JimWorld Gazette Issue #61 08/07/1998

Gazette - Issue #61 - August 7, 1998

A Gazeteer Community Goes Hi-Tech
Freeware Plus?
Promoting Your Web Site
A Call For Change - Part I
Web Navigation - Part III
Get Linked
Snippets

Link to this issue of the Gazette as http://gazetteworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=g61

A GAZETEER COMMUNITY GOES HI-TECH

How do you build an on-line community? One way is to build it off-the-Web andbring the community on-line with you.

This is the thrust of the latest expansion of the North Carolina Saltwater site at http://www.ncsaltwater.com/

Operated by a long time Gazeteer, David Galyon, North Carolina Saltwater has developed an extensive array of information to attract the local and traveling fisherman. Fishing reports, weather reports, chat rooms, forums, guest book and FFA links page, an award for great fishing sites, a sweepstakes, a page of seafood recipes, and a photo album that makes you want to put life and hold and hang out a 'Gone Fishing in North Carolina' sign. The sunset photo is the first time I've seen the Lake Java applet used in a correct manner.

These are all things that a well developed on-line community would have when being developed by an aggressive webmaster. And NC Saltwater has all of them in place.

But now they have left the web in search of more visibility. Every week they produce a local television show about fishing. It airs in the area and has been steadily building a following. But what about the fisherperson that doesn't live in the local broadcast area? No problem. View it on the web site. Each episode is available for viewing by anyone, anywhere. And the web broadcast has been bringing even more people from around the world to this wonderful web site.

That's how you build a community.

FREEWARE PLUS?

For the past several weeks, we have been working with TJ Walker at Software Solutions (Gazette writer) to bring you a series of new tools to help you in your webmastering efforts.

The system developed by TJ's team is called Freeware Plus. The freeware part you obviously understand. Free software. Cool. But what's the Plus?

The Plus is where the whole thing gets pretty exciting. Here's how it works:

Software is developed specifically for the Freeware Plus program or adapted from existing software or shareware.
Each program is created in two versions, one that displays a graphic for the sponsor site and one that displays rotating banner ads while the software is being used.
In the first scenario, a company or web site can buy a license to distribute 20,000 copies of the software that contains a 500X140 graphic for the company's web site or product. The graphic is linked to the company's web site so that when a user clicks on the graphic they wind up at any URL the sponsor specifies.
In the second scenario, a company or web site can order a version of the program that links to a banner rotation system. Every time your 20,000 users run the program, they are served up banner ads that are linked to the advertisers web site. If the program is one that will get used frequently, this can amount to a lot of banner impressions to a very targeted market.

This may seem a bit confusing, but once you see it running it will become much easier to understand.

For that reason, we are making available to everyone in the Gazette community a copy of the first Freeware Plus program, Visibility Analyzer. It is a fast-running program to check your rankings in all of the major search engines. There are no restrictions on number of URL or keywords you can check, nor does it time-out after a trial period. It is fully featured and free.

There are two versions of the Visibility Analyzer:
For Internet Explorer users: http://www.jimworld.com/freeware/va20.exe (918K)
For any browser: http://www.jimworld.com/freeware/va20anybrwsr.exe (1.5MB)

When you install the program, enter the code '5020' to activate it. That tells the program that you are a Gazeteer and activates the graphics and features for you.

If you want to distribute free programs to your site's visitors, you will find the information at http://softwaresolutions.net/freewareplus/index.htm

If you are a software developer and want to offer your software through the Freeware Plus program, visit the unpublished information page at http://softwaresolutions.net/freewareplus/developers.htm

Here's a overview of the program:

"The average Freeware+ program sells for $500 for either/or the IE 4.0 enhanced or the Browser Independent version. A company can purchase both versions for $750. Our distribution agreement gives the company license to FREELY distribute a set number of installed copies. If a company wishes to distribute a larger number of copies they have to renew the license agreement for the same rate. In addition, we offer special $1000 versions that are Banner Rotation enabled."

"In addition, for the standard versions of each program the company must pay a quarterly maintenance fee that covers second-tier tech support (provided by the developer) and all necessary updates/upgrades to each program. The standard maintenance fee is $100 per quarter for either/or the IE/Non-IE version or $150 if they own both versions. There are no maintenance fees on the $1000 Banner Rotation versions."

Over the next few weeks, Gazeteers will be offered each of the planned programs being released under the Freeware Plus program. You'll get them before anybody else. I think you will all find them to be a great help in your webmastering efforts.

Next week's release will allow you to build your own database of keywords being requested at major search engines. Run it for a while and you'll start to discover whole new avenues of traffic building. But, that's next week. This week, find out where you already rank for your keywords.

Just another great benefit of subscribing to the Gazette.

PROMOTING YOUR WEB SITE

-- Traditional versus online media

Micro-publications on the Internet. They are smaller than off-line publications, give freely to their audience, and often present a strategic promotional opportunity for your online marketing efforts.

When we launched CanadaOne <http://www.canadaone.com/>, an online business magazine for Canadians, we did it on a very tight budget. Unlike our major competitors we lacked the financial resources to launch CanadaOne with advertisements in print, radio, and television. Instead, all of our promotion has been done in-house using media relations, strategy, and a lot of online marketing.

This approach has enabled us to carefully observe the impact of our various promotional efforts. By tracking the impact of marketing strategies used to promote CanadaOne we have learned that promotion in highly-targeted, online media publications can nearly meet - or even exceed - the impact of marketing through major, off-line media publications that have many times the audience of the smaller publications.

Our results are most readily demonstrated through free media publicity that CanadaOne received in two publications. One publication was Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, with a daily distribution of 309,046 papers. The other publication was a free newsletter, the Gazette, which is distributed weekly to 55,000 subscribers.

Here is our story:

Shortly after the launch of CanadaOne, we were fortunate enough to be mentioned in the "Small Business Briefs" section of the Globe and Mail. The impact of that coverage was instantaneous, significant, and measurable. By the end of the day CanadaOne had received over 1000 unique visits. The resulting increase in traffic to CanadaOne could be tracked for the following week; after a week had passed CanadaOne had received over 2000+ unique visits.

A few months later Jim Wilson mentioned CanadaOne in the Gazette. In line with our previous experience, the impact of this was instantaneous, significant, and measurable. What was the surprising was that the mention in the Gazette nearly paralleled the mention in Canada's national newspaper, which has 6 times more subscribers than the Gazette and is targeted directly at a Canadian audience.

We noticed some significant differences between the traffic generated by these two publications that are worth noting.

The Globe and Mail mention generated a high peak in traffic on the first day, and then generated ongoing traffic at a steady rate for at least a week. We received many more emails after the mention in the Globe and Mail, and the majority of those emails came from consultants, authors, and speakers who were discovering our site for the first time.
Meanwhile the mention in the Gazette generated a high peak in traffic for the first 3-4 days, after which our site traffic settled back to its normal rate. We did not receive many emails from visitors responding to the Gazette mention, but we find that users came directly to areas mentioned in the Gazette, and actually used the tools on our site.
The Gazette has a smaller distribution than the Globe and Mail. However, as an online publication the content in the Gazette is excellent and stands above many other online publication. Like the Globe and Mail, the high quality of the Gazette increases its ability to reach each reader.

So while the Globe and Mail brought us visitors who were interested in contributing to CanadaOne, and were likely to pass our name along to clients that might benefit from our site, the Gazette brought us visitors from our direct target audience. Both were extremely valuable. Not surprisingly, these results also indicate that any promotional piece, whether off-line or on -line, is going to generate responses in line with the publication's target audience. It also shows that targeted online marketing through niche publications is an effective way to build web site traffic.

----------

Julie King is the founder and editor of CanadaOne <http://www.canadaone.com/>, an online business magazine and forum for Canadians. Email comments on this article to julie@biz-zone.com.

----------

Jim Here: I asked Julie to write this for us. I can't over emphasize the importance of promoting yourself not only in the magazines and newspapers in your area or industry, but also the e-publications that service that same audience. Don't lose your motivation if your first (or first 20) articles or press releases don't make it into print. Keep improving your writing skills and keep send out those articles and announcements. There is serious traffic at the end of that road.

A CALL FOR CHANGE - PART I

While the sheer numbers of available CGI programs is staggering, the quality of many of them isn't. That's not to say the programs aren't good, or the logic bad, but some of them are just a nightmare to install and configure. Are we ready to accept a standard in the CGI World?

Let's put a plan together.

In this article, we'll introduce some the concepts that are the foundation of "good programming" from a CGI point of view, focusing on usability, installability, and maintenance. This is only an introduction. In the coming weeks, we'll explore each of these concepts in depth. I want to focus on a number of concepts throughout this series.... You'll notice that each step along the way, we will adhere to each of the concepts below....

KEEPING YOUR CODE WORKING.

The concepts we'll go over will help to ensure that your users (or successors) will not have reason to get into your code. This is incredibly important. Why risk someone screwing up months of work because they don't like the you picked for the HTML output of your CGI Program. We will give you the keys to locking up your code to the point where no one needs to get into it.

KEEPING YOUR CODE UNIVERSAL.

Your code should work on all operating systems, web servers, and for any user, of any level of experience. (This is not nearly as difficult as people make it seem.)

MAKING YOUR CODE "DESIRABLE".

There are about a hundred different CGI Programs out there that do exactly what yours does. Why should someone choose yours? Because you did it correctly, with their needs in mind, not your own.

Here's a preview of the lessons you'll learn over the next few weeks:

Use the tools given to you ...

Perl, in specific, and the Web Server in general give you access to many built-in, global variables that you can use in your code to get generic information. How many times have you installed a CGI script that you have to go into and edit the first couple of lines? Invariably, the author asks you for the URL to the CGI program, or the full, operating system path. These are unnecessary variables. In fact, they are built into the Web Server and Perl's Interpreter, so that you can use them anywhere in your code that you like.

Also, please don't try and re-invent the wheel. Chances are, if you're writing a function in Perl (or C), someone has already done it better. Take a look at what's available to you on the 'Net before you spend 6 hours writing a routine to round numbers to the nearest hundred (It's already been done).

We'll talk more next week about how to properly use the built-in Perl and web server variables to enhance your programs, as well as dive into some of the available archives of code out there for your use.
Configuration Files

One of the more "annoying" things about setting up CGI programs is the fact that you almost invariably have to edit the source code and change variable values. The (few) CGI programs that seem easiest to install are those that use a require "somefile.pl"; statement at the top of the code, and the user only has to edit the somefile.pl with the proper values to make the program work. This is much easier to install, and much easier for the "lay person" to understand. It also makes sure your code will remain largely untouched, as there is no need for people to get into it.....
Self Contained Programming

There are certainly plenty of examples out there of very high quality CGI programs that DO NOT REQUIRE any external .html file to operate. What we're referring to here, of course is "data" CGI's like guestbooks, forums, and the like. CGI programs that modify .html files (esp the .html file that drives the program) are just accidents waiting to happen. Even worse, are those that use or require hidden fields to be placed in forms by the users in order for the program to work. Please ...Program your CGI's to generate ALL the necessary HTML... USE data files whenever possible to fill these "dynamic" pages. Again, these are much easier to install, configure, and less likely to fall prey to idiocy, or deletion by a "double-hit".
Use USER defined page layouts

One of the scripts we'll be showing you how to develop and use is one that uses a template file to generate html pages. The advantage to this approach is that your users can define the look and feel to match their site, and it reduces the amount of HTML you need to maintain in your CGI program, allowing your program to focus on what it needs to, not on page layouts. The second advantage of this approach is that it lends itself quite nicely to Server Side Includes (SSI) which although mostly used for showing ad banners, can also be used to stabilize the layout of a site by using a template to draw the page, and the .shtml file only has to produce the actual content.
Portability !!

Stop writing UNIX Specific Code... As much as we hate to see it, Windows NT is building quite a following, and CGI programs written in Perl and C tend to have a lot of UNIX Specific command in them..."chmod", "date", and many (far too many examples of this) OS commands inside the ``. UGLY code. Use localtime whenever possible, check to see if you're on Unix or Windows before you run chmod or getpwid or anything else that is specific to unix. You'll have a lot more users, and a lot less email.

Whether you are writing CGI Programs for your own use, for your company, as freeware, or as a commercial endeavor, the lessons learned over the next few weeks should (I hope) greatly improve the overall quality of your programs, and your approach to programming.

Enjoy and we'll talk next week.

----------

John Cokos
The Interactive Web
http://www.interactive-web.net

WEB NAVIGATION - PART III

"A Few Space Saving Ideas"

One of the many challenges in good site navigation is providing enough information so that the user knows where they are going without cluttering up the page. The use of white space here is critical.

One of the most annoying problems for surfers is when they get to a page and it's overstuffed with links, columns of text, graphics, and sidebars. The problem is simple - too many choices! They don't know what to click on or where to go. I mean, after all, sometimes it's hard to know even where to begin!

There are two basic ways to alleviate this problem. One, is to simplify the page so that everything is categorized under 5-8 headings or sections of the site. (Our minds can only seem to retain 5-8 items at a time). Then everything else is "branched-off" of these sections. You lead the visitor through the site down the path that you have chosen. "Keep it simple stupid" (K.I.S.S.) is a good rule of thumb! Don't give them everything you've got on the home page! Give them general categories that they can explore in more detail if they so choose.

Another solution to the space problem is to establish more compact ways in which to provide your information. Ways that don't clutter up your space. In this article, I would like to present two possible solutions using javascript technology. These methods are very simple to use and you don't even have to know javascript to place them on your pages. I will give you the example urls I have created so that you can just copy and paste the code into your pages!

Descriptive Links

Wouldn't it be nice if your links could talk? I mean, then a visitor to your site would know where they were going before they clicked on a link. These "descriptive links" are possible with javascript. Someone can hold their mouse over a link (or linked graphic) and get a description of the next page down below in the status bar of the browser.

This is extremely easy to do! It's called an event handler. All you have to do is add some extra code (javascript) to your tag.

Go to my example page here: http://stellardesign.com/example1.html

View the source code, and then copy and paste the code into your page.

I have made comments within the html so that you will know how to edit the code for your web page. This way, you can provide more information to your visitors without overcrowding the actual page.

The Select Menu

I'm sure you have seen these used on the Net. This is a pull down menu that lists the different pages of your site. The user clicks on the text box, down comes a list (menu), and then clicks on an item that takes them to a different page. This is a great little navigational tool! It's also very simple to implement on your site; however, it is a little more complicated than the "descriptive links" trick! It uses a method in javascript called "arrays".

I'm not going into the details of how this works. I'm just going to point you to my example, and then let you copy/paste and edit the code accordingly. There are two arrays created. One for the "names" of the links, and one for the actual urls of the links. These two lists must correlate exactly! In other words, the first item on the "name" array must correlate with the first item on the "url" array. If you get these two arrays out of order then your visitor will be sent to the wrong page when they click on the link!

All you need to do is copy the code as I have it in this page: http://stellardesign.com/example2.html Then simply edit the arrays to include your pages. You can add or delete items in the arrays as long as the two arrays are correlated.

Using these two javascript methods should help you immensely in "keeping it simple stupid"!

----------

Milt Rodriguez is owner and operator of Stellar Design, a professional web site design, hosting, and promotion company in Northern California. You can find them on the Web at: http://stellardesign.com or email him at: milt@stellardesign.com
They have also started a new email ezine called 'Website Tips' that will help
you with monthly articles like this one.

GET LINKED

WWWomen
http://www.wwwomen.com/

If your site is at least 51% women owned, or if your site is about subjects specifically of interest to women, then you should submit to WWWomen. Submit for their directory. Make a play for their award. Joining 'BannerWomen' which is a free banner exchange service, or join the World-Wide Women's WebRing Guided Tour. Plan on spending some time here as there is lots to do if you are promoting a women oriented site.

----------

LoopyNet's Online Sweepstakes & Contests
http://www.loopy.net/contests/index.htm

A rapidly growing directory of on-line contests and sweepstakes. If you want some exposure for your contest, submit it here

----------

The Reel Site Directory
http://www.thereelsite.com/directory/

Got a movie related site? Brand new directory wants your listing. Just for movie related.

SNIPPETS

e-Mail Shopper
http://emailshopper.com/

A very simple concept could create some nice sales for you. e-Mail Shopper is a shopping service built entirely on the basis of e-mail. Merchants sign up to provide their products and services through the Shopper. Consumers submit their product and services inquiries to the Shopper via e-mail.

The consumer inquiry is forwarded to the merchant offering that product or service using an inquiry code that keeps the shopper's name and address confidential. When the merchant responds, the Shopper sends the quote to the consumer with information on ordering. It is not even necessary for the merchant to have a web site, since everything is done using e-mail.

A large percentage of the people estimated as 'being on the Web' use e-mail only, as they have no access to the Web using browsers. This new service will tap into the complete spectrum of on-line shoppers.

Right now merchants can get a free three-month membership, which should give you long enough to see that the service works for you before you have to pay. Sign up at the site or email support@emailshopper.com>

----------

Real Audio Tutorial
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/marrfield/528/ratutor.html

Want to run a little RealAudio on your site? Confused about exactly how to do it? This is the place for you. Step-by-step from silent site to stereo browsing.

----------

Marketing Suite
http://www.marketingsuite.com/

How does your site measure up? Are you unintentionally overdoing something on your page that is causing a spam penalty? How well is your page structured for overall good positioning, something that is important for your home page. You can custom build pages for individual engines, but you should still put your best foot forward. Check out http://www.marketingsuite.com/ The Internet Marketing Suite. This site has a whole group of free online utilities that operate in real time to analyze your web pages.

The Suite includes 7 utilities, Key Position to check your position for top ten at nine engines. SpaMalyzer to check page for items that the engines might tag spam. Analyzer, rate page with percentage of optimum for good placement with your important keywords. Site Mapper, maps your site for you. Pro Submit, to submit pages to major engines. RemoteLinx, who's linking to your site? MetaGen, creates your meta tags in proper fashion for you.

This site and the utilities are currently free to use if you simply sign up with a password. There are more utilities and services listed that are still in the works. This one is well worth a bookmark.

----------

Hayden
Web Themes - http://www.webthemes.com