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Web Sites that Link to Nancy Hoft Consulting

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About This Web Site

Web Sites that Link to Nancy Hoft Consulting

I am honored that these Web sites link to the Nancy Hoft Consulting Web site. If you link to any Web page at http://www.world-ready.com/ and would like me to add the URL to your Web site here, please email me, Nancy Hoft, at nhoft@world-ready.com. (Conversely, if you do not want your link listed here, please let me know.) I appreciate the opportunity to reciprocate the link and support!

Navigation

Navigation is of fundamental importance in any Web site. The more consistent and predictable a Web site it, the more usable it is. To achieve this, I use the same template for each Web page I create.

When I set up my template to create a two-column, 550-pixel wide table, I found that while the line length made the paragraphs more readable, the pages got long.

To compensate, I added a TOPICS section to the left column of every Web page so that I could list the headings on the page. This makes the page itself more usable.

I've added other navigation aids at the top and bottom of every Web page in this site.

The HOME button brings you to the NHC home page.

The CONTENTS button that goes to a table of contents for the entire Web site.

And to suggest a browse sequence, I've added these buttons.

  • The UP button takes you to the parent page of the current page.
  • The NEXT button takes you to the next page in the sequence at the current level of the Web site.
  • The PREVIOUS button takes you to the previous page in the sequence at the current level of the Web site.

Tools

I use many tools to create Web sites. As with all tools, they're only as good as their inherent functionality and their user's knowledge of how to put that functionality to work. I admit that I just haven't had time to learn how to use all my tools as well as I'd like. However, every Web site I design inevitably forces me to learn about yet another feature in my toolset.

I work in a Windows 95 environment. I have a Pentium system with 32MB of RAM. I have an Imagine 128 video card and a 21" monitor, a CD-ROM and sound card. These features alone make working at the computer quite enjoyable. Not the top-of-the-line environment, but it works just fine for me for now.

My Domain host/Web site host is ICOM and my Internet Service Provider is AT&T Worldnet to which I connect at 56Kbps. They've been pretty good to me. I have an ftp directory and a cgi directory in addition to my email account and virtual-domain Web account. I live in the middle-of-nowhere (a habit I can't seem to break), so this is my lifeline to the world.

For graphics, I use these tools:

For HTML tagging, I use these tools:

For conversions, I use these tools:

  • For MS Word documents, I use MS Word's Internet Assistant Addon. I then bring the document into Hot Dog Pro to edit the code, cut it and then paste it into one of four templates.
  • For MS PowerPoint presentations, I use the "Report It" feature to bring the presentation into MS Word. (I don't like the PowerPoint conversion tool by Microsoft.) I then use MS Word to covert the file to HTML, and so on.
  • For some of the Web projects I'm doing at Michigan Technological University (Administration Offices, MTU Self-Study), I'm using HTML Transit by InfoAccess. It's a good tool and an affordable tool. I've set it up to use the templates I've created. I have many pages of printed documentation to convert over the next six months!
I also use scripts from Matt's Script Archive to support the bulletin board functionality for case study discussions.
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http://www.world-ready.com/about.htm -- Revised: 18 FEBRUARY 2002
Copyright © 2002 Nancy Hoft Consulting. All Rights Reserved.
nhoft@world-ready.com

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