New “About” & “Disclaimers” Pages!
I’ve spent some time this weekend refreshing the About, and more importantly, the Disclaimers section.
I had some fun writing the disclaimers, so I hope you find them more informative and funnier than most other policy pages on the web.
About
Disclaimers
Intrim Theme
It finally happened! WordPress.com released a new theme that is functional, attractive, and roughly in my color range.
I’ve activated the brand spankin new Choco Blog Theme as an intrim design until I can finish my own custom redesign.
I hope you like it.
Domain Registration: Hover > Go Daddy
Go Daddy is a painful way to register a domain name. It’s so complicated, convoluted and confusing that it’s difficult to register your domain name even if you understand the web. They work so hard to up-sell, and completely ignore that fact that their user-experience blows.
Hover on the other-hand is simple, elegant, and easy-to-use. It has a great design, and they don’t try to push stuff you don’t want or need.
If you need to register a domain, give Hover a try.
Restaurant Web Design
Own a restaurant? This is all you need to know about web design.
You haven't lived until you've had Duff's Wings in Buffalo, NY
No Flash
Stop using Flash, it doesn’t work on iPhones, and it sucks the life out of Androids.
Flash should only be used on things that require it. A restaurant website is not one of those things.
What Information Does Your Site Need?
Menu
The menu needs to load quick, and the user should be able to copy and paste. As a result, it needs to be hardcoded in HTML. No images or PDFs.
Location & Phone Number
This should be on every page in the header, and again hardcode it in HTML. If it’s an image, they can’t copy and paste it, and that’s bad.
Operating Hours
Put your hours on your homepage.
Special Event Information (If applicable)
Make the information clear, concise, and relevant. You don’t need to give all of the details away, you want the person reading to call or email you.
Don’t Get Fancy
People are on your website for information, not to hangout or admire it.
Your homepage should be simple and point visitors to the menu, hours and special events.
The website should be mobile friendly (Android, iPhone & Blackberry).
Everything should have a purpose for the customer. This means you should leave out cutesy stuff like music, photo galleries, and your life story.
Don’t go crazy with your website, keep it simple. It’s cheaper for you, and better for your customers.
If You Must Get Fancy
Go with fancy features that help your customers:
- A method to place pick-up and delivery orders online (This needs to be really user-friendly)
- A dead simple way to make reservations
- Open Table integration
(The Oatmeal inadvertently reminded me that I’ve been meaning to write this post for a year or so)
Network Neutrality & the Open Net
If the issue of network neutrality is a little foggy for you, this is an excellent visual guide to the issue. I would word things a little different, but it communicates the point well.
It’s also interesting from a web design perspective.
Google App Inventor
I used to code.
At some point during my teenage years I decided that I wasn’t an incredible coder, so I stopped. It wasn’t one of my wisest decisions, but a lot of what I learned stuck with me. I still maintain a keen understanding of coding logic, and how it all works. What I’ve lost is the syntax; the ability to actually write the stuff.
One day I might reteach myself to code, but at this point my life I’m just not going to make the time.
Android App Inventor is a happy medium for me. It allows me to create Android apps without having to learn Java.
I was nervous and excited when I logged into the Android App Inventor for the first time this afternoon. I had been putting it off for a while, but the blizzard conditions outside freed-up my day for me.
After installing some software, I started the tutorial; HelloPurr.
HelloPurr is a simple application that looks something like this when finished.
When you touch the picture of the cat, it meows.
Here’s how the App Inventor works.
After finishing HelloPurr I threw together a second app for calling a few people who I contact on a daily basis, I called it ImportantFolk. It was easy to export to my phone and use.
I’m really looking forward to see what other things I can cook up with this tool.
Give it a try for yourself: Google App Inventor
TGW RSS Feed
Those of you who subscribe to The Geek Whisperer via RSS have noticed that a number of my older posts have reappeared in the feed over the last few days. This is due to the content reorganization I have been conducting as part of my redesign efforts.
I’m happy to announce that I am finished reorganizing content, and the feed should be back to normal and only serving up fresh content.
More will be changing here over the coming weeks.
Thank you to those of you who contacted me about the bug.
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