HTML 4.0 Sourcebook
(Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
Author(s): Ian S. Graham
ISBN: 0471257249
Publication Date: 04/01/98

Develop a Style Guide

The image of a site must be consistent. Once the desired design has been determined, the site managers should create a content preparation guide, for use by users creating or updating content. This is critical if the site is to maintain a consistent look and feel, particularly when there are many people involved in the maintenance of the site. HTML document templates, built using the style guide and any default graphics, can also help in maintaining a consistent look.

Different Audiences, Different Versions

If radically different audiences are being served by the Web site, different home pages should be created for these different groups. For example, one of the authors recently analyzed a major automotive Web site, and found that the main design flaw was the attempt to reach too broad an audience from a single home page. This page provided links for customers searching for information about cars, as well as links to shareholder reports and other corporate information. Content that doesn’t address the needs of a larger (perhaps consumer) group should not crowd the home page. A simple solution is to create separate home page URLs for each target category. Different teams can then be responsible for the content of each site.

Java or Multimedia Content?

JavaScript, Java applets, VRML, and browser plug-ins can all enhance the look and functionality of a Web site—but they do so at a cost. In general, such components work only on a limited number of browsers and are only effective and efficient on powerful computers equipped with the newest system software. Consequently, documents that depend on these components can be unusable to some visitors to your site. It is important, therefore, to check the target audience profile and determine if the users are likely to have the equipment required to use this advanced content.

Component Testing

A component should always be examined to determine if it is necessary for the basic functionality of the site. In some cases, such as in a Java-database interface, there will be no alternative, but for noncritical components a prototype should be developed and then tested on various platforms. Such testing should be conducted against well-specified criteria, developed before the component is created—it is all to easy to “adjust” the requirements if they have not been defined before testing begins. It is important to be rigorous in this process; and if the component does not pass the tests, it should not be used.

Testing and Launching the Site

After the site has been internally tested, the next step is to have a soft launch. In a soft launch, the site is made publicly accessible, but is not actively promoted. This provides for a time period during which people can visit and test the site, while the site developers can monitor system usage and user feedback, and use them to resolve any problems prior to going “live” to the world.

In particular, this is a good time to test any access control or secure transaction technology. It is also a good time to test system performance, by exercising the site as heavily as possible. There are several programs, accessible via the Web, that can simulate multiple and rapid requests for documents from a Web server, to help you to understand conditions under which the system will respond poorly. This may lead to a redesign of certain components, or it may simply lead to the development of “alarms” that can warn the administrator of potential upcoming problems.

Long-Term Maintenance

All Web sites contain content that is to some degree transient, with new material being added and old material being archived, updated, or deleted. As a general rule, pages of a marketing or sales-oriented site should be updated on a regular, almost daily basis. Recall that one of the key things keeping users at the site is their sense that the information is recent and accurate. You should also be prepared to handle user e-mail about everything from questions regarding content to faulty links. All users should receive some sort of quick reply, regardless of how short.

Maintenance also means monitoring and keeping up with the changing technologies of the Internet. Although the aesthetic image of the site many not be tied to the latest Web technology, it is important that site managers be aware of the upcoming technologies, so that they can determine if, and when, these technologies are relevant for their site. It is thus important that one or more people on the team have “Web technology research” as a formal part of their job description.