If you’re looking for an easy way to share files with colleagues, clients, co-workers, family, or friends, then check out Box.net. It’s a great web app that allows you to upload and share files. It has all the usual features like users, sharing, mobile access, etc. Check it out if you’re in need of an easy way to share large files.
Archive for July, 2009
Easier Browser Testing: Litmus
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
If you haven’t heard of Litmus before, you’re definitely missing out. Litmus is a browser testing service. It works like this – you login, enter a url, and then Litmus snaps screenshots of your site in multiple browsers across multiple operating systems.
Screenshot of Litmus browser test results
With Litmus, you can test in IE 5/6/7/8, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and a few more browsers. Plus, most browsers have multiple versions available for testing.
You can really tell that the functionality and design of Litmus has been given a lot of thought. Some of the features I really like are:
1) Publishing screenshots – You can make screenshots public to show a client/colleague. Check out an example here.
2) Validation – Litmus will automatically validate your html and css code.
3) Notifications – You can be notified via GTalk, AIM, or Twitter when your screenshots have finished.
4) Compatibility tracking – You can mark browsers as compatible/not compatible for each screenshot so you know what’s left to fix.
Litmus also offers email client testing and it looks like they’ll soon be offering mobile device (iPhone, Blackberry, Android) testing as well!
Send text messages via email with an SMS gateway
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Here’s a handy Wikipedia page I came across the other day. It lists a bunch of email to sms gateways that are offered by cell phone companies. Why would you want this? Well, here’s a few handy uses I thought of:
- Have a web app or desktop app that can send reminders via email? Send them via text message so you’ll be reminded while you’re out.
- If you have a contact form on your site, you could send yourself a text message to alert you of a new submission (maybe an important RFP??).
- Send an email when a client’s web app has an error, so you can get a fix put in place before they complain (which is always nice).
There are tons of other ways to use this technology. The best part is that it’s super easy to send an email via backend code like php or via desktop apps like iCal. This makes it easy to turn that email into a text message.
Let your clients edit images without Photoshop
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
We’ve all been there. Just after you’ve launched your client’s brand new site, complete with a content management system, they ask you “So, how do I upload these files that are 3500 pixels wide?” Well you think to yourself, they just need to resize them a bit. Easy, right? Just buy a copy of Photoshop for … oh wait they barely went for the website price, I don’t think they’ll go for Photoshop too.
Ok, how about finding a cheaper alternative? There are lots of image editing programs out there, but if you’re looking for a quick, easy, and free solution (or cheap, depending on which version you select), you might give Aviary’s image editor called Phoenix a try. It’s a browser based image editor that looks and works kind of like a very slimmed down Photoshop. You can see a sample of what’s possible here.
The thing I like about Phoenix is that you can tell a client “Go to this website and edit your images.” There’s nothing to install, no licenses to buy, it’s an easy way to get your clients editing images quickly.
Oh, be sure to check out the other Aviary image tools too. They’re quite impressive for web-based apps.
Beware the LCD burn
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
I love looking at pictures of office setups, it gets me inspired to change mine. Here’s a crazy setup that will probably give you an LCD-burn. Well maybe not, but that sure would be a fun setup to have.
Easier Browser Testing: Multiple IE’s
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
We’re starting a new mini-series here on Crunchy Melon called “Easier Browser Testing.” We’ll be posting some apps and services that we’ve found helpful when testing your sites on multiple web browsers.
Today, it’s multiple versions of Internet Explorer. How in the world do you test on IE 6 and 7, without buying a room full of computers? We like Multiple IE’s. It’s an installer program that will install IE 3, 4, 5, 5.5, and 6 all without disturbing IE 7. This way you can test in any of those browsers or all of them, all on the same computer.
One word of warning though, this app is no longer supported by the developer, so your mileage may vary. I recently installed this on a new copy of XP. After updating XP, I had to re-install Multiple IE’s, but once I did that, it worked just fine. The really nice feature is that IE’s conditional comments still work. If you don’t know what conditional comments are, you can read more here.
So far we haven’t found a way to run IE 6/7/8 all on the same machine, but we’ll have some more posts coming in this series that will provide some other methods for testing in IE8 (along with the rest of the popular browsers).
Easy favicons with favikon
Monday, July 20th, 2009
If you’ve ever had a client ask for one of those little icons that show up in the browser title bar, you might try Favikon. It’s a really easy way to create favicons from a gif, jpg, or png file. You can see the one in the title bar I just created. The nice thing about favikon (over some of the other favicon services I’ve seen) is that you can crop an image to just the portion you want. Makes it easy to grab a portion of a logo or design without firing up Photoshop.
Keep your screen clean!
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Be it your computer, your phone, laptop, or other device, you don’t want to show a design comp to a client on a smudged up screen. To clean it, try iKlear. It’s a kit that comes with a super soft cloth and a spray bottle of cleaner. I’ve been using it for years to keep my computer and iPod screens clean and free of smudges.
Super easy E-commerce with Shopify
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
If you haven’t heard of Shopify, then get over to shopify.com now and check it out. Go ahead, I’ll wait….
Ok, welcome back. Shopify, as you’ve seen, is a hosted e-commerce application. It provides all the tools you need to setup e-commerce sites for your clients. We use it for Gooey Templates. I think it’s the best solution out there for running a store.
Screenshot of the Shopify Admin
Some of my favorite features:
Easy Custom Designs
Liquid is the template system that runs Shopify. It’s a really easy, but powerful templating system that allows you to do pretty much anything you want with the display of your site. It uses simple tags to insert content and you can also use these tags to do more complex programming type stuff, such as if/else statements, loops, etc.
The other really killer feature of the design process is “Vision.” Vision is an app that you download to your computer. It sets up a demo Shopify site on your computer so you can edit all the layout files, add images and css, and browser test everything, right on your computer. When you’re done, just export the design and import it into Shopify. It’s super easy and saves a ton of time.
Great Interface
Yeah, it may sound vain to some, but I know that properly designed interfaces will improve the usability of an app. I also think that the easier an app is to use, the more likely it will be they’ll keep using it. Shopify is both beautiful and easy to use.
Integration with Services
Shopify is integrated with all the usual payment, shipping, and fulfillment services, making it easy to set things up for your client. They also have an API and you can export your data.
Shopify App Store
App stores seem to be popping up everywhere lately, but Shopify’s app store is really useful. Basically Shopify allows developers to setup an app that works with their API. We use Fetch for delivering digital files to our customers. You can also install other apps for things like printing invoices, detailed stats on your store, and more.
Security and Maintenance
You don’t have to do a thing to secure or maintain a store for your clients. Set it and forget it. Need I say more?
What I don’t like
Transaction fees on orders. On all but the most expensive plan, Shopify charges a transaction fee of 1/2 to 2%. Now I understand why they have to do this, they have bills to pay too. However, it can be a hard sell to clients, especially if they have thin margins. On the Shopify site, they do mention that you can contact them for custom plans, so maybe you can work out something if a client won’t go for the transaction fees?
Would I recommend it?
Yes, absolutely! If you need to setup an e-commerce site for a client (or yourself), definitely check out Shopify.
Email client stats
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Ever wondered what email apps your client’s subscribers are using? Check out Fingerprint and the Fingerprint email stats.