h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What most people hate, is when they go to a site with tons of information, and NONE of it is up to date.

This is caused by only 1 person running the site.

Face it, you need a lot of people to update a site on a regular basis, just as you need a lot of people to write a Newspaper every week.

I go to one of my favorite websites, SMBHQ.com. It's a Super Mario Brothers website. Probably one of the best... But it STILL has updating problems. This is mainly caused because of the slight shortage of staff.

Their sight also shows another common problem... Server downage.

Face it, if you're opening a major website, it's best either to submit it to a reliable server or get your own. Because otherwise, you never know what sort of gags the server will pull on your site.

I see where you're coming from, but as a single handed runner of a site I think it's possible to keep it updated where your subject matter isn't rapidly changing. If you're reasonably well organised and actually have new material to put up then it should be doable. The problem with non-commercial group efforts is that commitment can be an issue, and I imagine that different outlooks on site direction could also be an issue. Running a site single handed does, at least, allow for a consistent approach...

I think the problem is many sites aren't easy to update, they don't use virtual includes, they have a complex site map and no base template.

If it takes you 5 hours to change your email address, or add a simple page of course they're going to take ages to do and people wont want to do them!

Also many companies use external web designers and where as in my place someone will just walk in and say, can you chuck this on the web please. If the site is external you have to email it out and then check the updates prior to going live, this tends to lead to companies waiting and doing large updates.

Mel