Blog

Enter jPlayer, a “completely free and open source (GPL/MIT) media library written in JavaScript.” The jPlayer jQuery plugin “allows you to rapidly weave cross platform audio and video into your web pages.” (jPlayer.org) And not only is the support forum maintained by an excellent staff, but this baby is easy to install and get running quickly on your site.

Can you say awesome? ...read more

Think back to the last technical implementation that you were involved with. Were there any surprises after the project finally rolled it out? Right before rolling the project live, did a gut feeling tell you something may be amiss?

If the memory of a previous implementation is still clear, I'm probably preaching to the choir when I say that user testing is highly underrated. And that's what this article is all about: a few guided user testing suggestions that you probably already know... and most of us have to re-learn from time to time.

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The Magento developers and DotNetNuke ninjas at Human Element had a fantastic year of great projects, new hires, and even a few Nerf battles. Check out some of our proudest moments of 2011 and see what we have in store for 2012! ...read more

I recently finished reading "The Gunslinger," volume 1 of Stephen King’s epic fantasy, The Dark Tower. If you have not read it, I recommend picking it up and giving it a go. Although this doesn’t really pertain to Magento CMS pages, maybe it can be related to your own personal journey through the desert wasteland of Magento development; trials overcome, extensions extended, dark wizards bested, core files liberated, and nerf guns blasted. Maybe it’s a stretch of the imagination, or maybe I’m just looking for a loopy introduction to a blog post on creating custom pages in Magento using frontend routers.

So, do I have your attention? Good, let’s get started. (If not you can read about nerf gun mods and, once you’re good and ready, come back for the Magento development stuff). ...read more

Product attributes within Magento are one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal that both developers and store owners alike can employ to create specific, guided, and relevant user experiences.

With that said, the out-of-the-box functionality of the Magento layered navigation is not always going to do the trick... ...read more

A few weeks ago Human Element had the opportunity to present some tips and tricks on utilizing Magento product attributes.  Magento was kind enough to post our presentation on their site for your viewing pleasure.  

MAGENTO PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES - HOW TO DO SOME AMAZINGLY COOL STUFF

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So your web page has a background image that fades to black (or some other solid color). You want to make sure that when the page expands vertically beyond the height of the background image, the black background will also expand vertically without limit.

No one will notice that the background image is shorter than the page because it fades oh-so-smoothly into that solid color. You're a genius web designer!

The best way to make sure that the background color shows up behind the image is to assign the background color to the body tag using CSS. Or you could assign the color to the html tag. You're done. End of article.

Here's the catch. Sometimes you have elements, such as iFrames on your page. iFrames have a nasty habit of inheriting color from html tag. Or, if you have a color set for the body tag, likewise, the body tag within the iFrame will also get that same color. So, here's a solution... 

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If you have ever developed for the web, you may have discovered that not all browsers interpret HTML or CSS styles the same way. Frustrating, we know. And we have some good news and bad news for you on the HTML email template front...

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