21 Best Websites for Teaching Yourself Web Development

I remember how popular web design was even 5 or 10 years ago. Kids in high school were teaching themselves HTML and building small web pages from scratch. And nowadays this is possible because of the thousands of free tutorials and code online. Open source has dramatically shaped an industry of high-tech and high demand.

But it can still be difficult pinpointing exactly what you want to learn. Beyond straight HTML/CSS there is jQuery for frontend animation, PHP/RoR for backend web apps, and even Java/Objective-C for mobile apps. With this collection you should be able to track down a few tutorials in whatever topic catches your interest. If you notice we’ve missed a resource feel free to share with us in the post discussion area below.

Pixel2Life

40 Photos of Creative Offices & Freelance Workspaces

There’s no denying that Wordpress has become the leading CMS on the market. Anybody looking to launch a simple website would be foolish not to consider WP. It has the largest amount of free themes and plugins – not to mention the huge base of developers working to push out bug fixes every day.

But just working with the default Wordpress options is not enough. That’s why I have this collection of 26 amazing resources for those interested in learning Wordpress. You can find hundreds of free templates & plugins to mess around with. Additionally some web developers have written tutorials on how you can edit code and customize your installation. Spend some time going through these links and be sure to share your thoughts with us in the post discussion area.

Creative Office Aquarium

26 Resources for WordPress Tutorials Themes and Plugins

Freelancing seems like one of the most lucrative job titles. And it’s true that setting your own hours and working on interesting projects can be a lot of fun. But there is also the matter of looming deadlines and touchy clients you need to keep satiated.

One of the most important tools for a freelancer is their work station. You can’t get anything done if your work area is poorly setup, cluttered, or too small to fit inside. In the gallery below I have put together 40 brilliant examples of freelance offices, both home & industrial. Your creative space is truly a sacred realm where you must remain focused and motivated. I hope some of these photos can enliven your spirit to continue designing and freelancing.

ThemeShaper Blog

Building an E-mail Request Invite Form with jQuery

Using jQuery we can build some incredible web-based applications. The animations and manipulation of DOM elements using jQuery are much more intuitive than coding regular JavaScript. Because the syntax is so minimalist it’s possible to scale a very complex idea within a few hours time.

In this tutorial I’ll demonstrate how we can build an HTML5 invite form and check the results through jQuery. I haven’t gone into any backend PHP as this isn’t always the best solution for an invitation system. You may want to tie into another e-mail campaign such as MailChimp or Campaign Monitor. But with this technique running the frontend you can quickly implement a backend language to manage the e-mail submissions.

40 Brilliant Photographs of Undersea Life

Photographs have a way of naturally shifting our emotions. The ocean is a calming sentiment to humans since we’re so comfortable living on the land. But there is a whole ecosystem underneath the water that many of us are not even aware exists. The Earth is a beautiful place and it has been only recently that we’ve created the technology to capture these moments in time.

I’ve collected 40 stunning photos taken under the oceans all around the world. The lifestyle of animals can differ greatly based on how they live and behave amongst other animals. Photograph enthusiasts will love this showcase and surely gather some wonderful concepts about undersea life forms. Additionally please feel free to share your thoughts or questions below in the post discussion area.

Undersea Life Chatter

31 New Inspirational iPhone & iPad Application Websites

When you first launch a mobile app there is often a huge influx of downloads in the first few days. This is followed by a lull after your app drops out of the brand new section. The solution to keeping your downloads constant is building up a powerful branding and marketing presence. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is putting together an application website.

There are so many examples it can be hard to keep track of them all. But this should come as reassurance to let you know there is a powerful market just waiting to be flooded. Spend a bit of time checking out these inspirational layouts and which elements you can apply to your own project. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to creating an application website. Piece together some of the best aspects of different designs and you may come up with your own contemporary branding.

Iris App

Using CSS3 Animations to Build a Sleek Box UI

Back just a few years ago it was required for web developers use JavaScript/jQuery to perform animated effects in-browser. CSS3 has dramatically changed the rules of the game where you can animate any standard property of an HTML element. This opens up a whole new room of effects you can put together in just 15-20 minutes of tinkering with code.

My example below uses a few Dribbble shots as a demo of how you can setup animated box effects. The style appears when you hover over each image to display some further information such as the title, description, and publication date. I’ll be explaining how to build a similar effect on your own website using nothing but HTML5 and CSS3 techniques.

Live Demo – Download Source Code

33 Wonderful Scenic Ocean Landscapes

The ocean can be an extremely calming experience to help soothe your troubles. This may be why vacation spots are so popular on the coastline and in islands around the world. But unfortunately we can’t all take beach vacations every week – but photographs can bring back a similar feeling.

The bundle I’ve put together is a fantastic collection of new ocean photographs. I find the beach to be very inspiring and leaves me with a sense of serenity in the day. Let us know your thoughts and if you have taken similar photos feel free to share in the discussion area below.

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

40 Examples of HDR Photography at Night

Some photo concepts behave very strange under different lenses and filters. HDR uses high-definition and can really pull out effects from light sources. Photographers have learned that using HDR at nighttime can render even more interesting results.

I’ve put together a wonderful showcase of photographs using HDR camera effects. These are all taken during the evening when the sky is dark or even pitch-black. Most of the light effects stream in through houses and street lights. It creates an intense atmosphere and a very striking photographic posture.

Trier City

Tips for Designing a Compact Website Layout

It can take a lot of additional effort to build mobile-specific website templates. HTML and CSS have come a long way but there are still plenty of standards and loopholes to jump through. And with the mounting increase of various mobile devices there are more platforms now than ever before.

In this guide I would like to share some of the most common tips when designing for mobile screens. The web is a fluid beast constantly changing with the times. You have to limit your knowledge of building for desktop browsers in exchange for newer compact designs. The learning process is devious but after a bit of practice you’ll pickup mobile design very quickly.