Website development:experiences and best

practices

Katja Šnuderl, Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia

Strengthening the Institutional Capacity for BiH Statistics;Training on best practices –

Dissemination web site, output database

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Website basics

Static vs. Dynamic websitesWeb usabilityStatistical websites and the Code of PracticeWebsite as a marketing tool

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Static vs. Dynamic websites

Static website: HTML pages, created manually or with a standard tool. Each page includes all contents and can be saved as such.

Dynamic website: The page is only a “frame”, content is read from databases behind the pages. A page can be saved as a HTML file, which only saves the current “view”, not all the data in databases

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Strenghts and weaknessesStatic pages are easier to maintain and require less programming knowledge, functioning of one page does not depend on functioning of other tools

With a large quantity of data and information managing static web pages becomes extremely time consumingWhen pages change daily (e.g. publishing statistical data), it is more reasonable to use dynamic websites

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Dynamic websites

Included files, CSS, databases, functionsBuild once, use many timesLanguage versionsStandardization

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Our experience: First Releases

Manual preparation of data releases: Conversion from Word files to HTMLIntroducing a database-driven publishing process (CMS – Content Management System) disburdened the IT unit (less manual work)Statisticians had to learn the new tool, but gained more control over the publishing process

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Databases behind www.stat.si

First ReleasesRelease CalendarQuestionnairesMethodological ExplanationsDatabase of namesDatabase of settlements

Output database: SI-STAT

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

International experiences

Shift from static to dynamic websitesDifferent content management systems, developed in-house or local adjustments of an existing product on the marketEmphasys on the data publishing processSome pages can remain static (e.g. organisation description,…)

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Web Usability

Eye-trackingDifferent example models testingFollowing general rules

3 column structureTop menuLeft menu

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Website and the Code of Practice

Principle 11: RelevanceUser surveys, statistics on web usage

Principle 13: Timeliness and PunctualityRelease Calendar

Principle 14: Coherence and ComparabilityCoherent metadata, structured output databases

Principle 15: Accessibility and ClarityUser-friendly tools, registration of users

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Website as a marketing tool

Examples:Database of namesPopulation clockPersonal inflation calculatorDatabase of settlements

IMAODBC 2007, Katja Šnuderl

STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

End.

Thank you.