9. Recommendations

This section of recommendations and best practices will help the Siena College website run consistently and smoothly. The following points are listed to help content managers/editors keep their pages as user friendly as possible while allowing user feedback to help keep information up-to-date.

Extensible code (code that revised for or preparing for future changes to technology) is one of the most basic ways to ensure your pages look the way you intend to the most people possible. HTML is the code that is used to display Siena's web pages. XHTML (a W3C recommendation) is an extensible version of HTML that helps render pages across most media types (computers, TVs, phones, etc.). This is not a different programming language but more of an extension of HTML. For more information see Section 10.a.iii.

1. Use Page Templates
   1. One-column templates are the most flexible when it comes to page-specific content. One-column templates do not have a left-sidebar or right-sidebar for menus, information channels, or contact information. These pages only contain a single column for content.
   2. Two-column templates refer to pages that have a left-sidebar and a main column for content.
   3. Three-column templates refer to pages that have a left- and right-sidebar with the middle column used for content.
2. Organize and divide information into clearly defined sections.
3. Situate important items at the top of the page to facilitate scanning – All major choices should be visible without requiring the visitor to scroll down the page.
4. Supply additional contact information such as postal address and phone number.
5. Obscure email addresses to prevent unwanted spam-mail – mungeing an email address means to change the formatting so that the address is obvious to humans but not to computer software used to farm email addresses for spamming. The two main ways of doing this is as follows:
   1. Changing the text
      1. Change symbols to words – email address from admin@siena.edu to admin (at) siena (dot) edu.
      2. Substitute letters with a symbol to replace – st*v*@si*na.*du (replace * with e).
      3. Use your Siena College alias (e.g. admin from admin@siena.edu) – Contact me at “admin” in Siena’s email.
   2. Making a picture
      1. A picture makes it harder for computers to read and decipher email addresses – admin@siena.edu =  
      2. With a picture you can have a link to a file (e.g. request form) that sends formatted emails once completed.
6. Use JPEG format for photographs in order to achieve the best quality for online graphics.
7. Use the GIF format for graphics with fewer colors such as simple logos and graphic text.
8. Animated images can often be distracting; avoid them or use them sparingly.
   1. Provide navigation clues – Users who come into the middle of a site from outside should be able to discern where they are within the site. This has been implemented by a “breadcrumb trail” at the top of each web page.
9. Do not use self-referencing links, such as "click here." Use the topic itself as a link – If the topic is exercise, instead of using: "For more information on exercise, click here", employ, "More information on exercise."
10. Background/foreground elements should not compete with or obscure the information on the page – If you use a picture or graphic as a background image, make sure that the picture is faint enough so the words in the foreground above it, are easily read.
11. Whenever possible, it is best to use black text on a white background for paragraph text, headings, subheadings and other captions.
12. Writing for the web
    1. Understand your audience – provide relevant information formatted to suit the audience. Information should be presented according to order of importance (based on relevance on page and use by others) or sectioned alphabetically (for ease of searching). Use action verbs to attract your audience (e.g. “Connect with Us” and “Join In”).
    2. Write in an active voice with a positive sense. Readers will be more engaged in what is written (as opposed to passive and negative).
    3. Description of the page – the first paragraph of the page should be comprised of a short description of what the page is about. Contain key words/phrases in this first paragraph that reflect the title of the page and the pages topics covered (this will allow Google’s search program to properly index your page).
    4. Write web copy that is easy to scan. Use short sentences, bullet points, or short lines. If posting instructions, 120 word maximum will allow most people to understand the instructions. Long instructions cause confusion and your audience will get lost.
13. To ensure the widest possible viewing audience, it is best to test pages using as many up-to-date browsers as possible before posting them to the web – Some of the most popular browsers are as follows: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.
14. Do not use pop-ups, unnecessary graphics/animations, or scroll stoppers (graphics that look like the end of a page and used to ‘trick’ the user not to scroll further) since some users find them distracting.
15. Pages should not start with "Welcome to ___" (then the site name) or use negative, passive writing.  These detract immediately from the content of the page.  Instead have a paragraph suggesting the objective of the page and use positive, active writing.