So you keep hearing about HTML 5, and how it has the potential to “kill flash” completely. You’d think this would make us pretty nervous because Showit is a flash website builder, and our 9-5 (actually more like 9-9) is building websites for photographers with Showit.

I want to officially say; I’m not worried about it one bit, and neither should Showit users.

HTML 5 is the next version of HTML. As of today the standard is HTML 4.01 , and XHTML 1.0. HTML 5 will replace those standards, and bring along with it the capability to define audio and video in the web page just like you would with a picture or text. For example you use the <img src> attribute to define a jpg, where in HTML5  you could use <audio src> or <video src> to define an audio or video file.  This can all be done more quickly, and more efficiently than presenting with Flash because it’s then native to the browser and doesn’t require plugins to work: i.e., Adobe Flash.

75% of media on the web right now is basically puppet-ed by one master; Adobe. One of the co-chairman of the W3c HTML5 team is Maciej Stachowiak, who works with Apple’s Webkit team (the guys responsible for iPhone browsers). Do you see what’s happening? Apple won’t let Flash on it’s products because it’s working to bring HTML 5 to fruition. We’ll see this on mobiles first before we see it in browsers on the desktop.

HTML5 still has a very long way to go. We just hit Flash 10; that’s 10 revisions of flash since it was born in 1996 (technically born in 1994). Flash is a very stable, very mature, and every web browser can display flash. It will be at minimum 1  year before we even see HTML 5 matured to the point to where it’s an option to web developers. As of now only Chrome and Safari are even able to view pages rich with HTML 5.  It will be even longer than that before web developers start utilizing HTML 5 over Flash. It’ll be the same as the film era dying off for photographers, and the digital era beginning.

So where does that leave flash and Showit? When HTML5 is matured, I foresee Showit evolving right along with it, perhaps being the first HTML5 website builder. Showit users; you’ll be the first photographers to have new sites built with it. Of course this is all just a prediction. The future is not always clear.

One thing is for sure; Apple is out to kill flash. It’s not too far fetched seeing as how they killed the floppy.

Amy’s website is one of the largest sites that we’ve built. It features an awesome intro video that really allows you to get to know her, and sets the feeling for the entire site. Moving forward we have some hanging frames that give you insights into the artist, and also an entire information section displaying her awards, accomplishments, and client testimonials. Amy’s site also features a custom site loader and page loader, helping to set her site apart from the rest.

http://amydeyoung.com

Check out Fran’s Facebook fan page that we put together for her! On the left of her page are links to her favorite shots, and of course it has her blog posts and tweets that come standard with our custom setup!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fran-Chelico-Photography/283993855906

The great thing about creating a custom Facebook app instead of just utilizing the FBML, is that your able to track the growth of your fan page because our tab is set as the default tab. So visitors who navigate to your fan page will see a custom layout first, then they can click the wall and go from there. If the visitor is already a fan, their subsequent visits will direct them to the Wall tab. It’s really an awesome setup!

We all know what an incredible marketing resource Facebook can be, especially with the ability to embed your Showit site itself into Facebook. With that to say, there are a few things that can be done to your fan page to make it stand out a bit more. One of these include a custom Facebook application, that can then be turned into a tab and made the default landing page for your new Facebook fans. Using this application you’ll be able to track the growth of your fan page application by how many fans are using it! Awesome!  Take our fan page below for example (make sure your logged out before clicking the link.)

http://www.facebook.com/spilledmilkdesigns

We chose to keep the design a pretty basic two-column layout, displaying a welcome message, latest tweets, last 5 blog posts, a few feature builds, and a “share with friends” widget. We wanted to keep our page simple, but at the same time engaging. While our fan page doesn’t have any Showit elements built into it, the option is definitely there.

SMD will be offering custom Facebook fan page designs starting at $250, and will go up from there depending on the level of complexity. Our page is a prime example of what yours would look like for $250, while a more expensive page in the $500 range would include it’s own sub navigation; a mini site with it’s own navigation inside a Facebook tab.

We’re excited to be offering this new service, and we can’t wait to see where it takes us!

*Book a custom Facebook fan page design before the 20th and receive $50 off! This offer is only good for the next 72 hours and will end at 1:06 PM, Wednesday January 20th, 2010.

When I started designing Showit sites for photographers in October of 2008, it was just me. As the business grew over the next few months I found myself in the Showit cockpit more, and more. These days I still spend 12-15 hours a day working in Showit, and to me it still feels like day one. There’s always something new coming in, and always a different personality to work with. This is what keeps it exciting for me, even after thousands of hours in the app.  To me, it never get’s old. I’m always pushing to find new ways to help photographers market themselves using Showit, and we’re always striving to be the very best the we can be, and to offer the very best that we can.

To make this all possible I’ve brought in a few talented folks. We currently have myself, another designer, a smugmug artist, flash animation guru, 3D artist, Showit coder, and just recently a Facebook developer and WordPress coder. Over the next few days/weeks we’ll be introducing each one of them, as well as some new things that we’ll be offering as well.

Rachael

We are always on the hunt for designers to help me, and the door will always be open to folks who think they have what it takes. Just FYI, we only hire on folks who are OCD about things; the type of folk that will straighten out the rungs at the  ends of rugs, or move the coffee table 2 inches to the left to line up with the end of the end table. It’s all about the details, offering up something different and creative. When I stumbled across Rachael’s site I knew that she would be a perfect fit. Rachael is the only designer that we currently have working for us. She’s taken part in laying the foundation for a few sites that we’ve launched, as well as a few that we’re currently working on as well. Having a fresh pair of creative eyes is essential.

Hi!! My name is Rachael, and I am a wife, mom, photographer and designer.  I enjoy creating just about anything (as long as it doesn’t involve painting, which I am terrible at).  I live in Arizona with my family and my 5 cats, and I am a totally fun-loving, normal person (despite all the cats).

Next Week – Tonya | Smugmug Artist