Whether your website sells products / services or is just a blog with content that’s supposed to be read and not just scanned, what you write should provoke certain feelings that makes the reader want to stick around or maybe be compelled to buy something from it, if that’s the case.

How should you write then?

The gold rule applies here like a glove. Ask yourself as a regular consumer (not as the seller):

• What and how would you like to see the content in your website?
• What would you like to read to be compelled to move forward?
• What kind of speech would trigger you to act?

These are only three of the many questions you can ask yourself. If the text you’re considering doesn’t really convince you then you ought to try again.

The gold answer: Stick to real content

If your product is good, you won’t need to wrap it with shiny and colorful paper. You just need to point out the facts. Show it how good it really is and nothing more than that.

Unfortunately that’s common practice in Portugal. People mistakenly think that juggling with adverbs and adjectives makes content better and more compelling. Well, they couldn’t be more wrong. Those times are over. Now that the .com explosion is gone, filling our content with sand isn’t just unnecessary but also has the reverse effect; instead of attracting people, it repels them.

Today we don’t waste time around the web. It’s all about the juice, why waste money and time if you can just convince your audience with naked truth and facts?

Doing what you like is one thing we take for granted most of the time. At least for us designers. We get to be creative most of the time, we enjoy throwing that creativity into a sheet of paper or a Photoshop file, we let our wizardry blossom through our fingers into a screen. It’s just that good.

Well, it might just not be enough…

Even though we enjoy doing what we like (aledgely), we project that happiness for the short term. Take me, for example. Every now and then, I tend to dislike having to work on the same thing everyday, having to fix bugs and take free bullshit from some guy that won’t read what’s in their face. But hey… I absolutely love my job.

Love your job = Do the good stuff + Do the nasty stuff × Love you have for good stuff

Sounds like crap, huh? Well, that’s the way it should be. I love my job because I do the good stuff and the bad stuff, and in the end of doing the bad stuff I say: I got things done, hurray! Now I can do good stuff again!. In a nutshell, live everything with passion. You will be able to say I’ve accomplished a lot lately after a while. Why? Not just because you did the good stuff, but mostly because you felt you evolved from the bad stuff you’ve been through.

Bad experiences are good. They make you bigger on the inside. That’s one of the best feelings in the world. I used to curse everyone that brought me bad experiences but now? Thank you guys for where I am now.

You know what’s even better?

Along with time, you will master the art of letting the same old crap go away and face new and enticing crap.

You can’t just wish a load of crap forever

Layouts são nada mais e nada menos do que templates de HTML. A sua função é criar um esqueleto básico de como a aplicação pode ficar de modo geral.

De forma muito simples mostro como:

• Indicar o layout a usar nos controladores e nas suas várias acções.
• Modificar o layout de forma a permitirmos alocação de conteúdo mais eficiente.
• Criarmos o conteúdo a alocar através da função content_for.

O screencast comprou restaurante!

O screencast vai ter casa própria, com ementa e tudo! Visitem http://rails.amodadoporto.com. O próximo episódio já estará lá, bem como a feed para subscreverem, tanto por RSS como por email.

Têm sido duas semanas duras, cheias de trabalho por aqui no Weebiz. Estamos a trabalhar muito para trazer à comunidade empresarial a melhor plataforma social de negócios. Espero este fim-de-semana próximo ter oportunidade para vos presentear com mais magia do Rails.

Até lá, rogo-vos paciência. Até porque também preciso de construir as plataformas do screencast e dos workshops. Vou publicitá-los convenientemente quando estiverem prontos.

Abraço para vós todos!

No episódio de hoje, mostro como gerar XML, RSS e JSON para a nossa lista de alunos. Deixo também algumas referências sobre como gerar PDF. Se tiverem dúvidas não hesitem em apontá-las em baixo, terei o maior gosto em ajudar!

Para a semana não há episódio

Infelizmente na próxima semana não vou conseguir gravar o próximo episódio dado que vou estar a concentrar o meu esforço em lançar o novo design do Weebiz. Até lá, sugiro que continuem a estudar o que foi feito até agora e inclusivamente mandem sugestões do que gostariam de ouvir num futuro episódio.

Neste episódio constrói-se uma relação entre dois modelos: Aluno com Disciplina através de um novo modelo: Nota. Foi um bocado difícil por tudo a funcionar mas espero que consigam assimilar o conceito de relações, dado o contexto. Existem outras situações com certeza e terão a sua ocasião de serem abordadas.

Se por alguma razão não conseguirem compreender o procedimento, comentem em baixo ou mandem-me um email com a vossa dúvida, terei o maior gosto em explicar.

Código

script/generate scaffold disciplina nome:string creditos:integer
script/generate model nota valor:integer aluno_id:integer disciplina_id:integer

class Nota < ActiveRecord::Base
	belongs_to :aluno
	belongs_to :disciplina
end

class Disciplina < ActiveRecord::Base
	has_many :alunos, :through => :notas
	has_many :notas
end

class Aluno < ActiveRecord::Base
	has_many :disciplinas, :through => :notas
	has_many :notas
end

# atribuir_disciplinas.html.erb

<% form_for @aluno do |f| %>
	<% for disciplina in Disciplina.all do %>
	<p>
		<%= label_tag "", disciplina.nome %>
		<%= check_box_tag "aluno[disciplina_ids][]", disciplina.id, @aluno.disciplinas.include?(disciplina) %>
	</p>
	<% end %>
	<%= f.submit "Atribuir" %>
<% end %>

# alunos/show.html.erb

<ul>
	<% for aluno in @disciplina.alunos do%>
		<li><%= aluno.primeironome %> <%= aluno.ultimonome %></li>
	<% end %>
</ul>

Dan mentioned the principle of designing for the invisible. What this means is a designer prepares a design — generally for a web application — in order to create a clean layout and provoke the user to explore certain data, providing confort and thus a better experience.

Where to design for the invisible?

There are lots of situations where you can apply this principle. Even though it can be freshening to use, designing for the invisible has the risk of hiding data from your user, and that can be dangerous sometimes. It really depends on the kind of experience you’re trying to reach for. Situations to consider can be:

• Areas in which a user is likely to hover.
• Places with too much information that can represent a threat of not being paid due attention.
• Resources that have a main purpose (such as reading it) and also can have other secondary actions (such as admin actions).
• Certain content that can have tiny AJAX calls, like removing an item from a cart which only requires a little call to remove it.

Let’s consider the example of Wordpress, for example:

This is a very basic post management page. Supposedly, such a list should have a list of repetitive actions which clutter the interface. The solution for this problem: Wordpress hid those actions. As it knew a user had to hover the respective item to do anything with it, the actions only appear when the user does hover the item.

This is one of many examples that can take advantage of this principle. According to your requirements, you can be as creative as you can. Just be careful not to overuse it, remember: the experience depends on both your product and your user. Study them well and you succeed.

No seguimento da aplicação educacional que iniciámos no primeiro episódio, este segundo aborda validações. Com apenas duas instruções, conseguimos dizer ao sistema que queremos que o sistema verifique a presença de vários campos, bem como a numericalidade de outro campo. Existem muitas mais validações que podem ser consultadas na API do Rails.

class Aluno < ActiveRecord::Base
	validates_presence_of :primeironome, :ultimonome, :email, :sexo
	validates_numericality_of :telefone
end

Já sabem, podem contribuir com os vossos comentários e dúvidas.

Edit: A pedido de alguns assíduos colegas, segue abaixo a lista de todas as validações possíveis:

1. validates_acceptance_of
2. validates_associated
3. validates_confirmation_of
4. validates_each
5. validates_exclusion_of
6. validates_format_of
7. validates_inclusion_of
8. validates_length_of
9. validates_numericality_of
10. validates_presence_of
11. validates_size_of
12. validates_uniqueness_of

What is this IE 6 phenomenon anyway??

Internet Explorer 6 is the 8-year old Microsoft browser, it comes by default in Windows XP. There are already versions 7 and 8 for this browser. Version 6 is now extremely outdated as it doesn’t offer the best experience and quality when visiting a website. Web standards have evolved since the time and so upgrade is extremely recommended for all users.

Are you a designer? An aware one?

If you are, then you know that IE 6 is a PITA when it comes to designing a website or application. Its support for CSS 2 is not perfect and thus it causes a lot of frustration. In my case, it takes double the work (and money) to support websites in IE 6.

What about “those” clients? They only use IE 6!

If you have clients that still use IE 6, it really depends on what you wrote a contract for. If you promised to support it, well… there is nothing you can do. What you can do is prepare for the future.

Paul Boag said brilliantly:

The energy we are spending in dropping IE 6 should be used to make our clients realize the truth about IE 6, providing a lesser experience.

I agree 100% with Paul. We are being plain old silly by even considering tweaking what’s good. Old browsers should have an experience of their own. In the end of it all, what matters most is the content.

So this means the problem is not the browser?

YES, the problem is NOT the browser. The problem is what people make of it, both designers and users. Designers have the responsibility to warn the user about the lesser experience and say how they can enjoy the full show. Splitting CSS apart and delivering them according to each browser’s capabilities is key. If the full means upgrading, fine. Users will be able to choose now.

If they choose to upgrade, don’t be a fool, go help the guy! You will score good points.

Depois de muitos dias à espera, finalmente vos apresento: Rails à moda do Porto, o novo screencast de Ruby on Rails, em Português! O episódio de hoje é mesmo um cheirinho muito introdutório ao Rails, na tentativa de deixar um gostinho aos meninos mais curiosos.

Este é o primeiro episódio, é natural que tenha MUITA coisa a apontar. Os comentários incentivam-se, contribuam para um melhor screencast!

O propósito de iniciar um screencast, além do sentido de contribuição do meu conhecimento é dar a conhecer a beleza de programar Ruby e o imenso poder do Rails para construir aplicações web bem pensadas, bem desenhadas e sólidas.

Tu gostavas de conhecer Ruby e Rails? Gostavas de ter um conjunto de vídeos em Português que te mostrassem como fazer aplicações web em Rails? Gostavas inclusivamente de sugerir um workshop de 8 ou 16 horas sobre o assunto? Fico à espera de feedback.

So what’s new anyway?

New theme series

As you may recall, the previous series of theming were named after the purple gem, Amethyst. This time I baptize this series with a different gem color, namely Amber. I chose browns and yellows to resemble a different level of distinction and so I traded the mysterious nature of the purple for a more determined and sleeker brown & yellow mix. Personally I enjoyed the soft grunge touch to it, it really pushes it up a notch.

I also tried to emphasize the content in a way that’s readable, simple and efficient. At least when I read a post, it makes me feel comfortable.

Back to Wordpress

Yes, you heard me: I ditched Drupal in favor of Wordpress. But then you ask:

Are you of your freaking mind? First you use Wordpress, then Drupal and now Wordpress back again??

1. Drupal was giving me a lotta headaches just for building a blog and a portfolio. If it were something bigger, then perhaps I’d consider Drupal instead.
2. I must admit: Wordpress’ editor is the best one I’ve ever seen. The media section is built right in and the whole admin area is just so much more inviting.
3. Wordpress also includes import/export features, which Drupal doesn’t yet. Well, at least not this good, all I did was import the XML file, plain paste of the wp-content folder, configure the plugins and that’s it.

Well, anything else?

• I’m considering the hypothesis of inviting people to guest post along.
• A screencast series would be an interesting idea, most likely on Rails or application engineering, and in Portuguese — there are plenty of them in English already.

That’s it for today. I hope that this installation stays put for a long long time. Give your feedback if you are so kind.

[more content is missing due to my previous blog crash. I will try and get the rest of it when I find it possible.]

Estrutura

O Word suporta estilos. Melhor que isso, já tem alguns predefinidos para se usar de imediato. Se quiser, pode mudar a formatação ao seu gosto, mas mude o estritamente necessário e mude o estilo, não o texto em si! Assim, assegura que todo o texto é uniforme e assegura a estrutura semântica do seu documento. Quando tiver de utilizar o documento entre plataformas diferentes (entre Word e Openoffice, por exemplo), o número de casualidades diminui drasticamente.

Conteúdo gerado

Generated content

Uma das vantagens de usar os estilos de que falei é o conteúdo gerado ser feito de forma automática e simples. Apenas indique os parâmetros necessários e a aplicação gera automaticamente o conteúdo. Melhor que gerá-lo é actualizá-lo com apenas um clique — botão direito do rato em cima do conteúdo e pedir para o actualizar. Mai nada!

Algumas regras

1. Não separe os parágrafos com <Enter>’s a mais. Defina no seu estilo que quer uma margem inferior e dê-lhe um valor mais generoso.
2. Faça das listas a coisa mais simples possível. Não arraste os manípulos para trás e para a frente, vai acabar por desuniformizar a sua estrutura e depois é mais difícil tornar a endireitar.
3. Tabelas super simples. Pode escolher as formatações automáticas sem qualquer problema. Se quiser criar um estilo único, use um estilo para tabelas e use-o sempre. Dêem também espaço suficiente nas células das tabelas.
4. Não usem WordArt nem molduras de página. Por favor.
5. Mantenham margens de página acima dos 2,5cm para ser mais fácil de ler.
6. Se tiverem um uso consistente e relativamente uniforme do Word, considerem criar templates, com os estilos já todos definidos. Assim não precisam mais de se preocupar com a formatação de cada vez que criam um documento novo.

Percam algum tempo a conhecer as ferramentas que usam, elas são simples, apenas precisam de procurar. Para aqueles mais ávidos e dispostos a levar o conceito de preparação de documentos mais ao extremo, dêem-se ao trabalho de usar LaTeX. Eu uso-o e vale mesmo a pena.

Mantenham este conjunto de guias e orientações mais rico, comentem. Contribuam para a melhor produtividade do nosso Portugal.

Case study: a school

The example I am going to show my attendees resembles a typical school situation. In a nutsheel:

• Students have Subjects.
• Subjects have Students.
• Students have Grades to Subjects.

Rails relationships — student

The Models

Student

class Student < ActiveRecord::Base
   has_many :grades
   has_many :subjects, :through => :grades, :uniq => true
   accepts_nested_attributes_for :grades, :allow_destroy => true
end

Subject

class Subject < ActiveRecord::Base
  validates_uniqueness_of :shortname
  has_many :grades
  has_many :students, :through => :grades, :uniq => true
end

Grade

class Grade < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :subject
  belongs_to :student
  validates_presence_of :value
end

And the magic trick!

Through accepts_nested_attributes_for, the student's form_for can now accept nested fields through fields_for for setting Grades' data.

Everytime a student is created, subjects are not directly associated to him. You need to create a form in which you allow to assign a student the subjects you want.

[image missing]

This tells you that a student can have an array of subject id's. You even get to see what subjects are already assigned and dissociate them just like that! When the associations are done, a new Grade record is created to associate the first two modules. Unfortunately, when the associations are dismantled, the Grade association is gone too.

If you know Railscasts, the Complex Forms series explain this task for Rails < 2.3. But now it has become easier and easier to associate models and worrying less about your structure.