| LED Digest 1774: Don't Knock FrontPage - and Local Rocks |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam,led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com ................................................ April 1, 2004 Issue #1774 ................................................ .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== HTML Editors? ==-- ~ Mark Frank "...it's not the software that designs the sites. It's the designer." ~ Dirk van der Werff "...if you are a Mac user I can heartily recommend Freeway..." ~ Veronica Yuill "Early versions of FP did produce terrible code, but since FP2000 it's been very capable..." --== Advertising: Internet vs Print? ==-- ~ Kathy Wilson Anderson "...advertising your website in print material is a great way of acquiring visitors..." ~ Shari Thurow "All Web sites should communicate trust, credibility, professionalism, and security." --== The Local Search Buzz ==-- ~ David Jonah "Local Rocks." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Email Distribution Software? ==-- ~ Edward Wimmer <Moderator Comment> --== Problems with Topica ==-- ~ Mark Frank ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Mark Frank Subject: HTML editors > I'd like some opinions on HTML editors... Dreamweaver, > Frontpage (2000 or newer), others? What can you recommend > for a "skilled amateur" (not a pro)? - Carol O'Leary, LED 1771 Carol, As someone who regularly uses both Dreamweaver and Frontpage, I recommend that you get both, especially if are contemplating designing websites for others. Each editor has its strong points and weak points, and each has its uses. Some clients will come to you with Frontpage sites that need updating and FP is the obvious tool to use for these. Other clients will want sites that they can maintain themselves. Most people who are familiar with Microsoft products (WORD, EXCEL, etc.) can comfortably learn enough Frontpage to maintain a site once it is designed and online. Some people view Frontpage as an amateur's tool because it does everything and it lets anyone design websites. (Is that really bad?) It also has a reputation for generating hideous HTML code. And it's true, the code used to be very bad. But things have gotten much better over the past few revisions. It still gets a little cumbersome at times, but it is no longer a serious issue, and it's nothing a reasonably competent HTML user can't deal with. Dreamweaver is less of a "do everything for you" editor. It requires an understanding of how websites work, not just how they should look. It is a tool built for designers. DW has a slightly different user interface that takes some getting used to. It was quite a while before I was comfortable with it, but now I wouldn't trade it for anything. I design everything with DW unless there is a specific need for FP. In the end, it all comes down to personal choice. Both products are excellent. If you are an experienced HTML code writer, get Dreamweaver - it is closer to what you would expect in an editor. If you are comfortable with Microsoft products or you prefer visual user interfaces, get Frontpage. And to be perfectly honest, it doesn't matter which you choose. Because it's not the software that designs the sites. It's the designer. Mark Frank, Author Start Your Own Home-Based Website Design Business http://www.websitedesignbiz.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Dirk van der Werff Subject: HTML editors .. if you are a Mac user I can heartily recommend Freeway, both in the Pro version and the Express version ( http://www.softpress.com )... they are HTML creators rather than editors, so if you are used to DTP programs like Quark and InDesign they are a cinch... just drag and drop. But for coders, there is a fantastic community of users with Actions using PHP and Javascript that can do amazing things and there is also an advanced dynamic coding list using Freeway Pro too........ many thanks Dirk van der Werff, Editor / Publisher Plants / Aquilegia Publishing http://www.plants-magazine.com/index.asp ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Veronica Yuill Subject: HTML editors > [Dreamweaver] creates very clean code (FrontPage > makes really bulky code and uses lots of formatting > that is not cross browser compatible) that works in > all browsers. - Brad Waller, LED 1773 I'd like to respectfully request that people who have not used the latest versions of Front Page stop making statements like this. Early versions of FP did produce terrible code, but since FP2000 it's been a very capable WYSIWYG editor that produces clean cross-browser code which is no worse than Dreamweaver's, provided you learn how to use it properly. Much messy, IE-specific code that is blamed on Front Page in fact comes from Word's "wonderful" Save As HTML feature. And conversely, people who don't know what they are doing can produce dreadful code with Dreamweaver -- I've seen it happen! Front Page also has excellent site management features which are a boon when dealing with large sites. Disclaimer: I don't use Front Page or Dreamweaver myself -- I hand-code everything with Textpad! Veronica Yuill Archetype Information Technology Ltd http://www.archetype-it.com/english/ ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Kathy Wilson Anderson Subject: Internet vs print > My website has been up and running since 2000 or 2001. > If this was a retail with a storefront, stock etc. I would have > already had to close the doors. Why aren't people buying > via the internet? - Andrew Craig, LED 1771 While it seems like the Department of Redundancy Department, advertising your website in print material is a great way of acquiring visitors. There are many ways of doing this for free. 1. Press release: send a press release about current business events or new products to local newspapers, trade magazines, etc. The editors are all too happy to have someone help them fill their publications and you'll get free publicity. Make sure your website address is included with your name and contact info. 2. Write articles about your product or service and submit them to magazines that are relevant. Make sure your website address is included with your name and contact info. 3. Write letters to the editor of magazines and newsletters that are related to your product or service. Add your website address to your signature. 4. Put your website address on your envelopes under your return address or on the back flap. 5. If you have a fax machine, set it to display your website address as well as your fax number. Put your website address on your fax cover sheet. These are just a few ideas. I'm sure there are more that the LED'ers have and could share will us all. Love, Kathy Wilson Anderson http://www.under-one-roof.net ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Shari Thurow Subject: Internet advertising vs print Hi all- Welcome back, Adam! I hope you had a pleasant vacation and got some well-deserved R&R. My post is in response to Andrew Craig's post in LED #1771 regarding print vs. Web advertising. In his post, he ended with the question, "Why aren't people buying via internet?" I hope to shed a little light on that specific question. All Web sites should communicate trust, credibility, professionalism, and security. Unfortunately, I feel that most Web sites do not communicate these sentiments. Color selection is one way to communicate these sentiments. I am working on a counseling site, and the Web site owner just loves the color purple. Don't get me wrong, I like the color purple as well (our logo and site are based on that color), but the shade of purple she likes does not communicate the desired sentiments to her target audience. We selected a base shade of blue as the main color, and we slowly added red to it (blue + red = purple) until we felt we reached a good compromise. She got a bluish-purple, and visitors get the desired professional and soothing colors. Fortunately, the CEO of our firm was an art major and he has a great book that lists the psychology of all Web colors, and a number of print colors, too. Makes it easier to convince clients that their personal preferences do not communicate their marketing message. Another way to communicate trust is to have credibility pages on your site. Examples of credibility pages include: privacy policy, legal disclaimer, money-back guarantee (for product sites), frequently asked questions, help, customer service, and so forth. If you want people to hand over private information, then your site must be trustworthy. Another way to communicate trust is to follow usability principles. If people can easily form a mental model of your site, then they are more likely to place an order. Make a site too difficult to use, and visitors just click off the site. Unfortunately, we find that colleges and universities do not teach usability principles to design / development students, and do-it-yourselfers do not take the time to educate themselves. I'm all for do-it-yourselfers because I am one, too. But I'm getting to the point where people need to admit that design and usability are not their strengths. Throw in the towel. Hire a professional. Just my 2 cents. Best wishes, Shari Thurow, Webmaster/Marketing Director ~ Search Engine Visibility book now available http://www.searchenginesbook.com/ ------- new post - new topic ------- From: David Jonah Subject: Local search Hi Digest Readers I am a lapsed community newspaper publisher. I love community building and building communities. The responsibility to pay for dead carbon and the financial crush of getting dead ink on dead carbon to the corner store took the fun out of it. And then along came the Web. Now, we are evolving a local search model, one business listing at a time focused initially on the community as a travel & attraction destination and advertising targeted on catering to visitors, which provides traffic and earned fees into our "all directory, all the time " concept. Localintheknow is a handful as a URL but it is meant to message out in global search that someone at the local community level is responsive and taking an editor's care to make complete, searchable lists. Next on design is to create a local information services landing page to attract those that want to search local. That actually want to find a store, sale, professional that is actionable today in their local community. Having said all of that I am a huge supporter / advocate / enthusiast of David Yancy's local search directory vision and as a former community ad salesperson, I think he has a lock on the concept of what it takes to automate local directory creation and search from a technology point of view. But it was the Publisher from Charlotte that nailed the real problem a few posts ago. It takes a local cold call selling input that constantly updates compelling information as content that will rule local search to make local search a powerful medium and competitor. Advertorial is about to go mainstream and requires the training of a new sales professional that can harness keywords and business product profiling easily while selling exposure. True, the evolving Googleers will always be able to find the online content morsels -- but over time if you find easily what is relevant to you in your local community then the role of Google-Yahoo-whatever SE, will be the same as the New York Times is to Topeka, an occasional read about the World beyond Topeka. But if you want Topeka Today, then local editors adding local content -- even if it is the latest restaurant directory or guide information, in an easy to search format on a local web site portal or service site; will be an awesome local community publishing venture. Of course, this means weaning traditional charge publishers from the carbon dated method of charging the reader and penalizing the advertiser for potential exposure advertising investments. In Europe, according to reports this week, an European Google VP trolls the GoogleLabs concept of Call-In Google, to get information reply on your phone from a voice enabled database, while we think about local online search in NA. Local This. "What's on Sale in ( My community today ) in the Google Call in directory" spoken into your personal USB phone... The answer could be locally available lawn mowers, on clearance, provided someone local entered the keyword information and put the offer up. Local Rocks. David Jonah All Moncton-All the Time. Beta Version www.moncton.localintheknow.com ==== BILLBOARD ==================================== From: Edward Wimmer Subject: Email distribution software? Twice a year, I deliver a email newsletter to approximately 50,000 of my customers. In the past, I have used some creative asp coding to deliver the newsletter. This, however, is very time consuming and seems to be unreliable as it times out and bogs down my mail server. Can anyone recommend a good solution (software or service) to deliver an email newsletter of this size. What does the LED Digest use? Note: My newsletter, like the LED Digest, is text based. Thanks in advance, Edward Wimmer Road ID www.roadid.com Edward [at] RoadID [dot] com <Moderator Comment> To answer your question, Edward, the LED Digest uses an in-house system powered by L-Soft's Listserv & LSMTP -- a package that handles every aspect of email distribution and error handling. Incidentally, we do host third-party lists. Up to this point we've just set up friends on a word-of-mouth basis. Who knows, if there was enough interest I may end up offering it publicly. Thanks, Adam ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Mark Frank Subject: Topica > For a long time I have happily used Topica... I lost > my log in information. Three emails and five days later, > I've not yet gotten a response from Topica. Is anyone > else experiencing similar problems? - Dan Rosenfield, LED 1772 Dan, My guess is that many people have similar problems. Topica does not seem to have the best customer service. I had a newsletter there for a while and never got any response to anything I sent to them. When it was time to close down my newsletter (and my account) they still did not respond to repeated cancellation requests. Their charges continued to show up on my credit card despite phone calls and emails. I finally had to discontinue my credit card to end my service. In my opinion, there service is great as long as you don't need anything. Their automated tools work well and perform as advertised. But when I needed support, it wasn't there. Mark Frank http://www.websitedesignbiz.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2004 Adam Audette. 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