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Home > Web site management Web site managementI help people decide what to put on their Web sites, and I help them get the material ready. For smaller clients, I can also build and run the Web site. My Web clients are generally professionals who have small to medium sites, want to keep costs down, and are strongly concerned with good content quality and usability. OpinionsSome of my articles:
Keep it simpleI build my Web sites to degrade gracefully when viewed on limited browsers. I do not expect my site visitors to have Real Player or other plug-ins, although I will use Flash occasionally because nearly everyone can handle it. I use Javascript cautiously, but usually where its absence wouldn't hurt much. I use PHP coding for server-side work such as enhanced form handling or database access. Keep it cleanTheoretically, Web sites should follow w3.org standards for best results. I try, keeping the code as simple as possible, and I avoid known problem areas. My sites usually have a custom page to intercept errors caused by old bookmarks, bad keying, and occasionally by imperfect links. For most clients I have set up a mail redirection process to create custom e-mail addresses or to intercept predictable errors and deliver them appropriately (for example, if marianne@xyz.com is valid, I will ensure that mail addressed to maryann@xyz.com goes to Marianne). Also, I use Javascript so that humans can read the email address but robots can't. Keep it findableThe best site in the world is useless if no one finds it. I keep up with search engine techniques, modify sites as required to keep current, and counsel my clients on when it is time to spend some money to stay findable. Let the user decideDoes the text here look a little larger than you're used to? If so, it's your decision that led to that. The text is displayed at your browser's default size, so *you* can decide how big it should be for best readability. More ideas about managing Web sites"The No. 1 reason users say they return to a site is content, and ease-of-use is No. 2." --Harley Manning, Research Director, Forrester Research, Inc. Jupiter Media Metrix study published Sept. 2001, on what people want from Web sites:
Web site design should be taken away from flashy graphic designers; it should be snatched out of the hands of marketers and advertising executives whose brains whir with images from TV and glossy magazines. A Web site that works requires people with librarian skills (information architects) who know how to organize content. It needs editors who can deliver the right content. It needs people who can write for the Web. Web site design is about comprehensive content, great organization (metadata, classification, navigation, search), and a simple, clear, readable layout. I used to use Flash a lot. I loved it. My first websites were plastered with the stuff. I thought I was really cool. I was up there with the latest hot technology. Then one day I woke up and realised I had completely missed the point. The purpose of every one of my sites has been to convey information. You do that best by employing the minimum possible level of technology, and using it as effectively as possible. My tools
I use BBEdit's syntax checker and a link-checker plug-in. I use the Firefox browser, but test on recent versions of Safari, Netscape and Explorer. Since most Web visitors are on PCs, I have an arrangement with PC users who check my pages for me. I also use A Better Finder Rename, a shareware file renaming utility with Finder integration. I also keep current with various Web reference sources -- and consult them before using a feature I'm not sure of. For example, I won't use a style sheet feature until I've checked it in the compatibility table to be sure it works on all major browsers. I monitor my clients' access logs, watching for problems, trends and unexpected activity.
Why me?Today, the most effective designs are done by old-timers who used to work in the computer industry, not by newcomers who have just thrown themselves onto the Web without understanding how to satisfy user needs. I'm not an old-timer yet, but my communications career follows a long career in the computing business. [ more ] |
My main computer is an Apple G4/1Mhz with 512MB RAM and the latest Mac OS X ("Tiger"). For text and HTML I hand-code with BBEdit, with occasional help from Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX. For graphics I use Macromedia's Fireworks MX and Flash MX. I capture images with an Epson 3490 scanner or an Olympus C-2040 digital camera, and convert all kinds of files with MacLink Plus.
For complex forms processing, e-mail generation, etc., I write server-side programs in PHP, using MySQL to manage databases if required.