Had a bit of a dig at a friend today who has had a coming soon page on his personal portfolio for over a year! All jokes aside what do you do when you’re looking to buy something and the site has a bad design, or just a contact email (I leave!)

So here are a few alternatives (temporarily of course) to the dreaded coming soon page.

Posterous

Graham has long been a proponent of Posterous and has started more than I care to remember but has now combined them into one site where he also posts his portfolio items.

Posterous resources

A certain level of customization of Posterous is now available via themeing

Obox Design Premium & Free Posterous Themes

More Posterous Themes

Tumblr

Tried to find an example for this one LOL but couldn’t really and there shouldn’t be any reason why not there are some great themeing possibilities with Tumblr, will you be the first?

Oh and then some people swooped in from Twitter with some suggestions…

@tskaggs @imrogb http://jason.hasaportfolio.com/ (featured above) or http://matt.cc/

@Brandensilva @imrogb The only one I can think of is @markjardine off the top of my head. #tumblr #blog

@DarianEdwards @imrogb http://www.gregmike.com/ uses Tumblr as a blog/portfolio site

@InspiringPixel @imrogb @dougneiner uses it.

Or this is something I’ve been toying with is basing my whole site around Tumblr ala atebits

34 Amazing Tumblr Themes, Twitter could never look this good!!!

Premium Tumblr themes from ThemeForest

The Top Twelve Tumblr Themes

Flavors.me

I just started to use this as my link on Twitter so I can show a host of different links to blogs or services I use rather than only one.

Magntize

Not really a portfolio more a Landing page / Digital Business card but anyway worth a feature.

CarbonMade

Cargo Collective

Owen Perry with a great minimalist looking portfolio.

Krop

Behance

Coroflot

What do you use?

Quick one!

I made a list! WOW The purpose of this list is to try and cover some of the linkers in the design world, who to get the news from faster than your RSS, Hell you should be able to shut off your RSS with this one!

Twitter List for Design Links

Any prolific news tweeters that you think should be added leave a comment.

Here’s a quick tutorial showing how to replace your Page titles in WordPress with custom values different to those shown in your site’s navigation. Sorry about the poor sound quality — I wasn’t speaking from inside a cave, I just had the wrong levels set for my microphone!

In case you can’t make out the code that’s being written in the screencast, you can copy and paste from below…

In header.php, replace your <title> tag with this:

<?php $rpt = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Replacement_Page_Title', true); ?>
<title>
<?php if ($rpt) { echo $rpt . " &laquo; "; }
else { wp_title('&laquo;', true, 'right'); }; ?> <?php bloginfo('name'); ?></title>

In page.php, replace your Page Title code with this:

<?php $rpt = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Replacement_Page_Title', true); ?>
<h2><?php if ($rpt) { echo $rpt; } else { the_title(); }; ?></h2>

You’ve ALL got them, those things you type over and over and over again that bore you to tears and you attempt to search through your gmail for the last time you sent ‘that’ paragraph but can’t find it!

The single best productivity tool for the Mac, right after Quicksilver.
—Leo Laporte, host of MacBreak.

Well TextExpander to the Rescue, I liked it so much I bought it!

You don’t have to though, (we’ll if you’re lucky!).

The great guys from SmileOnMyMac have given me Two licences of TextExpander to give away!

For further features and a trial download hop over to the TextExpander page and check it out!

As per usual ReTweet this post Follow @TextExpander on Twitter then leave a funny OR desperate comment below and I’ll pick out two winners on Friday 18th September 2009.

Yes four hoops! No such thing as a free lunch around here

Imaginative title huh? I toyed with the idea of ‘Awesome’ or ‘Amazing’ but not many are really… they just ‘do’ which is what we all really need from an app.

I’ve had my Mac all of 3 weeks now, have tried many apps installed, uninstalled, considered, reconsidered…

Finally unless some miraculous app comes out new I’ve settled on a few must haves along with a few that I’m trying to get into the habit of using..

There are some great looking and functional apps out there, much more than this list, but do we really need them?

Would love to find more ‘that you cant do without’ so leave a comment if you have some must haves with either just the name if you’re lazy or a link if you’re not

QuickSilver

This is in the ‘trying category, I can see huge workflow advantages but breaking the habit of reaching for the mouse instead of keyboard is the hard one for me.

Espresso

I’m not really a hard core coder so would not even attempt to get into the Espresso vs Coda debate but I love some of Espresso’s features such as quick publish, nice and easy CSS editor mode, just wish they had a sites page like Coda…

Skitch

For me just screen grabs although you get space on their server to upload and make collections, easily add your own custom text or boxes/arrows to your screen grabs…

Fluid

Strangely enough I was against using Fluid because of screen real estate but after a recent convo with Chad Engle I decided to give it a try and setup gmail, reader and cal into SSB’s (site specific browsers) as if they are their own apps and then also assign them a space (still not sure about using both spaces & expose)…

This is a screenshot of Helvetical running in an SSB fairly simple really…

1Password

Now I love this app, with it’s iPhone app and Firefox integration it’s a Password and Time lifesaver!

Appfresh

Not sure about you but I HATE apps updating by themselves so always turn off this option then occasionally boot up Appfresh to check for updates and allow the ones I want to install..which as you can see from the screen shot is quite rarely It is in development still which I presume is why you sometimes have items duplicated but it’s free so who’s complaining!

Camtasia

I’m not a Big screen caster but having used Camtasia on Windoze then it was a must have for me on Mac…

Dropzone

We gave a few licenses of this away previously but its a nifty little app that is well worth its small price tag, sits in the dock and enables you to perform many functions such as twitpic upload, shorten url just by drag and drop…

Some other helpful little apps I have installed:

Think

Limit your attention to one application—any application—at any time, bring other apps up quickly if you need them, but put them out of sight again just as quickly.

Let’s rediscover how to focus, and get back to thinking.

Dropbox

Dropbox is software that syncs your files online and across your computers.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a tiny program that puts an icon in the right side of your menu bar. Click it to prevent your Mac from automatically going to sleep, dimming the screen or starting screen savers. Click it again to go back. Hold down the Command key while clicking to show the menu.

Himmelbar

Quickly find, launch and manage your installed applications.

Now this paltry list probably isn’t enough for most and doesn’t include some of the main stays like Adium, Skype, Office software etc. but here are some Mega lists of Mac apps, obviously there are many duplications but there are also some gems waiting to be found:

85 Useful Free Mac Apps for Designers

15+ Incredibly Useful Mac Apps For Freelance Web Designers

30+ Amazing Mac Apps for Developers

100 Free Useful Mac Applications (Part I)

100 Free Useful Mac Applications (Part II)

35 Absolutely Essential Mac Apps

25 Free Mac Apps for Freelancers

28 Excellent Free Mac Apps for Graphic and Web designers

25 Free Mac Apps That Will Boost Your Productivity

15 mac apps web designers should have in their dock

If you have a Mac app roundup that I’ve missed out then please leave a link to your post in the comments!

I think a lot of freelance professionals are using an online billing system these day, at least I hope none of you are using pen, paper and snail mail!

I’ve been using FreshBooks for a while and recently decided to take a look at the iPhone apps available to interact with the FreshBooks service and give them a review.

OK so there’s only one, MiniBooks!

MiniBooks (itunes store url) is available as a free ‘lite’ download but will limit you to only 3 clients, upgrading to the full version (itunes store url) which currently costs $14.99 will give you unlimited clients.

Setup

Ok so you have to have a FreshBooks account Duh! Then after downloading the app you are presented with a setup screen, If you read carefully not like me you just have to enter the subdomain name of your FreshBooks account without the freshbooks.com otherwise you will get an error to say ‘bad connection’ or ‘problem with the settings’.

Now this really amazed me and a bit of a negative but you must input an API token from FreshBooks MANUALLY! Go to your ‘My Account’ settings on the web service and you get a reaaaallly long string that you have to type in to the iPhone app so type very carefully!

OK I’m stupid! Thanks to Rayanne the Queen of FreshBooks to point out such a glaring fubar on my behalf!

No sir, with the 3.0 iPhone update, you can copy and paste your API Token into FreshBooks’ app or MiniBooks!

But that’s it, once you input and it’s accepted then you will be taken to an Overview screen of your clients and everything will sync from the web to your phone!

For the rest a quick screencast

ps I’m having real problems with video uploads of late and the flash conversion of this video failed after uploads to several video host but hopefully you can still watch via this ‘legacy’ embedded player…please excuse the quality because of this legacy player

Click To Play

Have you used MiniBooks to Invoice clients on the go?

Oh and shouldn’t forget the way the cool folks over at FreshBooks are going to give away one ShuttleBus subscription worth 218$ to one lucky commenter!

Leave a funny or desperate comment in the comments below to be in with a chance! And please feel free to retweet this post!

Winner will be chosen by me on the 1st September 2009.

OK D-day is here and I’ve decided to award this prize (btw it was the FreshBooks sub not a copy of the iPhone app) to Tricia @triciarobey to give here a head start in her Freelancing career! Good Luck Tricia!

Also come one guys ‘funny or desperate’ put some imagination into your comments please!

Love trying out new apps for the iPhone! You know the score yeah yeah I want that, install, play, uninstall!

I bought NewsStand a few weeks back and didn’t really see anything special and didn’t like the way it marked my google reader items as read when I wanted to leave it unread so uninstalled fairly quickly.

Anyway here is a quick screencast of the app as I wanted to test out the new setup to screencast iPhone to Mac using DemoGod, ScreenSplitr and ScreenFlick.

No really no script no rehearsal no editing! Thats how the pros do it!

NewsStand (iTunes Link) costs 2.99 Sterling

And here’s a special giant iPhone i use for these screencasts it stands against the wall and then I use an old Sony HandyCam to record it

Update: If you have problems viewing the Vimeo embed here is a link to the DropBox of the original .mov file

Another Update: Took out the Vimeo embed as that seems to be corrupted, will try to upload and embed again but you can still access the movies via the link above…

Any new apps you recommend trying?

If there is one program we all need it’s a good file transfer program!

I was pointed in the direction of ForkLift from MacAppStorm after they did a review and I saw the speed comparison, having a slow internet connection this certainly made ForkLift the most interesting choice for me…

Forklift from binarynights

Forklift is a powerful file manager and ferociously fast FTP client clothed in a clean and versatile UI that offers the combination of absolute simplicity and raw power expected from a well-executed Mac software.

So we have courtesy of the fine people at binarynights 5 Yes that’s FIVE licenses to giveaway!

Go download it have a play and maybe you’ll get lucky!

As usual leave a ‘funny’ comment below but first RT this post! and follow @binarynights on Twitter.

Competition will close on Friday 21st August where I will then use random.org to select the winners.

OK so here are the winners Congrats mzch, nixgrafix, Jack Franklin, Glenn C. and Christopherl I’ll be in touch soon! For the rest of you don’t worry I have more goodies lined up for next week

I am one of those people that doesn’t really do much on Facebook, Twitter is where it’s at right?

As we’ve seen with the recent Friendfeed acquisition and yesterdays news of Facebook lite things can change pretty quick in the world of Social Networking!

I certainly love Twitter and don’t see me moving away soon but would like to connect with more people on FB also.

If you’re of the same opinion why don’t you leave a link and a short bio in the comments for other designers to connect!

I thought this an easier way to opt in rather than searching through other peoples friends to see who to steal

So here I am for a start! See you there!

Roger on Facebook

Twitter, which I’m sure most of us have heard of is a micro-blogging service and a social network. It’s a nice way to post updates to friends, family, colleagues and even total strangers. Twitter has a web based interface, but a lot of users are now using apps (or applications) to post updates to twitter faster and easier. In light of this, I’m sharing with you a list of the Top 5 Popular Desktop Twitter Clients!

Digsby

Digsby is an All-In-One application for IM, Social Networking and Email. It’s free, and easy to install, not to mention that it’s cross platform, though it has a few downfalls which are explained below.

Digsby is an free, all-in-one, cross-platform Instant Messaging and Social Network application. It handles almost all IM platforms, Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn as well as Email accounts. It doesn’t require Adobe AIR or any additional software to run, and best of all it’s free!

Digsby is perfect for those who use multiple social-network platforms and instant messaging services due to its ability to login to various different accounts on single services. It includes twitter compatibility, along with other social networks as well. It’s twitter functions are very standard and includes the basic twitter features such as a Timeline for updates, an @reply area where you can view all your @replies along with your Direct Messages, Archives (For all tweets) and Favorites.

It offers a single window inside digsby that allows you to post updates, reply to tweets, Direct Message others and favorite tweets. It’s usability is quite standard, though simple is sometimes best (Refer to the KISS principal). It can be sometimes a little too responsible or unresponsive to clicks and Digsby offers not many options for customizing their twitter feature apart from update throttling. If your looking at Digsby for a standalone twitter app you’ll find it’s a little bloated for what your sole purpose is.

Twhirl

Twhirl is another popular application used for Twitter. Features i most like are the fact you can use Multiple accounts and it cross-posts to my Facebook, Linkedin and more…

Twhirl is another desktop twitter client built upon Adobe’s AIR Platform which allows for cross-platform compatibility. Twhirl includes all of your main features you’d expect from a desktop client, and a little more.

Twhirl allows you to use multiple twitter accounts to post updates – this may come in handy if you use multiple twitter accounts like i do and some of the Envato crew do. It’s got a nifty spell checking feature which comes in handy for those late nights where your spelling isn’t up to par as usual. It includes integration with Twitpic so you can post photos directly through Twhirl and integration with Seesmic so you can post video directly from Twhirl. Other integrations include Identi.ca & Laconi.ca and can act as a FriendFeed client as well.

Some features that i found Twhirl has which aren’t found in other apps such as Tweetdeck are the extra integrations as mentioned above, the ability to view your friends & followers from directly inside Twhirl. It includes a nice way of presenting a lot of information in such a small window through good organizational techniques.

If i was to find a few downfalls with Twhirl i would say that i find it can occasionally be a little resource (CPU/RAM) intensive while loading. The general user interface feels cluttered to me and as if everything was being jammed into a small window. If you get a lot of tweets from people you follow it can be difficult at times to distinguish read and unread tweets. Twhirl is a good contender for the top spot of desktop tweeting apps!

Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck would be at least one of the Most Popular Twitter applications with features such as searching, groups, posting to Twitpic, Growl like notifications and a customizable UI, It’s the perfect App for those Twitterers that follow a large number of Users and receive a high volume of Tweets.

Tweetdeck is a Cross-Platform Application built upon Adobe’s AIR Platform. It’s regarded as one of the most popular desktop tweet programs due to it’s great features that allows you to put a whole new look on twitter and managing incoming and outgoing tweets. It has built in searching, grouping, integration with integration with TwitPic, TwitScoop, StockTwits, 12 Seconds, Twitter Counter, URL Shorteners (Such as TinyURL) and more.

A nifty feature Tweetdeck includes is Groups, Groups allows you to select a set of people you follow and have their updates split into a new section/panel of the Tweetdeck UI. This is one of the great management features of Tweetdeck. Speaking of the panel-based layout of Tweetdeck, There are 3 Default Panels: All Friends (Which displays the tweets of the people your following), Replies (Queries the Twitter API and reports back @ replies) and Direct Messages.

As mentioned above Tweetdeck includes integration with TwitPic, TwitScoop, StockTwits, 12 Seconds, Twitter Counter, URL Shorteners (Such as TinyURL). It also has Search, now this isn’t just user search it’s the TTwitter Search

Tweetdeck now includes Multiple Account support, so you can tweet from more than one account! I love this feature and use it a lot…

Twitterific

Twitterifc has been called “Clean And Simple”, “Slick” and “Perfect”. It’s got lots of features, a Clean and Simple and was built by a reputable company – Iconfactory. Twitterific sounds to me as it’s the perfect twitter solution for Mac users!

Twitterific is a Mac based twittering platform, It’s one of the most popular clients for Mac users when it comes to desktop tweeting. With it’s small and lightweight footprint it also offers a nice set of features.

Twitterific not only offers a desktop client, but also a app for iPhone/iTouch as well for mobile tweeting on the go!

Twitterific includes a clean and simple interface and tucks away in the menu bar to keep screen clutter away. Twitterific offers support for multiple twitter accounts, so this can come in handy if you have two ore more twitter accounts for different purposes, though this is not the best feature. The greatest feature in Twitterific is it’s configureability (Ed. Is that a real word?). It offers options to edit refresh times, window transparency, expanding and collapsing tweets, automatic start up, integration with Audium/iChat/Skype and more.

Some mac users probably know of and use AppleScript, for those who don’t know what it is, It’s basically a scripting platform to Automate tasks. Though twittterific’s support of AppleScript is basic, it does allow you to send a tweet while using any other software. Twitterific offers keyboard shortcuts to speed up common tasks.

There are several missing features that are important, and they’re included in other apps such as Tweetdeck and Twhirl. Features such as the ability to Retweet with ease, no in-built URL shortening or integration with Twitpic or Twitscoop. Another downfall is that there is no ability to display favorite tweets, friends, followers, replies and direct messages (On their own).

Twitterific is a great program due to it’s lightweight footprint, Configuration options and it’s sheer simplicity. and it’s well worth the $14.95 it’s sold for. Though there are things than can be improved, It stills holds it’s spot as the top-dog for Mac users who want a desktop client. I’m hoping Iconfactory will fix some of the missing features in the next version of Twitterific.

DestroyTwitter

DestroyTwitter is a great app which I’ve noticed has caused a bit of a stir among the Twitter community with it’s great features and cross-platform usability.

Destroy Twitter is another Adobe AIR based cross-platform tweeting application. DestroyTwitter is a fairly new twitter application developed by Jonnie Hallman. It’s features an interface similar to Tweetdeck with your panels:

• Home, Replies and DMs
• Search, Saved and Sent
• Prefences, Account and People

Each panel’s name pretty much speaks for it’s content. Some Twitter terms are given different naming conventions such as Favorites, they’re called Saved Tweets. DestroyTwitter includes some nifty features right within it such as themeing, profile editing, integration with TwitPic and Tweetshrink and more. The best feature would be the ability to change settings and your profile right within DestroyTwitter.

The ‘Away’ Mode in DestroyTwitter is one i particularly like because it halt’s tweet updates until you disable it, I will sometimes leave my computer on overnight and wake up to find a hundred or so tweets in which i sift through. This is where the Away mode comes into play and will update you with tweets when you disable Away Mode.

A few other interesting features in DestroyTwitter include the themeing ability which allows you to import color schemes into DestroyTwitter. DestroyTwitter has a nice design and layout which is similar to TweetDeck. If there were to be any improvements to DestroyTwitter they would be multiple accounts, but With only 10 days of development/design put into making the first release it’s a great app!.Keep a watch out for more great features from Jonnie Hallman.

If your more into Web Apps for Twitter, Check out these 10 Nifty Web Apps.

There are many other great apps out there! What are your favorites? Have fun Tweeting!