This week it’s another Rapid Fire!!! Nothing but the best darn question and answer action you’ve ever heard!

We talked about (roughly in order):

Q & A:

3:30 Do you have any rule of thumb for deciding when to use the new element (using the picturefill polyfill) vs just using CSS background images with media queries for responsive images? Is it more a question of semantics?

12:15 What is translateZ traditionally used for and how can it help me with my front-end style markup?

24:26 I love inline-block, it’s great and allows for easy simple vertical alignment. However it always adds that little bit of extras space making items wrap, e.g. a list of 4 with each set at 25%. Is there a better/cleaner way than commenting out the space? Why does it even happen?

31:36 I’m trying to move stackicons.com from icon font to SVG-based. Can you reference an external style sheet in the SVG file itself and use that as a single place to change styling across all the icons?

38:45 In jQuery, what is the difference between the .on function and the .click function?

44:47 I’m curious on what your thoughts are for terminology changes across an entire project. To give you some background, I work for a company that has created a web-based software. We have come across stages in our development that we want to change the terminology for functionality in our site. How would you guys go about this?

51:44 Regarding performance on mobile, is it better to A) have all content on page load and then show-hide it, B) inject the markup and content dynamically or C) load that markup and content using ajax, when a tablet o desktop media query matches, so secondary content can be shown to these more capable browsers.

Sponsors:

20:19 Adobe – Check out Project Parfait: it’s a really nice way to extract everything you need from a PSD – in your browser!

Also, take a look at the Edge Animage CC updates: some sweet new features like copy/paste SVG art from Illustrator.

37:05 E4H – FrontEnd Summit – Environments for Humans brings together some of the Web’s most notable experts in FrontEnd for an all-new, one-day only online conference, the FrontEnd Summit 2014! Bring the experts to your desktop August 21st from 9AM to 4PM (CT).

Lots of great talks including: Sublime, Vim Editors FTW, Fearless Browser Test Automation, The State of Grunt, and more! Get 20% off your tickets now by using coupon code “SHOPTALK”!

Show Links:

Picture Element

Picturefill Polyfill

Buzzfeed Minus Gifs

Will-change CSS Property

Fighting the Space Between Inline-Block Elements – CSS-Tricks Blog Post

Stackicons

FitText

Conditional Loading for Responsive Designs

This week we were joined by Rob Dodson. Rob works on Polymer at Google. True Facts. We take a deep dive with him into Polymer and Web Components.

We talked about (roughly in order):

Q & A:

27:58 Web components are a hot topic at the moment, and it looks like libraries like Polymer are almost ready for production. Have either of you guys had the opportunity to play around with web components yet? Do you think they are the future? What do you believe to be positive and negative aspects of breaking up your HTML, CSS and JavaScript into isolated bundles of styling/functionality?

39:58 What would you say are the advantages of polymer over angular directives?

46:40 Is it possible to use Polymer with Phonegap?

49:09 When working on a project with a team, using Git and SASS, what does your guys folder structure and workflow look like?

54:38 I’ve started using Grunt for javascript concat and minification, image optimization and cache manifest generation when necessary. Should I .gitignore the node modules folder?

Sponsors:

24:22 SpeedCurve – Monitor front-end performance. Get continuous feedback on how your front-end code is affecting the performance of your website.

44:50 E4H – FrontEnd Summit – Environments for Humans brings together some of the Web’s most notable experts in FrontEnd for an all-new, one-day only online conference, the FrontEnd Summit 2014! Bring the experts to your desktop August 21st from 9AM to 4PM (CT). Lots of great talks including: Sublime, Vim Editors FTW, Fearless Browser Test Automation, The State of Grunt, and more! Get your tickets now!

Use coupon code “SHOPTALK” for 20% off any ticket combo.

Show Links:

Rob Dodson’s Website

Rob Dodson on Twitter

Polymer

A Guide to Web Components

Intro to Material Design

Responsive Design Speed Testing

Chrome Status

Angular Directives

Phonegap

Cordova

Google Web Fundamentals

This week, we take a listen to an episode of the Shoptalk show that was recorded WAAAYYYYY back in 2004, when – apparently – both Chris and Dave had midwestern accents and voices that cracked regularly! They speak to some up-and-comers in the web design community, and debate the hot question: CSS, or tables?

Q & A

5:26 Live Journal no longer requires an invite code: is there going to be a Shoptalk Community?

7:07 How do I add text to my Zen Garden theme with CSS?

12:06 I’d like to use CSS Zen Garden, but I’m Christian. What should I do?

15:31 I’ve been using frames and tables for my layouts, but I’ve heard about divs and CSS. Should I take the time to learn this stuff?

17:25 Is it possible to use CSS with IE 5 and 6?

20:10 I heard the folks at Mozilla are about to release a new web browser. Will it handle CSS properties better than Internet Exploder?

22:59 I have two frames in a frame set. How do I let my users toggle the left frame on and off by clicking a button on the right frame?

26:27 Where can I find “Under Construction” GIFs for my new site? And how long do I have before GeoCities takes my page down?

30:41 I’m working with an Ad Agency doing print work, but I’m interested in building websites. Is the future of websites bigger than print design?

34:28 I’ve been hearing about liquid layouts to let websites adjust to different screen sizes, but since most screens are 1024px or 800px, are liquid layouts worth the extra work?

38:23 What can I do to make my Myspace page look cooler?

40:50 I’m building my first website, and I want to make a blog. Should I use WordPress or Grey Matter?

43:15 How do I change the background image in my nav bar when the user hovers over it?

46:46 Do you know of a good rollover plugin for Dreamweaver 6?

48:47 Why should I start using CSS and Divs instead of table based layouts?

52:38 I’ve been using Adobe Director, but my teachers at school keep telling me that Authorware is going to be the next big thing. Any tips?

56:00 My uncle keeps having the weird dreams about the future where kids are taking pictures of their meals and sharing them on the internet. Is he crazy?

Sponsors:

61:15 Adobe – Check out Project Parfait: it’s a really nice way to extract everything you need from a PSD – in your browser!

63:03 E4H CSS Summit – Environments for Humans brings together some of the Web’s most notable experts in and for an all-new, three-day online conference, the CSS Summit 2014! Bring the experts to your desktop July 15-July 17, 2014 from 9AM to 4PM (CT).

Show Links:

Homestar Runner

CSS Zen Garden

Designing with Web Standards

Javascript Tutorials

Aurgasm

Metafilter

WordPress

Grey Matter

Moveable Type

Lingo

Adobe Authorware

Adobe Director 9

This week we were joined by Katie Kovalcin. Katie is a designer at Happy Cog in Austin and teaches at Girl Develop It.

We talked about (roughly in order):

News’n’Links’n’Drama:

12:55 Protesters outside Google.io, and Google Cardboard

Q & A:

19:56 What is your feeling on website creators like Wix and Squarespace? Is this taking away from potential business for web designer/developers?

27:32 Recently I was asked to create page design for a client. Just the visual design, no code. I thought this would be easy, but after spending an hour and a half creating a table in Illustrator, I’m yearning for some basic HTML & CSS. Are there any design tools you guys know of that take into account of things like “separation of style and content” or “modular components”?

34:10 I’m a newb. I love designing using HTML and CSS, but my creativity is stunted because I can’t program. Which language should I learn first?

38:43 Responsive web design has done a lot of great things for the web, but sometimes the sharing of a single codebase for all the different breakpoints makes things tricky. I’ll usually ask my designers to avoid situations that would require building a component in two different ways across screen sizes. The navigation in the header is usually one of the areas for this discussion (where a design basically requires toggling visibility between two different menu systems). Am I being too much of a stickler or should I stand my ground?

47:03 For smaller websites I often find it difficult to collect quality content from the business that I am designing a website for. These website budgets are usually small therefore a content writer may not be practical. Can you explain your process on collecting data or steering customers in the right direction when it comes to providing quality content?

52:35 I’ve got this really bad habit of nudging things in my design. Two pixels up, an em here, an em there. And then repeat into insanity. I’m always struggling to get that whitespace just right. How do you approach whitespace?

Sponsors:

24:17 Codeship: Continuous Delivery Made Simple – Codeship helps run your tests and continuously deploys new code when it passes. Get 20% off your first 3 months by using discount code “shoptalkshow”.

43:10 E4H CSS Summit – Environments for Humans brings together some of the Web’s most notable experts in and for an all-new, three-day online conference, the CSS Summit 2014! Bring the experts to your desktop July 15-July 17, 2014 from 9AM to 4PM (CT).

Get 20% off your ticket now by using SHOPTALKSHOW during checkout!

Show Links:

Katie Kovalcin

Katie on Twitter

Katie’s upcoming talk at CSS Dev Conf

Hyperquake

Happy Cog

Artifact Conf

Polymer

Google Web Fundamentals

Google Web Starter Kit

Google Material Design

Brad Frost Pattern Lab

CSS-Tricks: Small Business Website

Sketch

Jeff Low wins a ticket to this years CSS Summit! Thanks for sending in nerdy questions, everyone!

This week we were joined by Sam Kapila. Sam teaches at Texas State University, focusing mainly on Responsive Web Design and Typography.

We talked about (roughly in order):

Q & A:

12:50 What did you guys study in college? Would you change your mind if you could go back? What kinds of studies do you recommend or do not recommend, and can you share any experiences?

23:30 I’m not in a position at work where it’s practical/needed to get into Yeoman or Bower, even though I like to stay at the forefront of web trends. Am I becoming a dinosaur?

32:20 I created a website with a small app for a client, and now they want the source code for the app so another developer can work on it. What should I do?

36:05 I’m intrigued to use CSS Calc in my private projects (modern browsers) but am not sure about the performance. It’s not a big deal, but i’d love to know if it’s a good thing to use, or should avoid it?

47:45 I really like the idea of embedding above-the-fold CSS in the head and including the rest at the bottom of the page. Do you see any drawbacks with this method?

57:04 How can I finally get started with contributing to open source projects?

Sponsors:

30:18 Campaign Monitor – We’ve got a free eBook available with our Top 100 email campaigns, it’s a great dose of inspiration for 2014. We’re built for designers and agencies. To find out how you can rebrand and offer our service to your clients, at your own prices, check out campaignmonitor.com/agencies. Need to send an email campaign in a hurry? Try your hand at our template builder and have a responsive email template ready in 60 seconds.

43:30 E4H – CSS Summit – Environments for Humans brings together some of the Web’s most notable experts in and for an all-new, three-day online conference, the CSS Summit 2014! Bring the experts to your desktop July 15-July 17, 2014 from 9AM to 4PM (CT). Use coupon code “SHOPTALKSHOW” for 20% off your ticket!

Show Links:

Sam Kapila

Sam on Twitter

AtoZCSS.com

Yeoman

Grunt

Bower

Poylmer

CSS Calc

caniuse.com

Understanding Comics

Nicely Said

Have a tricky front end problem you need help with? Ask us anything!

This week it’s another RAPID-FIRE!!! Nothing but the best darn question and answer you’ve ever heard!

We talked about (roughly in order):

Q & A:

1:28 How can I achieve HTML includes or imports without using any php or javascript? I know that Codekit has a Kit language that can do this but I don’t have a mac yet. Is there a HTML preprocessors that can do this? If so, can I use only the import function and still use regular HTML on it?

8:56 Picture this: Client organization has a CMS and puts all their ‘news’ content in. Monthly they need to generate a paper newsletter… They push ONE BUTTON and a multi-page pdf, at least as beautiful as the site, is generated with all of their news content… Has anyone tried this?

17:03 What’s the best way to compress a vector graphic from Illustrator for the web? There used to be a SVG option for “Save for Web and Devices” but it’s gone in CS6. What SVG specs are best to use?

22:43 I’m starting to hear the phrase “Tech Bubble” a lot and it’s very disheartening. Do you guys believe we’re in a tech bubble? If so, is it we the web developers/designers who have to worry? Or is it more threatening to investors, entrepreneurs, and 30 y/o billionaires?

32:30 I’m about to start working at a full time job where the team uses Git. Do you have any advice about workflow or etiquette?

39:34 I’m a developer at a mid-sized SaaS company and we have a pretty successful product. Our product has an API and there are several other companies that sell web site integrations & 3rd party plugins to our customers. Our company even receives fees to recommend certain “preferred partners”. Do you think it would be unethical or a conflict of interest for me to develop my own premium WordPress plugin on my own time?

47:47 I’m currently working in a project and the design calls for use of full-screen image backgrounds, in order to optimize this for mobile devices I’m using media queries to call the appropriate background, it works like a charm, however there is something that bothers me, if I resize the window there’s a small bit of time where the webpage has no background while the image get’s loaded. Any way around this?

51:51 Why aren’t box-shadow and text-shadow shorthand properties like background and font? Why don’t the properties box-shadow-color, box-shadow-offset, etc. exist?

58:09 My question is about Print Stylesheets. Are they still relevant? How do you approach them?

Sponsors:

14:15 Campaign Monitor – Need to send an email campaign in a hurry? Try your hand at our template builder and have a responsive email template ready in 60 seconds. While you’re browsing their site, grab a free eBook about the Top 100 email campaigns and get inspired!

28:50 Environments for Humans: Craft CMS Summit – Environments for Humans brings together some of the Web’s most notable experts in Craft for an all-new, one-day only online conference, the Craft CMS Summit 2014!

In this inaugural one-day conference, we look at the State of Craft and deep dive into a series of presentations to give attendees smarter and faster ways to build the web.

Bring the experts to your desktop June 17th from 9AM to 5PM (CT). Use coupon code “Shoptalk” at checkout for a special discount!

Environments For Humans: WP Summit – Environments for Humans brings together some of the Web’s most notable experts in for an all-new, one-day only online conference all about WordPress, the WP Summit 2014! Bring the experts to your desktop June 18th from 9AM to 4PM (CT). Use coupon code “Shoptalk” at checkout for a special discount!

Show Links:

CodeKit: THE Mac App For Web Developers

Grunt

XOXCO: Packagr

Codepen Radio 012: VC

Woofoo: The Online Form Builder

Getting started with Git

Try Git: Codeschool Interactive Tutorial

Image Alpha: Photo Compression

Web P: [...]

This week it’s another RAPIDFIRE!!! Nothing but HOT question & answer action.

We talked about (roughly in order):

Q & A:

2:08 I have a question about running Sass in a corporate environment. I’m really interested in using Sass at work but since it requires Ruby there’s no chance of running a ruby server on my system. Is there any way to run a Sass processor from a thumb drive?

7:48 How long does it take for you to write a blog post from the first day you experience the problem (or get the initial idea of what want to write about) to when you actually hit the publish button?

16:42 Are there any good low cost alternatives to Engine Yard or Heroku for hosting test or small web apps?

22:20 What is the best way to validate html and css?

32:45 Are there any WordPress shopping carts that have a token feature or do you know of another way to accomplish this?

41:02 Is it worth offering IE6/7/8 support for a responsive design project?

Sponsors:

11:34 Blend Conf – BlendConf is a generalist conference featuring 60 diverse speakers sharing ideas and conversations about user experience, design, and development. September 11-13 in Charlotte, NC. 4 tracks: UX, Design, Front-end, Back-end. Keynote speakers are Mike Monteiro, Jennifer Palka (Founder Code for America), and Kimberly Bryant (founder, black girl code). Use coupon code “shoptalk” for 10% off!

38:41 Environments for Humans – CSS Dev Conf: the first conference devoted to CSS, the design language of the web, returns for its third year on October 13-15, 2014, this time to New Orleans! Tons of great speakers, including Chris Coyier, Rebecca Murphy, Dan Cedarholm, Estelle Way, Jonathan Snook, Rachal Nabors, and more! Go vote for your favorite talk, and pick up tickets today!

Show Links:

Linode

Rackspace

Serve

Chrome Dev Tools

Symbolset Icons

Google Page Speed Test

Grunt Strip MQ

Require JS

This week it’s another RAPIDFIRE!!! Nothing but HOT question & answer action.

We talked about (roughly in order):

Q & A:

2:25 With this trend of big background images and full with slider, which size of images do you recommend to have a balance between size and weight?

7:56 What’s the best way to handle SVGs?

23:37 Why don’t browsers just include various versions of jquery within the end user machine, loading it as they encounter usage?

27:36 You’ve mentioned Harvest as a tool for time-tracking and invoicing; are there any other tools you would suggest, specifically for expense tracking?

36:36 What do all of you think of Netflix disabling the developer console in Chrome? Will this become popular in the future? Is it unethical?

40:35 Inline-block grid systems won’t render correctly in Safari 7. It works fine on Safari 6, ffox and Chrome but fails miserably on Safari 7. Any solutions or advice?

43:50 I have recently started to do some freelance web design, I am confident in my pricing however when writing up emails to a potential client giving them an estimate I feel that there is room for improvement. How does Dave/Paravel approach this, do you send some kind of template or something else?

49:25 Going back to something raised in podcast #103 about getting server-side variables into javascript, what is the most pure way of putting server-side data into javascript?

54:37 I’m curious how you manage passwords when working with clients. How do you securely send passwords to clients?

59:19 I’m in my 40’s and to be honest, agencies are looking for people on their 20’s. Is this web design world a place for only youngsters?

Sponsors:

20:16 Campaign Monitor – Campaign Monitor makes it easy to attract new subscribers, send
 them beautiful email newsletters and see stunning reports on the results. We use it for our Shoptalk newsletter. Check out their free eBook available with their top 100 email campaigns, it’s a great dose of inspiration for 2014.

33:52 Environments for Humans – CSS Dev Conf – The first conference devoted to CSS, the design language of the web, returns for its third year on October 13-15, 2014. This time to New Orleans! Tons of great speakers, including Chris Coyier, Rebecca Murphy, Dan Cedarholm, Estelle Way, Jonathan Snook, Rachal Nabors, and more! Go vote for your favorite talk, and pick up tickets today!

Show Links:

Jeremy Keith – Deconstruct Site

Less Accounting

Billings App

Legal Zoom

Nic Gallaghers Griddle

1Password

1Password Multivault

This week it’s another RAPIDFIRE!!! Nothing but HOT question & answer action.

We talked about (roughly in order):

Q & A:

1:48 I have a question(s) about loading JS files in a WordPress environment. Is there a rule of thumb for when async should be utilized? If I script is loaded in the footer does ‘async’ not matter as much?

7:50 What software do you two use to create your slides for when you do talks at conferences?

15:50 I have a question about deciding on a development stack. What are some of your recommendations when making these kinds of decisions?

29:12 Why use static site generators? Are there any good tutorials out there for those of us who have never used one before?

34:28 Is there a way to make a line of text fill the width of a parent container as if it were justified?

38:28 In job advertisements I’ve been seeing lately, all of the best jobs have Angular JS listed as one of the requirements. I really love creating websites that work everywhere. The idea of using the latest tech at the expense of accessibility, and progressive enhancement doesn’t sit well with me. How can I keep my career advancing, while maintaining those core beliefs?

43:45 How long does it normally take you guys to build a website from start to finish, for instance microsoft.com or css-tricks.com?

Sponsors:

14:00 One Month Rails – Build your first Ruby on Rails web app in just one month. Easy to follow videos with step-by-step instructions. Enrollment is typically $99, but if you join now you’ll get a one time discount of 25% off for joining, so go learn how to make web apps now!

Editor’s note: I actually just bought this and I’m working through it now: it’s awesome! So easy to follow and I love the teacher’s style and the way he breaks everything down into easy to follow along with steps. Highly recommended. – Aaron D.

33:00 Environments for Humans – CSS Dev Conf: the first conference devoted to CSS, the design language of the web, returns for its third year on October 13-15, 2014. This time to New Orleans! Tons of great speakers, including Chris Coyier, Rebecca Murphy, Dan Cedarholm, Estelle Way, Jonathan Snook, Rachal Nabors, and more! Go vote for your favorite talk, and pick up tickets today!

Show Links:

Keynote

Reveal.js

Knockout

Jasmine

Handlebars

YAML

Bower

Grunt

Modernizr

Jekyl

Getting started with Jekyl

Kirby

Fittext.js

Slab Text

Big Text

Adam Clark

Goodstuff.fm

This week it’s another RAPIDFIRE!!! Nothing but HOT question & answer action.

We talked about (roughly in order):

Q & A:

1:47 Could you recommend any good WordPress plugins to work with for a bilingual support?

10:38 Is it possible to have a single page website perform well in terms of SEO?

19:03 When starting from scratch on a smaller site I tend to work first on the markup, then once happy I begin the styling. This usually means going through all selectors in the DOM and pasting them into the stylesheet. Have you found a tool to scan a DOM and spit out all the classes (and maybe IDs) for styling with?

25:12 How should I handle vertical rhythm?

33:18 Have you guys had any luck using MAMP on Mountain Lion?

35:07 I’m having problems with version control. Do you have any advice?

42:49 When or why it would be better to use @extend in certain instances versus creating a mixin and using @include?

49:15 My client expects pixel perfection when translating PSD to website. What do you think is a reasonable level of fidelity to the mockup to expect from a developer?

57:51 In responsive web design, what are the advantages and disadvantages of including media queries “inline” in your CSS versus putting them in separate CSS files?

Sponsors:

17:05 lynda.com – The best online learning resource. Check out great courses like: SVG, JavaScript for Web Designers, Designing a Logo for a Band, Writing Press Releases, Monday Productivity Pointers, and so much more. Get a free 7 day trial now!

54:41 E4H – Craft CMS Summit – Environments for Humans brings together some of the Web’s most notable experts in Craft for an all-new, one-day only online conference, the Craft CMS Summit 2014! Bring the experts to your desktop June 17th from 9AM to 5PM (CT). Get your tickets now!

Show Links:

Multilingual WordPress

Microsoft English

Microsoft Hebrew

Smartling.com – Website Translation

Create Crawlable Link Friendly AJAX Websites Using Push State

EmberJS.com

Angular JS

Baseline Grids on the Web – Jason Santa Maria

The Extend Concept (SCSS)

Craft CMS