September 30, 2002, 6:17 PM ET
There will be a quiz
Three links of interest to Web developers:
- youngpup.net: How to Create Pop-Up Windows. "Forget everything you know about creating pop-up windows. Most importantly, forget you ever knew that the javascript pseudo-protocol ever existed. Do you hear me??"
- A List Apart: CSS Design: Taming Lists. Innovative ways to use style sheets.
- css-discuss: CSS signatures. CSS guru Eric Meyer introduces a new technique that makes it simple for users to change the design of a specific site, using user stylesheets. Craig Saila explains it well. I've implemented the technique on this site (
body id="www-holovaty-com").
September 30, 2002, 12:49 PM ET
Lumping unrelated content together at sunspot.net
"Israeli tanks end siege of Arafat's office" was the lead story on sunspot.net this morning.
A serious story, wouldn't you think? One that doesn't have much to do with entertainment? One that isn't related in any way to, say, Barbra Streisand?
Wrong.
Sunspot.net implies the two are related. A sidebar titled "Also see" lists a related article -- and a 140x120 image of Barbra. Here's a screenshot:
So, wait. If I'm interested in the siege of Arafat's office, I should also check out the photo of Barbra? Ah, yes. Of course. Always knew there was more to her than meets the eye.
But, in all seriousness, this illustrates a common problem on news sites: lumping unrelated content together and using vague phrases like "Also see" to imply the pieces of content are related. A better way to do this, in Sunspot.net's case, would be to embed the "Related Articles" box in the content area to give an obvious visual clue that both pieces of content are related. Then replace the "Also see" label with "Also on Sunspot.net" to clarify the content in that sidebar has nothing to do with the article.
