3 Job Postings Requiring Front-end Developer Skills

Front-end Developer

This position is for keeping the company website up to date, as well as the sub domains. They are looking for a developer skilled in HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, JQuery, PHP, Wordpress, Grunt (I've never heard of this one), and node.js., as well as a basic understanding of Apache and mysql.

Entry Level Front-end Developer

This position is at a digital advertising company in Lake Oswego, OR. I've never been there, but I wouldn't mind checking it out. They are looking for a fast thinking, detail oriented front-end developer with lots of experience.

Freelance Developer

This listing is for a creative agency in Portland looking for a freelance front-end developer. They are looking for experience with HTML5, CSS, Javascript, and JQuery. Bonus experience would be with Perl, MySQL, PHP & Linux.  The developer would be working on websites, mobile, tablets and web applications. Sounds like a good variety of projects would keep this job from getting stale.

3 Local Sites that Can Improve their SEO

Skyline Dental

Although Skyline Dental has a meta description tag, the tag is uninformative and could help their click-through rate and subsequently improve their Google page ranking. The current description is "The home page of Skyline Dental LLC located in Bend, Oregon". They are missing out on a great opportunity to bring traffic to their web page. Something along the lines of "Skyline Dental is a family friendly dental practice in Bend that has been providing care in Central Oregon for over 30 years" would potentially bring more traffic to the page.

Pilot Butte Drive In

I did a Google search for Bend Oregon Burgers, and Pilot Butte Drive in didn't appear until page 3. This is surprising, seeing as Pilot Butte is often voted "Bend's Best Burger". One problem appears to be the title tag- "Our Story - Pilot Butte Drive In Pilot Butte Drive In". I have no idea why it would say Pilot Butte Drive In twice. A better option for the home page might be something along the lines of "Pilot Butte Drive In, the best burgers in Bend Oregon".

Barrio

The alt image attributes on Barrio's website are all blank. It's interesting that the developer included the attribute, but failed to add descriptions. Descriptions with emphasis placed on keywords could potentially bring a lot of traffic to the site. The website includes a gallery section featuring delicious food items, and photos of the space, so not including the descriptions is a missed opportunity.

3 Sites with Attractive and Usable Forms

Amber Weinberg

The form is simple, and fits well with the rest of the website. I like that there is a captcha integrated into the form.

 Zoe Rooney 

A clean and basic get in touch form, it is very user friendly and notes the required fields with asterisks. I  also like the addition of the how did you find me drop down menu.

Sixteen July

This is a great contact/interest in working with form. I like the checkboxes listing what a potential client might be interested in discussing.

3 Sites with Responsive Navigation

Rebecca Rebouche

Rebecca Rebouche's navigation menu collapses into a single menu item for smaller devices. It's simple, clean, and easy to navigate.

The Honest Company

The honest company mobile site pares down to a main image with featured products and a drop down menu with buttons that fill the width of the screen.

Leah Duncan

Leah Duncan's mobile friendly site includes only a logo, and navigation. This site, like the others, also features a drop down menu. but the menu pushes down the content beneath it rather than expanding over it.

3 Multi-level Menus that Function Well, and Look Good

MOMA

I really like MOMA's exhibition menu. It opens on rollover, and displays thumbnail images. When you roll over a thumbnail a description pops up. It's an elegant menu solution for featuring artists work.

MFA Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston uses a single large block drop down menu to cover their extensive collection. I think it is a clean and simple solution for covering a large number of items.

Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty museum uses a simple block style drop down menu that provides easy navigation. The menu style adds a nice flow to the website.

3 Responsive Web Sites Doing it Right

Amazon
I use Amazon all of the time for shopping, reading reviews and comparing prices, so I appreciate that the site is mobile friendly.

USAA
I manage all of my accounts from my mobile phone and have for years. USAA was offering these services well before other banks. The mobile layout features cross screen drop down menus and large buttons for ease of use.

Zappos
I've been looking for a comfy new pair of boots, and Zappos makes it easy to browse using my phone. The mobile site has a simple layout with easy navigation.

3 Local Sites that Can Improve Usability Today

Skyline Dental

This site has many things that could be improved on, but the biggest usability issue is the small navigation menu. A great way to resolve the issue would be to shift the business logo upward, and place the navigation menu in the green band across the top. I would also increase the font size to make it more legible.

KTVZ

This website has too many things competing for attention. The content should have a little more breathing room, making it easier for visitors to quickly scan the page. This issue could be improved by using a more traditional news layout, and separating out the top stories into headlines with small summaries beneath. The navigation menu should also be streamlined.

Downtown Bend

Downtown Bend has an extensive site. The main usability issue is that here should be search bar on the home page, making it easy for visitors to find information quickly.

3 Web Sites that Have the Look I like

Darling Studio

Darling Studio's website is simple and playful. The layout is very clean and minimal. I love the clutter free feel of the site.

Andrea Lindquist

Another simple layout, I like the opening modular gallery with links to different sections of the website. It's bold and playful.

Typo Boutique

This site has a lovely design, and a simple interface. The layout is minimal, with the emphasis placed on the products.

3 CSS Properties I Haven’t Used...Until Today

clip-path

The clip-path property is used to define a clipping region, to eliminate all but a portion of an element. This would be useful for showing a small portion of a photograph or design. 

text-shadow

The text-shadow property can be applied to text and text-decorations. It adds a shadow to the specified element. This could be useful for creating a simple logo or heading.

mix-blend-mode

The mix-blend-mode property allows an element to blend with a background or background element. This could be useful for creating dynamic content for the home page.

3 HTML Tags That I Haven’t Used...Until Today

The del element

I have never used the <del> element to cross out a phrase. The <del> tag is used to show information that was retracted. Now that I have used the <del> element, and I think this one will come in quite handy for editing my blog posts.

The optgroup element

The <optgroup> tag is used as a child of the select element to display a group of option elements together. This would come in handy in a selection menu for grouping different categories.

The mark element

The <mark> tag is used to highlight text. This is another tag that I could use in my blog posts to draw the readers attention to specific text.