Choosing a domain name sounds pretty simple, and in a way it is. The major registrars will even helpfully offer suggestions when your first choice is already taken by a monastery in Nova Scotia. But there’s more to it than just picking a name. Remember, people are going to type this name into their...
This Home Page Is Not a Blog … But It Looks Like One
I’ve been thinking about the next wave in Web design a lot lately, and this morning it hit me: it’s the blogs. Most blogs stand as silos — either unique by themselves or within a larger site but not really integrated into that site (beyond, possibly, standard headers and footers — see the LLS...
Testing 1,2,3
No, this isn’t a test — it’s a real post about a real problem. Testing, my friends, is getting short shrift. We’re in such a hurry to define, design, program and launch new functions that we’re glossing over the critical testing process. Trust me on this: later, when the app breaks and you’re losing...
Mixed Layers in Applications
I can tell already that this is going to be a multi-post rant, because I’m burning up. I’m working to configure an application for our Alumni Web Community (a “portal,” if you’ll excuse the buzzword). The fine folks at BSR Advance, who are now no longer on my Christmas card list, have made a...
Hit Counters Must Die
About once a week, I get a call from someone asking me to add a hit counter. You know, those “you are visitor #2,346 to this site” messages? The answer is no. Hit counters have many problems, as I often explain. First off, the average Web site visitor doesn’t have enough context to understand...