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While in the process of redesigning 4wheelparts.com, I decided to explore new methods of working with our huge number of inventory and categories. I did some research and noticed a new trend for ecommerce sites in having what they call “mega drop down menus”.

According to usability expert Jakob Nielson, mega drop down menus tested to be more efficient for large scale websites.

I have been a die hard fan of smashingmagazine for a while now, and it was an honor being able to write for them. I have covered a lot of “how-to” type articles, and so I wanted to challenge myself with a very basic CSS guide. I never realized how difficult it was trying to explain the most simple techniques. It was quite a challenge and I hope I did a good job so the beginners can easily understand.

Recently, I’ve noticed a trend in blog post headings where it sticks out of its base layout. I would like to share this technique for those who would like to give their post headings a new style. One tip to keep in mind when designing this is to make sure it fits your target audience screen resolution size.

Note that this technique may vary depending on your design.

A few months ago, James Padolsey introduced a cool greyscale technique for non-IE browsers. His technique inspired me to come up with a workaround with a similar effect.

My solution relies on CSS Sprites and a few lines of jQuery, but requires a bit of preparation before it can be implemented.

I was looking back at some of my old posts and noticed I have now been blogging for a year. Now that I am reflecting back, I would like to comment on the things that I have learned and experienced.

What I Learned from Blogging

My director at my day job always told me that it’s important to give back to the community.

I am sure you have been on a website where the navigation has an “active” state, basically showing you which page you are currently on. Take a look at my top navigation, you should see that the “Blog” link is in its active state. This technique is what you will be learning today.

Take a look at the demo below to get a preview of what you will be creating.

I had the pleasure of doing an interview with Piervincenzo Madeo from PV.M Garage just this past week. If anyone is interested in checking it out, you can visit his site here at www.pvmgarage.com

Pier also launched a portal for designers and developers called “Web Design News” recently, and his blog also features some great posts and round-ups. Be sure to stop by his blog!