Since September 17, when the Militant's website went on line, we have received numerous letters from readers with reactions and proposals for improvements. We take some extra space in this week's column to print excerpts from a selection of these letters. We appreciate the suggestions and encourage all readers to help us improve the website.
— The editors
I am extremely pleased to have seen the new web site for the Militant. It was with great trepidation that I looked forward to its debut. I was concerned about the accessibility of the site. I found the gopher site to have been very user-friendly for the blind. Please accept my deep gratitude for including the text version on the new site. Although graphics make the paper more attractive to most readers, they make it more difficult for the blind reader. When I first looked at the site with Internet Explorer version 5.0 and Window-eyes, a screen access speech program, I had some initial difficulty. I then tried using Netscape along with an IBM program called Home Page reader which uses its own interface and speech output to access the Internet. With this I found much more success. Reading the paper on line make it possible for me to browse through and choose which articles I want to read and when.
I hope that the redesign of the Militant's web site will reach even more people with the truth about working-class struggles and issues. The Militant is still the only source that I know of to find out the truth about what is going on in the world and how to fight for change. I am sure that readers can look forward to being able to order Pathfinder books and publications on line. I believe I read somewhere that it might be possible to subscribe to the Militant on line. I would definitely be interested in doing so.
Again I offer thanks and congratulations for the new web site. I will continue to use it to keep well informed.
Maurice Scott Peret
I am very glad to see the Militant as a web site. I do have some suggestions though. I think the "News articles" link should include ALL the news articles, including the ones labeled "Front-page articles" and "Features."
I have been doing many of the Militant Labor Forum leaflets in Boston and quite often a picture from the Militant is included. Currently, I scan the picture and use it with Microsoft Publisher to compose the leaflet. This sometimes works out well. An electronic copy (a file) would potentially make this much more successful.
I searched the web version of the Militant for pictures and only found one on the front page. There was no option of downloading the picture in a higher resolution. The resolution for web publishing is usually not the best for leaflet printing.
A common practice on a web site is to click on the picture with the left button of the mouse and a higher-resolution picture is displayed. You can then right-click on it and have the option of downloading it.. A higher resolution would help in making more attractive leaflets. Keep up the good work and thanks.
Les Slater
Boston, Massachusetts
The new web site is great! Quite easy to use and printed-out articles look very nice.
Eva Braiman
Cleveland, Ohio
Congratulations on your web site. I like the layout and had some ideas. There has been a discussion in the Militant on whether or not to use frames to improve navigation and speed up download time. Frames have strengths and weaknesses you'll have to weigh. The argument that level 2 browsers don't support frames is not important now as less than 1 percent of the population uses level 2 browsers. The problem with using frames is it limits searchability with search engines.
Search engines are a very small part of how people will come to your site, however. The URL should be included prominently in the paper, on subscription blanks, Militant Labor Form leaflets and posters you put up at plant gate, neighborhood, and campus sales as well as word of mouth. Frames' strengths are that you can have constant navigation that downloads one time, saving download time and making the site very easy to use. I don't know what Peter Link meant when he said in the September 13 Militant article that frames would not be used because the Militant's "priority [is] simplicity and ease of use." A constant nonscrolling invisible frame on the left used for navigation will make the site much easier to use and much more simple to understand. It will also be easy to update because you only need to change that one page and the change will show up on every page.
Because it only downloads once, you can make it more attractive with more imagery and not worry about slowing down the site with heavy pages. Currently the site has very poor navigation, especially on the inside pages. The user's only option is returning to the home page every time.
The first rule of good navigation is to limit the number of clicks by offering as many navigation options as you can on each page. If you choose not to use frames to do this, you can still have several choices on the bottom or top of each page for easier navigation, for example: Home | News Articles | Editorials | etc. You can make this a server side include so you can update it anytime without going into any pages for very easy maintenance.
The option "text only" is not relevant to most of your users because they won't be using text-only browsers and your site doesn't have images (except the masthead) on any page other than the home page. If you decide you want to include the text-only option it should only appear on the home page.
You should also repeat the front- page articles on the "News Articles" page, so people who clicked on the news article link before they saw the other options don't miss these important articles.
One final suggestion. Avoid the use of italics. It is difficult to read on the Internet.
In general, the site is very good. I'm glad to see it up. But it should be looked at as a beginning. Chan-ges and improvements can be made very quickly on the Internet. You should check out other sites and see what they have. Please contact me if I can be of any help. I am a professional web designer.
Pat Smith
Chicago, Illinois
I'm thrilled to see the new website. It's a huge step forward from the old one. One question: where are the letters to the editor?
Carl Weinberg
New Haven, Connecticut
I looked at the web site today, it's a great advance for us! Some comments: the photo for the lead article needs a caption. The page with the "how to contact us" info does not have a link back to the home page.
Also: on the list of local distributors, it would be helpful to have the e-mail addresses of the various locale LINKED, not just written there. I think most visitors would expect that.
Shouldn't there be links to the Pathfinder Press gopher, the PM gopher, and perhaps others.
Ray Parsons
Des Moines, Iowa
Themilitant.com is a big advance over the previous gopher site and a welcome tool. A couple of suggestions:
a) Build links to editorials from relevant news article (and vice versa). Also, later, list "related stories" at the end of articles, i.e. from previous issues.
b) In the news menu, include the stories from the front page, which are also news stories. See the NY Times web site and the way they divide their international and national news menus — all the front- page stuff is also included here.
T.J. Figueroa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Just visited www.themilitant.-com. This is a huge step forward. The home page is simple, but attractive. The big disappointment is the black and white photo.
Why black and white on the web? There are two possible reasons for black and white. The first and best reason is for a special effect. The photo in question doesn't qualify.
The second is because that's all that's available. Many times photos are picked up from the print media and that's what you get. The question of color on the web puts an even bigger premium on worker-correspondents' submissions, which, I believe, should be in color these days.
I raise this because I noticed that Martín Koppel's photos from the recent trip to Puerto Rico were black and white. With digital technology there is no advantage for us in using black and white, and the film and processing are more expensive. Color prints make for much better displays and for a better web presentation.
For worker-correspondents color scanners are cheap and even large files are now e-mailable through such free services as whalemail.com, which allow the transmission of attachments of 3 megabytes (MB) to 50 MB.
Jay Ressler
Finally! Your own web site!
It will now be easier than ever to convince others to read the paper. Of course, Perspectiva Mundial's site will be the one for promotion here in Mexico.
Nevin Siders
Mexico City