Hi Vlad,
In the case of the products - why not simply have a page saying Product X is
no longer available. Remember I'm not talking about document santity where
you're not aloud to touch it, but rather the idea that you don't need to
delete files - which also avoids 404 errors...
Branding - if the companby have a new logo - why not use the names of the
old image files and put the new logo on them?
Also if the image file is more decorative, colour scheme backgrounds etc...
I'd probably get rid of that. No harm, no foul. It's more content files that
I'm thinking of as being more persistent.
Incorrect/out of date information - well to a degree I think a lot of these
files can be given new life. The Organisation Chart is old? Why not replace
it with an updated chart?
Business Reasons - sure, I'd say this partiocular example would be worth
deletion.
I also agree that the friction caused by people can be huge obstacle, but
isn't that what good information architecture and technical process for?
I just think that if you plann your site well and spend time accounting for
future possibilities, then there are few (not "no") reasons for deleting
files.
Just a thought...
R :o)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vlad Alexander (XStandard)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <wsg@webstandardsgroup.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2006 2:06 PM
Subject: Re: [WSG] Re: Website Directory Structure - Best Practice
Hi Richard,
Can you please suggest a reason why there would be an
absolute need to delete a file?
That's a good question. Here are some reasons to "absolutely" delete files:
- Legal issues / licensing. Your site may be licensed to use content for a
period of time and then content needs to be removed. A real life example
would be an online store that sell 3rd party products. It may use Product X
images only as long as it sells Product X.
- Branding issues. When a company changes it's logo, slogan, colour scheme,
etc., Sales and Marketing will want to remove any images with old branding.
That's the whole point of branding.
- Incorrect/out-of-date information. Informative images can have old pricing
info, old phone numbers, old organizational charts, old product numbers,
etc. To reduce confusion, misleading information and errors, old images need
to be removed.
- Business reasons. You formed a partnership with Company X and it did not
work out. You probably want to remove any images with both your logos
together. "I don't think you would want to archive that screw-up!" :-)
So the next logical question is, if none of my current Web pages link to old
images, then what's the harm in keeping them around if I have extra disk
space? Well, your Web pages are not the only entry point to your Web site's
images. For example, go to google.com and click on Images.
Richard, the article Lachlan referred to talks about an ideal world based on
"frictionless models". Whenever people get involved, you get frictions (in
more sense than one).
Regards,
-Vlad
http://xstandard.com
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