Content Management Systems: CMS

The web has a vast range of scripts and tools to help users who have little or no knowledge of web standards and technologies update there websites and blogs. These type of tools are call content management systems as the user can easily change or update their website through a simple and easily displayed system.

I am going to highlight the three main CMS systems that are used to update different websites and blogs these being: Wordpress Tumblr, & Blogger.

Wordpress
Wordpress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on clean design, web standards, and usability. WordPress is a free piece of software that can easily be installed onto any server/hosting package in a few simple steps. Its very useful for people who run blogs as its very easy to update with various blog posts containing all sorts of web media including video, imagery and music.

Above you can see a screengrab of a Wordpress dashboard, this is where the admin can update, change settings, view statistics, and make posts allfrom one page. You can see on the left hand side the vertical navigation that highlights the main tools that can be used with the blog.

Above is a screengrab that i took of a generic wodpress blog, you can see at the top we have a navigation that displays links to the various pages the blog has to offer. Down the center of the blog all of the latest posts are displayed including an option for the blog readers to leave their comments and oppinions on the post. One of the great things about wordpress blogs are they are completely customizeable, you are able to add and change the design to suit any style that you can think of.

Overall Wordpress is definitely a blogging system that has very high standards as it is so easy to use and its also free which makes it a great rival to any competitorin the CMS/Blogging online market.


Tumblr
Tumblr is a blogging platform that allows users to post text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to their tumblelog, a short-form blog. Users can follow other users, or choose to make their blog private.

I used tumblr throughout my FMP as i found it the fastest and easiest to update as it also available in the iphone app store so i was able to make easy and quick updates from my phone.

Above you can see a screengrab of the dashboard of a tumblr blogging CMS, There is a navigation clearly displayed at the top with little image icons that display which type of post you can make including: text, quotes, photos, videos, links & music onto your blog. You can also customize and change the blog settings like pages with links and tags.

Overall i really love the layout and easy updateable features that tumblr has to offer, I am definitely going to continue to use Tumblr even after my FMP has finished as its something like an online visual scrapbook for myself that one day i would love to look back on.

Above is a sreengrab of my tumblr blog design that i customized, you can see that my blog posts are displayed down the center of the page with a brief description about my blog on the right hand side along with a photo of me. I decided to stick to a very simple design style with a logo header and a grainy background to make the content stand out clearly. There are buttons and search bars to allow users to follow me or search my blog for specific content.

Blogger
Blogger is Google's free content management system used for blogging, it is very simmilar to both wordpress and tumblr however i believe it lacks in an upto date style and it looks as if it has been forgotten about. You can use blogger for everything from updating your friends and family about your life, giving your own advice column, discussing your political views, or relating your experience in a topic of interest.




Setting up a Blogger account takes three easy steps. Create an account, name your blog, and choose a template. You can host multiple blogs with the same account name, so you only need to do that part once.



Bellow you can see a screengrab of the blogger dashboard where you can easily navigate to various parts of your blog and easily update or post something. You can see links to change settings, edit the design of your blog and also update and post something new to your blog.

Bellow you can see a screengrab of the posting page, you are able to add a title, tags, images, embed videos nd include content text in a bog post. Once updated the post will appear on the main home page of your blog along with other posts you have made in the past.


Concluding blogger i have been happily using it throughout my progression at college however i would of much rather been able to use something with a cleaner interface like tumblr or wordpress. One thing i think blogger lacks is the ease of customization as it envolves alot of heavy xhtml and css changes.

Final Show

So we have finally got everything up on the walls mounted and the macs have been put down there with our final web sites being displayed on them. Were really happy with the quality of the print but obviously we would all like some more space but we have made the most out of the room and have put up the work as well as we could.


Here is one of my pieces mounted on the wall, we used foam board to make it stand out against the plain wall. I was very happy with the quality considering it was printed on an inkjet printer. I also really like how it created like a mosaic with equal spacing between the work around mine.

We mounted name tags aligned to the right of all of our work to clearly display who it was designed by, the style of the name tags matches our brochure which i think works very well.

Here are some of my physical interactive designs including my packaging design and web design on the mac, I'm very happy with the website and the printing of the packaging label and i think both of them are very professional.

Announcing: The Checkpoint

So i have titled my final major project, The Checkpoint. It is a series of scrapbooks, online blogs and a final printed book based on my own lifestyle and interests. Basically I'm going to be using imagery, text, quotes and video to represent whats going on in my life at the moment. I will be using different platforms and media such as hand made scrap books as well as online blogging platforms like Tumblr. So far its been going well and i have managed to research into different forms of photography and film making which has been a very interesting experience as i have already found out so much that i didn't know, which has given me the chance to experiment and develop some of my own photography techniques. Alot has happened over easter and i have documented everything with photographs and videos and some of the most memorable quotes. Check back soon for some of the updates with what i have got up to.

Check out the following links as they are regularly updated with my progress on my final major project " The Checkpoint "

Daniel Linthwaite on Flickr
The Checkpoint - Lifestyle Photo Journal by Daniel Linthwaite

London Trip & National Portrait Gallery

We went up to London on the 26th of March to gather some primary research into our final major projects, so i thought it would be a good idea to visit the national portrait gallery to see how imagery is used to document people and important moments in their life. I will be doing a full write up on the national portrait gallery in my next post, however this is just a quick progression update. One of the highlights of the day was when i asked a big issue seller if i could take his portrait, after a tremendous amount of bargaining which went from five pounds down to one cigarette he allowed me to take the photos. You can see the portraits bellow, you can view more of the photos i took on my flickr.

Looking Into Web Design: Portfolio Ideas

I'm doing a quick write up for some web design inspiration for the web design unit we are currently studying. I wanted to show some of the web design portfolios i will be taking inspiration from when i create my own portfolio. Have a look bellow for some amazing work.


















Web Tallents
Here is a beautiful example of how digital illustration can be used in web design, The colours are really clean and the bright shiny vector illustrations really stand out nicely.


















Charlie Gentle
Here is an example of a really clean modern portfolio, I really love the bold block heading they make each paragraph stand out. I also love the noisy texture in the background i think it clashes well with the clean white text.


















Mft Portfolio
I really love the simple clean colours in this portfolio layout, I also really like how the images have been displayed to look like notes stuck down. I also noticed the clean use of a header to display some information which works really well.


















Teo Skaffa
This website stood out to me, I really love the bitmap style with the blocky text and the pixelated arrow cursor. Its retro style and black, white and yellow colour scheme contrasts very nicely and makes the content very easy to read.

Mockup Changes

Here are the final mockup changes that i was asked to do by the V&A.
Click on the picture for the full size view.

V&A Visit & Development

I had a great today, the weather was nice i had good company and we visited the V&A once again. I have to admit we didn't spend much time inside this time and spent most of our day wondering around London consuming good food from EAT. After lunch and we had made our way back to the museum we had the chance to sit down with the young peoples director & Kara the V&A's branding and advertisement specialist to have our ideas looked over to see how we could improve on them. I received some good feedback and several ways to improve and develop my design so ill be updating my sketchbook and final poster design some point this week.

See more pictures took today on my Flickr aswell as Ben's Flickr