Featured Articles Archive - 2001 | WebReference

Featured Articles Archive - 2001

This index covers all the new articles featured on our Web site. Many of the articles are contributed by our readers, others by freelance writers. Your words could be read — and your voice could be heard — by tens of thousands of our visitors and subscribers to our newsletter. Sound interesting? Submit your article today:

[The difference between the two methods is that articles submitted using the Open Publishing Initiative are generally shorter than the freelance articles, and the author does not receive monetary compensation. Freelance submissions are accepted upon receipt of a signed freelance contract. The freelance author does receive compensation.]

An Amazon Christmas
"Not a creature was stirring, not even a..." well the mouse was stirring. Over the one-click-buy-me-now button. Andrew King investigates this year's online shopping experience. Dec. 13, 2001
The New Paradigm: Back to Basics
After the dot.com shakeout, online businesses old and new are rethinking their strategies. Ken Hablow says that the old rules still apply in this new world of the Net. Nov. 8, 2001
Remotely Working
Nigel Gordijk talks strategy about working remotely and keeping your design clients happy. Just because you're not there doesn't mean you're not working hard. Nov. 1, 2001
Helping Lost Site Visitors: The Error 404 Handler
Help stamp out link rot! When users try a non-existent page, they typically see an unhelpful error message. Learn how to make a better 404 error page with an informative script. By Mathew Shuster and Richard Wiggins of MSU. Oct. 4, 2001
PHP/MySQL Interface for Hiermenus 4
Guest author J. "JC" Chakrabarty shows how to dynamically generate your JavaScript arrays with PHP and MySQL. Context sensitive menus anyone? Sep. 24, 2001
Whitehouse.gov Usability: The Web Wing
President Bush has launched a revamped Whitehouse.gov. While much improved, the new site still has some usability problems. As a public service, three usability experts analyze the new site. By Andy King. Sep. 11, 2001
EGGads! Confusing Word Couples
Meryl Evans continues her quest to squash out glaring grammar gotchas on the Web with "Confusing Word Couples." These problematic sweethearts like "anxious & eager" and "who & whom" are commonly misused and Meryl is here to be your personal word marriage counselor. Aug. 30, 2001
Scripting for 5th Generation Browsers and Beyond: Pts. I & II
Before you can capitalize on the development advantages (i.e., reduced code, cross-browser scripts, etc.) offered by DOM compliant browsers, you must first know how to write DOM compliant scripts. Eddie Traversa gets you started with this DOM scripting introduction. Aug. 16-27, 2001
Whatis: The Map To Better Web Searching
Gary Mosher proposes a "whatis" database for easier informative queries about domains. Whatis would include available site characteristics like news, discussion, that would make finding the type of site you want easier, and help researchers map the Net. 0809
Visual Search Engines
New object-based visual search tools can yield more relevant results. Now you can tell your computer to "Find images that look like this..." By Tony DeYoung. June 7, 2001

Back to Basics: META Tags
With all the new HTML tags that are coming out, itÕs easy to overlook some of the greatest tools in our arsenal of HTML tricks. By Scott Clark. May 17, 2001

The Art of Cross-Browser Table Building
Most cross-browser issues can be worked around. You just need to be creative and not afraid to try something different, it just might work. Learn how to code tables for the newest generation of browsers. By Dan Ball. April, 26, 2001

Begin with the Blurb
Blurbs are those short pieces of linked text you put on a home page to drive traffic to content within your site. Usually a blurb is written only after the content is published. Big mistake. By Bill Cook. April 19, 2001
Dynamically Resizing Images
One of the biggest criticisms facing Dynamic HTML (DHMTL) in relation to Flash is DHTML's seeming inability to scale pages relative to a browser's dimensions. Learn how to overcome this problem. By Eddie Traversa. April 12, 2001
Encapsulating Your ASP Page: One Common Method for Database Access to SQL Server and Oracle
A primary definition of good object-oriented design is to promote true encapsulation of objects. Within the confines of an application dedicated for multi-user sites, this requirement becomes much more than a theoretical requirement, and can be the "make-or-break" difference in whether you are able to reach a customer. In this database application the author found they might be required to maintain a separate set of pages and/or code if the stored procedures changed. To offset this she opted to define a process that would encapsulate the ASP pages from Oracle/SQL Database access code to ensure the ease of future accessibility. By Kathy Pendracky. April 5, 2001
Webmaster's Guide to Server Side Includes
Ever wanted to add the same content to hundreds of Web pages and not have to change each page individually? Or perhaps you've wanted your site to have different style sheets for different browsers or directories, but you can't think of a quick way to do it. If you've wished for any these things, this article is for you. By Alexander Rylance. March 29, 2001
EGGads! Capital Headline Mistakes
Meryl Evans continues her war on bad writing. This time she shows how to properly capitalize headlines. March 22, 2001
To Pay or Not to Pay Ð That is the Search Engine Question
Your well-developed meta tags still count for a lot, but if you even want them looked at, you're going to have to pay for it. By Alison Berke Morano. March 15, 2001
Lessons Learned from a Failing Dot-Com
Kathy Pendracky brings some perspective after the dot.com she worked for bombed. What are some steps you can take to avoid the fall? March 8, 2001
Flash Your E-mail
Would you like to have a signature file on your emails that instantly tells recipients you are a good designer? Would you like to bring your client's newsletters to life with all the capabilities of Flash animation? Then this simple technology is for you. By Ken Lapp. February 22, 2001
Creating Community
There is a vital and growing idea that should be at the core of every Web site success and in a sense may very well already be there if one examines key aspects of that success. One of the core values to success is community. By Travis Meeks. February 15, 2001
Do Not Go Gently Over to The Server-Side....
Many important and intense activities of data processing occur on the server side. Why, then, should an information technology (IT) professional use a certain server-side language just because his boss recommends one? By Jeffrey Bonkiewicz. February 8, 2001
Moving Large Documents to the Web
Taming your monster documents to live on the Web takes special tools and skills. By Rick Diehl. Februrary 5, 2001
Looking for Metadata in All the Wrong Places: Why a controlled vocabulary or thesaurus is in your future
Andy King asked Lou Rosenfeld about a controlled vocabulary for WebRef. Here's his answer. February 1, 2001
Object Orientation: Skills for Information Architects
Object-oriented information design modularizes information into discrete objects with specific behaviors, benefits and attributes. By viewing your project as a collection of objects, design decisions become clear. Does this gizmo benefit the user? By Peggy Brown. January 29, 2001
Making a Standard
Anyone with more than a passing interest in Web development will be painfully familiar with the process of diligently having to write two sets of code for every single JavaScript application. But what about the DOM? By Nick del Pozo. January 25, 2001
Persuasion and Web Survival
Inspired by the February, 2001 issue of "Scientific American" where Dr. Robert Cialdini wrote an interesting article titled "The Science of Persuasion" we explore the six persuasion factors as they relate to the Web. Learn how to tune your pitches so people click, and you can get to "yes." By Andy King. January 22, 2001
Apostrophe Gaffes
Meryl (two syllables not one) Evans starts a new project dubbed the Evade Grammar Gotchas project (EGG!). Her first lesson includes ondemnation of all grammatically challenged Web sites to a lower plane of existence and the call for an immediate sacrifice of all misused apostrophes. Would you care to join EGG? January 18. 2001
Why You Need to Test Your Web Site with Real Users
Fresh from the Nielsen Norman world usability tour, Lois Wakeman shows how to assess the usability of your site, and why testing with real users is important. January 11, 2001
Extending Dreamweaver
Danny Rather tell us how to extend Dreamweaver by using, guess what? Extensions! January 4, 2001

Previous Archives