Best Songs for Chapter Websites?

[letmeknow0210]

Do you think this is also the same way PNMs think? Say, you were looking at all the chapter's websites from the school you were going to attend.

[AXiDMeesh]

Originally Posted by letmeknow0210

Do you think this is also the same way PNMs think? Say, you were looking at all the chapter's websites from the school you were going to attend.

Yes.
I'll use myself as an example, because I do this a lot.
Let's say I'm on campus panhellenic's website. Said website has the links to all the individual chapter's websites. I go down the list, clicking "Open in new tab" for each one. Now with all those webpages running simultaneously, it is really annoying to hear a bunch of music going all at once. Then I have to track down the page(s) that are playing the music and turn it off.

So if you REALLY want to have music on your website, have the player on there but don't put it on Autoplay. Then you can compare your website hits with your playlist hits and decide if the music is really necessary. If it's not, just go ahead and take it off because it will be taking up bandwidth.

ETA: Bandwidth is really expensive, if you didn't already know.

[ThetaDancer]

Originally Posted by kddani

None! Music on websites is annoying and tacky. And so early 2000's (hey, look how cool I am, I can put music on my website).

I HATE websites with music or automatic streaming video with sound, particularly when I am at work!

Exactly.

Originally Posted by letmeknow0210

Do you think this is also the same way PNMs think? Say, you were looking at all the chapter's websites from the school you were going to attend.

Probably. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone being particularly fond of/touched by music on websites, but I have heard of a lot of people who find it totally obnoxious.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by letmeknow0210

Do you think this is also the same way PNMs think? Say, you were looking at all the chapter's websites from the school you were going to attend.

When I was a a freshman, a couple chapters had websites, so I checked them out. If music came on, the first thing I looked for was where to turn it off.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by letmeknow0210

Do you think this is also the same way PNMs think? Say, you were looking at all the chapter's websites from the school you were going to attend.

Not to mention, if a PNM doesn't like the song or artist it can totally turn them off to the chapter.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by letmeknow0210

Do you think this is also the same way PNMs think?

I think that it's the way anyone who thinks thinks.

Music on websites is very annoying.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by letmeknow0210

Do you think this is also the same way PNMs think? Say, you were looking at all the chapter's websites from the school you were going to attend.

BTW - do you have the legal rights to use those songs on chapter websites? I'm betting no. So both you and the chapter expose yourself to liability since you're not paying for the right to use those songs on your webpage.

And again, people in general HATE music on webpages. Find something else to make your designs stand out.

[ree-Xi]

More important to me (as a former employee of a popular internet site) than songs or fancy designs are:

1. Usability - how easy is it to use the features and get around?

2. "Three clicks to paydirt" - is the important info within three clicks?

3. Content:

a. Is the copy (words) is relevant?

b. Is the site intended for members or visitors? Some chapter sites have virtually no info or descriptions. It would be cool to read about how much money you raised for X charity, that three of your members are on Student Government, that you have a 3.10 GPA, etc. It's virtually free PR!!

c. Pictures often show more than you can tell, but captions or album headers can tell your story (formals, philanthropy, sisterhood events). Random pictures of people in costumes or sitting around don't tell you much, but sharing that this pic is from a recruitment skit where you performed "We Go Together" from Grease, that these shots are from Greek Week when you danced to "I Got A Feeling", or that this photo is from "campus clean-up 2009", tells visitors so much more about your chapter.

[thetygerlily]

Juding by the current poll and the responses, the answer is a resounding NO. Poll says 20 don't like it to 1 person who does.

Originally Posted by AXiDMeesh

I go down the list, clicking "Open in new tab" for each one. Now with all those webpages running simultaneously, it is really annoying to hear a bunch of music going all at once. Then I have to track down the page(s) that are playing the music and turn it off.

I do this too, and I would imagine a PNM would as well. If music pops up while you're opening the pages? Or even just one? Pain. In. The. Butt. Music automatically makes me dislike the website and the organization/company/whatever it represents, even if just a little. But probably a lot. And you don't want to do anything to turn PNMs off if you can help it.

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

Is the site intended for members or visitors? Some chapter sites have virtually no info or descriptions. It would be cool to read about how much money you raised for X charity, that three of your members are on Student Government, that you have a 3.10 GPA, etc. It's virtually free PR!!

I also used to work in usability and ree-Xi gives sound advice- especially about the content. Whether they are PNMs or members or parents or just interested people stumbling upon the site, people want to know more about the group. Put real information on there that gives the viewer a taste of who you are and why you are so great. Include captions or descriptions for people not in the know. Music does not tell your chapter's story. Put your efforts toward the content rather than the gimmicks.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by thetygerlily

I also used to work in usability and ree-Xi gives sound advice- especially about the content. Whether they are PNMs or members or parents or just interested people stumbling upon the site, people want to know more about the group. Put real information on there that gives the viewer a taste of who you are and why you are so great. Include captions or descriptions for people not in the know. Music does not tell your chapter's story. Put your efforts toward the content rather than the gimmicks.

Hijack...I see you're in the Seattle area. Back in the dark ages of web sites, back when there was one book on usability, we used to do focus groups and monitor people navigating the site. You know, the typical two-sided mirror, the surveys, etc. This was before people were internet savvy and intuitive into the ways that most sites worked.

That part of the development process was so trying, second only to QA testing. We didn't have a QA dept for quite a while, and Product Development (my dept) manually wrote and performed all the test cases prior to launches, logging bugs and following up on fixes. Launches scheduled for midnight (when users were less likely to be on, on either coast and internationally) usually completed around 5 am, at which point we started regression testing. You never knew what was going to break!! Of course, with 15+ international sites, it was a good 18 hours before every site ran the course of a business day.

Ok, flashback over. Deep breath now...lol