Here’s a new site that made me stand up straight and pay attention: Recipe Finder. The site launched last month, and it seems to be building up speed. Recipe Finder is basically a search engine serving up only recipes. The foodie Google, is how I think about it.

At first glance, you can easily see that searching for recipes is a simple matter.

Recipe Finder Home Page

One can hardly miss that search bar in the middle of the page. Type in a recipe name or an ingredient, and you are good to go! One of the beautiful things about this recipe search engine, though, is that while it makes things simple for the average user, it also provides customization options. The Advanced Search link found underneath the search bar is brilliant. Using this option, you can narrow down your search results by indicating parameters such as cook time, number of servings, and number of calories. Furthermore, you can opt to exclude ingredients, which is always handy for cooks who have to bear in mind allergies and food preferences.

Advanced Search

Just how much use can you get out of Recipe Finder? Quite a lot, actually. At present, it boasts a collection of around 1.7 million recipes, plus around 700,000 images. I doubt that you can start a blog like Julie (using Julia Child’s book) and go through even half of the recipes within a year. Furthermore, Recipe Finder indexes the most reputable recipe web sites you can find on a continuous basis. As such, the collection will only continue to grow.

Another useful thing about Recipe Finder is that it offers two options for search results. Yes, it really is a full blown search engine. Understandably, the default view is text, where you can see the recipe name, ingredients, and other pertinent data.

Cupcake Text Search Results

I think info such as the calorie content, servings, nutrients, and vitamins are great, but this is definitely the yummier version.

Cupcake Image Results

Now it’s kind of hard to disagree with me after seeing those results, isn’t it?

Even after only a brief time playing around with the site, I think that you will understand why Recipe Finder caught my attention. If you have even the remotest interest in search and/or cooking (or food!), then you will not be able to resist but take a look at what this new site has to offer. Go ahead. Feel free to indulge yourself and discover a slice of foodie heaven.

The barrier to entry is, of course, the learning curve. It takes a while to get used to any specific framework, but once you’re used to how your set of tools work you’ll notice a huge increase in productivity. One specific tool I’ve been using for a couple years is Smarty.

Smarty is a templating engine. It takes a template and applies it to some content. In effect it separates the code from the content and design. The benefits are that you don’t have to use a heavy content management system like Drupal or WordPress; it’s simple to implement; and you don’t have to copy HTML templates from page to page.

Here’s the deal. I’m not going to show you how to use this one (yet). Smarty has great documentation for that. I am going to give you some homework though. Try it. Go over to http://smarty.net, download the files, and follow the Quick Install tutorial. Next week I’ll give you some tips to make the system more useful and if you’re lucky I’ll through in some downloads to make it even quicker. Now get to work!

First up, we have DZone which is pretty much Digg for Developers. It isn’t always perfect, but I’ve found many great tutorials and tidbits on there over the year.

If you want to cheat and get information from a bunch of blogs talking about PHP, then I suggest Planet PHP. It isn’t perfect, pretty much an amalgamation of a bunch of RSS feeds, it makes it easy to track all sorts of things happening in PHP.

The next one I wanted to mention is PHPBuilder. This site is pretty amazing for those new to PHP, as well as those in the intermediate stages. I haven’t dived too deep through their content to see if they have anything for the advanced coder, but it is still an interesting site that I reference from time to time.

Ajaxian is a blog known to many for its great articles, examples and its selections of posts from other blogs. A high quality blog for those interested in AJAX.

And the last one that I wanted to make sure to mention is NetTuts. I really enjoy this site because the tutorials there are of the highest quality. I find that they don’t always take on the intermediate to advanced techniques, but there are very few tutorial sites that do. The site is both beautifully designed, and has a constant trickle of content. If you aren’t subscribed to it, you’ll probably want to be.

Other than that, which sites dealing with web development do you enjoy? Which blogs, websites, and etcetera do you enjoy on a daily basis? I definitely want to know, so please leave a comment below.

One of the best things about SSH, you can connect from nearly anything that has an Internet connection. On Windows, you’ll want to use PuTTY, or one of the million alternative tools for connecting via SSH. On the Mac, you can just use Terminal, and on your iPod Touch or iPhone, you can use TouchTerm, or one of the alternatives.

SSH access will allow you to move files, change file permissions, upgrade software, and depending on the access level your account has, even reconfigure, and restart your server.

For some people, SSH might seem like a step backwards, and a simple FTP program can do many of the normal, user-level file management stuff, but if you go beyond that, it can be a huge time saver for people, especially mixed with some bash scripting.

So if you don’t have SSH access to your web hosting server, it might be time to look somewhere else and dive in. The advantages over FTP are numerous, and the skills you will learn in getting back to the command line in dealing with your server are skills worth having.

Do you have a favorite SSH application, or a tip that everyone should know when it comes to connecting via SSH? Let us know in the comments below.

In a world that barely understands blogging, can the masses take advantage of, and enjoy micro-blogging through status messages and whatnot that Facebook now employs?

Talking to many Facebook faithfuls, and Twitter users alike, most seem unhappy with the changes, one of my friends recently saying that Facebook has, in its latest version lost what made it interesting and worthwhile.

In the last design change, Facebook relegated most applications to other pages, rather than the single profile page, we all had before the redesign, and in doing so, they greatly reduced the application development ring that was so large earlier in Facebook’s history.

But with Facebook creating and managing relationships through Facebook Connect, and other application sharing models that are coming to fruition, from a developer’s perspective, Facebook seems determined to attract attention to its platform and user base.

Facebook Connect is the next evolution of Facebook Platform – enabling you to integrate the power of Facebook Platform into your own site. Enable your users to…

• Seamlessly “connect” their Facebook account and information with your site
• Connect and find their friends who also use your site
• Share information and actions on your site with their friends on Facebook

What is it about Facebook that has made it so addicting to millions of people, and has it made a mistake in its recent redevelopment, refocus and redesign? Could someone now take over as the new-Facebook, as Facebook did against MySpace according to many people?

Or as a developer, is it just a chance to get in on the fbFund that attracts you to the platform?

From TechCrunch:

Facebook will choose 50 teams based on app metrics, developer talent and potential to succeed. From those teams, a subset will later be chosen and offered the opportunity to receive up to $100,000 in equity investment and an invitation to participate in an incubator program in Silicon Valley later this year. While there, the teams will be able to meet with Facebook engineers, venture capitalists and other tech executives.

I think Facebook is interesting, but as an early adopter when it comes to the web, and technology, I am ready for the next big thing, aren’t you?

In writing code, I have been working hard in making sure that the code I use will work effectively on nearly any environment, and as such, there are things I need to take into account, but as is usually the case, I’ve missed one or two things, which is why I am soon releasing an updated version.

A great example of something simple that was forgotten, that other plugin and theme developers would do well to remember, is that not all WordPress users upload their files to wp-content/uploads. This was a small headache for me the last few days because I had totally forgotten about the option to change where uploads go, and so made assumptions in my code.

It is something small, but important. While less than one percent of the users of WordPress would ever think about changing the location of where their uploads go, those users that did experienced an issue where they couldn’t use some of the built-in features of the theme. This lead to them feeling frustrated, and created a business experience that was less than perfect.

As people continue to build on top of WordPress and other platforms, changing the features, growing out the hooks, plugins, themes and more, it is very beneficial to find as many people as possible to test that code before you push it out live to the world. I had thought that through the testing I had people do, we had covered every basis, but everyone gets set in their ways, and can forget to check the smallest of details, especially ones that most users never use.

How do you make sure that your code will work with everything and in every way? Have your users ever tried to use a feature you created in an odd and interesting way? Please tell me your stories in the comments below.

Daring Fireball is perhaps one of the best known and most minimal blogs out there.

There a lot of great resources about minimalism and web design which highlight several basic principals:

• Form follows function
• Content is King
• Include only what is necessary
• More white space!
• Typography is awesome
• Use simple color palettes

I wanted make these principals more practical by identifying common design choices made by the designers of some of the best minimal blogs.

Blogs surveyed

I informally surveyed the following 15 minimalist blogs with 23 questions, which I answered by scouring each site until my eyes hurt. They are all fantastic examples of great minimalistic blog design and have been featured on many design galleries.

• Absenter
• Astheria
• Binary Bonsai
• Daring Fireball
• Hivelogic
• Inca Un Calator
• Indie Labs Blog
• Jon Tan
• Justin Blanton
• Maniacal Rage
• Maxvoltar
• Root Apex
• Shaun Inman
• Wilson Miner
• Write Hype

Here are the reoccurring items that are used, and not used, in minimalist blog design.

Main menu

Inca Un Calator is beautiful and VERY stripped down. No menu, no widgets, just content.

Most blogs have a main menu with links to home, archives, and about. Some had a contact page while others had one or two more links total.

• 86% used a site menu
• 86% have an archive page
• 73% have an about page

7 posts on the home page

While some blogs displayed upwards of 50 posts on the index page the majority of minimal blogs averaged seven.

Ditch the widgets

Widgets make it so easy to add all sorts fun stuff to your blog. Before you know it your sidebar will be filled with badges and buttons, friends, and feeds. Most widgets are clutter. In fact in the minimalist blogs that I surveyed:

• 93% did not use recent comments
• 80% did not use recent posts
• 80% did not use related posts
• 86% did not use a tag cloud

Skellie has a great guide to uncluttering your sidebar.

Avatars, trackbacks, and bookmarks

There a few items that popped up that were barely used at all among minimalist blogs. I mention them because they did come up occasionally. Here is the general rule of thumb for minimizing clutter:

• No Avatars on comments
• No trackbacks
• No Social Bokmarks

The “it depends”

Write Hype strikes the perfect balance between content and design. Where's the logo?

There were a lot of items that turned about to be borderline. These are the “it depends” items. In other words, it depends on your overall goals. Consider function first when approaching these items:

• Comment counts: If you don’t have comments you don’t need comment counts. On the other hand, a comment count can be a useful indicator.
• Sidebars: Only 60% of the blogs surveyed used them. Do you absolutely need a sidebar? Why?
• RSS Links: The holy RSS button turns out to be a little less popular in minimalist blogs than you would think. Since browsers detect RSS Feeds automatically, a link might be redundant.
• Contact Page: A contact page usually contains a form. In some cases you may be able to get rid of the form and just go with an email address. Many bloggers choose this approach, simply including it in the about page.
• Profile Links: If you’re trying to cut some fat, you might be able to get rid of all those profile links like Twitter and Delicious. Alternatively you could move them off to a page or blog of their own. Tumblr does this well.
• Next/Previous links: The next and previous links are commonly displayed on permalink pages. I question whether these are actually useful and would love to see a heat map from a popular blog to prove conclusively whether to keep them.
• Search: A surprising amount of people did not include a search form anywhere on their site. This is strongly discouraged by usability experts.
• Post summaries: It may be useful to excerpt posts on your index page. This can help to reduce the amount of space that is used.

Everything else

If I didn’t mention it, don’t add it. Err on the side of simplicity by avoiding any extraneous elements. In general you must approach your blog with an understanding of why it exists. If you can answer that question then your design should follow naturally.

This then brings up coding practices, and how one method of coding is better than another.

Most people seem to have developed almost a fingerprint in the way that they code, and even if it isn’t the best for optimization and the lightest on the server, they’ll still stand by their code because their method allows them to produce massive amounts of usable code that might take a perfectionist in optimization upwards of ten times longer.

Of course there are various standards, speed tests, and other information out there on writing the perfect code, but is it better to focus on producing shippable code fast rather than perfect code slow?

Even without taking personal coding speeds into consideration, coders seem split on how to do simple things in WordPress themes, like are you the type that echo’s out HTML or do you exit PHP before doing HTML? .

For as long as there have been coding languages, there have been various practices. In my experiences with Code Igniter, I found it hard to break from the way I coded things before and work within the constraints of the model, view, controller way of developing applications.

It seems like once you’ve learned how to code, changing can be as difficult as breaking deep set habits.

But coders have to remember that things change, new ways of doing things are found, and as developers we have to evolve, change, and adapt to the language we program in, making sure to create the best code we can for ourselves, our clients, and our companies.

So my original question still exists. What makes good code? Is it keeping up with the standards of the language? Is it fulfilling the needs of the client? Or is it something else?

How do you make sure that you write good code? Do applications keep you in check, other coders, or are you always reading the latest web development books and websites? Let me know in the comments below.

People seem to expect more and more that WordPress themes are going to take on the onus of managing features that were once plugins.

In recently releasing my own WordPress theme, WPUnlimited, I have integrated many of the things I use every day into the core of the theme, making sure that as WordPress is upgraded, there won’t be a delay waiting for a plugin author to get around to dealing with any one plugin that I need. It is all contained with a theme, which makes things both more simple, and provides more pressure to keep it at the cutting edge.

I have been asking myself if it makes sense to continue to blur the lines. Will WordPress themes build in so many features that people don’t need, thus contributing to the bloat that people say WordPress already inherently has? Should designers, and theme developers take on the responsibility of making sure features that were once relegated to plugins work?

There is something to be said for being able to quickly, and easily integrate and use features without editing PHP code, worrying about opening up theme files, and trying to figure out where to place function calls, or code snippets.

I, personally, like not having to do such things, and I think that one issue that the WordPress project community tried to fix was the issue of having to code things, by using widgets, but widgets aren’t the answer for everything, and there are still a number of people unable to edit their WordPress theme effectively cutting them off from a wide variety of plugins that would fulfill their needs.

Should the WordPress project be to blame for not providing enough built-in default theme hooks for plugin authors to take advantage of? Or the plugin authors for not finding ways to make using their plugins in an easier way? Or should WordPress theme authors, do as I did, and integrate as many features as possible into their themes, taking on the onus of not only developing a theme, but the most popular features that WordPress bloggers expect?

And if so, then where does the line get drawn? How many features should be packed into a WordPress theme, before stopping and relegating them to being plugins instead?

How have other communities separated the need for features to work with designs and the core of the blogging software or CMS?

Note: This post is intended to be a little tongue-in-cheek although the author himself does not claim to be funny at all. Please read with your humor-glasses on.

Bump, bump. Hey Sandboxers, yeah you, Scott and Andy. WordPress 2.7 has been out for a while now and we still don't have an update to Sandbox. I mean we've got sticky posts now, and threaded comments, and a new logout tag. I think it's about time we had a talk.

I went and told all these nice folks to use Sandbox and we don't even get a little logout love? It is the best theme out there, with all of its wonderfully plain goodness and classes-to-the-max and whatnot. I'd say it's about time for version 1.7.

Oh, and while you're at it how about updating the Drupal version too and hitting up the Movable Type guys about getting theirs in line with the changes. And why not add one single place to get Sandbox for ANY CMS out there. It could be a veritable template Mecca, but I digress.

It's not like you have anything better to do anyway, right? Ok, I'll make the first move, here's how I did it in WordPress...

In basically every template file (404, archive, archives, attachment, author, category, image, index, links, page, single, and tag), replace

with

Ok so you lose all those date classes but the hentry is still there and now we've got stickies! Yay!

The other order of business, is of course the logout link on the comment form. She don't work. Is broke. We need to replace this:

with this:

...presses Easy Button.

Ok, the last thing: threaded comments. That's pretty cool stuff, but optional IMO. So imma leave that one to you guys. Okay okay it's just because I'm too lazy to recode comments.php. But seriously the whole comments loop got some great changes that make all this stuff a heckofalot easier.

So if you could please do that, k thx bye.

On a more serious note, has anyone here tried out the new commenting loop? How are you implementing threaded comments in WordPress?

The case of center

Back before HTML 4.01 we had the center element. Its sole purpose was to center text. It was used like this:

However, when HTML 4.01 came along the W3C gave it the axe:

The CENTER element is exactly equivalent to specifying the DIV element with the align attribute set to "center". The CENTER element is deprecated.

W3C Spec: CENTER element

What happened to align?