Dear American Website Owner • Hacker News Board

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#11

Post by raganwald » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:10 PM UTC

snitko wrote: post #6

awolf wrote: post #3

I wish author was a little more constructive here. What phone number pattern would he recommend we use?

Why use any pattern? Let me enter the phone number in a way I got used to it and deal with it.

There's a cost/benefit analysis to be done. People do make mistakes, and checking their submission against common patterns will save you lost sales.

As suggested in a comment on a rant I wrote a few years ago, one strategy is to 'validate' against something reasonable, but instead of rejecting anything that fails, ask the user to confirm that they really do want something unexpected.

I'm not sure that 'reasonable' would be for an international phone number, but whatever you pick based on the country they choose, let them override your validation.

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#12

Post by edw519 » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:15 PM UTC

Dear Non-American Website User:

You do not live in the United States of America. You think all American website owners are the same. And then you decide it might just be a good idea to lump the 95.4% who know what they're doing with those who don't. But you know, most American website owners are no more alike that most American .

The moment you whine about the few to the many in a blog, two things do happen:

- you irritate the people who know what they're doing

- you don't reach the people you should

If you don't like something about an American website, tell them, not the rest of us. That way, you're more likely to actually accomplish something. Which is, after all, the American way.

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#13

Post by Major_Grooves » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:16 PM UTC

It can happen within countries too. Most UK websites will require you to enter a "county". That's fine in England, because England is divided in to lots of counties (e.g. Essex, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire etc.). However, Scotland does not have counties any more. They were abolished before I was even born and replaced with regions. It might sound nit-picking, but it's one of these things that adds to the chip on our shoulder that suggests folk in Engerland don't really care what is going on in the rest of the UK (I don't know how Wales and N.I. are organised).

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#14

Post by nailer » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:23 PM UTC

cujo wrote: post #7

acg wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree there's there's nothing wrong with wanting to raise web standards. More people should complain, we'd have a better web. Some sites still don't have encryption when entering credit card numbers.

Sure, but the design of a web form is hardly a standard.

I think being international is a standard of sorts. Eg:

- handling international times (say, Feb 1 2007 rather than 01/02/07 or 02/01/07)

- allowing people to enter their normal phone numbers and addresses

- knowing that United Kingdom is preferred for addressing and Great Britain is not.

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#15

Post by petercooper » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:26 PM UTC

all of which required me to provide a "State" name (I don't have one)

As the author is in Poland, I'd argue that voivodeships are equivalent, in terms of being the highest level subdivision of the country. As a Brit, I'd tend to go with the county instead.

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#16

Post by TomOfTTB » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:28 PM UTC

Dear Foreigner,

Okay it’s probably time to come clean. In reality the problem you highlight is all a secret plot to frustrate you and hence make you less effective and unable to compete with us in the global economy. We were all told to do so through coded messages that are embedded into episodes of American Idol (I bet you thought all that stuff Paula Abdul said was just drunken babbling)

It’s all part of a far reaching plot by our government to subvert the rest of the world. Hence Google pulling out of China and the creation of Microsoft Windows (we secretly use a highly stable open solution and just use a keyboard shortcut to make it look like Windows when you walk into the room much like that fake looking spreadsheet that was embedded into the DOS version of Tetris)

Sorry for the inconvenience (though not really as pointed out above),

America

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#17

Post by sigzero » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:28 PM UTC

snitko wrote: post #6

awolf wrote: post #3

I wish author was a little more constructive here. What phone number pattern would he recommend we use?

Why use any pattern? Let me enter the phone number in a way I got used to it and deal with it.

Ummm...no. Do you not see the problem with that reasoning?

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#18

Post by petercooper » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:29 PM UTC

Major_Grooves wrote: post #13

It can happen within countries too. Most UK websites will require you to enter a "county". That's fine in England, because England is divided in to lots of counties (e.g. Essex, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire etc.). However, Scotland does not have counties any more. They were abolished before I was even born and replaced with regions. It might sound nit-picking, but it's one of these things that adds to the chip on our s…

They were abolished before I was even born and replaced with regions.

And then, in 1996, "regions" were replaced with "council areas:" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdivisions_of_Scotland

that adds to the chip on our shoulder that suggests folk in Engerland don't really care what is going on in the rest of the UK

I suspect most in "Engerland" care as much about Scotland as the average Scot cares about English affairs (well, except for holding positions of power within our parliament).

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#19

Post by shadowsun7 » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:30 PM UTC

YES YES YES YES YES! I've always wondered about this. I once submitted a form saying that I wanted something delivered to New York, Singapore. Was very lucky that it even got delivered, much less sent to the right address.

Re: Dear American Website Owner

#20

Post by sigzero » Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:31 PM UTC

nailer wrote: post #14

cujo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but the design of a web form is hardly a standard.

I think being international is a standard of sorts. Eg: - handling international times (say, Feb 1 2007 rather than 01/02/07 or 02/01/07) - allowing people to enter their normal phone numbers and addresses - knowing that United Kingdom is preferred for addressing and Great Britain is not.

I want to see the library and code that handles all of those possibilities.