Jan25 snap of the front page

I’m working on an ecommerce site for a nursery in Grand Forks. It has been quite a challenge so far, going through all the spaghetti code and determining what everything is meant to do. Scoping out the project has been, both fun and aggravating. Should I use a framework? should I write it all myself? Should I use a different language? It is enough to set a persons head to spinning.

The choices so far…

• PHP with mysql.
• Procedural over OO
• custom over framework

I am under a time crunch now, and hope to have this whole thing done in the next month. I know… famous last words! On the next iteration I want to use codeignitor, but so far my experiments with it have been failures. When I have more time to learn it I’ll revisit the framework.

That’s it for now, gotta do some work!!

Paul Irish and Johnathan Neal have produced a terrific page for generating rules for border radius, shadow, font-face and more. Nice easy to use interface and a div that changes to display the results.

I love when someone comes up with such a usable piece of code. Thanks guys

Where to start? Simply of course. Web site design should encompass an organization’s essence, professionalism and unique outlook. As a designer/developer I have to marry that expectation with the real-world considerations inherent in publishing information on the web. Since compromise is essential, I need to be very clear about it with the client at the outset. We both need to be flexible and open to different approaches. That isn’t to say that there isn’t structure to the process.

Research

The process of designing a website starts with the information gathering. The designer needs to meet with the clients, either physically or virtually, preferably in person. You should have a checklist that you refer to when interviewing the client. Touch on the following points:
  · Purpose: What is the purpose of the web site? Is it sales, informational, service, entertainment or a combination of all the above?

  · Audience: Who do you want to communicate with? Prospective clients, established clients, associates, employees, general public, or a combination? Concentrate on the major audience.

 · Organizational requirements: Does the client already have an image that needs to be matched? Many companies already have logos, colour schemes and guidelines that need to be adhered to. This can make graphic design decisions complex.

 · Copy: Who will do the writing? If they are providing the copy, is it appropriate for the web, or will it need to be re-written? Will the designer be responsible for the copy writing? If you are writing the copy, the interview process will take on additional depth. Take as many notes as you can, you can’t get enough information at this stage. Another consideration is how often the content is likely to change, will it be often enough that the site will need a complex content management system, or will it be a static site.

 · Graphics: Does the client have graphics already? Keeping the site audience, purpose, and organizational requirements in mind find images and design graphics that fit best, while keeping the site performance up. The more images that are incorporated in the final design, the slower the site will load for many visitors.

 · Budget: It’s critical at this point to discuss the costs associated with the building of a site. Mention the time involved in constructing graphics, writing copy, and coding the back end. Most clients don’t know how long it takes to produce a good site, and may be shocked at some of the estimates that you give them. The client needs a real indication of the time and cost in order to make an informed decision on your design. Also, knowing the clients budget will guide you in your design decisions.

Info Architecture

Once you’ve gathered enough information to get started, the next step in the process is to produce an information map for the site. This is a living document that will change many times as you refine the site until you have a final design. The info map gives you a good overview of the site structure and will point out navigation schema and links. Time should be taken to flatten the site structure so that the content, that your target audience needs, is easy to access. The info map will also include references to any databases, server-side programs, client-side applets and scripts, forms and any other interactive items attached to the site.

Make a few mock-ups of the home page. These mock-ups should be in black and white, so that colour choices won’t interfere with the analysis of the site design. Submit these documents and the info map to the client for review. Sit down with them and go over advantages and disadvantages of certain layouts. Once you’ve agreed upon a layout, start throwing some colour schemes into the mix. It may take a few tries to get a look and feel that the client is happy with, but doing this now will save you from having to redo more pages later on.

All that’s left now is to put it all together. Happily, we have our trusty little info map to guide us and we’ve done our homework, so this stage should be pretty straight forward. Marry logical process with creative flair and you will flourish as a web designer.

Trent Shields

No matter what your business is, you can’t ignore the 400 million people who have access to the Internet and growing everyday! To be a part of that community (potential clients), you need to be on the Internet… your competitors will be.

2. Network

As every smart business person knows, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. It is difficult to reach decision-makers….if you are approached by that person it is infinitely easier to tell your sales story. The Internet lets potential clients find you… “This is what I do, where I am, and if you are ever in need of my services, this is how to reach me”.

3. Provide Business Information

Think of the Yellow Pages. What are your hours? What do you do (or not do)? How can someone contact you? Where are you located? What is today’s special? You can keep your customers informed of every (changing) reason to do business with you on the Internet!

4. Serve Your Customers

Providing business information to your customers is one of the most important ways to serve them. Allow your customer to find what is in stock at your store, what options are available and how to get them. All this can be done quickly and simply on the Internet!

5. Heighten Public Interest

You won’t get The New York Times to write up your store opening, but you might get them to print your Internet address if you are doing something new and special. Even if you could get the publicity, it wouldn’t do you any good if a potential customer is across the country and could not visit your store…which they can do if you are on the Internet!

6. Release Time Sensitive Material

What if your materials need to be released no earlier than midnight next Tuesday? With the Internet, the release is up to you. Imagine the “hype” and anticipation one gets from the announcement… “all materials will be made available on our Internet site at 12:01AM Tuesday”.

7. Sell Things

Did you notice that this is not number one? Before people become your customers they want to know about you, what you do, and what you can do for them… which you can do quickly and inexpensively on the Internet!

8. Make Picture, Sound, and Video Files Available

What if your product is great but people would really love it if they could see it in action? Or they could see it in different colors or frames? On the Internet, you can add sound and video to your company’s customer information. … no brochure will do that.

9.To Reach a Highly Desirable Demographic Market

If you want to target the college educated, and high income people that use the Internet on a regular basis for their needs, the Internet can definitely do that for your company.

10. To Answer Frequently Asked Questions

To save the time of your customers and yourself, post these questions and answers on the Internet and you will present your company as the reliable source of industry information.

11. To Stay in Contact with Sales People

Whether you’re on-the-road or at home, you can stay in touch and provide to your sales people any important memos or meetings……..and not get charged on your phone!

12. To Open International Markets

You may not understand the mail, phone, or regulation systems in overseas markets, but with an Internet Home Page you can open a dialogue with anyone anywhere as easily as someone across the street…without the overseas postage or phone charges!

13. To Create a 24 Hour Service

Because we’re not all on the same schedule, you can solve this problem with the Internet which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can collect important information that will put you ahead of your competition before they get to the office.

14.To Make Changing Information Available Quickly

Sometimes, information changes even before it comes off the press. Electronic publishing changes with your needs during the day. No printed or media piece can match this flexibility.

15. To Allow Customer Feedback From Customers

With the Internet, you can get instant feedback and requests without the cost and hassle of business reply mail.

16. To Test the Market for New Products and Services

It is very expensive to roll out a new product. Once you have been on the Internet for a while, you will know what works and what doesn’t. You will also realize how inexpensive it is to change your presence to fit your customer’s needs, and to position your products or services in the marketplace. Amazing!

17. To Reach the Media

Media people are the most “wired” professionals today since they can get information more quickly, cheaply and easily on-line. On-line press kits are becoming more common.. digital text can be edited on tight deadlines. All of your company items of interest can be made available to the media on your Internet page.

18. To Reach the Education and Youth Market

Most young people today spend a lot of their time surfing the internet, chat with their friends, and do their shopping online. It is a huge market and continues to grow at a tremendous pace.

19. To Reach the Specialized Market

Sell fish tanks, art reproductions, flying lessons? With 400 million people using the Internet, even the most narrowly defined interest group will be represented in large numbers.

20. To Serve Your Local Market

Whether you are located in a metropolitan area or a rural community, you will be surprised at the potential customers with Internet access.

The Rain pounds down in front of my house.

This of course means that I’m redesigning my site. My current site is really showing it’s age, I built it about four years ago. Omg how could you leave it that long?! Well, like the auto mechanic I find myself working on other’s site before my own, and consequently I have had no time for my site. To rectify this I am putting a day a week towards this site.

WordPress is a very versatile cms and I’ll be using it as the base and building a theme from scratch.  My skills have always been more in the back end so, design from Photoshop is kinda new for me. I’ve been doing a lot of research on this and some considerable navel gazing. I can only hope that it all comes together properly.