How to publish PDF documents
"For online reading PDF is the monster from the Black Lagoon.
It puts its clammy
hands all over people with a cruel grip that doesn't let go."
Jakob
Nielsen's Alertbox - 14 July 2003
PDF documents should never be published in isolation. Instead, create a standalone page that introduces the download document and maybe also incorporates an image of the front cover of the particular document.
Prefacing statutory plans or strategy document downloads
A summary page that explains the purpose of the document and highlights its principal contents should precede any statutory plans and strategy documents.
This will enable users to see if the document contains the information they are looking for.
"Spare your users the misery of being dumped into PDF files without warning. Create special gateway pages that summarize the contents of big documents and guide users gently into the PDF morass.
"Unfortunately, users who are dumped into your PDF files will rarely turn into loyal customers, since they're not going to benefit from your site-wide navigation and visit other parts of the site. Also, most of those users will never find what they were looking for (because it's probably on page 82), so while they might visit once, they're not going to think very highly of your site."
Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox - 28 July 2003
PDF and search engines
Many search engines don't pick up the contents of PDF documents terribly well. If you don't have a preface web page for your report, the search engine may not pick up salford.gov.uk as a resource for the particular information you are publishing.
By publishing a preface page your PDF document has at least one web page that covers its subject matter and will thus be more easily identified and located.
This page was last updated on 14 June 2007
Email this page to a friend
Bookmark this page using:
Find out more about social bookmarking.
These sites allow you to store, tag and share links across the internet. You can share these links both with friends and people with similar interests. You can also access your links from any computer you happen to be using.
If you come across a page on our site that you find interesting and want to save for future reference or share it with other people, simply click on one of these links to add to your list.
All of these sites are free to use but do require you to register. Once you have registered you can begin bookmarking. Each of the sites works slightly differently so use the links below to find out which service best suits your needs.
Find out more about social bookmarking at Wikipedia.
