Design Patterns D Writing and Managing Content Lori

Design Patterns D – Writing and Managing Content Lori Nuth February 20, 2006 EDIT 752

D 1 Page Templates How well did this site implement page templates?

D 1 Page Templates Solution Use a grid layout to help define a global template that includes: • basic navigation elements • major content areas • areas for related content For each kind of page, create individual templates that use the global template as part of the structure.

D 2 Content Modules D 4 Personalized Content How does this site avoid having stale content?

D 2 Content Modules D 4 Personalized Content Solution • Define content locations in page templates • Organize all content into the file system or in to a content database • Manage content from an administration page

D 3 Headlines and Blurbs D 7 Inverse. Pyramid Writing Style D 9 Distinctive HTML Titles Is this a pyramid style?

D 3 Headlines and Blurbs D 7 Inverse. Pyramid Writing Style D 9 Distinctive HTML Titles Solution Inverse writing Pyramid style

D 5 Message Boards How many of you use message boards?

D 5 Message Boards Solution • Build into navigation • Link from related content • Allow to save favorites in customer profile and browser favorites • Search keywords • Sort posts by name • Ability to read posts prior to signing in • Post board rules • Use simple form to post content • Admin ability to approve or reject content

D 6 Writing for Search Engines D 9 Distinctive HTML Titles How do you write for search engines? • Distinctive HTML titles for each page • Use keywords at top of page and in body text • META tags • Site accessible for impaired vision • Don’t use bogus keywords or text

D 6 Writing for Search Engines How do you make content non-searchable? • Create a robot file # robots. txt, www. nytimes. com 3/24/2005 # User-agent: * Disallow: /college/ Disallow: /library/ Disallow: /learning/ Allow: /pages/ Allow: /2003/ Allow: /2004/ Allow: /2005/ Allow: /top/ User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*

D 8 Printable Pages How do you make sure a page is printable? • Create a printer-friendly page template • Make sure everything fits on the page • Remove extraneous navigation and content • Add labels to help people find the article online again • Take main content out of HTML tables

D 8 Printable Pages Example of Print Preview

D 10 Internationalized and Localized Content What does Internationalization and Localization mean? Internationalization: Software changes required to support: • different languages • date and times • currencies • weights and measures • number formats Localization: • Process of redesigning the human-computer interface • Translating content to support a local culture

D 10 Internationalized and Localized Content How should you make a site ready for a worldwide audience? • store strings of text separately from code • do not rely on machine translation • hire competent translators • beware of terms that are not widely known • recognize holidays, customs (colors), and nonverbal communication • dates, currencies, weight and measures etc. • site accessible for variety of devices (mobile web) • local legal issues – trade laws