Best Web Image http://www.bestwebimage.com Best Web Image - Web Usability and Design Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:00:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 No Keyword in Your Title: Fail http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/no-keyword-in-your-title-fail/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/no-keyword-in-your-title-fail/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:23:08 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5844 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> titleKeywords here: title and keyword. Yes…I know it’s been about a year or more since my last post. Insanely busy building site after site, and supporting tons of other sites. I love posting though, so here is a quick one.

Don’t let your title fail you

So if you are reading this post based on title, I’m betting you can guess what it is all about. Make sure your title says a little about your content so that the random reader will get it. One of my clients asked me to post some content on Digg for them today, but as I was about to type in some keywords for it, I stopped. The title and sub-head/description  just equaled fail. They offered no insight to the article, and I thought why would one even click on it. They wouldn’t.

Writing a new blog post today, email, forum post, or whatever? Think about that title. It’s something web surfers actually read.

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/no-keyword-in-your-title-fail/feed/ 30 Variable Email Form with Mailto http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/variable-email-form-with-mailto/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/variable-email-form-with-mailto/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:17:48 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5791 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> I just finished a quick project where the client wanted a HTML form that he could host locally on his PC. The form was to be filled out often, and upon submitting, the contents are  emailed to the desired representative in the field. Sound easy? Leaving a blank mailto won’t work.

To create a form like this start out by building your regular web page, and whatever form fields that you desire. To get the mailto action to work for various emails there is only one trick, and all it requires is some javascript.

Below is the javascript and HTML for the form fields you will need to edit:

<body>
<SCRIPT language=”JavaScript”>
function OnSubmitForm()
{
if(document.pressed == ‘Email‘)
{
var email = prompt(“Please enter the email the form will be submitted to:”);
var toemail = “mailto:’” + email + “‘”;
document.emailform.action = (toemail);
}
}
</SCRIPT>
<form name=”emailform” onSubmit=”return OnSubmitForm();” method=”post” enctype=”text/plain”>
<Misc Text Fields>
<input type=”submit” onClick=”document.pressed=this.value” VALUE=”Email” />
</body>

Starting with the form, the only thing unusual is the onSubmit attribute. It’s telling the form to complete the javascript function once the submit button has been clicked. Notice the submit button also has a little javascript.

If you are having a problem getting this to work, look how I color coded. You may just be missing or not identifying elements correctly.

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/variable-email-form-with-mailto/feed/ 151 How to Link – PDF http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/how-to-link-pdf/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/how-to-link-pdf/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:39:13 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5785 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> Here is a little PDF file I put together for some writers/content providers that I work with.

Though their writing skills are excellent, their knowledge of how to create anchor tags fell very short. Don’t Click Here!

Download: How-to-link

linking

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/how-to-link-pdf/feed/ 134 When Should You Push The Design Envelope? http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/when-should-you-push-the-design-envelope/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/when-should-you-push-the-design-envelope/#comments Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:03:12 +0000 Guy 3DTV http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5763 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> In the last post, Rob talked about how a “big time fancy design firm” came up with a “blue text on a black background” layout, which can only be difficult to read because of the low contrast between black and blue.

It’s generally agreed that the higher the contrast and resolution, the easier text is to read, with black text on a white background at high dpi (dots per inch) being the easiest. In fact, newspapers and books can achieve higher contrast ratios than a computer monitor, so they seem easier to read. Text displayed at 150 dpi is twice as sharp as a typical video monitor, but HALF the resolution a basic laser printer achieves.

Sacrificing Readability?

In this post I want to question when it’s appropriate to sacrifice a little readability in order to make an impact. For example, magazines often stray from “black on white”  and splash colours across their pages, which necessitates changing font colour too. The magazine’s funky colours and layouts make an impact, in much the same way as they would at a website. So when should a website stray from “black on white”, and how far should they push the envelope before visitors rebel against their colour scheme?

At my 3DTV Reviewer blog, I use a non-traditional colour scheme of black text on a bluish background. I wanted the visitor to see a more unusual colour scheme, but still be able to read the text. I think getting the balance right between an interesting and visually appealing website and readability is difficult. No-one wants to see a 100% identikit Internet where every webpage is black text on a white background, but it’s still necessary to maintain readability.

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/when-should-you-push-the-design-envelope/feed/ 153 Blue Text on Black Background- Bet on Complaints http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/blue-text-on-black-background-bet-on-complaints/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/blue-text-on-black-background-bet-on-complaints/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 04:30:33 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5757 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> Working on a large scale intranet, I am forced to look at blue text on a black background. A big time fancy design firm came up with the idea, the VP’s bought into the layout, and it’s not going to change. There is nothing I can do.

Doing user testing, studying focus group answers from surveys, and reading user feedback emails, I can only guess the design firm does not specialize in developing websites.

Black Text on White Background

Sure, everyone does it, black text on a white background. Boring you say. Maybe so, but that is about the only complaint you will ever get about it.

Put blue text on a black background on a busy website, and you will get emails like:

  • I have trouble reading the text
  • the text is too small (even though its default is 1.2 em or 12px) – It’s not small text creating the problem, it’s poor contrast
  • the webmaster is an idiot – why would you do that they ask
  • the webmaster is an idiot – I have heard it more than once
  • it hurts my eyes

The list goes on, and doing more user testing tomorrow, I am sure to hear some more complaints about it.

So the lesson here…don’t be afraid to use black text on a white background. It may be a little bit boring, but that is the only complaint you will ever get.

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/blue-text-on-black-background-bet-on-complaints/feed/ 138 Focus Wins Over Pretty Design http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/focus-wins-over-pretty-design/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/focus-wins-over-pretty-design/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 14:44:28 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5753 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> Something I often say, “If you don’t have a business plan for your website, you don’t have a website.” Something I have been saying all of 2010, “Make your site do something.”

Yesterday one of my coworkers sent me a link to a comic titled “How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell“. I’m sure many of you have seen it, but if not, it’s about how a site owner hires a webmaster to redesign their site. The webmaster does a great job, the client loves it, but then pecks away at it, slowly turning it into a Frankenstein of a website, just the way it looked when it started.

boyd

Looking at the shot above though, if the objective of the website was to get visitors to call, it might actually be a success.

My oldest client, one that I have had since 1996, has a similar site to the screenshot above. Every few years they bring me on to redo their site, and make it look more modern. I do, they love it, and just like the comic, they slowly have me replace chunk after chunk until it’s nearly identical to the original site. What’s going on?

Their reasoning at first appears hidden to me, but after the numbers start rolling in it all becomes very clear. They have a plan, they know what they want the site to do, and it does it, really well.

Though the site I have built for them lacks visual appeal it makes up for by being well designed to meet its business purpose. It’s one of my busiest sites that I manage, one with the lowest bounce rate, and a site that gets email subscribers faster than any site I manage. How they do it? It’s all about the plan, and staying focused on making the website do something.

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/focus-wins-over-pretty-design/feed/ 126 Your Webmaster Weapon of Choice http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/your-webmaster-weapon-of-choice/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/your-webmaster-weapon-of-choice/#comments Thu, 13 May 2010 03:12:24 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5750 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> Whether you just finished your first site, or you have made a million of them…Post in a comment below, what is your favorite webmaster tool. Mine is WinSCP.

What’s yours?

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/your-webmaster-weapon-of-choice/feed/ 85 Usability in the News http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/usability-in-the-news/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/usability-in-the-news/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 16:03:18 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5747 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> Doing some research on what is hot and what is not, I was inspired to add a new section to the home page for this site: Usability in the News.

The section will have links to two leading stories or articles that are about web usability or design. Content will be semi-periodic, at least once a week.

The Research

Keeping it brief, the research I was doing revealed a breakdown of popular websites by industry. Ordered by importance here are the top 10.

  1. Social Media – sites like Facebook, Twitter, and blogging environments
  2. Search Engines
  3. News
  4. Shopping
  5. Multimedia – Video and music
  6. Services – Banks, Netflix
  7. Portals – ISP home pages
  8. Image hosts
  9. Review Sites
  10. Entertainment

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/usability-in-the-news/feed/ 63 Parallel Design has Some Major Benefits http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/parallel-design-has-some-major-benefits/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/parallel-design-has-some-major-benefits/#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 17:47:22 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5734 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> Creating a couple of mockups for a site has some real benefits, and it doesn’t just effect the appearance. It can also enhance the code and navigation of a site. Creating two versions for a site may sound like an extra expense, a simple pain in the butt, seem pointless, but it helps a site out a lot.

Design

Avoid thinking it’s this version or the other. Think, we like this part of this version better, and we like that part of  the other version better. As the main site architect, you can pick and pull the best parts of the two designs.

On my latest project I was disappointed the site owner did not choose my design, but they did end up using my styles in regards to formatting text and the content. The outcome? A great looking site that offered the best of design, and the best of formatting. If there was/is only one developer working on your project, I know you could do better. Don’t be satisfied with good enough.

Code

Another benefit to creating parallel designs is the fact that webmasters often use different tools or methods to accomplish the same effect. Having at least two different ways to see a page in action has some great benefits.

An example might be a webmaster that prefers flash for a certain effect where another webmaster might know how to create the same effect using CSS. Which one works best for your users?

Navigation

Another big win here is improved navigation. Two different webmasters working on a project can very easily come up with two logical, but different, ways to accomplish the same task. Combine these two ideas with a little user testing, and navigation to your site will always get a thumbs up.

Have you ever worked on a website where there is more than one webmaster? Pride is the only initial obstacle. The end result though, will be a greater pride of a fantastic site that only a team could build.

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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]]> http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/parallel-design-has-some-major-benefits/feed/ 58 Popular Posts and Pages on BWI for April 2010 http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/popular-posts-and-pages-on-bwi-for-april-2010/ http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives/popular-posts-and-pages-on-bwi-for-april-2010/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 15:31:05 +0000 Robert Campbell http://www.bestwebimage.com/?p=5730 If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

]]> Here are the top posts and pages viewed on Best Web Image for the month of April, 2010.

My personal favorite is, More Important Stuff on the Left. It’s a follow up of Jakob Nielson’s report on his findings.

  1. Google Webmaster Tools Adds Graphs – Those of you that use Google Webmaster Tools, good news! They are now graphing top search queries, revealing clickthrough ratios. (1,979 views)
  2. Popular Posts and Pages on BWI for March 2010 – Here are the top posts and pages viewed on Best Web Image for the month of March, 2010. (1,461 views)
  3. Dreaming About Heading Tags and Tables – How a dream about heading tags lead me to tables and DIV issues. (1,317 views)
  4. The Intranet Enhancement List – A list of important items a large tech corporation is addressing for their main intranet portal. (1,095 views)
  5. Flying Fingers Gives Me Contest Idea – How fast can you build a website contest. (1,050 views)
  6. Digital Point Forum Down – Before you join the Digital Point Forum, READ THIS. Don’t worry, it’s good stuff. (934 views)
  7. More Important Stuff on the Left – Many argue that the right column navigation is better for navigation. I argue the the left is better by simply showing examples from the top five sites on the Internet today. (919 views)
  8. Twitter Toolbar (873 views)
  9. Getting Subscribers is Easy for a Blog – Getting subscribers could be one of your easiest goals to accomplish. (790 views)
  10. Keep the Important Stuff on the Left – Jakob Nielson released a new report to day: Horizontal Attention Leans Left (789 views)
  11. Watch that Image Size – Limit the size of your images. It could be creating horizontal scroll. (717 views)
  12. Almost Anything Can Be Done With WordPress, Even a Job Board – Over the past year or so I have kept in close contact with another webmaster from overseas. His name is Temi, and he is the one responsible for the Boss Cart Shopping Cart Contest I am having. He is also responsible for Job Boards, a classified type site made with WordPress (684 views)
  13. Firefox 3.6.2 Now Available – I had a pleasant surprise today to find the Firefox just updated. You can get the latest version, 3.6.2 here (556 views)
  14. Archives (513 views)
  15. Starting a Forum – Assuming you have the software, and are ready market your forum don’t forget these important tips. (501 views)
  16. Contact (498 views)
  17. Web Services and Tools (488 views)
  18. About BWI (456 views)
  19. Usability Testing Reveals Scrolling Content OK – Doing some testing on a news feed that automatically scrolls, results point to…let it scroll (456 views)
  20. Cut and Paste Character Count – Avoid Long Lines of Text – Link to a cut and paste character count tool, and reasoning for limiting text width to 75-100 characters. (455 views)

If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline

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