Bad Web Design: Strange Cursors

Written by Richard Lowe


Continued from page 1

3) The cursor plug-ins tend to be resource hogs. By this I mean they use memory and CPU time that could be better used by other functions of your system. I have noticed definite performance issues when I examine web pages using some of these cursor routines.

4) Special cursors are not looked upon favorably by professional webmasters. You will find that many ofrepparttar awards programs onrepparttar 134666 internet have special clauses inrepparttar 134667 criteria which disallow sites with these cursors.

5) Too much moving data onrepparttar 134668 screen tends to be very annoying to visitors. If you have a strange cursor and a few animated GIFs you are really pushing your visitors tolerance torepparttar 134669 limit.

6) The cursors get inrepparttar 134670 way of your message. As they move around,repparttar 134671 cursors cover text or graphics that you want your visitors to see.

7) The focus ofrepparttar 134672 cursor is obscured byrepparttar 134673 animation. Onrepparttar 134674 standard cursor it is obvious whererepparttar 134675 cursor is pointing because it is an arrow or bar. On a waving flag or a heart, it is not so obvious and tends to be confusing. Confused visitors tend to hitrepparttar 134676 back button very fast.

8) Worst of all, these cursor plug-ins often act as spyware. What's that, you ask? Spyware is a program which examines your surfing habits (among other things) and reports it back to some location. What these free cursor plug-ins really do is build up a history of usage and surfing patterns of anyone who uses them. This information is then sold to advertisers.

9) In addition to recordingrepparttar 134677 habits of web surfers,repparttar 134678 cursors also recordrepparttar 134679 hits to web sites which use that technology. This allowsrepparttar 134680 cursor companies to gather even more data which can, in theory at least, be sold to advertisers.

For these reasons, my recommendation is to simply avoid strange cursors on all but personal home pages.

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge. Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm Daily Tips: mailto:internet-tips@GetResponse.com


Bad Web Design: Graphics Problems

Written by Richard Lowe


Continued from page 1

Why do you want to do this? Simply so that your visitors do not have to wait for a long time while your graphics load.

Animations

Checkrepparttar section called "Animation Mistakes" for many common errors with animated graphics. Suffice to say that less is generally better.

Graphics which Require Plug-Ins

There are some graphics formats which require exotic and obscure plug-ins in order to be seen. While there are advantages to using plug-ins (Adobe Acrobat comes to mind as an excellent plug-in to use) they should be avoided when possible. Most of your visitors will not takerepparttar 134665 time to install a plug-in just to see your web site.

Garish backgrounds

Keep your background graphics simple and neat. You want to make surerepparttar 134666 graphics are subtle and contract greatly with your text. In other words do not use a light pink background with light red characters. Very hard to read. Also avoid neon or other bright backgrounds - these tend to so overpower your web site that people leave almost immediately.



Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge. Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm Daily Tips: mailto:internet-tips@GetResponse.com




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