This document provides guidance on creating and maintaining a consistent online identity. It emphasizes choosing consistent usernames, URLs, contact information, voice, tags, colors, fonts, page layouts, and logos across all online platforms. Maintaining consistency makes your identity easily recognizable and helps users navigate between your various sites and accounts. The document also provides examples and lists of resources for writing online, choosing fonts, designing websites, and improving user experience.

1. Keep It Consistent!
Creating & Maintaining
an Online Identity
October 25, 2010
Jennifer Koerber
Web Services Librarian, Boston Public Library

2. Little Pieces Everywhere

3. Yes!

4. Yes!

5. Yes!

6. Yes!

7. Keep It Consistent
Language & Lists
• Usernames & URLs
• Contact information
• Voice
• Tags/labels/categories
Layout & Look
• Colors
• Fonts
• Page layout
• Banners & Logos

8. Language
Usernames and URLs
• Use the same name everywhere
• Claim your name so you have it when you want it
• Create a short list of related names
• Spell it out when you can (be obvious)
• Pick something identifiable and easy to remember
• Don't be cute

9. Language
Contact Information
Generic email
and chat usernames
Functional usernames
that forward to staff
– Webmaster@
– Reference@
– MemberServices@
Columbus Metropolitan Library

10. Language
Voice
• If it's just you, figure out what your writing voice is.
Stay true to it.
• For a team of authors, create writing style guides.
o List common words and phrases with preferred spelling
o Show format conventions (titles italicized vs. underlined)
o Include writing samples for tone and attitude
o Make note of anything unique to your field or institution
o Examples: the Economist & CSU-Chico

11. Lists
Tags, Labels & Categories
• Users will create their own tags - get used to it
• BUT…give them your tags & they’ll use them
• SO…add lists of tags to your style guides
• Use the same tags everywhere
• Create conventions for writing new tags
& put them in your style guide
• conferences tagged by acronym and year – CIL2010
• programs tagged by name & type – lowell.lectures
• locations tagged consistently – honan.allston.branch

12. Keep It Consistent
Language & Lists
• Usernames & URLs
• Contact information
• Voice
• Tags/labels/categories
Layout & Look
• Colors
• Fonts
• Page layout
• Banners & Logos

13. You Must Conform!

14. A Little Bit of Flavor

15. Who Do You Want to Be?

16. Colors

17. Fonts

18. Fonts
http://code.google.com/webfonts
http://www.dafont.com/
http://www.josbuivenga.demon.nl/diavlo.html

19. Banners

20. Banners

21. Logos

22. Keep It Consistent
Language & Lists
• Usernames & URLs - claim them early, often and
everywhere
• Contact information - use the same one everywhere
you can; go generic for flexibility
• Voice - choose a voice for your institution and adapt it
only slightly depending on 'where' you are
• Tags/labels/categories - seed the pool with your
chosen vocabulary and set the tone for future tags

23. Keep It Consistent
Layout & "Look"
• Colors - use similar or related colors everywhere for
fonts, backgrounds, logos, etc.
• Fonts - use fonts to tell your stories & be your voice
• Page layout - put the same information in the same
place on various pages (calendar in upper left, etc.)
• Use banners & logos as visual anchors
• Logos - if you don't have one, get one; when you have
one, use it everywhere

24. Jennifer Koerber
jennifer.koerber@gmail.com
linkedin.com/jkoerber
facebook.com/jennifer.koerber
Web Services Librarian, BPL
jkoerber@bpl.org
Trainer and Librarian
eclecticlibrary.blogspot.com
Thank you!

25. Resources
Writing & Blogging:
Elements of the Writing Craft. Robert Olmstead, 1997. (or any other writing
guide you prefer)
Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works. Janice (Ginny)
Redish, 2007.
"How to Write the Best Damn Food Blog on the Internet"
A series of posts on blog writing, using food blogs as the example.
Library Blogging. Karen A. Coombs and Jason Griffey. 2008 (review)
Blogging and RSS: A Librarian's Guide. Michael P. Sauers, 2006.
Blogging for Dummies. Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley, 2008.

26. Resources
Fonts:
Fonts for Web Design: a primer - http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/fonts-for-
web-design-a-primer/
Google Font Directory (for web-only fonts) - http://code.google.com/webfonts
40 Excellent Free Fonts for Professional Design –
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/11/08/40-excellent-freefonts-for-
professional-design/
HTML & CSS:
W3schools HTML tutorial - http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
W3schools CSS tutorial - http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp
HTML code for ASCII characters - http://www.ascii.cl/htmlcodes.htm

27. Resources
Website Management & Design:
Recent books from O'Reilly, SAMS Teach Yourself..., or the Idiots or Dummies
series on CSS, HTML or XML, Blogging, Creating a Website, Facebook,
YouTube, MySpace, or any other computing topic.
The Dummies folks also have an excellent collection of articles on their site.
The Accidental Webmaster. Julie M. Still, 2003
I’ve Got a Domain Name — Now What??? A Practical Guide to Building a
Website and Web Presence. Jean Bedord, 2008. (review)
Everything You Know about CSS Is Wrong! Rachel Andrew and Kevin Yank,
2008. (review)

28. Resources
User Experience:
Designing the Digital Experience. David Lee King, 2008. David's a librarian and
a good guy. He also Twitters a lot.
Don't Make Me Think. Steve Krug, 2006. Extremely readable and useful.
The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web. Jesse
James Garrett, 2003. A much geekier book, but worth the effort if you're creating
whole sites.
Find similar or suggested titles in Amazon, then check them out (or order them
for) your library. Our patrons want these titles as much as we do!