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Note: This newsletter is supported solely by advertisers like the one
below. We stand 100% behind every ad that we run. If you ever have a
problem with a company that advertises here please contact us and we will
try to get it resolved. - Matt Mickiewicz |
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Hello
Tribuners,
The stars were in alignment this week, and SitePoint managed to score an
interview with the ever-controversial Jakob Nielsen. Scroll down to the
"What's New on SitePoint" section below for a link to the
interview.
This past weekend I completed my month-long horror movie marathon by going
to see "Red Dragon" -- the 3rd movie in the Hannibal series that
includes the Oscar winning "Silence of the Lambs".
I don't know how I ever got talked into watching all the movies -- they're
definitely not for the faint of heart. I'm seriously considering renting
some G-rated Disney movies for a change... :-)
P.S. If anyone needs a 20GB Laptop HDD, I'm auctioning mine on eBay.
Matt Mickiewicz
tribune@sitepoint.com
We value your membership. If for some reason at this time it is
inconvenient for you, you may discontinue your subscription by simply
sending a "Blank" email to the following address: leave-tribune-4586848B@lists.sitepoint.com. Scroll to
the very bottom of this issue for further instructions if you have
problems.
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What's New on SitePoint...
Interview - Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D.
By Kevin Yank
'Sometimes, it's ok to break a rule.' So says the world's most
renowned usability expert, who talks to Kevin about Web design, usability,
and why he 'will never surrender'!
Full Story
Review - LIFT Nielsen Norman Group Edition
By Kevin Yank
UsableNet and Nielsen have joined forces to create LIFT - NN/g - a
tool that automates the application of standards and Nielsen Norman Group
recommendations into site designs. Kev reviews the product and gets the
lowdown from Nielsen himself!
Full Story
Last Minute SEO Christmas List
By Andy Beal
It's that time of year - and if you haven't optimised your Christmas
Specials for the search engines, you might think you've missed out! Not
so, says Andy - his last minute Christmas Checklist will ensure you've got
the best exposure possible.
Full Story
Paging Results with ASP.NET's PagedDataSource
By Chris Canal
Stuck on how to page results in ASP.NET? Chris has the answers! In
this step-by-step tutorial he explains the PagedDataSource class, and
shows exactly how to use it.
Full Story
eZ publish: PHP's Killer App - Part 1
By Harry Fuecks
eZ system's Content Management System eZ publish is, according to
Harry, PHP's Killer App. In this, the first of a three-part series, Harry
introduces eZ publish, and shows how to get it installed and running.
Full Story
Spamproof Your Site
By Dan Thies
Webmasters suffer more spam than most Web users. But you *can*
escape the spambots! Dan's tips and hints will help protect your
addresses, and your inbox. It's a must-read!
Full Story
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Editor's Perspective
Watch
Those Coupon Systems! Learn From Disney's Mistake...
During the month of August Disney issued $15 coupons -- with no minimum
purchase required -- to all its customers. However, they failed to issue
unique codes to each customer, or to prevent the codes from being used
multiple times by the same person.
Word quickly spread onto sites like FatWallet, and Disney was inundated
with orders for "free merchandise" from customers who got hold
of the coupon code.
If your online store (or the store you build for a customer) uses a coupon
system, be sure to take precautions to prevent abuse. Here are some things
that you can do:
1) Generate unique coupon codes for every customer, and disallow the same
code to be used more than once.
2) Institute minimum purchase requirements, if necessary.
3) Keep an eye out for an unusual volume of activity... it could be that
your marketing has paid off, or that someone has figured out a way to
abuse your coupon system.
Ad Clutter: The Growing Problem and What You Can Do
The average site on the Net has 3 ads per page, according to
Nielsen/NetRatings.
However, a recent study by Burst! Media of over 3000 people found that a
huge 33% of users could only tolerate a single ad per page. Just 30% could
tolerate two ads per page!
Why does this mean? Simply put, the survey found out that if the ad limit
was passed, a full 36% of respondents would leave the site. “This finding
is nearly identical for men and women, and for all income segments
analyzed,” writes MediaPost. “Teens (13-17) are more likely than other age
segments to abandon a site perceived as cluttered.”
The survey also found that the more ads that appeared per page, the more
unlikely the visitor was to pay attention to ANY of the ads on that page.
Burst! Media also found that more than half of respondents had a less
favourable opinion of an advertiser's product/service when it appeared on
a site besieged by ad-clutter.
What can you do? Don't buy advertising on sites that display more than two
ads per page, and pay special consideration to sites that show only one ad
per page (even if their rates are a little higher).
Also consider removing all banners/skyscrapers for external companies from
your frontpage -- we've done this on SitePoint, only to find our retention
rate soar. Cluttered homepages have very high drop-offs... don't encourage
people to leave by flooding their screens with advertising before they've
had a chance to get past the homepage!
Until next week I remain,
Matt Mickiewicz
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Script of the Week...
TimeTracker
is a project management tool developed in ASP.
Built from the ground-up with nothing but efficiency and productivity in
mind, Time Tracker allows a service request to be entered by a customer or
employee in a matter of seconds. The "work order" or project can
then be assigned to any employee, who can then create tasks, log time,
etc.
This is a great tool for staying organized and getting things done!
If you're running PHP, Tribuner Irfan Uygur recommends http://www.phpcollab.com .
Script Name: TimeTracker
URL: http://www.asptools.biz/
Know of a good script that should be Script of the Week?
Let me know!. If your
suggestion is used we'll publish your URL in this newsletter, which
reaches 48,000 interested subscribers.
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Download of the Week...
Turn any Text
file into a PDF in seconds!
Gymnast will take any text file and instantly convert it into Adobe's PDF
format, while preserving the "clickability" of any links within
the document.
You can choose the font you want to use in the PDF, the text color, font
size, and much more. It works as advertised!
Program Name: Gymnast
URL: http://www.oakworth.demon.co.uk/gymnast.htm
Know of a good utility/program that should be Download of
the Week? Let me know!. If
your suggestion is used we'll publish your URL in this newsletter, which
reaches 48,000 interested subscribers.
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The Weekly Tip List...
Each week,
the Weekly Tip List features either Promotion or Web Site Design tips on a
rotating basis. This week we are featuring Design Tips:
In
SitePoint's interview with Jakob Nielsen, he states that usability has a
1000% return-on-investment, on average.
This means that if you spend $1000 on usability testing, you can expect to
gain $10,000 in extra profits. Nielsen recommends that small Web design
shops invest just 10% of their resources and clients budget in usability
-- even that can have a huge impact.
We've taken the message to heart, and SitePoint's new design will go
through several rounds of usability testing... I'm sure everyone will be
shocked by the things that we uncover and how "dumb" the average
user really is.
So, how are we going about doing the usability reviews? We're sticking to
the script in the book Don't Make Me Think.
No outside consultants. No fancy two-way mirrors, eye-tracking or cameras.
I'll let you know a bit about our own tests, and what we learned, when
they're done.
Have any tips? Share them. Full credit is given
for every tip published, including your name and URL.
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Help Your Friends Out
People you care about can take charge of their web site by effectively
using the information and resources available on the Internet. Help them
learn how to do it by forwarding them a copy of this weeks SitePoint
Tribune.
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Send suggestions and comments to: tribune@sitepoint.com
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Reserved. No part of this Newsletter may be reproduced in whole or in part
without written permission. All guest articles are copyright their
respective owners and are reproduced with permission.
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