manage your homepage

MANAGEYOUR HOMEPAGE

School Newspapers Online www.snosites.com

http://www.snosites.com

MANAGE YOUR HOMEPAGE

The SNO style starters look good, but they are just that — starters.

Use the FLEX tools to customize the site.

Aim for a cohesive site design and style.


The SNO style starters look good, but they are just that — starters.

Use the FLEX tools to customize the site.

Design widgets so that they look like they all belong to the same family.



Design a custom header graphic.A website can have a text header or an image header. A custom header graphic gives your site personality and sets the tone for the rest of the site.


Design a custom header graphic.


A custom header gives your site personality and sets the tone for the rest of the site.

Consider uploading a different sized custom header images to fit a variety of mobile device sizes.



Consider the navigation bars.You want the navigation of the site to be clear, not too complicated, and logical.

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You want the navigation of the site to be clear, not too complicated, and logical.

Keep navigation bars to one line each — any more than that is getting too complicated.

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Consider the navigation bars.


You want the navigation of the site to be clear, not too complicated, and logical.

Keep navigation bars to one line each — any more than that is getting too complicated.

Don’t forget you can DESIGN the navigation bars.



How to design.



Avoid unplanned white space.Coordinating the homepage widgets to avoid unplanned white space gives your site a clean, attention-to-detail look and helps readers scan to the bottom of the page.


All sorts of white space.

!Awkward.

Avoid unplanned white space.


Ahh… !

Much better.

Avoid unplanned white space.


To really keep the homepage looking good, you’ll need to check that the homepage is still aligned after every story you post. !

BONUSTIP

Check your site.


•Content categories •Polls •Most popular stories •Video/photo streams.

Include widgets that make sense.




Reconsider weather widgets — no one relies on your website for a weather report.




Reconsider weather widgets — no one relies on your website for a weather report.

Is your site driving traffic to your Twitter feed, or is your Twitter feed driving traffic to your site?


Assign a story to just one category, either a parent or child.

Stories should not show up in multiple places on the homepage.

Avoid repetition on the home page.


Assign a story to just one category, either a parent or child.

Stories should not show up in multiple places on the homepage.


This repetition usually happens with stories in the showcase, so SNO has a setting to avoid it. Check it out on the Showcase Carousel section of the SNO Design Options page.


Be deliberate about indicating prominence because content widgets display by date, not importance of story.

This is a good reason for a "most read" or "editors' picks" category.

Set a clear home page hierarchy.


Be deliberate about indicating prominence because content widgets display by date, not importance of story.

This is a good reason for a "most read" or "editors' picks" category.


There are many ways to do this: widget styles, photo sizes, layout, etc.


Use the showcase to really showcase.

It implies importance, not just recent posts.

Use the showcase carousel.


Use the showcase to really showcase.

It implies importance, not just recent posts.


Pick the showcase that fits your site’s content.

•You can skip the carousel and use the top story display.

•You can choose a scrolling option, full size images, or image panels.


Select a color scheme that evokes your school but doesn’t necessarily match it.

Select a good color scheme.


Select a color scheme that evokes your school but doesn’t necessarily match it.


Colors for sports uniforms don’t always look good online.


SNO design options page



Websites can be infinitely tall.

Vertical images stretch out the entire site and create dead space.

Use horizontal images.


Lots of empty space due to a vertical photo.



Websites can be infinitely tall.

Vertical images stretch out the entire site and create dead space.


Vertical images also can cause beheadings.


Faces are cropped from

photos. !

Awkward.



The best way to use vertical images is as a secondary image on the story page.

Use a horizontal image for the featured image and embed the vertical one on the story page.

Use horizontal images.BONUS

TIP


BONUS

Use horizontal images.TIP


Featured images can be vertical, but only if you reorganized the homepage to accommodate them after each posting.

Also choose to allow vertical images on the SNO Design Options page.

Using vertical images.


photo goes here.

Using vertical images.


Photos should be original or press release photos used with permission.

Non-original photos must be either used with permission (or under fair use) and credited appropriately.

BONUS

Don’t use illegal images.TIP


This little icon gives your site a professional look, even when someone is not on your site.

Design a favicon.


This little icon gives your site a professional look, even when someone is not on your site.

Design a favicon.

Remember a favicon is tiny, so you want to make something that’s going to look good on a very small scale.


Design a favicon.


Design a bullet point.


photo goes here.

Design a bullet or favicon.


After every post you should check out how the home page looks — on multiple screen sizes.

LAST

LOOK AT YOUR SITE!TIP

QUESTIONS?Let’s hear ’em.

This presentation is available for you to use: http://www.slideshare.net/snosites

School Newspapers Online www.snosites.com

manage your homepage

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