When to use a hyphen (-)

A hyphen is always used within a word or compound word. The hyphen key is located on most keyboards before the +/= key and after the 0 key on the top row. It can be correctly used in the following ways:

• When joining words that serve as an adjective when combined, only if preceding the noun

a one-way street
chocolate-covered peanuts
The author is well known

• Compound numbers

thirty-six
twenty-four

• To avoid confusion

re-sign a petition (vs. resign from a job)
semi-independent (but semiconscious)
shell-like (but childlike)

• Or in the following situations

ex-husband
self-assured
mid-September
all-inclusive
mayor-elect
anti-American
T-shirt
pre-Civil War
mid-1980s

According to Purdue Online Writing Lab, you may also use hyphens to break words into multiple lines. However, this should be avoided in order to increase readability.

When to use an en dash (–)

An en dash is usually the width of the letter n. To use an em dash on a PC, hold down ALT and then type 0150. On a Mac, press Option + -

It is used in the following situations:

• In periods of time, to replace to.

The years 2001–2003 (not 2001-2003)
January–March (not January-March)

• When combining open compounds

North Carolina–Virginia border

When to use an em dash (—)

An em dash is usually the width of the letter m. To use an em dash on a PC, hold down ALT and then type 0151. On a Mac, press Shift + Option + -

It is used to break up a sentence, usually replacing commas or parentheses. For example:

Please call my agent—Jessica Cohen—about hiring me.
I wish you would—oh, never mind. 

• If you can say a paragraph in 1-2 sentences, put it 1-2 sentences.
• If you can take something in sentence form and move it to bullets or list-format, use bullets or a list.
• If you can deliver a message graphically or through imagery, use graphics.

Use this in all your communications, and you may see more people receiving your messages.

In the same way, we must intentionally build margin into design.

When designing anything from a website to a logo to a pamphlet, it is easy to get caught up in what to put in, and forget about what not to put into the design. The average person sees thousands of advertisements and publications in a day, and people start to pick and choose which ones they will spend some time reading or looking at.

If a design is text-heavy, or very busy with text or images, someone is likely to not read it or at least doesn’t enjoy reading it. If a design is getting close to this point, you should:

1. Eliminate.
   Get rid of anything that is unnecessary. This is sometimes difficult to do, but keep the audience in mind when doing so. Remember that the design is not for you, it is for the audience.
2. Minimize.
   If you really have to keep some text, see if a graphic can say it better. If not, see if you can cut the amount of text by at least half.
3. Add Space.
   Distribute white space across the design. People often make things bigger, bolder, italicized, capitalized, or underlined to set them apart from other elements of a design. However, the more white space that a particular element is set apart by, the more it will stand out. Think about what you want to stand out.
4. Hierarchy and Flow.
   So you’ve taken all the steps above, but there is nothing else you can do. Wrong. Again, look at what is important and what is less important, and build some hierarchy and natural flow into the design. If there is a lot to see, eyes like to be guided where to look first and where to look next.

Take these steps every time you review a design, and you are sure to increase your visibility and readability.

Cornerstone Construction, LLC is a general contracting company serving northern Colorado in residential and light commercial construction. The company was established in May 2009 by Josh Usery. Dave Arnold became a partner in March 2010. Together, they have over 26 years of construction experience.

Cornerstone strives to maintain integrity, deliver craftsmanship, and aim for excellence. To honor God, each customer will receive high-quality construction services, build trust through honesty, and benefit from competitively fair prices.

Star Verte LLC was proud to design their updated site, really emphasizing geometric corners in the design. The site features a Nivo Slider on the home page, and the gallery pages use dev7studios’ Showcase plugin.

Cornerstone Construction hopes to begin a blog and have a presence on Facebook, which Star Verte LLC may have the opportunity to be involved with. You can check out their site and their work at www.fccornerstone.com. To contact them, click on “Contact” in their site’s navigation menu.

 Blogging to CMS

When WordPress came out, it was built mainly for blogging. This meant that everything that drove WordPress came from “posts” which were articles of information that appeared in a blogroll.

Then individuals and companies started using WordPress to build their site on. “Posts” didn’t make sense for everything. So, “Pages” were built into the core. The distinction is this:

• “Posts” are time-sensitive pieces of information that often appear in a blogroll and  are in reverse order by date
• “Pages” are posts that are not time-sensitive and could be ordered by a numerical or alphabetical system.

Embedded in the core was the ability to create custom post types, although it was not intuitive and many people did use it.

This has changed in the past couple of years, as more WordPress users are driving it as a content management system instead of just for blogs. Custom post types are an excellent way to categorize different purposes of a site.

As we move forward with designing sites for our clients, we are going to keep “Posts” for blog posts, “Pages” for static informational pages, and employ custom post types that are customized to the particular site.

 Custom Post Type Themes

• Cafe de Bangkok needed to display their menu items, and so we created a new post type for these. This allows them to fine-tune edit each item, instead of using Pages somehow.
• Earth’s Own Jewelry needed to display jewelry items in their store, and so we created a new post type for these.
• LifePointe Church of Fort Collins needed to display staff profiles and sermon archives; we added two new post types to handle these.

In a theme that has custom post types, a new menu item on the admin edit menu will appear. The editing screen is very similar to the “Posts” editing screen. However, most likely there are extra fields that are specific to the site, that we cannot detail here.

Questions? Want more information? Post your comments below or send us an email at services@starverte.com

Featured Images

First of all, most of the site’s images run off of what WordPress refers to as “Featured Image.” However, the Nivo Slider is not affected by this.

• In any post, page, or custom post type edit screen there is a box on the right-hand column labeled “Featured Image.”
• To add an image, click on “Set featured image.” To change an image, click on the current image. Both will take you to an upload screen.
• In the upload screen, you can either upload a new image, or if you click on “Media Library” you can view images already uploaded.
• After uploading an image, or by clicking on “Show” in the “Media Library” you will see a prompt for Title, Alternate text, etc. and at the bottom there is a link labeled “Use as featured image.” Click on this.
• “Publish” or “Update” the post, and the changes will be made across the site.

Nivo Slider

For the Nivo Slider, the slider that appears on the front page, there is a slightly different process.

• On the lefthand administration bar, click on “Nivo Slider” and then click on “Splash.”
  (This may be the only one. If you have created more, they will appear here with a different name. The one labeled “Splash” is for use with the home page.)
• To add an image(s), click on “Select Files” and then “Upload Files.”
• Once an image is uploaded, you can change the order of the images by dragging them left or right.
• To add banner text to a slide, click on the “Edit” icon, which is a pencil. Type the text into “Image Caption” and click “Save Changes.”
• To add or change the link for a slide, click on the “Edit” icon. Type the link into “Image Link” and click “Save Changes.”
• To delete a slide, click on “Delete” icon, which is a red “X.”
• Once done editing the slider, click “Update.”

Embedded Images

Sometimes an image is embedded in a post or page.

• To remove an embedded image, click on the image, then click on the “Delete” icon which is a red circle with a line through it.
• To add an embedded image, click on the “Media” icon next to “Upload/Insert” which is above the text editing box.
• In the upload screen, you can either upload a new image, or if you click on “Media Library” you can view images already uploaded.
• After uploading an image, or by clicking on “Show” in the “Media Library” you will see a prompt for Title, Alternate text, etc. For alignment, choose “Left,” “Center” or “Right.”
• Select the size of image you would like. Click on “Insert into Post.”
• “Publish” or “Update” the post, and the changes will be saved.

The best form of advertising is word of mouth. Most of the time, people do not buy a product or service unless they have been told by family or friends how good the product or service really is.

The problem with posters, flyers, and commercials is that people feel like they are just getting “shouted” at. The company attempts to create something that the customer wants, and is sometimes successful and sometimes not. And when it isn’t, the customer starts believing that the company is all about making money, and doesn’t care about what the customer has to say.

Enter social media. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and a plethora of other sites thrive on conversations, on interaction, and ultimately is where many people communicate with friends and family. What do they say to friends, family, and sometimes even strangers? Sometimes its personal, but sometimes its business.

See social media is just a new form of the old concept: talking to other people… word of mouth. The difference is, now businesses can listen to what people are saying about them.

So, if you are thinking about adding a profile, or if already have one, remember that people want to be heard, not shouted at. Make sure you have the time to respond to comments, and don’t delete the negative ones.

Some people need to vent, and if you are able to hear their concerns and address them, you could win them back or at least not lose other customers. If you delete a negative comment, you risk them posting or discussing their negativity somewhere else, where you are no longer able to address the issue.

But keep in mind that your customers may not be using a particular platform. If, after at least 3 months of maintaining a profile on a particular site, take at least 6 months off before trying again. In these 6 months, spend more time perfecting your website or monitoring your other profiles.

But after you take a break, get back on. Times are constantly changing, and maybe your customers adopted the platform while you were away.

Need help developing your website or maintaining effective social media profiles?
Email services@starverte.com to start today.