Technically Easy

Search results for: “label/Web Site – Review”

  • What to Avoid When Designing Web Sites

    I enjoy using Entrecard on a daily basis. It allows me to find new blogs that I would have never have visited without going through Entrecard. At the same time I also find blogs that I would never visit again, not because of the content, but because of how they are designed.

    In this post I will list several points that I consider to be a bad for Web sites and blogs, and items that should be avoided if you want to keep your visitors coming back for more.

    What You Should Avoid When Managing a Web Site

    I have written many posts regarding designing a good Web site, at least in my opinion. These are outlined in Blog Designing Tips for New Bloggers and Web Site Design Tips.

    Now let’s look at some bad points that you should avoid when designing Web sites.

    1. Creating a complex design.

      Avoid adding too many links, objects, and ads to the sidebars and focus more on providing an easy to find and read navigational links. Your visitors won’t stay around hunting for a specific link. Keep the navigation simple.

    2. Popup Ads.

      These windows that open when you visit a site are really annoying, and in reality serve no real purpose as most users would just close them anyway. Making money with ads is okay by me, just as long as they are incorporated in the Web pages and don’t display in a new window.

    3. Background Music.

      I have visited many Web sites that include some music that loads and then plays in the background. If you would like music on your site, provide the play option to the user and don’t play it automatically.

    4. Flash animation – no real content.

      I usually visit sites looking for specific information. When a site’s navigation and content are all contained in flash animation, I usually close the window. Although flash can look great, I prefer the standard text to Flash on a Web site. Besides, search engines can’t index content properly if it is built in Flash animation.

    5. Copied content – no original ideas.

      Don’t copy the hard work of others and post it on your site. You will probably be punished by the search engines for having duplicate content, and won’t get many visitors in the end. You could write a brief summary of the Web page and then link back to the original site.

    6. Many Large Images.

      Many times I have visited a personal Web site and had to wait for several minutes for some images to download. If you would like to use photos on your site, make them smaller in an image editor first, and then upload them. Don’t let the browser do the resizing since they will still be large, and just look smaller.

    Summary

    This post has provided several items that you should avoid on your Web site if you want your visitors to keep returning for more. The items listed above are the most common annoyances on Web sites today, and they are the reasons I refuse to re-visit a Web site.

    Now the question to you is: what would you add to the list to make it more complete?

  • What exactly is Nanographic Printing?

    What exactly is Nanographic Printing?

    Printing has come a long way in a short space of time. Years ago, black and white documents were the only available option. Although colour printing existed, this was expensive and a very large printer was required. Nanotechnology has changed the world in many ways, such as printing. There are many printing processes, which are inspired by nanotechnology, such as nanographic printing. So, what is it?

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  • Fix: ASP.Net Client-side Validation

    Besides managing Technically Easy, I also manage other web sites. These web sites were developed using Microsoft’s .Net framework and were coded in C#. Recently a problem had developed that caused me some grief.

    In the test environment, the ASP.Net client-side validation controls (used on some web forms) worked perfectly. They highlighted the fields that weren’t filled in correctly when a visitor clicked the submit button. In production, however, they stopped working. After some serious research I determined the cause of the problem and was able to fix it. This post will explain how I did it.

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  • Review: tenforty

    Many blog authors like to write about personal experiences, which can be a refreshing change to those who like to read blogs. It’s nice to read about someone’s experiences on what they have done, or would like to do. For those that write a blog on their travels, the photos they take and display add to the enjoyment of the blogs as many of the photos provide a windows into another country and culture.

    In this post I review a blog that provides both great content and photos to locations in the eastern part of the world. You may not understand the title: tenforty, but once you read the description of the title on the blog you will understand.

    tenforty Blog

    Design 3.5 stars

    When I first looked at tenforty one word came to mind: blue. The entire site is mainly various shades of blue. If you are not a fan of that colour, then this may not be the blog for you. Blue is my favourite colour, however, I do have my limits to the amount of blue that I like to see.

    Unfortunately, the right navigation bar’s background colour is blue as well as the links. This makes the links more difficult to read as blue on blue doesn’t work too well. Once a link has been visited the colour changes to a light orange colour. This makes it also a little difficult to read.

    There are some items in the navigation bar that just don’t blend well with all the other items. An example of this is the Resources item, which stands out amongst all the other items since it has a faded book background. Making all items in the navigation bar similar will provide a nicer look to the entire right-side of the pages.

    One of the things I liked about the design of the blog were the design of the posts. The author has chosen a nice large and very readable font. The titles of the posts are even large so they stand out against the fonts chosen for the post content. I like how the posts are all surrounded by a thick border and are separated by other posts with a space. This provides some nice separation between the posts.

    The design of the blog could be improved if the author limited the amount of blue as a background colour, maybe possibly making the right navigation bar and the post background match and keeping the main body background as blue.

    Focus 4.5 stars

    For those that haven’t visited tenforty before may find it a little confusing as to the focus of the blog. There are many categories listed in the navigation bar, which may obscure the focus.

    To help visitors understand the focus of the blog, the author has provided a nice description in the upper right corner. There the author also explains the name of the blog: “The 10/40 Window is an area of the world extending from 10 degrees north to 40 degrees north of the equator, and includes countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.” This also helps to set the focus for the entire blog, which is really ingenious. Sometimes coming up with a name for a Web site or blog can be complicated and I feel that the name captures what the author is writing about.

    The focus of the blog is enhanced by the well written posts that also include photos of the authors experiences. Once you have visited the blog, the focus is more easy to determine as your read the posts on the blog.

    Content 4.5 stars

    As I have briefly touched upon in the focus, the main content of the blog is about the author’s experience in the eastern countries in the world. The author has gone into great detail in some posts, but not too much where they have lost the focus of the post. Many of the posts are enhanced with the inclusion of at least one photo followed by a brief description of the photo. This helps to picture what the author is illustrating in the posts.

    While the photos help the posts, those visitors on dial up may have to wait for the complete post to be downloaded. Some posts have one photo, while others may have several. Some of the photos can be rather large (80KB and larger) which can take longer if you are on dial up.

    The content overall is detailed and well illustrated with photos. The post length is not too long where the interest of the visitor can be lost, but are rather short and to the point, while at the same time not losing the focus of the post.

    Spelling and Grammar 4.5 stars

    As I read several posts I noticed that the author has obviously spent time checking both the spelling and grammar. I rarely found any problems with the spelling and grammar, which sometimes is a rarity in blogs. The very minor mistakes I did find, didn’t affect the readability of the posts. In this regard the author is very careful when writing the posts.

    Overall 4 stars

    I enjoyed reading many of the posts that have been written on tenforty, as well as view many of the photos that are available. The only issue I found with the blog is the amount of blue that was used. This made some of the links in the navigation bar hard to read as they almost blend into the background. Besides the blue colour, there were no real issues with the blog and was a really well written and detailed blog. It was worth the visit.

  • Review: Geek and Money

    There are probably thousands of people with blogs and web sites that are trying to make a lot of money online. There are many avenues, some good and some bad, that you can take that will help you achieve your goal. The problem, however, is that most people take one of the bad avenues and think that making money online is quick and easy.

    This week I review a blog where someone is trying to make a certain amount of money, whether it is online or offline. Although, once you look at the blog you may think the author is trying too hard.

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  • UnoDNS from UnoTelly Review

    UnoDNS from UnoTelly Review

    If you live in the United States you have probably enjoyed the freedom of viewing a lot of streaming content. Much of that content can’t be viewed outside of the United States, so for people like me who would like to also view that content, we are pretty much out of luck. Well, almost.

    Being a Canadian, I felt joy when I heard that Netflix was finally going to be available in Canada, but unfortunately became disappointed when I realized that much of what Americans can view would not be available in my country. In the age of the Internet, which connects the world in a way no other technology has done in the past, there are still many barriers in place that limit how we are connected.

    There is a solution to knock down those geo-block barriers, however, and one particular service provided by UnoTelly is called UnoDNS.

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  • Review: MoneyMoose

    There are many financial and business related blogs on the Internet. Most, if not all of these blogs take the world of finance very seriously. I don’t blame them, I take it very seriously at times myself.

    Every now and then I come across a Web site that seems to go against the grain. In this case, a blog called MoneyMoose takes a more light-hearted, and humourous approach to the business world.

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  • Review: Life is Colourful

    One of the most popular niche many people choose when creating a blog is the “money making” niche. I am not a fan of this niche, in fact I think it is too saturated with blogs.

    The blog this week, title Life is Colourful, is a blog that is partially in the “money making” niche. There is more to this blog, which is a good thing, as they author also ventures into the world of the Internet and SEO to provide even more tips to help you get started in blogging.

    Life is Colourful

    Web Site: Life is Colourful – Making 2 cents per minute

    Description: It’s all about Blogging, Internet, SEO, Technology, Reviews and Life.

    Design 3.5 stars

    On of the weakest points of Life is Colourful is the design. While one of the main topics discussed is how to make money online, the blog isn’t overwhelmed by ads. The design of the blog contains three sidebars, which is a little unusual. There is a left sidebar, and two right sidebars. The content is between the left and right sidebars.

    Since there are three sidebars, each column is not very wide. This has caused the author to choose a rather small font for the sidebars and the content. This can make it difficult for some to read easily. I rather prefer a larger font, at least for the content.

    The left sidebar contains only ads, and not many as only three are displayed at the top. The right sidebars contain the navigation links. The links are organized into sections, however, there seem to be too many. This clutters the right sidebar to the point where it is a little difficult to easily navigate around the blog. There are many comment links and other Web site links included in the sidebar. I’d much rather see more links related to the content of the blog.

    A few minor tweaks to the design of the blog will make it a much more appealing blog for all visitors.

    Focus 3.5stars

    The focus of the blog is rather difficult to find as many topics are discussed on the blog. If I had to choose the main focus I will probably put it in the Internet category. Unfortunately, the Internet category is very broad and not very focused.

    In this case, however, the author has chosen many topics on the Internet, including making money, SEO and Web site reviews. Many of the topics discussed can be a separate blog in itself. There are also a few technology reviews as well.

    The author does indicate other Web sites and blogs that they manage, but maybe a few more with the topics discussed on this blog can narrow down the focus of Life is Colourful.

    Content 4.5 stars

    I enjoyed the content of this blog, as I found the posts well written and not too long. The addition of images within each post provides some nice colour without distracting from the point of the post.

    The author takes time to update the blog on a regular basis. It seems on almost a daily basis the blog is updated, which indicates the devotion the author has to the blog.

    The content of Life is Colourful is definitely the strongest, and with good reason, aspect of the blog.

    Spelling and Grammar 4.5 stars

    I found that the posts are well written and contain very few spelling and grammar mistakes. For those posts that do have a mistake, the mistake doesn’t reduce the readability, or distract from the point the author is trying to make.

    Overall 4 stars

    The design of Life is Colourful can be a little cleaner to make navigating around the blog easier for visitors. Reducing the number of links in the two right sidebars can go a long way to the usability of the blog. Increasing the font size will also help with the readability of the blog.

    While the focus seems to be a little broad, the actual content of Life is Colourful is the strongest point of the blog. The author updates the blog on a regular basis which is always good to have on a blog.

    Overall, Life is Colourful is definitely a great blog to visit.

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