Now of course, I know URLs and more specifically clean URLs still matter. I would strongly disagree with anyone who thinks otherwise. I am no expert on URL design, but I keep hearing shocking statements like “URLs are for search engines” or “hasbangs are ok, since Google says so.”

WRONG – URLs are for humans

I could see how people think URLs are not important. Ok no, no I couldn’t.

Since these are the days of copying a URL and sharing it with friends on Facebook, circles on Google+, followers on Twitter, contacts by email, chat groups via IM, so maybe the URL has lost a little of it’s luster because of our ever shortening attention spans. And that’s just sad.

Take this blog post for example, where I have control of the URLs. Since I use WordPress, this post could be accessed using a couple URLs:

• Shortlink: http://www.pixelflips.com/?p=961
• Full URL: http://www.pixelflips.com/blog/do-clean-urls-still-matter/

Now in my eyes if a friend or colleague sent me the first URL (shortlink), I would have no idea of what I was about to click on. The second, however, gives a much clearer picture. Pixel what!?? Pixel who!!? Both /blog & /do-clean-urls-still-matter/ clearly indicate that I am about visit a blog and read some idiots thoughts on clean URLs.

Wow, I was able to figure that out just from looking at the URL before deciding to click on anything. Now surely I constructed my URLs to do that for search engines, right?

Oh wait, vanity URLs, huh?

Now if URLs are only for search engines, why in the hell would some of the largest sites on the planet take the time to implement and give me a vanity URL? Hmm, could it be they want the URLs that I share and that get indexed by the search engines to be obvious at a quick glance? Interesting.

Again, I am not expert on URL design but I am aware of numerous debates going on across the web. Right now I am very interested in a few different hashbang debates (see links below). I don’t have a solid answer to this debate, but I do tend to agree that this approach is not ideal.

Do it for your users

The most important asset to any website are the users who visit and revisit your website time and time again. If I haven’t made my stance on clean URLs clear, my last piece of advice would be to just do it for your users. They will thank you in the long run!

If my small example above doesn’t at least make you think, check out some of these interesting reads:

• URL Design by Kyle Neath
• Breaking the Web with hash-bangs by Mike Davies
• JavaScript and URLs by Chris Shiflet
• Dashes vs. Underscores by Matt Cutts
• Does the position of keywords in the URL affect ranking? by Matt Cutts

Thanks for reading!

While of course it’s not the end of the world I kept getting the following validation error:

“Element name g:plusone cannot be represented as XML 1.0.”

The code that Google gave me seemed to be the issue.

<g:plusone size="small"></g:plusone>

So of course, I started searching to see if anyone else was having the same problem. I wasn’t able to find much, so I decided to check out Google’s documentation to see if I could find any info.

Apparently, using the default code snippet Google provides in combination with the HTML5 Doctype will cause the validation error.

In the documentation Google provides a HTML5-valid syntax alternative which is available as follows:

<div class="g-plusone" data-size="small" data-count="true"></div>

Needless to say, I switched out the code and voilà problem solved. My site is now valid again and all is well in the universe. Nice looking out Google!

Reeder not only has a wonderfully designed interface, it’s also available on my iPhone which allows me to stay up to date when I am not in front of a computer. Reeder syncs with Google Reader and keeps all my devices up to date.

If you have been looking for a new feed reader, I would encourage you to check out Reeder for Mac (currently in public beta), iPhone, or iPad

Lighter, lighter and lighter!

As you have probably noticed the site has a much lighter color palette than all other previous versions. I was getting tired of dark, so I decided to switch it up a bit.

While the color scheme is lighter, I also took some time and cleaned up some of the code and style sheets. I am hoping the site will respond a bit faster and be easier to maintain in the future. Now, if I can only get the hang of this blogging thing.

Please feel free to let me know what you think of the new design! I am always open for feedback!!

Thanks for reading!

Besides a few loose ends on the visual side, most everything is complete. However, if you do come across something that is extremely buggy, please let me know.

I hope everyone enjoys the new design and I plan on writing more about this release as soon as I have squared away the last few issues.

This is a paid service by the talented crew over at Carsonified and is well worth the money spent! If you have been thinking about purchasing a membership or just want to brush up on the latest web technologies, I would highly recommend a Think Vitamin Membership.

Well Worth It & Loads of Content

There are different pricing structures for access to many different types of content. Training videos, online conferences and Q&A with top industry designers are just a few bits of content you will gain access to. Videos are available in HD and are available for offline viewing on a multitude of devices, which is also great for when you’re on the go.

Overall, it’s a great service that I felt deserved a few words. Now I’ll be returning to my regularly scheduled programming on the fundamentals of responsive web design.

I am extremely blessed to have a healthy family and to be still creating for the web after almost 10 years. I hope to write a lot more often in the upcoming year, but most of all I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday season. Things will be a bit slow (as if they could get any slower!) around here over the next few weeks, but I hope to complete some much needed updates to my site and to also push out blog posts on a more frequent basis.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Pixelflips!

Congrats to the Chrome Team and German illustrator Christoph Niemann. I am excited to do a bit more “source viewing” and see what can be learned from the markup and CSS. To check it out head over to www.20thingsilearned.com and learn something about the web and browsers you may not have already known.