http://millionclues.com/problogging/wordpress-tips/make-your-theme-wordpress-3-0-compatible/

http://www.610design.com/coding/8-useful-code-snippets-for-wordpress-3-0/

Maybe not, but the boat is sinking and I’ve abandoned ship.

Coming from an animation background, Flash was a natural progression for me. Using the timeline, keyframes and animation tools instantly made sense. Flash made simple 2D animation a breeze. Which is what the program was designed to do. For better or worse, designers and developers soon realized its potential as a web tool due to the small file size output. And when people got a taste of “moving websites” there was money to be made. It was like a bunch of kids seeing their first flaming skull GIF animation on America Online. As a result, Flash was my first real introduction in to web design, banner animation and even programming. At the time, coding Flash was easier for me than developing an XHTML/CSS based site. There was no hassle of cross browser compatibility and I could charge more money for it. I wasn’t alone. Other designers realized they didn’t have to be a genius developer to master all the creative uses of gotoAndPlay. Then came AS3. We shuddered at the thought of having to learn a real coding language. Adobe managed to alienate the very people that made Flash a popular web application. And as the web evolved, the flashiness of Flash has become less cool and more annoying. The demand for content managed websites rendered Flash unpractical and costly.

My first major corporate job rode the initial popularity of Flash. They created very high quality content managed Flash websites and applications. The sites were amazing. There’s no doubt that a Flash project in the hands of the right team can become the coolest web application on the block. So what’s the problem? Why did I abandon ship? Where’s the love?

Cost — What I would consider a “good” Flash site is usually designed and developed for a fortune 500 company and costs well upwards of 6 figures. In fact, don’t even consider owning a great Flash site unless you’re willing to pay more than the cost of a house for a virtual application. That’s all well and good, but a million dollar website requires more overhead and employees than most small design shops have at their disposal.

Updates — Updating a Flash site is a nightmare for the client and the developer. Explaining how to update a Flash site to a client is about as much fun as having your wisdom teeth removed. If you want a true content managed Flash site, be prepared to shell out the big bucks. Hack job content management solutions that consist of uploading XML and text files via an FTP program are just as much of a headache as having no content management.

Practicality — There’s no practical consistency to the design and development of Flash sites. There are no standards. Every Flash designer and developer wants to create a website that’s never been seen before. The problem with that is, well, it’s never been seen before. Buttons magically appear out of nowhere, transition animations take 5 minutes and sound effects interrupt the Jack Johnson song you have playing in the background. Not only is it unpractical, it’s annoying.

User Experience — This term has been thrown around a lot lately. Some people may argue that Flash websites have a strong user experience. In fact, I’ve heard Flash websites referred to as more than a website — rather an interactive experience. Yeah, again… that may be true for a few hundred thousand dollars. However, I’m willing to wager that most people don’t want to spend a great deal of time on those interactive experiences. A great Flash site may leave a lasting impression, but is generally a one night stand.

More recently I have come to believe that most good Flash websites are merely a way for large companies to blow their obscene amounts of money on brand recognition.

Or, they are created by companies that are flexing their Flash muscles in an attempt to attract the eye of large companies with copious amount of cash ready to blow. That makes Flash nearly obsolete for 98% of the web community — unless you want an annoying website.

I don’t want to sound like I am totally dissing Flash. It has a sentimental attachment for me — like playing an Atari game. I think Flash, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose. That purpose being it’s original usage, 2D animation. Other potentially acceptable purposes are web banners and advertisements, games, sIFR text (hence the lovely dynamic “Archer” font used on Muku), micro sites that never need to be updated and perhaps the occasional portfolio site. Even still, most of the Flash flashiness can be accomplished these days without the use of Flash.

If you find yourself clinging to Flash because you invested so much time in the program; I know the feeling. However, I think biting the bullet and learning new means of development for the web is the wiser decision at this point. Unless Flash stages a miraculous come back, may it rest in peace.

I love creating design for a living. I love the aloha lifestyle. I love working for myself. I love being able to surf when the waves are perfect. And once you’ve tasted that freedom, it’s hard to consider doing anything else no matter how difficult times may get. It can be done. With some risk and sacrifice you can do what you love for a living. Here are a few tips I’d like to share to get you on your way:

1. You Don’t Have To Be A Starving Artist

Most people don’t believe they can be paid well to do what they love. This is simply not true. Unfortunately, it’s a trap many creative people fall victim to. They’ve been raised to believe that all artists are starving, and the work they provide isn’t of any value. There are hordes of people that prey upon this, sometimes unknowingly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard phrases such as, “It will look great in your portfolio.” Be wary of these words. It implies that they are doing you a favor, and it’s an attempt to elicit cheap work. Phrases like these are traps for artists not confident in their abilities. Which brings me to my next point.

2. Have Confidence In Your Abilities

If you want to be successful doing what you love, take pride in your work and be confident that your time and abilities are worth money. You are providing a skilled service that comes with years of education, talent and hard work. When is the last time you heard of an architect designing a house for $50? Just because your work might not be tangible doesn’t mean it’s not real. In most cases it took a great deal of time and energy to produce. Not only will you be doing yourself a favor by charging fair rates, but you’ll be helping the entire industry.

3. It’s 1000 Times Harder Than Doing What You Hate

But potentially 1000 times more gratifying. Doing what you hate for a living is easy. Essentially your entire life is a strict schedule. As long you color within the lines, your bills will be paid every month. If losing your job is the worst case scenario, you’ll still get unemployment. It’s a relatively risk free lifestyle. That’s what’s so appealing, and so difficult to sacrifice. Doing what you love takes a degree of motivation, dedication and responsibility rarely found in a day job. Not to mention the risk of going broke. You have to set your own hours and be your own boss. It’s easy to fall in to negative routines when you don’t have the constant threat of being fired. Also, your work load will increase 10 fold, and 90% of it will be completely unrelated to doing what you love. But when something you’ve created does get exposure with your name on it; man it’s a great feeling.

4. Always Be Productive

I love to surf, but I can’t do it all the time (as much as people think I do). Work takes priority. And if I don’t have any client work, I always stay productive with personal projects, marketing, promotion, updating my website and much more. In fact, I usually work at least 12 hours a day and most weekends. Although I’ve been trying to cut back on the weekends. I’m lucky if 2 hours a day are actually billable work time. When I do surf, it’s a meditative state for me. The place I go to clear my mind, stay healthy and reflect on what I’ve done and what I need to do. Which I consider to be productive and just as valuable as working.

5. You’re Crazy

The second you decide to give up a successful career to pursue doing what you love, you will be labeled crazy. It’s unavoidable my friend. Your family and friends probably will not understand. And people will secretly want you to fail. There’s a quote from The Pursuit of Happyness, “If people can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it.” So, be prepared for opposition. If you’re like me, the corporate lifestyle and monotonous daily grind seems crazy. Personally, I think waking up at 6 a.m. to sit in traffic for an hour to sit in a cubicle for 8 hours twiddling my thumbs to sit in traffic again for an hour every day is insane. It’s such a weird concept to me, but to each his own.

When doing anything on your own there’s a potential for great success and great failure. The trick is to keep your head above the water. Don’t become too disappointed and more importantly; don’t let your failures make you bitter. Because you will experience failures. Clients don’t want to work with bitter people. Be proud and happy doing what you love. If you’re good at it, work hard and stay inventive — success is bound to catch up with you sooner or later.

This is a small, but useful set of three free vector icons. I illustrated the icons quite some time ago and decided I may as well offer them on the site. The shapes have not been merged, so you can edit the icons to your hearts desire. You can even make them in to totally different icons! The set includes an Information Book, Magnifying Glass and Clip Board.

Download the icons here.

Why free? Well, it recently came to my attention that Muku has been getting the wrong kind of web exposure. It’s great exposure, but not the kind that pays the bills. In addition, we have been working together with our partners on some very exciting personal projects for the greater portion of 2009. However, as a result, we have very little to show for months of dedicated work until those projects are launched. The Structure Theme is our teaser of the exciting things to come. We hope the theme will generate the kind of exposure we are looking for within the community, and in the meantime people will seek our design services and customization requests for the Structure Theme.

There seems to be a lack of quality minimalist WordPress themes. As most great designers know, less is often more. I’ve searched on numerous occasions for a great theme to use as a starting point for personal websites. Unfortunately, I never found anything I was satisfied with. Most free themes are mediocre at best. Fortunately, we decided to fill that gap with the Structure Theme. If the theme gains a strong enough response, you can expect more quality minimalist themes in the future!

We have high hopes and lofty goals for 2010, and we’re looking forward to meeting them. The Structure Theme is our first step in that direction. Thanks for any support or feedback regarding the theme!