[thelist] starting a website

[Alan McCoy]

> From: "Theodore Serbinski" <need-4-speed-ski at erols.com>
> What do you do when you are first creating a design with a website?
> Do you just start with a raw html file and code away? Do you use
> dreamweaver
> and just start moving things around until it looks pretty?
> Something else?

I do use Dreamweaver/Homesite/vi but the way I usually start is this:

(1) Find out what the client wants, what the content is like (or what the
products are like) and try to come up with a user profile or two (user
profiles...VERY helpful).

(2) Get some cofffee.

(3) Based on the client's wants, user profile, and especially content, I map
out the structure of the site and try to tighten up the navigation on paper
first.

(4) Then, still on paper, I sketch out some ideas for page layout, not only
for the home page, but for sub-pages as well. This step is kinda crucial for
me since I'm merging the site functionality with the look 'n feel of the
site.

(5) Get some more coffee.

(6) Start laying things out in Photoshop/ImageReady.

(7) Get a helluva lot more coffee.

(8) Start putting the site together in Dreamweaver, then do scripting, code
touch-ups, and overall tightening up in Homesite.

...but that's just me. ;-)

Alan McCoy
a.r.mccoy at larc.nasa.gov