Archive for the ‘web designing’ Category

Flex Development

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Flex Application Development, Flex Web Development, Flex Developers

Semaphore Flex developers offer complete web development solutions for creating and delivering Rich Internet Applications (RIA) using Flash, Flex and Adobe-Flash Media Server. Semaphore’s flex developers have a rich experience in the application of various graphical and multimedia tools that make your project unique. The expertise of our Flex Developers in offering Flex Development Services will definitely make your project technically extraordinary and more interactive and engaging.

Flex is a free, open source framework for building highly interactive web applications. Its run time - Flash Player and Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) are available far and wide on all major browsers, desktops and Operating Systems. Through Flex, SWF files are created, which are rendered by Flash Player and these applications can run on web Browsers via Flash Player and in online/offline mode via AIR over desktops.

Adobe Flex precisely, is a collection of technologies for the development and deployment of cross platform, Rich Internet Applications based on the proprietary Adobe Flash platform. Interestingly, flash content and applications have emerged as principal requirements for rich web experiences.

Over the years, developers at Semaphore have achieved great amount of proficiency in delivering Adobe Flex solutions. Our core expertise lies at creating highly intuitive, interactive and expressive web and desktop applications.

Benefits of using Flex:

Applications developed using Flex assures Rich User Experience through intuitive interaction with the    application and presenting information in a visually rich interface.
Flex allows for the development of applications that support complex business logic to run in the browser, rendering the feeling of Quick Response and not refreshing the page again and again.
The highly evolved client environment of Flex permits the applications to process huge number of information at client-end without any noticeable change in performance of the applications. This leads to High Performance.
Flex supports Diverse Modes for promoting data with an incorporated development model for complete customization and control. Applications developed are highly customizable tailoring to customer´s needs.
Flex provides a Strong Development Model that consists of Action Script and MXML.

Semaphore offers expert Flex Programming and development services. Our dedicated team of Flex programmers has professionally accomplished a number of offshore software development projects.

Below are our Flex Development and Flex Programming services in full:

* Flex Consulting, Business Analysis and Specification Development
* Flex Application Development ­ entirely in Flex environment.
* We can integrate Flex with MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle and PostgreSQL with Server-side technologies      like PHP, JAVA, .NET and Ruby on Rails (RoR).
* Creation of Custom Flex components, skinning of components to provide highly interactive user-experience.

If you are looking for Flex Application Development Services or if you want to Hire Flex Developers or Flex Programmers in India; then you are at the right place.

Semaphore-Software has a great expertise in Flex Application development, Flex software development, Flex web development, etc. and has also attained great feedback for its Rich Internet Applications Development services from its client-base all across USA, Canada, UK, Europe, South Africa, UAE, and Australia.

Please click on Flex Development portfolio for an idea on the Projects developed by our expert Flex Developers or you may please get a free quote from Semaphore for your Project.

* Request Flex Development Services Quote
* Hire Flex Developer
* Back to Services

Flex overview

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Flex is a free, open source framework for building highly interactive, expressive web applications that deploy consistently on all major browsers, desktops, and operating systems. It provides a modern, standards-based language and programming model that supports common design patterns. MXML, a declarative XML-based language, is used to describe UI layout and behaviors, and ActionScript3, a powerful object-oriented programming language, is used to create client logic. Flex also includes a rich component library with more than 100 proven, extensible UI components for creating rich Internet applications (RIAs), as well as an interactive Flex application debugger.

RIAs created with Flex can run in the browser using Adobe Flash Player software or on the desktop on Adobe AIR, the cross-operating system runtime. This enables Flex applications to run consistently across all major browsers and on the desktop. And using AIR, Flex applications can now access local data and system resources on the desktop. Both Flash Player and Adobe AIR are available as a free download on Adobe.com.

You can accelerate application development with Adobe Flex Builder 3 software, a highly productive, Eclipse based development environment, and Adobe Live Cycle Data Services software, a set of advanced data services that can be used in Flex development. Both of these products are available for purchase.

CSS Floats

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

What Floats?

You can’t float every element on a Web page. To get technical, you can only float block-level elements. These are the elements that take up a block of space on the page, like images (), paragraphs (

), divisions (

), and lists (

    ). Other elements that affect text, but don’t create a box on the page are called inline elements and can’t be floated. These are elements like span (), line breaks (
    ), strong emphasis (), or italics ().

    Where Do They Float?

    You can float elements to the right or the left. Any element that follows the floated element will flow around the floated element on the other side.

    For example, if I float an image to the left, any text or other elements following it will flow around it to the right. See the example. And if I float an image to the right, any text or other elements following it will flow around it to the left. See the example. An image that is placed in a block of text without any float style applied to it will display as the browser is set to display images. This is usually with the first line of following text displayed at the bottom of the image. See the example.
    How Far Will They Float?

    An element that has been floated will move as far to the left or right of the container element as it can. This results in several different situations depending upon how your code is written. For these examples, I will be floating a small

    to the left:

    * If the floated element does not have a pre-defined width, it will take up as much horizontal space as required and available, regardless of the float. Note: some browsers attempt to place elements beside floated elements when the width isn’t defined - usually giving the non-floated element only a small amount of space. So you should always define a width on floated elements.
    * If the container element is the HTML , the floated div will sit on the left margin of the page.
    * If the container element is itself contained by something else, the floated div will sit on the left margin of the container.
    * You can nest floated elements, and that can result in the float ending up in a surprising place. For example, this float is a left floated div inside a right floated div.
    * Floated elements will sit next to each other if there is room in the container. For example, this container has 3 100px wide divs floated in a 400px wide container.

    You can even use floats to create a photo gallery layout. You put each thumbnail (it works best when they are all the same size) in a DIV with the caption and the float the divs in the container. No matter how wide the browser window is, the thumbnails will line up uniformly.
    Turning Off the Float

    Once you know how to get an element to float, it’s important to know how to turn off the float. You turn off the float with the CSS clear property. You can clear left floats, right floats or both:

    clear: left;
    clear: right;
    clear: both;

    Any element that you set the clear property for will appear below an element that is floated that direction. For example, in this example the first two paragraphs of text are not cleared, but the third is.

    Play with the clear value of different elements in your documents to get different layout effects. One of the most interesting floated layouts is a series of images down the right or left column next to paragraphs of text. Even if the text is not long enough to scroll past the image, you can use the clear on all the images to make sure that they appear in the column rather than next to the previous image.

    Images floated to the left and to the right.

    The HTML (repeat this paragraph):

    Mali with car Duis aute irure dolor sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt in reprehenderit in voluptate. Cupidatat non proident, ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

    The CSS (to float the images to the left):

    img.float { float:left;clear:left; margin:5px;}

    And to the right:

    img.float { float:right;clear:right; margin:5px;}

    Using Floats for Layout

    Once you understand how the float property works, you can start using it to lay out your Web pages. These are the steps I take to create a floated Web page:

    * Design the layout (on paper or in a graphics tool or in my head).
    * Determine where the site divisions are going to be.
    * Determine the widths of the various containers and the elements within them.
    * Float everything. Even the outermost container element is floated to the left so that I know where it will be in relation to the browser view port.

    Starting to Position with CSS

    Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

    Once you have a series of

    tags in your HTML you can start positioning them on your page. There are many ways to do CSS positioning, but I find using float to be the easiest to manage and get my pages showing up how I want them to.

    1. Set a width on your body
    You don’t have to do this, but most pages are easier to read if you don’t assume that everyone will have their browser set to the same settings as your browser. I like to design for 1024×768 resolution, with a typical width of around 800px. However, I also have done fluid widths using percentages. It’s all up to you.

    2. Float everything
    Once you have your maximum width, then you can float everything on the page, and have it line up. For example, if you want your navigation

    to be at the top of the page, you would make it have a width of 100% and float left.

    But if you wanted it to be on the right side, you’d make it a width of less than 100% and float right.

    Then, anything that comes after it would be floated left, and as long as those elements had a smaller width than 600px (800 - 200), they would slide right in to the left of the navigation.

    3. Use floats to create margins
    One of the great things about floats is that you can use them to create margins without using CSS. For example, if my navigation is on the right and 200px wide and my body content is floated left and 580px wide, there will be a 20px margin between the two elements, without any margin tags at all.

    4. Get multiple columns by nesting

    elements
    If you want three columns, you create two divs that float left and right, and then in the wider div, you create a second set of two columns that float left and right inside it. HTML

    CSS (note that the inner divs have a width of 50% because they are half of the outer container, which is the “leftside” div:

    5. Test in multiple browsers
    While this technique works most of the time, some browsers react strangely to floats. You may have to play with the widths to get your elements to show up correctly.

    Grid Designs Don’t Have to Equal Boring

    Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

    The problem is, most beginning designers feel that designing on a grid is boring. And it definitely can be. This is especially true if you use the grid as a mandate to fill in every square of the grid with something. The point of a grid is not as a way to fill up space, but to help you organize the space you have.

    The trick to using grids in your layout is two-fold:

    * Create the grid, with as many sub-divisions as you need, and then stick with it. Don’t add random lines after you’ve created your grid. The benefit to a grid is the uniformity of it.
    * Place your elements on the grid lines, and make sure they fit the width and height of your grid lines. The most effective designs use the grid in balanced but not 100% symmetrical layouts.

    Once you understand how to set up your pages using a grid system, then you can start moving away from the rigid grids to create more elegant websites that work even if you can’t see the grid at first glance.

    Many Designs Use Grids

    Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

    Interior designers design rooms with grids. City planners design metropolitan areas on grids. And print designers design print layouts on grids. If you use a grid to design your Web page layout, you’ll create designs that look right and feel comfortable to most people.

    Website Navigation Tips

    Thursday, September 25th, 2008

    While designing the navigation for your site keep the following points in mind:

    * Organized Links
    Make sure your links are well organized according to the order of importance. Visitors should be easily able to find what they are looking for under different categories.
    E.g. All our main links are found on the top i.e. our services, products,portfolio, resources etc.Other interesting links are found on the right of the page. These are common and consistent throughout the site.
    Finally if the web page belongs to a guide E.g web design guide you will find the related links below the right menu and also at the bottom of the page.

    Note: Related links are very important as visitors coming to a particular page will probably be interested in more information you have under the same topic.

    * Clear and Prominent
    Once you have decided on your navigation links, you need to think of the best place to put them. Navigation should be clear and consistent. Try to design your navigation on the top or on the left as these are the first places our eyes go to. Also locate the primary links high enough on the page so that they are visible without scrolling. Navigation images should be seamlessly integrated into the site design. Avoid putting navigation links at the bottom of the page as visitors will need to scroll right down to see the links. If you like you could put the important links at the top AND bottom of the page just to make sure your visitors don’t miss the link.

    * Consistent
    Navigation should be clear and consistent. The important links of your website should be on every page, in the same location, and in the same sequence. Don’t confuse your visitors by putting your navigation links in different places in different pages.

    * Easy to understand
    Make your links easy to understand and to the point. Usually you won’t have enough place to have long links so make use of the space wisely. Visitors need to know where they will go on clicking on a particular link, so make sure your links are understandable or nobody is going to click on your links, which will defeat the purpose of designing a good navigation system.

    * DHTML Menus
    If you have a large number of links under categories and sub-categories you could use navigation menus to organize your links. There are many cut ‘n’ paste scripts available on the Net that you could use to create great navigation systems. A favorite resource center is SimplyTheBest.net, you’ll find tons of useful navigation menus that are very easy to install on your site.

    Useful Tips for Effective Web Design

    Thursday, September 25th, 2008

    Here are some essential web design tips that every web site should follow. Design your web site by following these tips and I guarantee that visitors will have a great first impression of your site.

    1. Fast Loading web site designs - This is the number 1 tip that every web designer should follow. You might design a web site that looks fantastic but few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load. Your designs should be optimized for the web and should not take more than 15 seconds to load. Remember, you might have a great design but very few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load. Click here to for 10 tips to fast-loading web pages.

    2. Clear Navigation - Once a visitor has come to your site you need to make them go through your site. To do this you need to have clear navigation. Make sure all your important links are at prominent places. Preferably right on top - that’s usually where a visitor first looks. Make use of menus on the right and the left. Try to link to as many pages of your site. Let your information be accessible from all parts of the site. You never know what a visitor may be interested in. Try to also use the footer for your important links. Click here for navigation tips.

    3. All Resolutions - Today, there are computers with all kinds of resolution. They range from 640 x 480 to 1024 x 768 and go even higher. Your job is to design your site for all these resolutions. The best way to do this is to design your site in terms of percentage and not pixels. Click here to learn how to design websites for all screen resolutions.

    4. Browser Compatibility - Make sure your site is browser compatible. Your web site should look good in Netscape as well as in Internet Explorer. Don’t stop designing your site as soon as you find that it looks great on IE. Usually Netscape gives some problems, especially when you try doing complicated HTML designs. But don’t give up too soon, usually with patience these problems can be easily fixed.

    5. Readable and professional looking fonts - Don’t ask me how many times I’ve clicked out of a site just because the font is in Comic Sans and the color is a bright pink or green. Just by looking at the font you feel that the site is not a professional site. Don’t use Comic Sans and other fancy fonts that may not be available on most computers. If the font you use is not available in a visitors computer the web site will use the default font of your computer which is much worse. So try to keep to common and professional web fonts. The fonts that I always stick to are Arial and Verdana.

    6. Minimize the use of images - I believe that sometimes simple designs are the most effective for the web. Keep your site simple but neat. Don’t clutter your page with big, bulky images that take ages to load. Instead use tables creatively and design eye - catching icons that will draw a visitor’s attention to a particular section of your site. Tip - Visitors are usually more interested in content than in design.

    7. Use of white space - Try not to clutter up your page with too many images, backgrounds and colorful fonts. Again use the Keep It Simple principle by minimizing the use of graphics and using a lot of white space. White space gives a sense of spaciousness and overall neatness to a site. Notice the white space in our site.

    8. Check for broken links - Always check for broken links within a site before uploading it to your web server. In Dreamweaver you can check for broken links by right clicking on any file in the Site Files Window and then clicking on Check links - Entire Site. If you don’t have this facility you need to upload your site and then check it using online tools like Net Mechanic.

    Web Site Design

    Thursday, September 25th, 2008

    A Web site is a collection of information about a particular topic or subject. Designing a web site is defined as the arrangement and creation of web pages that in turn make up a web site. A web page consists of information for which the web site is developed. A web site might be compared to a book, where each page of the book is a web page.

    There are many aspects (design concerns) in this process, and due to the rapid development of the Internet, new aspects may emerge. For non-commercial web sites, the goals may vary depending on the desired exposure and response. For typical commercial web sites, the basic aspects of design are:

    * The content: the substance, and information on the site should be relevant to the site and should target the area of the public that the website is concerned with.
    * The usability: the site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation simple and reliable.
    * The appearance: the graphics and text should include a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, appealing and relevant.
    * The visibility: the site must also be easy to find via most, if not all, major search engines and advertisement media.

    A web site typically consists of text and images. The first page of a web site is known as the Home page or Index. Some web sites use what is commonly called a Splash Page. Splash pages might include a welcome message, language or region selection, or disclaimer. Each web page within a web site is an HTML file which has its own URL. After each web page is created, they are typically linked together using a navigation menu composed of hyperlinks. Faster browsing speeds have led to shorter attention spans and more demanding online visitors and this has resulted in less use of Splash Pages, particularly where commercial web sites are concerned.

    Once a web site is completed, it must be published or uploaded in order to be viewable to the public over the internet. This may be done using an FTP client. Once published, the web master may use a variety of techniques to increase the traffic, or hits, that the web site receives. This may include submitting the web site to a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, exchanging links with other web sites, creating affiliations with similar web sites, etc.

    What is website Designing?

    Thursday, September 25th, 2008

    Now a day’s website is a very common word, and a must required tool to reach global market, major of the corporate build website to create and corporate impression and to let people know about their product / services.

    Since 2001, the approach to a website has reached it real meaning. Before 2001 website designing was widely considered to be a nice design and easy navigated flashy page. This was unable to bring results to the companies.

    Now web designing is maturing and a client expects results from their website. That’s where our team strength counts into. With 20+ web designers, you have access to some of the most talented and professional website designers in the industry.

    Indiawebhosting.co.uk has been assisting individuals, small and medium businesses, companies, large and small corporate and organizations in establishing Internet presence and bring results from their website designing.