Hierarchal ponderings…

Sat Jun 4

Following on from the “Site maps on speed” post below, I have been thinking about information sharing on the web. A good, standards complaint website will use proper semanti tags for the information it contains -

,

,

,

etc. I should be pretty easy to write a script that will scrape certain pages and/or sites for all heading tags and display them in a list with a link to go to that page. Kind of like RSS, without the XML. But of course all that depends on the site being well-formed, and although awareness of standards in increasing greatly, we’ve still a long, long way to go.

I’ve also been thinking about two huge projects that my company are about to embark upon. Both involve organisations that think a big, powerful piece of software will solve most (if not all) of their problems. That means that we, potentially, can make a pile of money both writing the software, installing it, training people and supporting it for pretty much as long as we want. It’s not quite a blank cheque, but it’s not far off. However the real problem is not lack of software, its a lack of understanding of their business processes and a reluctance to make radical changes to ensure those processes are performed as efficiently as possible. In other words, the hierarchy might need to change - and the people at the top don’t want that to happen.

So, instead, a piece of software is added to the company that acts like mortar between the people (”bricks”) in different departments. It might bind them together better, providing better communications and transparency of the processes, but are you sure you had the right bricks in the right place to start with? I know I got very close to a sticky death drowning in my own metaphors there, but hopefully you see what I mean.

Staying motivated…

Fri Jun 3

That is something, I admit, I have trouble with. However I’d like to draw your attention to this article about maintaining motivation, especially when self-employed. If you learn nothing else from it make sure you memorise this all-important phrase about getting away from the desk periodically:

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

Genius.

Site maps on speed…

Fri Jun 3

Google just keep coming up with ideas, don’t they? This time they have an idea for an XML site map file that search engines can use to index, and get better quality information about, your website pages. It’s a good idea. I wonder whather that same idea can be used to index RSS documents? After all, they are XML, and a standardised format.

In other news, please take a look at my new experiment. You may be seeing more thing like that from me soon.

So you want a website?…

Wed Jun 1

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry with admiration of the bad web project warning signs list that Andy has put together. So much wisdom, so much truth. Sigh.

So, rather than just add my bad project experiences to the end, I thought I’d offer some advice to people who want a website. This applies to people who already have a site but want it upgrading/changing and to those with no site at all.

Firstly, and this is of paramount importance; put someone in your company in charge of the project. Any designer you hire won’t thank you for having to wander round countless corridors, or e-mail dozens of people, just to get the right slogan text for the site. They need a contact who will take responsibility for the website, and so do people in your organisation. YOU need to make sure that YOU manage YOUR project well, especially if you have a large organisation or very complex website requirements. Remember, you are paying your designer/developer to manage their part of the project properly, so you should do the same.

Secondly, and this is just as important; decide what you want. Even if you don’t create a detailed requirements document, at least have a think about what you want the site to do. Do you want to show products on there? If so, how often do they need to be updated, and who will update them? Do you need to be able to change any other parts of the site, if so, when and who will do it? Do you have any other marketing material you want to use? If so make sure you have copies available. Do you want to provide interactive elements - downloadable documents, feedback mechanisms etc? If so you need to decide what you want it to do, and don’t be afraid to say “no” to some ideas and “maybe later” to others.

Thirdly, be realistic about how much this is going to cost and how long it’s going to take. A very small website with just a few pages of text can probably be done quickly and cheaply, and with no potential errors. But a large complex site will take longer, cost more, and have more potential bugs. Remember - you can only have two of these three: cheap cost, quick development and quality of product. Choose the two you want wisely.

Fourthly, look around. Seeing as you want a website it makes sense to look at the web to see not just what your competitors are doing (but don’t be tempted to just copy their sites) and what designers/developers can do for you. There are website creation firms of every shape and size in nearly every town, but only a fraction of those will be able to do what you want really well. Do your research.

Fifthly, if you don’t understand the web even a bit, then you’re going to get into trouble. After all, no-one would go to buy a car and say to the car salesperson “I don’t understand cars, and I can hardly drive”. That salesperson would only expect to see the car in several pieces in a scrapyard somewhere very soon.

There’s probably a lot more that can be said, but if you read, learn and inwardly digest the advice above then you’ll get on much better with your website. Remember - your website is your friend.