categoryallspace2-Design Content Management Web Design http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Content-Management/Web-Design A directory of resources about design and content management and web design in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Content-Management/Web-Design http://tc.eserver.org/30771.html http://tc.eserver.org/30771.html Every web site is conceived and designed keeping in view a particular purpose to serve. The aim of web site may vary: some web site intends to showcase products or services of the company it belongs to, some provides information to its target audience, or some just exposes its company on the web in a brand building exercise. This is to note that whatever be the nature of web site, web copy plays it own crucial role in furthering the interest of the site. It is imperative that web content is easy-to-read, easy-to-find, and easy-to-understand. http://tc.eserver.org/30604.html http://tc.eserver.org/30604.html This document assesses WordPress 2.01 against the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. http://tc.eserver.org/30121.html http://tc.eserver.org/30121.html The problem with many Web 2.0 applications is the assumption that the community's motives are good, or at least neutral. Perlin's column explores how one of the drawbacks of Web 2.0--potential loss of control over information--has manifested itself. http://tc.eserver.org/29973.html http://tc.eserver.org/29973.html In early 2007, I started the task of reworking the ageing HyperWrite Web site. The site was originally created in 1995. It underwent a major rework (to a frames-based design) in 1997, and was reworked in 1999, 2000 and 2002. In the decade since the Web site was launched, not only has Web technology moved on, but HyperWrite's activities, focus and business direction are now quite different. Time and budget were set aside to renovate the site to better serve HyperWrite's business needs, and to serve as a practical example of the company's capabilities. http://tc.eserver.org/29544.html http://tc.eserver.org/29544.html Wiki is a category of web server software that allows users to contribute content. Collaboration is the key to Wiki, which is designed as a powerful system for online communities to build web pages and web sites. Unlike blogs and forums, all users are allowed to contribute and edit existing content. Wiki is derived from the Hawaiian term "wiki wiki" meaning "quick". The concept behind a Wiki is that collaboration on projects will move it along quicker. http://tc.eserver.org/28946.html http://tc.eserver.org/28946.html When you hear the term "customer centric content management", you might think we're talking about marketing content. We're not. We're talking about managing the delivery of all types of content, including marketing content. And, we're specifically talking about providing individuals -- people -- both existing and prospective customers, with only the content that is relevant and of interest to them. You may think you already do a good job at this task, but in most organizations, there is significant room for improvement. Most of the problems are caused by one very big mistake: failing to listen. http://tc.eserver.org/28306.html http://tc.eserver.org/28306.html A look at three hosted wiki services that are free or relatively cheap to use and provide easy tools to set up your wiki within minutes. http://tc.eserver.org/28131.html http://tc.eserver.org/28131.html Summarizing recent CMS Watch research on portal software, Janus Boye finds that portal technology represents just the tip of the enterprise information iceberg. But given the diversity of portal scenarios, you should ask yourself which iceberg you're on. http://tc.eserver.org/27044.html http://tc.eserver.org/27044.html If a modern day Rip van Winkle woke up after just a year's sleep, he would be stunned by the buzz around Ajax today. Technology is moving very quickly in this space and whether you are a web author, a CMS developer, or a regular web user, Ajax will make some exciting changes to your world. http://tc.eserver.org/25941.html http://tc.eserver.org/25941.html If you're thinking about getting, or updating, a website, chances are that you'll run into a web designer who will try to sell you on the idea of a 'dynamic site.' Here's what you need to know in order to decide if such an approach is for you. http://tc.eserver.org/25934.html http://tc.eserver.org/25934.html We're on the verge of a similar revolution in the area of website maintenance. http://tc.eserver.org/25755.html http://tc.eserver.org/25755.html Content management systems are key to running an efficient website. Keep the development group out of the loop on updating content, and you will move ever so much faster. 'Content' doesn’t need the same kind of source control that scripts and templates need. Specific design suggestions follow. http://tc.eserver.org/25567.html http://tc.eserver.org/25567.html Kupu is an open source application, written in JavaScript, that implements a flexible, full-featured HTML editor that runs in a web page without any special plugins. Its primary use is as an embedded editor in content management systems (CMS), like Zope or Plone, where it allows users to create their own web pages. Its design is flexible enough so that you can embed it into pretty much any web application without too much difficulty. http://tc.eserver.org/25064.html http://tc.eserver.org/25064.html Web site content must be recrudescent, repositorial, refluent, and rectilinear. What? Here's an innovative treatment of the essential attributes of online text. Find out why great web site content generally has these 14 characteristics that start with a "R". http://tc.eserver.org/24620.html http://tc.eserver.org/24620.html A dynamically-delivered site in and of itself need not denigrate your search engine rankings. Google and other spiders can follow dynamically-generated pages, up to a point. The key is to have links elsewhere on the site pointing specifically to those pages. If each page results from a purely dynamic query (e.g. using session variables), then you could be in trouble. http://tc.eserver.org/24625.html http://tc.eserver.org/24625.html Putting content in a database will not inherently make your website more dynamic. Making sure that content providers keep information fresh, interesting, and relevant will make your website more dynamic -- and ultimately more useful. http://tc.eserver.org/24199.html http://tc.eserver.org/24199.html As technologies like XML, content management software (CMS), and single sourcing continue to seep into technical communication, they bring demands for cost-effective development, faster time-to-market, and automation. Meeting these demands will require standards for coding, language, metadata, and other such elements. The good old days of 'winging it' in documentation are coming to an end. http://tc.eserver.org/23818.html http://tc.eserver.org/23818.html Many technology companies, consultants, and academics are hyping the future of Web services. But how will this background transfer of data between applications affect the user experience? http://tc.eserver.org/23695.html http://tc.eserver.org/23695.html If there's one thing I can't stand, it's maintaining a website. The design is the fun part— solving problems, incorporating a brand, meeting user needs. That's what we live for. But maintenance? Yuck. So I surveyed the technologies available; what could I automate to ease the burden on myself and other volunteers? This article presents the results of this undertaking. It focuses mainly on the processes and their results. I discuss details of the tools and technologies where relevant, but this is not a tutorial on any tools or technologies; I'll provide resources for further information. http://tc.eserver.org/23056.html http://tc.eserver.org/23056.html A well-designed information architecture with intuitive organization, labeling, navigation, and indexing systems can significantly reduce the amount of time that users spend blundering through the hierarchies of Web sites and intranets. How much is this time-savings worth? The case is clearest for intranets where the users are your employees. http://tc.eserver.org/22648.html http://tc.eserver.org/22648.html In this White Paper, we examine the benefits of automated content management, and demonstrate where efficiencies can be gained within your organization. Web sites with more than a few information pages may benefit from content management systems (CMS). Content management systems are automated tools that allow for web site content to be created and administered on a recurring basis. The result puts the responsibility for content development into the hands of the authors (where it belongs) and out of the hands of the programmers. http://tc.eserver.org/22086.html http://tc.eserver.org/22086.html Not all aspects of a content management system (CMS) project are equally easy. While some elements can be installed 'out of the box', others have proved difficult to implement. The starting point for improving the management of CMS projects is to recognise the sources of uncertainty, and how these affect project outcomes. http://tc.eserver.org/21748.html http://tc.eserver.org/21748.html Content management systems suck. Or so you would think from the strife heard from analysts and practitioners alike. And yet, many websites regularly publish vast amounts of information with superior control and ease compared to manually editing pages. http://tc.eserver.org/21108.html http://tc.eserver.org/21108.html The WebWord content management system is not technical, it is human. In fact, the technology is minimal and the web site works because a human understands and maintains the content using very simple tools. While this approach consumes a lot of time, it is simple and cost effective. Small and medium web sites can get along without using content management systems. http://tc.eserver.org/20488.html http://tc.eserver.org/20488.html Okay, we've all fiddled with NavBars. In fact, MM's built-in Navigation Bar Builder is pretty sweet for creating NavBars with onMouseOver and onMouseOut behaviors giving your site that professional look. But what if your site changes frequently? One option is to bag the images and stick with a database-driven NavBar that uses a repeat region. We'll look at that approach first. Then we will see how we can replace UltraDev's hardcoded NavBar image behaviors with database-driven links and images. http://tc.eserver.org/20235.html http://tc.eserver.org/20235.html Content management systems are only as good as the content they manage. Garrity explores the care and feeding of low-budget clients who need high-quality content. http://tc.eserver.org/19373.html http://tc.eserver.org/19373.html Until recently, technical communicators created static content--content that is created in a specific way for a specific purpose (e.g., user guides and help) and that remains the same until the technical communicator deliberately changes it. As single sourcing has made it possible to write information once and use it many times, technical communicators have begun to create static customized content, which is designed to meet the specific needs of the user, the materials to be developed (such as user guides, reference guides, and training), and the delivery media (paper or online). The content is customized for a particular requirement at a particular time but cannot be changed without being regenerated by the author. Now, the ability to create dynamic content will change the way technical communicators envision, create, and distribute information. http://tc.eserver.org/19319.html http://tc.eserver.org/19319.html You would be forgiven for thinking that the lifespan of the typical usability project ends with final implementation and a product or website's release into the market. In one sense it does - the user-centred design process is over, and presumably the result is an easy-to-use product or site that is already yielding results. All well and good - but sometimes even the best interfaces cannot meet the changing requirements of the typical workplace. In this case, post-implementation user testing can pick up the difficulties that were not picked up first time around. At this point the client may quite rightly be wondering why these problems weren't spotted before deployment. The reason lies in the way in which the user has developed alongside the product. First impressions, whether favourable or not, may turn out to be misleading after an extended period of use. http://tc.eserver.org/19150.html http://tc.eserver.org/19150.html In March 2003, an online survey was conducted of consumer opinion about CMS vendor websites. This was extensively promoted through the CMS mailing lists, and on key CMS websites such as CMS Watch, the Intranet Focus and Step Two Designs sites. In total, 168 responses were made to this survey, representing consumers from across the globe, and in every type of organisation. This briefing provides a high-level summary of the results of the survey. http://tc.eserver.org/19032.html http://tc.eserver.org/19032.html Back when having a website was more important than having a sound business plan, Web content management systems were a must-have for large companies. IT managers bought into the idea that they needed an all-in-one system that would help them generate content, structure it, design it and publish it. But new research suggests these systems largely failed to live up to their promise. According to a recent report by Jupiter Research, 61 percent of companies that have deployed Web content management software still update their websites manually. http://tc.eserver.org/18330.html http://tc.eserver.org/18330.html More than a Web content management system, Octigon President James Smith calls Octane8 a deployment platform. What exactly can you deploy with Octane8? To name a few: public Internet sites, private intranet and extranet sites; sites for the group you'll be collaborating with for the next two weeks; sites with pages that sell; and sites with pages that inform. http://tc.eserver.org/18323.html http://tc.eserver.org/18323.html By default Webworks Publisher uses file names and paragraph numbers as hyperlink targets, e. g. <a href='filename.html#55555'>. Most web browsers try to position the paragraph with the corresponding name anchor <a name='55555'> at the top of the screen if possible. If you jump to the top of a scrollable topic, any content above the title line (e.g. navigation graphics) is hidden. There are a few easy countermeasures. http://tc.eserver.org/18324.html http://tc.eserver.org/18324.html If you are using Webworks Publisher to create HTML pages which will be published for the WWW, you may want to place additional useful meta tags in your pages to be found and indexed by search engines and thus be found by interested persons. http://tc.eserver.org/15097.html http://tc.eserver.org/15097.html Describes how to use Microsoft FrontPage and Access to build a system for organizing and retrieving feedback from reviewers. The article is intended for those with some experience with Web and database design. http://tc.eserver.org/14593.html http://tc.eserver.org/14593.html This paper advocates an often-neglected search-support technique, approximate or 'fuzzy' matching of user search terms. When properly deployed, fuzzy matching can significantly enhance the benefits of other, more common approaches to end-user answer retrieval from online reference collections. We compare crude with more sophisticated approximation techniques to explain how astute fuzzy-match software can convert many different near-miss situations (such as those involving faulty prefixes or suffixes, character misplacement, nonstandard word stems, or unanticipated redescription of concepts) into more adequate results. We also suggest practical ways to overcome fuzzy matching's own major drawbacks (namely, problems with search speed, search imprecision, and misinterpretation of search results). The resulting analysis clarifies how to deploy fuzzy matching for maximum effectiveness. We conclude that appropriate fuzzy matching enables more frequent, more flexible search success than do ordinary retrieval-improvement techniques used without it. http://tc.eserver.org/14584.html http://tc.eserver.org/14584.html This paper describes the Electronic Resource Library (ERL) at http://plutonium-erl.actx.edu. This is a web-based, subject-oriented digital library on the topic of plutonium and its ancillary disciplines. Previous research analyzing differences in the information-seeking behavior of scientists and engineers is reviewed and lessons learned applied to this digital library model. Special consideration has been given to recommendations in the SATCOM report from the National Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Engineering Committee on Scientific and Technical Communication. This report strongly advocated the development of “specialized need-groupservices” to support the work of the engineer and practitioner. http://tc.eserver.org/14246.html http://tc.eserver.org/14246.html According to Gery (1991), an electronic performance support system (EPSS) is an electronic environment available to and easily accessible by employees that is structured to provide online access to all information to permit them to do their jobs with minimal intervention by others. Why do we assume that this support must be provided on a computer? If effective performance support must be 'available' and 'easily accessible,' how can designers provide support to people whose jobs require mobility? Such jobs include (but certainly are not limited to) supervising a manufacturing operation, inspecting foods, and repairing equipment. A designer for any EPSS being developed to support jobs such as these would have to take the employees' mobility into account. http://tc.eserver.org/14225.html http://tc.eserver.org/14225.html Introduces the breadth of decision-making required in EPSS design. Explores choices and challenges facing designers in the design process, performance cycle, technology constraints, use of storytelling techniques, evaluation, and success factors. http://tc.eserver.org/14219.html http://tc.eserver.org/14219.html This paper describes the decisions by which the Association for Computing Machinery integrated good features from the Los Alamos e-print (physics) archive and from Cornell University's Networked Computer Science Technical Reference Library to form their own open, permanent, online “computing research repository” (CoRR). Submitted papers are not refereed and anyone can browse and extract CoRR material for free, so CoRR's eventual success could revolutionize computer science publishing. But several serious challenges remain: some journals forbid online preprints, the CoRR user interface is cumbersome, submissions are only self-indexed, (no professional library staff manages the archive) and long-term funding is uncertain. http://tc.eserver.org/14174.html http://tc.eserver.org/14174.html The content management market comprises systems designed specifically to drive Web sites, including capacity planning, site design/layout, look/feel navigation, content development, production, content delivery, session tracking, and site evolution. The core focus of these products is empowering business users to create Web site content, providing processes to ensure the approval of all content and maintain its consistency/life-cycle management (B2C, B2B, B2E). WCM does not extend to the display, personalization, or associated transactions. This category expands to include Web developers, Webmasters, and site creators as well as business users. Increasingly, overlap exists with portal and other unstructured content categories (e.g., software configuration management, digital asset management, document management). http://tc.eserver.org/14196.html http://tc.eserver.org/14196.html Gerry McGovern is a world-renowned content-management expert and author of the books, 'Content Critical' and 'The Web Content Style Guide'. User Interface Engineering's Christine Perfetti and Josh Porter recently talked with Gerry about the importance of an editorial perspective in a web development process. Here is what Gerry had to say about his experiences. http://tc.eserver.org/13656.html http://tc.eserver.org/13656.html What do you do when you need to have a Web site done 'yesterday'? This article answers that question, showing you how to create sites quickly and flexibly using Web standards like cascading style sheets (CSS), structural HTML, and server-side includes. It contains examples that demonstrate how rapid Web development not only streamlines the process, but also makes updating easier. http://tc.eserver.org/13660.html http://tc.eserver.org/13660.html The web is not print. The need to create hypertext within pages requires more control over documents. Another is that web pages can also be applications, so access to the 'guts' of the page is needed to insert programming code. And ideally, we would like to separate presentation from content, enabling us to format the content in different ways for different purposes. How can we achieve all this with the efficiency and usability we've come to expect of other publishing tools? http://tc.eserver.org/13591.html http://tc.eserver.org/13591.html An Information Model provides the framework for organizing your content so that it can be delivered and reused in a variety of innovative ways. Once you have created an Information Model for your content repository, you will be able to label information in ways that will enhance search and retrieval, making it possible for authors and users to find the information resources they need quickly and easily. http://tc.eserver.org/13359.html http://tc.eserver.org/13359.html Content Management is the next step in separating structure from design. What began with Cascading Style Sheets and was furthered by XML, is exploding with the CM environment, where billions were spent last year and more billions are expected to be spent in the years ahead. CM Systems come in many shapes: They can be huge or small, simple or very complex. They range from the very expensive (almost $300,000 for enterprise–wide systems like Vignette or Interwoven and $43,000 per server processor for Microsoft’s CMS to almost free (less than $1,000 for Manila and nothing for Zope). But they are all based on the same idea: CM allows designers to focus on design by building templates. Subject experts build content in a separate environment. The server takes the content, inserts it into the correct template and sends it all, neatly wrapped up, to end users. http://tc.eserver.org/13355.html http://tc.eserver.org/13355.html Web services will free individual site designers from having to program and design common features. This will decrease business costs, increase usability, and let designers focus on and improve features that are unique to each site.