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The rental industry is a high-demanding one in recent decades. Convenience in accessing premium items may lead to familiar rental ventures. Among many use cases, the property and equipment rental business is the most reliable and the most needed. 

Digitization in such industries brings new choices for the owners and the rentee. Rental software is one of the familiar platforms that redefine the entire workflow into digital. 

This blog highlights rental business variations, startup costs, and why rental software is an essential thing in detail. Let’s explore. 

What is Rental Business?

A rental business is a platform that provides temporary access options for goods, services, or properties in exchange for a fee for individuals or other businesses. 

The key components of the rental business are:

Assets – The core of the rental business is assets being rented out. 

Rental Period – Duration for which item or service is rented out

Revenue Model – Fixed rental fee, subscription plan or pay-per-use charges

Target Market – Rental businesses cater to customer needs like individuals or large businesses. 

The steps to start a rental business are:

Starting any rental business requires research, strategy, and the right tools. Let’s take a look at the basic steps to kickstart your rental business.

Step 1: Identify Your Niche

Selecting a niche is the first step in launching any rental business. Research the local market to find a gap or under-served segment. 

Step 2: Create a Rental Business Plan

Any rental business’s foundation is a solid business plan. Outline your revenue goals, operating expenses, and strategies for growth. Include market research, pricing structures, customer acquisition strategies, and funding plans.

Step 3: Get Permits and Licenses

Each rental business has specific legal requirements depending on its location and niche. 

Research the required licenses, insurance policies, and tax obligations in your area. 

You’ll need permits that vary from general business licenses to special permits for renting specific items like vehicles or party equipment.

Step 4: Source Inventory

Depending on your rental type, acquiring the right inventory is key. Consider whether you’ll:

• Buy or lease your rental items.
• Partner with suppliers for high-demand items or equipment.
• Ensure your inventory is of high quality and regularly maintained.

Step 5: Build Rental Software

Technology plays a huge role in running a modern rental business. A robust software platform can help you:

• Manage inventory
• Handle bookings
• Track payments
• Communicate with customers

Step 6: Test and Launch Your Software

Once your software is in place, conduct thorough testing to ensure:

• User-friendly interface for customers
• Bug-free functionality for inventory management, payments, and bookings
• Security to protect customer data

Step 7: Market Your Rental Business

You should use both offline and internet platforms in your marketing plan. Here are a few tips:

• Use social media to engage with potential customers and promote your rentals.
• Partner with local event planners, real estate agents, or businesses that can refer customers to you.

Based on the types of devices or spaces, the rental businesses are classified into multiple types. 

Types of rental businesses are:

Product Rental – Cars, furniture, electronics, tools or party supplies

Property rentals – Residential, commercial, or vacation properties

Service Rentals – Staffing, Equipment operators, or event planners

Special Rentals – Luxury Items like exotic cars, Yachts, etc. 

Among these types, you can explore property and equipment rental businesses here. 

What is Rental Software? 

Alt Text: Illustration with the text ‘What is Rental Software?’ and graphics of people, screens, and gears symbolizing software and technology.

Rental software is a digital solution designed to help businesses manage and streamline their rental operations efficiently. 

It serves as a centralized platform that automates various processes involved in renting goods, properties, or services, from inventory management to customer bookings, payments, and analytics. 

This technology ensures smooth interactions between rental providers and customers while optimizing operational workflows. Prior to development, you must be aware of the startup cost of the rental business in detail. 

What Is The Startup Cost Of A Rental Business?

When starting a rental business, one key decision is whether to build your business platform from scratch, purchase a clone, or use a SaaS solution. 

Each comes with different costs:

• Scratch: Building a platform from the ground up can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 or more, depending on the complexity.
• Clone: Buying a clone script may cost $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the customization needed.
• SaaS: A Software as a Service (SaaS) platform like QoreUps could cost as low as $300 to $1,500 per month, which includes software support, hosting, and updates.

Opting for SaaS rental software is the most cost-effective and hassle-free way to get started. It allows you to skip development headaches and focus on growing your business.

Why Opting For SaaS Rental Software Is The Best?

Alt Text: Illustration with the text ‘Why Opting for SaaS Rental Software Is the Best?’ featuring graphics of a laptop, mobile, and gears symbolizing SaaS software.

Opting for best rental software is a smart choice for rental businesses due to its many advantages:

• Instead of hefty upfront costs for custom development, SaaS offers a subscription model, saving money on maintenance and infrastructure.
• Easily expand as your business grows. SaaS systems can handle increased volume without requiring major changes.
• The software provider manages updates, ensuring you always have the latest features and security patches.
• Most platforms are intuitive, minimizing the need for extensive training and allowing your team to get up and running quickly.
• Since SaaS is cloud-based, you can manage your rental business from any location, providing flexibility for owners and staff.
• SaaS rental software integrates with accounting tools, payment gateways, and marketing platforms, streamlining operations.
• Providers implement advanced security measures to protect business and customer data.
• Most SaaS providers offer 24/7 customer service, helping you troubleshoot issues when needed.

Property Rental Business

Alt Text: Illustration of the text ‘What is Property Rental Business?’ alongside a person searching for property rentals using property rental business software.

Introduction

A property rental business offers a lucrative opportunity to earn passive income by renting out residential or commercial properties. 

From short-term vacation rentals to long-term leases, it caters to diverse customer needs. 

With strategic marketing, effective management, and the right technology, a property rental business can thrive, providing steady revenue while meeting the growing demand for rental accommodations.

As a business owner, you have doubts about what you need to know and the reason behind the start. 

• Why Start This Business? A steady cash flow can be produced via long-term rental revenue. With rising property values and increasing demand, it’s a great way to generate wealth.
• What You Need to Know: You’ll need to be prepared for property management, maintenance, and dealing with tenants, but the passive income potential is immense.

Wish to Start A Property Rental Business? You must be aware of the following key features: 

Key Features of Property Rental Software

1. Property Listing and Management – Listings of photos and descriptions for each property. The search filters and the availability calendar are additional things. 
2. Online Booking/Payment System – The inclusion of smart booking options ensures a seamless user experience. Secure payment gateways and automated invoicing features included in the app attract huge users. 
3. Digital Contracts – Enabling E-sign-based rental agreements provide hassle-free execution. 
4. Eye-View Dashboard – Single dashboard to monitor the earnings, payments, and expenses. 
5. Inventory Management – Availability status, records of inventory, servicing schedules
6. Property Booking – Allows customers to reserve properties online. Includes features like calendar integration, automated reminders, and scheduling optimization.
7. Payment Processing – This supports multiple payment methods, including credit cards, wallets, and bank transfers. 
8. Business Performance Analysis – Provides insights into business performance, customer behavior, and revenue trends.
9. Mobile Accessibility –This ensures compatibility with smartphones and tablets for on-the-go access. Provides dedicated apps for both rental providers and customers.
10. Property Profile – This allows the property owners to specify the property details with all amenities in the nearby region in detail. 

Equipment Rental Business

Alt Text: Displays the text ‘Equipment Rental Business’ and graphic of heavy machinery representing the concept of an equipment rental business.

Introduction

An equipment rental business provides a cost-effective solution for individuals and companies needing specialized tools, machinery, or equipment temporarily. 

By offering a wide range of items, from construction tools to party supplies, it eliminates the need for upfront investment and storage. 

With proper inventory management and customer service, this business model ensures consistent revenue and caters to various industries. There are many tips to build the Equipment Rental Solution. 

From excavators to power tools, renting construction and heavy machinery is much more affordable than buying.

• Why Start This Business? As industries like construction, landscaping, and even home improvement grow, the need for specialized equipment is increasing. Equipment rental businesses can cater to businesses that can’t afford to purchase expensive machinery.
• What You Need to Know: Maintenance is key. High-end equipment requires regular upkeep to remain operational and safe for customers.

Key Features of Equipment Rental Software

The key features that redefine the equipment rental business as seamless are: 

1. Equipment Catalog and Management: The detailed listings include high-quality images, specifications, and usage guidelines for each equipment.
2. Equipment Tracking  Allows the customers to check the availability and status of equipment seamlessly. 
3. Pricing and Billing – Adjust rental rates based on demand, seasonality, or equipment condition.
4. Maintenance and Repair Management – Tracks servicing dates to ensure equipment reliability.
5. Customer Management – Store details, rental history, and preferences
6. Mobile-Friendly Interface – Offers a convenient way to browse, book, and manage rentals on the go.
7. Equipment Analytics – This makes the equipment owners track equipment usage rates and idle time.
8. Revenue Analysis: Monitors earnings by equipment type, rental duration, and customer segment.
9. Equipment Ratings – This section allows the equipment users to review or rate the equipment’s status after usage. 
10. Equipment Availability Toggle – This allows the equipment sellers to show the availability status of the prescribed equipment by the buyers. 

Conclusion

Come to an end. This blog highlighted the rental business and its variations in detail. Mainly equipment and property rental business. Besides, the cost value associated with starting the rental business is also highlighted. The need for the rental software and the reasons for the usage of rental software are highlighted. Hope this will make you a profitable rental business owner in 2025. 

FAQ’s

1. How To Start A Rental Property Business?

Identify a lucrative property, secure financing, and either buy or lease properties for rental. Handle legal aspects, such as permits, and manage tenant relations through property management software or services.

2. How to Start a Rental Business?

Starting a rental business involves identifying a niche, acquiring the necessary inventory, and setting up a management system. Focus on understanding your target audience, pricing competitively, and leveraging marketing strategies to attract customers

3. How to Start an Equipment Rental Business?

Invest in popular equipment, set up software for bookings, and develop a solid maintenance plan. You can partner with construction firms or focus on specific niches like party equipment or landscaping tools for quicker success.

4. How Much Does a Rental Management Company Cost?

The cost of a rental management company typically ranges from 8% to 12% of the monthly rental income, depending on the services provided. Additional fees may apply for tenant placement, maintenance, or administrative tasks. Pricing varies by location and property type.

5. How To Start A Rental Property Business With No Money?

Starting a rental property business with no money is challenging but achievable with creative strategies: partnering with investors, lease-to-own agreements, and crowdfunding. 

6. How Profitable is a Rental Business?

A rental business is profitable. If the initial setup is completed, then you can generate recurring income. Profitability depends on factors like the type of assets rented, market demand, pricing strategy, and effective management.

7. What Rentals Are Most Profitable?

Real estate properties, construction equipment, event supplies, luxury cars, and vacation rentals. Additionally, tech gadgets and party supplies also offer strong returns, particularly in urban markets. 

8. What is Rental Property Management Software?

Rental property management software is a digital tool designed to simplify and automate the management of rental properties. 

9. Is the Equipment Rental business profitable?

Yes, the equipment rental business is profitable. Construction, events, and landscaping, where customers prefer renting over purchasing. Due to high demands, the equipment rental business is profitable. 

10.  How to Start a Car Rental Business?

Starting a car rental business involves several steps: market research, business plan, legal requirements, fleet acquisition, technology, marketing, and customer service.  

The post Rental Software for Property and Equipment Rental Business appeared first on noupe.

The rise of online B2B marketplaces has transformed how businesses operate in the industrial sector. As a digital platform connecting buyers and sellers, these marketplaces have become the cornerstone of modern industrial e-commerce. Whether you’re a small business or a multinational corporation, leveraging a  B2B marketplace platform can unlock unprecedented opportunities for growth and efficiency.

What Are Online B2B Marketplaces?

Online B2B marketplaces are digital platforms where business-to-business (B2B) transactions occur. Unlike traditional business-to-consumer (B2C) models, these platforms cater to businesses looking to buy and sell goods or services in bulk. B2B e-commerce marketplaces provide a user-friendly environment that streamlines business transactions. It makes it easier for businesses to connect with potential customers and expand their customer base.

60 percent of B2B buyers are open to purchasing on digital marketplaces.

eINDUSTRIFY, a leading B2B e-commerce platform, offers personalized solutions tailored to each business’s unique needs. It uses data analytics and AI to provide personalized product suggestions, pricing, and support. This creates a seamless and tailored experience for each customer.

Key Features of Online B2B Marketplaces

Some of the key features of online B2B marketplaces are discussed below.

• Streamlined Product Information Management (PIM)

One of the defining features of B2B marketplace platforms is the integration of robust product information management (PIM) systems. These systems ensure buyers have access to accurate, detailed, and up-to-date product data, essential for informed decision-making.

• Real-Time Inventory Management Software

For industrial businesses, managing inventory is critical. Real-time inventory management software in online platforms allows sellers to track stock levels, reduce the risk of overstocking or understocking, and ensure timely delivery to their clients.

• Secure Payment Processing

Online B2B marketplaces have reliable payment processing features, offering secure options for businesses to complete transactions. This eliminates the need for cumbersome offline payment methods, speeding up the B2B sales process.

• Wholesale Marketplaces for Bulk Transactions

Industrial e-commerce thrives on bulk transactions. Wholesale marketplaces within the B2B ecosystem facilitate buying and selling in large quantities, often at competitive rates. This feature benefits small businesses looking to reduce costs and optimize supply chains.

• User-Friendly Digital Platform

Ease of use is critical for businesses engaging in high-volume trade. Online platforms are designed to be user-friendly, ensuring seamless navigation for seasoned industry players and newcomers to the industrial e-commerce landscape.

How Online B2B Marketplaces Are Transforming Industrial E-Commerce

Online B2B marketplaces are transforming the landscape of Industrial e-commerce.

• Expanding Reach and Accessibility

Geographical constraints and reliance on physical interactions often limited traditional B2B trade. Online platforms have eliminated these barriers, enabling businesses to access a global customer base. With features like multi-language support and international shipping options, B2B marketplaces worldwide have made it easier for industrial sellers to connect with potential customers across borders.

• Efficient Business Transactions

These marketplaces simplify business-to-business (B2B) interactions by digitizing the buying and selling process. Features like automated invoicing, digital contracts, and real-time order tracking minimize manual tasks and reduce the risk of errors.

• Improved Buyer and Seller Relationships

Online B2B eCommerce marketplaces foster trust and transparency between buyers and sellers. Verified profiles, detailed product listings, and customer reviews ensure both parties have confidence in their transactions.

• Cost-Effective Solutions for Small Businesses

For small businesses, online B2B marketplace platforms provide a cost-effective way to compete with larger enterprises. By leveraging digital tools and streamlined processes, these platforms help smaller players access new markets and scale their operations without significant overhead costs.

• Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency

Integrating real-time inventory management software and advanced logistics systems ensures businesses maintain an efficient supply chain. This is particularly crucial for industrial sectors where timely delivery and inventory accuracy are vital.

Key Benefits for Buyers and Sellers

Online B2B marketplaces have multiple key benefits for both buyers and sellers.

• For Buyers

The following benefits are for buyers in the online B2B marketplaces:

• Wide Product Range

Access a variety of products and services on a single platform.

• Ease of Comparison

Compare prices, features, and reviews from multiple sellers.

• Efficiency

Save time with quick order placements and automated processes.

• For Sellers

The following benefits are for sellers in the online B2B marketplaces:

• Expanded Reach

Tap into a global audience of potential customers.

• Increased Sales

Leverage targeted marketing tools to boost B2B sales.

• Streamlined Operations

Use integrated tools for inventory, orders, and payment processing.

B2B e-Commerce Market Size

Over the past decade, global e-commerce sales for B2B enterprises have increased annually. Experts expect the international B2B e-commerce market to reach?$?36 trillion?for the international B2B e-commerce market by 2026. Heavy industries, advanced manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and professional business services propel most of this sales value.

The global B2B e-commerce market will grow by 14.5% compound annual growth rate through 2026.

Role of Technology in B2B Marketplaces

Technology plays a pivotal role in shaping the success of online B2B marketplaces. From AI-powered recommendations to blockchain-enabled secure transactions, innovations are continuously enhancing the user experience.

• Artificial Intelligence

AI-driven tools help sellers optimize pricing strategies, while buyers benefit from personalized recommendations based on their preferences and purchase history.

• Cloud-Based Platforms

Cloud technology ensures scalability and reliability, enabling wholesale marketplaces to handle large volumes of data and transactions seamlessly.

• Advanced Analytics

Analytics tools offer valuable insights into customer behavior, helping businesses refine their strategies and improve performance on the platform.

The Future of Online B2B Marketplaces

The future of online B2B marketplaces looks promising, with continued advancements in technology and growing adoption by industrial players. Emerging trends include:

• Integration of Blockchain Technology

Blockchain will enhance transparency and security in B2B transactions.

• Focus on Sustainability

More platforms will prioritize eco-friendly practices, aligning with global sustainability goals.

• Enhanced User Experience

Platforms will continue to evolve to become more user-friendly, offering intuitive interfaces and smarter features.

At the Bottom Line

Online B2B marketplaces are undeniably a game-changer for industrial e-commerce, transforming how businesses buy and sell products and services. By leveraging features like real-time inventory management software, robust PIM systems, and secure payment processing, these platforms empower businesses to achieve greater efficiency and expand their reach. For industries looking to stay competitive in a fast-evolving market, adopting B2B eCommerce marketplaces is no longer optional it’s essential. Whether you’re a small business or a major industry player, the opportunities offered by these digital platforms can redefine success in the industrial sector.

The post Online B2B Marketplaces: A Game-Changer for Industrial E-Commerce appeared first on noupe.

As expected from anyone who has ever tried building anything solo, my goal was not to build an app but the app — the one app that’s so good you wonder how you ever survived without it. I had everything in place: wireframes, a to-do list, project structure — you name it. Then I started building. Just not the product. I started with the landing page for it, which took me four days, and I hadn’t even touched the app’s core features yet. The idea itself was so good I had to start marketing it right away!

I found myself making every detail perfect: every color, shadow, gradient, font size, margin, and padding had to be spot on. I don’t even want to say how long the logo took.

Spoiler:
No one cares about your logo.

Why did I get so stuck on something that was never even part of the core app I wanted so badly to build? Why wasn’t I nagging myself to move on when I clearly needed to?

The reality of solo development is that there is no one to tell you when to stop or simply say, “Yo, this is good enough! Move on.“ Most users don’t care whether a login button is yellow or green. What they want (and need) is a button that works and solves their problem when clicking it.

Test Early And Often

Unnecessary tweaks, indecisive UI decisions, and perfectionism are the core reasons I spend more time on things than necessary.

Like most solo developers, I also started with the hope of pushing out builds with the efficiency of a large-scale team. But it is easier said than done.

When building solo, you start coding, then you maybe notice a design flaw, and you switch to fixing it, then a bug appears, and you try fixing that, and voilà — the day is gone. There comes a time when it hits you that, “You know what? It’s time to build messy.” That’s when good intentions of project and product management go out the window, and that’s when I find myself working by the seat of my pants rather than plowing forward with defined goals and actionable tasks that are based on good UI/UX principles, like storyboards, user personas, and basic prioritization.

This realization is something you have to experience to grasp fully. The trick I’ve learned is to focus on getting something out there for people to see and then work on actual feedback. In other words,

It’s more important to get the idea out there and iterate on it than reaching for perfection right out of the gate.

Because guess what? Even if you have the greatest app idea in the world, you’re never going to make it perfect until you start receiving feedback on it. You’re no mind reader — as much as we all want to be one — and some insights (often the most relevant) can only be received through real user feedback and analytics. Sure, your early assumptions may be correct, but how do you know until you ship them and start evaluating them?

Nowadays, I like to tell others (and myself) to work from hypotheses instead of absolutes. Make an assertion, describe how you intend to test it, and then ship it. With that, you can gather relevant insights that you can use to get closer to perfection — whatever that is.

Strength In Recognizing Weakness

Let’s be real: Building a full application on your own is not an easy feat. I’d say it’s like trying to build a house by yourself; it seems doable, but the reality is that it takes a lot more hands than the ones you have to make it happen. And not only to make it happen but to make it happen well.

There’s only so much one person can do, and admitting your strengths and weaknesses up-front will serve you well by avoiding the trap that you can do it all alone.

I once attempted to build a project management app alone. I knew it might be difficult, but I was confident. Within a few days, this “simple” project grew legs and expanded with new features like team collaboration, analytics, time tracking, and custom reports being added, many of which I was super excited to make.

Building a full app takes a lot of time. Think about it; you’re doing the work of a team all alone without any help. There’s no one to provide you with design assets, content, or back-end development. No stakeholder to “swoop and poop” on your ideas (which might be a good thing). Every decision, every line of code, and every design element is 100% on you alone.

It is technically possible to build a full-featured app solo, but when you think about it, there’s a reason why the concept of MVP exists. Take Instagram, for example; it wasn’t launched with reels, stories, creator’s insights, and so on. It started with one simple thing: photo sharing.

All I’m trying to say is start small, launch, and let users guide the evolution of the product. And if you can recruit more hands to help, that would be even better. Just remember to leverage your strengths and reinforce your weaknesses by leaning on other people’s strengths.

Yes, Think Like an MVP

The concept of a minimum viable product (MVP) has always been fascinating to me. In its simplest form, it means building the basic version of your idea that technically works and getting it in front of users. Yes, this is such a straightforward and widely distributed tip, but it’s still one of the hardest principles for solo developers to follow, particularly for me.

I mentioned earlier that my “genius” app idea grew legs. And lots of them. I had more ideas than I knew what to do with, and I hadn’t even written a reasonable amount of code! Sure, this app could be enhanced to support face ID, dark mode, advanced security, real-time results, and a bunch of other features. But all these could take months of development for an app that you’re not even certain users want.

I’ve learned to ask myself: “What would this project look like if it was easy to build?”. It’s so surreal how the answer almost always aligns with what users want. If you can distill your grand idea into a single indispensable idea that does one or two things extremely well, I think you’ll find — as I have — that the final result is laser-focused on solving real user problems.

Ship the simplest version first. Dark mode can wait. All you need is a well-defined idea, a hypothesis to test, and a functional prototype to validate that hypothesis; anything else is probably noise.

Handle Imperfection Gracefully

You may have heard about the “Ship it Fast” approach to development and instantly recognize the parallels between it and what I’ve discussed so far. In a sense, “Ship it Fast” is ultimately another way of describing an MVP: get the idea out fast and iterate on it just as quickly.

Some might disagree with the ship-fast approach and consider it reckless and unprofessional, which is understandable because, as developers, we care deeply about the quality of our work. However,

The ship-fast mentality is not to ignore quality but to push something out ASAP and learn from real user experiences. Ship it now — perfect it later.

That’s why I like to tell other developers that shipping an MVP is the safest, most professional way to approach development. It forces you to stay in scope and on task without succumbing to your whimsies. I even go so far as to make myself swear an “Oath of Focus” at the start of every project.

I, Vayo, hereby solemnly swear (with one hand on this design blueprint) to make no changes, no additions, and no extra features until this app is fully built in all its MVP glory. I pledge to avoid the temptations of endless tweaking and the thoughts of “just one more feature.”

Only when a completed prototype is achieved will I consider any new features, enhancements, or tweaks.

Signed,
Vayo, Keeper of the MVP

Remember, there’s no one there to hold you accountable when you develop on your own. Taking a brief moment to pause and accepting that my first version won’t be flawless helps put me in the right headspace early in the project.

Prioritize What Matters

I have noticed that no matter what I build, there’s always going to be bugs. Always. If Google still has bugs in the Google Notes app, trust me, then it’s fine for a solo developer to accept that bugs will always be a part of any project.

Look at flaky tests. For instance, you could run a test over 1,000 times and get all greens, and then the next day, you run the same test, an error shows. It’s just the nature of software development. And for the case of endlessly adding features, it never ends either. There’s always going to be a new feature that you’re excited about. The challenge is to curb some of that enthusiasm and shelve it responsibly for a later time when it makes sense to work on it.

I’ve learned to categorize bugs and features into two types: intrusive and non-intrusive. Intrusive are those things that prevent projects from functioning properly until fixed, like crashes and serious errors. The non-intrusive items are silent ones. Sure, they should be fixed, but the product will work just fine and won’t prevent users from getting value if they aren’t addressed right away.

You may want to categorize your bugs and features in other ways, and I’ve seen plenty of other examples, including:

• High value, low value;
• High effort, low effort;
• High-cost, low-cost;
• Need to have, nice to have.

I’ve even seen developers and teams use these categorizations to create some fancy priority “score” that considers each category. Whatever it is that helps you stay focused and on-task is going to be the right approach for you more than what specific category you use.

Live With Your Stack

Here’s a classic conundrum in development circles:

Should I use React? Or NextJS? Or wait, how about Vue? I heard it’s more optimized. But hold on, I read that React Redux is dead and that Zustand is the new hot tool.

And just like that, you’ve spent an entire day thinking about nothing but the tech stack you’re using to build the darn thing.

We all know that an average user could care less about the tech stack under the hood. Go ahead and ask your mom what tech stack WhatsApp is built on, and let me know what she says. Most times, it’s just us who obsesses about tech stacks, and that usually only happens when we’re asked to check under the hood.

I have come to accept that there will always be new tech stacks released every single day with the promise of 50% performance and 10% less code. That new tool might scale better, but do I actually have a scaling problem with my current number of zero users? Probably not.

My advice:

Pick the tools you work with best and stick to those tools until they start working against you.

There’s no use fighting something early if something you already know and use gets the job done. Basically, don’t prematurely optimize or constantly chase the latest shiny object.

Do Design Before The First Line of Code

I know lots of solo developers out there suck at design, and I’m probably among the top 50. My design process has traditionally been to open VS Code, create a new project, and start building the idea in whatever way comes to mind. No design assets, comps, or wireframes to work with — just pure, unstructured improvisation. That’s not a good idea, and it’s a habit I’m actively trying to break.

These days, I make sure to have a blueprint of what I’m building before I start writing code. Once I have that, I make sure to follow through and not change anything to respect my “Oath of Focus.”

I like how many teams call comps and wireframes “project artifacts.” They are pieces of evidence that provide a source of truth for how something looks and works. You might be the sort of person who works better with sets of requirements, and that’s totally fine. But having some sort of documentation that you can point back to in your work is like having a turn-by-turn navigation on a long road trip — it’s indispensable for getting where you need to go.

And what if you’re like me and don’t pride yourself on being the best designer? That’s another opportunity to admit your weaknesses up-front and recruit help from someone with those strengths. That way, you can articulate the goal and focus on what you’re good at.

Give Yourself Timelines

Personally, without deadlines, I’m almost unstoppable at procrastinating. I’ve started setting time limits when building any project, as it helps with procrastination and makes sure something is pushed out at a specified time. Although this won’t work without accountability, I feel the two work hand in hand.

I set a 2–3 week deadline to build a project. And no matter what, as soon as that time is up, I must post or share the work in its current state on my socials. Because of this, I’m not in my comfort zone anymore because I won’t want to share a half-baked project with the public; I’m conditioned to work faster and get it all done. It’s interesting to see the length of time you can go if you can trick your brain.

I realize that this is an extreme constraint, and it may not work for you. I’m just the kind of person who needs to know what my boundaries are. Setting deadlines and respecting them makes me a more disciplined developer. More than that, it makes me work efficiently because I stop overthinking things when I know I have a fixed amount of time, and that leads to faster builds.

Conclusion

The best and worst thing about solo development is the “solo” part. There’s a lot of freedom in working alone, and that freedom can be inspiring. However, all that freedom can be intoxicating, and if left unchecked, it becomes a debilitating hindrance to productivity and progress. That’s a good reason why solo development isn’t for everyone. Some folks will respond a lot better to a team environment.

But if you are a solo developer, then I hope my personal experiences are helpful to you. I’ve had to look hard at myself in the mirror many days to come to realize that I am not a perfect developer who can build the “perfect” app alone. It takes planning, discipline, and humility to make anything, especially the right app that does exactly the right thing.

Ideas are cheap and easy, but stepping out of our freedom and adding our own constraints based on progress over perfection is the secret sauce that keeps us moving and spending our time on those essential things.

Further Reading On SmashingMag

• “What’s The Perfect Design Process?,” Vitaly Friedman
• “Design Under Constraints: Challenges, Opportunities, And Practical Strategies,” Paul Boag
• “Improving The Double Diamond Design Process,” Andy Budd
• “Unexpected Learnings From Coding Artwork Every Day For Five Years,” Saskia Freeke

NeuralSVG is an AI-powered tool that generates scalable, editable vector graphics, revolutionizing workflows for web designers and creatives. By combining deep learning with vector-based design, it enables precision, creativity, and seamless integration into popular design tools.

As consumer attention to the digital world continues to shift towards smooth user experience or interface design, the ‘dark mode’ function has become one of the essential digital interfaces. This flashy yet power-saving mode is now considered a norm; it has become prevalent with the settings of operating systems up to single applications. The current blog discusses the basics of the dark mode, how to implement it optimally, and what user tendencies inform creators about how to proceed.

What is Dark Mode?

Contrast mode is a UI mechanism where textual and graphical accents are formed in pale colors, placed on a dark background. This reversal of work on the basis of the light and dark theme gives a modern look to the product and proves to be a favorite of users who use devices with screens for a long time. Its main advantages include less stress on the eyes, longer battery life for devices which include OLED or AMOLED displays, and clearer text in dim environments.

Benefits of Dark Mode

1. Reduced Eye Strain: These include; it makes the eyes to have an easy time especially in low light as opposed to the brighter Screen glares.
2. Battery Efficiency: Some OLED or AMOLED devices naturally take less power when a pixel is black hence; they have more battery longevity.
3. Modern Aesthetic: The minimalist appearance of darkness is what makes them opt for the dark mode in order to get a class look.
4. Enhanced Focus: The matter is that adjusting the brightness lesser causes less distraction so with the help of dark mode, users can focus on the content rather than the design of the interface.

Challenges of Dark Mode Design

However, designing for the dark mode is not exempted from specific difficulties and limitations. Here are some common pitfalls:

• Legibility Issues: Since a paper’s text and background rely heavily on color, a scenario where there is low contrast between the two results in eye strain among users.
• Brand Identity: It becomes challenging to maintain the elements of brand colors and integrated visuals familiar in the dark mode.
• Compatibility: The user may experience design elements and images inconsistency in switching to dark mode since not all of them are well adapted for this mode.

Dark Mode Design Best Practices

To create an effective dark mode experience, consider the following best practices:

1. Prioritize Contrast

As it has been previously mentioned, contrast is essential in dark mode design, and dark text on a light background brings out the best of this concept. Content is barely distinguishable with low contrast, yet it is strainful to the eyes when the contrast is too high. Aim for a balance by:

• Because using white as it is will cause too much contrast it is better to use a light gray color for the text.
• Ensuring sufficient contrast ratios between text and background to meet accessibility standards (WCAG recommends a minimum of 4.5:1).

2. Use Color Wisely

That is why colors act differently on dark backgrounds. A with bright colors selected will look clearer whereas in places where less bright colors are selected will look dull. Tips include:

• Checking the color of different variants of brand clothes against the dark background to see how it looks currently.
• Not using, for example, a deep red background that makes using the Web site uncomfortable.

3. Maintain Visual Hierarchy

While organizing elements on the screen, one also ensures that the interface is easy to use thanks to the concept of hierarchy. In dark mode:

• Always select the area that you want to put in a layer and give it a humble shadow or highlight for effective layering.
• This emphasizes important aspects on the flyer; it also involves the use of the different fonts where some must be big in size.

4. Optimize for Images and Graphics

Light mode images and graphics may not be very appropriate for use in a dark theme. Ensure that:

• Transparency has proper edges or even some level of shadow for PNGs and icons.
• Pictures are altered, or cleaned up to make them stand out against black backdrops.

5. Test in Different Lighting Conditions

People use dark mode at night, during the day, indoors, and outside. Testing in diverse conditions ensures:

• Little addition of space is occupied, thereby keeping the content easily readable and having a visually appealing interface under all circumstances
• The different forms of UI elements prove to work well in severe lighting conditions.

6. Provide a Seamless Toggle Option

Option to toggle between night and day mode. A prominent and intuitive toggle ensures that:

• As mentioned earlier, the users can select the mode that they wish to use most.
• Regardless, their experience is not interrupted, settings reset or require them to change devices.

User Preferences for Dark Mode

Understanding user preferences is key to designing a successful dark mode experience. Here are some insights based on recent surveys and studies:

1. Adoption Rates: A lot of users always opt for dark mode and it has been found out that there is up to 82% of users who use it in particular areas.
2. Demographics: Specifically, it has been found that it is younger people, fans of technology, and night people who prefer the dark mode.
3. Use Cases: Users enjoy dark mode for both reading, gaming and when they spend long hours on the screens especially at night.
4. Customizability: A highly appreciated feature is a choice of interface looks and an opportunity to create apps with a dark theme if necessary.

Implementing Dark Mode: Practical Tips

For developers and designers ready to implement dark mode, consider these practical tips:

1. Use System Settings: Support the choice of dark mode on the system level such as iOS and Android levels for synchronization.
2. Dynamic Themes: Employ basic theming libraries in order to simplify the operation in regard to both light and dark modes.
3. Test Thoroughly: Make a rule: check the dark mode design you’ve created on various devices and platforms frequently – this will help to avoid discrepancies between them and to improve usability.
4. Gather Feedback: Make sure to do a user test in order to know which elements can be improved for you to get a better dark mode.

Conclusion

Dark mode design is not simply an emerging design direction; it is a representation of the emerging design for the people. Understanding the customer needs and preferences, following the guidelines, and not falling short of the standard missteps increase usability and give an aesthetic and enhanced appeal to the brand’s dark mode. Let the evil in you and give people an interface to work with that glimmers even in the dark. In case you want to implement dark mode in your business, learn more about modern web design solutions in order to create engaging interfaces.

Featured image by Sten Ritterfeld on Unsplash

The post Dark Mode Design: Best Practices and User Preferences appeared first on noupe.

I wrote a post for Smashing Magazine that was published today about this thing that Chrome and Safari have called “Tight Mode” and how it impacts page performance. I’d never heard the term until DebugBear’s Matt Zeunert mentioned it in a passing conversation, but it’s a not-so-new deal and yet there’s precious little documentation about it anywhere.

So, Matt shared a couple of resources with me and I used those to put some notes together that wound up becoming the article that was published. In short:

Tight Mode discriminates resources, taking anything and everything marked as High and Medium priority. Everything else is constrained and left on the outside, looking in until the body is firmly attached to the document, signaling that blocking scripts have been executed. It’s at that point that resources marked with Low priority are allowed in the door during the second phase of loading.

The implications are huge, as it means resources are not treated equally at face value. And yet the way Chrome and Safari approach it is wildly different, meaning the implications are wildly different depending on which browser is being evaluated. Firefox doesn’t enforce it, so we’re effectively looking at three distinct flavors of how resources are fetched and rendered on the page.

It’s no wonder web performance is a hard discipline when we have these moving targets. Sure, it’s great that we now have a consistent set of metrics for evaluating, diagnosing, and discussing performance in the form of Core Web Vitals — but those metrics will never be consistent from browser to browser when the way resources are accessed and prioritized varies.

Tight Mode: Why Browsers Produce Different Performance Results originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

Mark Zuckerberg’s pattern of shifting Meta’s policies to appease changing U.S. administrations and his decision to abandon biased fact-checking partnerships reveal a leader driven by corporate survival rather than public accountability. These actions highlight the urgent need for more transparent and impartial oversight of online discourse.

This article is a sponsored by DebugBear

I was chatting with DebugBear’s Matt Zeunert and, in the process, he casually mentioned this thing called Tight Mode when describing how browsers fetch and prioritize resources. I wanted to nod along like I knew what he was talking about but ultimately had to ask: What the heck is “Tight” mode?

What I got back were two artifacts, one of them being the following video of Akamai web performance expert Robin Marx speaking at We Love Speed in France a few weeks ago:

Tight Mode discriminates resources, taking anything and everything marked as High and Medium priority. Everything else is constrained and left on the outside, looking in until the body is firmly attached to the document, signaling that blocking scripts have been executed. It’s at that point that resources marked with Low priority are allowed in the door during the second phase of loading.

There’s a big caveat to that, but we’ll get there. The important thing to note is that…

Chrome And Safari Enforce Tight Mode

Yes, both Chrome and Safari have some working form of Tight Mode running in the background. That last image illustrates Chrome’s Tight Mode. Let’s look at Safari’s next and compare the two.

Look at that! Safari discriminates High-priority resources in its initial fetch, just like Chrome, but we get wildly different loading behavior between the two browsers. Notice how Safari appears to exclude the first five PNG images marked with Medium priority where Chrome allows them. In other words, Safari makes all Medium- and Low-priority resources wait in line until all High-priority items are done loading, even though we’re working with the exact same HTML. You might say that Safari’s behavior makes the most sense, as you can see in that last image that Chrome seemingly excludes some High-priority resources out of Tight Mode. There’s clearly some tomfoolery happening there that we’ll get to.

Where’s Firefox in all this? It doesn’t take any extra tightening measures when evaluating the priority of the resources on a page. We might consider this the “classic” waterfall approach to fetching and loading resources.

Chrome And Safari Trigger Tight Mode Differently

Robin makes this clear as day in his talk. Chrome and Safari are both Tight Mode proponents, yet trigger it under differing circumstances that we can outline like this:

Notice that Chrome only looks at the document when prioritizing resources, and only when it involves JavaScript. Safari, meanwhile, also looks at JavaScript, but CSS as well, and anywhere those things might be located in the document — regardless of whether it’s in the or . That helps explain why Chrome excludes images marked as High priority in Figure 2 from its Tight Mode implementation — it only cares about JavaScript in this context.

So, even if Chrome encounters a script file with fetchpriority="high" in the document body, the file is not considered a “High” priority and it will be loaded after the rest of the items. Safari, meanwhile, honors fetchpriority anywhere in the document. This helps explain why Chrome leaves two scripts on the table, so to speak, in Figure 2, while Safari appears to load them during Tight Mode.

That’s not to say Safari isn’t doing anything weird in its process. Given the following markup:

<head>
  <!-- two high-priority scripts -->
  <script src="script-1.js"></script>
  <script src="script-1.js"></script>

  <!-- two low-priority scripts -->
  <script src="script-3.js" defer></script>
  <script src="script-4.js" defer></script>
</head>
<body>
  <!-- five low-priority scripts -->
  <img src="image-1.jpg">
  <img src="image-2.jpg">
  <img src="image-3.jpg">
  <img src="image-4.jpg">
  <img src="image-5.jpg">
</body>

…you might expect that Safari would delay the two Low-priority scripts in the until the five images in the are downloaded. But that’s not the case. Instead, Safari loads those two scripts during its version of Tight Mode.

Chrome And Safari Exceptions

I mentioned earlier that Low-priority resources are loaded in during the second phase of loading after Tight Mode has been completed. But I also mentioned that there’s a big caveat to that behavior. Let’s touch on that now.

According to Patrick’s article, we know that Tight Mode is “the initial phase and constraints loading lower-priority resources until the body is attached to the document (essentially, after all blocking scripts in the head have been executed).” But there’s a second part to that definition that I left out:

“In tight mode, low-priority resources are only loaded if there are less than two in-flight requests at the time that they are discovered.”

A-ha! So, there is a way for low-priority resources to load in Tight Mode. It’s when there are less than two “in-flight” requests happening when they’re detected.

Wait, what does “in-flight” even mean?

That’s what’s meant by less than two High- or Medium-priority items being requested. Robin demonstrates this by comparing Chrome to Safari under the same conditions, where there are only two High-priority scripts and ten regular images in the mix:

<head>
  <!-- two high-priority scripts -->
  <script src="script-1.js"></script>
  <script src="script-1.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
  <!-- ten low-priority images -->
  <img src="image-1.jpg">
  <img src="image-2.jpg">
  <img src="image-3.jpg">
  <img src="image-4.jpg">
  <img src="image-5.jpg">
  <!-- rest of images -->
  <img src="image-10.jpg">
</body>

Let’s look at what Safari does first because it’s the most straightforward approach:

Nothing tricky about that, right? The two High-priority scripts are downloaded first and the 10 images flow in right after. Now let’s look at Chrome:

We have the two High-priority scripts loaded first, as expected. But then Chrome decides to let in the first five images with Medium priority, then excludes the last five images with Low priority. What. The. Heck.

The reason is a noble one: Chrome wants to load the first five images because, presumably, the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is often going to be one of those images and Chrome is hedging bets that the web will be faster overall if it automatically handles some of that logic. Again, it’s a noble line of reasoning, even if it isn’t going to be 100% accurate. It does muddy the waters, though, and makes understanding Tight Mode a lot harder when we see Medium- and Low-priority items treated as High-priority citizens.

Even muddier is that Chrome appears to only accept up to two Medium-priority resources in this discriminatory process. The rest are marked with Low priority.

That’s what we mean by “less than two in-flight requests.” If Chrome sees that only one or two items are entering Tight Mode, then it automatically prioritizes up to the first five non-critical images as an LCP optimization effort.

Truth be told, Safari does something similar, but in a different context. Instead of accepting Low-priority items when there are less than two in-flight requests, Safari accepts both Medium and Low priority in Tight Mode and from anywhere in the document regardless of whether they are located in the or not. The exception is any asynchronous or deferred script because, as we saw earlier, those get loaded right away anyway.

How To Manipulate Tight Mode

This might make for a great follow-up article, but this is where I’ll refer you directly to Robin’s video because his first-person research is worth consuming directly. But here’s the gist:

• We have these high-level features that can help influence priority, including resource hints (i.e., preload and preconnect), the Fetch Priority API, and lazy-loading techniques.
• We can indicate fetchpriority=`“high“andfetchpriority=”low”` on items.

<img src="lcp-image.jpg" fetchpriority="high">
<link rel="preload" href="defer.js" as="script" fetchpriority="low"

• Using fetchpriority="high" is one way we can get items lower in the source included in Tight Mode. Using fetchpriority="low is one way we can get items higher in the source excluded from Tight Mode.
• For Chrome, this works on images, asynchronous/deferred scripts, and scripts located at the bottom of the .
• For Safari, this only works on images.

Again, watch Robin’s talk for the full story starting around the 28:32 marker.

That’s Tight… Mode

It’s bonkers to me that there is so little information about Tight Mode floating around the web. I would expect something like this to be well-documented somewhere, certainly over at Chrome Developers or somewhere similar, but all we have is a lightweight Google Doc and a thorough presentation to paint a picture of how two of the three major browsers fetch and prioritize resources. Let me know if you have additional information that you’ve either published or found — I’d love to include them in the discussion.

Spotify’s hidden Star Wars Easter egg turns the playbar into a glowing lightsaber when playing certain official Star Wars playlists. This playful feature delights fans by adding a touch of the Force to their listening experience.

The list of attributes available in HTML is long and well-documented. Even if you haven’t memorized them (and there’s totally nothing wrong with an author… er… random person off the street, who has), there are a bunch of places where HTML attributes you’re familiar with will have different or more specific jobs. Let’s take a look.

name

You may have heard of the name attribute, giving a name/label to information sent through a form. And more specifically you may have used it to bring together a set of radio buttons, but you can also use it with the details element to have only one of a set of accordions open at a time.

Like if you have more than one refrigerator in the office at work, any respectable person would only open one door at a time. Right, Bob?

<details name="office-kitchen">
  <summary>Refrigerator 1</summary>
  Lunches, condiments, yogurt et al.
</details>
<details name="office-kitchen">
  <summary>Refrigerator 2</summary>
  More Lunches, leftovers from client meeting, stray cans of off-brand soda et al.
</details>
<details name="office-kitchen">
  <summary>Refrigerator 3</summary>
  Cookie dough someone bought from somebody’s child’s fundraiser, expired milk, unidentifiable meat et al.
</details>

See the Pen Name [forked] by Undead Institute.

title

You’ve probably heard of the universal attribute title. It’s typically thought of as the built-in tooltip text, but three elements have special semantics for the title attribute: input and the rarely used gems, the definition (dfn) element, and the abbreviation (abbr) element.

If you’re using a pattern attribute on an input to provide some regex-based error correction, then you should definitely tell the user how to meet the criteria you’re using. The title attribute can be used both as a tooltip and as the message shown when the user doesn’t meet that criteria.

<form method="post" action="#">
  <label>Who took my <em>well labeled</em> yogurt from the company fridge? I know it was you, Bob.<br>
    <input type="text" pattern="Bob [A-Za-z].+" title="There are many Bobs. The only question is which one it was. Please limit your answers to Bob and his/her last name.">
  </label><br>
  <button type="submit">Submit</submit>
</form>

See the Pen Title – Input [forked] by Undead Institute.

For a dfn element, if you use the title attribute, then it has to include the term being defined. dfn should still have text in it, but it can be an abbreviation or a different form of the term.

<p><dfn title="Office Yogurt Thief">OYG</dfn>’s are a pox on humanity. Stealing yogurts from the office fridge even when they are labeled.</p>

See the Pen Title – dfn [forked] by Undead Institute.

A title on an abbr element not only sets the tooltip but explicitly has the expansion of the abbreviation or acronym. As it says in the spec: “The [title] attribute, if specified, must contain an expansion of the abbreviation, and nothing else.” That’s the specification’s equivalent of threatening a mafia hit if you aren’t careful with your title attributes. You have been warned, Bob.

When dealing with a suspected yogurt thief, we must create a <abbr title="Human Resources Special Task Force on Yogurt Theft">HRSTFYT</abbr> to deal with the problem.

See the Pen Title – abbr [forked] by Undead Institute.

value

The value attribute is well known for setting default values on inputs, but you can also use it on a list item (li) within an ordered list (ol) to change the number of that item and all that follow it. It only takes integers, but you can use it no matter what type of ordered list you use (numeric, alphabetical, or Roman numerals).

<h1>Favorite Co-workers</h1>
<ol>
  <li>Tina</li>
  <li>Keesha</li>
  <li>Carlos</li>
  <li>Jamal</li>
  <li>Scott</li>
  <li value="37">Bob</li>
  <li>Bobbie</li>
  <li>Bobby</li>
  <li>"Rob"</li>
</ol>

See the Pen Value [forked] by Undead Institute.

datetime

You might have used a datetime attribute on a time element to provide a machine-readable format of the time and/or date represented in the time element’s text:

<time datetime="2024-12-09">Dec. 12, 2024</time>

The same attribute can also be used with the ins and del elements (used for notating an addition/insertion and deletion of content, respectively). The datetime attribute on ins and del provides a machine-readable date (and optionally a time) for when the change was made. You can show it to the visitor if you like, but it’s mainly intended for private use.

Check out the edits of the original version of an earlier example:

When dealing with a <ins datetime="2024-11-17">suspected</ins> yogurt thief <del datetime="2024-11-17">, like Bob,</del> we must create a <abbr title="Human Resources Special Task Force on Yogurt Theft">HRSTFYT</abbr> to deal with <del datetime="2024-11-17">Bob</del> <ins datetime="2024-11-17">the problem</ins>.

See the Pen Datetime [forked] by Undead Institute.

As an added note, screenreaders do not announce the datetime attribute in this context.

cite

Sticking with our oft-neglected friends ins and del, the cite attribute that you use on blockquote and q elements to provide a URL of the source of the quotation can also be used on ins and del to provide the URL of a document explaining the changes.

When dealing with a <ins datetime="2024-11-17" cite="https://codepen.io/undeadinstitute/full/VYZeaZm">suspected</ins> yogurt thief <del datetime="2024-11-17" cite="https://codepen.io/undeadinstitute/full/VYZeaZm">, like Bob,</del> we must create a <abbr title="Human Resources Special Task Force on Yogurt Theft">HRSTFYT</abbr> to deal with <del datetime="2024-11-17" cite="https://codepen.io/undeadinstitute/full/VYZeaZm">Bob</del> <ins datetime="2024-11-17" cite="https://codepen.io/undeadinstitute/full/VYZeaZm">the problem</ins>.

See the Pen Cite [forked] by Undead Institute.

Again, these dates are not announced in assistive tech, like screen readers.

multiple

You probably know the multiple attribute as that more-than-meets-the-eye attribute that transforms a dropdown menu into a multi-select box, like a co-worker who lets you choose two donuts from the box. (I’m lookin’ at you, Tina.) But it has two other uses as well. You can add it to both a file input and an email input to accept multiple files and emails, respectively.

<form method="post" action="#">
  <label>Upload complaint forms (about Bob) <input type="file" multiple> </label><br>
  <label>Email all of Bob’s bosses: <input type="email" multiple></label><br>
  <button type="submit">Submit</submit>
</form>

Just be sure that the emails are comma-separated.

See the Pen Multiple [forked] by Undead Institute.

for

In your travels across the internet, you’ve probably come across the for attribute when it’s used to associate a label element with a form field (input, select, textarea, etc.), but you can also use it to explicitly associate the elements of a calculation with an output element.

Unlike a label–input relationship, which is a one-to-one relationship (i.e., one label for one field), the for attribute used on an output can hold an unordered, space-separated list of IDs of the fields that contributed to the calculation.

<form method="post" action="#" id="comeuppance"> 
  <fieldset><legend>Defendant name</legend>
    <label>First Name: <input name="fname" type="text"></label>
    <label>Last Name: <input name="lname" type="text"></label>
  </fieldset>
  <label>Number of yogurts stolen (unlabeled): 
    <input name="numunlbld" id="numstolen-unlbld" type="number">
  </label> * 
  <label>Unlabeled Multiplier: 
    <input name="multiunlbld" id="multi-unlbld" type="number" value="0.5">
  </label> + 
  <label>Number of yogurts stolen (labeled): 
    <input name="numlbld" id="numstolen-lbld" type="number">
  </label> * 
  <label>Labeled Multiplier: 
    <input name="multilbld" id="multi-lbld" type="number" value="1.5">
  </label> = 
  <label>Suggested prison term (in years):
    <output id="answer" for="numstolen-unlbld numstolen-lbld multi-unlbld multi-lbld"></output>
  </label>
</form>

See the Pen For [forked] by Undead Institute.

target

Just like you can use a target attribute to open a link in a new tab/window, you can use the same target attribute and value _blank to have a form open the response in a new tab/window.

<form method="post" action="#" id="comeuppance" target="_blank"> 
  [...]
</form>

disabled

You may have used the disabled attribute to knock out an individual form field, but you can also use it to disable every descendant of a fieldset element.

No matter what HR says and its innocent-until-proven-guilty ethos, we all know Bob did it. Don’t we?

<form method="post" action="#" id="comeuppance"> 
  <fieldset disabled><legend>Defendant name</legend>
    <label>First Name: <input name="fname" type="text" value="Bob"></label>
    <label>Last Name: <input name="lname" type="text" value="McBobberson"></label>
  </fieldset>
  [...]
</form>

See the Pen Disabled [forked] by Undead Institute.

Attribute Selectors

While not technically an HTML tip, attributes can also be used as selectors in CSS. You put square brackets around the attribute name and you’ll select all elements that contain that attribute.

<style>
  [title] {
    background-color: red;
  }
</style>
<h1>List of <del>Suspects</del><ins>Co-workers</ins></h1>
<ol>
  <li>Fred</li>
  <li>Rhonda</li>
  <li>Philomina</li>
  <li>Cranford</li>
  <li>Scott</li>
  <li title="the guilty one">Bob</li>
  <li>Bobbie</li>
  <li>Bobby</li>
  <li>"Rob"</li>
</ol>

See the Pen Attribute Selector [forked] by Undead Institute.

There’s actually a whole lot more you can do with attribute selectors, but that’s the topic of another article — literally.

Wrapping Up

Okay, now that we’ve learned some trivia we can use to properly prosecute Bob’s office and yogurtorial transgressions, do you have a favorite HTML attribute I didn’t discuss? Show off your personal life-of-the-party energy in the comments. (And, yes, cool people have a favorite HTML attribute… really cool people… right? Right?? Right!?!?!?!?!)