We are a culture that is consumed by time. We hang it on our walls, we keep it in our cars, and we even wear it on our wrists. Time dictates everything from when we get up in the morning to when we go to bed. It's not surprising then that a culture so immersed in time would have a number of time oriented tools to enable users to feel more comfortable as they access the site.



Day by Day

One great feature of a site that is accessed every day, whether it is informational or an e-mail server, is a built-in calendar that users can have to see what day it is or what day certain events will happen. Often church web sites or places that have the events for attendance will keep the calendar posted right there. People can see what day of the week it is and can easily visualize whether or not they can attend an event. Some calendar tools also offer the user an ability to log events into the calendar so they can be notified by e-mail or by alarm when the time comes. In a world full of people with anniversaries, birthdays, deadlines and meetings these helpful Web tools allow the average user take better control of the time around them and appreciate the web sites that allow them to do that.

What Time Is It There?

Some feel it may be redundant to have a clock on their web site when almost every computer comes with a clock in the lower right hand corner. However, some web sites have made good use of clocking tools available to them. Clocks can be set on web sites that don't merely show the time that the computer registers, but also what that time may be in another part of the world. If you're looking at a web site from India, and you send a question you want answered immediately, it might help you to know if it is 2:00 a.m. there. For states and places that do not observe daylight savings time, a clock on the web site can be a handy tool for customers and web designers alike.

That Was Today?

One enjoyable way web site designers have found to brighten the day of their customers with a little trivia are "this day in history" links. Many sites will allow you to link to a list providing historical events that happened on the day in question. This chronological list showing music history, political history, or specific history related to the topic of the site is a wonderful way to interact with users in a positive manner. It allows people who visit your site to look really smart when they're talking to their friends at lunch. And before they know it they find themselves saying, "I saw this on the internet" and mentioning your site name. Links to other kinds of trivia such as daily Bible verses, celebrity birthdays and other interesting tidbits can be found in many web design tool shops.

We have all heard it said that the inevitable in our life are death and taxes. But the truth that site managers know is we are also always trapped in time.