The Best Tutorials and Freebies of 2008
It’s hard to believe that 2008 has already come and gone. However, the year was not without some fantastic articles, tutorials, tips, and freebies spread throughout the Internet. Today, we will take some time to reflect on the most outstanding development related articles of 2008. So hurry up and review these before the Langoliers get them!
Articles
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10 Usability Tips for Web Designers.
While were on the topic of user interface design, The Web
Designer Depot presents an article containing tips to keep in mind when designing a website.
href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2008/12/10-usability-tips-for-web-designers/">Visit Article
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20
Excellent AJAX Effects.
Glen Stansberry brings us a round up of 20 great AJAX effects, techniques, and
resources to use in your projects and websites.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img2.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 2" />
Blurry Background
Effect.
Chris Coyier of CSS-Tricks.com shared a creative use of the backgrond-attatchment property in
order to achieve a unique design result.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img3.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 3" />
Converting a Design
from PSD to HTML.
Jeffrey, the site manager of NETTUTS and ThemeForest, recorded an excellent and very
popular screencast and article on how to convert a design from a psd file to a/an html web page.
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src="http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/001_WebDesignWeek/01_Intro%20to%20WDW/WDW_200.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 3" />
Web Design Week!
For as long as I can remember we’ve gotten requests for more web design posts here on PSDTUTS. Well web design fans, it’s your lucky day because all this week we’ll be bringing you articles and tutorials on just that topic.
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10 Principles of the UI Masters.
NETTUTS interviewed 10 UI masters on what principles they use
when working on a project or design. The result was an excellent article great for any web/UI designer.
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Golden Ratio in Modern CSS.
A very interesting look at a mathematic approach to web design and
css, using 62%/38% analogies.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img7.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 7" />
Using Absolute
Positioning to Create Equal Columns.
Jeffrey shows us how to use absolute positioning instead of
faux columns to achieve 2 or more columns of equal length, regardless of the amount of content.
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Huge
Compilation of WordPress Code.
WPHacks collected a gigantic list of wordpress codes and “hacks” and
put them all on one web page for your bookmarking convenience.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img10.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 10" />
Cross Browser
CSS Fixes, Tools, and Hacks .
A long and well explained list of so common and not so common web
browser hacks to achieve compatibility.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img11.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 11" />
The Top 7
Fonts used by Professional in Graphic Design.
Designer Jacob Cass displays a list of the top 7 fonts
use in graphic design. Sure to be helpful to anyone looking for some typography guidance.
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alt="ScreenShot 12" />
How to Get Cross Browser Compatibility Every Time.
A more
in depth look at the cause and effect of browser bugs (mainly IE specific) and how you can go about fixing these
issues.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img13.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 13" />
Whatever
Happened to UI Consistency?
One of my all time favorite Internet heroes, Jeff Atwood makes some
excellent points in his article pointing out the importance of consistency with UI design.
href="http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001126.html">Visit Article
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Creating Custom Write Panels in WordPress.
The guys at WeFunction always produce quality
tutorials, so its no surprise that their recent tutorial on creating custom write panels in wordpress was a very popular
one.
PHP
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Learning PHP from Scratch.
The first article of the “learning php from scratch” series, Jeffrey
takes us through all the in’s and out’s of starting off with PHP.
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Learning PHP from Scratch-Part 2.
The second article of the “learning php from scratch” series
dives right into all kinds of useful PHP functions, arrays, and loops.
href="http://net.tutsplus.com/php/learn-php-from-scratch-part-2/">Visit Article
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PHP Security
This is the most comprehensive (video) security tutorial I’ve found on PHP. 45 minutes of secure goodness.
href="http://videos.code2design.com/video/play/PHP/11">Visit Article
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10
Code Snippets for PHP Developers.
There is no need to re-invent the wheel if great and free code already
exists, this article covers 10 extremely useful snippets of PHP code, such as email validation and an accurate IP address
tracker.
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TimThumb PHP Script Released!
Using PHP to generate thumbnails of images got
a whole lot easier when Darren Hoyt released TimThumb in early April 2008.
href="http://www.darrenhoyt.com/2008/04/02/timthumb-php-script-released/">Visit Article
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Creating a Photo Admin Site Using PHP and jQuery.
Absolutely one of the best PHP articles of
2008, this video tutorial takes you through the steps of creating your own photography website much like photobucket.
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Seven Habits for Writing Secure PHP Applications.
IBM collected a list
of seven great ways to secure your php applications and protect against XSS.
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Creating Custom Avatar Icons with PHP.
This tutorial will not teach you how to become a php master,
but it is just plain fun. Learn how to use php and the GD library to create custom avatar icons. Icons such as a drunk
Brian Griffin.
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User Membership with PHP.
If you’ve ever wondered how to build your own
user login script from scratch, this tutorial is for you. It covers all the steps from setting up the database, to
logging the user out when finished.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img23.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 23" />
JPG to ASCII
Converter with PHP.
Lets face it, ASCII art is awesome. This fun script/tutorial shows you how to
use PHP to turn a JPG into ASCII art, give it a try!
Javascript/jQuery
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jQuery for Absolute Beginners: Video Series
“So everywhere you look, you see “jQuery this” and “jQuery that”. For the last year or so, this library has been the darling of the Javascript world. But do you feel that you just can’t seem to learn the dang thing? Do you hate how the existing tutorials assume that you know WAY more than you actually do? If this rings true for you, I can help. “
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Visual jQuery.
I’m not sure if this existed before 2008, and if it did please forgive me. However, I think you’ll agree that visual jQuery is one of the most helpful and quick go to guides for jQuery documentation.
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Extending jQuery’s Selector Capabilities
“I’m sure you all know that it’s possible to create plugins and extend various aspects of the jQuery JavaScript library but did you know you could also extend the capabilities of it’s selector engine?”
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img25.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 25" />
15 Resources
to Get You Started With jQuery From Scratch.
This article is more than just a list of resources,
it’s a complete walkthrough and introduction into the jQuery framework.
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25
Excellent Tips to Improve your jQuery Skills.
A collection of 25 excellent and thorough tips to
improve your jQuery skills and abilities.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img28.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 28" />
jQuery Link
Nudging.
David Walsh showed us an extremely simple jQuery script to give links a nice ‘nudge’
animation. This effect is now being used on many popular websites, such as CSS-Tricks.com
href="http://davidwalsh.name/jquery-link-nudging">Visit Article
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img29.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 29" />
10 Essential
Principles of the Javascript Masters.
Take advantage of this excellent article and series of
interviews and learn from the Javascript experts.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img30.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 30" />
A Lesson in
Accessibility and Progressive Enhancement.
An excellent and in-depth view on how to make sure your web
pages degrade gracefully in the case that Javascript is disabled.
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src="http://d2o0t5hpnwv4c1.cloudfront.net/168_bestOf08/img31.jpg" alt="ScreenShot 31" />
jQuery
Tutorial for Designers.
WebDesignerWall always seems to deliver quality content and this article is no
exception. Step by step, this tutorial aimed at web designers teaches you many popular jQuery practices.
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The jSkinny on jQuery.
A fun and practical look at the ever popular Javascript framework that is
jQuery.
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Developing a jQuery Plugin.
Another one of my Internet heroes (I have a list), Jonathan Snook
gives us an excellent article on how to develop your own jQuery plugin.
href="http://snook.ca/archives/javascript/jquery_plugin/">Visit Article
Freebies
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alt="ScreenShot 34" />
Fresh Finance Icons.
Icon Eden was nice enough to give out
this stunning finance icon pack for free, complete with 59 raster and vector icons.
href="http://net.tutsplus.com/freebies/icons-freebies/fresh-finance-icons/">Visit Article
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Stunning Free Character Icon Pack.
WeFunction recently released this fun character free for you
to use in any way you wish.
Article
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alt="ScreenShot 36" />
Twitter Birds-Icons and Illustrations.
Another great set of
icons released by WeFunction, this time with a focus on twitter.
href="http://wefunction.com/2008/07/freebie-twitter-icons-illustration/">Visit Article
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VanillA Cream Icon Set.
A clean and modern looking free icon set found via DeviantArt.
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Icon Set by MannMitDerTarnjacke.
Quite a mouthful to pronounce but it is certainly a lovely and
clean icon set, free to download.
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That will do it for now, please add your favorite links and tutorials of
2008 in the comments section below. I also would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2009!
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Yah. the good to have that nice digest
Nice round up, some of those tutorials I missed!
Thanks
Really nice list you got here, its got a lot of stuff I haven’t seen.
Good list – thanks for sharing with us. Quite easy to miss stuff throughout the year – there’s so much of it around.
The link for “JPG to ASCII Converter with PHP” goes to “User Membership with PHP”
frickin sweet list!
Great list! I see a lot of bookmarks from this past year.
Thanks, much appreciated!
great!
CSS Tricks (blurry background) links is broken
thanks
Great list! Thank you.
Awesome!
Sweet! Thanks and Happy New Year!
An excellent round-up. Definately missed or never saw some of the above. Thanks!
Not only a nice round-up but a nice reference list! Great!
Brilliant. For some reason I missed some of them. Thanks a ton Drew for this round up.
Thank you so much for posting these
wow… need more time for this ! :)
I’ve recommended many of these articles, so thanks for highlighting them all at once. However, in your feed, the links to these are really messed up. Might want to check that.
@Evan-Sorry about that, it looks like a few of the items got re-ordered and so the link got duplicated. The link for the JPG to ASCII converter is below:
http://phpsnips.com/snippet.php?id=29
@Everyone- Thanks for the nice words! :)
Thanks for sharing it into one post. Will help us navigate useful things from one place..
Awsome! All in one! Thanks! Some articles i have missed! = )
Thanks for including my article “Golden Ratio in CSS” on CSSGlobe. I appreciate it!
Great list you have here!
Great catch up over 2008!
I managed to stumble across a good few of these through the year but for those missed, I’m making up for lost time here now.
Thanks for sharing!
great list.. thank u
Nice roundup of the year.
There are awesome article at http://www.intelisoftbd.com/forum/.
Good list in http://www.intelisoftbd.com/forum/ thanks for sharing with us
very biased.. almost every article in the list points to a nettus article. This list is clearly not the best of 2008.
Lamin, I just opened up 11 tabs from this list, and only 2 point to NetTuts….
Nice roundup…. Thank you guys for your efforts.
Thanks for sharing these resources.
Lamin, only 10 out of the 40 items here point back the nettuts.
Thank you
Wow, this is a kickass overview. A lot of helpfull links for me, a PHP developer. Thanks!
Amazing list! Thanks so mutch for this, you are a great help!
thanks for the summary and for this amazing year of nettuts =)
Instant classic. I think this is the best “best of” yet!
More great
Fantastic List
Great list!
i dig it.
thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks so much for the nice words everyone, glad you enjoyed the resources :)
Thanks for featuring my site!
Really nice collection. Love it.
why do you have to make these great lists that get me sidetracked for hours???
Great list! Thanks a lot :)
many thanks for the list, unfortunately I lost half my Sunday checking all these out…
glad i stumbled your site…thumbs up..great list and nice collections. thanks for sharing.