Project Planning
Client and developer work together to define the project and project deliverables. Includes these steps:
Requirements analysis
- client goals, target audience, detailed feature requests and as much relevant information as you can possibly gather.
Project charter
- summary of agreed upon information
- define navigation
- gain access to servers and build folder structure
Determine required software and resources
- cms
- plugins
- designs
- stock media
Mock-Up Design
The design stage involves taking the information gathered in the planning stage and creating a visual representation of a design or selecting an existing design.
Design Elements Planning
- confirm design requirements
- identify design solutions to meet requirements
Mockup Developed
- colors, sidebars, headers, menus, footers
- logo requirements
- media plan
Design Testing
- elements are put into place and tested
- necessary changes are made
Development
Content Management System Installed and Configured
- plugins installed and configured
- theme installed and configured
- pages built
- relationships developed (categories, tags, keywords)
- porfolios created
Fill with Content
- content provided by the client or writer are added
- media is uploaded
Testing and Verifying
- review all content
- inspect and test plugins, widgets, and extensions
Project Launch
The purpose of the launch phase is to prepare the website for publication. This requires reviewing and testing design elements, interactivity and features and, user experience.
Polishing
- identify parts of the website that could be improved in small ways
Transfer and testing on live server
- site is moved from development server to the live Web server
- website goes through the final diagnostics
Final cross-browser check
- Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, iPhone, BlackBerry
Hand off to client
- provide documentation for the website
- copy of database and files
- copyright assignment for created and purchased collateral
Project close, final documentation
- final payment is due