Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The Power of a Process



As web developers at a creative agency, we find ourselves completing the same tasks for each of our web design projects. Creating a detailed website design and development process can help make you complete your projects faster and make you more efficient. Not only can it keep you as the web designer on track for the project, but you can also include your client into project making decisions and help them understand their role in the project. All web developers and designers work at their own speed and truly have their own work style. The best way to become successful is to create your own process that fits your style as a web designer.

A web development process is an outline of steps that need to be taken from start to finish to complete a web design project. The process divides and categorizes all of the work that needs to be completed step by step. As web designers in Chicago we like using web development processes in order to track the progression of each project.

Planning
As web developers in Chicago we believe that the planning stage in any design project is the most important. Whatever is decided and mapped out during the planning stage sets the stage for the rest of the project. The planning stage involves the web designer and client having contact on what needs to be done and when it should be done. When in the planning stage, be very conscious of your client’s goals and target audience in order to create a powerful tool for their business. While planning your project, document it all! Gather all of your information into one consolidated document. Also be sure to include a site map. Before making any move on a CMS or website, always create a rough site map of what you plan on having on your website.

Design
The design portion is probably the most fun part of the entire process. The main purpose of the design stage is to create a visual representation of what the completion of your project will look like. Creating mockup based designs can give you a great idea on what your website will look like before even entering the development stage. Mockups are also a great way to share information with your clients and gather their input as well.

Development
The development stage involves the bulk of the work in a web design project. When in the development stage be sure to keep all of your code organized and refer frequently to the original plans made in the first step. When beginning the development stage, take a strategic approach and take it one step at a time. If you are using a CMS like Wordpress, Joomla or Ruby on Rails now is the time to implement the CMS and make customizations. The final step in the development stage is filling your web design with content. Even the simplest pages require tight typography and careful attention to detail. Ultimately your web design should be a clear representation of the quality of your work, so be sure to test all of the links and pages that are attached to the website before launching.

Launch
Once you believe the project is completed and the client has approved of the site, it is now time to launch your website. The purpose of the launch phase is to prepare your website for public viewing. It is time to transfer your site and all files that go along with it to a live server. Once it’s moved over, check it out on your computer, mobile device and make sure it looks perfect.

As web designers in Chicago, we have a certain web design process that we use on every single project. When creating your own process, keep in mind your own personal work habits and set goals for yourself to help keep the project on time. The process will be different for each designer and will vary based on each client and project. Develop a process that fits you, only then will the process be truly useful. 

Comment or questions on developing a creative process?  Feel free to comment below or contact us.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Choosing a CMS


Have you ever wondered what is lurking behind all of your favorite websites? Web designers in Chicago have many different options when they are first presented with a web design project. There are many different Content Management Systems available for web designers such as Wordpress, Joomla and Krypton. With so many options how to you choose the one that is right for your website?

There are many different types of CMS available for editing and managing.  When considering a content management software there are many things that may come into play with your decision. Some CMS platforms are more based around blogging than a pure CMS website. Other CMS platforms are more compatible Search Engine Optimization. Before the design comes into play, you always need to consider what your main target is with your web design. Things to consider when choosing a CMS:

1- Cost: Cost is always an important aspect when making a business decision. There are many different types of CMS available for free and commercial.

2- Security: There is nothing worse than experiencing spam on your beautiful web page. Commercial CMS are licensed version platforms. They may be expensive, but they will be worth the money when it comes to security.

3- Flexibility: Open source CMS provides the flexibility that most designers in Chicago strive for. With flexibility you will be able to create exactly what you are envisioning on your computer screen.

We have collaborated a list of different Open Source CMS to highlight the differences.

­Wordpress:

Wordpress was released in May of 2003. Wordpress is a free content management system based on PHP and MySQL.  It was first introduced and geared towards bloggers and is now used by over 65 million users and not just for blogs, but for websites as well.  As mentioned in the previous blog Awesome Wordpress Plugins, Wordpress allows for many different customizations.  Plugins allow Wordpress users to extend their abilities with web development in a multitude of ways.  There are over 18 million Wordpress plugins available.  Wordpress is very well-organized and very easily learned by new users.  It is a favorite CMS among SEO companies due to its ability to implement and track Search Engine Optimization results.

Joomla:

Joomla is also a free content management software and is written in PHP.  There are over 30 million Joomla users and it is still rapidly growing.  Joomla was introduced in 2005 and just recently released their newest version, 3.0.2, which was produced last month.  There are over 10,000 free and commercial extensions available for Joomla users.  The Joomla extensions include plugins, templates, modules, components and languages.

Drupal:

Drupal is another content management system that has a very large amount of users.  Instead of focusing on blogging like Wordpress, Drupal is purely CMS for websites.  There are a wide variety of optional modules that can add forums, user blogs, profiles and more to your website.  The Drupal CMS is used by 2.1% of websites worldwide.  Although Drupal is seems quite difficult to use, it has very basic website administration and installation.