Canvas Web 2.0 Stratagies

In my last post I discussed Web 2.0 and how the Daily Mail website uses incorporates it into the structure of their site.

Now I know more about Web 2.0 and the ways it can be used, it will be easier to determine which Web 2.0 applications can be used on the Canvas website and how they will work.

In the initial planning stages of the website we decided that we needed to make a website which would encourage communication and interactivity amongst students. So the site is not only a print publication online but also a place for people to involve themselves with the stories and offer their opinions, feedback and information.

There are many Web 2.0 applications which would work well on Canvas, but it may not be wise to include them all as bombarding users with too much would be confusing.

I think comment boxes would work well being placed at the bottom of every story page. The majority of content for Canvas is Student/ University related therefore all students will have an opinion and it’s the perfect place to air their views. This would also add to our aim of having an interactive website where everyone can be involved. But it is important to think about problems that comment boxes may cause us to encounter. For example, how would the comments be moderated to stop abusive comments and spamming?

I think giving users to option to subscribe to an RSS feed would work really well once the site had established its self and was getting regularly updated to make it as worthwhile as possible. I think students would appreciate having news so relevant to them, made so easily accessible.

Another Web 2.0 application, which may work, is a search bar on each page. This would make navigating the site a lot easier and ideal for finding relevant stories, but with a search engine comes the risk of people navigating themselves away from our site.

Another application, which I think is also essential to making the site as interactive as possible, is a message board. This gives users the opportunity not only to discuss stories already on the site or in the paper, but also to submit their own news or opinions, or even images and events.

Overall I think Web 2.0 is a term which needs to be at the top of our priorities when creating the website. Mainly because if we keep going back to what it actually means it will help us create a Student Newspaper Website which uses the possibility of the Internet as a platform to its full potential.