BSBEBU401A Review and maintain a website

Carry out non technical site maintenance

ReadingCarry out non technical site maintenance 1

Reading 1Overview 2Analyse user feedback to confirm that faults have resulted from the site and are not user problems 2Rectify faults and make improvements to the site in response to user feedback approved by the organisation 5Add new web pages and/or active links and remove redundant pages and links in accordance with organisational requirements 6

Hyperlinks 6

Web pages 9

Organisational requirements 10

Make site changes in response to changes in marketing strategy in accordance with organisational requirements and consideration of cost benefits 10

Cost benefit 11

Activities 121. Web browser standards 12

2. Improve appearances with CSS 12

3. Link checking 13

3. Quiz 13

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BSBEBU401A Review and maintain a website

OverviewSite maintenance is vital to ensuring that an organisation’s website stays current, reflects customer needs, provides reliable information and is accessible.

This reading looks at how to identify faults in a website, how to fix some of the common faults such as broken links and redundant pages and how to best reflect the changing nature of the organisation the website represents.

Analyse user feedback to confirm that faults have resulted from the site and are not user problemsA well designed website allows visitors to provide feedback via online forms and/or email. This, combined with analysis of web server statistics, gives a website maintainer valuable insights into what needs to be modified to improve the website. However, there is a danger than assumptions are made as to the cause of the identified problem. For example, usage statistics show that an online pdf document is very rarely downloaded and a user has reported that they were unable to read the same document. It would be easy to assume that the document may be faulty or the link not working correctly. After deeper investigation it is discovered that the user who reported the problem did not have Adobe Reader installed and was not able to open the pdf document. The rare usage of the document is attributed to its very specific content rather than a faulty link.

Before taking action to modify a website in the hope of correcting faults it is important to firstly identify where the fault lies. Typically faults reside in one of the following locations:

Client – the fault lies with the users/visitors system. This includes hardware, software and internal networks.

Server – the fault is occurring at the server. This includes hardware and software.

Network – the fault is occurring in the website hosts network or the wider internet.

Website – the fault is due to poor coding, structure or design of the website.

In most cases the fault will occur at the users end or within the design of the website. Faults with the server and host providers’ network are typically the responsibility of the host provider and they should have monitoring and reporting process in place to prevent, or

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at least provide adequate warning of any problems.

The most important differentiation to make is between faults that occur with the website design and faults that occur within the users system. Most users will accurately identify general problems with their network and internet connection as multiple websites that will not load or work correctly. However, there are a wide range of more specific problems that can prevent a website from functioning as planned and will prompt users to blame a website rather than their own system. These problems can be caused by:

Different web browsers, for example Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.

Different versions of web browsers, for example Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8; or Firefox 1, 2 or 3.

Web browser add-ons such as Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime, Java and many others. These add-ons may not be installed or may be out-of-date versions.

Website use of design tools such as CSS and JavaScript which can be poorly supported in older web browsers.

User computer configuration, including hardware, operating system and other installed software.

User networks including their internet connection (particularly the speed of the internet connection) and internal networks be that cabled or wireless.

Below is an example of how the version of a web browser can have an adverse affect on a website. The image on the left is correct and is shown properly when using the current version of Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. The images on the right show the effect of using an out-of-date browser such as Firefox 1 or Internet Explorer 6.

Test your web browser by visiting The Web Standards Project – Acid Test 2 (http://www.webstandards.org/action/acid2/) and Acid Test 3 (http://www.webstandards.org/action/acid3/). Groups such as the Web Standards Project and the internet’s de facto standards body,

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the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) are trying to create standards for web browser developers to abide by to allow all browsers to render all websites accurately. A standards based approach also avoids the common practice of adding specialised code to cater for various web browser errors. This wastes web developer time and money.

A common complaint regarding a websites performance is that it is slow to use. Here are some of the possible reasons:

You have just posted an important document on the website and a large number of visitors are downloading it which is overloading the web server.

A visitor to your website is using an old browser which cannot render the website graphics quickly.

The user is running a large download from another website whilst they are browsing your website.

The user is trying to view a collection of streaming videos on your site using a low-bandwidth internet connection.

There are several steps you can take to help minimise the amount of reported faults that stem from user error or problems with user systems rather than true faults with the website. Here are some example strategies:

Add a technical requirements page or note to the website. This should outline the specifications required to best view the website including screen resolution, browser types, browser versions and any add-ins required. It may also be useful to mention any common known issues with the site.

Follow vendor guidelines when using dynamic content such as JavaScript, Flash, Adobe reader, streaming media etc. These guidelines usually include the code or procedures required to add dynamic content but still warn users if they do not have the correct settings or add-ins to view this content.

Ask for user system details when collecting feedback. By asking questions about a users system configuration when collecting their website feedback it is easier to ascertain if the problems lies with the user or not.

Test the website. You may delegate this role to your web developer but it is important to know what your website looks like and how it behaves on a Mac or PC; in various browsers; in various browser versions; via different speed internet connections etc.

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Rectify faults and make improvements to the site in response to user feedback approved by the organisationWebsites need to be modified to fix faults or improve the site. As shown above the fault or improvement must first be identified as a true fault or necessary improvement rather than merely being a user problem. This process should form part of a wider change management process. A simple change management process might include: change is requested; validity of change is determined; change is analysed and planned; change is implemented; change is monitored etc. For a deeper look at change management have a look at the Change management (.doc 186kB) reading.

The change management process should outline who is responsible for rectifying faults and implementing improvements. In most cases your main responsibility will be to plan, organise and manage the changes required. Implementation of the changes will be referred to a contractor or in-house web designer/developer. This does not mean that you are no longer part of the change process. You must liaise with web designer/developer to make sure that changes made will solve the identified problem and are done so in a timely manner.

In small to medium organisations the responsibility for rectifying faults and implementing improvements may reside with you. What changes you are able to make will depend on your technical skills and the type of website. Custom built websites may require contracted support for relatively small changes such as modifying the site navigation or replacing graphics. Websites housed in content management systems or built using wizards allow very complex changes to be made by users with minor knowledge of website design.

If the changes made require any editing of HTML or XHTML be sure to use the right software tools to make the job as simple and efficient as possible. If you merely have to correct a spelling mistake or change a few words then a simple text editor such as Notepad will allow you to open htm/html documents, edit the code and save the changes. However, making complex or large scale changes in a text editor is a time consuming, daunting and error prone task even for experienced web designers/developers. It is far more efficient to use specialised web authoring software such as Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft Expression Web. These tools have features such as What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editing, spellchecking, code validation, browser compatibility checking, site-wide search and replace, automatic uploading of edited files etc.

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An example of a WYSIWYG editor showing a split view of the code window and matching WYSIWYG view.

If you need to improve your technical skills to rectify a fault or implement an improvement to a website you will find many useful tutorials at www.w3schools.com.

Add new web pages and/or active links and remove redundant pages and links in accordance with organisational requirementsA large number of change requests regarding website maintenance focus on hyperlinks. It is also common to receive requests for information or content that is not present on the website. Your visitor statistics will also reveal that there may be website pages that are rarely used. If you are able to build skills in adding, deleting and modifying both web pages and hyperlinks then you will be able to fix many of the change requests your website will receive.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are the backbone of website navigation, both within the site and to external sites.

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A basic hyperlink will appear as follows:<a href=”aboutus.htm”>About us</a>

A hyperlink is based on the ‘a’ or anchor tag. In this case the anchor is a ‘href’ or hyperlink reference to a page in the website called ‘aboutus.htm’. The actual hyperlink text will appear as About us. The ‘a’ tag can also include many other useful additions such as ‘id’ to give the hyperlink a unique name and ‘target’ to direct where the link will appear such as in a pop-up window or particular frame on the webpage. For example:<a href=”aboutus.htm” id=”about us” target=”_blank”>about us</a>

Hyperlinks can also be attached to images or other objects rather than text. For example:<a href=”aboutus.htm”><img source=”images/team.jpg /></a>

Hyperlinks are a common cause of problems for website maintainers. The files and websites hyperlinks refer to can be become broken over time. The website being referred to may no longer exist or the specific page being referred to may have been removed or re-located. It is then a simple case of determining the new link and editing the hyperlink or removing the link entirely. In other cases it can be something as simple as a misspelt link. A common error is referring to a document that has an extension of ".html" when its extension is ".htm". This is not an obvious error to identify due to the similarity of the spelling however it is enough to cause a link to fail.

Sometimes an internal link may be broken. This is a link to another page within the site. Web sites are usually developed using relative addressing rather than absolute addressing. What is the difference? Let's say that you have developed a site located at the following domain, http://www.mysite.com.au/ and that you have created a folder structure that looks like the one shown below.

The ‘mysite’ folder represents the root folder of the site. In the ‘mysite’ folder you have placed the home page (index.htm) as shown below.

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In the html folder you have placed the remaining high level htm files as shown below.

You could create links in the home page that link to the other pages by using the absolute. Here is an example of a hyperlink to the aboutus.htm page using absolute addressing:<a href="http://www.mysite.com.au/html/aboutus.htm">About us</a>.

To link back to home page from the aboutus.htm file you could use an absolute method also such as:

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However, absolute addressing creates long inefficient links and because the link is seen to be a link to a domain name another specialised server (DNS server) may need to be queried to check where the site resides on the internet. Developing a site using absolute links assumes that the domain has already been established which is quite often not the case.

Using a relative addressing method allows the site to be developed without the need to be concerned about the final location of the site. There is no need to reference the domain name at all. Relative links can be resolved internally without the need to query other servers. There are a few basic rules to follow for relative links:

When the page being linked to is in the same folder just use the pages file name e.g. “aboutus.htm”.

If the page being linked to is within a subfolder add “foldername/” in front of the page name. From the example site on page 8, to link from ‘index.htm’ to ‘aboutus.htm’ the relative link would be “html/aboutus.htm”

If the page being linked to is in a folder one level above the current pages folder add “../” in front of the page name. From the example site on page 8, to link from ‘aboutus.htm’ to ‘index.htm’ the relative link would be “../index.htm”.

When a hyperlink is broken or only requires modification you can open the webpage with the broken link and make the amendment. For more complex tasks such as removing multiple links or adding new links it is strongly recommended that you use specialised website editing software or refer the job onto someone with more expertise.

Web pages

Often new or extra content needs to be added to a website or old content needs to be removed. This may require pages to be created or pages removed. Here are a few things to keep in mind when adding or removing pages:

You can remove a webpage by simply deleting the htm/html file.

Deleting a web page will leave a string of broken links within the website in navigation menus on other pages, site maps etc. These links need to be removed. Use automatic link checkers to assist.

Keep backup copies of deleted pages so that they can be restored if required or harvested for useful information.

When adding a new page use template files where available.

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Keep new pages the same document type as other pages i.e. HTML, XHTML, transitional, strict etc.

Apply CSS styles to new pages to keep the look and feel consistent.

Follow existing writing styles and structure.

Organisational requirements

When making decisions about adding and deleting links and pages be sure to follow all relevant organisational guidelines such as the change management process, appropriate sign-offs, documentation procedures, style guidelines, budget restrictions, any IT requirements, and any legal requirements such as copyright or privacy.

Make site changes in response to changes in marketing strategy in accordance with organisational requirements and consideration of cost benefitsAn organisation’s resources are not limitless. All organisations focus on a set of core business activities which identifies their market position and the products/services they offer. A well designed website will reflect these core business activities. However, as new business opportunities arise, the organisations marketing strategy may shift to place a greater emphasis on certain existing business activities or focus on completely new activities. Either way, the maintenance of the website needs to be agile enough to allow changes in marketing strategy to be accurately communicated to visitors.

But what part of the website needs to be changed to reflect the new marketing strategy? This question is best answered by those within the organisation responsible for marketing. They can formulate new ideas and propose changes to the website. In the end, though you will likely have responsibility for implementing or overseeing the implementation of these changes. As with all website changes carefully consult with those proposing the changes, follow the change management process, focus on the benefit to the customer, and drawing upon the expertise of web designers/developers rather than placing the burden on yourself and others who may not have the required level of technical expertise.

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Cost benefit

All changes to a website incur costs such as staff time to design, plan and implement the change, use of contractors, changes to website hosting requirements etc.

Is this cost of the change offset by the benefit to the customer and ultimately the business? In simple terms will the change generate a greater amount of revenue that it cost to implement the change.

Such simple cost/benefit analysis does not always apply. Changes may have less direct financial benefits and may be made to:

comply with legislative requirements

improved community relations

provide what customers are demanding

reduce environmental impact.

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ActivitiesThis section has activities that you can do yourself or with others to develop your skills and knowledge in this topic.

1. Web browser standards

There are a wide range of web browsers that website visitors use to view business websites. Each web browser has varying levels of com-patibility with web standards.

What are the common web browsers in use?

Download and install the top four web browsers.

Test each browsers standard compatibility using the Acid 2 and Acid 3 tests. Take screen shots of the results and evaluate which browser best conforms to web standards.

www.webstandards.org/action/acid2

www.webstandards.org/action/acid3

On a Windows computer you are generally unable to have more than one version of Internet Explorer installed. Multiple IE allows you to run several older versions of IE for testing. See http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE.

2. Improve appearances with CSS

An important part of conveying the right business message through a website is to get the right ‘look’. The appearance of a website can be crucial to attracting visitors and improving the usability of the site. One way to control the appearance of a website is to use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

Familiarise yourself with the basic concepts of CSS at:

www.w3schools.com/css

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_Style_Sheets

Visit www.csszengarden.com and select a range of different designs to view the power of CSS for webpage layout and design.

Your main task is to research and collect a range of CSS templates that you can apply to a website.

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3. Link checking

An important part of maintaining a website is to ensure the integrity of hyperlinks. This includes links within the website and links to external websites. Checking this manually is a very time consuming process. Many web design tools have link checking capabilities.

Conduct a link check using an online link checker such as http://valida-tor.w3.org/checklink. Check the website of your workplace, a competi-tor or your personal website. Avoid checking large sites as the link checking process will take too long.

Did you find any errors? What type of errors? How could they be fixed?

3. Quiz

Try this self-check quiz to see how well you understand some of the ideas in this topic.

Question 1:

Which of the following scenarios are most likely to be examples of user-based problems rather than website-based problems? Select all correct answers.

1. A user complains that they are unable to print any of the pages or downloadable documents from your website.

2. A user complains that one of the links within the site is not working but others are.

3. Web server logs show that one of the web pages within the site has never been visited.

4. An email from a user asks why all of the streaming product movies on your website keep stopping and starting.

Question 2:

Which of the following are common causes of user-based problems? Select all correct answers.

1. viewing a website using out-of-date web browsers

2. consuming the allocated bandwidth provided by the hosting company

3. not installing the correct client web browser plugins

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4. incorrectly coding navigation JavaScript

Question 3:

All modern web browsers conform to web standards. True or false?

1. true

2. false

Question 4:

A moderate level of technical understanding is required so that you can effectively manage web designers and developers. True or false?

1. true

2. false

Question 5:

When selecting web authoring software be sure to choose software that supports text-based code editing rather than WYSISWYG editing. True or false?

1. true

2. false

Question 6:

In the example hyperlink below what does target control? about us

1. the type of site or document being linked to

2. where the link will appear in the web browser

3. if the link text is visible or not

4. the URL of the link

Question 7:

What type of media is the hyperlink attached to in the following code?

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1. text

2. graphic

3. audio

4. video

Question 8:

For internal website navigation it is preferable to use absolute links rather than relative links. True or false?

1. true

2. false

Question 9:

Adding ‘../’ as a prefix to a link will send the link:

1. up one folder level

2. down one folder level

Question 10:

Which of the following costs can be incurred as a result of maintaining a website? Select all correct answers.

1. web design contractors

2. upgrading web server hardware or software

3. increasing the allocated bandwidth supplied by the hosting provider

4. purchasing web editing software

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