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The IE 6 Debate

Up until the release of Internet Explorer 8 I was pretty open to making concessions for the ever-developer-haunting IE6. But now the debate with design partners and customers alike is should we still support it and if so should we make that an extra costs?

The issue at hand is that while IE8 and Firefox 3 (and other CSS compliant browsers) aren't exact when it comes to layouts, they are pretty dang close to each other and focusing on just those main two browsers is a pretty safe bet. Even IE7 wasn't that big of a problem, but IE6?

The big ticket problems with supporting IE6 are that it doesn't support the great PNG file format for images and that you have to create a separate stylesheet for this one specific browser. IE6 only holds about 15% of the browser market but one could argue that that's about the same as IE7 (IE across the board holds about 40%) and IE7 usage is dropping faster than IE6 since the introduction of IE8 (all according to W3CSchools.com). Of our site visitors 57% use IE but only 15% of those are using IE6 so overall only about 9% are using IE6. This 9% is also pretty consistent with the other customer sites we keep stats on, give or take 2-3%. A majority of the rest are IE7 users so this is totally different that what W3C is reporting.

So with the numbers from our sites I see a real case for no longer supporting it but I also see this as a frustrating debate that will not go away at least for another year or so.

If your a developer what do you think, do you still support IE6?

What a Couple of Months

Wow, what a couple of months it has been since the last blog post, in a good way of course. The middle of the month of April poured in a bunch of work, including our first Drupal site (which I would not recommend for the faint of heart, but more on that in a later post) and 4 new DotNetNuke sites. Lucky for me we have some great design partners and they all happened to need our services all at the same time. Here is a bit of the work we did over that time:

http://www.nwhomefacts.com/ (DNN Site)
http://www.pnwfertility.com/ (DNN Site)
http://www.terra-organics.com/ (DNN Site)
http://www.wajumpstart.org/ (DNN Site)
http://www.thirddegreeadv.com/ (Not live as of this post they are still adding content - Drupal Site)

Business is still coming in at a good clip but I have finally had a minute to sit back and think up some great subjects for some upcoming blog posts. Another thing I've been able to do is think about some of the things that need to be done internally to keep our "machine" well oiled. That includes finally moving our site over to DNN, updating and adding some content and, fingers crossed, translating it to Italian (something I've been wanting to do for about a year now). I'm also going to re-establish my effort to blog at least once a month, that two month "vacation" was a bit ridiculous.

January Additions to Our Portfolio

This month we launched two new sites, please take some time to check them out.

BestRest Products (http://www.bestrestproducts.com/) is a manufacturer and reseller of BMW motorcycle parts and accessories, all of which you can buy online. They make a bunch of cool custom add-ons that are known worldwide for their dependability and innovation. The site is built on AspDotNetStorefront and includes our WA Destination Sales Tax Lookup Tool that we created for ADNSF.

Eastside Basketball Club (http://www.eastsidebasketballclub.org/) is a non-profit organization that provides high-level training for youth basketball in Sammamish, WA. The site is built on the DotNetNuke content management platform, so EBC can make all of their own changes and add pages as they see fit.

What to Expect When Taking on Your Web Site Redesign.

Over the years we have gained a number of clients due to dissatisfaction with the process that they went through with another developer/designer. The biggest underlying problem that you (the customer) and they (the developer) face is that neither really knows what their responsibilities are or what to expect out of the process.

Inexperienced web developers (those fresh out of college or with only a few months of working at a firm before going freelance) usually have no idea about how to coordinate all of the moving parts that it takes to put a site together, they underestimate the time things actually take and they frequently underestimate the complexity of performing certain tasks or don’t properly gather requirements.

Most friend and family developers (your son or your cousin Mike) approach a web site as a “how hard could it be” project that would be “fun”. However once they get into it, it does prove more difficult and starts cutting into their personal time too much. On top of some of the same miscalculations mentioned above, an added complexity arises because, unfortunately for you, they don’t want to disappoint you by telling you that it’s too hard. And you (being the good parent that you are) don’t want to yank the rug from under them.

Of course everyone has to start somewhere, but both of these scenarios can be devastating to your business and its exposure on the internet. If you are looking to take on a site redesign these are some of the things you should do and look for when shopping for a professional design firm (or anyone for that matter).

1. Find someone who has at least an hour to sit with you to ask questions and gather information – Be clear about your wants, needs and goals and be prepared to provide examples of design and/or functionality. Be wary of people who only work after “work hours”, they probably have a 9-5 so they only have a couple hours a day to devote to their business.
   
2. Work with someone who at least understands business and what you are trying to accomplish – Companies with customers varying industries can’t be expected to be an expert in all industries. But if the people you are working with don’t understand (or at least try to understand) the basic principles of business and how they apply to you in the first place then you’re barking up the wrong tree.
   
3. Have a budget, make it realistic – The fact is everyone has some number in mind; otherwise you probably wouldn’t be shopping around just yet. If you don’t, think of the number that would make you scream, a little below that is your budget. And relax, most honest firms are not just going to eat up your budget just for the sake of doing so, they need a number to make sure that you are all in the same ballpark, give or take a few thousand. In order to not waste your time or theirs let them know if you only have $2000 to spend on a $10,000 web site so they can offer you an alternative (of which there are usually many), propose a realistic “phase 1” solution for your budget or so you can both go your separate ways.
   
4. Have a timeline, make it realistic too – Regardless of all the web design tools out there and the Video Professor DVD’s, making a web site isn’t always easy. There are usually several groups of people to get together (designers, developers, copywriters, SEO specialist, etc.) and that all takes time. Also consider the time it will truly take you and your staff to come up with and deliver content, images or anything else that is your responsibility.
   
5. Understand what you are getting – Don’t just settle for a simple estimate or quote. Make sure you know exactly what you are getting for that amount. Your developer should be able to provide you with some sort of project specification detailing what all their deliverables are. Again make sure the developer has at least an hour to go line-by-line through what they are delivering. Ask lots of questions and make sure it all makes sense to you, technical jargon aside; this is a drastically important step to make sure that all your needs will be met.
   
6. Shop around, but compare apples to apples – If you followed my advice on item #5 you should have some idea of what you are getting from each company. When you receive your bids take some time to compare them and your notes on each firm side-by-side. If items that you want are missing from one or the other or there are additional items, ask the developer why (there may be a very good reason that someone else may have overlooked) and allow them to update their quote, if necessary. Don’t just decide based on the price; there are many different ways to do things in web development, some are better than others.
   
7. Consider experience – Not just the number of sites they’ve done but their quality, on-time delivery record, support options and the experience of their customers. More experienced people/firms will demand a higher hourly rate, and it is usually justified. The more experienced firms are more likely to know technological limitations, have a wider grasp of different concepts or applications that will serve your needs better, provide realistic timelines, realistic costs and consistent results.
   
8. Look for a flat rate, if possible – For large scale projects, quotes that have no bottom line are worthless because you are at the mercy of the developer’s knowledge, avoid these at all cost. Most firms will give you a flat quote plus an hourly for any extension of scope. Usually if the change of scope is significant the firm will be able to produce a new quote for a separate project. For smaller projects (under 10 hours), your only option will likely be hourly, since it would take more time to develop a quote than to finish your project.
   
9. Avoid additional charges – “But how” you ask? Most minor adjustments in the design and development of a project are expected and usually taken into consideration in your quote. But if there are big deal things like calling a meeting every week or making changes that are obviously outside of the scope of the project but not big enough to propose a new project, expect additional charges at the end. Sometimes the number of meetings allowed is included in your quote. You can usually tell when you are asking for something outside of your original contract if you listen to yourself. If you start a sentence with “You know what would be cool…?” or something similar you are probably going out of scope. Beware of companies that want to charge you for minor things during development like changing out an image, adjusting a color scheme (although, sometimes this can be significant), or changing out a paragraph or two. Either way, your developer should be upfront about what is minor, what is not and what the additional costs are.
   
10. Find someone you “like” – Personality is very important. If you don’t like them don’t work with them. I personally like people who can challenge my ideas and help me form better ones.
    
11. Remember that if you’re not happy you can always find someone else – This bonus tip may seem a bit unwise right now, but remember a bad relationship only gets worse and almost never gets better. If you run into any situations where you are not comfortable or feel that you are not being treated fairly, talk with your developer they should be sensitive about your needs and concerns. Remember that you can always walk away from the situation. Yes you may lose some of your initial investment, but a site that doesn’t work as expected doesn't do you any good and taking yourself through the wringer and being disenchanted with the process is much worse for you as well as the next developer you look for.
    

As a customer and business owner yourself you know that satisfying your customer is number 1. However, purchasing a new web site isn’t easy as, say, purchasing a new pair of jeans and not being satisfied. Your site is the face of your business. Therefore there is much more customer interaction and participation needed on your part, so be fair to yourself and the process and make sure you and your staff have the time to tackle your web site project. Once a good firm has all your specs and materials you should be able to sit back and watch the magic happen.

2009 PABP Changes That Will Affect Your Online Store

Happy New Year to all. I wanted to start off the New Year with a bit of advanced notice to those in ecommerce that may not be up on all the rule changes for Visa security and merchant compliance and so you can make plans to take action this year.

In 2004 the credit card industry launched its standard security requirements which is based on the Visa standards set forth in 2001. The standard requires both online and offline merchants to safeguard sensitive consumer credit card information by following specific information storage rules and regulations.

For online store applications this took the form of Payment Application Best Practices (PABP). PABP changed the way that online store applications and shopping carts had to be developed; incorporating security features and rules into the store logic. Some of those security steps include, not storing credit card information in the database, requirement to change the administrators' password every 30 days, requiring "strong" password rules for site admins, and hashing all passwords.

For Merchants, this took the form of PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) which required that merchants are either individually PCI compliant or use a system that is PABP compliant.

Why is this important to you, the online merchant?

As of October 2008, new online merchants with over 20,000 transactions per year cannot even recieve an online merchant account if they are not compliant in one way or another. However, beginning this year merchant account providers will start to "decertify" non-PABP applications, revok merchant accounts that are not using PABP certified applications and deny merchant applications to new applications that are not PABP certified. In 2010, all merchants will be required to be using a PABP certified application.

When I say non-PABP certified applications I'm not just talking about some obscure online stores, this includes some of the more popular store choices out there. As of this posting this includes:

1. OSCommerce
2. X-Cart
3. AbleCommerce
4. Volution
5. ZenCart
6. Miva Merchant
7. AmeriCart
8. Ecommerce Templates (ECT)
9. 3DCart
10. Eporia
11. Magento

...and a boat load more. In fact it's probably easier to tell you which applications are PABP certified and suitable for small to medium business (it's only a handful).

1. AspDotNetStorefront (Bright Spectrum's store of choice)
2. Storefront by LaGarde
3. eOne by Micros
4. MonsterCommerce (part of Network Solutions)
5. Znode Storefront
6. ShopSite
7. PowerCommerce by Merchantec

Using any of the non-PABP systems may pose some security risks and either they will need to become PABP compliant very soon or you will be required to move to a PABP certified store sometime in the near future.

If you want to explore moving over to AspDotNetStorefront and instantly becoming PCI Compliant schedule an online demo with us.

Bye for now.

Destination Sales Tax...Brilliant!

For all you ecommerce folks here in Washington you have to really give it up to our state government when it comes to finding new, ever creative, ways to make work harder.

As most of you are well aware earlier this year (July 1, 2008) WA State launched its new "Streamlined Sales Tax" bill, otherwise known as Destination Based Sales Tax. For an ecommerce company this is a huge pain and is anything but "streamlined". The bill targets ecommerce companies and requires you to record each transaction amount and tax collected for each "tax location" that you do business with in the state. So not only do you have to figure out how much tax to collect, you have to become the state's accountant by explaining exactly where the tax should go. It is being sold as a way (sometime in the future) to level the playing field with out-of-state companies selling into our state, and vice versa, as part of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) which, ironically, is aimed at reducing the administrative burden on retailers and is full of controversy.

The reason I bring this up now is because I never really thought of it as a big issue, and that we could get away with just adding specific zip code rates to a stores zip code rate table, for a while at least. But after actually seeing the paperwork involved with accurately reporting the tax and seeing that a zip code can have several different rates, we were prompted to create a new Washington State tax lookup tool for AspDotNetStorefront. The tool works beautifully and plays nicely with the database-based tax lookup that it already contains. For a simplified explanation, our tax lookup contacts the state's database through our own web service (and a couple other functions) and applies it directly to the current order based on your shipping information, it even works with multiple shipping addresses. In addition, we will be adding a reporting tool that will spit out the information you need for reporting your quarterly tax collection to the State. I figure it is something that could done for the other 21 states that are a part of SSUTA, so that may be our next move.

I don't know how many states will end up taking part in SSUTA, it is not a federal government mandate, so only participating states have to go through this. Either way I'm sure that we will be soon collecting sales tax for other states sometime in the future. In fact you can start doing so now, if you so choose, by yourself becoming part of SSUTA; it's 100% voluntary. The SSUTA setup is actually pretty sweet and allows you to automatically pay the state for which you are collecting tax. We'd be more than happy to write the tax lookup code for that.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much this is the kind of stuff that keeps us in business.