Web 101: Can't Get No Cybersatisfaction

A question I ask myself every morning while waiting for my web browser to load the morning news: what would make the Internet more satisfying to me? Even with the vast array of fresh new sites on the Internet, I always come to the same conclusion: more intelligent authoring.

It isn't that there is a lack of interesting subjects written by precise, witty authors on the Internet today, or that there are no capable people to build and design technologically awesome or visually intriguing sites. I have seen examples of all, rendered individually and -- much more rarely -- together. Maybe it's an uneasy emphasis on "just getting the information out there" rather than the gradual completion of a work of web-based art that makes even the most technologically advanced sites shallow, albeit beautiful, things. I am thoroughly bored with authors who have pushed up sites featuring new technological advances without having taken the time to really push the envelope on what they can do with them.

Then there are sites whose authors have attempted to capture the *feel* of technology without actually understanding what they are doing. Like vast, pristine www supermodels, these sites flash by prettily with their animated GIFs, their image-based text and their long-winded, meaningless Java banners. When one takes a closer look, however, the pores of these attractive creatures are huge, marred with obvious web no-nos. Enormous counters taking full minutes to download. Messy online "awards." Huge images whose resolution has remained at the size it was when scanned, rather than the standard 72 DPI, holding up the loading process altogether. Examples of VMRL and Shockwave technology that take forever to access, then do nothing more than spin and whirl blandly on the screen when loaded.

The web, one must remember, isn't a contest of who has what sooner, bigger, better, faster.

I like to think I approach the Internet with enough fresh-faced wonder to be wowed by new advances in technology, but I try not to view new sites through rose-colored glasses.

I would prefer to see a site whose author has taken the time to consider the placement of graphics and text, to make it both pleasing to and easy on my web-weary eyes.

I prefer my animation to be a once- or twice-looped image rather than an ongoing, busy squiggle of information. I appreciate the use of sound or Java when it enhances the look and feel of the site without taking away from the essential beauty or informative components of the site. I enjoy sites when I know the essentials have been taken care of: spelling, grammar, and factual accuracy. There is nothing more infuriating than logging on to a site whose author is afraid of the spell-check, and I don't know about you, but for me the "your vs. you're" and "breath vs. breathe" debates went out in grade school.

When I come upon a site that truly takes my breath away, that makes me feel like someone has carved a slice out of my inner vision and cut-and-pasted it onto their site, however, I want the world to stand up and take notice. I want to personally thank the author for getting together with their writers, designers, best friends, muses, to create a site that made my surf time so satisfying. For the time being, I'd settle for a simple, well-designed site with both educated writing AND commendable graphics.

The California Landscape Contractors Association site is a nicely laid-out site with small, well-chosen graphics and a precise site map. The site is still under construction (or so the bottom banner reads,) but there is a wealth of information available now. Everything from a membership "guide" to notes on the Landscape industry show, complete with costs and online registration, is available without hassle.

If you are looking for an example of some simple and well-designed graphics, try DowElanco's site. Their image maps and menu bars are subtle and sophisticated. And small. All very important considerations for users browsing with slower systems. The author(s) of this site makes good use of white space, allowing the information to come up clearly on any resolution screen.

Environmental Care Inc. also makes good use of their cyberspace. Their opening page is a subtle animated document - quick to load and lovely to watch. Once inside the body of the site, the different sections are color- and image-coded and, like the above site, ECI makes excellent use of the surrounding white space. Best of all, the information at ECI is straightforward - there is even a Frequently Asked Questions section.

I thought it might be useful to add The Horticultural Web site to this list if for no other reason than their list of horticultural links is thorough and allows for a user to search for him or her OWN "favorite" sites. While the Horticultural Web site is not the most attractive or inventive site on the web, it does have some redeeming qualities: the "Hort Cafe" -- an online horticultural chat room, the "Hort Yellow Pages" an interactive directory of horticulturists, and a "Hort Expo" with online trading booths and business set-ups.

The important thing to remember here is that I found these sites "by accident," that is, by trial and error searching. And while some of that stumbling is what surfing is all about, when I am wading through a world wide web of uninteresting sites, I am reminded of how very far I had to go, clicking and pointing, in my search to find outstanding sites. I often find excellent writing, stunning new technology and visually breathtaking art on the web, but these elements often seem to be mutually exclusive. There isn't enough of an emphasis on the site as a whole, the complete package. If more intelligent authoring is indeed what it takes to make one's Internet experience more satisfying, web authors are going to have to start looking at their creations as whole entities in order to supply a famished world wide web audience with cybersatisfaction.

The author is Internet Editor for Lawn & Landscape magazine.