Meridiansix

Every web design company has web 2.0 locked into their working vocabulary now. At a recent press conference, Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave his impromptu estimation of web 3.0.

People like to argue that web 2.0 is or isn’t a set concept with an origin consistent to it’s usage. Doesn’t matter. The term has a life of its own- and it’s not going to disappear until maybe when 3.0 asserts its own semi(super)-reality. But there doesn’t seem to be much confusion about the features housed under in the web 2.0 umbrella. They include:

AJAX (Asynchronous Java And XML) This means programming that makes the page more dynamic and interactive as you use it, not reloading the entire page with every click, but instead, several interactive modules withing the page, able to modify independently. Meridiansix has been using this technology extensively in its website editors, clients love it.

CMS (Content Management System) The days of calling your webmaster and wating for, then being billed for a simple update are over. Nearly all of the websites we build today are paired with a CMS. Content management systems allow the client to login into the “Backend” database with a simple username and password in their every-day internet browser, edit/delete/upload new content and images with no more difficulty than making a reservation, or buying a book online. It’s so easy.

Perpetual Beta Don’t treat software as an artifact, but as a process of engagement with your users. We feel this way about logos too. Things that live are things that stretch, move, respond and change. If your approach to your website can be flexible over time, you can cultivate a greater user base.

Small Pieces Loosely Joined Open your data and services for re-use by others, and re-use the data and services of others whenever possible. Turns out that the jealous guarding of meta-turf is small minded, and without viral potential.

Software Above the Level of a Single Device Don’t think of applications that reside on either client or server, but build applications that reside in the space between devices. And soon, don’t think of devices as only laptops and desktops, pretty soon it’s televisions, palm pilots, iphones, cell phones and their numerous ilk.

Conservation of Attractive Profits Remember that in a network environment, open APIs and standard protocols win, but this doesn’t mean that the idea of competitive advantage goes away.

Wiki A wiki is a collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as “the simplest online database that could possibly work”. Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. A wiki enables documents to be written collaboratively, in a simple markup language using a web browser. A single page in a wiki is referred to as a “wiki page”, while the entire body of pages, which are usually highly interconnected via hyperlinks, is “the wiki”. A wiki is essentially a database for creating, browsing and searching information.

A defining characteristic of wiki technology is the ease with which pages can be created and updated. Generally, there is no review before modifications are accepted. Many wikis are open to the general public without the need to register any user account. Sometimes session log-in is requested to acquire a “wiki-signature” cookie for autosigning edits. Many edits, however, can be made in real-time, and appear almost instantaneously online. This can lead to abuse of the system. Private wiki servers require user authentication to edit, sometimes even to read pages.

Data (There’s no content like real content) Chief among the future sources of lock in and competitive advantage will be data, whether through increasing returns from user-generated data (eBay, Amazon reviews, audioscrobbler info in last.fm, email/IM/phone traffic data as soon as someone who owns a lot of that data figures out that’s how to use it to enable social networking apps, GPS and other location data), through owning a namespace (Gracenote/CDDB, Network Solutions), or through proprietary file formats (Microsoft Office, iTunes). (”Data is the Intel Inside”)

Meridiansix is a boutique website design firm, we also do a lot of print and identity work. Our work is sophisticated, refined and our clients use us to distinguish themselves in their respective industries, as market leaders– we call it the ‘designer high-ground.’ But that doesn’t stop the phone from ringing by real people with real needs and no concept of the cost and value of what we offer…

So this post if for all those clients with the best intentions and no funding. There are many existing, online resources where you can (at least) get your content online, and in many cases — it’s absolutely free. Can’t really argue with that, can you? Enjoy.

Beginner Resources

SiteKreator - You can instantly design, build and host a fully-branded website for personal or business use.

Leafletter - Allows you to create a “little web site” that you can then distribute anywhere (social networks, blogs, other websites).

SynthaSite - Browser-based website creation tool that allows you to collaborate with friends or colleagues. Also has lots of widgets, templates and other components you can use.

Weebly - With Weebly you can create a fully branded website using a drag and drop interface, and change your design any time.

FolioNow - A web-based tool that makes creating websites affordable and requires little effort.

Zinadoo - Lets you create and share a mobile website.

mobispirit - An online platform for creating mobile applications.

siteMighty - Web based platform for creating affiliate websites in minutes.

CreataPlace - Create a professional portfolio website without programming. And it’s affordable.

weebox - Flash-based website creator with a drag-and-drop interface. You do have to host through them.

freewebs - Fast and easy website creator with hundreds of available templates and customizable widgets.

Built Smarter - Tons of templates available, depending on the price you’re willing to pay, built-in modules and customization also available.

sampa - Free website creation and hosting. There is an ad bar that runs across the top of your site.

Wufoo - Online form builder with full CSS and XHTML integration.

formspring - Another online form builder. This one lets you get all of the form submissions through an RSS feed or single spreadsheet instead of hundreds of emails.

A recent opinion from the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the ruling from a District Court that, unless otherwise specifically stated in the initial contract, a website is the property of the author, and not the client who commissioned the site. The main justification was the author of the code owns the copyright to it (unless specifically given away), and, since it is the code which lends value to the website (and not the domain name, or the hosting, etc…), that value constitutes ownership of the site itself. The client only receives an implied license to use the copyrighted material.

The specific case was as follows-

A man hired a web designer to build out some pages, and make some updates to an existing site. When the designer was finished, the client refused to pay, and changed the password to the server, so the web designer couldn’t log in and take down the pages he’d created. I guess the designer took the client to court, and the client ended up with a 4th degree felony for criminal fraud.

So I guess the moral is don’t be a jerk to people, and honor your contracts. And get a deposit up front.

Pete

I am fully aware that only a web design geek would like this video as much as I do. View Video

Adam (0.9 beta)

As Google proceeds unchecked in the conquest of everything digital, it appears they are hard upon the social networking craze. Myspace lords like a leprous king over all social networks, Facebook positions itself as the cunning usurper, Virb is “like myspace designed by apple,” so what did Google do to distinguish itself in this neo-mega-meta-market? It looks like they did the right thing, they researched it…

They paired up with Carnegie Mellon Univerity’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, and developed a refined understanding. View their results here. Even with a cursory look through their demo video, it appears they’ve got some obvious functionality improvements, including timelines, recent post thumbnails by your friends on your personal login page, icons indicating new content in your contact list, and the ability to upload content to multiple sites simulateously (flicker, etc…)

How does it look? Nothing fancy– hey it’s google.

Adam