The following are tips that will reduce your
maintenance costs. I'll be adding to this page as new ideas occur to me. They
are all little things but they add up.
1. Be clear about what you want done.
The best way to send me a text edit is to rewrite the paragraph and send the
new version to me, instructing me to substitute it for a particular paragraph
on a page. Then all I have to do is strip the code and copy/paste it into the
html file. It takes much more time to follow complicated instructions about
deleting a few words here and substituting a few words there and in the end I
may not get it right.
2. Name your image files. When you send
me image files name them according to content instead of using the numerical
filenames from your digital camera. Sending an email with several numbered
files attached and telling me that the first one is Nanny and the second one
is Billy often doesn't help me identify the files because I don't always
receive the attachments in the same order you added them to the email. If it
is difficult for you to rename files then refer to the numerical filenames in
your message: "IMG1234 is Nanny at the 08 National, IMG1253 is Billy as a
yearling in 06."
3. Send your pictures as image files.
Images that are embedded in word processing documents require extra time for
extraction and sometimes their dimensions are distorted after that process (I
don't know why). If you want to put them in a .doc or .wpd file with text to
show the desired placement on the page, that's fine, but it will be helpful is
you also send the images as discrete files, the original jpg or bmp, etc.
4. Do not embellish your images. Send me
the original image. Do not add fancy borders or edges. These will not look the
way you expect against the background of your website.
5. Turn off the date/time stamp when you
take digital pictures. Usually I can clone these out of your picture but
sometimes the results aren't great, depending on the position of the stamp.
6. Don't use barn names or nicknames in
referring to your animals. Your animals are listed on your website with
their registered names and I use those names to name their pages and images.
While it's fine to mention an animal's nickname in descriptive text, use her
registered name when you're sending materials to me because I can't remember
all the barn names. The convention I use for all my websites is the last word
of the animal's registered name. Bailout Acres Nana Sue's picture becomes
sue.jpg. If you have more than one Sue I'll use the last two words of the
name: nana_sue.jpg, lila_sue.jpg. If I know the year the picture was taken I
will add that: sue_07.jpg. You don't need to name your image files this way
before sending them to me, just make sure to tell me it's Sue we're talking
about and not "Crazy Baby."
7. Use the subject line when you send me
emails. If you are sending several emails, instead of labeling them all
"website updates," name them according to content: buck page updates, breeding
date updates, soap price changes, etc. When I have a group of emails from you
I go through them and rename the subject lines so I can keep them sorted.
You're paying me for that time.
8. Don't pay me to surf the net. If you
have permission to use an image or text from another website, either copy the
material and send it to me or send me the URL (address) of the page where it
can be found. If you tell me to get Sally's grandmother's picture from the
Brown's website you really don't want to pay me for all the googling and
surfing it's going to take to find the picture.
9. Don't pay me to retype documents. If
you produce a document in word processing software (Word, WordPerfect), send
it to me as an email attachment. If you print it out and postal mail it then
you have to pay me for typing time and perhaps a few typos. If you don't know
how to send an attachment look in the Help section of your email program.
