Awed, confused, surprised.

web design

Why cookies alerts are redundant

Why cookies alerts are redundant -- the tasselflower blog

Cookies are small pieces of data sent from a website and stored to your browser while you browse a website. They can store information such as when you logged in to a site or the things you wrote on a form. For instance when you comment a blog post on this site your name, website url and email address are stored to a cookie so you won't have to fill them in every time you write a new comment.

Cookies cannot carry viruses or install malware to your computer so using them is in that way quite safe. You can also turn the usage of cookies off of your browser, though this will make using many websites quite difficult if not in many ways impossible for you.

Nowadays, due to some laws and regulations, many websites warn their users of the fact that they use cookies. I think these alerts are totally redundant.

Scaring the uninformed

First of all the cookie alert may scare someone who is not that familiar with the technology behind websites or who uses web very little. For a user like this a warning text telling "this website uses cookies" doesn't give much information on what's going on and will only make them scared about using web in general.

Especially when the news are filled with stories about people getting their different accounts hacked or giving out their bank information or getting viruses and malware to their computers, a warning about cookies is likely to send them running away.

Annoying the informed

Those who know a little something of how websites work and are more or less familiar with cookies tend to get annoyed by these alerts. Many times I have witnessed people complaining about these warnings or pointing out how silly they are.

Us who understand the usage of cookies and even have our own sites that use them can't understand the real benefit for these warning texts. They only create distraction to the site, not inform about anything new. Because...

Cookies are everywhere

More and more websites are built with content management systems such as WordPress or Drupal. They pretty much require the usage of cookies, because without them staying logged into the administration is impossible.

Websites with advertisement may (or may not) use cookies to serve the "right" advertisement to the users. For instance Google AdSense uses cookies to make sure you won't keep seeing same ads all over and over again and so forth.

Statistics are quite important for websites. With analyzing them a website owner can find out how many people visit the site, what kind of content and layout works and what doesn't, when the website traffic is most active and much more. To get this information cookies are important. For example Google Analytics is quite common service for tracking website traffic and usage and to collect the anonymous information it uses cookies.

Yes, the cookies alerts are redundant

Warning the user about usage of cookies is redundant. It doesn't give enough information for uninformed ones and informed ones are likely to scoff at them.

Most websites use cookies for different reasons, such as to keep their users logged in as long as they want, to help the users so they don't have to refill certain information on certain types of forms, to serve advertisement and to get usage statistics. For many sites cookies are essential. Therefore it's safe to assume any site you visit uses cookies.

Of course it is also important that people who use websites learn how these cookies can and may be used by different sites. It's also important that they learn how they can disable the cookies (when it's not necessary) and to understand how the disabling cookies can affect their experience of web. This however is not going to be accomplished with these alerts that seem to pop up all over the web.

Suomeksi (In Finnish):

Varoitukset siitä, että verkkosivu käyttää evästeitä ovat hyödyttömiä. Ne vain säikyttävät käyttäjän, joka ei ymmärrä evästeistä tai verkon teknologioista riittävästi. Niille, jotka ymmärtävät, evästevaroitukset tuottavat vain turhaa häiriötä ja ne tuntuvat hölmöiltä. Lisäksi evästeitä käytetään nykyään oikeastaan joka paikassa, joten evästeistä kertovat hälytystekstit ovat ylimääräistä ja heikosti informatiivisia.

0 replies | May 19, 2013 - 17:37 |

4 things your blog and small business website can't go without

4 things your blog and small business website can't go without -- the tasselflower blog

Are you serious about your blogging or do you want your business site to be effective? Do you want new customers or people to come back to your blog again and again?

While I have been browsing around blogs and business sites I've noticed that sometimes a couple of very simple things have been forgotten. These things are very essential for making sure your blog readers or potential customers can connect with you.

1. Easy contact

This may seem obvious, but I keep seeing lots of blogs and small business sites that lack of an easy way to contact the author/owner. Very often the contact is hidden somewhere, behind a "Work with me" or the link is hidden small in the footer of the site.

If you wish people to contact you for job offers or other business reasons, making contacting easy is extremely important. And even if you just blog for fun it's good for your blog readers to be able to tell you if there's any problems with your blog, commenting it or so. Or if they just want to say hi.

Add a link that says "Contact" to your main navigation. Don't hide it.

On the contact page you have different options. You can add there a simple form, which is the most usual way to do it. I also recommend to think about adding some of these:

Your (additional) email address(es)
Link to your Twitter feed
Link to your Facebook profile/page
Link to your Google+ profile/page
Links to your other social media profiles
Your Skype contact
Your other VoIP/IM contacts
Other contact information

Obviously there's always the chance of spam and other trolling. That's a thing you just must deal with. Sorry.

2. Social Media links

Another obvious one are the social media links. It's extremely frustrating to go to someone's site and look for the link to their Twitter feed without ever finding it. Believe me, it is.

Add links to your Twitter feed, Facebook page (or profile), Google+ profile, Pinterest and others to be easily found on your blog or small business website.

Place them somewhere near the top of your site so they will be easy to find. That way anyone visiting your site can follow you or like your page.

Don't hide these in sub-pages or way down to the footer.

3. About

Who are you? What is this blog about? Why would I want to work with you?

Add an about page to your (main) navigation. Again, don't hide it behind some obscure title, in the footer or under the "Work with me" section.

When a new visitor enters your blog or your small business site, they are likely to want to know who this person is or what this company is about. Don't make it difficult to find that out.

4. Your photo

Unless you want to be totally anonymous, make sure there's a photo of you on your website.

In case you want to use your site for business reasons or making money in a way or another (including advertisement) you won't want to be anonymous. Why? Cause anonymity may be interpreted as spamminess.

Add the photo on the About page and, if possible, to the sidebar of your blog. Give a face to your words.

Suomeksi (In Finnish):

Jos olet yhtään tosissasi blogisi suhteen tai haluat yrityksesi sivuston oikeasti toimivan, pidä huoli, että sivustollasi on nämä olennaiset osat: 1. Helppo yhteydenotto, joka löytyy nopeasti päänavigoinnista. 2. Linkit sosiaalisen median profiileihisi, jotka ovat myös helposti ja nopeasti löydettävissä. 3. Info-sivu, jossa kerrot kuka olet ja/tai mistä blogissasi tai yrityksessäsi on kyse. 4. Kuvasi, mieluiten näkyvissä esimerkiksi sivupalkissa, mutta ainakin info-sivulla.

0 replies | May 11, 2013 - 01:59 |

3 ways your blog fails

Is your blog built for success or does it fail terribly?

Sure there's always someone who thinks your blog is awful, for a reason or another. Often the reasons are very subjective and you can discard them.

However your blog may also fail in more general ways. When it does, the readers will scatter before you notice. If any of the following apply to your blog you need to fix it. Right now.

The blog looks bad and is hard to use

The design of your blog may seem like a minor detail of it. I mean, content is the king, the queen and everything in between.

The content, king, queen or what ever, is nothing if your blog is difficult to read and looks overall awful. As great as the content might be, the way it's presented can trump the greatness.

It's easy to make your blog more attractive. Remember to think also how the advertisement is presented. Does it really look good?

Centered text, horrible fonts, terrible use of colors and not using paragraphs will drown your awesome content. Make your blog more readable and your content will do the rest.

Need help? Ask me!

Commenting is difficult

If your blog has commenting option, make sure it is easy for me to make comments. I get it, spam is a problem and that's why commenting your blog is like trying to get into a very exclusive club. Unfortunately it prevents valid comments as well.

For instance captchas might be a way to stop spam, but us "regular" human beings also find them difficult to read. So please, get rid of them.

Log out from the administration of your blog and try how commenting works. Remember: If your commenting system forces a person to sign in and log in, it's always too much work for a little comment. So no. Don't make us do that. (Blogger blogs are infamous for forcing to be logged in someplace to make the comment.)

Instead of making it unnecessarily difficult, let your readers easily connect with you.

The blog lacks personality

So you have heard from all the experts how to be a successful blogger. That you mustn't talk about yourself and you must provide information. And all of that bs.

Make sure your blog has lots of personality. It's the only way for you to stand up from the masses of bloggers.

Tell about yourself, write posts that include things about YOU. Provide entertainment.

Use your own way to present things, don't copy the style of someone popular. If your thing is to write long posts, do that. If short blog posts are your thing, great!

Of course, remember to add the "about me" section to the blog, including to that ad riddled sidebar of yours.

Photo by Alexandre Dulaunoy under Creative Commons license.

5 replies | March 27, 2013 - 19:57 |

Of stars, small details and the Weekly Wrapup

Of stars, details and the Weekly Wrapup - New Made In Helmikuu -- the tasselflower blog

Last week the tasselflower blog got colorful. I detailed the look with stars and birches to mention some. As I promised then, the star brushes are now available on Etsy. And they are on instant delivery.

This week Made In Helmikuu has a new look that fits the blog. I decided to go with small details, background patterns, grids and vintage images from *The Graphics Fairy LLC*.

The reason why I used all these colors and small details on both the sites is to make them unique, different. I wanted a personal look, something I like and something that tells a story of who I am: A girly nonconformist who loves to create and who has eye for pretty details.

Last week on the tasselflower blog (eg. Weekly Wrapup)

Day 7: Nature (#BlogFlash2013) - "Though I enjoy city life, nature is always with me. Down and deep."
Day 8: Chocolate (#BlogFlash2013) - "It felt thick and silky sliding down her throat, finally warming her stomach."
Day 9: Spring (#BlogFlash2013) - "After the long, cold winter the snow would finally go away."
Day 10: Time (#BlogFlash2013) - "I wish I didn't have sense of time. I wish you didn't either."
Day 11: Running (#BlogFlash2013) - "He kept running, smiling to the frisky thoughts the young woman brought to his mind."
Instant delivery for digital items on Etsy - "For you as a buyer this means you will get your digital items instantly through Etsy and don't have to wait for the seller to send them to you via email."

Suomeksi (In Finnish):

Viime viikolla tämä blogi sai väriä. Yksityiskohtaistin ulkoasua tähdillä ja koivuilla, joitakin juttuja mainitakseni. Kuten silloin lupasin tähti-Photaribrushit ovat nyt tarjolla Etsyssä. Tällä viikolla Made In Helmikuu näyttää samankaltaiselta kuin tämä blogi. Päätin heittää kehiin pieniä yksityiskohtia, taustatekstuureja, ruudukkoja ja vintage kuvia, jotka tarjosi *The Graphics Fairy LLC*. Syy miksi käytin näin paljon värejä ja yksityiskohtia on se, että halusin tehdä jotain uniikkia, erilaista. Halusin persoonallisen ulkoasun, jotakin josta tykkään ja jotakin joka kertoo tarinan siitä kuka olen: Tyttömäinen toisinajattelija, joka tykkää luoda ja jolla on silmää näteille yksityiskohdille.

0 replies | March 18, 2013 - 18:18 |

Going colorful and the Weekly Wrapup

Going colorful and the Weekly Wrapup -- the tasselflower blog

The blog is now so colorful! As usual, designed and built by me.

And as usual, I tweak things on the way. If something doesn't work, let me know. And when you do, please give me details, such as which device you used, which browser and so forth.

Next in line is redoing the look of the work site.

Oh and the stars on the side: The brushes will be soon available at tasselflower crafts Etsy boutique. Yes! Yes!

Last week on the tasselflower blog (eg. Weekly Wrapup)

Day 2: Technology (#BlogFlash2013) - "Sometimes I try to imagine how I would function if I couldn't google it or if I didn't have my iPhone or Mac anymore."
Day 3: Innocence (#BlogFlash2013) - "Snow can wait/I forgot my mittens/Wipe my nose/Get my new boots on"
Day 4: Books (#BlogFlash2013) - "A home without a proper amount of books isn't a home at all."
Day 5: Health (#BlogFlash2013) - "There's an obsession for health."

Suomeksi (In Finnish):

Tämä blogi on nyt niin värikäs! Kuten tavallista suunnittelu ja toteutus on omaa käsialaani. Ja kuten tavallista, säädän saittia lennosta. Jos jokin ei toimi, kerrothan. Muista myös kertoa yksityiskohdat, kuten millä laitteella ja millä selaimella olit liikenteessä. Seuraavaksi sitten käyn duunisaitin kimppuun. Ainiin, ne tähdet: Photaribrushit tulevat myyntiin tasselflower crafts Etsy butiikkiin pian. Kyllä! Kyllä! Yllä myös listattuna viimeviikkoiset bloggaukset.

1 reply | March 11, 2013 - 18:22 |

Hot Font #13: Muli

Hot Font #13: Muli -- the tasselflower blog

Since this blog has been a bit quiet lately, here's another Hot Font. This one is called Muli.

Muli is a display font, yet works well on many different things. Muli comes as regular (Normal 400) and light (Book 300). It's clear, simple and lightweight sans-serif. Created by Vernon Adams as many other Hot Fonts, Muli is published under SIL Open Font License (OFL) and it's of course free.

Muli on Font Squirrel and Google Web Fonts.

0 replies | February 17, 2013 - 20:30 |

Hot Font #12: Neucha

Hot Font #12: Neucha -- the tasselflower blog

How about this Hot Font? It's name is Neucha, it was created by a person in love and it's name means something funny.

Neucha is a subtly decorative, handmade styled font. It's fun and would fit for all sorts of graphic design work. Created by Jovanny Lemonad Neucha free and licensed under SIL Open Font License (OFL).

Neucha on Google Web Fonts.

1 reply | January 30, 2013 - 18:44 |

New A List Apart

New A List Apart -- the tasselflower blog

A List Apart has a new design. The site, which began as a mailing list in 1997 explores design, development, content and web standards.

The old design was cute and cozy. Despite the cuteness and coziness I had been wondering when they would finally redesign the whole thing.

I like the new look. It's more straight to the point and in this decade that the old one. As I've said before, it's good to refresh things in time to time.

According to a post on the site they are also working on publishing content more than previously. As I've subscribed to the feed of ALA, I've noticed this. For instance, in addition to the longer original articles, there have already been lots of links to interesting articles on other sites.

Nice work ALA folks! Most of all I like that site title kinda escaping from the top of the screen.

1 reply | January 28, 2013 - 03:39 |

Stuck? Get something, anything done!

I have this new project. I cannot tell you about it, but I can tell you right now it seems like a cool thing. And lots of work.

The project includes me designing the look for the website. There has been some ideas and hopes for the layout, nothing final.

At first I was being very loyal to the first drafts. That wasn't working at all. It looked bad whatever I did. I was so stuck.

Then I got an idea. Very different than the original ideas.

All of a sudden I was on a roll. The big picture was working and the little details started to find their places.

There's a good chance this idea won't be approved. Yet I realized that doesn't exactly matter. Although it would be lots of good work for almost nothing, I've got something done.

Sometimes getting something done is way better than nothing. No matter if it's exactly that thing you were expected to do.

Let's hope though that my design will get actualized. It's very pretty.

Photo by me.

1 reply | January 27, 2013 - 04:37 |

Hot Font #11: Buda

Hot Font #11: Buda -- the tasselflower blog

Let's take a look on a pretty Hot Font. It's called Buda, named after and inspired by the city of Budapest.

Buda is an attractive and fragile typeface. It can be used for longer blocks of texts as well as headers and such. Very suitable for digital as well as print use. Created by Adèle Antignac Buda is (as the Hot Fonts are) free and licensed under SIL Open Font License (OFL).

Buda on Google Web Fonts.

1 reply | January 21, 2013 - 03:10 |

Hello, my name is Mervi!

I’m a Digital Craftswoman, geek, cat person, dreamer, awesome, always right and quite boring. This is the tasselflower blog about web design, social media, life, marketing and business. Have some tea!

Mervi Emilia