It works like a wiki, anyone can join, add & edit pages for typefaces or for the people behind the types.

It is possible to find out details about fonts like: 

• the designers
• foundries
• country of origin
• release year
• & more..

The resource is not complete yet (and won’t be, as new fonts are created everyday) but growing & becoming a very useful resource.

Typedia also offers some other great information under the "Learn" section.

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Now, they have combined all, with new additions, under a single Adobe Cookbooks application.

The website is a great place for finding ready-to-use code samples for Adobe products, specially ActionScript & Flex.

Besides adding new snippets, users can request for the ones that they can not find & other users can create/share them.

The new Adobe Cookbooks also offers a better search/browsing experience with titles like "related recipes" & "contributor lists".

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Its website is a huge resource of documentation, examples & tutorials for anyone who is into it.

Besides the documentation jQuery offers, following other jQuery users is a great way to learn more & get inspired to discover new ways for taking advantage of this library.

Here are 15+ blogs to follow for jQuery fans that frequently create jQuery-oriented content:

John Resig

Besides being the creator of jQuery, he has other creative JavaScript-related projects like:

• Processing.js
• Sizzle.js
• FireUnit & more

Not only for jQuery users but for anyone into JavaScript, his blog is a great source of information & inspiration.

Official jQuery Blog

The blog covers any type of updates related to jQuery from new versions to jQuery-related posts in the blogosphere, events & more.

Official jQuery UI Blog

jQuery UI is a resource which is preferred by many jQuery users. Its blog regularly shares updates about the library and also list the websites that are powered by jQuery UI (which is a nice source of inspiration).

Filament Group Lab

Filament Group, the team who built the ThemeRoller, various jQuery plugins & jQuery UI widgets is sharing their experiences under their Lab blog.

There are both ready to use & experimental jQuery codes shared which are described & discussed in detail.

Learning jQuery

This is a multi-author blog (mostly authored by Karl Swedberg of jQuery Evangelism Team) with lots of tips & tutorials on jQuery for beginners to advanced users.

jQuery For Designers

The website shares very detailed & easy to implement tutorials on interfaces that are improved by jQuery.

Brandon Aaron

He is in the development team of jQuery and, not frequently, shares great info & tips on jQuery usage.

Jörn Zaefferer (bassistance.de)

He is also in the jQuery development team & has created many popular jQuery plugins.

Paul Bakaus

He is the creator of jQuery UI & some popular plugins like "dimensions". It is possible to find information on jQuery & jQuery UI in his blog.

James Padolsey

He is a freelance web developer who writes about JavaScript & has various ideas/codes shared on jQuery. One of them which you may like: jQuery plugin detector.

Soh Tanaka Blog

Web designer & front-end developer Soh Tanaka has beautiful tutorials that are tailored around jQuery.

JankoAtWarpSpeed

Janko Jovanovic is writing very nice tutorials that uses jQuery and also posts other web design-related articles.

nettuts

One of the most popular web design tutorials website has a bunch of tutorials that heavily uses jQuery. And, the website is also a treasure with all the other articles published.

Marcofolio.net

Marco Kuiper, a freelance web designer & developer, is frequently posting web development tutorials that are based on jQuery.

Build Internet!

Build Internet! has a collection of jQuery tutorials that are presented in detail. The website is not totally jQuery-oriented & publishes other development & web-business-related post

David Walsh

He is in the MooTools development team. However, he mostly shares the jQuery versions of the snippets he creates which is also a nice way to compare jQuery with another great framework.

jQuery How To

The website is totally focused on jQuery content. It shares code snippets, "how-to"s that can be handy for and jQuery user.

WebResourcesDepot (shameless self-promotion)

WRD, time-by-time, shares tutorials on jQuery, like:

• Ajaxed Sliding Shopping Cart With jQuery
• Fly-To-Basket Effect With jQuery
• Sliding Top Menu With jQuery
• Load Content While Scrolling With jQuery
• & more..

Also, it is possible to find lots of jQuery plugins & information (like this post) regularly.

Any others you know that are missing? Please share them in the comments.

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On the other hand, lately, they are frequently creating interesting stuff for the community like the Web Platform, Expression Web SuperPreview & now WebsiteSpark.

WebsiteSpark is not a software, rather, it is a program that targets small web design companies & offers them valuable softwares to ignite their businesses.

The program has no upfront costs for 3 years & requires various amounts of payments depending on the products you want to use after that period. Also, you can quit the program anytime by only paying a $100 fee which is still acceptible.

The softwares included are:

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Bestwebframeworks has a wider look with less detail & makes comparing PHP, JavaScript, Ruby & CSS frameworks easier.

Frameworks are listed very clearly and shows:

• their licenses
• requirements
• features
• compatibility

depending on the category viewed.

Also, it is possible to hide any framework & sort titles for a quicker comparison.

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It shows examples for most of the functions which gives a strong idea on the coding principles of every framework.

The libraries included are:

• jQuery
• MooTools
• The Dojo Toolkit
• Prototype
• Script.aculo.us
• Ext.JS
• Adobe Spry
• BBC Glow
• Yahoo UI! Library

Every function/snippet provided links to the original documentation which is nice for reading more on the resource.

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• is faster
• requires collection of data
• includes shipping more frequently
• has different ways of supporting users
• & more..

If the product sold is not something unique, then it probably exists in 100s of other e-commerce websites. So, to differentiate your stores from others, here are 13 tips for a better e-commerce website:

Software

1.- Use A Well-Tested Software

Many websites / applications can handle the risk of "developing while online". E-commerce is not one of them, at least the core parts.

You may be using a ready-to-go software or built a new one from scratch. In both cases, test how it works very well on every level: browsing, cart functions, payments. and make sure they work. A bug in payments or a product that can’t be added to basket will not only result in un-completed sales but also lost future customers and bad word-of-mouth.

2.- Have Scenarios In Case An Unexpected Thing Occurs

E-commerce has its own risks like:

• communication problems with payment processors
• hosting / server problems

In such situations, rather than offering the customers a buggy usage, you must be able to take an action with a "click" & display friendly notifications like: "for a short time we can’t accept credit card payments, we can let you know when it will be available or you can use these payment methods".

Simply, show the customer you’re aware of the problem and have an alternative solution.

Presentation

3.- Adding To Cart Without Registering

Forcing users to "register first then start shopping" is probably one of the best ways to lose them. Many users who add products to their shopping carts are still not sure to buy them. They want to see what the sum will be, if there will be shipping fees, etc.

Rather than placing barriers in front of them from the beginning, easing the ways to explore the website/products and collecting any information when needed is much better.

And, don’t forget, there is always a risk in losing a customer who didn’t pay yet.

4.- Reaching To The Product With Less Clicks

There are multiple ways to help users reach the products with less clicks:

• well-planned categories where sub-categories can be viewed just by hovering them
• ability to narrow products by price, product features (like screen sizes for monitors), brands, etc.
• an easily reachable product search form

5.- There Is Never "Too Detailed Products"

In contrast to the famous and funny Microsoft Re-Designs the Ipod Packaging video, providing as many details as you can on a product is a great thing.

You can always make this uncomplicated by presenting the basic information as a standard and having a "detailed information" as an option.

6.- More And High-Quality Photos

Seeing is believing. As users won’t be able to touch the products, the more photos provided is the easier they decide if that is the product they need.

And, always use high-quality images as it will be perceived as "sloppy" if otherwise.

7.- Show Related, Alternative And Complimentary Products Better

A widely seen mistake in e-commerce websites is showing both the alternative and related products all mixed up. But they are not the same thing and will be confusing to the customer as well.

If you’re about to purchase a camera:

• an other camera
• the dock that is built specially built for that camera
• case for cameras

are all different stuff and a better presentation will be displaying them under their own titles.

8.- Use SSL In Every Page When Collecting Critical Data

When collecting information such as:

• registration forms
• editing account details
• credit card details

make sure you switch the website to the SSL URLs as it is measure of security and shows that you pay attention to your data.

P.S. Check SSLmatic.com for RapidSSL, Geotrust and Verisign certificates with much cheaper prices.

Order Processing

9.- Notify Users On Every Level

With the good ones, many people also have bad experiences with e-commerce specially on the delivery part.

Due to the nature of e-commerce no or few stock is kept and a sold product can not be delivered because it does not exist anymore or delivered later than expected. Also, specially for international orders, payments need to be approved manually. To sum up, there are various things that may go wrong from the users point of view.

So, it is a "must" to notify users on every level like:

• when the payment is approved
• a delay occured
• when the product is shipped

10.- If Something Goes Wrong, Contact With Phone Besides E-mail

Like mentioned above, things can go wrong. The product may be no longer available, the system didn’t write the "shipping address to the database" & more.

In a such position, contacting the customer is a must but e-mail is mostly not enough. A customer, who doesn’t check e-mails frequently, waiting the product to be delivered yesterday but have a notification in the inbox saying "there is a problem with the order" is not a good experience.

Using phone or SMS is a better choice to make sure customer knows what’s going on.

Support

11.- Detailed Knowledgebase

Whether the website is a fresh one or not, a knowledgebase covering the most required titles is a must. These can be the "shipping & handling" & "refund policy" in the beginning.

A detailed knowledgebase shows that there are procedures within the company & is a sign of trust.

12.- Provide Live Chat Support

E-commerce customers generally require a help instantly & online as they are about to buy a product, their sessions may expire, etc.

Live chat support, which exists on every page with a clear link or image is a great way to meet this need. And, it is better on the administration side as you can already see "in which page the customer is", "what browser, OS they use", "their country/city", etc.

Also, every chat can be recorded for reporting & analysis. Besides the paid ones, there are various free live chat softwares which can be found in WebResourcesDepot’s "Customer Support"category.

13.- Do Your Best To Prevent Support Calls But Have A Phone Number

Thinking that "this is an e-commerce website" and no phone support is needed is mostly not true. At the end, it is a business & from the perception of users, a business requires a phone number.

But, do your best to prevent support calls coming in like the options mentioned above as telephone is a time killer and there is always a risk that no enough number support personels exist at a given time.

Have your tips / experiences? Please share them.

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Also, an API-enabled application can be easily developed further using the API itself.

In order to create an API for your web application, here are 10 tutorials to get you started. But before that, you may want to checkout the video: How To Design A Good API and Why it Matters by Google.

PHP

Create a REST API with PHP

A very detailed yet easy-to-implement tutorial on creating a REST API with PHP.

And, there is a follow-up article: "Making RESTful Requests in PHP" by the same author which can guide you as well.

How to Add an API to your Web Service (PHP)

A detailed tutorial which describes the concepts like REST, SOAP & creates an API step-by-step with PHP.

Implement a Rest API with the Zend Framework

This example utilizes controllers in an MVC style application. Most of the stuff is handled by an instance of  Zend_Rest_Server so it shows implementing to our service.

Creating a Simple REST API With VB, PHP and MySQL

This article covers both creating an API with PHP where the data is stored in a MySQL database & reaching to the API with a VBScript file.

Create Your Own Custom API (PHP)

The tutorial describes a PHP API returning XML data in 6 steps:

• Create Your Own Custom API
• Developing the basic API layout
• The Client
• The Server
• The Server Class
• The "Test" Step

Towards RESTful PHP – 5 Basic Tips

Ok, this is not a tutorial but includes very handy tips that can be used when creating a REST API with PHP for the security & ease of usage of the API.

Rails

Creating Open Web APIs: Exploring REST and WOA in Rails 2.0

As Rails automatically offers URL addressable resources for all the data in a Rails web application, every Rails application already has a ready-to-go RESTful API". The tutorial explains how to use it in detail.

How to Make an API for a Rails App?

The article describes the 2 options for creating an API:

• HTTP Basic Auth
• Using API key

and provides example codes o get you started.

Putting REST on Rails

The tutorial uses the RESTful Rails Controller & creates a simple RESTful Rails application with a full test suite and HTTP method dispatching.

ASP.NET

Create REST API using ASP.NET MVC (JSON & XML)

A solid start to creating your own REST API with ASP.NET MVC.

Considering, depending on the type of the request you may want to sendXML or JSON data, the tutorial provides a class which can return both.

Other Information on APIs

There are also various frameworks for creating APIs easily like WSO2 WSF, Recess PHP framework, Tonic & more.

Books On Creating An API

• RESTful Web Services
• Building Scalable Web Sites: Building, scaling, and optimizing the next generation of web applications
  
• RESTful PHP Web Services
• Pro PHP XML and Web Services
• Web Development Solutions: Ajax, APIs, Libraries, and Hosted Services Made Easy
• Practical API Design: Confessions of a Java Framework Architect
• Java Web Services: Up and Running
  
• Developing Web Services with Apache Axis2

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The guidelines are very well-categorized like homepage, forms & data entry, navigation, search & more.

Here are some examples:

• Text boxes on forms are the right length for the expected answer.
• The home page shows good examples of real site content.
• The layout helps focus attention on what to do next.
• Search results are clear, useful and ranked by relevance.

All the guidelines are also provided as an Excel workbook, where you can go through a website & check the ones that are ok.

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Some of the articles are:

• HTTP caching
• PHP peformance tips
• Optimizing JavaScript code
• & much more.

Besides the articles, It is possible to reach videos of speeches by several organizations on website performance.

Also, links to various tools for the issue provided & a large community discusses the subject continiously.

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