[Sigia-l] Subdomain usability

Wed Jun 7 15:40:52 EDT 2006

a couple of thoughts ...

1 - if possible, I'd provide both maps.google.com and www.google.com/maps.
yahoo maps doesn't do this.  google does, and surprisingly retains whichever
you type rather than redirecting.

2 - when you search google specifying the domain (in advanced search or with
"site:www.yahoo.com"), I think it doesn't find what you're looking for if
it's on a subdomain.  I could be wrong about that, and I'd like to know.

3 - obscure case perhaps, but offline web browser require you to define the
parameters for downloading a site, and subdomains can make that tricky.

4 - I notice as I type this mail that outlook has automatically turned the
www.google.com/maps into a hyperlink, but not maps.google.com.

5 - del.icio.us have done a brilliant job of using folders, so if you know
what you want you can type the url exactly.

e.g. to find my links with tag "interfacedesign" I know to type
del.icio.us/tcoombs/interfacedesign

I think it's a good thing if using the folders like this to make sure the
URL stays clean once the page has loaded.  (I think this is about using the
'index' file itself rather than using it to redirect, but not sure about
that.)

Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-bounces at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-bounces at asis.org] On Behalf
Of Eric Reiss
Sent: 06 June 2006 18:01
To: dave.ixd at gmail.com; sigia-l at asis.org
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Subdomain usability

Sorry for causing confusion, Dave. I was simply using your example. I've
never actually tried either of these URLs.

You offered two choices - www.yahoo.com/maps and maps.yahoo.com - and I
chose the former.

As far as where "home" is located, I'm not sure most users would care about
this distinction. In fact, most simply don't know how URLs work. That's why
phishing and various PayPal cons work so well. When the site owner isn't
listed first, only the experienced web users can see through the ruse.

Cheers,
Eric

---- Original Message ----
From: dave.ixd at gmail.com
To: sigia-l at asis.org
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Subdomain usability
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2006 11:19:32 -0400

>I'm not sure I follow the below.
>Where is "home" when you do yahoo.com/maps? Is it the yahoo portal 
>page? that doesn't make sense to me. Maps is an independent yet 
>connected application, so shouldn't it have some sense of primacy of 
>its own? I don't understand the search engine stuff very much. I 
>usually just go by titles.
>
>Now that being said, I type maps.yahoo.com, but I wouldn't type 
>outlook.microsoft.com (unless i wanted to use otulook to get microsoft
>mail). Instead I would type microsoft.com/outlook as I don't see
>"outlook" in this case as a "home", but rather as an understood part
>of a greater whole.
>
>-- dave
>
>On 6/6/06, Eric Reiss <elr at e-reiss.com> wrote:
>> I'd have to respectfully disagree with Dave on this one.
>>
>> Yes, the typing is easier, but most ordinary users - if they 
>> understand URLs at all - will assume that it indicates a path.
>Hence,
>> I prefer www.yahoo.com/maps, which suggests a path or hierarchy.
>>
>> The boring, old-fashioned form also makes it easier to spot the 
>> source when skimming URLs in search results. And it makes it a LOT 
>> easier to butcher a URL when the site has magically transported you 
>> someplace you don't want to be on another server.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Eric
>> e-reiss & associates
>> copenhagen, denmark
>> www.e-reiss.com
>> www.fatdux.com
>>
>> ---- Original Message ----
>> From: dave.ixd at gmail.com
>> To: sigia-l at asis.org
>> Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Subdomain usability
>> Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2006 10:33:35 -0400
>>
>> >I love subdomains and usually "assume" they exist and love when
>they
>> >do.
>> >yahoo uses them very well, and I think they are great.
>> >why? b/c typing www.yahoo.com/maps is longer than typing 
>> >maps.yahoo.com
>> >
>> >but also, it makes a clearer association that the functionality is 
>> >somehow independent, that it has a "root" of its own. i don't mean 
>> >that in the technical sense, but in the this is a "home page"
>landing
>> >page sense.
>> >
>> >-- dave
>> >
>> >
>> >On 6/6/06, Skot Nelson <skot at penguinstorm.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> On Jun-5-2006, at 12:11 PM, Kenneth Bryson wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > Ultimately, they need to make sense and can be used in the
>same
>> >> > fashion
>> >> > as redirects.
>> >>
>> >> They need to be integrated into a clear, consistent
>communications
>> >> strategy as well. It must be *obvious* what content would, for 
>> >> example, be on the investor.bank.com zone versus the
>www.bank.com
>> >zone.
>> >>
>> >> Why would I bookmark one and not the other?
>> >> --
>> >> Scott Nelson
>> >> skot (at) penguinstorm (dot) com http://www.penguinstorm.com/
>> >>
>> >> skype. skot.nelson
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ------------
>> >> When replying, please *trim your post* as much as possible. *Plain 
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>> >> Searchable Archive at http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/
>> >>
>> >> Most presentations/papers and posters have been loaded to the IA
>> >Summit 06 website:
>> >>
>> >> http://iasummit.org/2006/conferencedescrip.htm
>> >> http://iasummit.org/2006/posters.htm
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ________________________________________
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>> >--
>> >David (Heller) Malouf
>> >dave.ixd at gmail.com
>> >http://synapticburn.com/
>> >------------
>> >When replying, please *trim your post* as much as possible. *Plain 
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>> >Searchable Archive at http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/
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>> >Most presentations/papers and posters have been loaded to the IA 
>> >Summit 06 website:
>> >
>> >http://iasummit.org/2006/conferencedescrip.htm
>> >http://iasummit.org/2006/posters.htm
>> >
>> >
>> >
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>
>
>--
>David (Heller) Malouf
>dave.ixd at gmail.com
>http://synapticburn.com/
>------------
>When replying, please *trim your post* as much as possible.
>*Plain text, please; NO Attachments
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>Searchable Archive at http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/
>
>Most presentations/papers and posters have been loaded to the IA
>Summit 06 website:
>
>http://iasummit.org/2006/conferencedescrip.htm
>http://iasummit.org/2006/posters.htm
>
>
>
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Searchable Archive at http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/

Most presentations/papers and posters have been loaded to the IA Summit 06
website:

http://iasummit.org/2006/conferencedescrip.htm
http://iasummit.org/2006/posters.htm

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