Saturday, July 21, 2007

Expression Web

Genealogy Computer Tips & Tutorials » Blog Archive » New Quick Bits Tutorial Series

Cheryl Wise has written the first of a new series of tutorials for Expression Web users. The first in her New Quick Bits Tutorial Series is how to use stong or em on selected text. The tutorial is also available in Ipod format and as an MP3 podcast.

She has plans to include additional tutorials on using semantic mark-up in Expression Web

  • blockquote vs. class for indenting text
  • unordered lists for navigation
  • page structure using headings

If you have suggestions for tutorials topics approximately ten minutes in length, please visit the by-expression forum and the topic on Tutorials.

Cheryl a Microsoft MVP - FrontPage also teaches a class on Foundations of Microsoft Expression Web: The Basics and Beyond.

my thanks to

Pat Geary
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage
http://www.genealogy-web-creations.com/
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gearyfamily/expression-web/
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gearyfamily/frontpage/

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Rootsweb seasonal trends

Anglo-Celtic Connections: Rootsweb seasonal trends: "readers may recall an earlier posting analyzing long-term trends in postings to Rootsweb newsgroups. Postings peaked in 2002, in January. The decline since has continued; every month in 2007 has fewer postings than the same month since 2000."

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Why No Graphics

Why No Graphics:

"# Download times rule the Web, and since most users have access speeds on the order of 28.8 kbps, Web pages can be no more than 3 KB if they are to download in one second which is the required response time for hypertext navigation. Users do not keep their attention on the page if downloading exceeds 10 seconds, corresponding to 30 KB at modem speed. Keeping below these size limits rules out most graphics.

in usa 25% still on dial ups

# I am not a visual designer, so my graphics would look crummy anyway. Since this website is created by myself (and not by a multidisciplinary team as I always recommend for large sites) I didn't want to spend money to hire an artist." Jakob Nielsen. ISSN 1548-5552.

Web Hosting

Useit.com and nngroup.com are both hosted on Pair Networks. (With domain name registration at GoDaddy.com.)

I have used Pair since 1996 for various smaller projects and been very satisfied, and since 2005 I am hosting the two high-traffic sites there as well. Good performance and almost no downtime.

One benefit of the small number of graphics on this site is that I can serve a quarter million unique users per month and about 50 GB/month data transfer with a relatively cheap Web hosting account that covers both sites for $75/month. The cost of running the sites comes to 0.03 cents per user or 0.006 cents per pageview served.

BTW

Nielsen Norman Group: usability consulting, training & user ...

Usability consulting, training seminars, research reports, and a user experience conference. Principals: Jakob Nielsen, Donald Norman, Bruce Tognazzini ...

Write Articles

Write Articles, Not Blog Postings (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox): "For most sites, the content is not the point. Instead, you want to answer customers' questions as rapidly as possible so that they'll advance in the sales cycle and start buying (or donate, or sign up for your newsletter, or whatever else you want them to do).

Elite, expertise-driven sites are the exception to the rule. For these sites, you don't care about 90% of users, because they want a lower level of quality than you provide and they'll never pay for your services. People looking for the quick hit and free advice are not your customers. Let them eat cake; let them read Wikipedia.

Still, even if you run an expertise-driven site, you should comply with the bulk of content usability guidelines: be as brief as you can; use bulleted lists and highlighted keywords; chunk the material; and use descriptive headings, subheads, and hyperlinks. The small percentage of users who are qualified prospects still read in an F-pattern, so a headline's first words are more important than its last words, just as they are for normal sites."

Books

Prioritizing Web Usability
Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity
Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed

Full list of books by Jakob Nielsen
Recommended books by other authors

Consulting Services

Nielsen Norman Group offers usability reviews, training, user testing, and a conference

About Jakob Nielsen

Biography and photos
Papers and essays

About This Site

Why this site has almost no graphics

all from
useit.com: Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web Design