It’s generally recommended that justified text (set flush to both the left and right margins) should be avoided on web pages. There are two main reasons for this.Continue reading “‘Left justify’ your web copy”
Client reference: The Financial Times
I’ve had a lovely LinkedIn reference from Emily Gibbs, Communications Executive at The Financial Times, after working with her on an FT.com project in 2010.Continue reading “Client reference: The Financial Times”
Content Strategy (CS) Forum 2011
The CS Forum has just launched its website for its London event, 5-7 September 2011. It’s aimed at content strategists, writers, web designers, developers, entrepreneurs and basically anyone with an interest in what goes into websites.
Speakers confirmed to date include web-content expert Gerry McGovern and usability/IA/UX guru Karen McGrane.
The first CS Forum ran in 2010 in Paris and was the “first public conference solely dedicated to content strategy”. The organisers aim to make it an annual European event for learning, sharing and networking.
It sounds like a brilliant event and I was planning to go. But the truth is, at the moment I feel that the price is a bit steep and inflexible (especially for freelancers) at 549 GBP for a two-day conference (no one-day options) without any workshops!
I know it’s really important to network and develop new skills, so I’ll have to think about it… Watch this space.
Our fascinating alphabet
Lots of things fascinate me about the way we communicate with the written word. I’ve recently stumbled across a few alphabet-related facts that might interest you too.
Browsing in a local bookshop, I was delighted to find the Diccionario del origen de las palabras (‘Dictionary of the origin of words’)*. I’ve been looking for an English equivalent for some time, but without success.
Anyway, under abecedario, I found out that our Latin ‘alphabet’ takes its name from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha and beta. In contrast, abecedario refers to abcd (a, be, ce, de), the first four letters of the Latin system.
So, abecedario is the actual name for the collection of Latin letters that we use. Here in Spain, it is often used interchangeably with alfabeto when referring to the alphabet. (I can’t find a different English translation of abecedario – is there one? Or did it get lost on the way to the UK?)
I then spotted a post on the origins of abc on the superb I Love Typography blog. This excellent article starts at the very beginning of the use of the written word (well, systems), taking us on a journey through their evolution and arriving at the alphabet as we know it today.
Both well worth a read, if you can (the book’s only available in Spanish).
* Diccionario del origen de las palabras; Buitrago A, AgustÃn Torijano J; 978-84-670-2521-7; Editorial Espasa Calpe; Ed. 2008
How to delete a Facebook group
Want to delete a Facebook group that you created but can’t work out how? Here’s what you need to do – it’s straightforward once you know.
- Go to the page of the group that you administrate.
- Click ‘Edit members’ in the left-hand menu.
- Delete all members until it’s just yourself left in the group.
- Return to the main group page and choose ‘Leave group’. A window will appear advising that you’re the last member and that if you leave, it will be deleted. Confirm!
I think it’s time for Facebook to add a ‘Close group’ option for group administrators – it would be much more user friendly…