Greetings and welcome to the May issue of ZooNews, monthly musings from Montreal professional Web site design company Zoonini Web Services.

This month I'd like to offer 3 simple but practical tips to make your Web browsing experience easier!

1. Give It a New Window – If you're browsing a site and come across a link to a new site you want to explore, but you know you'll probably want to come right back to the original site you were on, just open the link in a new window. On a PC, right-click the link (control-click on Mac) and select "open link in a new window" – the exact wording of the link will vary depending on your browser. You can now switch back and forth between your original site/page and the new site/page, and when you're finished your "dual browsing," just close the browser window you don't need anymore.

2. Refresh It – Do you come to the same site every day and know the site has been updated but you don't see the change? Refresh the browser by clicking the F5 function key, or using the "refresh" or "reload" menu command in your browser – its location depends on your browser, but may be under View > Refresh or equivalent. Another method is to click the refresh icon – which looks different in every browser; hold your mouse over each icon to find yours.

3. Google It – Trying to find something within a Web site that doesn't have its own internal search engine? Google's advanced search feature lets you search for any term within a given site. Next to the "Domain" search field, enter the domain name of the site in question – for example, zoonini.com – and enter your search terms in the blue "Find results" fields. Or in the regular Google search screen, use this shortcut syntax:

site: zoonini.com

Note that this trick only works if the site you want to search has been "spidered" by Google and is included in its index; it won't work for sites that are brand-new or have for other reasons not been indexed by Google.

In last December's ZooNews, I mentioned the rather ominous term viral marketing.

A catchphrase first coined in the 1990s (some attribute it to author Douglas Rushkoff's 1994 book "Media Virus"), viral marketing relies on people spreading the word about a product (or service, celebrity, politician, etc.) using electronic media such as email, text messages, discussion forums, chat rooms, and so on. The "virus" concept comes from the idea that the first person will pass along the message to an exponentially growing number of other "susceptible" people, the same way a biological virus is passed from person to person. In the online world, people transmit the marketing message in a number of ways, including send-to-a-friend Web links, blog postings, email, and instant messages.

(Anyone besides me remember that old shampoo commercial that went something like "and she told two friends, and she told two friends, and so on, and so on..."?)

Examples of incredibly effective contemporary viral marketing tactics include:

• Burger King's subservient chicken campaign, in which a Web site shows guy in a chicken suit seemingly obeying your commands typed into a text box.
• Hotmail, the first large-scale Web-based email system, became a huge hit through the use of an obligatory footer at the bottom of every email message sent through its system.
• The Organic Trade Association's Grocery Store Wars, an amusing Star Wars parody featuring Cuke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Cannoli, and other talking food items in every role.
• My client Michael Bungay Stanier's Eight Principles of Fun Flash movie, which was mentioned in dozens of blogs and message boards, and resulted in thousands of new subscribers to his free newsletter.

Got a technology term you'd like demystified in ZooNews? Send it to questions@zoonini.com.

Our most recent site launch propels Vision Coach International into the Web-o-sphere! The bilingual site highlights Danielle Silverman's coaching services geared to individuals and companies, as well as keynote speaking and workshop offerings. A newsletter signup system allows visitors to automatically subscribe to Vision Coach International's free mailings in either English or French. An elegant red, white, and grey colour palette is complemented by an assortment of natural-looking stock shots.

Macintosh users like me who've felt safe and protected from viruses (the bad kind, not the marketing kind!) in our little Mac-world had our peaceful state of bliss shattered a few months ago with the news that the first-ever virus targetting Mac's OS X operating system had reared its ugly infected head. Interestingly, though, a quick Google search turned up several unrelated news stories touting the "first" Mac OS X virus, including one dating back to 2004... Guess the conviction that Macs are much less prone to viruses than PCs is hard to shake, no matter how many actual threats arise! Maybe it's Apple's "viral marketing" (QuickTime movie) campaign that's to blame. ;-)

À la prochaine,

kp
aka Kathryn Presner