Project Design + Preparation

[RabbitH0le]

Ok, so I'm planning to finally create my first website. I'm going to start to give guitar lessons in my area, and I want a web presence. Hopefully, along with a blog, I can generate some traffic and grow it into something else - but that's besides the point.

My question: When preparing to start a new project, whether it be design, programming, or development, what is the organizational process? What do you guys do to create a road map for the work that's ahead of you?

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, and I was hoping that someone has a process to get a grasp on the goals of a project, what needs to be accomplished, and the steps needed to accomplish it.

[Avery17]

Ok, so I'm planning to finally create my first website. I'm going to start to give guitar lessons in my area, and I want a web presence. Hopefully, along with a blog, I can generate some traffic and grow it into something else - but that's besides the point.

My question: When preparing to start a new project, whether it be design, programming, or development, what is the organizational process? What do you guys do to create a road map for the work that's ahead of you?

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, and I was hoping that someone has a process to get a grasp on the goals of a project, what needs to be accomplished, and the steps needed to accomplish it.

I don't really have set steps, I'm actually quite sloppy when I design my websites but in the end they come out nice.

But besides from what I do here's what I think you should do.

Get a general layout and theme to start with. Work on the main page and some simple graphics that you can later polish up and make look nice. Get a good layout as to what tables go where and how things are aligned and then start working on the CSS. Just get something basic. After it look nice enough, work out the html forms and get some commented php(or whatever your using) code going to have a general idea of what does what and when/how. Then start the coding process and make the basics work first. After all that is done you can add more features to the code and polish up the graphical side of things.

I know it's not very specific but hopefully it will help you come up with a general outline. Good luck with your website!

[RabbitH0le]

Thanks Avery.

So, in brief:

START>HTML>CSS>PHP>FORMS>CODE>CLEAN UP DESIGN>END?

[sanddbox]

Do the forms before you start coding. Make sure you have a general idea of every feature you want before beginning.

Also, preparation.

[RabbitH0le]

Ah, crap. Thanks Sanddbox.

[Avery17]

Ah, crap. Thanks Sanddbox.

You could say forms falls under HTML. And no problem, I'm glad you got something out of the jumbled mess of directions I posted.

[Defective Flamesuit]

Most of this is good advice, but the idea of having a good design hasn't been stressed enough. If you have nice code and a fugly website, people will leave. You should become familiar with basic web design principles, or if you don't feel comfortable enough with the design aspect of websites, you can pay someone to design a site for you cheap at 99designs.com, and then code it yourself.

99designs is a great resource for cheap, good website design; I'm not affiliated with them, I just like the site. It works as follows: you post the price you will pay for a design (say $200) and the specifics you want regarding the design, and several people will create designs for it. You leave feedback on their designs, and at the end of your design contest you select a winner; they receive the $200, and you get to use that design. You don't have to pick anyone if you are unsatisfied with all the designs submitted (unless you guarantee your contest), and there are a bunch of great designers on 99designs.

Of course if you are good enough with web design do it yourself, but it's important to avoid the website looking amateurish if you want clients to pick you for guitar lessons.

As for coding, a lot of good stuff has been said, and I don't know your level of experience, but for a complete beginner I can't emphasize enough how important includes are. On my first website, I had never heard of includes, and every time I wanted to change the navigation bar or something similar that appears on every web page, I'd have to edit each page file. With php includes (or server side includes on Linux/Apache, but I prefer php), you can have one file that is included in all your web pages, and then a change in that one file is instantly applied to all the pages that include the file. It would have saved me a load of time if I had learned this earlier. You might already know this, but in case you didn't it's good to be aware of.

[blue_hat]

I usually start with a description of what I want the site to be. Then I think of and write down the pages that would be needed to achieve that goal, I then create create the index page and then organise the links to be placed on that page. I then work on each link on the index page from left to right then down and by the time I get to the bottom of the page all the pages should be there. after that I tweak content and images and so on. This method I believe helps to ensure that all the links work. Once you have your index page complete it is all downhill from there.

[mShred]

Not to be the douche, but the topic is over a year old.. We kinda just let those ones die. But it's cool, I know you're new. And I'm abusing my power to not do anything about it. Now you know. And knowing is only half the battle.