Friday, May 09, 2008
WWW Page, Form & Design Rules-Of-Thumb (Oct. E-News from 2SS.Com)
[[Contact:26]]
[[Company:25]]
Dear [[Salutation:40]],
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‘ E – N E W S from ‘
‘ 2SS.Com ‘
‘ Compiled and Edited by ‘
‘ Mailed on: 11/01/1999 6:41 PM Number 16 ‘
‘ Int’l Standard Serial No. - ISSN: 1523-3537‘
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‘ Find E-News promoted at Excite, ‘
‘ Yahoo, Ziff-Davis University and more. ‘
‘ Please share E-News with others who might be ‘
‘ interested. It’s your FREE first-of-the-month, fast ‘
‘ read, update on technology that will make a ‘
‘ difference for your organization. ‘
‘ In this issue (4 Items): ‘
‘ ================ ‘
‘ 1--WWW Page, Form & Design Rules-Of-Thumb ‘
‘ 2--QUESTIONS ‘
‘ 3--PRODUCT WATCH ‘
‘ 4--MANY STRATEGIC / USEFUL / ‘
‘ INTERESTING LINKS ‘
‘ 5--WHY SUBSCRIBE?, 2SS.Com and YOUR ‘
‘ SUBSCRIPTION. ‘
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‘ --------------Item One----------- ‘
‘ ------------------------------------------------------------- ‘
‘ * Keep graphic and picture sizes to 30 or 40K ‘
‘ total on a page ‘
‘ * Present pages on a 14” or 15” monitor set ‘
‘ to 640 to 480 pixels and design to make ‘
‘ pages look good if presented at 800 X 600 ‘
‘ pixels ‘
‘ * Limit the main (e.g. first page – often ‘
‘ index.html) to 7 links or less. Preferably 4 to ‘
‘ 7 with everything visible without scrolling. ‘
‘ * Limit sub-pages (e.g. after first page) to ‘
‘ 2 to 4 images per view ‘
‘ * Remember to target your audience’s ‘
‘ technology (e.g. 14.4 K modems or high ‘
‘ speed connections.) ‘
‘ * Target your objectives for the site, which ‘
‘ may vary from encouraging repetitive use ‘
‘ on some frequency to one-time leading to ‘
‘ an on-line order. ‘
‘ * Keep them Short, Clean and Simple! ‘
‘ * Use a form not an empty E-Mail message to ‘
‘ solicit a response (In statistical studies among ‘
‘ 100 users who don’t respond to an E-Mail ‘
‘ feedback, fully 40 will respond to a brief form.) ‘
‘ * Use pull down menus and check boxes rather ‘
‘ than fill-ins, but don’t forget to provide a place ‘
‘ for fill-in comments too. ‘
‘ * Enable the use of the tab key to move from ‘
‘ field to field, even if the field is no currently ‘
‘ in view . ‘
‘ * Ask users how they want to be contacted for ‘
‘ follow-up. ‘
‘ * Address, advise users of, and handle security ‘
‘ issues appropriately. ‘
‘ Do Design to make your site engaging and ‘
‘ compelling (Easy to say, hard to do). ‘
‘ Do Develop a design approach that permits ‘
‘ getting to superior or peer level pages in a ‘
‘ single click (e.g. via a frame based table or ‘
‘ contents or ?) ‘
‘ Don’t Use backgrounds that involve stars or ‘
‘ clouds (They’re tough to get to look ‘
‘ acceptable) ‘
‘ Don’t Use more than 2 or maybe 3 maximum ‘
‘ fonts on a single page. ‘
‘ Don’t Use visible counters. (Do you want ‘
‘ competitors or worse prospective clients to ‘
‘ judge your site inactive? Meanwhile there ‘
‘ are MUCH better statistical analysis tools.) ‘
‘ Don’t EVER Use Blink tags. ‘
‘ Don’t Require users to use the back button, ‘
‘ design in on-screen navigating tools that ‘
‘ accomplish the same function. ‘
‘ Don’t’ Make pages scroll from left-to-right ‘
‘ Don’t’ Put your WWW site’s core technology ‘
‘ into Java, JavaScript, ActiveX or Peril. Try to ‘
use HTML or server based Active Server ‘
‘ Pages instead to insure functionality ‘
‘ across a wide variety of WWW browsers. ‘
‘ We suggest you file this list away and use it to ‘
‘ work though issues and considerations the next ‘
‘ time you’re contemplating a WWW page. ‘
‘ SPECIAL THANKS to Michael Nelson and Ed ‘
‘ Williams of SacWeb, who helped to compose ‘
‘ these guidelines long ago. They were developed ‘
‘ in preparation for an Advanced Internet ‘
‘ Commerce seminar that we have now ‘
‘ presented several times. Although we can’t ‘
’ give them the same enhancement here that they ‘
‘ get in the seminar please don’t hesitate to use ‘
‘ E-Mail to test items that raise a question, ‘
‘ comment or concern for you! ‘
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‘ --------------Item Two----------- ‘
‘ QUESTIONS ‘
‘ --------------------- ‘
‘ WHAT ABOUT POINTCAST? ‘
‘ 2SS.Com has been a PointCast fan for ‘
‘ a long time. The idea if it’s new to you is that
‘ you search a long list of check-offs from News- ‘
‘ papers, TV, Industry and financial sources and ‘
‘ more, and then let the software push it’s info. ‘
‘ to you via the internet and present it on-screen ‘
‘ in personalized magazine-like format. ‘
‘ Now PointCast, the original push technology, ‘
‘ has re-made itself into still FREE EntryPoint. ‘
‘ PC Mag (10-5-99 p 66) describes it as “…a smart ‘
‘ low-impact approach…” and “…worth a look for ‘
‘ any news junkie. Try is at www.EntryPoint.Com. “
‘ ARE TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES THE ONLY ‘
‘ ONES MAKING MONEY ON THE INTERNET? ‘
‘ Starting with just the top 10 revenue generators in ‘
‘ 1998 the answer is increasingly NO. Books, Travel ‘ and more are already edging in on the early
‘ winners to take their place at the top. Here is a ‘
‘ look at the 1998 list:
‘ 1. Intel ($10BB) at www.Intel.Com ‘
‘ 2. Cisco Systems ($6BB) at www.Cisco.Com
‘ 3. Dell Computers ($18.2BB 50% from Internet) ‘
‘ at www.Dell.Com ‘
‘ 4. 3Com at www.3Com.com ‘
‘ 5. IBM at www.IBM.Com
‘ 6. Gateway 2000 at www.GateWay2000.Com
‘ 7. Hewlett Packard at www.HP.Com
‘ 8. Amazon.Com ($1BB) at www.Amazon.Com
‘ 9. Sabre Group ($1BB) at www.Sabre.Com
‘ 10. MSN Expedia Travel ($1BB) at www.Expedia.Com
‘ At 2SS.Com we suggest using the above list as ‘
‘ a study-guide to see how E-Commerce works on ‘
‘ the Internet and more importantly how you might ‘
‘ plan to make it work for your organization. ‘
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‘ -----------Item Three---------- ‘
‘ PRODUCT WATCH ‘
‘ --------------------------- ‘
‘ PRODUCTIVITY VIA THE INTERNET? ‘
‘ Office 97, GoldMine, QuickBooks and ‘
‘ more including your data available everywhere ‘
‘ you can get onto the Internet. Impossible? ‘
‘ NO! It’s www.Telecomputing.net one of several ‘
‘ Internet sites where you can have it WITHOUT ‘
‘ taking it with you. ‘
‘ These services fall under the general heading
‘ of Application Service Provider (ASP), which ‘
‘ is quickly becoming a hot segment. It may not ‘
‘ seem obvious right now, but the Gartner Group is
‘ sure that someday every company will use ‘
‘ an application service provider to host its ‘
‘ applications.” (noted in InternetWeek – ‘
‘ Oct. 18, 99, by 2SS.Com strategic systems ‘
‘ advisory panel member Morris Slocum).
‘ PC AS SUPER ANSWERING MACHINE? ‘
‘ At 2SS.Com we’re regularly asked about using ‘
‘ one of the many PC programs to manage your ‘
‘ telephone and take messages, etc. In general ‘
‘ the answer has been to simply buy what you ‘
‘ need for the phone and keep that requirement ‘
‘ off your PC. ‘
‘ Now the functionality of software like ‘
‘ Symantec’s TalkWorks Pro 3.0 ($130) is finally ‘
‘ testing that advise. The package is chock-full of ‘
‘ useful features and the only catch is that you ‘
‘ ideally need an old PC (166 MHz 32 MB RAM, ‘
‘ 100 MB disk on Windows 95) to devote to the ‘
‘ task. If you do TalkWorks can do much more ‘
‘ than any answering machine or plug-in boxes. ‘
‘ A partial feature list includes: ‘
‘ * Custom Greetings ‘
‘ * Multiple MailBoxes ‘
‘ * Integration of E-Mail and Fax including their ‘
‘ well-known WinFax Pro product. ‘
‘ * Caller ID that can pop-up contacts from your ‘
‘ Outlook, ACT or other OBDC database ‘
‘ * Fax on Demand for responding to callers
‘ * A ‘Find-Me’ feature that forwards calls or uses ‘
‘ up to 3 numbers to alert you to a call pager style ‘
‘ * And more…
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‘ ------------Item Four----------- ‘
‘ MANY STRATEGIC / USEFUL / INTERESTING ‘
‘ LINKS ‘
‘ --------------------------------------------------------------- ‘
‘ PC MAG’s “BEST TOOLS TO HELP YOU ‘
‘ FIND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.” ‘
‘ 1. www.Yahoo.Com for it’s directory and ‘
‘ categorization that makes it easy to find high- ‘
‘ quality results. ‘
’ 2. www.NorthernLight.Com where periodical and ‘
‘ WWW Internet content combine to make a ‘
‘ uniquely thorough and high-quality research ‘
‘ site. Much of the content is full-text. ‘
‘ 3. www.HotBot.Com the all-purpose site you ‘
‘ can reach from the bottom of the Yahoo ‘
‘ search screen (get Your Yahoo results then ‘
‘ just press HotBot to start the same search,
‘ there’s no retyping) or directly. It has one of ‘
‘ the most comprehensive and consistently ‘
‘ relevant search engines. ‘
‘ These search engines, used in the order ‘
‘ presented, make a good strategy for classifying ‘
‘ and performing most any Internet search. At ‘
‘ 2SS.Com we encourage folks to start with ‘
‘ Yahoo to get a ‘feel’ for the search. Besides ‘
‘ a well organized result, you get the best ‘
‘ amalgamation (and integration) of services ‘
‘ available from any Internet portal. For Example: ‘
‘ if you’d like to know every time someone makes ‘
‘ news about ‘strategic systems’ Yahoo will tell you. ‘
‘ We know because it’s been telling 2SS.Com ‘
‘ for months. ‘
‘ 4. www.AltaVista.Com Don’t count the granddad ‘
‘ of comprehensive search engines out. About ‘
‘ the time you read this it should be showing ‘
‘ off a Yahoo-like makeover, in re-entering the ‘
‘ portal race. ‘
‘ 5. www.AskJeeves.Com let’s you use its natural ‘
‘ language query capabilities to pose a question. ‘
‘ then it’s database of more than 7MM questions ‘
‘ and answers kicks in to give you the closest ‘
‘ matches it can find to your question with ‘
‘ links to the answers. ‘
‘ 6. In the running as top search sites are also:
‘ www.About.Com, www.Excite.Com, ‘
‘ www.Go.Com, www.Gogle.Com, ‘
‘ www.GoTo.Com, www.Lycos.Com, ‘
‘ www.Snap.Com, www.WebCrawler.Com ‘
‘ 7. Need Help? We all do from time to time. This ‘
‘ new Internet-based service is offering it free ‘
‘ at least for the time being: ‘
‘ http://www.userade.com/offer3s ‘
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‘ ------------Item Five------------ ‘
‘ 2SS.Com and YOUR SUBSCRIPTION ‘
‘ --------------------------------------------------- ‘
‘ Maybe the best reason to subscribe is ‘
‘ the ‘E-News Strategic Technology ‘
‘ Advisory Panel’, a growing list of ‘
‘ professionals in a variety of disciplines ‘
‘ who have agreed to: ‘
‘ 1--Review each month’s issue in ‘
‘ advance of its release. ‘
‘ 2--Contribute year-round from their ‘
‘ respective areas of specialization. ‘
‘ 3--Accept your strategic systems ‘
‘ technology questions. (This is a free ‘
‘ EXTRAORDINARILY CONVENIENT, ‘
‘ multi-discipline resource available to you.) ‘
‘ Computer Hardware and Software ‘
‘ Acquisition, Service and Repair by ‘
‘ Ron Ellis of 2SS.Com. ‘
‘ Legal issues and specific expertise in ‘
‘ corporate and securities law, nonprofits, ‘
‘ licensing, and franchising by William Van ‘
‘ der Mei, Principal of The Van der Mei ‘
‘ Law Firm. ‘
‘ Accounting and Financial expertise inclu- ‘
‘ ding Audit, Tax and General Business ‘
‘ Consulting by David Ljung, Principal at ‘
‘ Gilbert Accountancy Corporation. Visit ‘
‘ them at www.GilbertCPA.com. ‘
‘ Perspectives from a long-tenured, technically ‘
‘ savvy and top-notch MIS Director Morris ‘
‘ Slocum of Emergency Physician Billing ‘
‘ located in Oklahoma City, OK. ‘
‘ Human Resources expertise, including ‘
‘ problem employees, policy and procedures, ‘
‘ and customized training by B.J. Flora of . ‘
‘ B.J. Flora Associates. ‘
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‘ Managing Director of 2SS.Com. ‘
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‘ types by Rick Randall, President of ‘
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‘ analysis, and litigation support by Peter H. ‘
‘ Michael, President of The Michael Consulting ‘
‘ Group. Visit them at www.mcgmcg.com. ‘
‘ Internet WWW authoring, database ‘
‘ development and connectivity by ‘
‘ Michael Nelson, President of SacWeb.. ‘
‘ Visit them at www.SacWeb.Com. ‘
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‘ Please advise us of any changes to our ‘
‘ current contact data for you. It is: ‘
‘ Contact: [[Contact:26]] ‘
‘ Company: [[Company:25]] ‘
‘ Title: [[Title:46]] ‘
‘ Address: [[Address 1:27]] [[Address 2:28]] ‘
‘ City: [[City:30]], State: [[State:31]] Zip: [[Zip:32]] ‘
‘ Phone: [[Phone:35]] Fax: [[Fax:36]] ‘