BUILDING
A WEB SITE
Start with the
basics, take it in stages, work up to the complex
Development of a web site is a logical process, which should
work through from such basic questions as who’s in charge/who’s
paying/what is the nature of the audience/how do we attract the
audience to the site, to complex questions of adding some of the
"tomorrow" elements of technology ... after all the ducks
are neatly in their row.
So says Marden Paul, Director of Strategic Computing,
Office of the Vice-President and Provost, University of
Toronto. And he should know, being in charge of one of the
web’s more interesting and complex sites, which recently had a
makeover.
Speaking to Fundraising Day of the Greater Toronto
Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals,
Paul notes that having got the who-are-we and
who-are-we-talking-to questions out of the way, the next step is
to develop a set of principles to guide the design and
architecture of the site – how its information is to be
organized and what information is to be included/excluded.
The template can be set up with wire frames, he says. One
possible software for this chore is MindJet. Having set up a
simple wire frame with a page per block, each with its title and
purpose, the webmaster can add content without layout or colours
to validate the text is in the right place, then add layout
placeholders.
Intuitive navigation
Navigation through the site, and its menus, should be
consistent and intuitive, he notes. There should be “bread crumb
trails” to guide the user through, and the site should work for
people with disabilities.
There should be a style guide to control the content and tone,
especially if more than one person is inputting material.
It is important to have a realistic timeline which in effect
creates a deadline for the site’s launch, to reduce “scope
creep” and minimize tangential behaviors, says Paul. The site
doesn’t have to be in its final form for a launch; use of the
“Agile” concept will enable it to be flexibly managed and take
in additional components at later dates.
Those involved should list and achieve the outcomes in phases,
making Phase 1 highly achievable, “or you’ll never get to Phase
2”.
It’s a good idea to have a preview mode, where the site is
posted somewhere other than its final location, and perhaps its
pages are printed out on paper and hung around appropriate
walls, so all stakeholders can be asked to comment on the
content and structure before it is finally launched. Focus
groups and usability studies are useful here, too.
Nail down infrastructure issues
The infrastructure has to be nailed down before the site
goes live, he says. If the site is being hosted by an outside
vendor, such issues as security and defence, and speed of
getting back online in case of its going down must be reviewed
and satisfactorily determined.
The conversation should include concerns about backup and
recovery, mirroring, equipment purchase and maintenance, and
software patching and upgrades.
The simple “good old days” when activity on the web involved
some files being passed through one server to the world at large
are gone, he says. The simplest web presence now involves
complex systems of data storage, database servers, web servers,
and load balancers before the message gets out, and the price
which might once have been about $5,000 is more likely now to
run in the $200,000 area.
“It just begins when the site goes live,” notes Paul. Getting
the technology right is just the first step. From then on, it is
important to make sure the content is constantly updated.
There should be people other than the webmaster who are
responsible for updating and adding content, probably using
software which makes the translation to HTML simple and
seamless. The organization should have page review and archive
dates and set refresh periods when out-of-date material is
thrown out.
There are many content management systems which can help in this
process, simplifying the bottlenecks and reducing the level of
technical skill required of people dealing with the site.
Governance, good practices
Governance and good practices are important in managing a
web site, says Paul. There should be a steering committee to
review issues as they arise, with a decision-making process
which is transparent and written down.
The principles document should be on-hand and adhered to, the
site architecture/rationale should be documented, there should
be emergency communications procedures, and there must be a site
continuity plan which involves maintaining duplicate files
elsewhere in case of disaster.
Finally, the decisions should be made on what to monitor on the
site and how to measure hits. Again, there are many tools
available for this task, including WebTrends and Google
Analytics.
Having done all the right things, designed and developed a good
working web site which puts the organization’s chosen messages
and information across, is user-friendly and possibly
interactive, the organization can start looking at the “future
is now” tools, he says.
Web 2.0 is more interactive, lets users change things and get
involved in sites, he says. It includes such developments as
wikis, blogs and vlogs; AJAX; service-oriented architecture;
Really Simple Syndication (RSS); content management; podcasts
and vodcasts (you can Google them).
For further information: Marden Paul, University of Toronto,
416/946-0440,
[email protected]. |