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Archive for May, 2010

Does exactly what it says on the tin; just the posts that relate to the above...

Ruby on Rails expert, PHP genius, Apple iPhone developer and mobile DJ joins the growing Mixd team!

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Dave Graham

Some of you will already know Dave – ‘the international master of rave’ as he is affectionately known here at Mixd owing to his mobile DJ career – from his involvement in the technical aspects of your digital project.

He’s one of those guys that never sees the light of day, survives totally on crisps, coffee and red bull, and is an absolute genius when it comes to anything technical. You know… a (self-proclaimed) geek.

Anyway, enough of that geek talk, we have an announcement to make!

The Mixd team is delighted that Dave has ‘signed-up’ completely to the Mixd ethos and has become a permanent member of the expanding Mixd offering. Dave will continue to head up the Mixd website development team, as Senior PHP Developer, whilst leading online application development utilising his vast knowledge of the fast emerging Ruby on Rails programming language. As the digital world moves more and more into mobile, Dave’s expertise in Apple iPhone app development will also come to the fore.

Mixd’s Digital Director, Phil Shackleton, commented “With Dave coming onboard fully on a permanent basis, the Mixd offering moves forward even further and keeps us at the forefront of the digital world. Let’s face it, no discipline moves as fast and if you stand still you get left behind. We have a duty to our clients and to ourselves to be fully aware of the present and to embrace future trends within our industry as they happen”.

Dave has worked with Mixd for well over 5 years in a freelance and short-term contract capacity, so knows Mixd and its clients very well indeed.

Bob Tait, Producer at Mixd, was overjoyed with the appointment “The acquisition of Dave on a permanent basis is fantastic news for the Mixd team and our clients. People with Dave’s experience, abilities and passion don’t come along everyday and after a lengthy recruitment process, Dave was the right man for the job. I’m really looking forward to working with Dave on new exciting projects that can showcase our talents and offer a great return on investment for clients. However, the main plus point is that it’s made finding a half-decent DJ for the office bash very easy indeed!”.

Now that’s what we call music.

Good luck Dave and welcome (fully) onboard.

Posted in Mixd, Technical | No Comments »

Opening external links in a new browser window

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

For the majority of websites that we work on, clients tend to request that external links open in a new browser window so visitors are not lost to other sites.

On first inspection, this may appear to be a reasonable request and that the client’s wishes may hold water. However, and this may sound controversial, we don’t develop sites for the client, we develop sites for the client’s users; after all, it’s the users that have to use the site (the term ‘users’ is a bit of a giveaway really). For the majority of target audiences, basic principles of usability that have stood the test of time within our ever changing and fast moving digital industry can be applied. So, here’s why when the client says “I want all external links to open in a new browser window”, the discussion begins!

At Mixd we build to the highest accessibility and usability standards, and follow 2 main sets of guidelines:

We advise against forcing any on-site links to open in a new window, as to do so would invalidate both of the above. From a usability point of view, forcing this upon the user is considered bad practice and all modern browsers give the user the option to open in a new tab or browser window if they wish to do so.

A huge percentage of web users navigate using the browser’s back button. New window links mean that the back button stops working; often leaving the user confused or even worse, annoyed. Instead of keeping users from leaving your site, it may have the opposite effect by preventing them from returning when they actually want to. With certain pop-up blockers enabled, external links may not open properly either. Furthermore, new windows may also open in the background and not be seen at all by the user.

Instead of opening in a new window, we suggest adding ‘(external link)’ or a symbol after external links to indicate to the user the links which will make them leave your site.

Jakob Neilsen (largely considered the world’s foremost web usability expert) mentioned this in points 1 and 2, back in 1999 and this is as true now as it was back then; http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530.html

Posted in Accessibility, All, Technical | No Comments »

Mixd – social media experts on BBC Look North

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

When the BBC wanted an expert in Social Media to comment on Paul Chambers’ recent conviction for ‘sending a menacing electronic communication’ for his Tweeted bomb threat to Robin Hood Airport they contacted Mixd, asking us to appear on Look North with Harry Gration and Tanya Arnold.

Of course we duly obliged and just 2 hours after receiving the call, Mixd’s Phil Shackleton was sat in the studio explaining to viewers just how powerful a communication tool Twitter can be – even though, on this occasion, it had severe consequences for the author.

So, if an individual can be punished for ‘innocuous hyperbole’, should businesses shy away from using Twitter as a communication tool? Well, this one post shows how easy it is to get yourself noticed so pitch your message right (and stay within the law) and Twitter can clearly be a fantastic tool to check up on your competitors, manage your online brand presence, shout about a new product or tell everyone your latest news across the internet.

And if contributing to the Twittersphere fills you with dread, why not get some Social Media training from Mixd? We offer workshops for newly-hatched chirpers through to fully-fledged Tweeters and offer advice on all aspects of using Twitter and other Social Media for business. Why not email p.shackleton@mixd.co.uk or tweet us @mixd for more information.

Posted in All, Mixd, Social Media | No Comments »

Paul Chambers convicted for Twitter bomb ‘threat’‎

Monday, May 10th, 2010

You wouldn’t dare say the word “bomb” out loud whilst stood at an airport check-in desk… but would you dare Tweet the very same word?

It turns out the answer should be “no” after today’s ruling against a South Yorkshire man who has been charged after joking on Twitter that he would blow an airport “sky high” if his flight was delayed.

When the Robin Hood airport in Yorkshire was closed due to snow in January this year, Paul Chambers tweeted to his audience of followers:

“Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high”

The tweet was spotted when an off-duty manager at the airport did a Twitter search for “Robin Hood airport.” Something that all businesses should be doing in order to manage brand reputation online. Twitter have made the search function very flexible allowing businesses to keep track on what is being said about them online. In this case with disastrous results for Paul Chambers!

The result was a fine and costs totaling around £1,000! But, crucially, a criminal record. Chambers, who apologised to the court, had already lost his job as a financial controller. He reportedly told the court: “It did not cross my mind that Robin Hood would ever look at Twitter or take it seriously because it was innocuous hyperbole.”

Twitter has experienced unprecedented growth since its conception in 2006, with latest year on year figures showing an increase of 1,928 percent in unique users from June 2008 to June 2009; propelling it into the top 5 of all social networking sites. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Twitter users (84%) are over 25, making it an ideal audience for the business community.

At Mixd, we believe Twitter is a powerful online tool that offers substantial benefits to businesses including:

  • a new and innovative way to drive new traffic to your website;
  • online protection of your brand / reputation;
  • customer support;
  • opportunities to engage with a new audience to share opinions, tools and resources and demonstrate your knowledge; and
  • the formation of networks and collaboration.

Above all, this case is a good reminder to be aware of what you tweet and the need to get expert advice!

Posted in All, Rant, Social Media | 2 Comments »