RWT Webmaster Tools Blog

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-18

• Three Mistakes Webmasters Make With WordPress: http://EzineArticles.com/4417318 #
• It Takes a Village Idiot: The Jerks of Online Forums – PCWorld – absolutely funny! Must read if you run… http://tumblr.com/xrabdkuhs #
• 10 Things the Internet has Ruined and Five Things it Hasn't – CIO.com – Business Technology Leadership – Spot… http://tumblr.com/xrabdl487 #
• 15 Internet Annoyances and How to Fix Them – CIO.com – Business Technology Leadership – Amen! http://tumblr.com/xrabdl5ol #
• Create and Collaborate on Online Diagrams – Try it Free | Creately – Intriguing diagram collaboration tool. http://tumblr.com/xrabe94vr #
• Internet Marketing Software – Search Marketing Tools for SEO & PPC | WordStream – possible SEO keyword… http://tumblr.com/xrabe9fr2 #
• Notable | Easiest way for teams to provide feedback on websites. – a tool I am seriously considering using at… http://tumblr.com/xrabe9n5r #
• Broken link test, website analysis and more with LinkAider – cool website health check tool. Testing it now…. http://tumblr.com/xrabea3hx #
• CoboCards » Prices & Licences – Study collaboratively flashcards and vocabulary online – create your own… http://tumblr.com/xrabeaax9 #
• Axosoft : Bug Tracking Software, Scrum Project Management, Issue Tracking – The Planning Board feature looks… http://tumblr.com/xrabearlp #
• jQuery WYSIWYG site editor, no more code, just stick it! – intriguing possibilities but unsure of long term… http://tumblr.com/xrabeb3bw #
• WordPress 3.0: The 5 Most Important New Features – WordPress 3.0 is coming soon! Learn about key new… http://tumblr.com/xrabee3lz #

Fixing Meta Descriptions in All-in-One SEO WordPress plugin

I was a tad baffled several months back when I noticed that meta descriptions were not appearing on my web pages. I use the All-in-One SEO plugin for manage my meta descriptions and I checked all over kingdom come for what could be wrong.

As a last resort I read the documentation on the All-in-One SEO wesbite

The problem was simple. For some reason I had deleted wp_head() from my header. (I often edit and customize my templates so it was possible I did this!)

The fix:

1. In your admin panel, go to Plugins – Theme Editor
2. On the right bar, click on Header
3. Locate the line with
4. Insert the following line before it:
“

” (without the quotes)
5. Save

Since this is posted in their Help, the issue must come up often. So glad to know I am not alone…

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-11

• Bulk Domain Availability Checker – Domain Hammer – Owner submitted this site for my review. Very simple… http://tumblr.com/xraay6joj #
• TomatoCart- New Generation Ecommerce – Submitted to RWT for review. Tomatocart is a free ecommerce solution…. http://tumblr.com/xraay6obs #
• Keyword Density SEO Experts Calculate The Perfect % (Percent) | Hobo – excellent article on keyword density…. http://tumblr.com/xraazcbi9 #
• Search engine market share – Good reminder of where to focus search engine efforts. However, do not forget… http://tumblr.com/xraazjl05 #
• Google for Webmasters – Video tutorial – Google’s own tutorial on using Google Webmaster Tools http://tumblr.com/xraazjzpy #

Testing the Color Contrast of a webpage

In order to promote a greater level of usability for your readers (both disabled and non-disabled) it is important to check the color contrast of your webpage. I have written elsewhere about the value of a “readable” website, so suffice it to say that testing color contrast is a simple way to find out the readability of your website pages.

Think about the times you have come across websites with a dark background and some kind of pastel font color. Or worse, a light background and a pastel font color. Why make a reader work to read your site? It should be easy on the eyes. I personally recommend that your content text should be black on white. You can have whatever colors you want around the content, but make sure the content can be read.

So, using a robust color contrast test, you can determine the readability of your site.

Accesskeys offers the following functionality:

• tests the color contrast and color brightness between the foreground and background of all text elements
• ensures enough color contrast for readers with visual disabilities (such as those with low vision or color blindness
• automatically finds the values of all color combinations and tests them for you
• finds color combinations by evaluating internal and external CSS files
• two modes of report presentation: 1) complete line by line report of the HTML document or 2) reporting only errors and warnings
• Warning are reported when either color contrast or color difference fail
• Errors are reported when both color contrast or color difference fail
• Works only on websites that contain true text (no text on images, flash, etc.)
• Mouse over text effects are ignored

Why work towards a readable website?

1) Readable text stands out AND is recognizable.

2) A website that can be read can be read again, and again.

3) Readable text connects to your reader.

4) Readable text lowers barriers to other content on your site.

5) A readable website puts your readers at immediate ease.

Unschedule a Scheduled Post in WordPress

One of the cool features in WordPress is the ability to scheduled your posts so they are “posted” later (hours, days, weeks, months, etc.)

But what happens when, after a post is scheduled, it needs to be unscheduled for whatever reason?

It is a tad tricky at first, because our instinct is to look for the “unschedule” button. There isn’t one. The “Publish” button has disappeared as well. How can you get back to either a normal draft status or to publish immediately?

First, edit the scheduled date to a date in the past. This will re-establish the Publish button. So you can choose to Publish immediately if you want.

Second, edit the Status from “Scheduled” to Draft. The kicker here is that the “Update” button does not update. If you reset the date to the future, the “Update Post” button will return. Clicking Update Post will save the post and not publish it nor schedule it.

A bit of a hassle, something that should be fixed in a future version I would hope.

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-04

• RT @cnet Steve Jobs at D: Post-PC era is nigh | Beyond Binary – CNET News http://bit.ly/aUkGE7 – interesting article on Mr. Jobs! #
• HammerKit – Web Punk – web design reinvented spring 2010 – interesting concept. Supposed to launch soon…. http://tumblr.com/xraaxix00 #

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-21

• Twitter to Launch Twitter Business Center [SCREENSHOTS] – New business features coming to Twitter http://tumblr.com/xra9w40ar #
• Ensuring People Know How to Understand Your Website: http://EzineArticles.com/4288435 #
• @KISSmetrics the answer: whatever makes your website "work" – plenty of examples of timeless and trendy sites that simply do not work in reply to KISSmetrics #
• @EzineArticles amen to that! in reply to EzineArticles #
• Square -easy credit card payments – Fascinating! The future of credit card payments. No merchant account!?!… http://tumblr.com/xra9wn6pr #

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-14

• how facebook has manipulated its user base http://ht.ly/1Krnc #
• Five Reasons Why Readability is Important For Your Website: http://EzineArticles.com/4283444 #
• Google Translate Now Speaks More Than 30 Languages – for those of you who are considering adding Google… http://tumblr.com/xra9uze7v #
• just a test tweet to see why my tumblr post, while it appears in my tweets, does not appear on my tweet feed on my blog #
• Ramon Nuez: I Can't Live Without Twitter But Tumblr Is Just Better – How I got started on Tumblr, all because… http://tumblr.com/xra9v0669 #
• Facebook Statistics You Probably Didn't Already Know (INFOGRAPHIC) – Interesting facts about Facebook. http://tumblr.com/xra9v0csy #
• Mozilla discusses Firefox 4 plans | Browsers & Add-Ons | Macworld – Thoughts: The concept of a home tab WITH… http://tumblr.com/xra9v0izy #

Facebook, Strippers, Voyeurs and Privacy

I have never personally nor professionally had an account on Facebook. But to further clarify, I do participate in other kinds of social networks. There are two aspects of Facebook (or any social network) that disturb me. The first is people’s behavior and the second is privacy.

When I am asked “why?” by my colleagues and friends, I respond with a simple metaphor: “I am neither a stripper nor a voyeur.” To which, people either laugh or give me a look. So I explain.

Strippers are those individuals who bare their all on Facebook. They share the who, what and where of their daily lives and personal identity in detail. They are willing to share it with most people; essentially whomever is willing to read their profile.

Voyeurs are those who actually digest all the stripper has to offer. They consume the date without any real personal interaction. They like to read, watch and remain anonymous even though they are technically “a friend”.

Let me give an example to illustrate. About a year and a half ago, my wife ran into an acquaintance of hers at a local store. I will call the acquaintance, Ann. In the midst of their discussion, which included the typical “how are you’s” and “what’s new”, the conversation turned to a mutual acquaintance named Shirley. Shirley lived about a block or two away from us, around the corner. We were not close to her family but would occasionally interact. Ann went on to describe some of the difficulties Shirley was having during her pregnancy. On top of which, Shirley’s house sold a month before she was due and actually, they moved the very week she gave birth. Ann went on and on about the stress of that week, everything Ann’s husband had to do and organize (which also included caring for two other children!). Quite the story! Most of which my wife was not aware of.

My wife asked Ann when she had talked with Shirley. To which Ann replied that she had not actually talked to Shirley but had just read her Facebook page.

In this example, Shirley is the stripper and Ann is the voyeur.

Now, I am not going to blame Facebook for the behavior of strippers and voyeurs. But it is fascinating that people have let themselves fulfill these roles. My concern for the strippers and voyeurs is two-fold. First, that the sharing of intimate life details has become non-intimate. Second, I questioned whether these two individuals were really and truly “friends”.

So all along I have had a concern with how people tend to behave on social networks, which is why they have never appealed to me. But again this is not really Facebook’s fault.

However, when I think about the story above and consider how Facebook has changed their privacy policy over the years, the details Shirley intended for friends could now easily be shared to a larger community. Unless Shirley was on the top of her game, her life would have been unwittingly shared with many.

Fast Company posted a fascinating infographic the other day: Privacy on Facebook is Vanishing. The author’s commentary on the infographic: “But it does show that Facebook has transformed itself in the last five years from a service were privacy was an opt-out feature, to one where privacy is opt-in. As any behavioral economist will tell you, that single difference can massively affect the choices people make. Facebook might easily claim, “Hey! You can change things as you wish!” But in fact, they’ve created a massive shift in the privacy settings of Facebook as a whole. ”

A Fast Company post today displays how complicated privacy settings have become on Facebook.

I will stop short of telling people to get off of Facebook. Rather, I encourage them to 1) be careful and 2) to investigate alternatives that are privacy minded and allow total personal control. (Simple email comes to mind here).

Five Ways to Improve the Readability of your website

While we are in the video age, text still reigns supreme on websites. Since that is the case, it is important that your visitors be able to actually read it!

Consider these five ways to improve the readability of your website:

1) Use a black colored font on a white background. Your main content should at least be in a content box with a white background, similar to how this website works. You can use other colors around the content box. You can do ALL sorts of things outside the content box, BUT make sure you use black on white for the main article. Use pure black, #00000. Do not use some almost black color that is actually a form of grey or taupe. Black on white reads the best. It always has and always will.

2) Choose a readable, yet interesting font. Arial and Helvetica are the ole standbys. Very readable. Not very interesting. Try Verdana inside. Other good fonts to consider: Georgia or Tahoma.

3) Line spacing (or line height). This is the distance between the line below and the line above. Make sure it is at least 1.5. Make it too small and the words run tight, too large and a readers eyeballs fall all over the page.

4) Keep advertising out of the main content of the article. Put your Adsense at the top or bottom. Forget using word-sense technologies that highlight key advertised words. Annoying and distracting. I know Internet marketers will disagree here. Here is my deal: Good content ultimately sells. If readers read it (and CAN read it without hindrance) and find it worthwhile, they will be back. I am a believer in letting your content sell itself. Readers will come back and reward you in other ways. Don’t try to force them to click something when they are in the middle of your content.

5) Remove all other annoyances to reading. This includes fly-ins, Flash, etc. The goal here is to ENABLE people to read, to create VALUE, so people come back for more. You want them to come back right? Do not chase them away.

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-07

• bit the bullet and am finally using google analytcs on RWT…now using GA and Woopra for stats #
• there is a new vrsion of the Twitter Tools plugin available http://ht.ly/1EZEH #
• updated my post about the Firefox Addon MeasureIt http://ht.ly/1F05M #

Getting started with ScribeFire Blog Posting Firefox Addon

ScribeFire is a Firefox Addon that let’s you blog right from the Firefox Browser.

Once installed, a little piece of paper with a pencil icon appears in the Firefox status bar. Double-clicking that icon gets ScribeFire started.

If it is the very first time you are using ScribeFire, it will startup in the Account Wizard. It is here that you will have to define the parameters of your blog such as URL, username, password, etc.

Once your credentials have been successfully entered, you can now see various administrative portions of your blog from the ScribeFire interface. You will be able to see all your current Posts, Pages, Categories and other options.

The most important part of ScribeFire is being able to write your blog entry from the ScribeFire editor. The editor contains a pretty standard tooolbar,

plus a similarly common editor interface

So, the $64,000 dollar question is why use a tool like ScribeFire when you could just log into WordPress, etc?

I have found it depends on the type of writing you are undertaking. How often do you flip back and forth between tabs when you are reading and then writing something. Imagine being able to read the material in the top pane of the browser and write in the bottom pane of your browser. All without switching tabs to windows. If you are a “reactive on the go” kind of blogger ScribeFire could be a boon to your blogging. Even for us slow, methodical, research types, ScribeFire makes it easy to blog about the product being review while viewing the product screen.

Remember, turn Firefox into more than a browser, turn it into a tool.

XML Sitemaps updates settings only on publish not on manual generation

I use the XML Sitemaps WordPress plugin to publish my site map to the four core search engines.

I was updating some of the settings of the plug-in, in particular, updating the priority it gave to updating sections of my website:

I went to manually recreate my sitemap so it would update the sitemap XML file.

Once it rebuilt, I noticed that the priorities were not updated. I did it again. And again.

I was baffled for a moment. Then I decided to post something. Upon a real post (XML Sitemaps will auto generate), the sitemap was generated AND the priorities were UPDATED.

Not sure if this is a bug or not. So if you have problems getting your XML Sitemap to update it’s settings, do a real post!

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-04-23

• Welcome to HootSuite – The Professional Twitter Client http://bit.ly/cPl6pv via http://www.diigo.com/~pfflyer #
• new scribefire firefox addon update http://www.scribefire.com/whats-new/3-5-2/ #
• new similar web firefox addon update: http://ow.ly/1BT9b #

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-04-16

• I've just graduated from SEO Kindergarten at http://diyseo.com #
• i just finished the initial optimization of my page descriptions. A second, more intense round, will occur as I update the content on… #
• Check out my new Google profile http://www.google.com/profiles/100395769462341614868 #

Directories for Link Building

Starting a list of directories that I have successfully submitted this website. Directories can be a great way to implement a portion of your link building strategy (you have one of those right)

List will be added onto as I continue my ow link building process. In no particular order:

DIYSEO Review – SEO guide for beginners?

It is funny how things happen.

As I have gotten back to blogging again, I have been cleaning up notebooks, and to do lists. Sorting through old posts, cleaning up pages and deleting RSS feeds I dont want to read anymore.

In the middle of all that I came across the name Andy Hagans. A few years back Andy was writing about SEO and had started a business selling text link ads. So out of sheer curiosity (and throw in a little serendipity), I googled his name. Turns out he is not doing text link ads anymore, nor much in the blogging space. However, I happened to notice on his AndyHagans.com website, a brief reference to “a [new] web based SEO platform for small businesses, launched in April 2010″. This tool is called DIYSEO.

DIYSEO purports to guide subscribers through the process of helping website owners improve their SEO. I hemmed and hawwed about signing up. After the seven day trial, the cost would be $50 a month. I really wasn’t keen on potentially wasting more money. But here are three facts: I have read a lot of information about SEO. I have wasted good money on SEO tools. I have been extremely poor on implementing SEO, particularly off page optimization (I seem to think I have a pretty good handle on the on-page side of things, which, is much easier to accomplish).

So considering that a handy dandy hold my hand guide through the SEO process might be helpful to me, I signed up for the trial.

DIYSEO breaks things down by grade level: SEO kindergarten, SEO Grade school, SEO High School and SEO college. There are two categories within each grade. Each category is a to-do list of tasks to accomplish for your site. All tasks are driven towards the two big picture SEO tasks: on-page SEO (I like to call this “Structural SEO”) and off-page SEO (or link building or better yet, “Relational SEO”).

What is needed to sign-up?

On sign-up, they ask a series of basic questions. What is your website? Who are your competitors? What are your targeted keywords? Completing the two sections of the initial signup gets you passed SEO Kindergarten. In case, you missed it, there are two items you need to know before you can pass kindergarten. Which means you must already sort of need to know what you have been doing to establish your website. So if you don’t know it already, go out there and figure out who your competitors are and figure out your home page targeted keywords.

Following sign-up, DIYSEO generates a series of to-do lists. For example, under SEO Grade School/Basic Link Building, I have the following task: “Ask for links from colleagues, friends, and business partners.”
Rather generic sounding, though there are more specific tasks such as “Submit your blog to Bloggeries”. Each task is either doublechecked by DIYSEO (for example, when you click complete, it will go out and search and make sure your link is on the site they instructed). However, most tasks are labeled “self-check”, meaning they are trusting that you have actually followed through with the instructions.

Overall, I have been pleased with the to-do lists, even with the generic sounding, “no-duh” tasks. These provide reminders of the essential and sometimes forgotten tasks of SEO.

There are a few tasks I do seriously question though. Two examples should suffice. One, “Submit your site to DMOZ”. This was the first task i saw and my face fell when I saw it. Really? DMOZ? My first thoughts included: Is that site still active? Has anyone ever REALLY been included? (being facetious there) It seemed like the whole DMOZ directory thing had died ages ago and yet, this was their first piece of advice?

But, you know what? I did it. I had submitted to DMOZ years ago and never heard a thing. So, what the heck, I thought, do it again and see what happens. So I submitted and checkboxed that item as complete.

Second task I question: Confirm that the total page size of your homepage is under 100k. You know, I have toyed with the whole concept of page speed and website optimization for a long time. Here is my fundamental problem: the standards for page size and speed have not changed (or so it seems) once we entered the broadband era. A lot of the standards for speed are still based on dial-up. In today’s age of images and video and flash, it is hard to keep your homepage down under 100kb. I ran my page through two different tools. My page size is between 450kb and 540kb. Just out of curiosity, I ran DIYSEO’s homepage through the same two tools. Their homepage size ranged from 149kb to 400kb (yes I know thats quite the range, tis an issue with the tools I used, but that is a post for another day).
So is page size ultimately important? Rather, is it ultimately important for SEO? I am leaning no. (I mean, does it really affect my position in the SERPs?) Is it ultimately important as a matter of customer service? Absolutely, for I don’t want my readers to have to wait to get to content. This is a topic I want to further pursue and may post more about it at a later time.

Ok, so all that said, those two examples should not defer anyone from using DIYSEO. My only point in even bringing them up is to question whether they are of modern (2010) current SEO standard practice. I would love to hear more for the DIYSEO on those points and invite them to comment so we can all further our education.

As of this writing, I have completed 24 of my initial 37 tasks. I am close to graduating both grade school and high school. I will have to say, that having a to-do list laid out for me has been fantastic. In my case, I had already done a fair number of the tasks, so I had a head start. Nonetheless, there were a few things I learned, particularly regarding other resources.

My $64,000 to DIYSEO: What happens when I complete grade school, high school and college? Is that it? What comes next? If I pay $50 a month, what will I be paying for after all these initial tasks are complete?

There is tremendous value for the beginner in using a service like DIYSEO. Education, while putting it into practice, is the BEST way to learn. Invaluable really. Wish I had this five years ago. Though, to be brutally honest, there maybe better means for a true beginner to start with in SEO. Will post about that later.

The price is also extremely competitive. I am familiar with two other SEO “learning resources” which come at a price tag of $80 and $300 a month. DIYSEO definitely offers some level of competition to those providers. However, the price is only competitive IF the value holds over time. While the guidance is helpful now, will it be helpful three months or a year from now?

DIYSEO is still young, less then two weeks old. Look for it to grow in features over time.

If you check it out, leave a comment on this post and let me know how you found the experience.

Essential Websites You Should Read

I just added the equivalent of a blogroll to this site. It has been a long time since I have had anything resembling a blogroll on this site. On all Post and Page pages, there is now a section of the sidebar called “Essential Websites”. The list is short; only seven. If you want to get started in the blogging/website/tools/writing/seo space, then these 7 sites are must have resources for you!

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-04-09

• Top Ten Frustrations For the Web Developer: http://EzineArticles.com/4039333 #
• who else is tired of seeing the Google as Topeka articles all over the place? Ugh! #
• been reviewing woopra web analytics, so far I love it, but one downer: features I want are in a higher paid subscription! #

How to install Firefox addons

Firefox has the ability to be extended to perform numerous kinds of functions. These functions range from enhancements to the actual browsing experience to additional tools you can use to perform tasks. Some of these tools include code debugging tools for web developers to SEO tools for internet marketers.

In this post, I will demonstrate how to add plugins, or more correctly, addons.

In your browser address bar, navigate to http://addons.mozilla.org

You will see a page that looks like this:

You will various options for learning about addons. You can search. You can see Mozilla’s recommendations. You can choose to browse a category from the menu:

For this demo, I have searched and found a plugin I am interested in checking out called FoxTab. I found it by browsing the “Tab” category from the menu displayed above. I clicked on the link and landed on that addon’s page. Each addon has its own distinct page that provides various kinds of information for that addon. There is typically a description of the addon functionality along with some screenshots.

In the center of the page is a large green button.

The button reads: Add to Firefox.

Click this button.

A warning will typically popup asking if you really want to install the addon.

If you want proceed with the install, find the Allow button to the far right of the popup message.

Click the Allow button to proceed with the addon install or click the “X” to the right of the Allow button to cancel the install.

The Software Installation message box will appear. You notice that the button on the bottom that shows “Install Now” in my screenshot, will actually say “Install (5)” after it. It counts down from 5, before displaying the “Install Now” button.

Click the Install Button to install. You will see a typical install progress bar within the Software Installation message box. Most installs proceed rather quickly as most addons are small in size.

Once complete you will see a message appear within the Software Installation message box.

After any addon installation, Firefox needs to be restarted. Click the Restart Firefox button.

You will now see the Firefox Restart Dialogue Box.

Click Restart.

Firefox will now shutdown and then restart. It will open back up with the addon installed and will reopen any tabs to the webpage they previously had open. Sometimes, an additional tab will open. Some addons have a “more information” page or a “thank you for downloading page”. Our addon has a thank you page, as seen below.

Depending on the plugin, it will add either a menu item to the Firefox Tools menu or install in the status bar at the bottom of the browser. In our case, this plugin installed on icon within the main toolbar next to the address bar.

After installation, the Firefox Addons Message Box appears.

This box shows all the addons you have installed. It will display a message that an addon has been added. Any new addon will be highlighted in yellow.

This message box can be used to change any options for the addon (if available). It is also used to uninstall the addon if it is no longer needed or wanted.

You are now ready to play with you addon to see if meets your needs!

One last note. If you are using a PC that is shared by multiple users and has multiple logins, an addon will ONLY BE INSTALLED FOR THE PROFILE UNDER WHICH IT IS INSTALLED. If everyone on that PC wants the same plugin, everyone will have to login and install it individually. Firefox stores addon information in an individuals profile and thus is not shared by all users. There are some tricky ways around this, but for the beginner, I would not recommend them.

Have fun with Firefox!

Visit our list of recommended addons or visit our Firefox collections page. See all of this in action with the How to Install Firefox Addons video:

Created New Collection of Firefox Addons on Mozilla.org

In preparation for a series of blog posts on turning Firefox from a browser into a tool, I created a collection of those addons over on Mozzila.org

Take a sneak peek, subscribe to the collection, provide your own recommendations!

If you subscribe you can easily add those addons to Firefox from your addons menu. I will create a post on how to do that!

RWT Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-04-02

• been cleaning up/adding WordPress plugins. Look for posts on my current plugins some time soon #
• just added the wibiya toolbar to the website… this will be an interesting test http://ow.ly/1rtUp #
• look for a review about Woopra soon…doesnt do everything, but LOVE the interface #
• also should note, look for a post about Hootsuite as well… #
• I just setup @EzineArticles to tweet my newly published articles: http://Twitter.EzineArticles.com/ #
• Updated my web development and design tools page http://ow.ly/1seAx . Will be adding more tools in the weeks to come.. #
• Can i say that I absolutely love the "schedule post" feature in WordPress!!! #
• web analytics can drive a person batty…I am going to seek to relieve some of that pain… #

Firefox is more than a browser it is a tool

Firefox has been my favorite browser for quite some time now. While I do use a few other browsers for specific purposes, Firefox remains my mainstay. The reason is fairly simple: Firefox is not just a browser, it is a tool. With the wide array of add-ons available, Firefox has become indispensable. The add-ons add a richnes and depth to the browsing experience that supersedes that of any other browser out there.

What can I do right from Firefox that I find so helpful?

- post to my blog
- shorten urls
- tweet
- analyze websites for SEO purposes
- bookmark and categorize sites I visit
- analyze the speed of my website
- debug html and css issues
- create basic graphics
- read my news and feeds
- ftp
- manage downloads extremely effectively
- perform a gazillion web development tasks
- measure images
- validate web pages
- determine which fonts a site is using
- plus a myriad of other things

Firefox is my multi-purpose tool for accomplishing tasks from ONE application.

No other browser has yet to come close.

Over the next few weeks I will be writing about my favorite addons. Some are rather simple. Some a little more complex. But all, I am sure, you will find helpful.

Do visitors really care about your website?

The answer is No.

And believing that people care about you and your web site is the number one website design mistake per Flander’s Biggest Mistakes in Web Design.

What do you think? Is he right?

I do tend to agree with him.

Over the last few weeks as I prepared to get back to writing again, I spent time cleaning up a few things around the website. Not only did I clean things up, I fretted, I worried, I got upset when the darn CSS would not behave. But was that all necessary????

Flanders offer the following essential advice on changing our thinking about web design.

1. The only reason my web site exists is to solve my customers’ problems.
2. What problems does the page I’m looking at solve?

The first should be a mantra we speak to ourselves daily. The second is a question we should ask every time I right a post or update a page.

As a web developer, take off your developer hat and put on your website user hat. Don’t forget that. You are a website user. Your visit and search for websites a good portion of your day. What frustrates you as a website user?

For me, I get totally ticked when I can’t find the NECESSARY and ESSENTIAL information about a topic that SHOULD be addressed by the website I am looking at. Now, understand, this is not about high expectations. But if I visit a flooring site to choose new flooring for my home, should it not have something about installation??? Actually, having that information may have sealed the sale for me. If I can determine that installation was rather easy, the sale may have been just a few clicks away. But since I am left in the dark on installation, I am off looking at other products.

Now look at your own website. Heck, what about this post? What problem does this post solve?

Answer: it is aimed at turning a mindset around to think from a problem solving orientation towards web and content development rather than a pure, “boy that design is sure cool” orientation.

Flanders goes on to state that any website’s visitors have four essential problems:

1. They want/need information
2. They want/need to make a purchase / donation.
3. They want/need to be entertained.
4. They want/need to be part of a community.

Does your website/web page help solve one of them?

The Biggest Website Mistakes

I recently re-discovered Vincent Flander’s Web Pages That Suck. It has been a few years since I have read the site, but was happy to have found it again. I get large laughs out of his commentary but also from some of the websites that people think are “good”.

He has a great article on The Biggest Mistakes in Website Design 1995-2015. No that is not a typo. Mr. Flanders is being facetious. As he states, “it’s human nature to repeat your mistakes over and over.”

I thought I would be good to go over the mistakes one by one. There are GREAT lessons here for everyone in web design whether you are a beginner or an expert.

Stay tuned…