The following links provide helpful information on getting a start in HTML5 web development, from the history of HTML, to the basics of setting up a HTML5 site, to more advanced resources for the rapid deployment of websites that make full use of the possibilities of the language.

1. Mozilla Developer Network: HTML5 – MDN’s tutorials and other useful information on developing websites in HTML5

2. Dive Into HTML5 – Very helpful e-book by Mark Pilgrim providing an overview of HTML5′s history and features

3. HTML5 Doctor – Website publishing “articles relating to HTML5, its semantics, and how to use it right now.”

4. Coding A HTML 5 Layout From Scratch – 2009 article from Smashing Magazine

5. HTML5 Boilerplate – “a rock-solid default template for HTML5″

6. Modernizr – “an open-source JavaScript library that helps you build the next generation of HTML5 and CSS3-powered websites.”

7. HTML5 Enabling Script – JavaScript to force Internet Explorer to render new HTML5 elements

1. I want to update this blog more often.

2. I developed ill will toward the old design.

3. I want to learn how to expand and optimize the theme most popular among WordPress bloggers.

4. It looks better.

The task of rebuilding Identity Theory from the ground up is daunting because there are so many old stories — ten years’ worth — that are difficult to transfer to a more high-powered content management system, not to mention that the site contains a handful of multi-author blogs, substantial “orphaned” content, and dozens of photo galleries. (I also worry about losing the search placement we’ve built up through eleven years of backlinks, though I have some faith in 301s.)

This large-scale content transfer and redevelopment is such a complicated undertaking for a relatively minor literary journal — thousands of dollars of development work for a payoff that is at best questionable — that I’ve put it off for years, settling for minor patches to a sinking ship on the theory that people ultimately only care about the content (which is true, I hope).

I don’t believe, however, that you can produce a quality magazine-style website unless you can manage the content at least as well as a random blogger can manage a Blogspot blog. Since Identity Theory launched 11 years ago — before you could build a powerful online magazine in WordPress, Drupal and the like — it has paradoxically lagged behind the more recently launched journals in interactivity and ease of use.

With that in mind, here are some online magazines/literary blogs that have actualized many of the ideas I have wanted to put into place on Identity Theory over the years — and with very nice designs to go with them.

The Awl – Their motto: “Be Less Stupid.” I couldn’t “Be More Impressed.”

HTMLGIANT – I like the informality, visual feel and constant literary dialogue.

The Nervous Breakdown - Haven’t spent much time on this site yet, but when I found it I was like, “Hey that’s exactly what I envisioned years ago doing with Identity Theory if I ever had the time.”

Similarly, The Rumpus - Always has good stuff. Every day. Stephen Elliott has done a great job putting together a literary website that takes advantage of all the latest web technology.

Feel free to point me to other magazine websites using the latest publishing technology that will make me jealous. It motivates me to see what the new kids are doing, and I am excited about building Identity Theory into a fully functional site that could be even half as useful/informative/awesome as the sites listed above.

They recently changed their name from the International Institute of Boston and wanted to alter their long-outdated web presence to coincide with the new moniker.

Ned Castle and I helped to create their new website—Ned took the photos and sketched out the design, while I performed the WordPress development.

It’s always invigorating and rewarding to help worthwhile organizations like IINE achieve their goals for spreading the word about their good work online.

1. Before doing anything else, I changed both the website address (URI) and WordPress blog address under the “Settings – General” tab in the WordPress admin area to point to the root of the website.

2. I then copied all the blog files over to the root and deleted them from the sub-folder using Filezilla.

That probably would have worked for most people, but of course there was a snag:

A one-line PHP parse error message showed up instead of the website. I couldn’t even log in. It turned out the files causing the error had been truncated, so I had to go back to the latest WP core and reinstall them from there (instead of the core files I had copied over from the sub-folder). That did the trick.

A great benefit of using a popular CMS like WordPress is that when you run into unexpected problems, there’s a good chance someone else has experienced the same issues, so there’s no need to panic. Google is your friend—as is the WordPress site itself, which in this case has detailed info on Moving WordPress Within Your Site.

“Photographer Ned Castle collaborated with youth living in difficult circumstances across Vermont to re-enact high and low moments from their lives. The resulting large-scale photographs depict elaborate re-creations of these situations. Audio narrations by the participants provide context for the photographs.”

I developed the website for this project, which offers a preview of the exhibit’s photos and audio, over the summer. The show will be on display at several more locations throughout Vermont this year.

The conclusion? “With content ranging from John Cusack’s views of torture to a wickedly satirical short story about a marketing consultant, IT defies demographic niches, and proves that you can do serious reading on a screen.”

Check it out over at: Burlington Resident Explores Identity Theory in His High-Profile E-Journal

The plan is to create a WordPress “child theme” based on an open-source framework like Thematic.

Child themes are pretty easy to make just using CSS and some occasional PHP snippets, so I should be able to have a site that feels more like “me” up here in much less time than it would take to do a theme from scratch (which is what’s been holding me back all this time).

On top of getting my own site looking more legit, I hope to have new sites for AfricansinVermont.org and Borealis PR up and running within the next month.

“20 Kick-Ass WordPress Theme Frameworks For Rapid Theme Development” at Codefusion Lab (which ironically is hosted on Blogspot)

“15 Killer Hacks for WordPress that Are Extremely Useful” at wpbeginner

And here’s an article on Twitter SEO targeted to job seekers

ISED’s old site, built using ColdFusion, was years out of date, visually unappealing, and had a major lack of focus and interactivity.

Our goal with the new site, which we developed in Drupal, was to upgrade the look and feel, enhance the focus of the content, and add essential features such as blogs and other resources for each project.

While the new site is officially “live,” it is still far from complete. In the near future, users will be able to register for conferences, view an interactive project map, subscribe to email blasts and listservs, and much more. We will also be continuing to upgrade minor details with the design over the next few months.

Check out the new ISED site here.