DGD Consulting

The plans are complete and the design is in place. It’s taken a while, but as long as content is delivered in a timely manner then work can progress. Ideally the content should be ready before development begins so the order of development can be optimal. If not, then content delivery will determine the order of development, and if not managed properly may cause development to grind to a halt.

Development

Development is normally carried out either in a simulated web environment or in a password isolated area.

For creating client confidence it is desirable to create a couple of finished pages. Ideally one would be the home page and perhaps another simple page. If anything needs tweaking, the sooner it is done the better.

Next those pages that integrate with 3rd parties should be started. If there are integration problems then these need to be found out as soon as possible. If nothing else, working on these items will require regular communication with the third party, encouraging them to focus on your development.

Then start building the pages that require the more complex features, by developing the underlying code that enables those features. Problems here can then be sorted out in a timely manner.

Now build the pages that the content management system will deploy to and then build or configure the content management system itself to deploy to those pages.

Complete the remaining pages.

Testing

This should not wait until the end of development. The homogeny of website design means that many small pieces of code are reused throughout the component web pages. Testing is vital at all stages to ensure errors are not carried forward throughout the implementation. Testing should be carried out on all the major browsers. In some cases testing different versions of the browser may be necessary.

The final tests will check that all the pages are as designed; that links go to the right place; all graphics show on the pages and that all the functions work correctly. The content management system should be proved.

Once the system has been proved it can be deployed to the web server, either with password protection or without the home page. Without the home page or with password protection, access to the website is constrained allowing final checks to be carried out that everything works in the live environment. Only when all is well are the constraints removed and the site activated.

Warranty

This is the shake-down period, following go-live. Inevitably there will be some small glitches discovered – a poor piece of content needs replacing – an extra link might be needed – a graphic is slightly out of place on a page – there is a problem with a particular browser or version of a PCs operating system. Reputable website suppliers should allow a period of grace when small changes are fixed free of charge.

Skills Required

These will vary with developments but are likely to include :-

HTML coding, CSS coding, JavaScript, Perl, PSP, database skills such as MySQL of Microsoft Access programming, graphical skills with products such as Photoshop or similar.