Every so often, we like to ask our donors why they chose to support UMBC, and what makes their connection the University special. Recently, we spoke with Professor Bimal Sinha, who founded the statistics graduate program at UMBC. Dr. Sinha also created an
endowment fund for both undergraduate and graduate statistics students entitled the Dr. Bimal and Mrs. Suchandra Sinha Endowment for Excellence in Statistics.

There are more than 71 million WordPress sites on the internet and new sites are going live every single day.

One of the best ways to get up and running quickly — especially if you don’t have much design or development experience — is to use a theme. And some of the very best themes out there are completely free!

Every month we’ll be bringing you our pick of the best free WordPress themes released in the previous four weeks. Here are our favorites for October:

Hostmarks 

This minimalistic theme has two options — blog and full page style — that work great for creating a blog. With optional widgets for tagging, an image gallery, video and more, this theme has almost every tool a blogger needs to get started. The theme is responsive and colors can be customized.

Luminescence Lite 

Luminescence Lite has a super-modern and attractive look built in a responsive format. The blog theme is built in an easy-to read classic style with modern type and detailing. The theme contains social sharing widgets and other fun extras such as custom gallery styling and multiple post formats. The responsive theme is Bootstrap-based and includes a child theme. For a free theme, Luminescence Lite has a package of features that is hard to top.

Adelle

With a soft pink color scheme and light look, Adelle is a feminine-styled theme designed for bloggers. The responsive theme includes customizable menus and works in a variety of browsers. The theme also features a sidebar with multiple widgets for blog categories, an archive and Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Cherry Blossom

Cherry Blossom is a simple blog theme designed in a feminine style. The featured color is pink and headers use script typefaces. The theme is responsive and includes a style for forms and tables.

Custom

If search engine optimization is not one of your strengths, Custom might be a good theme option. The SEO-friendly, responsive theme has a lot of little add-ins to make optimizing your site for search engines easier. The simple theme is packed with options for tagging and custom color, header, menu and background options.

Kotenhanagara

A fun, Japanese styled theme that is easy to use. The flower background in black and white pairs with a color-blocked style (you can pick the color) and simple blog and sidebar format.

Lobster

This theme is named after one a quite popular font of the same name — Lobster. The Bootstrap-based theme is built with mobile in mind and works nicely as a simple mobile site outline. The color palette is customizable and the theme comes with Font Awesome (which includes more than 350 icons) and Google Fonts support.

Church

Despite its name, Church is a responsive theme that can work for a variety of different websites, from business to personal to blogging. The theme allows for customization of colors, footers, menus and header. Church also has a nice area for widgets that is somewhat oversized.

Dusky

Dusky is built with a beautiful, dark color palette as the name implies and is a great framework for a portfolio or image-heavy website. The theme is fully responsive and supports images as well as video. Menus are customizable and photos feature optional text excerpts.

Openstrap

This free theme comes with a lot of extras that you might not expect – 11 widget options, three menu location options, six layouts and two front page templates. Openstrap, which is Bootstrap based, is also fully responsive and offers a variety of other customization options. The design is simple with a modern, flat style and is optimized for search as well.

Sixteen

This photo-heavy blog theme uses a grid layout and includes parallax effects. The theme is responsive and offers a variety of customization options, it’s perfect for a site that features great images and includes galleries and is retina ready.

Accessible Zen

Accessible Zen is a minimalistic theme built on a responsive platform. The theme works well for a simple blog because of its one-column format and clean typography. It comes with nine different post-style options. The theme is also made to showcase the blogger’s Gravatar in the header. But can be customized with another image.

Point

Point is another free theme packed with many of the extras that are frequently found in premium themes. It is responsive and has multiple layouts, backgrounds and color palettes. The theme is SEO optimized, making it easy for you to go online in a hurry, and includes a custom widget library, including a very nice related posts widget for bloggers.

Shprink One

This theme with the funny name is super-customizable, with options for slideshows, different front pages, layout and theme customization, multiple language support, and custom menus and widgets. For a free theme, you get a lot of options to choose from; plus, Shprink One includes fun features such as infinite scrolling. The Bootstrap-based theme is fully responsive.

Epic

This super-simple blog theme does not have many bells and whistles but would make a great simple journal. It is responsive and includes buttons for social sharing.

Simpleo

The fully responsive Simpleo theme is a great option for a businesses launching a website with WordPress because it comes with integrated e-commerce tools and functionality. The theme offers a variety of customization options so that your site has a look of its own and supports social media integration, blogging and is retina display ready.

Traffica

Traffica is a simple theme that is optimized for search and includes a lot of customization options from color to log usage to font selection. The responsive theme includes six widget locations, allows for featured images and includes an optional sidebar.

Espressionista

With a static header and multi-column grid, Espressionista is an easy-to-look-at theme. With quite a few customization options — you can change the color or type palette — anyone can publish an attractive site. The color outline used is somewhat flat by design and is responsive, giving this theme a modern look and feel.

Fancier

If you love the look of Pinterest, Fancier is a theme after your own heart. The theme uses a four-column card-style grid to group blog entries. While the theme has a nice look and feel, it is not responsive and you do need strong images to make the most of this theme.

Tribbiani

This high-color, high-contrast theme has an uber-modern look and feel. Tribbiani is a good option for image heavy site design; it is not the best option for sites that lack images. One of the key features of the theme is the giant image slider as part of the retina-ready template. Tribbiani is also has embedded SEO tools, supports galleries and commenting, and has several neat CSS transition effects available. The theme also integrates social media sharing and has some customization options.

Gray – Base Plate

The gray and orange Base Plate theme has something of a futuristic look and feel. The theme is responsive and has options for a widescreen display, plus smaller boxes below, making it a flexible for different applications. While this theme does not feature a lot of extras, it is a good base template.

Green Eye

Green Eye is a feature-filled free theme. The responsive theme is marketed toward environmentally friendly businesses or websites, but has a lot of practical use. The theme has a professional look and lots of customization options from background images to banners to widgets. The theme also features lightweight code and is a great starter theme that can be used to showcase or link to other pages.

Mixfolio 

With a responsive grid layout, Mixfolio is a great option for a portfolio or blog. One of the best features of this theme is the ability to select a post format — image, gallery, video, standard, quote or link — and the design matches corresponds to the format. And it’s all customizable, without having to code.

Have we missed a free WordPress theme that should have been included? What features are essential in a free WordPress theme? Let us know in the comments.

200 Premium Photoshop Actions – only $17!

Over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to lead various Web design and development teams, including a number of professionals fresh out of school. Along the way, I’ve made my share of mistakes and learned some valuable lessons.

Some new team members have jumped right in and begun contributing in a meaningful way almost immediately, and others have struggled to adjust to their new role because I failed as a leader and didn’t give them the tools they needed to succeed. One thing I’ve definitely learned is that the success of a new team member is determined not only by their own abilities and drive, but by the leadership on the team they are joining.

Recently, I was preparing to welcome a young new designer to our company. This position would be his first real experience working in our industry; so, prior to his start date, I decided to make a list of some of those lessons I’ve learned over the years as a way to remind myself of what I needed to do to make sure he had the resources needed to succeed here. As I wrote my list, I realized that many of these lessons were actually common sense — and yet, if my past experiences are any indication, these common-sense lessons are exactly the ones that are easy to neglect and that we often need to be reminded of.

Make Them Feel Welcome.

Joining a company can be an intimidating experience, especially if the company has a close-knit culture or the team has been together for some time — two factors that contribute to new employees feeling like outsiders. As a leader, you can make your new team member feel welcome by showing them, both in actions and in words, that they are absolutely now a member of the team.

If your website lists biographies and pictures of employees, make it a point to add the new team member’s information quickly. Even in organizations that have a “probationary period” to evaluate new hires, those employees should still be added to the website sooner than later. Having a presence on the website, alongside their colleagues, demonstrates to those new team members that they are a part of the group.

Adding a biography, as FreshTilledSoil does, shows a new employee that they are part of the group.

You can also use social media to welcome new employees to the organization. Welcoming them on Twitter (or in whatever social media you use) shows the new member that you are excited to have them on board. Your Twitter followers will sometimes chime in as well, echoing your welcome and adding to the warmth and positivity.

Finally, you can make new employees feel welcome by involving them in events and activities with other members of the company. This doesn’t have to be elaborate — a simple lunch is a great way to get out of the office for a bit and to interact as more than coworkers. By including new hires in the lunch party, you give them a chance to socialize with others and to feel like more than the “new person.”

Make Time For Regular Meetings.

This lesson is certainly “common sense,” but also one that I, admittedly, find myself failing to follow most frequently.

It is easy to get caught up in projects and other responsibilities and overlook that new employees, especially those new to the industry, need a lot of guidance early on. I try to meet daily with new team members for at least their first few weeks at the company. These meetings do not need to be lengthy — in fact, most are 10 minutes or less — but they provide an outlet for the employee to ask questions without feeling like they are interrupting an activity. Because these meetings are scheduled in advance, the person knows that time has been allotted to their questions; this is important because, even if you have an open-door policy and encourage new team members to come to you with questions, they will be reluctant to “bother” you. You can alleviate this concern with regular meetings.

Without fail, whenever my schedule gets crazy and I start skipping these regular meetings, I notice that the stress level of my team rises accordingly. These meetings not only give new employees an outlet to ask questions, but give me an opportunity to let them know what is expected of them and how they are doing. This open dialogue is essential as the person adjusts to their role in the company.

Of all the lessons on this list, this one is undoubtedly the easiest to let slip — but also the one with the worst consequences if allowed to go too far.

Meetings are essential for new employees, who will need a lot of guidance early on. (Image: Dennis Crowley)

Assure Them That Failure Is An Option.

No one wants to fail at a task, least of all a new employee who is trying to make a good impression. But, as Seth Godin so perfectly stated in a recent interview with Kara Miller on NPR’s Innovation Hub:

“If failure is not an option, then neither is success.”

New employees need to know that making mistakes is OK. If failure is not an option, then you will become crippled from trying to get everything right the first time. Anyone who has worked on the Web knows that trial and error is essential to the job. New employees need to be assured that failure will not be held against them.

Of course, a balance must be struck here. While failure is acceptable, it must yield a better understanding of the problem and an eventual solution. Failure is a means to finding a solution. So, while new team members should know that failure is an option, they should also know to use each failure to propel themselves to an eventual success.

Mistakes are a part of the job – as long as you learn from those mistakes. (Image: ktpupp)

Encourage Them To Contribute.

I once had a manager who felt that if you attended a meeting, you had to contribute to the meeting. He would often call randomly on attendees who had yet to contribute to a meeting and ask, “What do you think of this?” as a way to involve them in the conversation.

While I understood his reasoning, his execution left a lot to be desired. Too often, individuals would be called upon and would struggle to come up with an answer to a question that they really weren’t prepared to speak about. It put people on edge as they waited their turn. Sometimes, attendees would even rush to contribute early in a meeting so that they wouldn’t be called out later. This rush to participate usually added a lot of extra words but very little value to the conversation.

Instead of putting new employees in the hot seat, I try to find other ways to make them comfortable with speaking in front of our group. One way, when conducting design reviews, is to ask a new designer to present their work to the team, alerting them well before the meeting so that they can prepare a short presentation. Furthermore, because everyone is commenting on each other’s designs and offering constructive feedback, new employees feel comfortable speaking up and offering their own comments. This is an excellent way to help them speak more frequently in front of other team members and clients and to engage in other types of meetings.

Keep Them Busy.

You’ve probably hired the new person because your company is busy and there is work to be done. That’s great, because keeping new team members busy is critical.

Long-time employees will undoubtedly have built relationships with certain clients over time. Many of those clients will prefer to communicate with these employees than with a manager or salesperson. This is perfectly fine, as long as your company has a system in place to properly estimate, carry out and invoice this work. These client relationships can keep employees busy with new work.

Additionally, some long-time employees work on internal projects, as time permits. When they hit a lull between projects or wait for feedback from clients, they fall back on these projects to keep busy.

New employees have neither of these sources of work. Instead, they look to you to assign them tasks and keep them busy — and they will likely complete those tasks as quickly as possible to make a good impression. This is great, but also a challenge for you as the team’s leader. If you do not have a bank of work to keep the new team member busy, they will drift and grow bored, unsure of what to do with their time. Aside from your short daily meetings with them, digging up meaningful work for them will require a time commitment from you.

Before bringing a designer on board, review what projects you would expect them to work on for their first 30 to 60 days — both client projects and internal initiatives. Identify accounts into which you can integrate them so that they can begin building their own relationships, and let them know what the process is if they run short on work and you are not around to assign something else. This could be assisting other team members, furthering their training and education, or experimenting with new technologies or techniques for evaluation.

Prepare To Educate.

Part of your job as a manager is to continue a new employee’s education and fill in gaps in their knowledge. While this certainly involves mentoring and directing them to relevant resources, one of my favorite ways is to take them to a Web conference.

Many students graduate from school not having had the chance to attend a professional conference. Industry events such as the Smashing Conference and An Event Apart offer new Web designers and developers a chance to meet and learn from their peers in an energizing environment. Taking a new team member to a good conference opens their eyes to just how awesome and welcoming this industry can be. It also shows them that the company has invested in their success and is willing to spend money to help them grow in their knowledge and their career.

Every time I have taken a new employee to a Web conference, the experience has been fantastic. Such events show the team member that they are a part of something much bigger than our company — they now belong to the Web community as a whole.

Inspire new employees by taking them to a quality conference. (Image: Kris Krug)

Great Employees Need Great Leaders.

Being a leader is an awesome responsibility, especially if you are leading people who are just entering our industry. Whether you follow the lessons covered here or have more profound ways of leading new team members, the challenge you face is that, to have a great team, you must be a great leader. You must take a consistent approach to welcoming new employees to your organization, helping them to build on their strengths and acquire new ones and supporting them in their career growth.

If you do your job right, then one day, the new hire you are leading will pick up the torch and lead the next generation of designers and developers.

For more thoughts on leadership techniques in a creative agency, see “On Creative Leadership” and “Assuming Leadership in Your Design Agency.”

Summary: Do’s And Don’ts

• Do make new team members feel welcome and part of the team by including them in company activities — both in and outside the office.
• Do schedule regular meetings to allow new team members to ask questions and get feedback on their performance.
• Do not allow your busy schedule to constantly override those regularly scheduled meetings, leaving the new employee with no way to get the guidance they need early on.
• Do assure new employee that failure is a part of the job — so long as it propels them to the solution.
• Do not put new team members on the spot by calling on them unannounced in meetings.
• Do encourage participation by giving employees time to prepare before presenting to the group.
• Do keep new employees busy with meaningful work.
• Do not assume that new employees will know how to fill their time if they run out of assigned work.
• Do educate and inspire new team members by introducing them to the Web community a whole, including at conferences and other industry events.
• Do recognize that the team members you lead today will become our industry’s leaders tomorrow.

(Front page credits: David Joyce)

(al, il, ea)

© Jeremy Girard for Smashing Magazine, 2013.

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Group Note of Selectors API Level 2. Selectors, which are widely used in CSS, are patterns that match against elements in a tree structure. The Selectors API specification defines methods for retrieving Element nodes from the DOM by matching against a group of selectors, and for testing if a given element matches a particular selector. It is often desirable to perform DOM operations on a specific set of elements in a document. These methods simplify the process of acquiring and testing specific elements, especially compared with the more verbose techniques defined and used in the past. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.