1. Retrospectiva

Retrospectiva is a powerful open-source project management tool, designed towards agile software development teams. It features a solid core with ticket system, code review and milestones, but it also has powerful addons like wiki, blog or agile project management.

http://www.retrospectiva.org/

2. Trac

Trac is one powerful issue tracking tool judging by the fact that WordPress development is tracked using it. Trac is an enhanced open-source wiki and issue tracking system for software development projects. It uses a minimalistic approach to web-based software project management.

http://trac.edgewall.org/

3. Collabtive

Collabtive is web-based open source project management software. It was developed as an PHP&Javascript alternative to commercial project management tools like Basecamp. It features basic project management features and it has a decent and usable user interface.

http://collabtive.o-dyn.de/index.php

4. Teambox

Although it is a rather new player in the project management area, Teambox can be seen as one of the future leaders. It is developed as an open source application and it benefits from a simple and clean user interface similar to Twitter. It supports multiple projects, statuses, document attachments.

http://www.teambox.com/

5. Redmine

Redmine is a great project management tool based on Ruby on Rails and released under GPL v2. It has multiple projects support, news, documents & files management, time tracking and even multilingual support.

http://www.redmine.org/

6. SteberPM

Continuing the open source trend, we will place SteberPM in this list. Teams can easily setup projects and keep track of tasks, issues, bugs, efforts etc – using SteberPM.

http://www.streber-pm.org/

7. Todoyu

This application has a more compact yet visually rich interface compared to previous project management tools. Todoyu features are: manage multiple projects, overview your customer’s data, assign tasks, share files, group calendars and meet deadlines.

http://www.todoyu.com/en/todoyu/

8. OpenAtrium

With one impressive set of features as well as a clean and well executed user interface, OpenAtrium will definitely succeed against commercial tools. It is still in beta and probably when it will be stable, OpenAtrium will make happy a lot of teams.

http://openatrium.com/

9. PlanCake

Probably light is the term that comes into my mind when I see the user interface from PlanCake. It is super light and clean and it provides fast response to your actions. And considering that the project is free, it can make a lot of friends in freelancers.

http://www.plancake.com/

10. myTinyTodo

I’ve left this application at the end because it is one of my favorites. Not because of its features but because of the simplicity and speed. myTinyTodo is as the name says a tiny todo list. The best thing about it is that you are quite productive using it and it serves its purpose: todo manager for individuals and freelancers.

http://www.mytinytodo.net/

Iron Man 2 Trailers

Iron Man Creations

In this post I will list some of the most important paths a designer should embrace when designing a user interface or optimizing one.

Make your Call to Action buttons visible

I’ve visited many websites with this problem: Inaccessible or low visibility Call-to-Action buttons. When designing a page, a user interface – the first thing you must consider is the placement of your CTA buttons. In this way you will get the right feedback from your CTA buttons. Then, it matters how the buttons look – usually we should make the buttons stand-out and be easy to identify from the content.

Reduce the number of clicks

I’m not that picky regarding this matter, but when I have to click 7-8 times in order to download a file – that poses as a big problem. As a practice, I tend to keep my clicks in the websites I make – around 3-4. In this way you force yourself not only to create a better user experience, but also to have a good architechture behind your site.

Define a goal

Every website should have a goal. By setting that in the beginning you save precious time both from yourself and the user. Also try and lead the user to the same goal through elements in your user interface. This can only mean less wasted time for the user.

Speed-up your website

Another criteria against wasting users’ time is to have a fast site. This means that the user will focus on finding the content instead of waiting for the content to load. There are numerous resources on how to improve your site speed. So please consider speeding-up your site.

Conclusion

Having these ideas in mind, you will achieve a nice user experience which can be translated into less wasted time and productive interaction. Cheers!

A step into FlairBuilder

For users that are familiar with wireframing tools, FlairBuilder will look close to standard from the functionality point of view. It has a simple user interface focused around the canvas, having the main components, interaction and hierarchy displayed in the right side. In this way you can easily drag your desired components onto the canvas and create your wireframes.

For those of you less familiar with this type of applications, FlairBuilder has prepared a startup project that has most of the functionality enabled. In this way you can learn very fast from examples how to create wireframes and prototypes using FlairBuilder.

Interactive Sketches. Usually, with a wireframing tool all you can achieve is a static result, represented by lines and shapes. With FlairBuilder this changes because you have the ability to add events and make your wireframes interactive.

To add interaction to your wireframe and turn it into a prototype, all you have to do is to drag and drop the component on your canvas. With your component selected you can easily add events in the Event section from the right sidebar. Keep in mind that not all components can have events attached.

Working with FlairBuilder

Now that you know a little about the product, I want to share with you some personal thoughts about the application. For other information, please check www.FlairBuilder.com and you might as well try the online demo of the application.

The Good

Productivity. The first thing that I want to mention is the productivity. Being able to choose from a variety of components makes your life a lot easier and you can rapidly turn your ideas into draft demos.

Easy to Use. FlairBuilder has a simple interface and because of that, you don’t have to be a genius to work with this application. As an estimation, I would say that an average user will get used to the application in 2-4 hours.

Great Feedback and Support. Even though FlairBuilder is a young application, the feedback and support is almost beyond reproach. I’m saying “almost” because it is a one-man-show application and not all requests are integrated, but all requests are considered.

The Bad

Inconsistent UI. Although FlairBuilder is an application dedicated primarily to designers, the user interface has some glitches. It has a feeling of inconsistency. Probably in the near future the UI will have a bigger priority since the application is stable and it has a lot of features.

…and the Conclusion

To summarize this review, we can say that FlairBuilder is a good alternative in the wireframing industry and a possible leader in the prototyping area. With constant additions to the functionality, the application can only expect positive reactions from the wireframing and prototyping users.

FlairBuilder Home Page: www.FlairBuilder.com
FlairBuilder Demo: http://www.flairbuilder.com/demo/
FlairBuilder on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/flairbuilder

I would also like to say Kudos to Cristian Pascu, the creative developer behind FlairBuilder. Make sure to check the website for promotions and giveaways. For December you will get a 20% discount. Cheers!

1. Warcraft 3

You can’t say game trailers without mentioning Blizzard Entertainment. It is the company that practically made the transition from simple announcements to cinematic experiences. And the first trailer that I will always remember is Warcraft 3.

2. Starcraft 2

The second title in is the next Starcraft installment from Blizzard Entertainment. And although there isn’t much action and involved in this trailer, the result was astonishing.

3. Halo 3

Master Chief running and some kind of shield are the main attraction points in this opening clip for Halo 3. Awesome work even with this short trailer.

4. Halo Wars

“This is Spartan Group Omega. If they want war, we’ll give ‘em War”. Great line and also some nice graphics involved in this trailer.

5. Neverwinter Nights 2

Another good action trailer is the Neverwinter Nights 2 trailer. A nice battle between a wizzard and some kind of monster. Very well handled and executed.

6. Warhammer Mark of Chaos

This is another trailer that has a well developed story and also the visual effects are crazy. Watch both movies contained in this video.

7. Assassins Creed 2

Everyone wants great stuff in this second installment of Assassins Creed. And it all starts with a realistic trailer.

8. Hellgate London

Creatures, glowing swords and a lot of action – Hellgate London is a great trailer indeed.

9. World In Conflict

This one is a nice war trailer but it gives me the chills. And the last aerial view is totally apocalyptic.

10. Diablo 3

I couldn’t let Diablo series behind. After all Diablo 2 had some great videos at that time. Diablo 3 follows the same recipe though it has more of a movie feeling.

Not many comments for these clips because each trailer speaks for itself.
Enjoy and Cheers!

1. Gmail

By far this is the first thing that I go to when I open my browser. I think I’m not the only person since checking your mail in our days is crucial to any professional.

2. Google Analytics

Yes, my name is Andy Gongea and I have a stats addiction. So, the next thing that I usually do is to verify Graphic Rating’s stats.

3. Blog Comments

This action is somehow related to the first one, since all comments are sent as an email. But, there are also the tweets that are counted and any activity on Twitter must be supervised.

4. Techmeme

By far the first news stop for me. It has the latest news from the tech world and as far as I know I’m kinda involved in that world.

5. BoxOfficeMojo

As I’ve told you I love stats and I also love movies. And what better destination than a site about new movie earnings. You can pick any one of my favorite movies and I can tell you how much it cost or the entire gross.

6. Smashing Magazine

One of the best web design stops ever. For me it is definitely a source of learning and sharing information.

7. Twitter

What can I say, this “hottie” is not in the first spots on my list. I like to tweet but with moderation. At first I was the excitement but now it is just a simple visit.

8. Techcrunch

I know that Techmeme is listed in the upper side of the post but Techcrunch remains the site for latest news about startups and technology.

9. WordPress.org

This is somehow related to my projects. Lately I’ve been working with WordPress a lot. In this case the site has become a constant destination every day.

10. Compete

This proves what I was saying about stats. Daily I’m back to Compete in order to see the stats for a particular website.

Bonus: Bing/Google

In the end, searching for information is a daily vital step. For this last stop Google and Bing are both great destination for reaching the information needed.

Now, it is your turn. What are your top daily web stops?
Cheers!

Sponsors:
- WPBest – The Best Premium WordPress Themes, Pugins and More
- WordPress Themes – WPStyles.org

Cheers!

1. Social Network Icon Pack

Designed by Rogie King from Komodo Media, the Social Network Icon Pack contains 80 refined, amazing social networking icons for the top networks around: Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, StumbleUpon etc. I’ve used this pack to create my spreading buttons and so far they’ve achieved their purpose.
Sizes: 16×16 and 32×32
Where to use: Blogging.

2. Function Icon Pack

One of the most comprehensive yet compact icon pack, and definitely one of the most used is Liam McKay’s Function Icon Pack. This guy is brilliant and his work is absolutely awesome. Function Icon Pack contains 128 icons that are suitable for multiple tasks related to blogging and web design.
Sizes: 48×48
Where to use: Web Design, Blogging.

3. Bright! Icon Set

Developed by the guys behind Icon Eden, Bright! is a great set of icons that can be used in various situations since it comes as a vector file. It has nice colors, 148 icons, great perspective and room for your creativity to put the icons at best use.
Sizes: all
Where to use: Web Design, Blogging.

4. 32px Mania

With 179 slick icons, 32px Mania is one of the best icon packs dedicated to user interface designing. All icons have a nice Apple-ish touch and can be easily integrated in designs. Of course you can use this pack not only in UI but in other task that you’ll find it usable.
Sizes: 32px
Where to use: User Interface Design, Blogging

5. Led Icon Set

This pack is the only mega pack presented in this list. I usually don’t like big packs because most of the times they contain duplicate icons. This is not the case with Led Icon Set design by Marcis Gasnus because LED has 512 great icons that will cover all areas without being redundant.
Sizes: 16px
Where to use: User Interface Design

6. Project Icon Set

This one is a small package that contains no more than 18 icons. The main advantage of Project Icon Set is that it can be applied in multiple areas even if it represents project management related icons. Cheers to Deziner Folio for providing this nice icon set.
Sizes: all
Where to use: Web Design, Blogging

Conclusion

I didn’t enter my Quartz Icon Pack here because it isn’t mature enough. Maybe after 100.000 downloads . Kudos for all designers making designing a better activity and cheers to all icon designers!

We will start by saying KUDOS to all web developers that are constantly creating mind blowing Firefox plugins. They are the real force behind the Firefox phenomenon along with the guys from Mozilla Foundation. And now let’s start sharing some information on Bulletproofing your Firefox for Web Design

1. Firebug

Firebug is “the” extension for Firefox. You can easily say that Firebug is one of the sources of popularity for Firefox among web designers and web developers. That’s because it is simply the best web development tool that lets you edit, change and visualize the changes in real time. It has a ton of features and it will save you time on debugging and enhancing your work.

2. Web Development Toolbar

Web Developer Toolbar is the second extension that I always install. It has some very nice features that are complementary to Firebug and some similar but more effective. Together these 2 will make web development painless.

3. YSlow

This addon is actually a plugin for Firebug. It is a tool developed by the guys from Yahoo!. It has very nice features and tips that will tell you how to make your site faster. Also, Smushit is now a part of YSlow, which helps you to compress your site images.

4. Colorzilla

There are numerous times when you want to pick a certain color from a website. Colorzilla takes the pain of editing a screen shot in order to find the code of the color. Now, while you browse you can easily get a color using the eye dropper from Colorzilla addon.

5. Fireshot

Annotation and collaboration on designs are now possible with the help of FireShot. FireShot is not only a Firefox addon but also a standalone product. It is simple to use and very effective. Just add your notes, save the image and send it.

6. Pencil

The wireframing task is now possible inside Firefox. I know that this sounds pretty amazing and it actually is. Firefox is a great platform and now because of that, now you can find multiple addons that are competitors to standalone commercial applications.

7. IE View / Opera View / Safari View Win / Chrome View

These plugins allow you to open the current web site in one of the following browsers: Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari and Chrome. There is one small requirement for these plugins. That is to have all the mentioned browsers installed.

8. CodeBurner

This plugin provides an easy access to HTML and CSS reference information and code samples. It is easy to use and you may gain time by using it instead of surfing randomly the web.

Conclusion

That’s it! You can debug sites, you can make wireframes, you can collaborate, you can test for cross browsing, you have access to quality reference. This is life, from time to time you have to open Photoshop to complete visual tasks. Hopefully this will help you in your web design career. Cheers!