Before launching into a WordPress project, work on a plan.
Plan….Plan….Plan….
It is best if you can have a clear idea on what you are trying to achieve – but knowing that there can be limitations that you have to accept. If you come across a situation where you either can\’t do something or it is difficult, ask yourself is it absolutely necessary?
Content is first priority – you must have good content for users to even be interested in your site.
Present your content logically and well organized.
Functionality and Navigation should be easy for the user to get to the content.
Design is important but if content and functionality are poor, design won\’t matter.
So…. don’t get hung up on design first – make sure your content and navigation work!!
PROCESS OF WEB DESIGN
- DEFINE GOAL OR REASON – Really think about what you want to achieve from the site and write it down. All design decisions must answer to this reason.
- DEFINE YOUR AUDIENCE – Who are you trying to communicate to.
- RESEARCH – look at similar websites and competitors and find 1-3 websites for inspiration. Most ideas have been done and what you are looking for are commonalities and things people look for and use them.
- RESEARCH – any special technology or add-ons that you are wanting to use. THIs is often where you are looking at costs.
- LEARNING – allow for time to learn any new technology that you are using.
- SITEMAP – create a map of the pages needed to be built for the website, This not only defines how many pages you need to build, but also how to figure out your navigation.
- WIREFRAME – create a rough sketch of the layout you are looking to build – this does not include any details such as graphics, fonts, colours. It is meant to be just outlines. This has changed in using WordPress, often the layout is fist defined by the theme you are using but still draw wireframes to match how you want to use the themes.
- TEMPLATES – from the sitemap and wireframes you will be able to figure out how many layouts you are going to need to build. Build a template of each layout to be used to be able to build the pages quickly and easily.
- BUILD EMPTY PAGES – form the templates build out the empty pages to form the skeleton of your website.
- CONTENT – Define and create what is needed for content for the website. Create a checklist.
- Images
- Video or other media
- Text – remember people read differently that they do when reading something printed, they skim on the web.
- CATEGORIES – define the categories your web pages fall under. This would be used in WordPress.
- TAGS – think of words that people will use to search for topics within your content and create a list. This would be used in WordPress.
- ADD CONTENT TO PAGES
- TEST AND REVISION – allow time to test your pages and links to make sure everything is working. Then allow for time to make changes as things may look and act differently once added to the pages.
- PUBLISH – make your site live to the public.
Sitemap
First create a site map on what pages you want to have within the site, designate categories that will hold posts.
You might want to use an online tool such as http://www.slickplan.com
Wireframe / Storyboard
Wireframes are structure based drawings on where things will go on the site. It doesn\’t have colour or style – it is just for structure.
You can see examples on google by searching web wire frame
Drawing wireframes on paper is the best approach as it is easy and quick but of course there are many online tools for wireframing
ASSIGNMENT #1
- Select a band that you will build a simple website for
- Create a well written goal for the website.
- Create a sitemap for the website
- Research other websites to see what are common topics for band websites
- Must have a blog section
- Must have a contact page
- Must have at least 6 links in the main navigation
DUE NEXT WEEK
Have it printed and hand in with your name / Class / email on it.