Building a website from the ground up is far easier and much quicker with the use of a content management system (CMS) and while some of the best known such as Wordpress are ideal for many projects, at times, simpler and lighter solutions are far more suitable. If you are in need of a stripped down, easy to use, and easy to install CMS, then read on.

Volume 4 of our must read links brings us many links for CSS, Photoshop, WordPress, and much more. Take some time and check them out, we are sure you will not be disappointed.

Every web designer or developer would like to hear an unbiased opinion on his or her work, and even though friends could provide feedback, fellow designers, clients, and webmasters are far more likely to be brutally honest about the quality of your projects. Having your designs reviewed and critiqued could be extremely useful and point out the areas, where you need improvement. In this article, we have compiled a list of websites and tools, which could help you get feedback on your designs, receive some advice, and outside perspective:

This tutorial will show you how to create a digital piece of art of a miniature, but realistic, island that floats inside a bottle. With this photo manipulation in Photoshop, you can surely amaze your friends with the amazing effects of your work!

Ever heard of the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”? That principle applies to a number of things related to a small business or a blog be it marketing, revenue channels, or even something as simple as monetizing your website. And what’s more synonymous with website monetizing than Google AdSense?

If you are a busy web designer or developer, using a CSS framework could speed up your work dramatically and make your task far easier. The CSS frameworks facilitate rapid development, could be used as a foundation in many design projects, and take care of some of most repetitive tasks. Here is a comprehensive list of CSS frameworks, which will give you a head start in your design work – some of them are well known and well documented, while others are used by few, but have their strong points and unique features.

Lets sit back and think about what life was like before computers were everywhere. You actually had to send letters via the postal service, go to stores to buy things, and actually visit Uncle Larry at his house instead of at the prison where he is serving time for a hard drive full of illegal images. Any way, even though a mostly computerless world wasn’t that long ago it really is hard to explain to some of the younger generation what a pain it really was. So in honor of the great technology we use everyday I present to you ‘Computers – A Chronological Timeline’. Enjoy!

If you are webmaster looking to add great images to your site, a web designer in need of photos, or a video editor in need of artwork, then knowing the top royalty free stock photo sites could come in handy. Royalty free images are either sold commercially or given away free of charge. If the user has to pay it is typically only once and the images can be used multiple times and in different applications and projects. It is important to read the image licenses carefully since they could carry certain restrictions, however, in most instances once you purchase a royalty free image you can use it on more than one website, include it in your designs, or incorporate it in your promotional and sales videos.

Typography is the art of designing and arranging types or fonts. In this tutorial, we are going to show you to make a typographical artwork that you can use as a wallpaper, website background or even banner using Photoshop. The overall process is quite simple but is also tedious particularly in creating and arranging the words.

OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice are two of my favorite open source office suites, and LibreOffice is quickly becoming an even bigger favorite. They have managed to do an incredible amount of work within a very short span of time, and launching a 3.3 version even before the OpenOffice.org community could do so only means that these guys are serious about their dream of a vendor-neutral and independent office platform.

After Web 2.0 cloud computing has to be one of the most widely used buzzwords, one which very few of us understand fully. This comes as no surprise since it is believed that this revolutionary concept is still in its infancy and means different things to different people. The most commonly accepted definition sets forth the meaning of cloud computing as an architecture, which provides data, resources, and software to the end users. Unlike a single server or a cluster of servers, this architecture is location-independent and offers single point of access to the consumers who do not have to be aware of the technology behind it.