Year on year we see new developments in the world of web design so what’s on the agenda for web designers in Northern Ireland in 2011? Here’s a few thoughts:

1.     Mobile Web – as our recent m-commerce article illustrated, mobile commerce is on the rise.  This is a subject that has been on the radar of web designers for the last few years.  In the future web designers will be spending more time developing mobile device applications and interfaces.  Mobile web is not high on the agenda for all website owners at present but e-commerce sites like Amazon value its importance.  Over time, more companies will begin to recognise the rewards of making their sites more user-friendly for mobile device users.

2.    Tablet Computing – this has become more popular since the launch of Apple’s tablet computer, the Apple iPad.  The option to view both horizontally and vertically presents a new challenge for our web designers worldwide, who may need to consider designing two completely different layouts for each site.  Websites with a width larger than the iPad screen resolution will be scaled down and zoomable.  Web designers are advised to design for a 960 pixels layout.  They may also have to consider designing simplified websites that are easier to navigate as tablet computers are primarily touchscreen devices.  They need larger clickable areas suitable for fingers, and spacing between clickable areas so that only one can be touched at a time.  This typically results in the use of larger text and the use of buttons over text links.  The iPad runs Safari browser which doesn’t support plug-ins to be installed on this device.  CSS3 and HTML5 are likely to remain the norm for developing page layout for the iPad.  Check out how your website will look on the iPad using iPad Peek

3.    HTML5 – Northern Ireland’s web design community will be getting to grips with HTML5 in 2011.  HTML5 recognises that web pages have a structure, with navigation, body content, sidebar content, headers, footers and so on.   The updated system has created tags to support these elements of the page, adding a lot of great new features to web pages and web design.  Microsoft has stated that they will begin supporting at least portions of HTML 5 in IE 8.  If you want to get started sooner, Opera has had the best support, with Safari close behind.

4.    Web Fonts – The most supported fonts in web design were typically those installed on the largest amount of machines but with so many different operating systems available it’s difficult for web designers to use custom fonts since they won’t render properly in environments without a copy of the file itself.  An option for developers is to ignore physical fonts and work within an online directory.  With cloud computing roaring in popularity we have seen larger developments unfold such as Google code web fonts.

Let us know your thoughtsabout what should be on the agenda for web designers in Northern Ireland this year on info@thewebbureau.com

Global research agency Millward Brown has summarised their top 11 digital predictions for 2011. The trends we can expect to see this year include:

1. Brands juggling their presence in the ‘Splinternet’ – i.e. the public open web versus social networks accessible only by members. Brands will increasingly need to develop and build different applications for specific platforms, such as Facebook and the iPhone, to ensure they are where their market wants to encounter them.

2. Online shopping – this will continue to grow strongly in 2011 due to its unmatched convenience and efficiency, with collective buying services like Groupon continuing to be popular. Mobile apps are expected to be particularly popular in the UK.

3. Online display - Marketers will increasingly attempt to deliver branding messages within the ad using expandable formats and interactive features, which often replicate part of the experience of a microsite or social media page.

4. Virtual video – Developing videos with viral potential is becoming a key success criteria for any new communications idea.

5. More ‘made for web’ online display content - Online video advertising spend is growing and expected to grow further, driven partly by brands becoming smarter in their use of online video paired with display, and by greater mobile video consumption, via smartphones and tablet devices.

6. More on Mobile - Marketers will take advantage of the improved performance capabilities of mobile devices that mean more people are online, more of the time, and allow for better mobile ad experiences.

7. Geo-location services – 2011 will provide a more rewarding experience, more detailed and dynamic information and a growth in check-in rewards.

8. Search - Consumers will trade privacy for relevance. Links with social media profiles, search history and behavioural segmentation will provide greater search relevance for users prepared to share this information with search engine providers.

9. Gaming – Growth driven by the recent launches of Sony’s Move and Microsoft’s Kinect will lead to further innovation in game design in 2011. Meanwhile, casual gaming, driven by the capabilities of Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch, is likely to grow further.

10. Social Graphs - People are looking for brands in social media that are relevant to their needs. They will be involved in the biggest social network (Facebook) because other people are, but increasingly will be more engaged in niche networks that appeal to their particular interests.

11. Online Privacy - Marketers will make progress on the development of online transparency frameworks.

Download the full report for more details.

From time to time we get asked the question " Why do we use SQL Express rather than full SQL Server for our databases ? "

Well to be honest its a valid question and one that has many answers - in short however there are a few main reasons.


1) SQL Express is free of charge as opposed to its bigger brothers and sisters - therefore making it the preferred choice for most websites. The bottom line is that if your website needs a bigger database then quite frankly you should be getting the traffic that will give you the financial muscle to purchase a larger database.

2) We develop using microsoft technologies and we can interact between SQL & Visual studio seamlessly - avoiding those large numbers of open windows and third party programs that are just annoying. In short it is a more efficient build for us to use Microsoft Technologies.

3) There is a limit to the data storage capacity of 4GB but in reality this is ample for most websites. Only the larger Ecommerce sites will need more than this but again we can migrate to the larger engine when required  - keeping startup costs low for the customer.

4) Again there is a limit to the number of CPUs that Express Edition can use on a server but again for most websites this is not an issue.

5) The reality is that if we feel you need a larger database based on previous traffic reports for your website or expected traffic then we are more than happy to put you onto a full copy of SQL Server.

6) Later you can upgrade it easily to standard/enterprise edition and take advantage of features like Replication, Mirroring, Log Shipping, Clustering, Database Partioning, SSIS, SSRS, SSAS.

7) We also have extensive experience in MS Access and MYSQL so if you have a query about these other databases we are more than happy to offer advice.