The Web Workflow, Revisited

The Latest Article • Posted 3 years, 6 months Ago • March 1, 2007

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Many of you old timers may remember the original The Web Workflow article, written almost a year ago, where I talked about the basics of designing a site layout.

Now, almost a year later, some things have changed and I’ve learned a lot. So instead of continuing on to the long awaited part 2, I’m going to restart and cover the whole topic in much more detail. I know everything can’t be covered in one or two articles, so the series will be split up into a compilation of many small articles.

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Basically: The Web Workflow is a technical series of articles, designed to streamline processes or provide new ideas for current developers or assist those who want to learn but don’t know where to begin.

The following is the roadmap, and hopefully each point will become a meaningful article one day – an entry point into the long road that is web design.

Part 0 – Discovery

• Setting Goals – User and site goals, audience demographics, objectives, etc.
• Meeting with Clients (Or Yourself) – What issues to (and not to) talk about and decide on before starting a project.
• Design Questionairre – A set of powerful questions to determine and pinpoint the best styles, layout, goals, etc. without constraining yourself to certain requirements or ideas.

Part 1 – Design

• Basic Wireframes – Site content, general layout, basic usability and page flow.
• Magic Guides&tm; – A modification of Photoshop to build solid grid based layouts.
• Creating Photorealistic Interfaces – Using basic lighting principles to create a feel of realism in interfaces.
• Bulletproof Color Combos – Using a few basic swatches to build great color schemes and well-contrasting text.
• The Perfect Font – Choosing the best fonts for body text and headers.

Part 2 – CSS

• Cascading Outlines – Creating a plan of attack
• The Magic of Markup – What this XHTML stuff is really for
• Exoskeletons – Basic layouts for any site (two column, three column, fluid, etc.)
• Prepping images – Dealing with background patterns and preparing them for the web
• Cross-Browser Compatibility – Some tips to streamline debugging for major browsers

Part 3 – JavaScript

• An Overview of JavaScript in the modern Web Industry
• JavaScript Essentials – Font resizing, AJAX contact forms, and other useful bells & whistles

* Part 4 – CMS/Wordpress Integration

• Essential Plugins – Some basic helpeful plugins for WordPress.
• The Loop – Incorporating a CSS layout into Wordpress.

Part 5 – Launch

• Creating Hype – Splashes, ads, giveaways, etc.
• Choosing the Best time to Launch – Weekdays v weekends, holidays, proximity to other events, etc.
• Keep it alive! – basic maintenance and updating; adding fresh content and fixing issues

Part 6 – The Industry

• Don’t sell yourself short (but don’t sell trash either) – Self explanatory. Basic pricing ideas for beginners and amateurs.
• Dealing with Crooks – How to not get screwed over, especially on the web.

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This page will be updated with new additions or links once articles are written. I am aiming for one feature a week, not necessarily in order.

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