Internationalize Your Apps with XSLT

To meet the needs of users worldwide, today's Web applications often require internationalization. In this article, you'll see an approach for client-side internationalization based on XSLT. This solution only requires that both the data to be internationalized and the server stores are in XML.

Gianfagna, Leonida, Stefano Borghetti and Antonio Perrone. IBM (2008). Articles>Web Design>Localization>XSL

Les Internautes Détestent Scroller?!?

Readers hate to scroll... vous risquez d'entendre plus d'une fois cette rengaine! Bien évidemment, les utilisateurs n'apprécient pas de dérouler des masses de textes contenant des informations composites et indifférenciées. Bien évidemment, les accès et les messages les plus importants doivent être placés en haut de page s'ils veulent améliorer leurs chances d'être perçus. Mais cela ne veut pas dire que le scrolling est à bannir systématiquement et que toutes vos pages doivent tenir dans un écran ! Une fois passé en mode 'consommation', l'internaute déroulera volontiers une page dont le sujet l'intéresse.

Redaction (2004). Articles>Web Design>Usability

Internet Advertising and the Law

The Internet is a new marketing frontier where the rules and regulations are rapidly evolving. Governments throughout the world aim to redress this imbalance by providing protection to their citizens through laws and regulations which control the use of advertising.

Hudson, Roger. Usability.com.au (1999). Articles>Web Design>Legal>Marketing

Internet Marketing for 2005: Making Your Web Site Visible to Your Audience

The Internet is a free medium, just like roads and highways. There are those who walk and those who run, some who drive taxis, some Ferraris, and others tractor-trailers. To each his own-the roads are all free. Thank heaven. With such a powerful tool at our command, why is so much of the Internet so underutilized, and why is so much of Internet marketing so increasingly ineffective?

Javed, Naseem. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Web Design>Marketing

Interview with DMXzone's Bruce Lawson

Find out why self-confessed non-techie Bruce Lawson has been winning friends and influencing people with his support for web standards and web accessibility.

Lawson, Bruce. Accessify (2003). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Standards

The Intranet as a News Channel

While the use of a news section on the company intranet's home page is widespread, communicators need to ask themselves how effective this is as a way to avoid mixed messages and information overload. Does it reduce information overload, or increase it? And how can the news section be used to effectively cut through informational clutter?

Robertson, James. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Newsletters

An Intranet Story

An intranet, in contrast to the Internet, is in-house and serves the employees of an enterprise. Although intranet pages may link to the Internet, an intranet is not accessed by the public. The intranet was fertile ground for web-savvy geeks like me to till and plant.

Findlay, Hugh. Carolina Communique (2006). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Intranet: Another Word for EPSS?  

Easy access to corporate databases, collaboration areas and tools for project teams, up-to-date product and competitive information, instant access to information on employee benefits and company policies, a single email system that reaches every desktop and every person. These are some of the services that are causing companies across the world to implement Internet standards, protocols, and browsers within their organizations. This introductory session demonstrates the progression of intranets from glorified networks to electronic performance support systems and gives you the opportunity to determine how an intranet might benefit your company while designing several intranet approaches.

Hyman, Francine N. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>EPSS

Introducción a la Usabilidad

La usabilidad (dentro del campo del desarrollo web) es la disciplina que estudia la forma de diseñar sitios web para que los usuarios puedan interactuar con ellos de la forma más fácil, cómoda e intuitiva posible. La mejor forma de crear un sitio web usable es realizando un diseño centrado en el usuario, diseñando para y por el usuario, en contraposición a lo que podría ser un diseño centrado en la tecnología o uno centrado en la creatividad u originalidad.

Hassan Montero, Yusef. Nosolousabilidad.com (2002). (Spanish) Articles>Usability>Web Design

Introducing Hamlets

Servlets are a key component of server-side Java development, but despite a number of attractive traits, servlets do not support or enforce the separation of content and presentation. To master that functionality, Rene Pawlitzek proposes Hamlets -- servlet extensions that provide this functionality within a lightweight framework implemented with less than 500 lines of Java source code.

Pawlitzek, Rene. IBM (2005). Articles>Web Design>Server Side Includes>Java

An Introduction to AJAX

In simple terms, Ajax is an approach to rendering web pages that improves a web site's appeal and usability. It enhances user interaction by targeting updates from the server to specific areas of a web page. It allows information to be changed without long delays or frustrating page refreshes.

Prokata (2006). Articles>Web Design>DHTML>Ajax

Introduction to Interaction Design  

This column explores trends in Web design, describes techniques, and offers advice on how to design successful and valuable Web sites.

Leonard-Wilkinson, Theresa A. Intercom (2003). Articles>Web Design>Interactive

Introduction to LAMP Technology

This tutorial explores the Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP, or LAMP, Web development framework and shows how that framework can help you build applications to solve common business problems. The tutorial begins with an exploration of the LAMP architecture, then introduces fundamental PHP concepts. After a solid grounding of PHP, the tutorial explains MySQL support, with coverage focusing on database concepts and how to access MySQL from PHP. All of these techniques are discussed within the context of a real-world customer management example.

Bacon, Jono. IBM (2005). Articles>Web Design>Server Side Includes>Open Source

Introduction to RSS

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an XML format for news headlines. With RSS-enabled feeds, other web sites can easily include your content in their sites. And other applications (besides web browsers) can be used to view your content.

Duffy, Scott. XGuru (2003). Articles>Web Design>XML>RSS

Introduction to Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of analyzing your site and modifying it to enable search engines to read it, understand it and catalog it correctly. This is not rewriting the site or changing the look and feel. It is subtle changes, adding or modifying inconspicuous visible and invisible text so that the search engines can read the site. SEO is not 'spamming' the search engines - it is simply helping the search engines help you - by specifying information using a variety of methods.

O'Gribin, Niall. Erigena (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

An Introduction to the Eclipse Web Tools Platform

The Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP) extends the Eclipse IDE to enable easy development of Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE)-based applications. Learn how to install WTP, configure it for use with an application server, and use the tools it provides to create a J2EE application.

Delap, Scott. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Programming

An Introduction to User Journeys

User journeys are a method for conceptualising and structuring a website's content and functionality. These journeys allow us to shift away from thinking about structure in terms of hierarchies or a technical build; instead you create a narrative around your user's needs.

Hobbs, Jason. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>User Experience

Introduction to Web Accessibility

Most people today can hardly conceive of life without the Internet. It provides access to information, news, email, shopping, and entertainment. The Internet, with its ability to serve out information at any hour of the day or night about practically any topic conceivable, has become a way of life for an impatient, information-hungry generation. Some have argued that no other single invention has been more revolutionary since that of Gutenberg's original printing press in the mid 1400s. Now, at the click of a mouse, the world can be 'at your fingertips'--that is, if you can use a mouse . . . and if you can see the screen . . . and if you can hear the audio—in other words, if you don't have a disability of any kind. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before focusing on the challenges that people with disabilities face when trying to access Web content, it makes more sense to discuss the ways in which the Internet offers incredible opportunities to people with disabilities that were never before possible. The Web's potential for people with disabilities is truly remarkable.

WebAIM (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility

Inverted Pyramids in Cyberspace

This succinct introduction is an example of the inverted pyramid style: starting with the conclusion. If I wanted to write a column about frames I would continue with one or two examples of why frames suck (can't bookmark or print a view) and conclude with a discussion of the fundamental issues (frames impair the user's navigation and break the fundamental user model of the Web as being composed of unitary pages).

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1996). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Is Google Advertising Evil?

Google's necessary focus on advertising can teach us a lot about playing the usability game. Specifically, this article will characterize a dilemma that is tied to Google's advice to publishers on how to place advertisements. The dilemma is resolved through usability, which in turn will teach us a lot about how to mix business and the user experience.

Rhodes, John S. uiGarden (2006). Articles>Web Design>Ethics>Search

Is Navigation Useful?

Some analysts conclude that navigation is useless and that navigation elements should be removed from Web pages. Don't try teaching users the site structure, don't try showing them where they are, don't try telling them where else they can go. Instead, just show people content. I don't fully agree with this analysis. Navigation is overdone on many sites. In particular, the so-called spoke design where every page is linked to every other page leads to reduced usability. Similarly, many sites have overblown footers that link to too many meta-features (say, 'about the company' or a privacy statement).

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Articles>Web Design>Usability

Is There a Way Out Beyond Google to Bring in Revenues?

No webmaster worth his salt can rule out the indispensability of Google for enhancing the prospects of one's business potential the online way. The ways and means to augment your business statistics are fine as long as they are paving the way in your business interest. The fact is that end results are always important and determine the continuation of a set of strategies or tactics in the future. Notwithstanding the enormous benefits accruing from top positions in Google's rankings, you will end up to lose sight of the long term survival if you drive your business on a Google-only focus.

Azam, Rahbre. Amateur Writerz (2008). Articles>Web Design>E Commerce>Search Engine Optimization

Is Your Web Site Old and Out of Touch?

A great many changes are taking place online right now. This is particularly true when you are trying to reach and sell to potential customers who are up-to-date with new technologies and ways of using the web. I'm thinking of the people who download podcasts to their iPods.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2006). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Podcasting

Is Your Website Poised to Deal With Its Growth?  

Every webmaster nourishes the dream that his or her website will make it the big way. This is very much human because people carry out any task in ardent hope. What is more human out here is that earthy fellows like us base our aspirations more on speculation rather than specific set of steps undertaken to bring the dream a bit closer to reality. And this is not all, particularly in case of growth of a site which brings newer problems in the wake of its growth. It cannot be disputed that you can probably get some good web hosting on economy price. But if you expect top of the line service on this price, acknowedge gracefully that your are just asking for the moon. Probably you are not catching up with wisdom that business needs decisive investments.

Azam, Rahbre. Amateur Writerz (2008). Articles>Documentation>Web Design>Technical Writing

Issues You Will Confront When Using Third Parties To Build Out Sites

Nearly every ecommerce site revolves around a database to support inventory, listings and transactions. Building out the database can be a challenge. Here is what to expect.

Pires, Halstatt. Ezine Articles (2006). Articles>Web Design>Collaboration>E Commerce