Using AI tools is an important part of being a software developer. We just posted a course on the freeCodeCamp.org YouTube channel that will teach you how to use AI tools to become more productive as  ( 3 min )

These are the historical pranks I consider the top 10 most noteworthy, rather than the “best.” You’ll see that some of them crossed the line and/or backfired. Front-End Fools: Top 10 April Fools’ UI Pranks of All Time originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 16 min )

A deep sniff of the new CSS Olfactive API, a set of proposed features for immersive user experiences using smell. Sniffing Out the CSS Olfactive API originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 11 min )

Design principles with references, examples, and methods for quick look-up. Brought to you by Design Patterns For AI Interfaces, **friendly video courses on UX** and design patterns by Vitaly.  ( 12 min )

There's a particular kind of frustration that every mobile developer has felt at some point. You're building a Flutter application, and you want to add an AI feature. Perhaps it's something that reads  ( 43 min )

Cloud infrastructure has become deeply programmable over the past decade. Nearly every platform exposes APIs that allow developers to create applications, provision databases, configure networking, an  ( 9 min )

Short n’ sweet but ever so neat, this issue covers light/dark favicons, @mixin, anchor-interpolated morphing, object-view-box, new web features, and more. What’s !important #8: Light/Dark Favicons, @mixin, object-view-box, and More originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 9 min )

With the new month just around the corner, could there be a better occasion to freshen up your desktop? If you’re looking for some unique and inspiring wallpapers to accompany you on all those adventures that April may bring — and maybe spark some new ideas, too — well, this post has got you covered.  ( 14 min )

Every digital marketing agency has someone whose job involves opening a spreadsheet, visiting each client URL, checking the title tag, meta description, and H1, noting broken links, and pasting everyt  ( 14 min )

When you're building Flutter applications that have multiple tabs or screens, one of the most common challenges you'll face is maintaining state across navigation without breaking the user experience.  ( 10 min )

Modern web applications increasingly need to evolve faster than a single team can maintain a monolithic codebase. Product teams often want to add features independently, experiment with new capabiliti  ( 13 min )

QR codes are everywhere today. You scan them to open websites, make payments, connect to WiFi, or even download apps. Most developers use online tools when they need one quickly. But just like image c  ( 7 min )

Tab components are everywhere: dashboards, settings panels, product pages. But most implementations are static, lifeless, and forgettable. What if your tabs felt alive, with smooth spring animations,  ( 11 min )

That gap between "the form works" and "the business works" is something we don't really tend to discuss much as front-enders. We focus a great deal on user experience, validation methods, and accessibility, yet we overlook what the data does once it leaves our control Form Automation Tips for Happier User and Clients originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 13 min )

APIs power everything from mobile apps to enterprise platforms, quietly handling millions of requests per day. Without safeguards, a single misconfigured client or a burst of automated traffic can ove  ( 11 min )

Every developer eventually has a workflow they repeat. A way they write commit messages. A checklist they run before opening a pull request. A structure they follow when reviewing code. They do it man  ( 11 min )

Looking at research and experiments that are designed to automatically generate user interfaces based on user preferences. Generative UI Notes originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 11 min )

Success in modern UX isn’t about having the most content. It’s about having the most findable content. Yet even with more data and better tools than ever, internal search often fails, leaving users to rely on global search engines to find a single page on a local site. Why does the “Big Box” still win, and how can we bring users back?  ( 16 min )

Accessibility works best when it blends into everyday design workflows. The goal isn’t a big transformation, but simple work processes that fit naturally into a team’s routine. With Figma variables, testing font size increases becomes part of the design flow itself, making accessibility feel almost inevitable rather than optional.  ( 20 min )

The new CSS corner-shape() property is mathematical, so it’s easily animated. Author Daniel Schwarz pokes at animating the property for interesting UI effects. Experimenting With Scroll-Driven corner-shape Animations originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 12 min )

Dropdowns often work perfectly until they’re placed inside a scrollable panel, where they can get clipped, and half the menu disappears behind the container’s edge. Godstime Aburu explains why this happens and offers practical solutions to fix it.  ( 17 min )

How to choose between modals and pages, when to avoid modals, and how to determine the right level of interruption or navigation. Brought to you by Smart Interface Design Patterns, a **friendly video course on UX** and design patterns by Vitaly.  ( 13 min )

Mat Marquis and Andy Bell have released JavaScript for Everyone, an online course offered exclusively at Piccalilli. This post is an excerpt from the course taken specifically from a chapter all about JavaScript destructuring. JavaScript for Everyone: Destructuring originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 19 min )

Design is about pacing and feelings as much as pixels and patterns. Alan Cohen explores Emotion in Flow and Emotion in Conflict, showing how anime like Dan Da Dan and superhero films like James Gunn’s Superman manage emotional shifts and translating those ideas into practical patterns for product design.  ( 15 min )

For this issue we have random(), folded clip-path corners, anchored container queries, customizable select, scroll-triggered animations, and more. What’s !important #7: random(), Folded Corners, Anchored Container Queries, and More originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 9 min )

Tailwind is really great for making layouts and there are many reasons why. Zell Liew looks at four specific examples of common use cases. 4 Reasons That Make Tailwind Great for Building Layouts originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 12 min )

The way JavaScript handles time has evolved significantly, from the built-in `Date` API to Moment.js and now Temporal. The new standard fills gaps in the original `Date` API while addressing limitations found in Moment and other libraries. Joe Attardi shares practical “recipes” for migrating Moment-based code to the new Temporal API.  ( 21 min )

For years, developers have been hacking around the limitations of `border-radius`, using clip-path, SVG masks, and fragile workarounds just to get anything other than round corners. The new `corner-shape` property finally changes that, opening the door to beveled, scooped, and squircle corners.  ( 17 min )

Let’s go over a few demos using the new customizable feature that may be wild, but also give us a great chance to learn new things in CSS. Abusing Customizable Selects originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 17 min )

Some forms stay UI, while others quietly become rule engines. Here’s why these two different approaches exist and how to choose between them.  ( 18 min )

How we look at the stacking order of our projects, how we choose z-index values, and more importantly, the implications of those choices. The Value of z-index originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 15 min )

Many product teams still lean on usability improvements and isolated behavioral tweaks to address weak activation, drop-offs, and low retention – only to see results plateau or slip into shallow gamification. Anders Toxboe updates persuasive design for today’s reality, clarifying what has actually held up over the last decade.  ( 25 min )

UX design is entering a new phase, with designers shifting from makers of outputs to directors of intent. AI can now generate wireframes, prototypes, and even design systems in minutes, but UX has never been only about creating interfaces. It’s about navigating ambiguity, advocating for humans in systems optimised for efficiency, and solving their problems through thoughtful design.  ( 15 min )

Sure, we can select the element in CSS with, you know, a simple element selector, html. But what other (trivial and perhaps useless) ways can we do it? The Different Ways to Select in CSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.  ( 9 min )

Our newest Smashing Book, “Accessible UX Research” by Michele Williams, is finally shipping worldwide — and we couldn’t be happier! This book is about research, but you’ll also learn about assistive technology, different types of disability, and how to build accessibility into the entire design process. This thoughtful book will get you thinking about ways to make your UX research more inclusive and thorough, no matter your budget or timeline. Jump to the book details or order your copy now.  ( 14 min )