If you found this post, then you likely host a website using Tumblr. If your Tumblr theme is older, then broken tag links are something that probably started occurring on your site around October 2021. Changes to Tagged and Searched URLs on Tumblr Tumblr posted about this breaking update in the Changes on Tumblr blog. The article you want to read is titled, “Changes to Tagged and Searched URLs on Tumblr.” Fortunately, there’s also a relatively simple way to revert and keep your legacy Tumblr theme working as it always has. On my Tumblr site, which I started in 2004 with a cheaply purchased the ..read more

What task should you immediately complete after launching your new website? Hint: it helps all your hard work designing, coding, and writing be found by end-users via search. Another clue: my design studio provides this behind-the-scenes step for our clients as part of our best practice and SEO tasks. So, do you know what “this step” might be, or are you still wondering? This often-overlooked EASY website launch step is submitting your site map to Google for indexing. First, what is a sitemap? A website sitemap is a specially formatted XML file that tells search engines, like Google, Yahoo, an ..read more

Ever wanted to organize your Google Chrome extensions better? Yep, me too! Here are a few tips for pinning and arranging the most frequently used Google Chrome extensions in your browser. The location of Chrome Extension pinned icons.The basics of organizing Chrome extensions Your Chrome Extensions are icons displayed in the top right of your browser window. These visible Chrome Extension’s terminology is “pinned” extensions. How do I add an extension as a pinned extension in Chrome? Access all of your Google Chrome extensions by clicking the puzzle piece icon found in the top right of your br ..read more

Learning the nuances of the Illustrator pen tool takes time and practice. I found an exercise created by Belgian-based web/graphic designer Veerle many years ago. I’ve often used her exercise as an in-class project for my beginner design students. Veerle created this three-page Illustrator pen tool exercise back in 2007; she writes about it on her design blog. She also provides a download link for this exercise from DropBox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5gmjm3vw9jl8dfm/Pentool-exercise.ai.zip?dl=0 In the videos below, I’m sharing tips for beginner design students working on completing the assignm ..read more

This post is based on the skills and exercises I teach my beginner designer students during a project where we make logotypes using our initials. For visual research and inspiration, we first take a look at this round-up of Two Letter Logo Designs. Next, we talk about the techniques utilized in the designs. Then, we open Illustrator and attempt to recreate a few of the logos we just looked at. The copycat process is fairly simple. We use fonts that we turn into outlines so that we have shapes that we can then manipulate with the Pathfinder Unite and Divide tools. Watch the videos below to see ..read more

Ever wanted to delete your messages in Gmail on your iPhone by swiping? Yep, me too! My default swipe settings were configured to archive my messages, not to delete unwanted messages. Here are quick how-to instructions for setting deletion as your default swipe action for unwanted messages in the Gmail application on your iPhone. Instructions for Swiping to Delete Messages in Gmail on iPhone Time needed: 5 minutes. How to configure your iPhone’s Gmail to swipe to delete unwanted emails Open Gmail App First, open your Gmail application. Click the hamburger menu (three vertical lines) in ..read more

Both WordPress and Statamic content management systems are built on PHP. Just like many other programming languages, PHP’s syntax for OR is two vertical lines, || ; PHP’s syntax for AND is two ampersands &&. Alternatively, the words “and” and “or” may be used, too. IF OR in PHP The following PHP code used in a WordPress template reads as: “If the phone field is empty OR the claims field is empty, then output the <p> tag reading “Contact us directly.” <?php if( empty( $phone) || empty( $claims ) ) { echo '<p>Contact us directly.</p>' ;} ?> #alternative syntax ..read more

There likely will come a time when you want to use two different computers, as two users, during a virtual meeting. Have you tried it? It often goes poorly due to audio feedback. Here are a few tricks to help you make this a success. First, the obvious: make sure both users are muted on both computers in the conferencing program. Use your conferencing program’s mute option to turn off audio on both computers. Then, choose the computer/user you want to use for audio and unmute just that user. Second, the most important step: before you unmute, turn off the physical speakers on the computer you ..read more

Today, I found a handy online tool called URL Slug Generator. It takes a string, or in layman’s terms, words and turns them into slugs. I hate doing repetitive work, so this tool is a great find! Specifically today, this tool will decrease the time it takes me to rename dozens of PDF files to remove capital letters and spaces. What does “slug form” mean? In this case, “slug form” means: all words are lowercase; and words are separated by dashes. Here’s my process: Copy the file name, in this case: Instrumentation Quick Reference Guide Copy the generated slug URL form, in this case: instrume ..read more

Sorting out how to share and save files in Adobe programs can be challenging, especially for new designers. PDFs can be incredibly confusing for new designers because the PDF file type can be generic, specialized for specific apps, or interactive. This post shares insight on saving and using PDFs, specifically in Photoshop. How do I quickly share my PhotoShop design as a PDF by email or submit it for grading in a system with file size limits, like Blackboard? As a new designer, it can be hard to manage file size and figure out which file types are sharable. The preferred reviewing or sharing f ..read more