again, enter the data shown below and click OK.

Step 5

Focus on the fourth column of shapes. Select the top shape and like before, go to Effect > Warp > Arc Upper. Enter the data shown below, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. Again, enter the data shown below, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Once again, use the data provided below and click OK. Move to bottom shape and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. Enter the data shown, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Again, enter the data and click OK.

Step 6

Now move on to the second column of shapes. Select the top shape and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Upper. Use the data provided, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Again, enter the data shown below and click OK. Move to the bottom shape and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. Enter the data shown below, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Again, enter the data shown and click OK.

Step 7

Select the third column of shapes. Take the top shape and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Upper. Enter the data shown below, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Again, enter the data shown below and click OK. Now move on to the bottom shape and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. Enter the data provided, click OK and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Again, enter the data given and click OK.

Now that we have the basics of the folds created we shall move on.

Step 8

Select all the shapes created so far and go to Object > Expand Appearance. Select the resulting shapes and duplicate them (Control + C > Control + F). Select these copies, open the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder) and click on the Unite button. Most likely your resulting shape has a few gaps.

Step 9

Now we need get rid of these gaps. Pick the Pen Tool(P) and draw a simple shape around those gaps. Select this new shape along with the shape created in the previous step and click on the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel. Send the resulting shape to the back (Shift + Control + [ ) and add a 1pt stroke. Align it to the outside and set its color at R=117 G=174 B=136. Move to the Layers panel, double click on this new shape and name it "Map".

Step 10

Focus on the eight, blue shapes. Select the top, left shape, make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F) and bring it to the front (Shift + Control + ] ). Select this copy along with the bottom, right blue shape and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel.

Step 11

Keep focusing on the eight, blue shapes. Select the top, right shape, make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F) and bring it to front (Shift + Control + ] ). Select this copy along with the bottom, right blue shape and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel.

Step 12

Move over to the Layers panel, select "Map" and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a 5px offset and click OK. Fill the resulting shape with the linear gradient shown in the second image and set the stroke color at R=215 G=215 B=215. The white numbers from the gradient image stand for location percentage.

Step 13

Disable Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid) then go to Edit > Preferences > General and make sure that the Keyboard Increment is set at 1px. Select the shape created in the previous step and make two copies in front (Control + C > Control + F > Control + F). Select the top copy and hit the up arrow once (to move it 1px up). Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with R=190 G=190 B=190 and remove the color from the stroke.

Step 14

Reselect the shape created in the twelfth step and open the Appearance panel. Add a second fill for this shape using the Add new Fill button. It’s the little, white square icon from the bottom of the Appearance panel. Select this new fill, make it black, lower its opacity to 3%, change the blending mode to Multiply and go to Effect > Artistic > Film Grain. Enter the data shown below and click OK.

Step 15

Reselect "Map", make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F) and send it to the back (Shift + Control + [ ). Fill this copy with black, move it 10px down. Lower its opacity to 10% and go to Effect > Warp > Arc. Enter the data shown in the final image, click OK and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 3px radius and click OK.

Step 16

Select the top, blue shape from the second column and make two copies in front (Control + C > Control + F > Control + F). Select the top copy and move it 1px down and 2px to the right. Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with white, lower its opacity to 10% and change the blending mode to Soft Light.

Step 17

Select the bottom, blue shape from the second column and make two copies in front (Control + C > Control + F > Control + F). Select the top copy and move it 1px up and 2px to the right. Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with white, lower its opacity to 10% and change the blending mode to Soft Light.

Step 18

Select the top, blue shape from the fourth column and make two copies in front (Control + C > Control + F > Control + F). Select the top copy and move it 1px down and 2px to the right. Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with white, lower its opacity to 10% and change the blending mode to Soft Light.

Step 19

Select the bottom, blue shape from the fourth column and make two copies in front (Control + C > Control + F > Control + F). Select the top copy and move it 1px up and 2px to the right. Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with white, lower its opacity to 10% and change the blending mode to Soft Light.

Step 20

Select the bottom, blue shape from the first column and make two copies in front (Control + C > Control + F > Control + F). Select the top copy and move it 10px down and to the left. Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with white. Switch to the Delete Anchor Points Tool(-), make sure that your white shape is still selected and click on the two anchor points highlighted in the third image. In the end your shape should look like is shown in the fourth image.

Step 21

Reselect the shape created in the previous step, lower its opacity to 8% and fill it with the linear gradient shown below. Remember that the white number from the gradient stands for location percentage while the yellow zero stands for opacity percentage.

Step 22

Repeat the techniques mentioned in the last two steps and create the three shapes shown in the following images.

Step 23

Select the bottom, blue shape from the second column and make two copies in front (Control + C > Control + F > Control + F). Select the top copy and move it 15px up. Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with the linear gradient shown in the third image and lower its opacity to 15%. Repeat this technique for the bottom, blue shape from the fourth column.

Step 24

Select the top, blue shape from the first column and make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F). Lower its opacity to 20% and fill it with the linear gradient shown below.

Step 25

Select the bottom, blue shape from the first column and make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F). Fill it with the linear gradient shown in the second image and move over to the Appearance panel. Select the existing fill and lower its opacity to 20%. Add a second fill for this shape, select it from the Appearance panel, lower its opacity to 50% and use the linear gradient shown in the third image.

Step 26

Select the bottom, blue shape from the second column and make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F). Fill it with the linear gradient shown in the second image and move to the Appearance panel. Select the existing fill and lower its opacity to 20%. Add a second fill for this shape, select it from the Appearance panel, lower its opacity to 40% and use the linear gradient shown in the third image.

Step 27

Select the top, blue shape from the second column and make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F). Now, you need to copy the properties added for the shape created in the previous step to this copy. Here is how you can easily do it. Go to the Layers panel, focus on the right side and you'll notice that every shape comes with a little grey circle. It's called a target icon. Hold Alt, click on the circle that stands for the shape created in the previous step and drag onto the circle that stands for the copy created in the beginning of this step.

Step 28

Select the top, blue shape from the third column and make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F). Fill it with the linear gradient shown in the second image and move to the Appearance panel. Select the existing fill and lower its opacity to 25%. Add a second fill for this shape, select it from the Appearance panel, lower its opacity to 20% and use the linear gradient shown in the third image.

Step 29

Select the bottom, blue shape from the third column and make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F). Again, copy the properties from the shape created in the previous step to this fresh copy.

Step 30

Select the bottom, blue shape from the fourth column and make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F). Fill it with the linear gradient shown in the second image and move over to the Appearance panel. Select the existing fill and lower its opacity to 40%. Add a second fill for this shape, select it from the Appearance panel, lower its opacity to 50% and use the linear gradient shown in the third image.

Step 31

Select the top, blue shape from the fourth column and make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F). Lower its opacity to 40% and fill it with the linear gradient shown below.

Step 32

Select all the shapes created in the last sixteen steps and group them (Control + G).

Step 33

For the map you need to start with this simple image . Save it to your hard drive and drag it inside your Ai file. Select it and open the Transform panel (Window > Transform). Check the "Constrain Width and Height" button then enter 500 in the Width box. Select this resized shape.

First, go to Object > Live Trace > Make then go to Object > Live Trace > Tracing Options. Enter the data shown below, make sure that you check the "Ignore White" box, click on the Trance button then go to Object > Live Trace > Expand. Select the resulting group of shapes and go to Object > Compound Path > Make.

Step 34

Select the compound path created in the previous step and place it as shown in the first image. Reselect the "Map" shape, make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F) and bring it to front (Shift + Control + ] ). Select this new copy along with the compound path and go to Object > Envelope Distort > Make with Top Object. In the end your compound path should look like it’s shown in the fourth image.

Step 35

Reselect the compound path, move to the Transform panel and enter 350 in the Width box. Make sure that your compound path is still selected, change its blending mode to Soft Light then drag it below the group created in step #32 (in the Layers panel).

Step 36

Reselect the "Map", make a copy in front (Control + C > Control + F) and bring it to front (Shift + Control + ] ). Fill it with white, change its blending mode to Multiply and go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Enter the data shown below and click OK.

Step 37

Finally, let’s add a nice background. Pick the Rectangle Tool(M), create a shape the size of your artboard, fill it with R=240 G=240 B=240 and send it to the back (Shift + Control + [ ). Add a second fill for this shape and use the radial gradient shown below.

Step 38

For this final step you will need a built-in pattern. Open the fly-out menu of the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Textures. A new window with a bunch of patterns should open. Look for the "Diamond" pattern. Reselect the shape created in the previous step and add a new fill. Select it from the Appearance panel, lower its opacity to 15%, change the blending mode to Color Burn, add the "Diamond" pattern and go to Effect > Artistic > Film Grain. Enter the data shown below, click OK.

And We’re Done!

Once more here is a look at what your final result should resemble. We hope that you all enjoyed this all new Adobe Illustrator tutorial and that it was easy to follow along with. Feel free to leave us your thoughts, critiques, or questions in the comment section below.

(rb)

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Apr/12

From the Unconscious Mind: Gallery of Surrealistic Digital Art

by Robert Bowen under Feeds, Web Design

When most people think of surrealism, they merely think of the bizarre. They think of artwork that somewhat blends the real with the abstract. They do not take into account the movement which sought to unleash the full creative potential of the unconscious mind. This injects a much deeper meaning in to the pieces than what most would think from work often seen as so abstract.

While the use of strange, and even at times ridiculous imagery, is employed to counter the more mundane elements of the pieces, it all comes together in such moving and powerful ways. Below is a gallery of surrealistic digital art that will fill our readers with inspiration. So many talented artists have wonderfully tapped into their creative potential, we hope that they will help you to unleash yours.

From the Unconscious Mind

Face of Happiness by Allyzia

the tree of life 2 by sopic84

Envy Tends Her Garden by joeyv7

Light by Sarafinconcepts

I’m Coming to the Garden by sweatshirt

Witness by MyAmbeon

Scream by liiga

Binds by rhinoting

Death Butterfly’s Forgiveness by ser1o

Beautiful by Warnerator

Dreams and quiet noises by froggywoggy11

su pianito despierta monstrous by alejandrosordi

Stargazer by leothefox

The Infinity of Mind by Elzux

Rita by Daywish

‘Howdy!’ Experiment One by baconworm

My Mind by NegativeFeedback

trip by DeevArt

A form of sanity by IMentertainment

La realidad puede ser otra by needtobleed

Mona by Warnerator

Drifter by whitlam1

Tigars are here by YukoRabbit

Seeing through The Layers by vshen

Mutation by SaccharineStrychnine

Metalpecker by StickFreeks

Young Dream by seafoam-mermaid

still waiting by sopic84

Mira by GalileeMorningstar

Forbidden Love by SzkulDigitals

Golden fishes by whitecrow-soul

StiltedWindbag

baloons 3 by sopic84

we’re watching you by GoGalGoGo

Let’s play by mark-in-the-park

Fluffy by gagatka27

A Strange Place by mysticmorning

Unwritten by Jacquesmarcotte

Elder Dream by seafoam-mermaid

(rb)

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Apr/12

The HTML5 placeholder attribute is not a substitute for the label element

by Roger Johansson under Feeds, Web Design

One of the useful things in HTML5 is the placeholder attribute that lets you specify a short hint for text input fields (textarea elements and the text states of the input element). In browsers that implement placeholder according to the specification, the hint text is displayed only when the field is empty and unfocused.

This is good since it gives you an opportunity to provide the user with hints regarding what they are expected to enter in the field. What is not good is that the placeholder attribute is often used as a substitute for the label element. Iâ€™ve seen this in various demos of the placeholder attribute as well as in demos for scripts that emulate the placeholder attribute in browsers that donâ€™t natively support it. So some developers appear to misunderstand what the placeholder attribute is meant for and how it works.

Read full post

Posted in Accessibility, HTML 5, Quick Tips, Usability.

kranthi Leave a Comment more...

Apr/12

Manage Events Like A Pro With WordPress

by Daniel Pataki under Feeds, Web Design

If you’ve ever tried working with, coding for or just thinking about anything to do with events, you know they are a total nightmare in every possible way. Repeating events, schedules, multiple days, multiple tracks, multiple prices, multiple speakers, multiple organizations, multiple payment options — the list goes on on for quite some time.

Today we’ll show you how to make event management an easy — nay, enjoyable — task by making WordPress do the grunt work for you. We’ll be looking at out-of-the-box WordPress features, plugins and themes and a DIY approach to managing events. Please do let us know if you have more or better ideas.

In A Nutshell

I know some people don’t like to read lengthy reviews, so here are my recommendations in the shortest possible form. Weâ€™ll look at all of these recommendations in depth, so read on if you want to know more about them.

If money is not an issue or you just want the best possible combination of products, I recommend using Event Espresso to manage the events and Eventure from ThemeForest to display them. This will set you back at least $125 (more if you need add-ons for Event Espresso), but it will give you one of the most powerful event-management setups you can get without touching any code.

If you don’t need a payment gateway, multiple-day event-specific options or other advanced features or you’re on a budget, you could use Events Manager Free Version, Event Espresso Lite or Events Made Easy. These are all free and easy to use, providing roughly the same functionality. You might also want to purchase a theme to display your events nicely, which will set you back at least $35, but this is in no way required.

Event Management Features

Before we get to specific tools, let’s look at some of the features we get from an event-management system. You might not need all of these, but looking at them is useful when planning your system.

Events

Obviously, our event-management plugin should at least support events. The ability to create events that are separate from your regular posts is a powerful feature, allowing you to add events to your websiteâ€™s existing content.

Event Taxonomies

Regular posts can be ordered into taxonomies — categories and tags. Having separate taxonomies for events (i.e. event categories and event tags) is useful for separating them from your regular content. If you organize Web development conferences, you might want to differentiate between design- and coding-related ones, or you might want to single out JavaScript- and Ruby-related ones. Your regular content might have nothing to do with Web development, so having separate taxonomies would come in handy.

Registrations

Allowing people to register for events right there on your website can greatly boost attendance. The path a user has to take from discovering your event to participating becomes that much shorter, which translates into a better user experience and more registrants.

You will also need to be able to manage registrations through the back end. Registrants should be listed somewhere, with easy access to their details.

Payment Gateways

The ability to accept payments online breaks down another barrier between your events and potential attendees. A feature that allows you to accept the widest variety of payment methods would be ideal.

Speaker Management

As a software programmer, I don’t like when I enter data somewhere and it’s not stored in an easily reusable way. The ability to manage speakers across your events is a big plus because it opens up access to powerful features later on. This feature should include the ability to add biographies and photos of speakers to the website.

Venue Management

As with speaker management, having all your locations stored properly will make them ease to reuse in future. If you need to schedule another event at the same venue, there’s no need to reenter the details; just select it from a menu, and off you go.

Participating Organizations

Another nice feature is being able to attach companies to events. Companies will often host events, and giving them some recognition for it is a nice thing to do in return.

Notification Management

There are two kinds of notifications we might want to control. On-site notifications are shown to users once they perform specific actions. When a user successfully pays for a ticket or encounters an error while registering, an on-site notification should pop up to let them know what’s going on. Being able to tailor the language of these to your style would be a nice feature.

The second type of notification are email messages to participants. Confirmations, reminders and so on would all be customized to your style.

Form Management

Controlling the information to gather from registrants is key to finding sponsors and making the lives of users easier. Being able to control this on an event-by-event basis would be best. Some events require less information from users, others more.

Coupon Management

Many events offer coupons for promotional purposes. If you want to engage users beyond your website, then giving coupons for third parties to distribute is a great tactic. Creating multiple coupons for various events would enable you to manage a full-blown coupon campaign.

Price Management

Another way to persuade visitors to register is to offer different price options, such as early-bird pricing, student discounts, last-minute offers and so on.

Multiple Day Events

Many events have so much going on that splitting them into multiple days is the only way to go. Being able to control this from the administration section would be a great plus, especially when coupled with price-management options (such as registration for one day only).

Repeating Events

If you are organizing a repeating event, you wouldn’t want to have to create it from scratch a hundred times a year. Scheduling and repeating tools would help minimize your effort.

Powerful Global and Miscellaneous Settings

A great event-management system has to have great global and miscellaneous settings. Settings for creating an events listing page, changing currencies, setting time zones and so on are all part of a complete system.

Complete Solutions

All of the WordPress plugins in this section are paid plugins, but if youâ€™re running a serious operation, then the first two listed here are well worth the money.

The three best plugins around are Events Planner, Events Manager and Event Espresso. Event Espresso is by far the best of the lot, but all three are versatile and under constant development.

Event Espresso

Event Espresso is the cream of the crop. It has built-in support for almost all of the features mentioned above (except perhaps sponsor management) — and much more! It enables you to set up multiple forms of payment, multiple event dates and times, multiple prices, discounts, promotions (coupons), locations (even virtual ones) and emails. It also creates posts for events automatically and does so much more!

Event Espresso also has a free â€œLiteâ€� version, which gives you a taste of the solution. The lite version is actually pretty robust and can be used for simple situations. It includes event and attendee management, automated emails, customizable registration and PayPal Standard Payment.

You can easily tailor the design of event listings to your current theme. If you are willing to dish out the money for this plugin, I recommend getting a premium website theme as well and modifying that as needed.

Event Espresso is not cheap, but its feature set is top notch, so the price is justified. The basic version costs $89.95, which contains all of the features that 95% of people will need. From there, you can download free and paid add-ons to the basic system. Some free add-ons are for payment gateways, social media and calendars.

MailChimp integration, recurring events management, developer customization options, WordPress integration, Groupon integration, multiple event registration and shopping cart integration (coming soon) is available at between $25 and $35 a pop. Most of these are well worth their money, although getting the WordPress members integration for free would have been nice, because that’s not a huge programming leap.

A gallery will be added here with 3-4 images of how an event is displayed by default, a screenshot from the admin, etc. The images can be found in the images/gallery/ folder of this draft

Events Planner

Events Planner is another well-rounded system. It doesn’t have all of the features of Event Espresso, but it does give you a lot to work with. Event categories, tags, instructors, locations, companies, notifications, payments, registrations and more can be managed with ease.

The main difference between Events Planner and Event Espresso is that the formerâ€™s UI is less polished, and some features found in both are not as well implemented in it. Despite this, Events Planner remains extremely flexible and robust. If you don’t want to part with almost a hundred bucks, you’ll be able to grab Events Planner for $39, plus another $24 if you need plugins that supports advanced date- and time-specific functions.

Events Planner does not have a lite version, but you can create a custom installation yourself and test drive the pro version. This is a little unusual for plugins, but it does mean you can fully test it before purchasing.

A gallery will be added here with 3-4 images of how an event is displayed by default, a screenshot from the admin, etc. The images can be found in the images/gallery/ folder of this draft

Events Manager

Events Manager is very similar to Events Planner in many ways. Some features have a better UI in Events Planner, while others are better in Events Manager. Were the price not so different, it would be a matter of preference, but because Events Manager costs a lot more than Events Planner, I would not recommend this solution.

Events Manager will set you back $75, and the price buys you only one year’s worth of upgrades. There are no plugins or add-ons here (which could be a good thing), but the higher price and losing access to updates after a year seems a bit cheeky at this price point.

Events Manager has a free version that gives you a lot of functionality. It supports event and booking management, recurring events, locations and more.

A gallery will be added here with 3-4 images of how an event is displayed by default, a screenshot from the admin, etc. The images can be found in the images/gallery/ folder of this draft

Final Verdict

Of the three, Event Espresso is the clear winner. It supports every feature the other two do and a lot more. It also has handy (albeit slightly expensive) plugins, with more to come. Even at $89, if you run a successful business (or plan to), it isn’t a high price to pay for the features you get.

If you can’t spend that much on a plugin, then Events Planner is a very capable alternative that will not leave you wanting. When all is said and done, it does cost less than half of Event Espresso and still has 80% of its features. I would still heartily recommend it.

If you don’t need payment options, however, and you need a free solution, the free version of this plugin might be your best option. Have a look at the partial solutions below.

Partial Solutions

Quite a few solutions do not offer advanced features such as payment gateways and coupon management but do allow some flexibility and customizations for events.

The best options for a simpler approach are All-in-One Event Calendar, Event Organiser and Events Made Easy, as well as the free versions of Event Espresso and Events Manager. In a showdown, it would be a close call between Event Espresso and Events Manager.

All-in-One Event Calendar creates a new post type for your events, allowing you to keep blog posts and events side by side. It supports event categories, tags and a few other options. Because it allows you to create a calendar page, itâ€™s a great solution if you need something simple and workable in minutes.

Event Organiser has all of the same functions plus a lot more! It has permission settings, permalink settings, importing and exporting options and even venue support. In addition, it has an admin calendar view that gives you a useful overview of your events.

Events Made Easy has all of the features of All-In-One Event Calendar (except event tags), and it supports registrations and locations. If you absolutely need to support on-site registration, this would be the easiest to use. The UI is the least polished, though, so it won’t look as pretty in the administration section, but the features are solid.

Final Verdict

Despite the great features offered by these plugins, I would stick with Event Espresso Lite or the free version of Events Manager. Apart from offering more functionality, they will also ease your transition if you need the full-blown system later on.

Using WordPress Out Of The Box

If you don’t need to manage data for each event, WordPressâ€™s core functionality will do just fine. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Use posts to store events.
If you want to be able to have regular posts as well, distinguish them using categories.
Create top-level categories for distinguishing organizations, sponsors and venues.
Use your websiteâ€™s registration functionality to manage past attendees, or use it as a master attendee list if separate registration is not required for your events.
Create pages for important information such as payment options.
Use PayPal buttons in event posts to let people register and pay directly through PayPal.

Many of these features are far from optimal for event-intensive websites, but if you just need something simple that you can set up in 10 minutes, give it a go.

If you do choose this option, pay close attention to consistency. If your goal is expansion, you are guaranteed to want a better system later on, and consistency will ensure that you can make the switch without a hiccup.

Comparing All Of The Options

There is a lot to learn and a lot of options if you want to get started with event management. To make your life easier, here is a table with all of the features discussed, along with the solutions that support them. Click on the image to go to the large version (it’s a bit small to look at here).

Event-Friendly Themes

While the plugins do a nice job of helping you manage events, they are not designed to make your website pretty, which is equally important. No matter which route you take, you will need to do some work to make things fit perfectly, but some premium themes out there will shorten this process.

Eventure

$35 | Large screenshot | Live preview

Diarise

$70 | Large screenshot | Live preview

Events (from Elegant Themes)

Large screenshot | Live preview

Eventure

Large screenshot | Live preview

Conclusion

Whichever solution you choose, you will have to put in a few hours of work to make your website work well and look good. I usually advise using free software whenever possible, but this happens to be one of those areas where I would go with a complete solution. Getting it right from the get-go will save you a lot of headaches in the long run.

If you can afford to spend over $100 on managing events, go for Event Espresso, coupled with one of the premium themes mentioned above.

If you want to spend as little as possible, then try Events Manager Free Version, Event Espresso Lite or Events Made Easy. If you don’t plan on expanding a lot or you need multiple price points, go with Events Made Easy because it is completely free, with no paid version, so supporting the developer by using his product would be a nice gesture.

If you do plan on expanding, go with Event Espresso Lite because the pro version will have everything you need when you’re ready to buy it and you won’t have any migration or data problems.

(al)

kranthi Leave a Comment more...

Apr/12

Decorate Your Desktop: Fresh Dual Screen Wallpapers

by Nousheen Aquil under Feeds, Web Design

Finding high quality wallpapers for the dual screen monitor setups is not always the easiest of tasks. Wallpapers are a stylish and simple way to brighten your desktop and decorate them with some colorful and vivid images. In this round up, we are presenting a fresh collection of dual screen wallpapers so that you can choose one that fits your tastes and style.

The wallpapers we have gathered for our readers have been carefully selected so that you do not have to waste a lot of your time sorting through all of the rabble. So, donâ€™t miss this opportunity to liven up your dual screens. Head down through this showcase and load up on as many of these fresh wallpapers as call your name!