My comments to his most recent comments are posted there and here.

Joseph’s comments:
“…my experience and learning indicate that most business people don’t care about science.”

Agreed, however they don’t have to care about it to use it. Anyone who has ever used a tire gauge or a tape measure has employed a scientific calibration method.

Take web analytics; vendor produces web analytics tool – company buys web analytics tool - company is responsible for correct, complete and functioning implementation of web analytics tool - automated monitoring identifies implementation problems. This last step is the rub. The web analytics vendor specializes in providing the measurement tool, not the calibration tool. The company does not have to be expert at science to employ automated monitoring of their web analytics. It must, however have accountability at a senior level – one neck to grab - and a recognition that without this calibration, all bets are off, and that manual discovery of implementation problems is a complete and utter waste of valuable time that their web analysts could be using to do more important things. The results of my survey that is currently underway (Where in the Organization is the Web Analyst – July 15-22, 2008) will bear out the chronic problems that practitioners have with their own implementations.

Going back to Avinash’s observation – “We have too many damn tools!’” Yep, the toolbox has 4 hammers, 5 screwdrivers and a utility knife, and the task calls for cutting a mitered corner. Now I suppose you could position the utility knife, whack it with the hammer, wedge a screwdriver in the crevice, and repeat the process until you make your way across the board…..it’s possible, not efficient, the outcome will be really ugly, but it’s possible.

Joseph’s question : “Is the natural progression due to the tools being used, due to the information provider becoming more trusted, perhaps due to the people receiving the information finally having the cognitive readiness to accept the information as both valuable and valid, …?”

I believe it is a confluence of things contributing to maturation in organizations. The web has disrupted entire industries – newspapers, auto, real estate, travel, consumer goods, government agencies. It would be great if somebody had an “Easy Button” for managing web assets – maybe Staples could start loaning them out. People are coming to grips with the fact that no one product is the magic answer, and that jumping from one vendor to another is not the answer either. They are coming to grips with the complexity of their sites, the fact that legislation and market conditions are constantly changing, that they are subject to the laws of all the countries they operate sites in, that achieving good natural placement in Google has a tangible benefit, and that bad things can happen to good sites, and can lurk there for a long time, that if you’re a great big company, you might be a “target” for lawsuits by people who find your site inaccessible to them, that the mobile web tsunami is coming, all this in addition to the daily grind of figuring out who is looking at what for how long using what type of viewing device and what are they doing as a result? Joseph refers to it as “cognitive readiness”. I’ve always called it “the teachable moment.” Increasingly organizations are getting there.

Joseph’s comment:
“I’d love to see a piece that demonstrates the successful implementation of such a group if such is available.”

Here are a couple of success stories. The first one is a site of around 2000 pages owned by a company with numerous locations across the country. The site’s primary function is lead generation and information provision on health-related issues. SEO is important to them and they run online ad campaigns. They conduct surveys through the site. The organization supporting the site is small, so they rely on their vendors. Once a month, the manager has a call where all the vendors are present – site structure, web analyst, SEM, search analyst, survey company. Everyone is expected to present information and recommendations based on the agenda the manager sets.

The second is a global B2B company. Their public site is large, their intranet is sprawling, and they have a constant flow of micro-sites going up. Their web team consists of people with expertise in search, web analytics, copyrighting, marketing, ad campaigns; yet they all are part of one team. Content management is dispersed throughout the organization using a CMS that was developed in-house after they determined that there was not a market solution that fit their business. This team, however, has dotted lines to content owners and teams. Decisions of what web site management solutions they use (whether it is traffic, search, A/B testing, surveys, or structural analytics) are made by this team. They have developed and are utilizing web standards and continue to grow from strength to strength.

There are others. I like these two because they are at opposite ends of the spectrum and demonstrate that there is more than one way to get there, once people define what it is they are trying to achieve.

Your comments are most welcome. What are you seeing in your organization?

The internet has enabled web developers from every part of the world, who would other wise be out of work, to rake it in. GetAFreeLancer.com is a living example. Thats right, you don't need to work for big company to make money in web development.

So, why should you learn about web development or web design? Theres a few reasons:

• Businesses(who specialize in other fields) always need someone who can set up a script or design a site.
• Most people just don't have the time or patience to learn how to code a server side script.
• Everyone wants a web site now days and their willing to pay through the ass to have one. Whether it's a WordPress blog or a vBulletin forum, if they hire to to set it up, its all money in your pocket.
• You can live any where in the world, as long as you have a computer and internet, and still make a load of money.
• Web Development is the going thing these days, if you don't hit it now you might miss it in the future.
• You can build sites for your self.
• You can share your knowledge in a blog and make money from it.
• Once you know it you can take your knowledge further, sky's the limit!

These are a few good reasons. However, you have to look at the down side.

• Web Design/Development isn't for eveyone!
• It takes time and patience, something that you may not be willing to sacrifice.
• It might be a steep learning curve to what your used to.
• Unless you have the drive and the motivation you'll be fighting an up hill battle.
• Depending on what your learning it may take a bit of pocket cash to get started.

So what do you do if you want to learn web development? Start asking around, know what your getting into, look for tutorials and lessons in books and on the internet, keep learning(no one knows everything) and make sure you have the right tools.

Web development branches out to many other things. E.G. If you learn PHP, chances are your going to learn MySQL. In the end you may end up getting into more than you bargined for. Just learn the basics(PHP, XHtml, Xml, Css, Some Graphics, Database-MySQL).

Hope this helps:)

So I scrolled down to the bottom of the mail and clicked on the unsubscribe link, which took me to the Monarch website and asked me to sign in to change my preferences. This was the first thing that annoyed me I just wanted to unsubscribe not change my preferences. Anyway I didn't know I had an account so tried my usual username and password and that didn't work so I went through the trial and error process of putting everything I could think of in until it finally let me in. I used the trial and error process rather than requesting a new password because by this point I had already lost confidence in the site, and though that the password retrieval process would take longer than guessing.

So I finally got in and then expecting to be greeted with a screen that would allow me to unsubscribe. Oh no, I was just dumped on my account page telling me that I was already unsubscribed so just to be sure I clicked through and found out that I was indeed unsubscribed and had some vague recollection of unsubscribing a couple of months ago.

So thats half an hour of my life wasted and still receiving spam from Monarch. Thanks Monarch I have now lost all confidence in you holding my data if you can't do something simple like check that I would like to receive email before you send it to me.

Here's what IMHO Monarch should have done.

Customer. I want to opt out of you email marketing.

Monarch. Oh, okay we are sorry to hear about that. Please get in touch with us if you change your mind.

Customer. Thanks, I will.

Simple as that and it stops negative PR from blog posts like this.

troppo divertenti ;)

It comes in handy. Got an email today from an I-finished-their-website-four-years-ago-client. It was titled 'HELP!" and the message just said "urgent...call me". I checked to see whether or not the website was still online (it was), then called. They'd just changed several computers, somehow losing access to email.  Other clients have had difficulty with automatic website renewal that couldn't happen because credit card info had changed. Logins and passwords to the account are needed in order to update payment info.

Clients likely have the "technical info" document - somewhere - but I've learned it's better to make sure that I keep my copies accessible. It's a simple way to provide a value-added customer service that clients truly appreciate.

Disclaimer: I'm not concerned with Reebok in any way. This site has been created as part of a college assignment. All the trademarks are reserved with their owners.

Poi è buona norma, prima di mettersi a scrivere codice html e css, "disegnare" con un programma di grafica come dovrebbe venire il sito web.

Ecco, a tal proposito, una raccolta di template costruiti con gimp, con il relativo link al tutorial dove è spiegato passo passo come sono stati costruiti e il sorgente xcf.

Per il primo e terzo template sono presenti i passi su come costruirli con gimp, mentre per il secondo e il quarto è anche spiegato come realizzare il sito in html e css.

Template n°1

Segui i passi per costruirlo.

Scarica il template

Template n°2

Segui i passi per costruirlo (prima parte)
Segui i passi per costruirlo (seconda parte)

Template n° 3

Segui i passi per costruirlo

Scarica il template

Template n°4

Segui i passi per costruirlo (prima parte)
Segui i passi per costruirlo (seconda parte)
Segui i passi per costruirlo (terza parte)
Segui i passi per costruirlo (quarta parte)

Scarica il template (con html e css)

Inoltre vi segnalo una raccolta più ampia di template per phototoshop, anch'essi con la spiegazione di come sono stati realizzati.

thisissand.com is an impressive bit of flash that "changes pixels on the screen into digital sand." And it's strangely zenlike. Just try it, it's like a virtual zen garden. You click the grey square to get directions to begin. (I would wish the menu would be there initially, without having to be cutesy to discover it, but site's fun enough to overlook it.)

In an effort to further the development of e-commerce, the federal Electronic Signatures Act (2000) established uniform national standards for determining the circumstances under which contracts and notifications in electronic form are legally valid. Legal standards were also specified regarding the use of an electronic signature (“an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record”), but the law did not specify technological standards for implementing the act. The act gave electronic signatures a legal standing similar to that of paper signatures, allowing contracts and other agreements, such as those establishing a loan or brokerage account, to be signed on line.

Once consumers' worries eased about on-line credit card purchases, e-commerce grew rapidly in the late 1990s. In 1998 on-line retail (“e-tail”) sales were $7.2 billion, double the amount in 1997. On-line retail ordering represented 15% of nonstore sales (which included catalogs, television sales, and direct sales) in 1998, but this constituted only 1% of total retail revenues that year. Books are the most popular on-line product order—with over half of Web shoppers ordering books (one on-line bookseller, Amazon.com, which started in 1995, had revenues of $610 million in 1998)—followed by software, audio compact discs, and personal computers. Other on-line commerce includes trading of stocks, purchases of airline tickets and groceries, and participation in auctions.

Web Development

Reference: Answers.com

:)

E ae galera!!!

É com muito prazer que venho lhes informar que a partir de agora utilizarei este blog como fonte de divulgação do meu trabalho, mas não desejo que fique limitado a só isso, quero que seja utilizado também como fonte de conhecimento para outros webmasters que desejam trocar ideias. Postarei desde cartões de visitas, folders, banners, como também sites e links de download de apostilas e programas para a área de desenvolvimento web.

Espero que vocês gostem!!!

These web based favicon generators and resources are handy tools

The 10 Commandments of Web Design distills a list of key points to consider when designing a site.

HTML Color Codes -- A Guide for Beginners

Part 4In this final lesson, we'll be looking at some example web pages with various color combinations. In these examples, you'll see how different HTML color code combinations actually look on the Web.

Click on the example links for each page below.

Then, read below the link to find out what colors we used - and where we used them to create the colors on the web page.

Notice, there are three areas where colors codes are used in the Web pages below: page background, tables, and link text.

These three should blend well on your Web pages to create a look that's pleasing to the eye for your visitors.

HTML Color Code -- Example Page #1:

http://www.webmastercourse.com/articles/html-color-codes-part4/example1.htm

** Page Background Color Code: #F0E68C** Table Color Codes: #990000 (table background)** Link Text Color Code: #FFFFFF (Main Link Color) #ffffcc (active link) #ffcc33 (visited link)

Read the entire Beginners Guide to HTML Color Codes Part 4 ]]> http://mindbloggling.wordpress.com/?p=40 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:23:00 +0000 mindbloggling http://mindbloggling.wordpress.com/?p=40 Joomla! 1.5.4 [Naiki] is a normal maintenance release which includes a few low to moderate security issues, many bug fixes, and several very nice improvements. It has been a little over ten weeks since Joomla! 1.5.3 was released on April 24, 2008. The Development Working Group's goal is to continue to provide regular, frequent updates to the Joomla! community containing the latest bug fixes and minor enhancements.

So far I have really enjoyed working with Joomla version 1.5.x.  I've been integrating that with the Virtuemart shopping cart.  I think the guys at Virtuemart are doing a fantastic job, however there are many code tweaks that need to be made before you are able to realistically send any customers to your store.  Most of them are pretty small, but hopefully they will be fixed in near-future Virtuemart releases.  They seem so basic an obvious to me....

Today, so far i've managed to get quite a bit done. I finished a pretty large time consuming marketing campaign this morning, managed to keep up on all incoming mail. I've sent out 8 estimates so far today. Had a meeting with my programmer and all before 10:30.  And now i'm going to take a little break, grab some soda and a snack and then sit down and wrap up a site (well.. hopefully).

Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with someone about our economy. It being what it is, this person was surprised I was managing to not only stay in business but actually be fairly busy with incoming potential work. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised we haven't felt the crunch too. But never look a gift horse in the mouth right? We HAVE slowed down a bit, but it's been by choice. We are about 2 maybe 3 months out from releasing a new piece of software that has the potential to change the way our industry runs. It's exciting, and frustrating (as we just want it to be done). I feel as if we're in the middle of the eye of a great storm. Even if the idea itself doesn't make a cent, I look forward to helping shape the industry and make it safer for new designers. I look forward to making a difference.

Well, i better get back to work, but i just wanted to drop in and say a quick hi and hello to everyone.

This could be achieved only by outsourcing web site designing and development services to under developed countries where cost for human resource and that of infra structure is very low as compared to developed countries.

Also due to time difference turn around time is lower than that of developed countries.

Through outsourcing offshore companies have eliminated their in house development cost. They are no more involved in any human resource management headache. No capital cost for development equipment or infrastructure. Off shore companies are only concentrating on marketing and rest is taken care by their outsourcing partners.

Due to internet, communication is no more a problem and they work like they are sitting in same office but in different rooms.

Language is also not an issue because English is essential language in countries and also they have same skill sets as in other developed countries

websitesoutsourcing

To me, this line sums up the real point: "The problem with this, of course, is that any time you do anything just for SEO purposes, you'll almost always do it wrong."

SEO is powerful, but providing valuable content and resources is much more powerful. Don't let the allure of SEO suck you in to the point you suck.

It started life out out as Organic Landscape Design website called Landscaping Victoria, but it's totally changed subject matter and been made into a website about children's programmes. It was one of those things that interested me at the time and I needed a topic to focus upon. With making it a directory of kids programmes I can focus on any genre of shows I fancy so if I get bored with one then I can easily find another to work on.  And the great thing is that I can keep adding to the site. I found a company that offers free webspace, the only catch is you get a little horizontal banner at the top of the page and the words '100webspace.net' at the end of your domain name. They are probably one of the better hosts I've found considering how much you are getting free. It's less advertisements than geocities have and they only allow you 15mb.

Here are some screenshots of my website:

Alternatively you can just view the site at the following address: The Tree of Cult Kidz TV

Mail & Msn = webvarlos@msn.com

Tel = 0554 355 23 03

Varlos Web Tasarımı Seçtiğiniz İçin Teşekkür Ederiz.

The Web Designer is the “Key” to a successful business website. But here’s the problem ….

Hire the wrong person and your website will be a flop. Hire someone who does not understand marketing principles and your website will not appeal to your visitors. Hire someone with no experience of online marketing and no-one will visit your site and your investment will have been wasted.

Lets take a look at some of the mistake business owners make hiring web designers.

Mistake 1. Assuming That Big Is Better

Many Business Owners assume that larger web design companies and agencies are going to provide a better service than smaller company. The main benefit of a smaller company is the personal service you should be able to get.

With larger design companies your dealings are often with a salesman who “hands over” the business to the designer and then loses interest in your business.
Whatever the size of the business you choose, you need to be offered a personal service with a main contact who is interested in your business.

Mistake 2 Assuming All Web Designers Are Equal

Did you know there are different types of web designer based on their background and experience? Each has their pros and cons – you need to be aware of the differences.
Firstly, the print designer who also creates web designs. Print Designers are used to laying out words and pictures and getting them to work well together. The downside is that a web page is not the same as a fixed piece of paper and the ability to control the design is not as good as in print.

Next, the programmer who creates web designs. Programmers have a unique way of thinking. They are interest in logic and how to do clever things on a website. They are able to create websites that interact well with customers and provide a lot of interesting features. However programmers typically have not learnt about laying out designs correctly or essentials like which colours go well together or which colours appeal to different target audiences.

These are the main types but there are other who have their own problems.

All of these Web Designer types are often missing a vital piece of training. They have no knowledge of marketing a business online beyond creating a website. They may not understand the consequence of their design on getting visitors to your site to take the actions you require of them. So you might end up with a website that looks great but has no visitors or those that visit the site leave very quickly.
These are just the first two mistakes from the 7 biggest mistakes that business owners make hiring a website designer. For more detail and the other five mistakes to avoid visit www.websitesinbusiness.co.uk