Posts filed under “Web development”
You never know who is visiting your site
Which is why it is very important to build for Web standards. If you or your company just builds for Internet Explorer, not only are you building for a browser that is behind the times (and just terrible, just terrible), but you also might be alienating some of your users. Or a lot of your [...]
Using Google to make your personal domain better
Google offers a way to integrate Google services with your custom domain, Google Apps I’ll be honest, it’s pretty great. But why do I like it so much? Simple: e-mail. Rather, Gmail. It’s no secret that I and many people are big fans of Gmail. It’s fast, extensively uses Ajax to make it a seamless [...]
User registration is counter productive
If a Web site requires users to register to view basic content it is losing countless potential users, page views and ultimately revenue. User registration is a needless step that alienates potential users. Yes, many sites have gotten away with requiring registration for years, but that’s because core audience members doesn’t mind, because they are [...]
Podcasting done right, CNET style
Everyone wants to get into blogs and podcasts and vodcasts and social networking and yada, yada, yada, but most don’t know how to do them right — especially news organizations. New media can teach old media a thing or twenty. CNET’s Buzz Out Loud podcast is an excellent example of how to do podcasting right. [...]
What makes a good blog
The other day I discussed how not everyone deserves a blog at a newspaper, but I think it’s important to point out what makes a blog worth reading. 1. Focus A focused blog almost always will be more popular and facilitate richer conversations than an unfocused blog. Now, you don’t have to have a niche. [...]
It’s not just a journalism problem, part 1
The problems with adapting to a changing market place is not just a journalism problem. Clear parallels can be drawn between the problems that the journalism industry is facing and the problems that other big media industries are facing as well. One only has to look at television industry, and how big networks are still [...]
Join me in making cool Web stuff
The Stars and Stripes has a few openings on our Web staff for Web Content Editors. Do you want to become an online journalist or are you an online journalist looking for a challenge? Join me on the Web team. Here is the official opening at journalism jobs. You’ll be a journalist or understand journalism [...]
Using the Web to tell more in-depth stories
If you haven’t checked out The New York Times’ “Assessing the ‘Surge: A Survey of Baghdad Neighborhoods,’” you should do so right away. It is a prime example of how some stories are just better told online than in print — much better. Assessing the “Surge” is a difficult task, and this feature helps people [...]
Journalism skills in 2007
It’s clear that in this day and age journalism students and journalists need to know more than just words. But what exactly do they need to know? Mindy McAdams has an excellent blog post about the skills that journalism students should have. As much as I harp on the need to have a varied skill [...]
How to and how not to collaborate on a Web project
We just launched our latest little mini special feature on the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, and it has some important lessons in how to and how not to collaborate with print and Web editors on a project. The idea for the project came from writer Steve Mraz and photographer Ben Bloker out of our bureau [...]