Strategizing Web Content

Here’s a valuable blog post from Shay Howe, a professional web and user experience designer. He details the recommended strategies for creating web content that’s relavent, up-to-date and easy for readers to grasp quickly.

Strategizing Web Content

The New UCLA Sign-In Page

As you’ve probably heard, on January 31, 2010, a new sign-in page will be seen before accessing UCLA web applications and services. The only visible change will be the page’s new look and feel. For all the details, please visit the Portal article below:

The New UCLA Sign-In Page

How to Write for New Readers

Here’s a great article about how to write for new readers.

An excerpt:

The trick to writing for new readers is that they’re the least patient with our content… unlike regular readers, they may not hold out long enough to get to the juicy part of our posts; they may also gloss over the subtlety in our writing… Since they’re new, sound content that helps them can give them a huge boost in their ability to do whatever they’re trying to do.

IttyBiz Article: How to Write for New Readers

Hard Returns & How Different Browsers Display Them

Internet Explorer, Safari, FireFox, Chrome, Opera, oh my. With so many browsers available these days, it’s important that your Portal articles look similar across the board. A common concern among Portal content contributors has been the formatting issues that arise when using “hard returns” (the Enter key). In articles that contain multiple tables, sometimes the tables appear horizontally adjacent to one another, when they should really appear vertically above or below one another. Content contributors often hit the Enter key numerous times to force the table in its proper place. However, this can create formatting problems (large chunks of blank space) when the article is viewed in different browsers.  

Here are some tips to help you along.

1. Obviously you should test your articles in different browsers. Try viewing your articles in older versions of browsers; there’s no guarantee that all your users are using the most recent version.
2. Remove hard returns by center aligning the table.
   • Select the table
   • Right-click on the table’s outline
   • Select Properties> Table Properties
   • In the Table Properties window, set the horizontal alignment to CENTER

Doing this will reveal all the hard returns you’ve inserted to force the table in place. Delete those erroenous hard returns and the awkward white space should disappear.

As always, the Portal team is here to help. If you find yourself struggling with tables or other formatting issues, feel free to contact us at aisportaleditor@ais.ucla.edu.