Easy Edit Guide

A How To Guide For: Easy Edit and Create A Page

To access these MediaMite Features you must Login as an Editor. Only those individuals whom you designate via Login Name and Password will see the Easy Edit Icon (Shown Below) and have the ability to Add, Update and Edit items in your web site instantly. In addition, when you Login as an editor special context sensitive help will be available to you by simply clicking on the Help button of the Tool Bar located on the page in which you are seeking assistance.

As long as we are talking about the Tool Bar, you might also want to print this page to keep as a reference. Simply click on the Print button on this pages Tool Bar located at the top.

Both of MediaMite�s Model Sites (Our Organization and Our Business) will allow you to experience the power of these two features first hand. You accomplish this by simply mouse clicking on the Login Navigational Element. Next, in the Name box type editor and in the Password box type mediamite. Now every page you visit you will see the Easy Edit Icon and have the ability to add, update and edit items. Go to various pages and click on the Easy Edit Tasks next to the Icon and you will see the Easy Edit Forms which will allow to make changes and add content. As you will see, the Easy Edit Forms are intuitive and self-explanatory, but should you need assistance just click on the Help button.

Go ahead, feel free to add, update and change items in either model site. Create a News Story, Add Events to the Calendar, Create a Forum, Add a Member/Client, Put some pictures in the Photo Galleries; this is what they are here for. We want you to experience the ease with which you can take total control with MediaMite�s Web Suite. Your changes occur instantly and you can accomplish changes from any location where you have an Internet connection and access to your site.

Create A Page allows you to add completely new pages to your web site. In addition, the Web Suite Program will automatically create a new navigational menu for your new page (you can even have a heading menu with sub categories below it). To get to the Create A Page feature click on the Control Center and then on Pages Tab you will now see the Easy Edit Icon. Click on Add a Page. The Page form will pop up and you are now ready to use the revolutionary Create A Page feature.

Along with the benefits of having complete control over your site comes the responsibility of keeping it professional looking and enticing to your visitors.

Here are some helpful tips and design considerations:

► Organize Your Site

� Decide in advance of placing any content how you will categorize your information. Organize content into a logical structure.

� Make your site as intuitive as possible. Visitors want to be able to find their information fast.

► Always think of your visitors

� This cannot be overstated. What do your visitors want and expect from your site. It�s not always what you may want.

� Add content that will fill their needs. Anticipate visitor�s questions. Do not publish the obvious.

� Keep your content fresh and update often. You want your visitors to return again and again.

► Fonts

� Fonts should be used consistently and in moderation. This is very important to having a professional looking web site.

� A maximum of two font types on a page.

� Do not mix a use of fonts through out your site. Pick one or two and make certain all of your editors use only these fonts.

� Headlines, which are larger than 2 times the text body, will make your site look amateurish.

� If a colored font is used, be consistent and do not use different colors through out your site. Again that moderation theme.

� Limit your use of fonts to the following selection, Arial, Courier New, Tahoma, Times New Roman, and Verdana. The reason is that these are the standard fonts that come with Windows. Visitors' computers coming to your site will then be able to see the page as you designed it. If you choose a font that a visitor does not have on their machine a substitute will be used and the visitor may see different line spacing and inappropriate blank spaces. They will wonder who designed this mess.

� If your using Window�s copy and paste feature to add text to your site, make certain you use one of the above fonts in your program before performing this operation.

� Sans-serif text (Arial, Tahoma, and Verdana) is easier than serif text to read on the Web. This is because serif text shape is more complicated and cannot be accurately reproduced at the limited screen resolution.

► Photo�s and Graphics

Two file types are acceptable; JPEG and GIF. JPEG is the standard for photos and supported by all digital cameras. JPEG is also commonly used for graphics. GIF files are usually graphic files such as logos, artwork, clip art etc. In addition the GIF format also supports animation (moving graphics). That�s right you can place an animated GIF in MediaMite�s Web Suite. For design sake though use animation sparingly. They have a tendency of annoying your visitors after the cuteness wears off (quickly I might add).

Although you can resize your images once they are in the Web Suite, this task is better achieved in your graphics program. You will have greater control over your graphics and you will be able to crop and optimize them.

Remember the Web works best with low-resolution photos and graphics for two reasons.

60% of Web surfers (your visitors) have their monitors set at 800x600 pixels. This represents the entire viewing screen. Now take away the browser borders and your navigational borders and your header and footer and you rapidly realize that the actual area you have to work with is significantly less the 800x600 pixel size. Although you can have photos larger than this, your visitor will be required to use the scroll bar to view your graphic. They will not be able to see the graphic in its entirety. This should be avoided at all costs and will not make your site attractive.
Visitors will get annoyed if they are required to wait long periods of time for graphics to appear on your page. High-resolution photos will be beyond most visitors� threshold. Your goal is to make your visitors have a pleasant experience while at your site and high-resolution graphics is not the way to enhance their experience. Camera settings should be set no higher than 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 is even better if your taking photos for your web site. If your photo taking is for dual purpose (Web and Print) then take your photos at the higher resolution and use a graphics program to reduce the resolution before downloading to your web site.

Graphic file size should be kept below 50K. Most web users still have dial up connections and by keeping your file size small they will load to your site rapidly. Many graphic programs allow you to compress or optimize your photos for the web. Through optimization you will not lose any noticeable quality and your photos file size will be drastically reduced.

In short, you should make certain that editors for your site have a graphics program that can resize and optimize photos. The procedure is very simple and many are available as shareware for very little cost. (Less than $50). Its well worth it! Here are some links to graphic programs that can accomplish these necessary tasks.

http://www.irfanview.com Great Product and FREE

http://www.xat.com/image_optimizer/image_optimizer.shtml Image Optimizer - $39 - Shows previews with and without the optimizer

http://www.group42.com/webimage.htm Web Image - $40

http://www.boxtopsoft.com/projpeg.html Pro JPEG - $50

► Overall Design Characteristics

� Keep your site uniform through out.

� Make certain you have at least one space of white below your last text line. This is visually more appealing to your visitor rather then having your text end directly on top of the footer.

� Do not Publish your page until you are completely satisfied with the design and look. Make certain it is consistent and fits in with the rest of your site.