Re: Professional Courtesy

Sorry Christine, this doesn't wash!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Christie Cooksey" <christie(at)thearmidalemall.com>
> I would like to offer a bit of advice to all of the young web designers
just
> starting out.

Although I am sure that this is well-intentioned, it is not advice - it's a
protectionist dogma.  Anyway, why focus on young web designers?  Do you have
any real reason for singling out our younger colleagues?  Or, does it just
make your preaching seem more acceptable?  Is there any reason to believe
that web designers (of any age, gender, colour or persuasion) are the most
likely pests in this regard?  Jo Soap, who loves keying cars and vandalising
telephone boxes, may be having a field day with websites.

> All websites, no matter how small, are owned by people that are serious
> about their business.  If you see a form or shopping cart that you find
> interesting please don't "test" it with false orders.  These websites are
> "real" and their owners deserve our respect and professional courtesy.

In RL, shopkeepers who are serious about their business do not walk out of
the shop and leave the door open. They don't invite people to order goods
and offer to deliver them without seeing the colour of the customer's money.

If people are "serious" about business on the web, they need to find
solutions to security loopholes and seek ways to avoid being vulnerable.  As
it stands, a form on the web is just as much of an achilles heel as any
paper order form.  Businesses have always had to tolerate a certain amount
of wastage as some folk just can't resist filling in a "Donald Duck" form.
Businesses use web forms, paper forms, catalogues, phone-in services and so
on to enable them to reach as large an audience as possible.  Some portion
of that audience will be forever hostile/idle/prankish.  That is the
trade-off for maximum circulation.

> There are many "open source" sites out there where you can search for
programs and many of them have demos for    > you to test.  Or you can
contact the webmaster of a site and ask about any programs you find
interesting.

If I were inclined to give advice on the most considerate way to test live
forms - I'd suggest that people enter Test Tester instead of a first and
second name.  This way, the business owner can see that someone has been
testing the form and ignore the order.

Businesses could well benefit from a symbiotic relationship with volunteer
testers as most web designers would send an email to the company if the form
has a fault  - most customers will simply walk away.  So, the experimenters
can be looked on as free testers and that can represent a serious saving in
financial terms.

Live and Let Live ...

... Slainthe!

Pat

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