Latest Posts

Posted by Graphic Lux on 20th July 2011

No more small stuff.

Making money in web development isn’t that hard, but making BIG money in web development takes some guts, smart ideas, and the right people to build a product.

Building Websites is for the birds!

In my mind there is really no reason to build small websites anymore.  There really is no reason to build large ones anymore either. Leave the website building to people who want to break even.  They’re not worth the stress from
clients and the hassle of communication problems.  Plus you could spend a month off an on building a site and only make a weeks worth of pay , which may be fine if you are only freelancing and don’t have a regular job and you can line up several sites at a time. Continue Reading

Posted by Graphic Lux on 13th January 2011

CMS’s to watch out for in 2011

There are 2 CMS’s that come to mind when i think of the beginning of 2011.

Joomla 1.6

Joomla has just released their stable version of Joomla 1.6.  Their major improvement is the new ACL.  This major improvement in user/member management will have developers happy that they will no longer have to hack the core of Joomla to make these kind of changes.

Like any ACL system it is based on

  • actions
    What can someone do e.g. read, edit, install
  • assets
    What can you do it on e.g. News category
  • users
    Who can do it e.g. Peter, Paul, Mary

Both assets and users can be grouped together to make things easier to set things up for your web site. Continue Reading

Posted by Graphic Lux on 15th December 2010

HELP ME: Best and Worst Support for Web Development

Support can come through many forms, whether it be online forums, blogs, chat, email, or even Twitter responses.  Below is my list of products I use and continue to use because of their great customer support.

The Best

Product: CFWebstore

CFWebstore is a ColdFusion cart created and maintained by Mary Jo. I don’t even use ColdFusion anymore but I still stick with this cart if the clients hosting platform allows for it.  Maybe it is because I have created so many stores with it but I really think it is Mary Jo’s online support.  Mary has chat open from her site (cfwebstore.com) for any questions or issues.  CFWebstore - Dogpatch SoftwareIt seems the chat is online around 5 hours a day.  For a quick question this is great area.  Mary herself is not usually the one you are chatting with but the person there now is very knowledgeable with CFWebstore and is still a great resource.  Mary is more of an open participator in her yahoo group for cfwebstore.  I know if I put up a question that is not totally insane, someone (more than likely Mary) will be answering my question or at least following it up with follow up questions.

Product: WPPortfolio

WPPortfolio is a WordPress plugin created by WPDoctors.  This is one of my favorite plugins, easy to use, and exactly what i needed for a simple web portfolio.  I have blogged about this plugin in the past but it was for its usefulness, now I am blogging about it because of the support I received on a free product. Continue Reading

Posted by Graphic Lux on 13th April 2010

5 WordPress Plugins you absolutely need in 2010

Whether you are starting a new WordPress blog or  already have one, either way this post should be very helpful in finding some great plugin’s to help make your WordPress blog function better, faster, and prettier.

1.  Lightbox Plus

Lightbox Plus is a great tool for displaying any of your pictures within your blog in a Lightbox.  You get about 15 different styles to choose from, and 2 different transitions.  You can also change the opacity of the overlay that is applied behind your lightbox.

Not only can you use the lightbox for individual images in your blog but you can also have slideshows, and galleries (Must use WP Gallery plugin).  Visit the plugin’s site.

2. cforms

Ever want to have a form on your site for contact, or any other reason?   Hate plugin forms that have no versitality?  With cforms it is simple and easy to style and create multiple  Ajax driven contact forms throughout your blog or even on the same page.  cforms will then Email you with the end-user’s inputted data.

cforms has a place to edit CSS and also an API for building dynamic forms. You can basically do anything you want with it, if you know enough!   If you are looking for a form choose cforms, don’t even bother with the rest.  View the plugin’s site. Continue Reading

Posted by Graphic Lux on 26th March 2010

Google Fiber in Buffalo. That will keep us regular.

Google Come to BuffaloAs most people know Google  is planning to build, and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. They will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. They will also offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000, and potentially up to 500,000 people.  With this is mind there are other reasons to want this great opportunity.

Buffalo is a dying city.  It’s been dying for about 50-60 years now.  We need large corporations that will help support Buffalo while Buffalo helps and supports them.  Google is that company.  I am afraid without something big happening, Buffalo will just get worst.  Don’t you want to be able to continue to live here and maybe have your children live here too?  Please help support the cause, below are a few links to check out.  Do it for the cause.

http://www.buffalowantsfiber.com/
http://www.buffalorising.com/2010/03/buffalo-wants-google-fiber.html
http://www.city-buffalo.com/applications/googlefiber/default.aspx

PS:  Sorry about the lack of posts.  I have been sick and had a bunch of side work to get out of the way.

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