Great Idea

Great Idea (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Web Development] >> Search Engine Optimization and Web Business

Message

Royal Presence -> Great Idea (10/23/2002 0:12:33)
I' ve been in a zone of late, but came across this forum. I' m absolutely thrilled to find this topic. Most of my trouble comes from client relations, customers or self-created nav problems. I run a non-profit municipal site as a volunteer. My first concern to address in this arena is content- I am spending too much time responding to emails regarding not enough information. My question to this forum is: How much is a webmaster responsible for? I try to iterate to constituents and users that although I stress credibility, I have little power over the content and then send along the email to someone who can more properly address issues. Is this right, or should a webmaster vouch for the content and maintain it' s timeliness. Yikes! Do please help, as I need to address the town on this issue soon. Second concern is along the same lines as the first. I stress a 24 hour return time responding to clients and users. I think this is commendable, but my web site content publishers may not agree. How do I balance the fine line? My customers, users, clients enjoy the navigation and structure I think, but my question to you is: I spend alot of time developing and maintaining these issues, why? I somehow think it is important, but I don' t think I need to spend all this time. I think it might have something to do with I allow creativity and foster it, therefore all pages are not the same, so I want to ensure users know how to get where and how, when, etc. Thanks. I may be in the right place at the wrong time always

ed1 -> RE: Great Idea (10/24/2002 15:09:42)
Wow, so many questions, so little space! address in this arena is content- You need to have a written agreement with the content providers stating the roles and responsibilities of the web master, the content provider, and a content manager (the final owner of the site). If there are four sections contributing content, then every page should be owned by a representative of one of the four sections. The bottom of each page would have an email link saying something like " contact content provider" and linking to the individual with a cc to the content manager as well. The webmaster link is for technical web issues, with a cc to the content manager as well. (This is only one variation) a 24 hour return time responding What' s your definition of responding? We respond within 8 working hours, but all we have to do is let the customer know we got the email and are working on the request. If the person responds " reply to all" then the content manager can stay on top of all the issues. enjoy the navigation and structure What' s to enjoy about navigation? The more a site page is like all the other pages, the easier the navigation. I have spent a lot of time watching " user usability testing" and it' s absolutely amazing how people will use a basic page. Most users I have seen go straight to the search. The second thought is navigation in the main body of the page, and finally, maybe, the left navigation. This seems to go for all users, all levels of experience. The site map and index pages are hardly used at all. A typical test would be a scenario like " from this page buy a red pair of shoes" . The user is observed remotely, the user is encouraged to talk the thought process out loud, and the keystrokes are logged as well. Even the simplest tasks can take some surprising turns. I hope my ramblings have helped in some way.

Royal Presence -> RE: Great Idea (10/25/2002 17:47:51)
Thank you so much Ed for your information. I have a meeting with them next week and this puts into words what I needed to convey and help them define their goals for the next year. The Town Administration oversees the sight mainly as a point of contact, but the rest is up to volunteers as far as management goes. However, the content is provided by paid town workers respective to their departments. I' m going to give them a suggested course of action and a time line, because this is scope creep to the max and I' ve gotten a little cranky in thinking that they' re just not getting ' it' . Later

steve shaw -> RE: Great Idea (10/25/2002 20:13:02)
Responding to email: I agree with Royal Prescence. As long as you respond in some manner within your time limit you are ok. As long as you send them something, you' re ok. I send my clients an email that says that I received the email and will respond with an answer within 48 hours. This way, you don' t lose your mind trying to answer a million emails a day, and you can concentrate on the other aspects of your job. And to your question, " how much is a webmaster responsible for?" Pretty much everything. I am the website manager of a CBS affiliate station and I can tell you it' s a lot of work being the man in charge. That is what the industry considers the webmaster now....the guy who knows it all and can do it all. If you' re lucky, you will have a staff to help you out though. That makes the job a lot easier. As for the navigation structure issue. How come you' re so worried about whether or not the viewers " enjoy" the navigation? One thing to keep in mind is to make things easy to find on the site. Keep all your main topics in the nav bar, and the rest you can add in another column of the home page. Don' t spend time constantly modifying the nav structure. That is the one thing that should stay consistent and is very rarely changed. Added content will fall under the nav bar or in another visible area of the site. Since you have others adding content to the site, you need to create a policies and procedures manual. Remember, you are in charge of the site as the webmaster, not the content providers! You tell them where to put things, not the other way around. Make sense? I hope this helps you out. Steve[:D]

Royal Presence -> RE: Great Idea (10/25/2002 20:25:58)
It does Steve, it really helps me out. Historically, I presented a set of guidelines from a webmaster perspective, not from the Town' s perspective. I think this is where I mistakenly thought and ' assumed' , oops that there was a middle ground that was understood. I was so silly. My biggest mistake was talking and not hearing any understanding. Example- One of the main tenets of the guidelines was to have them plan their site. One entity actually did and came through with flying colors. They are the exception. Most just ignore and not read or understand. Some are unwilling to be trained, others are sponges. I didn' t know:-) I really didn' t. My knowledge curve. The MIS director totally understands where I' m coming from and since this site is now being actually utilized, wanted and demanded from the town' s residents- the administration is being pressured by me and them to deliver. I' m so happy you guys responded, because the ' content manager' thing is what I' ve been doing and need to get away from that ASAP. The navigation and the term ' enjoy' I think I mean that there are no complaints. Hah! Thank you both so much. I don' t know why I do this at all, but it seems to be ' enjoyable' most of the time and intriguing and challenging. I guess I really need to fine tune the deliverables from my standpoint and let them deal with their own ethical issues, such as response time. I think that' s a private industry thing, and their state/town government, so we' re talking lag times a bit. Eye opener for me. You guys are great- I learn so much from your sharing. Royal

Page: [1]

Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI

7.763672E-02