How do you choose a CMS?

There is no perfect solution for all needs and uses, but this is a good general guideline for evaluating CMS options. We used similar criteria in creating our Genome framework for our custom CMS sites. The biggest failing we found in the market was the choice of limited features or overly complex systems. We either couldn’t do what the client wanted with the systems or the client couldn’t figure out how to use it once it was set up. We customized based on those principals to give the best of both worlds in our projects. This is a great list to check over when you are evaluating your next CMS project so that the feature list does not cloud the decision. You don’t want a system the client can’t use.

Check out the full article here.

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A better way to view your history

TechCrunch has an early review for Safari 4 for the Mac. While its not out officially yet (public beta for now) it is another next generation browser that is on the way. As always its important to keep in mind how things look and function (both good and bad) in multiple browsers so that usability is always at its best for all users. Safari 4 seems to offer a lot in speed and multi page views that very well are showing a trend with all next generation browsers.

Check it out here.

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We are pretty fond of Basecamp as a project management tool and also are following RSS feeds, Facebook, and other alert based apps on a regular basis. This article from 37 Signals highlights how AlertThingy can bring your social and business worlds together in one place to simplify all the info. Keeping up with all the latest news and networking can be tough, but I tried this little free app out and so far it seems to help consolidate things and clear the clutter.

Full article here.

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“Social Networking” is more than just a fad these days. Agencies are starting to see how these new technologies can be powerful tools at their disposal, but what is the down side? Can clients be shown how these powerful and cheap ways to contact customers can be effective and still not loose sight of more traditional methods? Phil Johnson takes a swing at some ideas that might help bridge between old and new for ad agencies.

Read more here on Ad Age

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No longer will users have to download huge files to preview the content. DocStoc lets you post documents and they provide simple links to provide users a popup preview of the document with a much smaller file size. Don’t pull down that 100 MB PDF just to realize its the wrong size, preview it before and skip the download.

More info here.

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The number of new registrations of domain names are slowing. With 88% of registered names resolving to an actual site, one can only hope that that percentage might be on the rise rather than parking for profit. Interesting trends none the less…

More detail from TechCrunch here.

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The new DSi

If you have (or are) a kid between the ages of 4 and 94 you may be interested in the next generation of Nintendo’s portable gaming device. But what about the non gamer. Why should developers even care that a new game device is out? Simple, it now has a browser! Like the iPhone and many other devices that make the web accessible, each new device that launches with a browser, also means another way for users to view your content.

Many devices use existing technology (iPhones use Safari for example) but keeping up with versions, capabilities, and screen sizes for various devices can be a challenge. As more of these devices come out, computer screen resolution and 2-3 browser’s capabilities won’t be enough. Make sure you know your target audience and choose appropriate web design and features accordingly. There is nothing more frustrating to an iPhone user than to hit an all Flash site with no alternate version of the content. Know your audience, their capabilities, and be willing to customize the experience to the device, or better yet, plan with multiple devices in mind from the start.

More info on the DSi release here.

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Basecamp's Landing Page

Solid usability is key for a user experience. The best content or concept is useless if its difficult to navigate and use. Smashing Magazine posted a good summary of 9 common mistakes that are made in web design. While some may not apply to “all” sites, its a great check list to make sure the bigger bases are covered.

Check out the article here.

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TechCrunch has an article today on Scout Lab’s tools for monitoring brands and searches in the social networking space. Their tools help filter down content based on keywords and search terms to see what users are saying about your brand, track trends, and help you intervene and help with targeted PR. It may be a bit pricey for smaller firms, though a much cheaper solution than some of the competitors.

Read the full article on TechCrunch

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Now its time for a round of Buzzword Bingo! So who has ever been in one of those meetings where the tech guy starts throwing around acronyms like there is no tomorrow?

“Yeah, see we are going to connect the PHP back end to a MySQL database using an internal net connection between the co-located servers. Then the front end will be primarily Flex driven using some AJAX elements to update real time data using an XML feed.”

AJAX - Its for websites!

Ok, I know what that means, and you may too, but I also know that is 90% posturing and about 10% actual solution. So what do we make of all this mess? Well, I won’t tackle it all today, but lets go into a few terms that seem to be the ‘in’ thing lately.

“Web 2.0 will save us all”

At least that is what everyone is saying. So what is Web 2.0? Are we throwing out our browsers? Not exactly. Most people associated web 2.0 with something they have seen. A nice interactive interface, or the magic of something updating in the middle of a page when you click. In reality Web 2.0 is not a technology as much as it is a concept. Now I am sure some tech-extremists are about to email and correct me on certain finer points of this, but lets break the concept down into some very straight forward layman’s terms.

“The web as it was”
Well, actually the web as it mostly is. Currently we have a general expectation for most web sites. You load a bunch of text and images on a page. You read, see something you like and click. What happens next? You wait. You have high speed access so you don’t wait as long but your page goes blank, you scroll back to the top of the page again and everything reloads. It works, but its not elegant and not very intuitive.

“The web as it can be”
So what if I want to do a lot of things in a page quickly? Ever tried to reorder a list of items with one of those clunky up/down arrow lists? You’ll go crazy if there are more than 3 items. This is where the web 2.0 concept comes into play. If I want to see a change to one item, why reload the whole page? There are many approaches to this including Flash/Flex, DHTML, and AJAX. I’ll cover some AJAX/DHTML examples, as the same basic principles apply to all 3.

Lets say I do have that list of 40 pictures and they just need to be rearranged. Sure I can click a “move up” link under each repeatedly, but wouldn’t it be easier to just put them where I want them? Now you get web 2.0. Its all the joys of applications with all the power of a web interface. Just drag and rearrange your images. As you do its saving the results to the server without you ever loading a page. AJAX is not a dish soap (well this version is not), it stands for Asynchronous Javascript and XML. In layman’s terms it means that Javascript running in the page takes care of all that cumbersome back and forth talk between the server and the page while you just enjoy the bliss that is the interface you are in.

Overall a web 2.0 approach can do wonders for your web site or web application. Usability goes up, user frustrations go down and everyone is happy. The key is making sure that its being used intelligently and as the right tool for the job. Everything should not be “Web 2.0″. Its all about the experience. Here are places we like to use these kinds of technologies.

• Displaying a list of items that can be sorted
• Displaying a gallery of images over a page without leaving the base content
• Showing detail content as a popup or tool-tip
• “In place” editing of page content, titles, etc.
• Offering editors in the viewable page rather than through a complex admin system
• Anywhere the user does not need to wait for an entire page to load to get to simple information

Its the tip of the iceberg, but the possibilities are limitless. The overall goal is to consider usability and user experience so the tools become transparent and the user has a feeling of satisfaction at how simple your site or application is to use.

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