Sunday, May 31, 2020

Popular Design News of the Week: May 25, 2020 – May 31, 2020

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

10 Excellent Font Pairing Resources for Designers

20+ Beautiful Color Combinations for your Next Project

8 Tips for Designing Instagram Stories that Don’t Suck

Timeless Web Design: Online Portfolios Today - and in the Year 2000

10 Symptoms You Might Be a Designer

From Pentagram, 5 Data Visualizations that will Give You Hope During COVID-19

10 Design Systems You Must Know in 2020

100 Startup Ideas, from VCs and Founders

37 Inspiring Star Logo Designs

Little UX Crimes: A Collection of Dark Patterns in Design

Creating Modern Color Schemes for Websites (with Examples)

104 Photo Editing Tools You Should Know About

17 Tips for Designing with Type on a Photo

Colour Palette with Names and HEX Code

5+ Great Website Logo Makers for all Purposes

Editmode: Make any Website Editable Inline

Responsive Web Design Turns Ten

A Designer’s Guide to Creating Effective Dashboards

25 Beautifully Designed Ecommerce Website Examples

The Current State of Checkout UX

Pure CSS Oil Painting

Rules for Effective Design Choices

I Wrote a SAAS Product Because the Internet Made Me Believe it’d Make Me Rich

How I Accidentally Built a Tech Startup – Without any Technological Knowledge

How to Stop the Battle Between Product Managers and Designers

Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.

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Thursday, May 28, 2020

Should Your Site Be Using Dark Mode?

Taking a stab in the dark is taking on a new meaning with the rise of dark mode design. One of the most requested features over the past few years, both Apple and Google have made a dark theme an essential part of their UI. But why is this? What are the benefits? Are there any pitfalls? These are the top things to consider when designing for dark mode…

Why Use Dark Mode At All?

We are on our phones almost constantly. The average person spends over four hours a day on their device and scrolls the height of mount Everest every year. These stats aren’t particularly shocking, and it only takes a walk down the high street or a journey on public transport to see almost everyone with their necks bent, staring intently at screens. We use phones for everything from phone tickets to entertainment, meaning we need them at all times. This is where dark mode can help…

The average person…scrolls the height of mount Everest every year

It Can Reduce Eye Strain

Apart from the aching neck and slight cramp of the thumb, being on our phones so often is also bad for our eyes and it’s predicted 2 in 3 will experience eye strain caused by excessive phone use. Dark mode is here to help with this, making the screen easier to see in low lighting such as in the night or early morning. It can be a lot easier on the eyes, causing less strain and is better in the long run.

It Can Save Battery

Dark mode has also been found to improve battery life. According to a recent test conducted by PhoneBuff, iPhone batteries can be extended by up to 30%. This is only true, however, if users have an OLED screen. This is where the pixels that are black draw no power, whereas the LCD counterparts draw the same amount of power no matter the color they are displaying.

You Can Play Around More With Designs

By implementing dark mode to a site, you can have a play around with different features. It’s about a lot more than just inverting white to black. You can play around with the colors and the look side by side and see which looks better. It could mean you are inspired for certain changes with the light site too.

Things to Consider

Switching to dark mode isn’t a magic fix, and it isn’t right for every project. It’s important that you consider the use of dark mode carefully.

Focus on Your Content

Dark mode puts more of an emphasis on the content areas of your interface, allowing certain content to stand out, while the surrounding areas fade more to background. It’s important to remember this when designing for dark mode and ensure the content which will be at the forefront has a strong focus.

Test Your Design in Both Light and Dark Mode

We’ve already established you can’t just invert your colors to make a site work in dark mode. But you can’t forget to test your sites in both modes too — after all, you don’t want the two interfaces to be so aesthetically different you can’t tell they are the same site, or that users get confused.

Work Out Your Color Palette

Ensure your default color palette is defined by function and not by color — don’t be afraid to add in new colors that work better. In dark mode you will be working with a color palette that has lighter foreground colors and darker background colors. Find a soft color scheme that works well and doesn’t have too many colors to it — it’s best to keep it simple. If you need a white background, ensure it is a slightly darker and softer white, so it prevents the background from glowing against surrounding dark content. Best practices recommend using a contrast level of at least 15.8.1 between the text and background.

Light text on a dark background can appear bolder…use a lighter weight for dark mode

Don’t Forget The Text

You need to ensure the text is still legible if the user turns the screen brightness to its lowest. After all, you want it to be dark, but still usable. Check if it has enough contrast and certain elements that are meant to be distinguishable from each other, are. Ensure the primary and secondary colors are separate from each other and easy to separate. Light text on a dark background can appear bolder than the other way around, so you may want to use a lighter weight for dark mode — experiment and see what looks best.

Ensure Users Can Switch Between Regular and Dark Mode

Some companies have adopted the approach of letting the system decide when to turn off and on the dark and regular theme, switching between the two when it thinks is best. This can be frustrating for the user and leave them not wanting to use the site or programme anymore. While it may be designed for optimum usage at certain times, let users make up their own minds and have control. Some may prefer to use dark or light mode all the time and not want to switch around; allow users to turn the dark theme on or off easily and based on their needs. Make the switch easy to find or users may get frustrated and close the site.

Ensure the Target Audience Are Kept in Mind

Before jumping straight into re-building an interface to the new dark-mode, it’s important to consider who the users are. If they are a younger and more chic audience who are on their phones more during the day and evening, dark mode is probably a good idea, however if they are older and more traditional, they will probably prefer the more “paper-like” interface. Do some research and figure out who uses the site and what for. Dark modes tend to decrease readability so is less likely to do well if the site in question is a blog or news piece. If it has simple content or is focused heavily on images or video, dark mode works well – Netflix is one of the best examples of this.

Pitfalls of Dark Mode

Dark Mode Doesn’t Work Well For All Sites

If the site you are designing is a very text-heavy or data-heavy or contains a vast variety of elements such as text, images, data and dropdowns etc. it can be a challenge to design. The main reason for this is trying to maintain a sufficient contrast which works well for all elements. Generally, all colors (except the palest, which are hard to see) work on a white background, whereas a dark background greatly eliminates the amount you can use.

Dark Mode Isn’t Always Better Eyes

While it can be better for those using regular mode in situations were light is softer (such as when you are going to bed or waking up), it has been found dark mode doesn’t always fix the problem. In bright light conditions the text can appear washed out which actually increases eye strain.

Dark Mode Might Not Align With Existing Branding

Due to the fact you need a more restricted color palette and many logos are designed with a white background in mind, dark mode might not align with a company’s existing branding. When the platform has many elements, this can be challenging, and the site may seem very inconsistent when switching modes.

Dark Mode Doubles Your Workload

As a designer, there is already plenty to be done when it comes to designing a site in normal mode, without the addition of a whole new site too. While yes, core elements are the same, it will still need to be re-worked and altered to sufficiently adapt to dark mode. This is a whole extra segment to the job which might not have been accounted for.

Featured image via Unsplash.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2020

8 Useful WordPress Plugins Worth Checking Out

WordPress plugins are both great for adding functionality to WordPress and by extension reducing website designers’ workloads, as well as reducing costs to their clients.

There’s certainly no shortage of plugins. 55,000+ currently reside in the official WordPress repository and more are added with each passing day.

Some of these plugins are free, some are quite affordable, and some are premium products that can be quite expensive. Most provide good value for the money.

Picking a plugin or two, or three, that would make your work easier could be quite a challenge if you have to sift through all 55,000. Finding the best ones for the work at hand would be even more so.

Which is why we’re here to help. We believe every web designer and WordPress user should be aware of the 8 plugins addressed in this article for the remainder of 2020 and beyond.

1. Amelia WordPress Booking Plugin

Booking is an important task for many types of businesses. Although a single booking is not time consuming, multiple manual bookings can be, and managing multiple bookings that involve changes, cancellations, special requests, etc., can take time, energy, and require human resources.

Amelia is a WordPress booking plugin that can give a health clinic, gym, beauty parlor, or spa an error-free, reliable booking solution 24/7.
Amelia not only manages clients’ bookings but employee scheduling as well, taking into account hours worked, special days, and days off.
Amelia can manage bookings and appointments for a single business location, or multiple locations.
Amelia provides business owners or managers with up-to-date graphic depictions of the business’s key performance indicators (KPIs).
Amelia provides each business’s customer with its own Frontend Customer Panel

This remarkable automated booking system is easy to use and is currently used by 12,000+ businesses. It is GDPR compliant.

Click on the banner to find out more.

2. wpDataTables – Table and Chart WordPress Plugin

Crafting a table or chart can take time, and especially so when large amounts of complex data are involved or data is taken from more than a single source. wpDataTables is a fast, easy-to-use plugin that can not only save you a ton of time and frustration but will organize your data and present it in attractive, informative, and editable tables and charts.

A few of WPDataTables’ many popular features and capabilities:

Conditional formatting in which data of particular importance or interest is color-coded or highlighted
Multi-criteria filtering of data
Managing data from multiple separate Database connections
Creating tables and charts based on Excel files, CSV files, SQL queries, and Google spreadsheets
Creating tables and charts based on PHP arrays, JSON feeds, and XML feeds

With WPData tables you can build tables and charts using a single, rather than multiple plugins and organize data the way you want.

Click on the banner to find out more.

3. Go Dash – Makes Your Dashboard Fast

On the average, WordPress users spend 5.7 minutes searching for what they need after they log in. Time wasted.

Power users seldom have that problem. They can complete some tasks in 3 or 4 minutes that might take you 15 or 20. They finish their work faster and seemingly never have to ask where to find something.

Maybe it’s time to stop feeling envious of power users and invest in Go Dash, a revolutionary new plugin that gives you instant access to every post, product, page, and screen on your site

With Go Dash you can:

Power Search all your pages, posts & products – Even admin pages!
Create favorites & groups for fast access
Open multiple pages with a single click
Access recently viewed pages and posts

Take the first step toward finishing tasks more quickly, never having to ask where to find some obscure WordPress setting, and becoming a full-fledged WordPress power user by clicking on the above banner.

4. Logic Hop – Content Personalization for WordPress

Logic Hop brings the power of content personalization to WordPress by using on-site activity and real-time data to show the right content to the right person at the right time. Fully integrated into WordPress, Logic Hop is a complete personalization solution.

Logic Hop’s free add-ons enable uses to personalize with WooCommerce, Divi, Elementor, & more
It’s the only tool that enables unlimited personalization with geolocation at one low price

Click on the banner to find out more about this powerful plugin.

5. MapSVG WordPress mapping plugin

MapSVG lets you significantly spice up your site by helping you create custom content that you can show on a Google, Vector, or image map.

MapSVG has a build-in database and content manager
Map filter and search capabilities are included
Maps and information can be edited and maintained within MapSVG

Click on the banner to find out more about adding interactive maps to your site.

6. AdSanity

The AdSanity plugin supports Image Ads, Ad Networks, HTML5 ads, and Text Ads. It’s easy-to-use because it functions seamlessly with WordPress Custom Post Types.

Ads can be inserted automatically
Multiple methods can be called upon to embed ads
12 Add-ons significantly extend AdSanity’s functionality
Templates and filters help AdSanity users size and format ads

Click to learn more.

7. Slider Revolution

Slider Revolution 6 is much more than a slider builder. It’s a full-fledged, powerhouse website content builder and a potential game changer if your websites have taken on a certain sameness.

Slider Revolution’s cutting edge designs can create exciting, dynamic solutions to everyday design problems.
Create everything from sliders, carousels, and content modules to full websites.
Features include 2000+ royalty-free media assets

Click on the banner to learn more about this powerhouse website builder.

8. Ads Pro Plugin – Multi-Purpose WordPress Advertising Manager

AdsPro is the largest ad management plugin for WordPress is terms of the sheer flexibility provided through its many features

Highlights include

An order form
25+ Ad templates
User’s panel and user statistics
20+ Ad Display Types
PayPal, Stripe, Bank Option, and WooCommerce payment methods

AdsPro is 100% responsive and provides geo targeting, ad filtering and scheduling, and ad duration management.

Click on the banner to learn more about this powerful time-saving plugin.

*****

A discussion about which plugins and solutions are best for WordPress users can often lead to a healthy debate. That’s not terribly surprising since there are so many fantastic WordPress plugins on the market. Also because different people use them in different ways.

The WordPress plugins we bring you today are in our opinion MUST-HAVE tools. We have crowdsourced from some of the most successful online entrepreneurs and bloggers we know.

[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of BAW Media –]

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Ubersuggest Chrome Extension

Please note: Once you install the extension all you have to do is go to Google and perform a search. That is where you’ll see data.

It’s been a long time coming. And now, it is finally here.

Today, I want to introduce you to the Ubersuggest Chrome Extension.

From being in the SEO industry for over 21 years now, I know that it would be more convenient to do your SEO research while you are browsing the web or searching Google than constantly having to come back to Ubersuggest.

That’s why I created this Chrome extension.

So, what’s inside the Chrome extension?

Well, the easiest way to know what’s included (it’s free), is to just go and install it and test it out.

But here’s what’s included…

Keyword overview

When you are searching Google, you’ll see an overview within the search bar.

You’ll see the monthly search volume and the cost per click for that keyword.

When you click the “view all” link, you’ll see a detailed overview for that keyword.

The graph breaks down the total monthly search volume. What’s cool about the chart is that it shows you both the monthly mobile searches and desktop searches.

And above the graph, you’ll get metrics on how hard that keyword is to rank for (SEO Difficulty) and how competitive that keyword is from a paid advertising (Paid Difficulty) standpoint.

Under the graph, you’ll also see 2 bar graphs. The first one breaks down whether or not people are clicking on the SEO results, paid results, or not clicking anywhere at all.

The second one shows data on the age range of all of the searchers.

Link overview

Above the organic results, you’ll see a speech bubble that breaks the average authority of the sites that are ranking (domain score) and the average number of referring domains the top 10 results have (backlinks).

If you want a more detailed overview, you’ll see a graph in the sidebar that breaks down how many referring links each of the top 10 listings have.

Keep in mind the link metrics are based on referring domains. So, if a website has 100 links from the same domain name, it will only count as 1. Because what really matters when it comes to SEO is how many unique, relevant sites you can get to link to you as opposed to having the same site linking to you over and over again.

Even more keyword data

In the sidebar, you’ll also find even more keyword data.

You’ll see a list of other popular keywords that are similar. You’ll also get metrics on each keyword… from how often it is searched (volume), to what it would cost to bid on that keyword (CPC), to how difficult the keyword is from an SEO standpoint (SD).

And if you scroll to the very bottom of the screen, you’ll see a list of related keywords that Google provides.

Again, you’ll be provided with data like search volume, cost per click, and SEO difficulty data.

URL metrics

Whenever you perform a search on Google, you, of course, see a list of websites that rank for that keyword.

As you can see, under URL you see the authority of the website (domain score), how many Pinterest and Facebook shares the URL has, and how many unique domains are linking to that result.

What’s cool is you can click on the “down arrow” next to the link count and see the exact list of sites linking as well as their domain score and anchor text they used for the link.