More Advice for Webmasters

Caddy says, "Now, if think I'm rough, tune in to this additonal insight from Lord Richter for Sims webmasters."

Some more important things to keep in mind when creating websites:

1. Don't make banners so big that users have to page down to see actual content.
   
   
2. Don't be wordy and insert extra prose that people have to wade through when looking for actual content. Eight out of ten people probably won't read it the first time they see it and 99 out of 100 won't read it after that. It's cute, but it seems a lot of effort for something with so little return.
   
   
3. Always put a contact e-mail address at the bottom of every page so people can contact the web master if needed.
   
   
4. Never use browser-specific HTML. The web page should work on Netscape 4 and Explorer 4. Test to be sure.
   
   
5. Do not make navigation complicated by using obscure link terminology that has to be explored in order to use.
   
   
6. Do not use an intro page that people have to click through (or autoloads) to get to the main home page. Just have everyone link to the main page and end the suffering.
   
   
7. Visit Web Pages That Suck.

Specific to Sims:

1. Clearly label anything that requires LL, HP, or HD. Not everyone has every expansion.
   
   
2. Never display in a sample picture someone else's skins, objects, wall, floors, etc, without clearly identifing not only where they came from, but what they are. Someone seeing the picture might be more interested in a background item and want to know where it comes from so they can get it.
   
   
3. Clearly identify updated material. I can't count the number of buggy objects I have downloaded and I almost never know if they have been fixed or not by visiting the web page I downloaded them from.

"Is he talking about us?" says Pasiphae.

"Only on one point."

"Wordy?"

"Yup."

"But we are the content!" says Carla. "Look at all our fan mail!"

"That depends on what the visitor is expecting," says Caddy. "Folks who come to Moon Sims expecting to just do yet another download raid and get lots of stuff they'll never use will be out of their element here.

"If our visitors want to read a story and have fun, and pick up some stuff so they can build lunar households in the game, they like what we do. That's why we get so much fan mail. The important thing is that the web site ought to do the webmaster intended it to do.

"Don't put in a lot of extraneous fluff just because you know how to do it, but at the same time never let someone else tell you what your publication ought to be. If someone wants your web site to be something you're not interested in doing, encourage him to make his own site."

"So you're not going to change Moon Sims?" Pasiphae asks.

"Nope, not at all," says Caddy. "We've just begun to write!"