• A site should be informative and useful
• about me: why am I talking to you?
• Ed-Head or Tech-Head?
o Five careers: writer, editor, web guy, drummer, dad
o 20 years editorial, 13 paid, 23+ years technical, 13 paid
o (25 years musical, 14 paid)
o (5 years dad, never paid)
o editorial:
§ always a writer, did well in spelling tests, had SF novelist ambitions at age 11 with mom's Smith-Corona
§ first editing on Royal Oak annual 1981-82, grade 8
§ school papers, The Plague, Georgian
§ 432, Campus Times
§ B.Sc.
§ first paid job Inside UBC 1990-91
§ first freelance WL (Jim Sutherland) 1991 - research
§ Dip.ACNF
§ researcher - lots of editing, Bill a client now
§ Neurotics
§ first big editing job 1995 - UBC Open House program
§ first mag work 1995 Gardens West - glamorous? Hell no!
§ 1996 Van Mag
§ MSI tech work, kids
§ freelance 2001
§ EAC 2002
o techie:
§ BCIT with dad
§ it's dark, go north, it's still dark
§ borrowed TRS-80 and thermal acoustic coupler setup via BC Tel
§ it's dark, go north, it's still dark
§ Apple II 1982 (same year as RO)
§ modems and BBSs 1983
§ Macs, PCs, DTP 1987-88
§ Internet 1990 via Usenet/BBS
§ task force 1992, BCLA Penticton
§ set up student listserv 1993
§ music 1992-95/2000-now - IUMA & mail list 1994
§ Web 1997, a job later that year
§ usability 1998 - WDDen & banner blindness
§ Jared Spool & newspaper
§ own site 2000, Neur 2001, AWB 2002, TTA
• Questions for audience: Web site usefulness: What is a Web site for?
o To get information or do something useful
o People Google you
o not just promotional - clients can keep up, file transfers, builds editorial (Web content editing) and technical skills and knowledge
• Sites are for YOUR VISITORS to get info and do things
o Two big purposes and one little one:
§ to get information
§ find an e-mail address, learn about a product, get a definition, read something educational or entertaining, look at movies or pictures, check snow conditions, find an editor
§ to do something
§ buy a book, get a map, play a game, lodge a complaint, download a program, design a business card, order a Gordon Campbell mugshot t-shirt, hire an editor
o One little purpose, which only works if the first two do:
§ success for users vs. success for you
• Same for Amazon! – https://www.amazon.com
• what are people going to want to know? do?
• PITY THE POOR USER
• A Web site is never “ready”
• Start simple, build with a plan
o Amazon, Yahoo, CBC news are all different than they were yesterday
o start simple, then build with a plan - mine got big by accretion
o 1997-2003, 240 pages, 200,000 words, 700 images
o 20,000 visits last year (most repeats)
o keep it organized; we’re editors, we’re good at that
o don't wait for perfection, because you'll never reach it
o always under construction, so put it up before it's ready, because it never is
o no specific tools, I use few – learn some HTML
o put it everywhere - mine came in a dream - use its e-mail too (jacket matches pants) – engraved on Leatherman
o on your invoices, pens, biz cards, shirts, credit in publications
o New York Hotel – https://www.mesuite.com
o use Web services - if you think you need something, search for it
o Read your stats
• Usable or Cool?
• Copy other sites, because that’s what users know
o editors are in a good position to make good sites, because they are editing jobs
o it’s all about text, and so are we
o but we're mostly editors, not designers, so don't get fancy
o good design isn't limiting, any more than good language -- but like it, you need to learn the rules
o good print design = lousy Web design
o Jakob's law: other sites – https://www.westbeach.com - my wife said “looks great, can’t find anything” – cool, not usable
o look at sites you like and figure out why, then copy them
• Useful or Usable?
o What good is an elegant site with nothing useful on it?
o put up anything you have that isn't likely to generate income
o focus on words, not flashiness - Westbeach vs. Panic https://www.panic.com or https://www.mec.ca
o no splash pages! – JWZ quote
o keep URLs alive - Telus.net, Angelfire, biznet
o redirect upon redesign
o Web is still a text medium, which is good for us
o title tag - write your name and what you are
o never mind search optimization - name well, submit, and update
o understand how Web writing differs
o long vs. short copy https://www.clickz.com/design/write_onl/article.php/1569211
o keep things up to date
o use a weblog tool - make the Web more weblike
o link link link - don't try to be sticky
o not just usable - easy to find out a site is useless
• Stay basic
o As an editor you’ll be fighting for clarity
o The trickier you are, the more likely you are to break things
o Your arm or your visitor’s browser
o https://www.w3.org/History/19921103-hypertext/hypertext/DataSources/WWW/Servers.html - list of entire Web from 3 November 1992 – still works!
o like a magazine printed by a different press for each user
o generally avoid curly quotes, odd characters, proper dashes
o don't expect exactness (use PDF for that)
o screen size & resolution, DPI, colour depth, fonts, OS, gamma, processor speed, plugins, connection speed, caching
o test browsers, platforms, handhelds, dialup when you can -- ask friends or try at your house or a store
o don’t listen to all this tightly, just examples:
o html, xml, pdf, gif, jpeg, png, mp3
o plain ASCII text (sort of), maybe rtf, JavaScript (if done right, tracker & blogrolling)
o Flash, QuickTime, Real, Windows Media, mov, avi, mpeg, Java when necessary – https://www.rhymer.net
o not doc, xls, ppt, db files, aiff, wav, bmp, pict, psd
o make links to odd formats clear
o avoid frames, new windows
o client device diversity is increasing
o this presentation made on a Mac, viewed on a PC laptop, backed up on a digicam
o tricky sites have more trouble than basic ones – Safari