RapattoniMLS-Access-Instructions.pdf (application/pdf Object)

One of the things we stress in the Blogosopher course is adherence to W3C standards- and especially, accessibility for the blind. The main reason is that search engines act just like blind people on the web- they can’ t go where they don’t know where they are going.

Part of web standards is using code that everyone understands- not any proprietary systems- like the one Rappattoni uses to build their Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sites.

Apparently they require Microsoft Internet Explorer to work with their site- and Microsoft abandoned the program for the Apple Macintosh in January of 2006- mostly because they were having a hard enough time updating Explorer for the PC (which is still not RSS aware).

I found the link above – with instructions for installing some software for a Mac so you can view their site. But, this is a reminder to companies that decide to build sites based on proprietary standards or software technology- you may be shutting out some of your best customers without knowing it.

Using Image and File Attachments « WordPress Codex

This isn’t the easiest to read set of instructions – but it’s the best that’s out there for now.

If you want to attach a Microsoft Word doc (not recommended) or a PDF (recommended) to your WordPress blog- these are the steps.

• The reasons you don’t want to attach a Word Doc:
• not everyone has Word
• Word can contain viruses
• Word formatting will break depending on fonts and computer platform.

But- if you load a PDF:

• Everyone can read it with the free Acrobat reader
• Search engines will parse it
• Many people can read the PDF within their browser
• It will look exactly the same on every machine
• It can have fields in it to fill out on the computer

I hope to put a simple step-by-step how to upload PDF’s to your WordPress blog soon. For now- the codex link at top is the best I could find.

Frank Rose – Sky Dayton and the Next Wave of Mobile Phones

One of the great things about sites built from a database (like a WordPress site) is that the content can easily be displayed in different ways (with themes). It also makes it easy to deliver content to different types of devices including phones. If you can’t imagine reading this site on your phone, it’s because Americans are not leading the way in cell phone technology- read the article by Frank Rose (link above) that appeared in Wired magazine- and you will learn more of what the future holds.