All you need is a little Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust… A Help Page may be good as well

If you are like me you can never have things jut the way they came. You have to take them one step up from where they were. Even if that means using your faith as you dive headfirst into the world of PHP. But that’s the funny thing about leaps of faith, they usually lead you to learning more than you ever expected. I ended up learning more about my Danland template.

When it came time for me to choose which template I was going to use for my Drupal site I was over whelmed by the possibilities. There are hundreds out there. Which one do you choose? I looked into a few, narrowed down my choices and installed one. This theme did not last long and was quickly uninstalled because frankly I found it extremely hard to use. There was also no real help on it posted and if it was there I was just not at the level to understand it. I again found myself at the starting block. Then I found the world of Danland and everything fell right into place.

The Danland theme is one which many individuals have used and know very well. Because of this it is a very new user friendly template. There are tons of help pages written in plain English ( or as plain as you can get in Drupal) to help out the lost CMS users. Anything you want to do with your page the information on how to do it is at your finger tips. All you have to do is search. You will never want to leave your Danland world once you start modifying it! It may take a little maneuvering and remembering where you saw that file before, but with some slight moving and shaking you will be flying your way to an amazing website in no time.

The Danland handbook is a great resource for everything Danland. It has been my trusted guide so far in my journey.

Photo used with a Creative Commons Liscense

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theseahawk/2113028314/sizes/m/in/photostream/

EBay Sidebar App = Fail

So I learned two things today. Traditional eBay = Win. New EBay App = Fail. I partially feel it might my computer error not the Apps. But either way it did fail and here is the story which brought me to this conclusion. I always enjoy the merging of two ideas together. Since we previously discussed both usability and applications actually adjudicating one seemed like an awesome hands on approach to the situation. I enjoyed actually sighing up for the eBay account. I had used my parent’s account before but had not personally signed up for one. I enjoyed how easy it was to use and the act that it had little sayings along the way. “ We promise this is the last step”, was one of the more memorable ones. I had used the traditional interface in the past and had been happy with its usability. One of my favorite features was the recognition of the recently viewed items. Sadly I was completely denied when I tried to experience the sidebar application. After following the link and the super quick download my computer would not open the app. Fro other writing I can assume that the App is very user friendly and opens eBay up to a wider usage along side other web interfaces. But personally when it comes to usability it fails. If I can’t open it the first time why even try again. If people get are unable to use something due to error they will just move on. Or in my case, back to they original website. This is how I feel about eBay’s side app. EBay you just may want to add a side of epic to that fail.

Photo used with a creative commons license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/techshownetwork/2960932349/

Usability: An Effective Website's Secret Weapon

Usability, is also known as how easy a website is to use. Before reviewing this topic, I never realized this type of research and knowledge existed. Although it makes complete sense due to the fact that I honestly never think about usability of a site until I find a website which I find hard to use. After having issues with using a website my chances of returning to it are slim to none. I feel as though this may be the case for many Internet users beside myself. In a world in which our new media usage is getting greater but our attention spans are getting smaller usability is becoming even more important. Having effective navigation along with an easy and maneuverable layout give a website the heads up in the worldwide web war.

Some things such as culture and language also effect the usability of a website. In the article Multilingual Website Usability: Cultural Context by Mathew Hillier, the use of language in websites which are reproduced in different languages and cultures enters the game as new payers and issues for usability. I found this article interesting because sometimes which it comes down to it, I take culture for granted. Never having personally traveled outside the United States into a different culture , western culture just seems to fit and is useable. But in creating an eastern culture version of a western website could have not only cultural issues but also translational issues. These were all things that never crossed my minding dealing with the world of web development.

Usability needs to be more than just a fleeting thought in a developers mind; it needs to be a major concern. After reading these articles in my future web development I will that my websites are easy to follow and make an enjoyable experience for my user. Because in the end, the website which can deliver information quickly and effectively will survive the worldwide web war of gaining habitual site users and come out victorious.

Hillier, M (2003) The Role of Cultural Context in Multilingual Website Usability, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 2(1), 2-14

Image Used with a Creative Commmons Liscense: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calnen/2299985857/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Sorry Web… Trading You In For a Newer, Younger Model

It’s not new that in society and the world when something new comes out or catches our interest it is hard for the human mind to resist. Not only does it intrigue us, but the new options usually allow a newly created space for exploration into a world we have no yet experienced. This holds true for cars, women , men and electronics.
Every few years there is a new wave in the electronics world as the latest and the greatest electronic devices sweep the market making their predecessors almost absolute. There is no better example of this than the Apple IPOD Touch, IPHONE and recently the IPAD. Along with these leaps in the world of mobile communication came the world of mobile applications. Now from anywhere you can perform most of the functions of a PC without the hastle of using a web browser. In the article, The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet By Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff, the idea is placed that the web based internet is dying and will be replaced by these applications which use the web but it is not their primary function. I could not agree more.
I have an IPOD touch and will probably be switching over to an IPHONE when my contract is up in June. I LOVE my IPOD and all of its applications which allow me to maintain a high level of contact with not only the world of social media but Google and everything else in between. Some days I will reach for my IPOD to look up information simply because for a quick task it is a lot easier and faster than pulling up my computer. In a world where instant gratification has become the norm why wouldn’t the population step away from the old version which does not meet its current needs and slide to the newest technologies which will give society it’s fix.
There is no way to tell if this trend of applications use over the actual browser is permanent. Who knows what the developers for Microsoft and Apple are thinking of next to give us the latest and quickest forms of information and entertainment that our culture craves for its addiction. But If things keep going the way they are I can see myself telling my children the days of past in which you used a browser not an app to get online.

Photo used with a Creative Commons License:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/memoflores/322606058/sizes/m/in/photostream/