You are here: Home / Archives for May 2009

Browser Woes

May 29, 2009 By Regina Fried Leave a Comment

You’ve finished creating your new website and sent it out into the World Wide Web. You’re so excited, you can’t help visiting it over and over, marveling at what you’ve accomplished (I know — I’ve been there). It looks great — looks great that is, viewed on your computer, using Internet Explorer (IE). But then a colleague calls to let you know that when he looks at your website, on his computer, it doesn’t look so great. In fact, it looks pretty bad. Why would this happen? It turns out your colleague doesn’t use IE. He uses Firefox or Safari or …

And that is the source of your problem: a website that looks good in one web browser, might not look good in another web browser. I call this the “Browser Woes.”

Let me explain.

A web browser is the software program you use to view web pages; you’re using one right now to read this article. Many people are surprised to learn that not everyone uses IE. In fact, there are many web browsers available — the most popular are IE, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera. Complicating matters is the fact that not everyone uses the most current version of a browser, so while you might be using the current version of IE (8.0), someone else might still be using IE 6.0. Websites also perform differently on different platforms (Windows, Linux, MAC OS, etc.).

Experienced web designers know that they have to test websites to be sure they work and look good in, at least, the most popular web browsers. When I’m creating a website, I use software to simulate how it will perform in various browsers. I also test it on different computers — both Macs and PCs. But what if you can’t do that? How can you test your website? Submit it to BrowserShots. Here is how the service is explained on its home page:

Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.

Browser shots is easy to use: enter the URL of your site and select the web browsers and platforms you want to check. Within 30 minutes, you’ll get a series of screenshots comparing, for example, how your website looks on a PC using Google Chrome to how it looks on a Mac using Firefox. Browsershots also allows you to click on each screenshot to see a larger image.

If you’re satisfied that your website looks good across the most popular browsers, you can launch it to the world. But if you see a problem, you’ll have to determine what is causing it, correct it, and resubmit the website to BrowserShots for another check.

If you notice that your site looks good in Firefox, but not IE (this is one of the most common problems web designers face), you might be tempted to simply slap a disclaimer on your website — something to this effect:

“This site works best in Firefox 3.0. Download it here.”

Don’t do it. You’re asking your visitor to take an extra step to view your site. And there’s a good chance that she might leave and go to a competitor’s site. Instead, fix the problem (try searching the web for help if you can’t figure it out on your own) or, if you can’t correct it, revise the website so the problem is eliminated.

Filed Under: All Things Web Tagged With: DIY, free, web tools

Will This Drive Traffic to My Site?

May 19, 2009 By Regina Fried Leave a Comment

This is one of the most common questions clients ask me. With each revision or addition of new content, a website owner hopes s/he has finally discovered the magic formula for driving traffic to a website. Meta tags, Google sitemap submissions, links — do any of these work? And if not, what does?

I wish there was one simple answer, but alas, Sad Day (as my daughter would say), there is not. It takes work to rise above the cacophony of voices on the Internet. Since I launched my blog, I’ve been reading extensively on this subject and studying a lot of other blogs. The Internet is full of suggestions on how to promote websites and blogs — so many that if I followed all of the available advice, my fingers would never leave this keyboard. It’s difficult to separate the good advice from the bad.

I wish, before I had undertaken this task (oops! I mean labor of love), that I had read this excellent article by NY Times reporter Azadeh Ensha on this very subject. Of course, it wasn’t published then …

10 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Site

Some of these were on my To Do List and have already been accomplished, but HitTail is new to me. Oh, there is no rest for the weary.

Filed Under: All Things Web, WordPress Tagged With: attracting readers, blog, DIY

8 Common Questions About Using WordPress

May 12, 2009 By Regina Fried 1 Comment

Last week, I exchanged several emails with a woman who wanted to revise her website. She wondered if she should use WordPress to create her new site. She was hoping to do most of the work herself and, also, wanted to be able to maintain the site. What kind of site could she build using WordPress, she asked. What did she need to get started? Was it really that easy to work with? As I corresponded with her, it occurred to me that others might have the same questions.

Here, then, are answers to some common questions about using WordPress to create a website.

  1. What do I need to get started?
    1. A domain name — for example: www.mybusinessname.com.
    2. A hosting account — in simple terms, this is your website’s home. Hosting costs vary widely, starting as low as $5.00 a month. Choose a company that is reliable and offers good customer service. You want to be able to reach “a human” when you have a question or a problem.
    3. WordPress software — it’s free and available for download at WordPress.org.
    4. A WordPress theme — the theme controls the design and the functionality of your WordPress site. WordPress comes with a basic theme, but it’s pretty boring, and one of the first things most users do when working with WordPress is to change their site’s theme. You can find free themes at WordPress (others can be found by searching “free WordPress themes”), or you can purchase a professionally designed “premium” theme. A partial listing of premium WordPress themes can be found at Premium WordPress.
  2. Can I convert my current website into a WordPress site?
    There is no “conversion button” to take your current site and convert it into a WordPress site. However, you can take many elements of your existing site and use them in a WordPress site. For example, you can use the same website copy (by copying and pasting text), but you will have to “rebuild” many of the elements of your site (for instance you will need to create pages to hold your copy). If you like your current website’s structure, you can use it as a guideline when creating a WordPress site. If you want to use your current site’s design, you can hire someone to create a WordPress template that duplicates that design or you can do this yourself.
  3. Can I sell products from a WordPress site? Yes. There are several ways to do this, but if the primary purpose of your website is to sell products, you may need an e-commerce solution. Learn more here.
  4. Does WordPress work with SEO and AdSense? Yes and yes.
  5. Can I create a form to collect email addresses for my newsletter? Yes.
  6. Can I have a blog and a “regular” site? Yes.
  7. Can I have more than one blog? Yes, but each blog must have its own WordPress installation (meaning you will have multiple copies of WordPress software installed). If you will be maintaining many blogs, you might consider using WordPress MU.
  8. Is WordPress easy to use? Can I really create my own site and maintain it myself?
    Yes. But the skills required to create and maintain a WordPress site increase as the functionality of the site increases. If you want to move beyond a basic WordPress site, you are going to have to learn some new skills. Some of the things you might want to do will be easy to implement; others might be difficult. Before diving in, take a look at the WordPress Codex. If you feel comforted by what you learn, then go ahead and get started. But if what you read raises more questions than it answers, consider hiring someone to help you with this project.

Contact me if:

  • You have other questions about WordPress I haven’t answered here (you can leave a comment below and I’ll respond); or
  • You’d like my help in creating a WordPress site: (610) 935-1255 or info@rmfcommunications.com.
Filed Under: WordPress Tagged With: DIY