Mariapia on Fatal Errors

Updated 10/30/98 . . . more soon

#6 Theft -- objects

It is easy to save other people's backgrounds, signs, pictures, art and text without permission -- plain and simple plagiarism. All you have to do is right click on the object, save to your drive, and upload to your site. Usually, this is done by homepage design novices. As a rule, experienced designers are embarrassed to have objects that are not fresh and original.

Cure: Get the software to make your own animations, signs, banners, backgrounds, etc. Learn how to use it. Get the software to upload to your site. Who knows? You may be a Monet waiting to happen! Also, use public domain objects. There are many sites which get great hits by offering free objects to you -- use them. Or, at least link back to the site where you lifted the object and acknowledge their gift. This is professional and flattering. Finally, when you make your objects, you can customize them to the extent that no one else wants them! Put your screen name in the object, or write something site-specific on the sign. Email me with more hints.

#5 Theft -- bandwidth

Theft of bandwidth is inexcusable. This is where you link to someone else's objects without permission. People do this for MIDI's, Java applets and GIFs, to name a few. Usually, there is no intention of pretending that the object is your own. One intention is lack of expertise in creating something similar or inability to upload. Some people don't have the software capability or knowledge. The worst intention is to deliberately keep the megabytes out of your directory and make use of someone else's. Unfortunately, you are tying up access to that person's site! Cure: There is no cure for the deliberate thief, although I suspect that if you use FRAMES, she may not know what to link to because the code is hidden. There are other ways to hide code, too. In the case of the novice, fortunately, he will gain the experience in a few months to upload and program, and will dismantle the links. It takes time to realize that visitors recognize stolen objects and can feel the drain on resources.

#4 No Breaks

Have you ever visited a site that has everything on the home page and goes on and on and on and you wonder where it will ever end and you can't seem to catch your breath, just as you can't catch your breath with this run-on question?

Do your visitor a favor and:

Break up the page Cure: Please put links on your page to other pages on your site. These links should allow a choice by being very descriptive. Add "white space" to the page through the use of tables, cellpadding, centering, off-center placement and graphics. Place signs strategically on the page, signs that also make use of "white space".

Alternate font weights occasionally. Alternate text and graphics. Use HR lines. Open up your table heights. Establish themes that sooth the eye in your choice of font faces, colors, graphics, etc. Be cautious with busy patterns.

#3 High Tech

It is very tempting to show off your knowledge of high technology to friends and family . . . to try to impress visitors . . . to practice the latest programming techniques. But please remember this simple rule:

If the visitor can't see it, you have shown him nothing.

Cure: Temper your site with viewer-friendly code. I have an ongoing dialog with fellow programmers on this subject. We do not agree at all. But my philosophy was set when Visual Basic 4.0 hit the stands: My clients were not capable of using 4.0 programs for quite some time until they upgraded, so rather than force them to make decisions they weren't ready for, I continued to write in 3.0 ... cleverly creating code that emulated the new techniques in 4.0, but usable by 3.0 clients.

The current battle is over Browsers. Netscape can see X but not Y. Explorer can see Y but not X. Explorer 3.0 can see some X and Y. AOL can't see either. You have choices to make. You can code for all Browsers, you can code for the lowest grade or oldest models, or you can satisfy most visitors except those with the oldest Browsers. The latter is my choice. What is yours? Please try to convince me that I'm wrong.

#2 Load Time

Some site reviewers claim that they don't mind long load times, but they are professionals looking for outstanding content. It is best not to tax your visitor with 3 to 5 minute load times. When you turned to this page, do you remember how long you had to wait for the following image to load?

Cure: Fortunately, there was plenty of text to look through while you were waiting, and the image was small. So, have content that entertains your visitor, load your images into graphics software and . . . downsize it, change it to .JPG or .GIF format, add a HEIGHT and WIDTH to the IMG code (preferably smaller than the image, with a link to view it full-size, if appropriate), and take a moment to add an ALT tag to the IMG code so the visitor knows what is loading.

#1 Dead Links

Dead links are frustrating for your visitor, and unprofessional. They speak of neglect or carelessness, and seasoned surfers can tell which of those sins it is. Here, try this . . . click on this link:

Free Car to First 100 Visitors!
Offer Ends Today!

This is not a real link, but it is what a dead link feels like. Worse is the dead link that sends your visitor to an error page, off your site. Most likely, he will keep on going.

Cure: After you create a link, test it yourself, every link, every time, looking for the most common causes: misspelling or missing symbols. This is tedious on a page like my NetLinks with over 200, but absolutely necessary. And at least once a month, check those links again, looking for sites that no longer exist. It happens more often than you think.

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