At first I was just using a text file. However, after several months, my “everything.txt” file was growing massively out of control. I decided that a dedicated notes application would be a much more efficient way to keep track of things, plus offer much more functionality.

In particular, I was looking for an application with the following features:

• The ability to quickly search existing notes
• The ability to tag notes
• The ability to sync notes across my computer and iPhone so that I can have all of my inspiration with me, at all times.

There are plenty of note-taking applications, but I have been using Simple Note. There is both a free and paid version, but so far the free version has been more than adequate for my needs. To sync my notes onto my Mac, I use Notational Velocity, which is an open-source application. Now, whenever inspiration strikes, I can create a new note on my iPhone if I’m on on the go, or directly on the Mac if I’m at my desk, and they will automatically sync.

As I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of other note-taking applications out there besides Simple Note. Here’s a Lifehacker article that lists five popular note taking applications.

Do you like to take notes as you work? If so, please share any tools and applications that you have found useful, as well as the types of notes you like to take!

Twitter Bootstrap is essentially a collection of HTML-CSS templates and some Javascript put together to “help designers and developers quickly and efficiently build awesome stuff online.” It sounds an awful lot like a lot of WordPress Theme Frameworks and Starter Themes, right? It looks like one too.

It also reminds me a lot of the advice I’ve been giving people lately on using Theme Frameworks, Starter Themes, and Child Themes. Eventually I wind up saying the same thing over and over again: You should be building your own WordPress Theme Framework. Take the WordPress Default Theme, take an existing WordPress Theme Framework, or a Starter Theme, or any old theme that works, and make it your own. Iterate on it, build on it, refine it. Use it as Parent Theme or a Starter Theme. Make it your own. When you’re done you’ll have the best WordPress Theme — for you. And really that’s what you really want in the end.

But back to Building Twitter Bootstrap. If you’re interested in building your own WordPress Theme Framework there is some great advice in that article. Check out the Twitter Bootstrap project and think about building your own Theme Framework, Parent Theme, or Starter Theme.

The template tag the_title() already handles these situations really well. In cases where the title field has been left blank this function does nothing. Basically, it works just as I would expect, but it is in the hands of the theme author to ensure that no extra markup is printed if the title field has been left blank.

Here’s some code that you might find in any given theme’s single.php template:

<h2 class="entry-title"><?php the_title(); ?></h2>

In the event that the_title() prints an empty string, the following html will be served to the browser:

<h2 class="entry-title"></h2>

While this may not cause an issue in many themes, there are cases where this can be disruptive. Consider a theme where .entry-title is styled with a background color, border and internal white-space:

In the event that no title is entered for the post, the following may display in the template:

Publishers may not understand why a thin blue box has appeared above their content. They may also wonder how it can be removed. We can stop this confusion before it starts by passing the opening and closing tags as parameters to the_title(). Doing so will allow this markup to be hidden when the title is empty.

<?php the_title( '<h2 class="entry-title">', '</h2>' ); ?>

A project to link the aesthetic and discipline of modernist poster designs to the world of digital and dynamic grids, manifested by a series of WordPress themes, adapted from typographical posters.

Some might know already about but this is worth to get a spotlight. Vertical Rhythm is a really cool project by Edit / Nitzan Hermon.

What terrible business jargon do you need unsucked?

Awesome writing tips over at unsuck-it.com, by the fine folks at Mule Design. Go read it, mmm-kay? That’d be great.

The blog runs on WordPress, natch.

But not all Starter Themes are created equal. If you’re using the same theme again and again and always adding the same code to it, well, shouldn’t that code always be in there in the first place? Or how about the reverse? If you’re always cleaning out the same code from your theme is that really a great starter theme? Should it have sample theme options? Or a CSS reset? Basic styles? How much style? A grid system? … The questions could go on for a while.

So, what are you using for your Starter Theme? And what do you think you really need in a WordPress Starter Theme?

WordPress has been known for its backwards compatibility for ages. In fact, you’ll not loose your content when you downgrade (provided that you’re using the core features only,) plus WordPress provides several export options that can easily be read by other software and services. WordPress gives you control over your data so you’re never locked in to using WordPress itself. WordPress does not lock you in.

Plugins and themes are somewhat different though, mainly because developers are overlooking the WordPress API and a bunch of features which already ship with WordPress, and tend to reinvent the wheel. Another situation is where plugins or themes introduce some brand new features unavailable in WordPress so they store your data in a unique way which is not what other themes and plugins can understand. If not treated well, the lock in effect can cause loss or corruption of your data …

Via WPCandy.

• WPCandy and WPTavern are my top two. These blogs are the DVRs of the WordPress community. I get to scan the highlights, dig in further when I want or can, and skip any fluff.
• Smashing Magazine is another great DVR-like blog. Or maybe you can think of it as the Evening News of the Web Design tips, tricks, hacks, and apps community. If something cool is happening, it’s going to show up here.
• A List Apart. If Smashing Magazine is the Evening News this is the … the … really awesome magazine that I won’t pretend I read. The New Yorker maybe? Who reads magazines anymore? You should be following this blog.
• Zeldman. He may be the godfather of web standards but he’s more like your awesome uncle that really knows what’s going on. Of course you should be following him.
• Paul Irish. He’s moving the web forward, modernizr-ing it, and working on your HTML document’s boilerplate.
• HTML5 Doctor is my favorite resource for what’s happening in HTML5 and how it ought to be implemented.
• Likewise CSS-Tricks but for CSS.

It’s a short list but that’s a feature. But what about you? Are there dreadful omissions here? Who are you following? Do you have a short list? Should people be following you? Let’s hear about it!

Bonus: I’ll leave you with one from my long list. It’s not for everyone but following the WordPress StackExchange is a great source of inspiration for WordPress hackery. You’ll have tons of I didn’t know you could do that moments and some great ideas to follow up on later.

That’s one reason I’m super happy to see Post Format Icons released by StudioPress. Free, high-quality icons to use in your theme. Awesome.

Will this inspire other web designers and WordPress themers to open source their own graphics? I sure hope so.

What are your favorite open source icons?