Here’s why:

Doggo demonstrates an alternative use of WordPress as a CMS using custom search functionality integrated with Google Maps to provide a unique and useful way to find somewhere to take your dog within Australia.

A big thank you to everyone who supports and uses Doggo!

Just like WordPress, this group will always be FREE. It’s for anyone interested in WordPress in the Nations Capital – from users to developers, from new to experienced. It’s about all about getting together to discuss WordPress and having a bit of fun. We’ll aim to have topics and/or presentations for all levels so please join the conversation and let us know what WordPress topics you are most interested in.

There’s already a great bunch of people who have signed up so head on over to http://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Canberra/ now and join in the discussion. We’ll update the schedule as soon as we’ve sorted out a venue and of course the first round will be on us.

After a couple weeks catching up with family and road trippin’ through Outback South Australia and New South Wales we’re back on deck.

Do you do any support for Internet Explorer 6?

When IE6 first came on the scene in in early 2001, websites were built with tables and I could bring toe-nail clippers on an airplane. Web Standards was still just a dream to many designers and Microsoft controlled much of the market share (close to 95%). Fortunately, that was almost ten years ago… and surprisingly the internet has changed. Sadly, IE6 delivers such a poor view of the internet that some foreign dictators have been known to offer prison time to anyone caught surfing with it. The latest statistics have shown that IE6 is loosely connected to permanent brain damage, global warming and the recent economic hardship that much of the global economy is experiencing. That’s why every one should upgrade to FF or IE7.

So in short. No I don’t. Sorry.

Hear, hear.

The new site features a blog, a number of RSS feeds, and YouTube video clips – which all reflect the new administration’s focus on communication, transparency and participation. The design looks great too – fresh, clean, and easy to navigate (with some nice design features, like gradient shading for backgrounds and borders). For the more geeky readers, kottke.org notes another ‘small and nerdy measure of the huge change in the executive branch of the US government’ are the changes to the whitehouse.gov robots.txt file (which tells search engines what to include and not include in their indexes).

The prompt and obvious re-design of the whitehouse.gov site is a good reminder of how important it is for your website to reflect your own values, culture and goals (not those of a competitor, previous owner or website designer). If your business or organisation has a change in leadership, direction or the products and services you offer, don’t let updating your website be something you get round to doing later, make it a key part of your communication strategy from day one.

• Google Apps – Includes Google’s email app (Gmail), Google calendar, and Google Docs (which provides excellent web-based word processing and spreadsheet tools). As Google Apps are web-based you don’t need any special software or hardware, and you can access your data from anywhere. The standard edition is free. If you’ve got a larger business or need additional support you may want to consider the premier edition (which has a 30-day trial period).
• Google Analytics – Powerful tool for tracking, analysing and reporting on your website traffic.
• CutePDF – Create professional PDF files from any printable document.
• Paymo – Online time-tracking tool. Free for small businesses and freelancers (up to 3 users).
• Mindomo – Web-based mind mapping tool which allows you to create and edit mind maps, and share them with your colleagues or your friends.
• WordPress – Blog tool and web-publishing platform. While being incredibly powerful and well-featured, WordPress makes it simple to create and manage website content. At finding simple, we love WordPress.
• Skype – Make free video calls to other Skype users. Great for video-conferencing.

A couple of other apps we’ve heard good things about and are looking forward to using include:

• Jing – Grab and share screenshots and video straight from your PC.
• Remember the Milk – Online to-do list and task management program. Integrates with GMail and Twitter, syncs with Blackberry and Windows Mobile, and now features an iPhone app.
• Screenhunter 5.0 Free – Screen capture software. Instead of using ‘Print Screen’ and pasting into ‘Paint’, this application offers easier and more flexible screen capture.

While consumers may be purchasing less frequently than when the dollar was strong, e-commerce will remain important for many businesses, with Australian and New Zealand consumers showing the second highest rate of online sales conversions behind the US.

With more Australian consumers looking to local websites for their online shopping, should your business be thinking about offering your products online?

If you are unfamiliar with Doggo, it is a directory of dog parks, beaches and dog friendly accommodation throughout Australia. What makes Doggo different from the other pet directories out there is that it uses Google Map technology to let users search for locations within a particular search radius of a given address or location. Site users can also rate the parks, beaches or accommodation and leave comments to help others select the best place to go with their doggy mates.

We currently have over 700 locations in the directory and are in the process of adding lots more – so if you have any suggestions or would like to add a location head over to the submit page.

If you’d like to support Doggo the best thing you can do is spread the word! Tell all your friends about it, link to it, blog about it. . . why you can even sing about it if you want!

Some other tid-bits about the site:

• Doggo is now built completely on WordPress , demonstrating that WordPress can be used for much more that just blogging!
• You can subscribe to the Blog Feed, Accommodation Feed and Dog Park Feed to keep up-to-date with all the latest additions to the site .
• The site is now gravatar (globally recognised avatar) enabled – so if you’d like a pretty picture to come up when you comment on the site, head on over to gravatar.com to register .

10. Lack of clear contact information

You’d be surprised how many site visitors just want a phone number to call or an email address to contact. They may have additional questions about your product/service or want to make a booking/purchase. Contact information needs to be easy to find. Users are quickly frustrated if they cant find it, and will quickly leave your website. Make sure you also provide a few different contact options (ie. phone, email, web contact form, physical store/office).

9. Slow load times

Graphics that aren’t optimised for the web and complex web animations can cause websites to load slowly which is frustrating for users. Slow load times are particularly problematic for users who access the internet using a dial-up connection. While broadband use is becoming more common, in 2007-08, 17% of Australian internet users were still accessing the internet using a dial-up connection.

8. Having a horizontal scrollbars

Horizontal scrollbars are annoying for users as they make scanning your website difficult and require extra mouse clicks/movement to view your entire webpage content. Websites that are designed using appropriate screen resolutions will avoid the need for horizontal scrollbars.

7. Using “splash” pages (or false home pages) that require an additional click to enter the site

Users want information about your product/service and they want it NOW. Splash pages are usually totally unnecessary – all they do is frustrate the user by adding an additional page and mouse click before they can get to the information they really want.

6. Requiring the use of plug-ins

A plug-In is a piece of software that works in conjunction with a browser to display specific material (eg. animation, sound etc). If your visitor doesn’t have the required plug-in they will need to download and install it before they can continue using your site. Often people are unwilling to or do not know how to do this.

5. Broken links

This is just plain frustrating for users. They are expecting certain information to appear when they click on a link on your site and will be disappointed when instead they get a HTTP 404 Not Found error message.

4. Poor graphic design

The design of your site should be easy on the eyes. This means that text is easy to read (choose appropriate fonts and text sizes), images should be appropriate sizes, colour choice appealing, and layout consistent between pages.

3. Music/sounds that play automatically

Users like to be in control of their web browsing experience. Sites that automatically play sounds or music remove that control and can annoy web visitors. The music on your site is unlikely to be to the taste of all visitors. In addition, if the user is viewing your site in a public place (library, internet cafe) or at work, they may be embarrassed by the sudden sounds and elect to exit from your site immediately.

2. Out-of-date content

There’s not much point in having information on your website if its obviously out-of-date. Users see little value in information that they suspect is out-of-date or no longer relevant. Make sure price lists and contact information are always up-to-date. Consider integrating a blog onto your website as this is a great way to keep users updated with latest news and offers, and it keeps your content fresh (which search engines love).

1. Grammatical and spelling errors

Grammatical and spelling errors demonstrate a level of carelessness, which may leave users wondering if you are careless in other aspects of your business. Have a friend/colleague/family proof-read your website content, and consider signing up for a spellr.us account.

We wish each and every one of you a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2009.