Welcome to the Junction!

The Designers Resource

Download the software that I designed and use here.

(10-23-2024) added a lightweight Form maker App For Download. 

Recuva

Recuva is an undeletion program for Windows, developed by Piriform Software.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Handy Apps)

Recuva is an undeletion program for Windows, developed by Piriform Software.




How to Create Chat Rooms in WordPress for Your Users

Recently one of our readers asked if it was possible to create chat rooms on your WordPress site for your users?

A chat room hosted on your site will allow your visitors to chat with each other without needing to install a third-party chat client like Slack or Discord.

In this article, we’ll show you how to create a chat room in WordPress.

Why Add a Chat Room in WordPress?

If you run a membership website or an online forum, then you may want to create an instant messaging chat room for your users.

You could use a third-party service like Slack, WhatsApp, Facebook groups, or Discord. However, with these methods, all the communication happens outside of your website, so you don’t have control over the chat experience.

These methods also encourage people to leave your website, which is bad views for your pageviews and bounce rate in WordPress.

By embedding a chat room in your website, you can keep people on your site for longer and build a stronger sense of community.

Note: Chat rooms tend to work best for small communities of users. If want to offer live customer support, then check out our list of the best live chat support software instead.

That said, let’s take a look at how to add a chat room to your WordPress blog or website.

Read more .....


9 SEO Trends To Boost Your Rankings in 2021

You already know the importance of positioning your pages on the top of Google SERPs rankings, right? Well-ranked pages provide enormous organic reach to your website, increasing the possibility of attracting and converting leads.

To achieve this goal, it is essential to apply SEO techniques, which are designed to adapt their content to the algorithm’s ranking criteria. 

These criteria, however, are not permanent. In an effort to make the user experience ever simpler and more efficient, Google frequently updates its parameters. 

Besides the algorithm, it is also necessary to consider the audience’s behavior and preferences. Ultimately, the most important factor for maintaining good positioning is the quality of the experience you offer to your website visitors. 

Therefore, to achieve good results in a Digital Marketing strategy, it is essential to stay up-to-date on the SEO trends that arise with growing frequency. 

 

Read more .....


Working from home: The future of business is remote.

Leadership styles have had to change radically this year. Instead of managing colleagues face-to-face, business leaders have had to lead from afar, supervising disparate teams over Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

It's not a leadership style that many managers would have picked; socially-distanced working has been a necessity rather than a choice. And many leaders are still uncomfortable both managing at a distance and trusting their staff to get on with their work without direction.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) reports that 40% of managers have low self-confidence in their ability to manage workers remotely. More than a third (38%), meanwhile, still believe remote workers usually perform worse than those in an office.

Read more .....


Sketch Alternatives: Tools That Can Replace Sketch For Your Design Needs

Sketch once dominated the world of UI design tools. But these days, we have an array of Sketch alternatives that are on par with Sketch and even outmatch it in certain areas. This detailed guide will cover the best Sketch alternatives in 2020.

A few years ago, a UXTools survey revealed that Sketch was the most used tool for designing UI, wireframing, brainstorming, and creating user flow.

But over the last few years, the landscape of design tools changed dramatically.

As competitors grew in size and quality, the field of /UIUX tools became much more diverse, and the latest survey reflects just that: product designers are using various tools — each with their strengths.

We have Sketch alternatives that are lightning-fast, cross-platform, highly collaborative, and asset-rich.

So how do you choose which UI/UX designing app to use?

Let’s go through the best alternatives to Sketch.

Figma:

Figma currently holds the top spot as the most popular tool for design and prototyping: 66% of designers use Figma for UI design, double what was just a year ago.

One of the reasons for such vast success is the tool’s accessibility: you can use Figma on almost any platform (Mac, Win, Linus) as long as you have an active Internet connection. Figma works within your browser, so you don’t need to install desktop apps and bother updating them (although Figma has apps for both Mac and Windows).

Read more .....


Big Sur Icons: The Most Controversial Icon Pack Released So Far?

On November 12, 2020, Apple released its newest operating system, Big Sur. The new system sparked many discussions and debates concerning the major user interface overhaul it delivered. But one of the most controversial and heated debates rose around Big Sur icons. Let’s find out why.

Read more .....


How to Use ProRAW on Your iPhone 12 Pro

Apple's update that enables RAW camera capture and makes your photos more editable is now available.

Apple's latest version of iOS adds a new camera feature to the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max called ProRAW. Shutterbug or not, it's a perk you'll want to check out.

What Is ProRAW?

You're probably familiar with JPEG, the file format most phones and even professional cameras use for photos. It's the most common format due to its ability to compress image data and reduce a picture's file size without dramatically affecting quality. There are similar advantages to HEIC, a newer format Apple uses that creates even tinier file sizes while still maintaining good image quality.

But when it comes to editing JPEG photos, on Instagram or your default photo-editing app, the amount of tweaking you can do is limited. You might not be able to fix that over-exposed sky, for example. That's because JPEGs/HEICs don't have as much image data to work with, since a great amount of that data gets discarded when the file is compressed. That's why most professional photographers shoot in RAW. The RAW format is lossless, meaning it contains unprocessed image data straight from the camera's sensor. That richer data set can make all the difference in fixing a blown-out sky, correcting white balance, or tuning the colors of plants and humans to look more natural. The tradeoff is the file size; a RAW image is several times the size of a JPEG or a HEIC.

Read more .....


50 Free Responsive HTML5 Web Templates for 2021

If you need a new website or want to give your current site a modern update, our collection of 50 free responsive web and HTML templates is an excellent place to start.

These templates are easy to use and fully customizable, making it simple to create a professional-looking website without breaking the bank. With a responsive design, your website will look great on any device, from desktop computers to mobile phones.

By utilizing templates, you can impress your visitors with your design expertise without needing to be an expert in web design. These templates offer a wide range of features and customization options, allowing you to create a website that stands out from the competition.

Using templates can save you both time and effort when building web pages online. They come pre-built with various design elements, including typography, color schemes, and layouts. This means you don’t have to spend hours creating each page from scratch, freeing up time for other important tasks.

Whether you’re a small business owner, blogger, or designer, you’ll find a free template that meets your needs in this collection. There are templates available for various industries, including business, e-commerce, portfolio, and more.

Read more .....

 


Chromebooks will now let you sign in to websites with your fingerprint

Google brings Web Authentication aka 'WebAuthn' to Chrome OS version 88.

Google has finally brought Web Authentication (WebAuthn) passwordless authentication to Chrome OS to allow users to sign in to websites with a PIN or fingerprint used to unlock a Chromebook.

WebAuthn allows people to register and authenticate on websites or apps using an "authenticator" – such as a fingerprint or PIN – instead of a password. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) made WebAuthn an official web standard in 2019.

Of course, to take advantage of the Chrome OS version 88 update, people need to have a Chromebook with a fingerprint reader. But the feature also supports a device PIN, which is still easier to remember than passwords for every website. 

Websites that support WebAuthn will let you use your Chromebook PIN or fingerprint ID – if your Chromebook has a fingerprint reader – instead of the password you've set for the website," says Alexander Kuscher, director of Chrome OS.

Additionally, people who use Google's two-step verification to sign in to a Google account don't need to use a security key or phone to authenticate since the Chromebook PIN or fingerprint ID can be used as the second factor.

Read more .....


Firefox is more than a browser

Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and anticipated web standards. In November 2017, Firefox began incorporating new technology under the code name "Quantum" to promote parallelism and a more intuitive user interface. Firefox is available for Windows 7 and later versions, macOS, and Linux. Its unofficial ports are available for various Unix and Unix-like operating systems, including FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, illumos, and Solaris Unix. It is also available for Android and iOS. However, as with all other iOS web browsers, the iOS version uses the WebKit layout engine instead of Gecko due to platform requirements. An optimized version is also available on the Amazon Fire TV as one of the two main browsers available with Amazon's Silk Browser.

Firefox was created in 2002 under the code name "Phoenix" by members of the Mozilla community who desired a standalone browser rather than the Mozilla Application Suite bundle. During its beta phase, it proved to be popular with its testers and was praised for its speed, security, and add-ons compared to Microsoft's then-dominant Internet Explorer 6. It was released on November 9, 2004, and challenged Internet Explorer's dominance with 60 million downloads within nine months. It is the spiritual successor of Netscape Navigator, as the Mozilla community was created by Netscape in 1998, before its acquisition by AOL.

Read more .....


Introducing Ubuntu Core 20

Securing Linux for IoT with secure boot, full disk encryption, and secure device recovery

Read more .....





Some Of The Files Available In The Downloads Suite

Css Button Maker

CSS Button Maker

See it in action

133 Icons

     

The package contains 133 Misc Icons

Hi Quality Icons

     

This package contains 80 high-quality icons with a preview file.

     

 Package Contains 40 Hi-Quality Emojis

Thumbnail Maker

Thumbnail Manager/Creator

See it in action.

Wallpapers for Free Download 748,290 hand-selected wallpapers & backgrounds for desktop and mobile device.

Best desktop and mobile

Wallpapers for Free Download 748,290 hand-selected wallpapers & backgrounds for desktop and mobile device.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Wallpapers)

Assassin Creed Ragnarok Wallpapers - a wide selection of wallpapers under numerous categories.

Wallpaper Boat

Assassin Creed Ragnarok Wallpapers - a wide selection of wallpapers under numerous categories.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Wallpapers)

Your best friend in finding desktop and mobile wallpapers.

Wallpaper Safari

Your best friend in finding desktop and mobile wallpapers.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Wallpapers)

Amazing combinations of color and texture. This isn't your average free wallpaper site.

Vlad Studio

Amazing combinations of color and texture. This isn't your average free wallpaper site.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Wallpapers)

An online community of desktop wallpaper enthusiasts.

Wallpaper Cave

An online community of desktop wallpaper enthusiasts.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Wallpapers)

You can download all wallpaper images since May 2009 for free.

Bing Wallpaper Archive

You can download all wallpaper images since May 2009 for free.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Wallpapers)

Wallpapers | Free desktop wallpapers | Free stock photos

Wallpaper Stock

Wallpapers | Free desktop wallpapers | Free stock photos

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Wallpapers)

Download free computer wallpapers, pictures, and desktop backgrounds.

Desktop Nexus

Download free computer wallpapers, pictures, and desktop backgrounds.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Wallpapers)

Super Mario Brothers Movie

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare

UI Kit

Freebie - Vector UI Components

(Date: 2023-08-07 09:05:02) (Category: Web Applications)

Freebie - Vector UI Components

Open Easy Reader

Chat

Chat is a minimal mobile app UI kit. Yours free.

(Date: 2023-08-07 09:09:07) (Category: Web Applications)

Chat is a minimal mobile app UI kit. Yours free.

Open Easy Reader

Flat UI Free

A Framework and Bootstrap Theme Design.

(Date: 2023-08-07 09:12:23) (Category: Web Applications)

A Framework and Bootstrap Theme Design.

Open Easy Reader

Vista Create

A free graphic design tool with thousands of free templates for you to choose from.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Graphic Design)

A free graphic design tool with thousands of free templates for you to choose from.

Sumo

A free painting and drawing web application similar to Adobe Photoshop.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Graphic Design)

A free painting and drawing web application similar to Adobe Photoshop.

Corel Draw

A vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Alludo.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Graphic Design)

A vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Alludo.

Adobe Illustrator

A vector graphics editor and design program developed and marketed by Adobe Inc.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Graphic Design)

A vector graphics editor and design program developed and marketed by Adobe Inc.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Express is here for fast and easy one-click image edits.

(Date: 2023-07-20 10:19:37) (Category: Graphic Design)

Adobe Express is here for fast and easy one-click image edits.