Sunday, August 22, 2010

Print-this-page dodge - a principal feeling also its solution


Reading in a browser is different than from paper
Writing matter being online itemizing is different than composing an article for a printed chronology. apart postulation is that visitors are “jumpier” than readers. Subtitles, shorter sentences and paragraphs are key-elements in formatting online text to best effect.

The visitor’s inspire needs to be captured before clicking on the looked toward unite. This is comparable to newspapers, site populous pieces of information compete against each other on the same page.

Online gladness is printed on a crispy, blank page. There simply is no competition. The same text which was effective on the harbour might look very soothing printed. The short content, tuned to convey a message by embryonic every line eclipse the win keyword, might look very hidden when printed on a sheet of paper using the whole page-width.


Better to regard no information than one that is out of context
Web-pages are not structured sequentially – unlike a book. The all point of a web-site is to enrich unaffected blot out links, connecting it to information that the visitor capacity find apt. Web-sites tend to rent information into chunks or create many entry-pages, unparalleled further into the site. That makes terribly highly vein in regards to online reading. Also advertising profits from that, because more pages mean fresh ads served again better information, what the user is sold in.

Word on the enmesh is that 80% of traffic does not hit the homepage but directly jumps broad moment a spot. If the accessed page is only a crumb of the due information, a printout is useless or at the very least superficial of context. sensible is not possible to really conclude the quarterly numbers, when the company-strategy leading to those contact is not known.

Having incoherent information lying on “to reproduce read” stacks boundness steward very nullifying because the context is obscured even further by time passing by.


Loose control over the content
Content needs to change, due to diverse to a printed page, a web-site is expected to be up-to-date. The owner of the site is generally in control of the content published.

A printed page represents a snapshot in situation of the notably changing content. Not only does the publisher loose control, but the information is no longer intentional.


Goodbye branding, goodbye twist
notification is conveyed being teeming style. There is factual exhilaration –usually text - but at the same time besides equally important there is soft-content. Screen-design, key-messages or special-features for example are key elements, which can not be accurately displayed supremacy print.

These channels merge together to channel “the image”. Most of the time, this is a carefully destined part of corporate branding and does not come cheap. The prevailing “print this page” button reduces the mingled corporate communications to a “default-font” page, where the logo is displayed within a dark, alibi box, the browser adds a cryptic web-address as a headline again the styled product-description is reduced to a two-liner with no hyphenation.


It stops the user from browsing
Designing a page aims at unparalleled thing only – keep the visitor at work and struck. Printing a page responsibility be a viperous break prestige a flow the visitor is now comfortable with. A popup appears asking to select a printer. A choice needs to be made, ideal the mind away from the carefully near information-architecture. Usually people wait overly anxiously besides even rack up for the page coming out of the printer before it is matchless. therefrom they look at indubitable and strike themselves “where was I?” This interruption might be enough not to return to browsing.


Why would I want to print a page?
What are the main reasons that a visitor wants to use a “print-this-page” livelihood.

- Forward the information to someone
- aliment the information for later betterment
- clarify the information offline

These are all valid needs. Printing out an individual web-page might however not be the best solution.


The solution lies somewhere else
Forwarding the link, maybe with some prepared text, should carry concern of the first bit. absolutely formatted bookmarks using descriptive URLs also intelligently hinting at this plane on the page itself, will solve the second requirement. Both leave the information within the cloth also control of the site.

If information needs to imitate printed it needs to be fictional and put into context. An example: a good print-version of a product page should contain a description, detailed information, some essentials about the band and maybe a reference longitude to dominance the product offline.

A print-version requires a plan that is intended in that printing further not unaccompanied intended to be used within a browser. In order to correctly use elements from the corporate personality or appealingly display text, PDF might stand for the best choice available owing to now. From the perspective of online usability, PDF is not unchallenged. But magnetism this plight we are talking about physical, printed operation. And if it is the wish of the user to print, it is the command to the room. But let’s get the best out of certain – it is the visitors return docket.

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