The mobile version of the site contains a wealth of information on events, attractions and accommodation in and around Colchester and displays a nice take on mapping for venues.

The website was designed and built by Severine Vidal and and is based on NVG‘s mobile modular CMS Pro. It features a host of new options and modules to maintain and update the site.

The site also has some lovely imagery, so it is definelty worth having a look!

Click here to visit m.visitcolchester.com

Good times

The website features some stunning imagery and inspiring text, coupled with good copy-writing. The site was designed by Jack Saunders and built by Tom Boyd on NVG’s modular CMS Pro, and features a wealth of cool features to provide visitors with a fantastic experience even before visiting this destination.

Click here to visit the new Visit Suffolk website.

Good times!

The website features a lot of new content and is based on New Vision Group‘s new modular CMS and features a host of new options and modules to maintain and update the site, from dynamic tabbers, content-managed slideshows, over to the brand-new EA (Events and Attractions) browse pages and live availability information.

And the have a whole page on laser tagging!!!

Click here to go to Discover Carlisle.

Happy days

If you haven’t had a chance to look at it yet (click here to visit the website), the site features a range of new features such as:

• New Vision’s brand new Modular CMS Pro
• A host of new social networking integration options, from Twitter to YouTube, Flickr and more
• Mapping using GPIN technology and a custom icon-set
• A wealth of dynamic sliders and carousels (all content-managed!)
• Content-managed forms, tying directly into the in-house CRM system
• Integration with ePersonalisation and My Recommendations
• TripAdvisor Integration on a DMS details level (both for accommodation and non-accommodation)

…and a lot more!

Read on for more screenshots and a video demonstration of the live site (by yours truly)…

Screenshots

The new GPIN map with quick-access menu

TripAdvisor, Facebook "like" and twitter integration on DMS details pages

One of my favourite bits - the new Itinerary planner on the homepage, just click on the red button

Video demonstration

Click here visit GoLeicestershire.com

As a designer, it is your job however to make sure you are using the right font, or the closest font possible if that fails. Here are three great websites to help you on your search…

1. WhatTheFont!

Probably one of my favourite bookmarks when trying to find a font: WhatTheFont enables you to upload an image either from your desktop or from a website that is made up of the font. Once you uploaded the image the web application will try to associate letters (or you can enter these manually) and find the closest matches.

Tip: Make sure the image you upload has a decent size / resolution, and – if possible – use a very good contrast (i.e. dark text on a light non-gradient background).

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2. Identifont

Identifont is an old-school font-identification website, enabling you to find a relevant font based on its shapes and characteristics, based on a number of questions about the font in front of you. Identifont’s font-database is pretty good, so you should be able to find your required font easily.

Tip: This approach takes time and may be somewhat inaccurate depending on your answers. I would recommend using this site if you have no digital version of the font available.

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3. Type Navigator

Type Navigator is a more visual font search tool, similar in the style of Identifont. Here you are being presented with a series of images (from serifs to weight or contour), giving you the option to find the most relevant images to your font. Once you press “Search” you are being presented with the fonts matching the closest to your selected requirements, and even gives you the option to change the sample text to whatever you want, together with download / purchase options.

Tip: The good thing about this site is that it is more visual than Identifont, making it a very good choice when looking for a font when you don’t know a lot about typography, and the great number of results and close matches ensure you get the font you are after.

Wave Toolbar

This one has been mentioned by me before, however it begs for a second mention. Its ability to display a website in various ways to test for DDA compliance (from text-only to website structure and error displaying) makes it a must-have for everyone taking accessibility serious.

Download the WAVE toolbar

Save images

This is an interesting addon as it allows you to download all images of a website to a folder you specify, including the ability to choose size, dimensions and type of images you want to download and to ignore duplicates. You can even download all images from all open tabs if you wish. A very useful addon if you are required to copy a client’s images if there is no backup or the ftp details have been lost.

Download Save Images

Better Gmail 2

Better Gmail 2 is an upgrade of the GreaseMonkey user script-set “Better Gmail”, but this version also works with Gmail’s new interface. If you use Gmail often or even for work then this is a must-have extension!

Download Better Gmail 2

ImageZoom

ImageZoom – as the name suggests – allows you to zoom in, zoom out, fit image to screen or set custom zoom on individual images within a web page. A very useful tools to see the finer details of smaller images for more detail or to spot mistakes during CSS/HTML cutup.

Download ImageZoom

Add Bookmark Here ²

This is probably one of the most useful extensions I found this month and one I am now using regularly on a daily basis (mostly in conjunction with quality links from @mayhemstudios, @imjustcreative, @adbert, @mistygirlph and @Minervity…to mention a few!) In a nutshell, this extension adds a new context menu item in your bookmarks folder called “Add Bookmark here”. No more dragging a link to a folder, no more “Add to bookmarks…” stuff, this one is a life-saver! Try it out, let me know what you think!

Download Add Bookmark here 2

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Honorable mentions – a useful Thunderbird extension

Attachment Extractor – This is a very useful addon which extracts all attachments from selected messages to then delete, detach or mark-read these emails.Very useful in conjunction with turning your Thunderbird into the ultimate Gmail client.

Download Attachment Extractor here

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Related links:

• On web development – How to install FireFox 2 next to FireFox 3
• Firefox extensions for usability, accessibility and SEO experts