Blackmoor Vituperative

While discussing blogs this afternoon with a colleague, we had a brief discussion on the topic of forcing a hyperlink to open in a new browser window (typically with the target=”_blank” tag). I took the position that most professional web developers take: it’s nearly always a bad idea to wrest control away from the user. My colleague took the position that most people in advertising take: the less control the user has, the better.

The passage below is by Jakob Nielsen, widely acknowledged as the world’s leading expert on user-friendly web design, from his list of the ten very worst web design mistakes of all time. I am not quoting him because I think his opinion is infallible (there are one or two areas where Nielsen and I differ, if only in the details). I am quoting him because experience has taught me that he is very good at explaining why a web design mistake is, in fact, a mistake.

Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer’s carpet. Don’t pollute my screen with any more windows, thanks (particularly since current operating systems have miserable window management).

Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. But even disregarding the user-hostile message implied in taking over the user’s machine, the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites. Users often don’t notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed out Back button.

Links that don’t behave as expected undermine users’ understanding of their own system. A link should be a simple hypertext reference that replaces the current page with new content. Users hate unwarranted pop-up windows. When they want the destination to appear in a new page, they can use their browser’s “open in new window” command — assuming, of course, that the link is not a piece of code that interferes with the browser’s standard behavior.

With respect to blogs, specifically, I think it is worth pointing out that the best blogs — and, more importantly for my colleague’s purposes, the blogs that get linked to the most — almost never force users to open new windows when they click a link. Visit Technorati.com and check out the top 100 blogs. Go through them all and see how many force users to open links in new windows. I guarantee you that the top 10 English speaking blogs do not.

The Department of Homeland Security redesigned its website over the weekend, and now all of the existing links to DHS documknts across the entire WWW are broken.

404 : Page can not be found
We recently redesigned our site and most pages have moved.

Here is a clue for would-be web designers out there. Never break hyperlinks.

Many novice Web developers use CSS positioning and layout directives without a sound understanding of how they really work. A brief introduction to the box model explains what it is and how you can use it to make better decisions about positioning your HTML elements on a Web page.

(from Tech Republic, Make better Web pages by understanding the CSS box model)

How often have you browsed to a Web site, only to encounter a blank page in your browser? This happens to me all the time. Other times, the Web page is missing entire sections — typically navigational elements — and I can’t browse around at all. And sometimes, though not always, the Web page notifies me that I need to install or enable a plug-in or change my browser’s settings in order to view and navigate the Web page properly.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a typical user, but by no means am I the only person who experiences these problems either — particularly since users are much more aware of Web browsing security concerns than they used to be. Depending on my mood and the Web site in question, I may spend some time attempting to adjust my Web browser settings.

But more often, when I encounter an improperly displaying Web site — especially those that require JavaScript, ActiveX controls, Java, or Macromedia Flash in order to work at all — I question whether it’s worth my time. And if a Web site “locks” me in, due to JavaScript code redirects, pop-up windows, or some other method to keep me from going back, I won’t even bother trying to make it work.

(from Tech Republic, Why interactive Web site features often conflict with security best practices)

I agree completely.

Sometimes the best communication is visual. This is true even when you are trying to communicate the structure of an XML document. Using the power of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a programmer can create a graphic representation of any XML document. This download shows you how it works and provides several code examples to get you started on the right path.

(from TechRepublic, Create a graphic representation of any XML document using SVG)

This sample chapter from How to Break Web Software: Functional and Security Testing of Web Applications and Web Services describes the most common and notorious attacks to help developers and testers assess a Web application’s vulnerability:

…sample chapter…

A New York applied research center today released its first version of an online toolkit designed to help government agencies use Extensible Markup Language for managing Web sites.

The product, called the XML Toolkit, can be found at www.thexmltoolkit.org. Researchers at the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) at the State University of New York at Albany have been formally investigating and assessing the use of XML to replace HTML. HTML is the predominant language used to define and structure the layout of a Web document.

The center formed a partnership with the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations and the Office of the Chief Information Officer for a test project. In January, it presented results of the project in which five participating state government agencies established business case analyses and prototype Web sites using XML. The results led to the development of the online toolkit.

Using XML can improve workflow and decrease the time, effort and costs related to Web site management, according to CTG officials. The center converted its Web site to an XML format several years ago and dramatically reduced the effort necessary to manage the site, officials said. The site expanded from 1,300 pages to 5,000 pages in five years.

The toolkit offers a library of resources needed to manage a Web site with XML. It provides tips on how to create Web pages using XML, different approaches to setting up XML on a Web server and examples of codes for specific functions and results.

It also provides useful tools for XML development, publications related to the task and other hints. A feedback section enables visitors to comment on the library and provide their own resources, code samples and tips.

(from Federal Computer Week, Center unveils online XML toolkit)

I haven’t tested this yet, but I plan to. It sounds really interesting, but I have a feeling that for someone of my skills, it’s not any simpler than simply creating a XHTML/PHP site the way I currently do.

Are you looking to simplify AJAX code? Bruce Perry has some help in “Prototype: Easing AJAX’s Pain,” which introduces the “Prototype” library. Prototype introduces a number of development-easing shortcuts for JavaScript authors. Further, “Prototype also wraps the functionality of XMLHttpRequest with its own Ajax.Request and related objects, so that you don’t have to bother with writing code for instantiating this object for various browsers.”

eWeek has a head-to-head review of Apache Jetspeed-2 and JBoss Portal. The last time I was reviewing open source, standards-based Java portals (which was a little less than two years ago), neither of these was ready for prime time. At that time, the two main contenders (in my opinion) were Liferay and Exo. At the time, I selected Liferay for the project I was working on, because its security model and architecture was more compatible with my project.

It looks like Liferay and Exo are still going strong, but if I were evaluating Java portals again today, I’d probably take a good hard look at Jetspeed-2. It supports portlets written in other languages, which helps transition legacy systems into the portal framework, and it plays well with other Apache products most of us are already using.

One portal system I have not examined at all is Plone, although I keep hearing nice things about it. The next time I need to evaluate open source, standards based Java portals, I guess I will have to add that to the list, as well.

Domain name squatters are scum, regardless of the domain suffix. They occupy a niche between spammers, virus writers, and head lice. Re-selling domain names for any price should be explicitly forbidden, period. The sooner ICANN makes that a policy, and starts enforcing it, the better off all of us will be. It’s long overdue, in my opinion.