
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
CMX Weekly Newsletter News Fun and Freebies Recent CMX Content Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats Check the News! A New CMX JumpStart: Stirling Stirling is a historic city set in the Scottish lowlands, and was the site of the famous Battle of Sterling fought by William Wallace's army. Perhaps you saw the movie Braveheart that was inspired by this battle! Stirling is the home of the Wallace monument, Stirling Castle, the old Stirling Gaol, and now the latest CMX JumpStart Stirling. CMX JumpStart Stirling, a centered, fixed-width layout with header, is based upon the popular Playa Blanca JumpStart. However, it has some intriguing enhancements, the most notable of which is the use of descendant selectors to flip the design from a two column layout to a three column layout on a page by page basis. Stirling also positions the main structure in a different way than Playa Blanca in that all of the columns are floated to achieve the design layout. The navigation in the left hand column, on the other hand, is switched to an AP div for older versions of IE in order to enable the bleed into the main content area from the page marker. Of course, Stirling meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements. The package includes documentation, an extension, six tutorials, one main and two Internet Explorer style sheets, a PNG document for branding the graphics, and a starter page. Stirling is available for $29.99 to non-members, but is absolutely free to CMX subscribers. Read more about how to make it yours. * CMX JumpStart Stirling article for nonmembers and members who would like to read more about its features and see a modified Stirling design. * CMX JumpStart Stirling article for members and for those who would like to purchase Stirling now. New CMX Partner: Introducing Daz Darren Andrew Winder, aka "Daz", is a graphic designer, teacher and technical editor of books on Photoshop, Illustrator and Coral PainterX, including "Photoshop CS2 Gone Wild" by Sherry London and Digital Painting Fundamentals with Coral PainterX" by Rhoda Grossman. Darren is widely known on the internet circuit. He is Teaching Assistant for Sherry London at ed2go.com teaching Photoshop and Illustrator courses via the internet, through colleges and universities worldwide. Darren is also the owner of d.a.w.DESIGN: a digital art studio, where much of his fantastic work can be seen. And now, he is here at CMX teaching us how to do what he does. We really wanted to pack CMX with more Photoshop and Illustrator tutorials, and Daz is going to be instrumental in that regard. Welcome, Daz! New Support Group For RIA Addicts If you've been looking for an online resource that keeps you in touch with everything having to do with building Rich Internet Applications, you've got to check out InsideRIA.com, developed by O’Reilly and sponsored by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Their goal is "to create an invaluable resource for information on the ever-changing state of design and development of rich Internet applications." Since RIAs have become a more viable platform, folks have been looking for a website that keeps them in tune with what's going on in the world of RIA development. To find out more about InsideRIA.com, check out this blog post from Rich Tretola at EverythingFlex.com. And if you're wondering where RIA is heading, read RJ's blog. Internet Explorer: Really Backwards... Compatible In order to be more standards-compliant and offer greater backward-compatibility, the folks at Microsoft plan on implementing a new meta tag that allows you to tell the browser which rendering engine to use. For a more complete explanation and links to more reading on this subject, which has become a touchy one already among developers, I refer you to our own Paul Davis' blog entry at CMXtraneous. TODCon 2008 Announced! For the few who haven't experienced it yet, TODCon is the most informative yet informal Adobe-related event you're going to find. TODCon has been a popular alternative to the "other" Adobe-related conferences for years now, and for good reason. Whether you're a seasoned veteran of Adobe products or just starting out, you will have a great time learning a great deal from many knowledgeable speakers about CSS, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, ColdFusion, Flash, Central and even about running your business properly. Those who attend usually end up coming back every year because of the unique and informal atmosphere. You don't want to miss out on this event. This year, TODCon will take place in Orlando, Florida. We predict that this year's turnout will be even bigger than last year's. Registration for this fantastic, one of a kind event will be open soon, so keep an eye out and don't miss out!
Satisfied Customers Speak Out! "Wow! Now that was beyond easy! Thanks for the tutorial. I never saw that in the new Fireworks. Any chance you could continue by showing how to put it WITHIN a Jumpstart (or other template) page? Most of the slideshows I use are for galleries. It would be great to see how this could fit into a website. Thanks a bunch!!" CMX Subscriber Theresa W., commenting on Tom Green's article "Create a Slideshow in Fireworks CS3" Whether you're just starting out or need advanced support, Community MX will give you answers and ideas to work through your tough issues. Don't miss out. Learn more about CMX or sign up for a free trial today!
Great Quotes: "Doubt is to certainty as neurosis is to psychosis. The neurotic is in doubt and has fears about persons and things; the psychotic has convictions and makes claims about them. In short, the neurotic has problems, the psychotic has solutions." — Thomas Szasz Don't Be A Couch Potato, Be A Wii Potato! Students at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, decided to test the Nintendo Wii as an alternative form of exercise. They wanted to see if playing the Wii boxing game for a half hour could give them a cardivascular workout equal to a half hour walk in the park. Their findings? Sorry, but "real" exercise still wins out. That doesn't mean there is no benefit to "working out" on the Wii. As Justin White, a fourth-year kinesiology student, says "if they're just looking to lose weight, it's a good way to get started. It can also be a gateway to other things and may get people interested in the actual sports themselves too." Ah, yes. I remember how Mortal Kombat got me into ripping my neighbors heads off, and Grand Theft Auto... well, I'm not allowed to talk about that until the lawsuits are over... More on the Wii workout experiment at PCWorld.com. Google Tells Profiteers Not To Go Fly A Kite According to this article at InformationWeek.com, 95% of all deleted .com and .net domain names were the result of domain tasting. Domain tasting is the practice of taking advantage of the 5-day grace period before having to pay for a domain name by testing the domain name for ad profitibility before having to pay for it, and then dumping it if it proves not to be a money-maker. In many cases, the domain name is dumped, and then immediately re-registered again, keeping it in a perpetually free and test-ready state. That practice is called domain kiting, and until now, there was little being done to stop this from happening. Google says they can detect kited domains and will be taking steps to prevent Google's AdSense from appearing on those domains. Considering that Google makes money off of domain kiting, they're showing some integrity by trying to put an end to this practice. Read more about it at InformationWeek.com. The Google Experiment Google is seeking to increase your searching pleasure by giving you the option of customizing your search results in a new way. It works is this: Once your search results are presented, a set of icons allow you to move certain results up the list. You can also remove a website completely or suggest a website that should show up in your search results. You know what this means, don't you? That's right. Google has run out of ideas. Read about the experiment at Google.com. Well Heck, If It's A Small Computer You Want, Why Spend More Than $400? Steve Jobs walks into a bar. He says "Hey, I've got a laptop that I'm going to sell you for $1,700, and it's not quite as powerful as some other laptops that you can buy for half the cost." If anyone else said it, this would be a joke. But Jobs has actually done it, just by adding this punchline: "It's really lightweight!" Well then... If you're just looking for a laptop that is ultra-portable and peforms basic functions, there is an alternative that costs a whole lot less than the Air. Look at this article at Devindra.org that compares the 3-lb. Macbook Air to the 2-lb. Asus Eeee. We've got nothing against Apple trying to make a few bucks, but if you're looking for the lightest laptop available, it's good to know that Air isn't the only game in town. Just found a good at-a-glance review over at Gizmodo.com. Why Linux Will Not Displace Windows, Indeed. Christopher Dawson made an entry at the Education IT Blog at ZDNet explaining why he believed that Linux will never be able to compete with Windows unless users can go to any computer shop and buy a computer with Linux pre-installed. A lot of people replied to the post, but one of the most memorable replies came from Jerry Lee Cooper, who among other things, said "Are you saying that this linux can run on a computer without windows underneath it, at all ? As in, without a boot disk, without any drivers, and without any services ? That sounds preposterous to me." Another nugget from Jerry Lee's reply: "Its just not possible that a freeware like the Linux could be extended to the point where it runs the entire computer fron start to finish, without using some of the more critical parts of windows. Not possible. I think you need to re-examine your assumptions." It's not a crime not to understand what Linux is, but there should be some type of infraction for flaunting your lack of knowledge this extravagantly.
CMX Insert FlashObject 1.2 (Dreamweaver Extension) FlashObject is an external JavaScript file, created by Geoff Stearns, that enables you to embed Flash movies into web pages using XHTML-compliant code. The CMX Insert FlashObject extension automatically inserts FlashObject code into Dreamweaver documents, and copies flashobject.js into the folder you specify. Now supports major, minor, and revision Flash Player detection. Check out this Dreamweaver Extension by CMXpert Paul Newman
Fun and Freebies In Another Twelve Years, Will Our Websites Look This Dorky? When the internet first came to be, people scrambled to get content assembled so they get their presence out there. As recently as 1996, the internet was still in its infancy and it showed. For a taste of how far we've come, check out Internet '96. I Love You So Much, I'm Putting You On My Underwear You hear it time and again: Mac users don't just like their Macs. They loooooove their Macs. Want proof? MacHeads, The Movie Just found a trailer for MacHeads, The Movie. We're not sure if Steve Jobs' lawyers have turned in a review yet...
Optimizing Flash Content for Use in Video In this, the second of eight excerpts from Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers by friendsofEd, Community MX partners, Tom Green and David Stiller, show you how to convert a Flash movie into a Quicktime movie. This exercise doesn't just think "outside of the box", it moves to the room where the box is located. This free article by CMX Authors Tom Green and David Stiller can be found here.
Weekly Content Listing Handy Form Snippets [FREE] Ray West Drop down lists. They are a necessary part of many applications, and yet are time-consuming to create. You will not know how valuable these are until you need them. Included are: US States US States and Canadian Provinces Time in hour segments Time in half-hour segments Time in quarter-hour segments Time in hour segments with military time values Time in half-hour segments with military time values Time in half-hour segments with military time values Time in hour segments with military time values and display Time in half-hour segments with military time values and display Time in half-hour segments with military time values and display Business Hours (8-5) in hour segments Business Hours (8-5) in half-hour segments Business Hours (8-5) in quarter-hour segments A Different Kind of Style Jim Babbage When you think of the Fireworks Styles panel, you probably think of how those combinations of effects can give you groovy (yes, I said groovy) buttons, or header backgrounds. You may even be adventurous enough to apply styles to text. However, there is another way to work with styles which you might not normally think of—applying them to bitmap images. In many ways this can be just as creative as applying styles to vectors. Maybe even more! This article will also show you how to create your own "reset style" setting, so you can quickly revert back to your original image. Introducing CMX JumpStart Stirling [FREE] Sheri German CMX JumpStart Stirling, a centered, fixed-width layout with a header, is based upon the popular Playa Blanca JumpStart. However, it has some intriguing enhancements, the most notable of which is the use of descendant selectors to flip the design from a two-column layout to a three-column layout on a page-by-page basis. Stirling also positions the main structure in a different way than Playa Blanca in that all of the columns are floated to achieve the design layout. The navigation in the left hand column, on the other hand, is switched to an AP div for older versions of IE in order to enable the bleed into the main content area from the page marker. Of course Stirling meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements. CMX JumpStart: Stirling Adrian Senior The Stirling JumpStart is based around the popular Playa Blanca JumpStart, with one or two subtle enhancements that will allow you to easily flip the design from a two-column layout to a three-column layout on a page-by-page basis. Adding Flash Cue Points in Soundbooth CS3 Tom Green An audio editing app that adds cue points to an FLV file? What's with that? Actually, it makes a lot of sense. Approximate download size: 24MB Better Family Photos with Fireworks Kim Cavanaugh Ah yes, the family snapshot. From the time that Mr. Eastman of Eastman-Kodak first introduced the venerable Brownie camera, and made it easy and affordable for anyone to snap a few pictures at the family gathering or on vacation, we've all been snapping away, taking what must be by now trillions of really bad photos. In this tutorial, we are going to take a look at a few common techniquest that you can use in Fireworks to quickly improve the look of your family snapshots. ColdFusion and Exchange Server Ray West I have used Thunderbird forever, it seems. We tried Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook several years ago, But we could never get it to configure quite right with our firewall, and it was a pain to manage, and Outlook and Outlook Express were unreliable, to say the least. I was pretty happy with a simpler mail server and Thunderbird, until two things happened at just about the same time. My company was expanding, and with that came a larger sales team. There had been requests for Outlook before, but the sales force presented the best argument for needing the features of Exchange server (which most people never realize is a requirement to get all of the fancier features of Outlook). They needed shared calendars and the ability to management meeting invitations, plus better access from multiple locations. Sure there are other products that will allow this, but it seemed like a good time to try Exchange again. Case Study: How to Customize a JumpStart [FREE] Steven Seiller The primary benefits to the JumpStarts are that they have been tested with the popular browsers and can get you up and running quickly. Having a limited timeframe to get the site redesigned, I decided to give the JumpStarts a good look. What I quickly realized is that despite my disdain for templates, the JumpStarts are highly customizable, which can result in uniques designs. In this tutorial, I will describe the process I used for assessing my web site needs and selecting a specific JumpStart. We will then walk through the steps of creating a unique design from the example. Finally, I will share an extra step I took in which I used PHP to 'templatize' my page design to speed content creation, ease revisions and provide customized content to the visitor. Martin Luther King Jr. Day So that our partners may enjoy the long weekend with their families and friends we will not be releasing any new content today. We'll be back on Tuesday with two new pieces of content. See you then! Create a Slideshow in Fireworks CS3 Tom Green Why do we make our lives complicated? Why do we strip our computer down to its electrons before we check to see if it is plugged into the wall? Why do we over think web-based slideshows?
Designing Look and Feel with the Flex 2 Skins Template Flex Builder 2 has many powerful ways of customizing the appearance of its components. Each component has many style attributes that can be tweaked to drastically change the look-and-feel of your application. Sometimes, however, you may find that these attributes are insufficient in giving you the complete look you are going for. In addition to styling with attributes, you can also define skins. Skins are treated as concrete assets that represent the entire appearance of a component. They're usually the easiest and most controlled solution for maximum visual control. In this lesson, we will look into skins and skin templates for our Flex 2 components. Check out the Article by CMX partner Steve Schelter
Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats! This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of CMX Partner Joseph Balderson Opening Images From The Web If you cut and paste a URL to an image file in the Open dialog in Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator CS2, it will download the image and open it up for editing. This applies to SVG, PNG, JPG, or any file format that Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator can open. A quick and easy way to edit web images on the fly. Would you like your tip published? Submit it to tips@communitymx.com. That's it for this week. Stay tuned for the next CMX newsletter!

CMX Weekly Newsletter

News
Fun and Freebies
Recent CMX Content
Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats

Check the News!

A New CMX JumpStart: Stirling

Stirling is a historic city set in the Scottish lowlands, and was the site of the famous Battle of Sterling fought by William Wallace's army. Perhaps you saw the movie Braveheart that was inspired by this battle! Stirling is the home of the Wallace monument, Stirling Castle, the old Stirling Gaol, and now the latest CMX JumpStart Stirling.

CMX JumpStart Stirling, a centered, fixed-width layout with header, is based upon the popular Playa Blanca JumpStart. However, it has some intriguing enhancements, the most notable of which is the use of descendant selectors to flip the design from a two column layout to a three column layout on a page by page basis. Stirling also positions the main structure in a different way than Playa Blanca in that all of the columns are floated to achieve the design layout. The navigation in the left hand column, on the other hand, is switched to an AP div for older versions of IE in order to enable the bleed into the main content area from the page marker.

Of course, Stirling meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements.

The package includes documentation, an extension, six tutorials, one main and two Internet Explorer style sheets, a PNG document for branding the graphics, and a starter page.

Stirling is available for $29.99 to non-members, but is absolutely free to CMX subscribers. Read more about how to make it yours.

* CMX JumpStart Stirling article for nonmembers and members who would like to read more about its features and see a modified Stirling design.
* CMX JumpStart Stirling article for members and for those who would like to purchase Stirling now.

New CMX Partner: Introducing Daz

Darren Andrew Winder, aka "Daz", is a graphic designer, teacher and technical editor of books on Photoshop, Illustrator and Coral PainterX, including "Photoshop CS2 Gone Wild" by Sherry London and Digital Painting Fundamentals with Coral PainterX" by Rhoda Grossman.

Darren is widely known on the internet circuit. He is Teaching Assistant for Sherry London at ed2go.com teaching Photoshop and Illustrator courses via the internet, through colleges and universities worldwide.

Darren is also the owner of d.a.w.DESIGN: a digital art studio, where much of his fantastic work can be seen. And now, he is here at CMX teaching us how to do what he does. We really wanted to pack CMX with more Photoshop and Illustrator tutorials, and Daz is going to be instrumental in that regard. Welcome, Daz!

New Support Group For RIA Addicts

If you've been looking for an online resource that keeps you in touch with everything having to do with building Rich Internet Applications, you've got to check out InsideRIA.com, developed by O’Reilly and sponsored by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Their goal is "to create an invaluable resource for information on the ever-changing state of design and development of rich Internet applications." Since RIAs have become a more viable platform, folks have been looking for a website that keeps them in tune with what's going on in the world of RIA development. To find out more about InsideRIA.com, check out this blog post from Rich Tretola at EverythingFlex.com. And if you're wondering where RIA is heading, read RJ's blog.

Internet Explorer: Really Backwards... Compatible

In order to be more standards-compliant and offer greater backward-compatibility, the folks at Microsoft plan on implementing a new meta tag that allows you to tell the browser which rendering engine to use. For a more complete explanation and links to more reading on this subject, which has become a touchy one already among developers, I refer you to our own Paul Davis' blog entry at CMXtraneous.

TODCon 2008 Announced!

For the few who haven't experienced it yet, TODCon is the most informative yet informal Adobe-related event you're going to find. TODCon has been a popular alternative to the "other" Adobe-related conferences for years now, and for good reason. Whether you're a seasoned veteran of Adobe products or just starting out, you will have a great time learning a great deal from many knowledgeable speakers about CSS, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, ColdFusion, Flash, Central and even about running your business properly. Those who attend usually end up coming back every year because of the unique and informal atmosphere. You don't want to miss out on this event. This year, TODCon will take place in Orlando, Florida. We predict that this year's turnout will be even bigger than last year's.

Registration for this fantastic, one of a kind event will be open soon, so keep an eye out and don't miss out!

Satisfied Customers Speak Out!

"Wow! Now that was beyond easy! Thanks for the tutorial. I never saw that in the new Fireworks. Any chance you could continue by showing how to put it WITHIN a Jumpstart (or other template) page? Most of the slideshows I use are for galleries. It would be great to see how this could fit into a website. Thanks a bunch!!"

CMX Subscriber Theresa W., commenting on Tom Green's article "Create a Slideshow in Fireworks CS3"

Whether you're just starting out or need advanced support, Community MX will give you answers and ideas to work through your tough issues. Don't miss out. Learn more about CMX or sign up for a free trial today!

Great Quotes:

"Doubt is to certainty as neurosis is to psychosis. The neurotic is in doubt and has fears about persons and things; the psychotic has convictions and makes claims about them. In short, the neurotic has problems, the psychotic has solutions." — Thomas Szasz

Don't Be A Couch Potato, Be A Wii Potato!

Students at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, decided to test the Nintendo Wii as an alternative form of exercise. They wanted to see if playing the Wii boxing game for a half hour could give them a cardivascular workout equal to a half hour walk in the park. Their findings? Sorry, but "real" exercise still wins out. That doesn't mean there is no benefit to "working out" on the Wii. As Justin White, a fourth-year kinesiology student, says "if they're just looking to lose weight, it's a good way to get started. It can also be a gateway to other things and may get people interested in the actual sports themselves too." Ah, yes. I remember how Mortal Kombat got me into ripping my neighbors heads off, and Grand Theft Auto... well, I'm not allowed to talk about that until the lawsuits are over... More on the Wii workout experiment at PCWorld.com.

Google Tells Profiteers Not To Go Fly A Kite

According to this article at InformationWeek.com, 95% of all deleted .com and .net domain names were the result of domain tasting. Domain tasting is the practice of taking advantage of the 5-day grace period before having to pay for a domain name by testing the domain name for ad profitibility before having to pay for it, and then dumping it if it proves not to be a money-maker. In many cases, the domain name is dumped, and then immediately re-registered again, keeping it in a perpetually free and test-ready state. That practice is called domain kiting, and until now, there was little being done to stop this from happening. Google says they can detect kited domains and will be taking steps to prevent Google's AdSense from appearing on those domains. Considering that Google makes money off of domain kiting, they're showing some integrity by trying to put an end to this practice. Read more about it at InformationWeek.com.

The Google Experiment

Google is seeking to increase your searching pleasure by giving you the option of customizing your search results in a new way. It works is this: Once your search results are presented, a set of icons allow you to move certain results up the list. You can also remove a website completely or suggest a website that should show up in your search results. You know what this means, don't you? That's right. Google has run out of ideas. Read about the experiment at Google.com.

Well Heck, If It's A Small Computer You Want, Why Spend More Than $400?

Steve Jobs walks into a bar. He says "Hey, I've got a laptop that I'm going to sell you for $1,700, and it's not quite as powerful as some other laptops that you can buy for half the cost." If anyone else said it, this would be a joke. But Jobs has actually done it, just by adding this punchline: "It's really lightweight!" Well then... If you're just looking for a laptop that is ultra-portable and peforms basic functions, there is an alternative that costs a whole lot less than the Air. Look at this article at Devindra.org that compares the 3-lb. Macbook Air to the 2-lb. Asus Eeee. We've got nothing against Apple trying to make a few bucks, but if you're looking for the lightest laptop available, it's good to know that Air isn't the only game in town. Just found a good at-a-glance review over at Gizmodo.com.

Why Linux Will Not Displace Windows, Indeed.

Christopher Dawson made an entry at the Education IT Blog at ZDNet explaining why he believed that Linux will never be able to compete with Windows unless users can go to any computer shop and buy a computer with Linux pre-installed. A lot of people replied to the post, but one of the most memorable replies came from Jerry Lee Cooper, who among other things, said "Are you saying that this linux can run on a computer without windows underneath it, at all ? As in, without a boot disk, without any drivers, and without any services ? That sounds preposterous to me." Another nugget from Jerry Lee's reply: "Its just not possible that a freeware like the Linux could be extended to the point where it runs the entire computer fron start to finish, without using some of the more critical parts of windows. Not possible. I think you need to re-examine your assumptions." It's not a crime not to understand what Linux is, but there should be some type of infraction for flaunting your lack of knowledge this extravagantly.

CMX Insert FlashObject 1.2 (Dreamweaver Extension)

FlashObject is an external JavaScript file, created by Geoff Stearns, that enables you to embed Flash movies into web pages using XHTML-compliant code. The CMX Insert FlashObject extension automatically inserts FlashObject code into Dreamweaver documents, and copies flashobject.js into the folder you specify. Now supports major, minor, and revision Flash Player detection.

Check out this Dreamweaver Extension by CMXpert Paul Newman

Fun and Freebies

In Another Twelve Years, Will Our Websites Look This Dorky?

When the internet first came to be, people scrambled to get content assembled so they get their presence out there. As recently as 1996, the internet was still in its infancy and it showed. For a taste of how far we've come, check out Internet '96.

I Love You So Much, I'm Putting You On My Underwear

You hear it time and again: Mac users don't just like their Macs. They loooooove their Macs. Want proof?

MacHeads, The Movie

Just found a trailer for MacHeads, The Movie. We're not sure if Steve Jobs' lawyers have turned in a review yet...

Optimizing Flash Content for Use in Video

In this, the second of eight excerpts from Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers by friendsofEd, Community MX partners, Tom Green and David Stiller, show you how to convert a Flash movie into a Quicktime movie. This exercise doesn't just think "outside of the box", it moves to the room where the box is located.

This free article by CMX Authors Tom Green and David Stiller can be found here.

Weekly Content Listing

Handy Form Snippets [FREE]

Ray West

Drop down lists. They are a necessary part of many applications, and yet are time-consuming to create. You will not know how valuable these are until you need them. Included are:

US States
US States and Canadian Provinces
Time in hour segments
Time in half-hour segments
Time in quarter-hour segments
Time in hour segments with military time values
Time in half-hour segments with military time values
Time in half-hour segments with military time values
Time in hour segments with military time values and display
Time in half-hour segments with military time values and display
Time in half-hour segments with military time values and display
Business Hours (8-5) in hour segments
Business Hours (8-5) in half-hour segments
Business Hours (8-5) in quarter-hour segments

A Different Kind of Style

Jim Babbage

When you think of the Fireworks Styles panel, you probably think of how those combinations of effects can give you groovy (yes, I said groovy) buttons, or header backgrounds. You may even be adventurous enough to apply styles to text.

However, there is another way to work with styles which you might not normally think of—applying them to bitmap images. In many ways this can be just as creative as applying styles to vectors. Maybe even more!

This article will also show you how to create your own "reset style" setting, so you can quickly revert back to your original image.

Introducing CMX JumpStart Stirling [FREE]

Sheri German

CMX JumpStart Stirling, a centered, fixed-width layout with a header, is based upon the popular Playa Blanca JumpStart. However, it has some intriguing enhancements, the most notable of which is the use of descendant selectors to flip the design from a two-column layout to a three-column layout on a page-by-page basis. Stirling also positions the main structure in a different way than Playa Blanca in that all of the columns are floated to achieve the design layout. The navigation in the left hand column, on the other hand, is switched to an AP div for older versions of IE in order to enable the bleed into the main content area from the page marker. Of course Stirling meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements.

CMX JumpStart: Stirling

Adrian Senior

The Stirling JumpStart is based around the popular Playa Blanca JumpStart, with one or two subtle enhancements that will allow you to easily flip the design from a two-column layout to a three-column layout on a page-by-page basis.

Adding Flash Cue Points in Soundbooth CS3

Tom Green

An audio editing app that adds cue points to an FLV file? What's with that? Actually, it makes a lot of sense.

Approximate download size: 24MB

Better Family Photos with Fireworks

Kim Cavanaugh

Ah yes, the family snapshot. From the time that Mr. Eastman of Eastman-Kodak first introduced the venerable Brownie camera, and made it easy and affordable for anyone to snap a few pictures at the family gathering or on vacation, we've all been snapping away, taking what must be by now trillions of really bad photos.

In this tutorial, we are going to take a look at a few common techniquest that you can use in Fireworks to quickly improve the look of your family snapshots.

ColdFusion and Exchange Server

Ray West

I have used Thunderbird forever, it seems. We tried Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook several years ago, But we could never get it to configure quite right with our firewall, and it was a pain to manage, and Outlook and Outlook Express were unreliable, to say the least. I was pretty happy with a simpler mail server and Thunderbird, until two things happened at just about the same time.

My company was expanding, and with that came a larger sales team. There had been requests for Outlook before, but the sales force presented the best argument for needing the features of Exchange server (which most people never realize is a requirement to get all of the fancier features of Outlook). They needed shared calendars and the ability to management meeting invitations, plus better access from multiple locations. Sure there are other products that will allow this, but it seemed like a good time to try Exchange again.

Case Study: How to Customize a JumpStart [FREE]

Steven Seiller

The primary benefits to the JumpStarts are that they have been tested with the popular browsers and can get you up and running quickly. Having a limited timeframe to get the site redesigned, I decided to give the JumpStarts a good look. What I quickly realized is that despite my disdain for templates, the JumpStarts are highly customizable, which can result in uniques designs.

In this tutorial, I will describe the process I used for assessing my web site needs and selecting a specific JumpStart. We will then walk through the steps of creating a unique design from the example. Finally, I will share an extra step I took in which I used PHP to 'templatize' my page design to speed content creation, ease revisions and provide customized content to the visitor.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

So that our partners may enjoy the long weekend with their families and friends we will not be releasing any new content today. We'll be back on Tuesday with two new pieces of content. See you then!

Create a Slideshow in Fireworks CS3

Tom Green

Why do we make our lives complicated? Why do we strip our computer down to its electrons before we check to see if it is plugged into the wall? Why do we over think web-based slideshows?

Designing Look and Feel with the Flex 2 Skins Template

Flex Builder 2 has many powerful ways of customizing the appearance of its components. Each component has many style attributes that can be tweaked to drastically change the look-and-feel of your application. Sometimes, however, you may find that these attributes are insufficient in giving you the complete look you are going for. In addition to styling with attributes, you can also define skins. Skins are treated as concrete assets that represent the entire appearance of a component. They're usually the easiest and most controlled solution for maximum visual control. In this lesson, we will look into skins and skin templates for our Flex 2 components.

Check out the Article by CMX partner Steve Schelter

Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats!

This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of CMX Partner Joseph Balderson

Opening Images From The Web

If you cut and paste a URL to an image file in the Open dialog in Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator CS2, it will download the image and open it up for editing. This applies to SVG, PNG, JPG, or any file format that Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator can open. A quick and easy way to edit web images on the fly.

Would you like your tip published? Submit it to tips@communitymx.com.

That's it for this week. Stay tuned for the next CMX newsletter!