I use Justin Tadlock’s Hybrid theme framework often. It’s clean, SEO friendly and easy to customize through child themes. Child themes are custom theme files built on the hybrid framework. Hybrid is based on php hooks, so most of the modifications need to be done through hooks.

A clickable logo is something that almost every business website needs. Here is a quick and easy function to add a clickable logo to your header div.

Make sure you are working in your child theme files.

Open functions.php in your child theme folder. If you do not have a functions.php, create one.

Add the code between the backticks (`):

`
< ? php (remove spaces)
/* clickable logo header ///////////////////////////////////// */
function clickable_logo() {
?>
<a href=”http://thewebshoppe.net”><img src=”http://locationOfYourImage.com/logo.png” width=”554px” height=”83px” /></a>
< ? php (remove spaces)
}
add_action ('hybrid_header', 'clickable_logo');
?>
`

The comment line has to go after the opening php tag. If it is outside the tag, it will write above the opening html tag and throw IE7/8 into quirks mode. All sorts of ugly will happen. The first php names the function clickable_logo.

Use standard html to add the logo. Make sure you replace the above values with your own.

The final php action hook will put the logo into the header.

                          

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If you create a fillable form in Acrobat, other Acrobat users will be able to fill out, print and save the form. Not so with Reader users and there are far more of those. Reader is free, easy to install and there is no reason for anyone not to have it. In order to make forms accessible to Readers only one small additional step needs to be taken.

In Acrobat 9:

Create your form. When the form is complete, go to Advanced => Extend Features in Adobe Reader…

Extend Features in Adobe Reader

This will prompt you to save a copy. Be sure you do, it will restrict editing later on.

Enable Usage Rights in Adobe Reader warning

When the file is opened in Adobe Reader, there will be a purple bar across the top of the screen letting users know they can save data typed into a form.

Adobe Reader view of a usage enabled form

Simple as that! Take this one extra step on all of your PDF forms to let Reader users save them.

                          

Offices are going paperless and what used to be on paper is now on PDF. Acrobat has a slightly higher learning curve than paper, so make it as simple as possible for the end user to navigate your PDFs. One way to do that is to have a navigation panel, either the pages panel or the bookmarks panel, open with the PDF.

There are a few different ways to navigate a PDF, some are easier to use, others are easier to create. The end user can navigate around a PDF with links, bookmarks or the pages panel.

Links: Links take some effort to set up, but anyone who knows how to open a PDF knows what a link is. This is by far the easiest to use for anyone who uses the internet.

Bookmarks Panel in Acrobat 9

Bookmarks: Bookmarks also take some effort to set up, but if you set your bookmark styles in the originating application, Word or InDesign for example, the bookmarks should come through to the PDF fully intact. For a user who knows what a bookmark is and knows where to find the bookmarks panel, this is one of the easiest ways to navigate a long PDF document.

Pages Panel in Acrobat 9

Pages Panel: The pages panel shows exactly that, the pages in order. Each page will have a thumbnail so you can see pretty clearly what the pages are. Double click on a page in the pages panel and it will take you there. This is as easy as it gets for a standard short document.

Always make things as simple as possible for the end user.

What if your end user isn’t familiar with navigating PDFs? What if they don’t know what a pages panel or bookmark is let alone where to find it? You could spend hours setting up numerous links so the PDF can be navigated just like a web page. If you make a change to the original document and re-export to PDF, you may need to set up each link again.

As a compromise, fast for you easy for the end user, simply set the pages panel or bookmarks panel to open when the PDF opens.

How To:

Properties Panel in Acrobat 9

With your PDF open in Acrobat 9, go to FILE => PROPERTIES.

In the INITIAL VEW TAB, under LAYOUT AND MAGNIFICATION.

Set the NAVIGATION TAB to BOOKMARKS PANEL AND PAGE or PAGES PANEL AND PAGE.

Under window options, select SHOW => DOCUMENT TITLE. This is usually more meaningful than the file name.

Select the ideal magnification, which page you want it to open to and check any boxes you see fit.

That’s it! Now when the PDF is opened, it will appear as you want it to appear and will be easy to navigate.

                          

RSS in Plain English by Common Craft is the best explanation of how to subscribe to an RSS.

                          

Organizing files in general is important. Photoshop files can become unwieldy after adding a couple dozen layers, paths and alpha channels if you don’t maintain an organization system. Files are archived for later use or handed off to another design for some reason or another. Taking over a Photoshop file, or any file from a disorganized designer can be a nightmare, so just take a few extra seconds while you are working to tidy up the file. The sanity you save may be your own.

Do your Photoshop layers look like this? Take five minutes more and organize the files before archiving or handing off to a service bureau or another designer.

Recently, a designer sent me a Photoshop document with over 130 unnamed, unorganized, scattered shape layers.  It took 45 minutes to organize the layers before I could start working.

Here are some tips to keep your files neat and organized.

Name your layers.

Yes, all of them. Give them unique, meaningful names that will be easy to recognize later.

Group related layers.

If you have twelve layers of type, put them in a layer group called “type”. Not too tough. If you have a tree, branches, apples and a drop shadow on seventeen different layers, put them in a group called “apple tree”. Simple.

Collapse expanded layers or groups.

Yes, I know Photoshop defaults to expand everything all the time. Yes, it’s a pain to click that extra time. Yes, I have requested that Adobe change this. Just take the fraction of a second necessary to collapse each expanded layer as it is created. You will gain the benefit of seeing more layers in the panel at one time making it easier to edit.

Always save the original PSD.

Seems like common sense, but you would be surprised how often the original file is unavailable when revision time comes around. Save the original layered PSD and send a flattened file to clients for approval.

Delete empty layers

As you are working, you may copy text from one layer to another leaving the first layer empty. Deleting an object in Photoshop does not make the layer containing it to go away. The shape or text may be gone, but the layer is left behind.

Work in the correct color mode.

This may not seem like an organization issue, but it is a common mistake. If you designing for print, work in CMYK. Designing for web, RGB. It really doesn’t seem like a big deal when you are printing from your desktop ink jet, but when you send your file out to a commercial printer you might find this to be a costly oversight.

Happy Photoshopping.