Thou Art Mine
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 precious moments thou art of mine $5.00 Time Remaining: 10h 23m |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine Jonathon and David 1979 E 3113 $7.99 Time Remaining: 23d 7h 19m Buy It Now for only: $7.99 |
 1979 JONATHAN DAVID Precious Moments THOU ART MINE Enesco E 3113 $13.00 Time Remaining: 29d 21h 3m Buy It Now for only: $13.00 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine Figurine $9.74 Time Remaining: 3d 9h 25m Buy It Now for only: $9.74 |
 Precious Moments THOU ART MINE Boy Girl and Turtle E 3113 $9.99 Time Remaining: 24d 1h 22m Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine Couple Writing Lovenote in Sand $21.00 Time Remaining: 15d 2h 16m Buy It Now for only: $21.00 |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS FIGURINE E 3113 ENESCO THOU ART MINE BOX $35.85 Time Remaining: 21d 20h 25m Buy It Now for only: $35.85 |
 Thou Art Mine Precious Moments $10.00 Time Remaining: 2d 5h 10m |
 PRECIOUS MOMENT THOU ART MINE NO BOX $5.00 Time Remaining: 1d 2h 45m Buy It Now for only: $5.00 |
 Precious Moments Figurine Thou Art Mine ENESCO $29.99 Time Remaining: 12d 16h 10m Buy It Now for only: $29.99 |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS THOU ART MINE MIB E 3113 $18.74 Time Remaining: 20d 16h 21m Buy It Now for only: $18.74 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine Love in Sand E3113 AS IS $14.99 Time Remaining: 9d 1h 25m Buy It Now for only: $14.99 |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS THOU ART MINE GLASS DISPLAY W STND $11.29 Time Remaining: 9d 3h 32m Buy It Now for only: $11.29 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine E 3113 Boy Girl Sand Turtle Hourglass $12.50 Time Remaining: 3d 2h 2m |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS THOU ART MINE SYMBOL 1993 BUTTERFLY $15.00 Time Remaining: 11d 1h 25m Buy It Now for only: $15.00 |
 Precious Moments THOU ART MINE E3113 Clef Mark $10.00 Time Remaining: 29d 23h 12m Buy It Now for only: $10.00 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine Small Saucer $7.99 Time Remaining: 23h 2m Buy It Now for only: $7.99 |
 Precious Moments Mini Collectible Plate Thou Art Mine $5.99 Time Remaining: 1d 5h 45m Buy It Now for only: $5.99 |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS MUG THOU ART MINE 1980 JONATHAN DAVID GOLD RIM F S $12.00 Time Remaining: 22d 6h 30m Buy It Now for only: $12.00 |
 Precious Moments 1979 Thou Art Mine E3113 Jonathan David $14.95 Time Remaining: 11d 17h 44m Buy It Now for only: $14.95 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine E 3113 Retired $2.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 3d 5h 7m |
 410 PRECIOUS MOMENTS Mini Plate 1985 Thou Art Mine $10.00 Time Remaining: 9d 8h 10m Buy It Now for only: $10.00 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine Porcelain Plate $4.45 Time Remaining: 15d 3h 34m Buy It Now for only: $4.45 |
 Precious Moments E3113 MIB THOU ART MINE Boy Girl w Turtle $27.99 Time Remaining: 17d 19h Buy It Now for only: $27.99 |
 1979 THOU ART MINE PRECIOUS MOMENTS FIGURINE $37.50 Time Remaining: 12d 23h 26m Buy It Now for only: $37.50 |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS figurine THOU ART MINE $24.99 Time Remaining: 2d 6h 20m Buy It Now for only: $24.99 |
 MIB Precious Moments Thou Art Mine Figurine E 3113 $8.99 Time Remaining: 5d 8h 32m |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine E 3113 MIB $14.00 Time Remaining: 14d 8h 8m Buy It Now for only: $14.00 |
 Precious Moments E3113 THOU ART MINE Couple w Turtle No Mark 1979 85 $42.99 Time Remaining: 16d 5h 31m Buy It Now for only: $42.99 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine Small Saucer 1978 Japan $5.00 Time Remaining: 22d 17h 44m Buy It Now for only: $5.00 |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS THOU ART MINE FIGURINE E3113 $19.60 Time Remaining: 29d 9h 7m Buy It Now for only: $19.60 |
 Collectible PRECIOUS MOMENTS Thou Art Mine Bell $8.39 Time Remaining: 29d 22h 20m Buy It Now for only: $8.39 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine E 3113 NO MARK $20.00 Time Remaining: 21d 7h 43m Buy It Now for only: $20.00 |
 Precious Moments Figurine Thou Art Mine Date 1979 $9.99 Time Remaining: 6d 15m Buy It Now for only: $20.00 |
 Precious Moments E3113 MIB THOU ART MINE Couple w Turtle Triangle 1981 $34.99 Time Remaining: 1d 13h 10m Buy It Now for only: $34.99 |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS FIGURINE 1979 THOU ART MINE $14.95 Time Remaining: 14d 3h 33m Buy It Now for only: $14.95 |
 Precious Moments THOU ART MINE 1979 NO MARK $24.99 Time Remaining: 15d 23h 49m Buy It Now for only: $24.99 |
 1979 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine TMK Dove $53.00 Time Remaining: 2d 2h 39m Buy It Now for only: $53.00 |
 Prescious Moments Thou Art Mine E 3113 1991 Vessel Mark Signed Johnathan David $17.99 Time Remaining: 10d 6h 38m Buy It Now for only: $17.99 |
 Precious Moments E 3113 Autographed Thou Art Mine $10.00 Time Remaining: 1d 5h |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS THOU ART MINE MINT IN BOX PERFECT $14.95 Time Remaining: 23d 22h 27m Buy It Now for only: $14.95 |
 1984 Precious Moments THOU ART MINE Porcelain Bell MINT $9.95 Time Remaining: 6d 21h 18m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 1979 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine TMK Fish $55.00 Time Remaining: 25d 2h 44m Buy It Now for only: $55.00 |
 PRECIOUS MOMENTS THOU ART MINE $24.99 Time Remaining: 17d 21h 6m Buy It Now for only: $24.99 |
 Precious Moments Thou Art Mine E 3113 Original Box 1979 $51.00 Time Remaining: 4d 22h 5m Buy It Now for only: $51.00 |
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Thou Shalt Obey Web Conventions
Web Conventions
What are web conventions and why should we follow them? Why can we not express our individuality through our web site? Of course we can use our web site to express our individuality but we need to be aware that doing so may mean other people can’t share in that expression as they can’t work out how to get in!
Web conventions are features of a web site that we have come to expect as standard. If they are not apparent we may become confused and our level of satisfaction with our visit to that web site may be reduced. Some examples of common web conventions include: a logo in the upper left hand corner of the page, a Site Map, a Shopping Cart where items may be purchased and a revolving egg timer to let you know that what you want is coming and that your computer has not frozen.
I love to visit a wonderfully creative web site as much as the next person but, depending on my sugar levels and my time limitations, I may get frustrated if I cannot extract the information I need from that site. In the back of my mind I know that the knowledge I am after is lurking in there somewhere behind all that creativity, but can I reach it…No!
The Site Map
That is why one of my favourite web conventions is the Site Map. This is sometimes a little bit hard to find but it is usually down the bottom of the page in the footer. For the purposes of this article I visited 3 sites that I have bookmarked over the years to see if they had a Site Map in this spot. www.minigallery.co.uk did not have a Site Map but they did have a Search option on each page. www.britishcouncil.org also did not have a Site Map (that I could find) but they too had a “Search our Site” facility on each page.
By this stage my whole theory about the importance and value of Site Maps appeared to have been destroyed. Finally I tried one of my son’s favourite web sites www.afl.com.au They also had a search function at the top of the page and when I scrolled down to the bottom of the home page, there it was “Sitemap”. However when I clicked, it took me to the Site Map page: www.afl.com.au/Hidden/Sitemap/tabid/8785/Default.aspx but there was nothing there!
I must be behind the times and I asked a Web Developer why people weren’t putting Site Maps on their sites (going on the evidence of my sample of 3!). He replied that he didn’t understand why sites didn’t have a Site Map as they are favoured by search engines and therefore can be a marketing tool. My belief is that Site Maps are also a valuable navigation tool as they can assist users to easily locate what they are searching for.
Hypertext Font Color
My next favorite web convention is the change in hypertext font color to indicate that you have already visited a link. I love that when I go into Google and put in a search request; I can see which pages I have already visited on previous searches. Sometimes (actually quite often!), I may forget that I have ever been to a site. However when I get to the site, because of the different colored fonts, I know that I have been there before.
I revisited my three sites to see if they followed this convention. On www.afl.com.au when the cursor hovered over the hypertext, the font changed from blue to orange (another web convention), however when I returned to the Home Page after visiting a link, the hypertext font had not changed color to alert me to the fact that I had already visited that link.
www.minigallery.co.uk was a bit strange in that the hypertext font changed color from pink to red when the mouse hovered over it and also the red color remained when I returned to the page. However when I clicked on another link, the previous one changed back to pink. Therefore I could see the link that I had visited immediately before but not two clicks before.
The British Council web site www.britishcouncil.org was the only one where the hypertext font changed color permanently (interestingly the font didn’t change color when the mouse hovered over it but it was underlined as was the hypertext on the other two sites) once a link had been visited. In my opinion, the change in font color for visited links is an important web convention as it is a helpful navigation tool.
About Us
The final convention that I wanted to investigate was whether sites had an “About Us” section that gave the user a background to the owners of the site. www.britishcouncil.org had a very comprehensive “About Us” section in the main navigation bar at the top of the Home Page and also “About Us” areas in the “Arts” and “Science” sections. www.minigallery.co.uk also had a detailed “About Us” section accessible from the main navigation bar on the Home Page. The AFL (Australian Football League) site www.afl.com.au was a little bit harder to navigate and I ended up going to www.afl.com.au/AFLHQ/tabid/81/Default.aspx where I was able to find a lot of information about the AFL. The “About Us” section can promote “trust” in the user. In business it can be helpful to have a mission statement and perhaps a summary of the qualifications or relevant attributes of the staff in the “About Us” section.
In conclusion, this exercise was an eye-opener for me. I chose popular sites that I expected would demonstrate the web conventions I had selected. The results were most unexpected. The message for me was that although businesses may want their sites to look different they should beware of ignoring web conventions. When people are entering an unfamiliar environment they need to be able to navigate their way around as easily and effectively as possible and the presence of certain web conventions can help them do just that.
About the Author
Siobhan Latham is a Brit of Irish descent living in Australia! She has an interest in website usability and runs a company called www.webtest.com.au providing usability testing to businesses.