Last Tuesday Ahlera’s website was featured in a blog post called 52 Beautiful Blue Layouts in Web Design on Abduzeedo’s blog.
We were quite surprised and would like to thank them for placing us on this list next to some big names.
Abduzeedo is one of of the leading design blogs on the web founded by Fabio Sasso, a Brazilian web designer.
In general terms, when building a website, designers take one of two paths: make the site in XHTML/CSS/JS or make it entirely in Flash. It is pretty clear we usually take the XHTML/CSS/JS route and use Flash only to add touches here and there.
Our rule of the thumb is something I read a while ago in a website: Flash shouldn’t be used for things you can achieve with XHTML/CSS/JS. I can’t remember where I read it, but I do know that since I did, it has been my weapon of choice whenever a client insists on Flash. There are many things that XHTML/CSS/JS can’t do and this is why we have Flash.
So, what are the most common mistakes Flash designers make according to Ahlera’s philosophy?
This is, by far, one of the most annoying things that have ever happened to web design. Flash designers take a long time to make these intros and they’re so proud of them that they actually force the visitor to look at it just to show off their mad Flash skills.
I guess it never occurred to the designer that people don’t come to a website to look at intros. They come to gather information and the designer’s flash intro is getting in their way.
It is bad enough that the site has a Flash intro. Don’t make matters worse by not providing a way to skip it. This is one of the worst things you can do to a website and to its visitors. Not providing a way to skip the intro does not help anyone, not even the designer, even though he might think that his intro is so hot people HAVE to see it.
The year is 2009. I’m pretty sure most people have a media player and MP3s in their computer and generally listen to them while browsing the web. Why would the designer want to interrupt the music of their choice with the music of his choice?
It is very likely that if the visitor is not already listening to music it is because he doesn’t want to or because he can’t. We as designers and developers should respect their desire.
People share spaces with coworkers and it is very annoying for everyone when music suddenly comes on. To make matters worse, some websites do not even have the option to mute the sound or have hid it very well within the design.
Unless you’re Pandora, people don’t come to the site to listen to music. They come to gather information and the music is getting in the way.
This is one of the things that puzzles me the most. I simply cannot find a logical explanation as to why anyone would want to encrypt their navigation menu. Why would you want the visitor to not be able to find his way around?
Imagine you went to a zoo because you want to see kangaroos and all the signs are written in Klingon. Sure, this is OK for some Star Wars geeks, but for every one else it is annoying, especially if all you want to see are kangaroos and get out of there.
This is a navigation menu I saw this morning:
This type of navigation encryption is not cool at all. It forces the visitor to click on everything to get to where he wants to go. Some designers add a rollover to these things which is definitely better than nothing, but the bottom line is that navigation is one of the most important things of a website and it should be as clear as possible, unless you’re making a website for hardcore Lost fans.
Even though these mistakes can be made by people who choose not to work with Flash, they are most comonly found among Flash-based designs. It is not wrong to build websites based on Flash, but in our opinion Flash should only be used when you need to do things that cannot be done in XHTML.
I’ve been wanting to write this entry for a while now. I haven’t had the chance because I’ve been busy with other things, but I finally found some time.
I’m an avid reader of TechCrunch and usually read only their blog’s RSS feed through Viigo on my BlackBerry, mostly because if I’m on my desktop or laptop, it is very likely that I’m doing something else. A couple of weeks ago they posted an outrageous entry called “Rest in Peace, RSS”. In this entry, Steve Gillmor pretty much said that Twitter is the new RSS.
Twitter is not the new RSS at all.
RSS is an incredibly useful tool to read exactly what you want and when you want. The way it works is pretty simple: your RSS reader checks the RSS feed every once in a while and downloads the new stuff on the feed. I like to think of it as pull technology.
On the other hand, Twitter is a push product. It pushes every single update to you the instant it gets sent out by the original publisher.
The main advantage that RSS has is that it is neatly stored in your reader until you have time to read it. It comes to you and waits for you.
Twitter pretty much comes to you and, if you’re not paying attention, it is gone. It is too fast and too dynamic. This is good for several reasons, but not for the ones we’re discussing here. Tweeting out a 140-character message is far easier than writing a 140-word blog post. Twitter is based on immediacy.
RSS is an email; Twitter is a phone call.
If you’re working on something and you get an email, you don’t necessarily have to stop what you’re doing to read it. It is not going anywhere and will be there when you have time to read it. Twitter is a phone call; it is something that requires your immediate attention or it will go away. It will go away because it will be buried by other tweets half an hour later.
Take a user like Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki). He’s a very popular Twitter user. He also tweets 39 times per day, on average. 39 times a day! To be honest, I had to stop following him because it would constantly annoy me while working, especially since most of his tweets also spammed me with his website, Alltop. However, if I create my own Alltop channel and subscribe to the RSS feed, I don’t need Guy’s constant Twitter updates anymore. I get the exact information I want and can read it when I have the time to do so.
If you’re a busy person, you cannot constantly monitor Twitter. You just cannot have the luxury of following more than five people that tweet more than ten times per day and not miss out on anything.
RSS and Twitter are too far apart to be able to compare them. While they both serve the function of getting information to you, the way they do it is entirely different.
RSS patches you through directly to the publisher while Twitter patches you a URL-forwarder and then to the publisher. Let’s face it: Twitter is unreliable. It has a history of fail whales and random errors. In fact, as I type this, I’m trying to upload a new avatar to Ahlera’s account (@ahlera) and it doesn’t work, so now we’re avatarless.
RSS is more than practical and wins against Twitter when you compare them in regards to how the exact news you want gets to you. If you’d like to read more points of view on the matter, all you need to do is look at the comments of Gillmor’s post.
All this doesn’t mean that Twitter isn’t an amazing tool for other things, but that’s a separate blog post…
Allow me to introduce one of the best open source projects I’ve seen lately: OpenGoo.
OpenGoo calls itself an open source web office. This description is too conservative for my taste. I’d call it the mother of all free and open source cloud-based project management, CRM, and collaboration office suites.
I do realize that this post might sound like a shameless plug which is why I want to make a full disclosure before moving on: I know two of the guys behind this project and Ahlera uses it extensively in day-to-day activities and planning.
It is hard to believe that OpenGoo has flown under the radar for so long. A quick Google search reveals very few information about this great system. I’ll try to explain why we like this suite so much.
When we tried other project management software, we were always left with the impression that they just weren’t good enough for what we needed. We went through Basecamp, Lighthouse, ActiveCollab (from which OpenGoo is based on), Zoho, Project Pier, and others. The main problems that we had were that most of them were too limited or too ugly.
It took us over a month to find the perfect suite, and curious enough, it was also made in Uruguay. Not only was it made in the same country we’re in (when you’re outside of the major software markets, this is a big deal), but it was also free!
We mostly use OpenGoo to plan out and execute project development. Basically we sketch out the map of the project and later load milestones and tasks to the system with due dates. So, say we have to build a website. We figure out what our milestones are and what needs to be done to get to that milestone and add them as tasks. We then go through task by task completing the milestone. Once all milestones are complete, the project is ready to roll out.
Each client has its own workspace. This means that we can allow access to clients on a per-workspace basis. Under those workspaces we add everything that is related to that client. The really cool part is that absolutely everything regarding the project can be uploaded to the workspace. No more fumbling around with emails looking for that zip file that you need to do a certain task. OpenGoo lets you upload the files and actually link them with a certain task. When you read the task description you have the related stuff that is needed in the sidebar and ready to be downloaded to begin working. The way we typically use this feature is that the account manage gathers the brief and materials from clients, uploads them to OpenGoo, and then the designers and programmers download what they need to do their tasks.
One of the great things about OpenGoo’s object linking is that it is system-wide. If you choose to use the email module (still buggy and a bit unstable) you can link emails to specific tasks, milestones, notes, etc. Most things, if not all, can be linked with each other. I cannot even begin to explain how beneficial this is in terms of productivity and information availability.
Another feature that I really like is the threaded comment system each task has. Basically, when I add a task to the system, anyone with access to it can comment on it. If instructions aren’t clear enough, the designers or programmers can ask questions about it right there. After that, the original poster get an email alert saying that someone has commented on the task he put in. Having threaded conversations on a per-task basis is an obvious advantage.
A time-tracking feature is also included in the bundle. You can keep track of how much time a task takes to complete via a start and stop button. The total time is neatly stored and you can check on it whenever you need to. You can also create PDF reports. This feature is especially handy when you have clients that you bill on an hourly basis. If you allow access to these clients, they can know at all times what they owe you and prevent overspending. You can set hourly billing pricing through billing categories for each client or for each category of work done.
OpenGoo’s backup system is as good as it gets. Basically, with only one click, you are able to instruct OpenGoo to make a MySQL dump, zip your entire system directory and store it in your server. Another click lets you download that zip file to your computer. One more click, and you delete the backup from the server. The ideal situation is that you create the backup, download it locally, and delete the one on the server. This means that OpenGoo is actually creating a backup of the entire directory structure, all of its contents, and the database itself. In simpler terms, should something go awfully wrong in your server, you can have a fresh and identical copy up and working within minutes. The backup process is very well thought and simple to use.
Automatic upgrades are also available, meaning that OpenGoo can automatically upgrade itself to the latest stable version. We haven’t tested this yet since we’re already running the latest stable version. However, with 1.4 right around the corner, it will be a matter of days before we take this feature for a spin.
OpenGoo has several languages installed by default. Among these you’ll find English, Spanish, German, Portuguese, French and Italian. This is really good when you have clients from all over the world and each one wants to have the system in their language.
Most of the small problems I’ve seen and reported in the latest stable version will be solved on version 1.4 as well as other issues that others have reported. Since 1.4 has already passed beta and is available as a RC, I’m not even going to mention them.
The only substantial problem that OpenGoo has is that it takes quite a while for it to load initially. Sometimes, depending on your computer specs and internet speed, this can take as long as two minutes. However, once the initial loading is complete, the system flies from one screen to another effortlessly. I do recognize that there is no easy way around this as a system so powerful as OpenGoo needs to load a lot of things before starting up. I do prefer a long wait on initialization over short waiting times when navigating the system.
If you’re not a server geek, you might also have a hard time enabling InnoDB on your server. If you have a managed server, a simple support ticket to your hosting company will get the pros to do it for you. You also need PHP5 since it will not run on PHP4.
OpenGoo is 100% free and open source.
OpenGoo is also available as a paid service called FengOffice.
FengOffice is exactly the same as OpenGoo as far as functionality goes. There are no limitations what-so-ever. The huge advantage that you get with FengOffice is that you get the makers of OpenGoo to run the show.
Basically, the paid service gets them to install, configure, host, and update the software as well as troubleshoot problems that should come up.. The service also makes a daily backup of your installation. This is a very attractive offer for those who are less technical.
A 5-user licence runs at $25 per month. However, it is important to notice that the 5 users are people who work for your company. If you want to add clients, contractors, or partners to the system they only cost $1 per month, which is a fraction of what adding more employees would cost. The pricing system is quite fair if you ask me.
As you might have noticed, I really like OpenGoo. In my personal opinion, it is one of the most interesting new open source entrepreneurships out there and very likely to be the best open source software coming out of Uruguay. I think it wouldn’t be too exaggerated to think that it would place quite nicely on a list of open source developments within the region.
I would even dare to say that OpenGoo, even in this early stage, is ready to compete with most of the stuff in its category, including other paid services that have been out there for years.
OpenGoo’s functionality go a lot farther than what I’ve explained here. This is just the stuff that I really like and what we commonly use at Ahlera to put our projects together.
You can try OpenGoo here, but to really appreciate it you should make an installation on your own server and use it to manage at least one project. This will let you fully understand just how powerful OpenGoo really is. If you don’t want to install OpenGoo, then just sign up for a 30-day trial account at FengOffice. This will let you test all of the benefits of OpenGoo in a hosted environment.
I’m very anxious to see how OpenGoo will take off once it hits mainstream.
OpenGoo 1.4 was rolled out yesterday. You can download it here.
We’ve upgraded our installation with the one-click upgrade feature and it worked flawlessly. The new version includes several fixes and new features.
We’re very proud to announce that we’ve joined the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology.
A couple of weeks ago we got notice that our application was accepted, but we wanted to wait until we rolled out the new design to announce it.
We’re very happy to be a part of UCIT and the benefits are already starting to show.
You’ll find Ahlera on the first page of UCIT’s members here.
If you’re reading this, you might have noticed that our website looks brand spankin’ new. We’ve built our new website from the ground up, including a new logo. We’re keeping the blue, but we’ve changed the shade.
We still have some bugs to fix though. If you see something broken, it is very likely that we’re hard at work fixing it, even though it make take a while since our client work is our priority.
As you can see, the main site is powered mostly by plain ol’ HTML and JavaScript. So, what do you think? Do you like it? We’d love to get some feedback.
We’ve been thrilled with the response, email, and business we’ve gotten through the release of Minimahl. It is very flattering to see it all over the place. We honestly didn’t think it would have this kind of repercussion. Thank you for choosing it.
Yesterday I got an email from a guy named Peter saying that he was using Minimahl to sell his 1971 Westfalia Weekender. When I checked out the website, I was amazed at the work he had done customizing Minimahl to his needs. You can check out Peter’s website here.
Peter’s adaptation of Minimahl is along the top five we’ve seen so far, at least according to our criteria. We hope it helps him sell the bus!
Minimahl 0.9.8 is still under development, but I can’t estimate how long it will take us to finish it since we have other priorities at the moment.
In other news, we’ve been very busy redesigning our own website which should be ready either tomorrow or on Monday, as well as working on our client’s projects and tasks. Look out for that new design soon and make sure to give us some feedback!
