From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The term "Web 2.0" (2004–present) is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design,[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups, and folksonomies. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them.
Much More Than A Great Design
A great author website is much more than a great design. All the websites created by The Author Shop qualify as Web 2.0. We have been designing user-centered sites for many years. Gradually, we have moved almost exclusively to very sleek and simple designs that are easy to navigate and have numerous interactive features.
For authors, in particular, a clean user interface and certain interactive features are a must. An author website must have a blog. An author website must facilitate easy sharing with social media sites and other blogs. An author website must have ways to capture comments and email content from site visitors. We provide these features and more with all three of our website plans, and we work with you to set up and link to your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn social profiles and pages.
We prefer DHTML over Flash and are holding out for HTML5, which promises to drive rich internet applications without the need for plugins. We have strong opinions about what works and what doesn't over the long haul, and we believe people should not need to download a plugin like Flash in order to use a website.
Social Media: Do You Tweet?
Every year on President's Day Weekend, the San Francisco Writers Conference sets the venerable old Intercontinental Mark Hopkins all a-flutter with the latest topics percolating through the world of publishing. This year's big topic was social media, with Twitter and Facebook getting the most buzz. There were numerous workshops every day on the subject of building or expanding "your author platform" via social media.
The Author Shop has worked hard to develop the latest technologies and the best strategies for helping our authors create or expand their online platforms while preserving their coveted writing time. Our websites come with built-in widgets that make plugging in to social media more easy, manageable and even fun! And, we are always here, offering our support, hand-holding as our authors make their fledgling ventures into this sometimes intimidating but essential aspect of their careers.