This week’s cooltopic:
Web Do's and Don'ts (cont'd)
Article by:The KROW   [Page 1] [Page 2] [Page 3]

4.) Do This Crime, You Deserve the Time!

Let’s talk about spelling here. Ok, so we all have a typo now and then. No problem. Spellcheckers aren’t smart enough to no when certain words are spelled differently than others (did ya catch it?). But, as Officer Linkey always reminds us... “Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law”! In other words, there is no excuse for bad spelling on a web site... especially a corporate web site!

There’s another crime here that you’ll see on the web even more than bad spelling. Repetitive and redundant verbiage. That’s a fancy way of saying that everything a web page is saying, is always saying the same thing. And, when they are saying it, they don’t use other ways to say it anyway. So, it goes without saying that these kind of sites need more practice at saying what they really mean to say!

Well, if there ever was a book (or two) that Officer Linkey would throw at us here, it’s a dictionary and a thesaurus! But, if you’re like a lot of other folks... the old saying of, “Laziness begets laziness... and I be gettin’ lazy” applies here. Why? Because it never fails that the dictionary and thesaurus are on the total opposite side of the room. And, if you think a Webbie is going to walk over there just to look up a word, you can forget it! Well, wouldn’t you know... ol’ Officer Linkey saw us coming with that excuse too. So, the next time you need one of these references, just head out to www.dictionary.com. One site for all your spelling *and* thesaurus needs (it gives you an option between either reference).

5.) Please Just Make Them Stop!

And, “stop” rhymes with “cop” and “cop” rhymes with “pop” and “pop” is what Officer Linkey is going to do to you if he sees one more pop-up on his computer!

Ok look. Isn’t the web already barraged with popups that never seem to go away? Then, why in the world are people *still* coding them into their sites?! Are they so unsure of a visitor’s experience that they have to send out one of those “in-your-face” boxes asking if you really want to leave (after you’ve already clicked the “Back” button, and before it will let you go)? It’s a sad situation!

Now, don’t get confused here. *Deliberate* popups are something different. For example, using the “Thumbs Up” or “Pop Rocket” component from coolmaps. These are great tools because you can set the component to send out the popup window *only* after a viewer has clicked something. This way, the visitor has caused the action and not only is expecting the popup, but is looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, today it seems every other web site is now using popup ads to help pay for one thing or another. Oh! And you just gotta love the ones that popup 4 and 5 at a time, or again each time after you close the previous one. Pretty slick huh? Many of these popup ads are now filtering in directly from the hosting company where you may have your web site sitting! But, is this any excuse for having popup ads on your site? Do yourself a favor and hand these people their walking papers. Your viewers and the web-world will thank you for it.

6.) Laid Out By Linkey!

Years of experience tells Officer Linkey that when it comes to a web site, the best laid is the best made! In other words, have a good layout of your pages. There’s a few simple bullets to remember when laying your pages out:

• Don’t make the pages too long. Not only are extremely long pages boring, they can take too long to load and they’ll require you add some navigation such as the old “back to top” link.
• If you find your pages are too long, double-check your white space. Chances are, you’re centering everything down the middle of your pages and you too much margin on all sides!
• Don’t over-stuff your pages - This seemed to be all the rage for a while. Especially with portals and news sites. And, it’s come to be accepted for those kinds of sites. But, leave them there. Unless you’re building a site like that, there’s no reason to cram everything into a page that is 300 pixels deep by using an 8pt font!
• Flow and follow through! - Meaning, make sure your content flows in an orderly, logical manner. Officer Linkey says, “If it takes the K9s to sniff out information on your pages, you’re busted”!

Just as Officer Linkey is doing (see photo above), it often helps to actually sit down and draw out your pages on a piece of paper or white board. Map your route and you’ll stay on course!

7.) Got Graphics? Get Words!

The Missing Clue-Link-Graphic. This web-violation might be considered a misdemeanor by some, but to Officer Linkey, it’s nearly a felony! There’s no reason to have broken links or images on a web site, and certainly not on a professional site! If you can’t find the image, or the linked file no longer exists, then just remove it completely from the page!

There are times where a visitor may see an image place holder even when all your images are working. In this case, it’s usually because the viewer has their images turned off, or is using a browser that can’t see images. For these people, and to be the most correct as possible, you should always use your “alt” tags on your images. In addition to the coded alt tags, put captions around your images if possible as well! A good example... mouse over our “broken image” above. Note there is no caption. Without a caption, you probably wouldn’t have even thought about giving that “broken” image a second look!

Cool KROW Clue

Do you know what your pages SOUND like? In other words, if you couldn’t see the pages of your web site (or at least you had trouble viewing them), what would your pages “sound” like if someone read them to you? Want to check it out? Go to “Narrator” that comes with your WinXP system (see Start>Programs>Accessories>Accessability>Narrator). There’s hardly any set up and it runs smoothly on your system. A note… a web site “sounds” like a whole other world as compared to what it looks like!

On that subject, let’s mention a few details about images and graphics. As you know, the web is all about visual and functions. If you have a site which is plenty of one, but not another, you probably have a bit more work to finish on your site. As far as images, this doesn’t mean you need to get carried away. Even if all you have is a few snapshots of a product, that’s fine. But, do your site some justice and don’t just throw the images on the page so they look like they are just hanging in white cyberspace on a page! Add just a little something like a drop shadow or put matching photo frames around each image. Enhancing your images like this helps give your site that polished and complete look. And, it’s easy to do. You don’t have to be a graphics guru to do it. Check out Paint Shop Pro for some really easy tricks to enhancing your graphics.

If on the other hand, if you’re ready to move up from static images, you can always move forward to Flash or SWiSH. These will give your sites the real kick they need! Here’s a few sites for some real inspiration in that arena:
www.2advanced.com
yulia-nau.de/eng.htm
www.estudio.com
www.mediatemple.com

Get A Move On

Well, the police scanner is humming and Officer Linkey is out on another call. So, this would be a good time for you to beat the street and try out his suggestions for Do’s and Don’ts.

Until next time, have fun and happy webbing!

Cool KROW Clue

Are you fedup with being bombarded by popup ads on the web? (see #5 above) We tried a little program that some of you may not have heard about, called appropriately, “Popup Ad Filter”. It did a great job of killing the unwanted popup ads, but allowing deliberate popups! You can check it out at www.meaya.com.