Hot Web Design and Development – February 2021

Welcome to the February 2021 edition of web design and development. This month’s edition features a well known password manager becoming limited. There is also some alternatives that you could try if you decide to move away. The usual coding features a host of new tools at your disposal. In the web design section our topic includes typography and SEO.

Limiting LastPass

Not particularly developer related but can still be hassle for any developers who store their passwords using LastPass.  The password manager, owned by LogMeIn, after the acquisition in 2015 have announced in February that they are going to limit users. Users are now going to be able to have access their passwords on the desktop or mobile. Sadly this limits you to one or the other but not both unless you subscribe to a premium plan. Users have until 16th March 2021 to either purchase a premium plan or move to an alternative service.

What are the alternatives? Similar to LastPass there is Keeper, Dashlane and Bitwarden which all offer a limited free account. The latter is also available to run on your own server. The open source KeepPass might also be worth a mention.

If you only access LastPass on one device then there is no need to move away. Likewise, the premium plan start from as little as £2.60 a month for a single licence. Family plans start from £3.40 a month for a total of 6 users. Make sure you decide before the 16th March!

Web Design Resources

Every web designer has a plan in mind to ensure that their designs work for every browser that the user may use. All browsers have their own default styles, hence why we have CSS Resets. If you need to know the default styles are for an element in all major browsers. You will find Browser Default Styles useful. If you want to try an alternative CSS Reset try Reseter.css. Building your website with a blank canvas will be a good place to start whichever method you choose.

Typography in web design is critical in a modern era. Choose the wrong font combination can result in unreadable content. If you see yourself as a designer here are 16 rules that all designers should avoid. In contrast, here are 18 Typography Rules Every Designer Should Know.

Coding Resources

Every month I am in awe of the amount of resources that are released. Resources that make every coder’s life more productive. Recently I came across Free for Developers. It’s a website with a comprehensive list of tools for any web developer. It covers all hosting platforms for all of your needs. Whether you are needing to host your software as a service (SaaS) or general web hosting. It has you covered.

Another useful resource is Tiny Helpers which is a curated list of handy developer tools. The Omatsuri app has a smaller list of developer tools available.

Have you ever wondered if building JS based websites affects SEO? I came across this in-depth handy guide on how to optimize your website to work with JavaScript.

The Best of the Rest in February 2021

• JavaScript Important Methods & Properties Cheatsheet
• JavaScript Object Destructuring, Spread Syntax, and the Rest Parameter
• Way Too Many IF-THEN-ELSEs? Try a Lookup Table
• Grid vs. Flexbox
• 5 Useful Javascript Tricks for Beginners
• The current state of local Laravel development
• Why You Need Soft Skills as a Software Developer
• Start Using Prettier The Right Way
• APIs for Python Beginners
• Progressive Web Apps in 2021

See you in March for the next version of Web Dev and Design.