Entries tagged "Communication Skills"
Removing Excess Information from URLs Prior to Publishing
Before posting links online or in printed materials, do you clean them up? They may contain things that can be removed while still having functional links. They will be shorter. Plus, removing some parts may help future-proof the URL. Now I'm not talking about removing the "http://" and "www" portion. There are other things to consider. [Continue reading]
Watching for Broken Links in Published Materials
Does your organization distribute materials created by those who are less familiar with how URLs work? If so, you may want to be more involved with the review process for this content. That way the organizational newsletter, for example, isn't sent out with broken links. Here are the more common issues I've run into over the years. [Continue reading]
Typing URLs into the Google Search Box
Have you received a message from a customer asking why a website address provided doesn't work? Maybe the address worked just fine when it was initially sent via e-mail, but upon returning at a later date, the page could no longer be found. Well, it may be more than a mistyped address or an Internet connection issue. [Continue reading]
Avoiding Deadlines on the Weekend
If you've ever posted an event registration form or some other time-sensitive information to your website, there's a good chance that you've dealt with deadlines. More specifically the deadlines we impose on website visitors. Well what happens if you're not around on the specified date and someone need assistance? Who takes the registration form offline? What if the website breaks? These are all things that need to be considered when planning a project. [Continue reading]
How to Overcome the Skepticism of Announcing Products on April Fools Day
Every year on this day, organizations announce new products, developments, events, etc. But by and large the announcements tend to be ignored because they coincide with April Fools Day. So I wanted to take this opportunity to offer some tips & tricks for letting your audience know that you're serious. It may be too late to utilize the techniques this year, but as you know there's always next year. [Continue reading]
Checking Multiple Browsers Before Responding to Website Support Requests
When responding to support requests involving a website it's important to remember that the customer may not be using the same browser as you. They may not even use the same operating system (Windows, Macintosh, etc.) There are many issues that I've seen over the years as a website developer which work perfectly fine in one browser and completely fall apart in another. So make sure that you have covered your bases before responding to the customer. [Continue reading]
Avoid Getting Overwhelmed by Initial Client Requests
Early in my career, I used to get a little overwhelmed by requests like "Can you create a new website and have it online by the end of the week?" My mind would race with everything that's potentially required to develop a website from scratch. I would need to mockup a design; get it approved; build a template based on the mockup; work with the client on the content; populate the template; etc… On top of that, I still need to develop for and maintain all of our existing websites. [Continue reading]
Remember, It’s 2011: Tips for Remembering the New Year
It's that time of year again. The time when people vow to change some aspect of their life. Maybe they want to get in shape, stop smoking, get out of debt, etc. Well, here is my suggestion for a New Year's resolution. [Continue reading]
Don’t Forget the Details
I recently heard an advertisement which said "Midnight movies are back starting this Friday with Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark." When I visited the theatre's website for the complete list of movies, I found out that Indiana Jones was shown a few weeks earlier. But there was some doubt in my mind since the website didn't list the year (see Figure 1); maybe I was looking at old information. However my confusion was cleared up when I heard the exact same advertisement over the next few weeks. [Continue reading]
Making Meetings Work
I recently attended an online seminar called "Making Meetings Work". The following points resonated the most with me [Continue reading]
