The latest blog posts of freelance website designer Alfred Fox (AlfredFox.com) http://www.alfredfox.com/ 2005-2010, AlfredFox.com That is a very good question. In fact, I think a lot of people have misconceptions about what a freelancer actually is (designer, developer, writer - it all applies). Obviously every freelancer is going to have a different take on what they consider themselves to be but I'm fairly confident that... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Business/63/What_Is_A_Freelancer? http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Business/63/What_Is_A_Freelancer? I've been coming across a lot of older websites using some pretty horrific fonts. Long story short I couldn't sleep and decided to make a T-Shirt idea. Now I just need to figure out how to make T-Shirts. Even worse than coming across old sites with bad fonts is coming across new websites with ba... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Humor/62/Oh,_You_Make_Comic_Books? http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Humor/62/Oh,_You_Make_Comic_Books? GoDark.us a Google Custom Search Engine is a dark (black) version of Google which delivers all of the results of Google with a dark look and feel. The site was up for a couple of years with a fairly large following but I experience unexpected data loss around October and this is one of my sites ... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Projects/61/Google_Dark_-_Godark.us_Is_Finally_Back http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Projects/61/Google_Dark_-_Godark.us_Is_Finally_Back I'm asked by many of my clients as well as by other designers how I do what I do. For those of you who do not know I am a Freelance Website Designer who specializes in HTML, CSS, Graphic Design, PHP, MySQL and everything in between. I love what I do and would be lost without my toolbox of websit... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Web Design/60/What_Tools_Does_A_Freelance_Website_Designer_Use? http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Web Design/60/What_Tools_Does_A_Freelance_Website_Designer_Use? If you are like me you probably have a ton of clients who regularly need their sitemap.xml updated. It's gotten to be more of a task everytime I acquire a new client. To simplify matters and save myself a bucket load of time I've developed a simple sitemap.xml which auto generates by reading eve... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/SEO/59/Self_Updating_XML_Sitemap http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/SEO/59/Self_Updating_XML_Sitemap I've always hated the myriad of under construction gifs that have plagued our internets since the dawn of time. However... textfiles.com has taken up the task of gathering as many as they can in one place... I guess it's kind of like a museum and though I detest them, a pretty good idea. Check i... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Humor/58/If_You_Are_Prone_To_Seizures_This_May_Not_Be_For_You http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Humor/58/If_You_Are_Prone_To_Seizures_This_May_Not_Be_For_You I've found that many of my clients aren't really sure what to expect from a website designer. It can be difficult to say for sure as many designers offer their services to varying degrees. A quote from one designer may or may not include the same services as a quote from another designer. I've ma... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Website Advice/55/10_Things_You_Need_To_Know_About_Your_Website_Designer http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Website Advice/55/10_Things_You_Need_To_Know_About_Your_Website_Designer I wanted to take a moment and review a new website that has HUGE potential. Listomi.com. Listomi is a start-up that has taken user generated content to a new level. The ambitious title: "Cataloging the Universe", is exactly what this website is about. Think of a Wikipedia for lists. Lists of EVE... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Noteworthy/53/Listomi.com_-_Cataloging_the_Universe http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Noteworthy/53/Listomi.com_-_Cataloging_the_Universe The Estetica Graphic Design and Web Design Forum which opened at the start of 2008 is offering Graphic Design and Web Design blogs to add their live RSS feeds to the Graphic Design Blog section. This means when you post on your blog it automatically posts it as a forum post with a link back to y... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Noteworthy/52/Get_Free_Inbound_Links_Using_Your_Blog_Feed http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Noteworthy/52/Get_Free_Inbound_Links_Using_Your_Blog_Feed ** If you have not read Part I of this story, please do so, It'll make much more sense. On 9/20/2007 I posted about an experiment I'd been conducting to boost my search engine ranking for the key words I was aiming for. Freelance Website Design and Website Design... At the time of this post, I am... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/SEO/49/How_I_Am_Achieving_Google_Search_Engine_Rankings_Absolutely_Free_Part_II http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/SEO/49/How_I_Am_Achieving_Google_Search_Engine_Rankings_Absolutely_Free_Part_II I usually don't do this, but in my un-thwarted conquest for "blogdom" without Wordpress, I've lost the ability to do trackbacks. I was never big on them anyway, but I came across some great advice today I wanted to share. This is not my own advice, but the advice of Seth Godin Here are principles... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Website Advice/48/How_To_Create_A_Great_Website http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Website Advice/48/How_To_Create_A_Great_Website I've recently had the privilege to work with an organization which I think will make a huge impact on many young adults. I love the work that I do and I really enjoy the different websites I get to work with. But once in a while something comes a long that is more than just business. A website wh... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Projects/47/MyTinCup.com_Student_Loan_Relief_Fund http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Projects/47/MyTinCup.com_Student_Loan_Relief_Fund WARNING: This is a fairly long article. I would suggest going to get a snack. But come right back, you definitely need to read this. I've read a great deal of articles on how to rank high on search engines (namely Google), get more visitors, and get noticed for those key words your really lookin... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/SEO/46/How_I_Am_Achieving_Google_Search_Engine_Rankings_Absolutely_Free http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/SEO/46/How_I_Am_Achieving_Google_Search_Engine_Rankings_Absolutely_Free I've had the privilege to be recently featured on four CSS / XHTML Galleries. These galleries are put in place to allow others to rate valid CSS / XHTML websites. I count it a privilege to be included on these lists as they are normally reserved for the cleanest and most professional of websites.... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Acknowledgments/45/Four_CSS_and_XHTML_Acknowledgments http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Acknowledgments/45/Four_CSS_and_XHTML_Acknowledgments I've recently come across a great utility for taking screen shots of either your entire desktop or an application window. This program,ZScreen , is packed with features! I find I always need to take screen shots but I find it's always been a pain because not only do I have to take the screen shot... http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Software/44/ZScreen_-_A_Great_New_Open_Source_Screen_Shot_Utility http://www.alfredfox.com/blog/Software/44/ZScreen_-_A_Great_New_Open_Source_Screen_Shot_Utility