Design Patterns D – Writing and Managing Content Lori Nuth February 20, 2006 EDIT 752
How well did this site implement page templates? D1PageTemplates
Solution Use a grid layout to help define a global template that includes: basic navigation elements major content areas areas for related content For each kind of page, create individual templates that use the global template as part of the structure. D1PageTemplates
How does this site avoid having stale content? D2ContentModulesD4PersonalizedContent
SolutionD2ContentModulesD4PersonalizedContent Define content locations in page templates Organize all content into the file system or in to a content database Manage content from an administration page
Is this a pyramid style? D3 Headlines and BlurbsD7Inverse-Pyramid Writing Style D9Distinctive HTML Titles
SolutionD3 Headlines and BlurbsD7Inverse-Pyramid Writing Style D9Distinctive HTML Titles Inverse writingPyramid style
How many of you use message boards? D5MessageBoards
SolutionD5MessageBoards Build into navigation Link from related content Allow to save favorites in customer profile and browser favorites Search keywords Sort posts by name Ability to read posts prior to signing in Post board rules Use simple form to post content Admin ability to approve or reject content
How do you write for search engines? D6 Writing for Search Engines D9Distinctive HTML Titles Distinctive HTML titles for each page Use keywords at top of page and in body text META tags Site accessible for impaired vision Don’t use bogus keywords or text
How do you make content non-searchable? D6 Writing for SearchEngines Create a robot file # robots.txt, 3/24/2005 # User-agent: * Disallow: /college/ Disallow: /library/ Disallow: /learning/ Allow: /pages/ Allow: /2003/ Allow: /2004/ Allow: /2005/ Allow: /top/ User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*
How do you make sure a page is printable? D8PrintablePages Create a printer-friendly page template Make sure everything fits on the page Remove extraneous navigation and content Add labels to help people find the article online again Take main content out of HTML tables
Example of Print Preview D8PrintablePages
What does Internationalization and Localization mean? D10Internationalized and Localized Content Internationalization: Software changes required to support: different languages date and times currencies weights and measures number formats Localization: Process of redesigning the human-computer interface Translating content to support a local culture
How should you make a site ready for a worldwide audience? D10Internationalized and Localized Content store strings of text separately from code do not rely on machine translation hire competent translators beware of terms that are not widely known recognize holidays, customs (colors), and nonverbal communication dates, currencies, weight and measures etc. site accessible for variety of devices (mobile web) local legal issues – trade laws