It’s the end of October, and in keeping with the spirit of the season, I thought I’d share with you some really scary stuff: 

It’s a cute little animated gif you say!  Sure, it’s cute.  But it’s representative of so much more.

Let me start off by saying that our clients are awesome.  You folks understand the importance of a good website, proper design, best practice, and web standards.  That’s probably why you’re a Hannon Hill client!  But it’s a big scary virtual world out there, and we all know it.  Here are just some of the nightmares that are to be found on the www:

1. Tables.  I think we can all agree at this point that CSS is the way to go.  If you haven’t been to www.csszengarden.com, check it out.  I know that there’s a lot of legacy code out there in tables that’s probably not half bad and it gets the job done, but for all you people out there who are still designing sites from scratch using tables, come on!
2. Large repeating background images.  You all know what I’m talking about.  They take ages to load, look tacky, and you pretty much have to highlight any text in order to read it.
3. Embedded audio.  I can’t say this really bothers me that much, because I keep my speakers on mute.  But have you ever navigated to a website and thought, this site would be so much better if only there were an annoying jingle repeating in the background?  Yeah, me neither.
4. Excessive Javascript.  I got this one from one of our integrators (I was polling people in the hallways).  “But don’t you sometimes need lots of Javascript to make cool stuff happen?” I ask.  “Sure, sometimes,” he tells me, “but you gotta plan it out first.  It has to be well put together code and functional across all browsers.”  Ok, I see his point.  Javascript for Javascript’s sake sends shivers up the spines of good developers everywhere.
5. Too much flash.  Not only is it not accessible, it can give you a headache!  Granted, there are some pretty nice uses for flash, and in moderation, it can really make a site come alive.  But all too often, flash skills fall into the wrong hands, and good websites are turned to the dark side.
6. Animated Gifs.  My favorites are the one of the mailbox opening and shutting for “email me” and the construction dude shoveling for “site under construction.”  These will go down in history as the defining images for the information era.
7. Pictures of people in business suits smiling at computers.  These don’t even have to be animated to be scary.  And yes, we’ve had our share at Hannon Hill too.
8. Broken links.  All the more reason for a CMS, yes? 
9. Outdated sites.  Not just the ones with old copyright dates, but also the ones that say “This site is in progress, please check back on x date” and the date was some time last year.  Often accompanied by a guy shoveling.
10. Poorly thought through URLs.  These are the ones that are meant to say one thing, but because there’s no spaces, it just doesn’t work.  At Hannon Hill we have a favorite lunchtime restaurant, The Taco Stand.  Best burritos in Atlanta.  Unfortunately, their website is www.thetacostand.com, which results in us calling it Theta Co more often than not.

Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!

Since I have not had my chance to add to the blog, I figured that I would take a shot at it.  The Hannon Hill sales team has had the chance to visit a couple of conferences the past couple of weeks, EDUCAUSE in Dallas, TX, and HighEdWebDev in Rochester, NY.

We are really happy with the results of each of the conferences.  Both are focused on higher education.  EDUCAUSE is mainly the V.P.s and CIOs from different colleges and universities, whereas HighEdWebDev is more focused with the actual Web Managers that we typically deal with on a daily basis.  It's really great to meet with both groups of attendees.  The best part is being able to actually meet face to face with prospects and clients alike.

We are going to Gitex in Dubai in November.  This is the first conference that Hannon Hill will attend on an international level.  I am sure that you will hear more about this trip on the Hannon Hill blog in the weeks to come.  Needless to say, we’re all really excited, and I expect we’ll have some pictures posted from the trip as well.  We’re still looking for some tips on “what to do” when we are not at the conference.  If you have any ideas, please let us know.

Finally, (to add some substance to my blog) I thought that I would give a top 10 list of ways that vendors make themselves look busy during conferences.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of good that comes out of trade shows.  But there’s also a lot of down time, and we vendors really need to poke fun at one another from time to time.  So here is my list (free of charge):

1. Walk fast wherever you go.  The faster you walk means that you are going somewhere that is more important than where the competition is strolling to.
2. If you don’t have a Blackberry or a Treo, get one.  If you are not talking to someone at the conference, do your best to keep all eyes on what appears to be important business that you are closing on your PDA.
3. Same as #2 above, but when you are not checking e-mail on your PDA, try talking on the phone, using a lot of hand gestures. 
4. Idle hands are lazy hands. If you’re not on your phone or emailing from your phone, find something else to hold.  A clipboard will do.
5. Laugh loudly at every joke that is offered.  The louder you laugh, the better the salesman you are.
6. Muss you hair at the end of the day.  The muss-ier the hair, the busier you have been talking to new business.
7. Never let prospects see you eat or drink.  If they see you doing this, they will automatically think you are weak, and you have a bad product offering.
8. Don’t acknowledge the existence of your competition.  If they happen to walk by your booth, and you are not talking to anyone else, pretend you see a bird.
9. During downtime, be sure to organize and re-organize your “swag” and brochures.  If these items are not perfectly organized, it will reflect badly on company work ethic.
10. Never sit down.  Sitting is for wimps.  True story: we were at a conference last year and heard a guy from another company ask for a chair, and his coworker replied, “We don’t sit.” 

My guys and I were excited to get our hands on Firefox 2.0 final once we saw the announcement of the OFFICIAL release come across our screen on Digg. After quickly downloading it to our file server and sending an email link out to the team, I installed the software to begin testing Cascade Server, our content management system. Only then did I notice something was wrong. Very wrong.

The Problem

Upon installing Firefox 2.0, I immediately noticed the slightly updated interface – subtle changes like tabs having 'X's directly on them upon mouse over to close as opposed to on the far right. It was only when I went into Cascade Server that I noticed something was remiss. I browsed around the application on a demo server to try to visit as many screens as possible with my mouse. When I decided to use access keys, like I normally do, things fell apart. Access keys are designed to be keyboard shortcuts for persons with disabilities as well as power users that look for ways to improve their proficiency in an application. Basically, you click Alt (or Ctrl on a Mac) plus a letter or number and it is equivalent to clicking a link, where applicable, on certain websites and web applications.

When the access keys didn't work, I immediately thought something was wrong with the web application. So, naturally, I did a quick "view source" on the page and doubled-checked the code on the page. Sure enough, the "accesskey" attribute was present in the anchor link tag. With the access key not working, I figured there might be a JavaScript error. Nope, nothing there. All the equivalent mouse clicks for links and form fields worked fine. Something was wrong with Firefox 2.0.

Firefox 2.0 doesn't actually break access keys, as was originally thought. Rather, the Firefox developers fixed a different bug that was four years old and decided to change access keys from Alt plus the number/letter to Alt plus Shift plus the number/letter. Big difference. Several issues arise with this:

• Accessibility - Persons with limited motor skills are going to have a harder time clicking three keys at once (e.g. Alt+Shift+S to save) as opposed to two (e.g. Alt+S to save)

• Power users - Power users that are accustomed to using the shortcut keys in a variety of apps like Cascade Server and SugarCRM are going to think the software is broken only to eventually find out Firefox requires and extra "Shift". I predict a good number of trouble tickets will be created for different web application companies and organizations reporting broken access keys.

• Alt+S - The famous Alt+S to submit a form on a forum and other applications will no longer work. The Alt+S controversy was heavily discussed on a MozillaZine thread.

• Platform consistency - Access keys are now even more inconsistent between the Mac and PC. Before you clicked Ctrl on the Mac and Alt on the PC. Now it is still Ctrl on the Mac (they didn't add the Shift requirement for the platform – I know, I checked with Bradley on his Mac Pro) and Alt+Shift on the PC. That's a big difference if you want to casually switch between the two.

The Solution

Thankfully, the MozillaZine thread also provides the solution. According to "stonedyak", you just need to do "about:config" in Firefox and change "ui.key.contentAccess" to "4". That's it. I believe someone will come up with a quick Firefox extension to provide more control over this. It'll be interesting to see how things play out.

Here is a list of my top 5 things about Cascade server. While not going into detail about every single choice, I'll try to give a brief description of what makes it deserve that prestigious position and why it is important. With that in mind here is the list:

1. Platform independent Server; Zero footprint client
   One of the best things about Cascade server is the impressive ease of deployment. Written in the Java programming language, Cascade Server is compatible with most operating systems and hardware platforms. Regardless of whether you are using Windows, Solaris, MacOS or any other mainstream Linux or Unix distribution, we've got it covered. That is just the start and the good news does not end here. Since Cascade is a web application and runs over HTTP, anyone on a local network or on the Internet can easily be allowed to access the system through a regular web browser without the need of any installation or configuration.
2. Ease of import of existing content
   Another great thing about Cascade server is the ease with which any existing content can be easily imported into the system and integrated into a new site. With tools like folder integration and the site wizard, Cascade provides fast, easy and powerful ways to import any existing data and transform it to comply with your new site infrastructure inside the system. For those who need additional freedom and flexibility, external custom data imports or web services invoked through outside Cascade will tailor to any need.
3. Web Services
   Cascade Server allows interaction with your content by interfacing with the system through the use of web services. By just composing and invoking XML requests following the provided WSDL format, any end user, application or 3rd party script can create, modify, publish, delete or read content and perform other administrative tasks in the CMS. This adds to the flexibility and interoperability of the software with other systems and languages during integration and then in deployment.
4. Sophisticated set of tools for team collaboration and effective management of content
   A number of tools are available to any type of user allowing teamwork and productivity combined with high quality results. Starting with the ease of reusing content, allowing for templating the most common assets into asset factories and including them in the user menu to reach advanced options like staging environments, scheduled publishing, flexible workflows and translation management. There is no doubt that Cascade Server is made with the end user in mind – while providing a very user friendly environment it reaches levels of sophistication capable to adapting to every business model.
5. Team dedicated to providing the best user experience
   Last but not least, I cannot continue writing without paying a special attention to the dedicated team of talented professionals making this product different. Because Hannon Hill is determined to build strong relationships and provide excellent customer service, we are the people who care. We listen what our users have to say and try to make the product better every single day in every possible way.

Why has blogging become so popular? I believe that one of the primary reasons it has been so successful is that it provides a creative writing outlet. Think about it: for your entire academic and corporate life, you've been required to write formal, boring prose. Very few people ever write fun, creative content on a regular basis. That is, until now.

Formerly, creative writing was reserved for the few self-starters that scribbled in their journals and dreamed of a career in writing. In reality, they were in "normal" jobs because they needed to pay the bills. However, with the advent of easy web publishing tools (e.g. Blogger, WordPress, Cascade Server, etc), the barriers to writing creatively for a potentially large audience are non-existent.

Writing in the first person is more expressive, more emotional, and free – if you allow it to be. Frequently using "I" is empowering when you write for an audience. Too often, "I" is used merely for personal correspondence (e.g. email). Personally, I find it challenging to write like this due to my academic and corporate "untraining" of the writing in the first person.

With that said, let's examine the five reasons you should blog on a regular basis:

1. Self expression – Do you have a specific passion that you want others to know about? Blogging about your artistic talents, hobbies, and other creative outlets allows you to express your thoughts online. It helps you to reflect on your knowledge, thus uncover more internal understanding.
2. Empowerment – Do you feel stifled in your current world? A blog is your own personal endeavor, whereby you are empowered to let loose and let others know how you feel. Just try it – you'll see what I mean.
3. Idea exchange – Do you have insight that others need to know? Sure, you can post comments on message boards or other blogs, but it is difficult to build up an ongoing persona through someone else's site. A blog let's you transmit ideas from your own personal soapbox. In addition, it provides for more publishing flexibility with respect to incorporating pictures, links, and formatting.
4. Personal development – Are you looking to improve or better yourself? Blogging helps you learn more about yourself and those around you. It forces you to think more, write more, and express more - three things, no doubt, that will aid in your personal development.
5. Fun – When was the last time you had fun? Yes, you heard me correctly - fun. Blogging, and the Web in general, is unique and unlike anything civilization has ever had.It provides the power to inexpensively publish the written word to millions of people (potentially). Blogging is a fun outlet for creative thinking, writing, and expressing one's self. Do you have something to say? Say it now.

If you ask people to give you a list of 10 big goals in life, inevitably, one of the items is to write a book. Why? The desire to write a book implies that you have knowledge to impart to others and that, in turn, people will read and find interesting. Can everyone write a book? No. Can everyone write a blog? Yes. It's the next best thing.

So, I implore you to take the first step, put your thoughts online, and enjoy the therapy that is creative writing.

What's on your checklist to do before a tradeshow? Myself and several members of the Hannon Hill team (Kirsten, Brock, and Blaine) are flying to Dallas for the annual EDUCAUSE event. It is the largest IT-focused higher education event anywhere.

Every time we do a tradeshow we frantically get together and go over a to-do list of stuff for everyone to work on. In an effort to improve our operation, we're documenting that list this time for internal use on our intranet as well as for our blog. So, without further ado, here is a quick list of items for us to do when it comes tradeshow time.

• Pre-show mailer – you do want people to come to your booth in a purpose driven manner, right? Pre-show email blasts are useful as well. Strange but true fact: some shows still require sending physical mail-outs and don't allow pre-approved emails.

• Business cards – yes, people still exchange dead trees as part of the historic ritual.

• Analyst/Editorial appointments – tradeshows are a great way to meet with a bunch of people in person, in a short amount of time.

• Press kits – do people still use these? We bring them anyways.

• Swag – a.k.a. Stuff We All Get – this is the fun stuff you hand out (e.g. slap koozies, pens, mints, smiley face stickers, etc).

• Travel, lodging, etc – a plane ticket and hotel room(s) are a good thing.

• Booth infrastructure – not the most fun stuff – usually due to having to assemble and transport it – but important nonetheless. We have the standard backdrops, company signage, logo polo shirts, tablecloth, screen, projector, laptops (Mac and PC!), fish bowl (for business cards), extension cords, surge protectors , etc. Make sure to ship it ahead of time, if applicable.

• Client/prospect invitations – you're going to be there already; make good use of your time.

• Events websites section – you do have one of these sections on your website announcing events you'll be attending, I hope.

• Booth fees paid – make sure your bills are paid for the booth, electrical, and Internet access. Yes, you don't want to show up and not be able to do what you set out to do.

• Personal friends – this is more of an unspoken item, but it is always a good idea to call that friend you haven't spoken to in a couple of years. Sure, you are on a business trip, but I recommend taking advantage of being in a different city to see friends in person.

• Accessories – these are more like odds and ends that you should bring, and they include breath mints (nobody likes bad booth breath), snacks, and bottled water.

• Smile – attitude and excitement shine through. If all else fails, fake it until you make it.

Personally, I find tradeshows fun and am looking forward to Dallas. There's nothing that can replace talking to people face-to-face about our amazing product and building relationships.

What's on your list?

Greetings from Jeremy – a.k.a. the New Guy.  My first day working at Hannon Hill was the day of the User’s Conference – talk about baptism by fire!  Actually, it was an awesome experience – it gave me a great perspective on what this company is all about.  And since I’m in the support and services department, I really enjoyed getting to meet some of the people I’ll be supporting.  I really appreciate the wonderful sense of community among Cascade Server users - that’s important in making any product a success.

I know a lot of you out there are fairly new clients, and since I too am just becoming familiar with the software, I thought I’d take this chance to share some resources I’ve really found helpful (I mean other than just yelling “hey Tim, can you look at this?”):

• Technical Intro Guides – It’s kind of a running joke around the office – everyone here, from developer to receptionist starts off going through these guides so that everyone in the company knows what Cascade Server is all about, and how to integrate a site.  Even if you’re an old pro though, it never hurts to brush up on these.
• Cascade Server Forum – If you’re not using the forum yet, it’s time to start!  It’s a very active forum for both users and Hannon Hill staff, and there’s a wealth of tips, tricks, and code snippets that are worth borrowing.
• Knowledgebase – Ok, so you’re probably already using the knowledgebase, but did you know there’s also a printable PDF version of the User’s Guide?  There’s also a ton of PHP code on there under the CAST (Cascade Advanced Server Toolkit) Section for anyone looking to expand their implementation.  It’s worth checking out!