Friday, July 18, 2003

Source: http://weblogs.asp.net/rosherove/posts/10225.aspx Make your desktop show active RSS content. Doug Thews sent me this regarding the .net desktop contest: "After looking at some of your entries, I decided that I had to write my own ActiveDesktop in ASP.NET to consume RSS feeds and provide other information. I don't want entry into your contest, but I thought you might be interested in the project source code for grins ... http://www.ddconsult.com/blogs/illuminati/archives/000078.html" Great! Hey Robert, I know you wanted to find out how it's done, so here's your chance. [WebLogs @ ASP.NET] 12:29:53 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Source: Holovaty.com Best practice: Edmunds.com zip-code prompt. I've complained before that news-site registration forms don't give users an incentive to give accurate demographic information. Here's proof that it can be done well. Edmunds.com is an outstanding example of how to gather user zip codes more reliably and less annoyingly than similar implementations (e.g. usatoday.com and washingtonpost.com). Although Edmunds isn't a typical media site -- it provides car-buying information -- news site operators can learn a lot from it. To see what I mean, visit the site's new cars or used cars section. You'll see this screen before you can access the content: Why do I like this so much? It gives me a reason to provide a valid zip code. The "benefits of providing your Zip Code" are spelled out for me clearly and succinctly. It doesn't require me to give a zip code. The "Continue without providing Zip Code" link is right in front, as if to say, "We know some of you aren't comfortable giving away this information, and that's fine." That wins the site some extra credibility points. The benefit for users: No hassle, and a better, more targeted browsing experience. The benefit for Edmunds: More accurate zip-code demographics. (Why take the time to enter bogus info when you can click a link to skip the form entirely?) And credibility/good vibes. My only beef is that the site's privacy policy isn't linked-to from this page. [Holovaty.com] 11:08:40 AM    trackback []     Articulate []

Source: dionidium.com 6News Lawrence: All CSS Weather. 6News Lawrence (Lawrence, Kansas) has launched a simple, attractive weather site using only CSS for layout. Co-creator Adrian Holovaty‘s writeup is a must-read: It’s proof (we hope) that relatively complex layouts are possible using CSS techniques that are well-supported right now. We found it particularly interesting that the creators chose not to include a browser-upgrade message for users of older browsers, citing Richard Rutter‘s analysis of upgrade messages. After re-reading Rutter’s comments, we’re second-guessing the browser-upgrade message in use at this site. We find it especially troubling that text-only and mobile browsers — browsers that may support web standards, but choose not to render CSS for obvious reasons — will still display our message at the top of every page on our site. This type of discussion, once academic in the United States, becomes increasingly important as new web-capable devices gain popularity. Holovaty exclaims that “CSS techniques” are “well-supported right now.” This may be reason enough to dump the browser-upgrade message that’s been a part of our sites since almost as early as we first heard about standards. We haven’t done it, yet. But our upgrade message’s days are numbered. [dionidium.com] 8:15:25 AM    trackback []     Articulate []