The below outline will help you to understand our web design work flow. It is important for you to understand the steps involved in building your website so we can complete your project in a timely manner.
Phase 1: Establishing Pages and Gathering Content
1.1 Establishing Pages
You will need to choose what pages you want on your website, what those pages will be called and how they will show up in the navigation. For instance a typical website has a homepage, about us page, contact us page, and a services or products page. We will work with you to establish what pages you need on your website and how to best organize those within the website navigation.
1.2 Gathering Content for the Pages
Content exists in the form of written content for the website, pictures and videos. Unless we are being paid to write the content and choose the pictures, then the content needs to be supplied at this point in time along with all of the pictures and the videos. If we are going to write the content and buy/find the pictures, then we will write the content and gather the pictures, send them to you, and get final approval on them before we move forward into development. The written content on your website is very important, so if you require us to write the content for you please give us as much instruction as you can.
1.3 Finalizing Additional Features
If you requested features such as the ones bulleted below, we need to review and finalize these before we move into development.
- Membership Components
- Ecommerce Functions (including shopping cart)
- Mobile Website
- Social Media Design (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube)
- Additional WordPress Plugins
- Misc Additional Customizations or Features
The above must be well documented and all features understood. We do not engage in custom database work or core modifications (PHP) to the WordPress CMS. Similarly, with plugins we do not modify how they operate. Therefore if plugs are used from social media plugins, shopping cart plugins to mobile plugins, we will help to configure them to an agreed extent, but we do not dive into development to change the way they operate. As a result of this, it is important that you understand the capabilities of the “add ons”, “features”, and plugins because their functionality is already defined.
Phase 2: Choosing the Wire Frame and Mock Ups
2.1 Finalizing the Blue Print of the Website
Themed Websites
If we are building a themed website for you, then we will show you examples of themes you may choose from. Since the website will be built off of a WordPress theme there is no reason to provide a website mockup because the theme substitutes for a website mockup. Please note that themed website builds require that we keep the structure of the theme the way it is and the customization is limited to color changes, footer modifications, and some other potential modifications based on the features of the theme itself. The primary benefit of having a themed website build is speed, and affordability, therefore keeping the customizations to the theme in accordance with the features built into the theme itself is necessary.
Custom Build Websites
If the website is a custom build, then choosing a theme is not necessary, however you must first finalize the structural layout of the custom website before we will enter into mockup phase. It is important that you finalize the structural layout before mockup because the majority of revisions from mockups are due to structural changes. The structure can and should be established before mockup phase and it is good practice to do this because it requires much more time and thought into the structure without focusing on the colors, font etc. Your project coordinator will be in touch with structural layout ideas and examples. You could say that the structural layout is a mockup in itself, except it is only the outline to the website with descriptions of what certain areas are for. Once the structural mockup is approved the team will put together a full website mockup for approval.
2.2 Mock Ups and Finalizing the Design
Theme Websites
Once the theme is selected the team will work on all custom banners and additional graphic design requests. Once the additional graphic design requests are complete, they will need to be approved by you before we move forward into development. Any revisions of the additional graphic design (typically banners) will need to be requested until finalized by you.
Upon finalization of all mockups and additional graphic design requests, we will be ready for development.
Custom Websites
Mock Ups of the website will be done based on the wire frame chosen as mentioned above. From the time the wire frame is chosen the 1st days. The mockup will include a mockup of the homepage and also that of the interior page layout (if different from the homepage). Detailed feedback about mockup revisions (if any) should be conveyed directly to your project coordinator. The project coordinator will inform the graphic design team to make the requested changes and another mockup will be returned within 3 business days. If a third revision is required, the same path will follow.
Once mockup is approved the team will work on all custom banners and additional graphic design requests. The team needs to wait on approval of the mockup before engaging in custom banners or additional graphic design requests because they will be matching this work to that of the approved mockup (colors, contrast, style etc). Once the additional graphic design requests are complete, they will need to be approved by you before we move forward into development.
Any revisions of the additional graphic design (typically banners) will need to be requested until finalized by you. Upon finalization of all mockups and additional graphic design requests, we will be ready for development.
Phase 3: Review of Finalized Information and Launch of Development
3.1 Finalization Meeting or Check In
If the website is fairly large or complex, the project coordinator will schedule a phone meeting to go over all of the intake information, content, pictures, videos, features, wire frame, and mockup ups to make sure everything is finalized and that no changes should be requested once we enter into development. Although the process to finalize all materials, content, and design before moving into development seems like a pain in the butt, it streamlines the process and makes for a VERY streamlined website build.
Our goal is to stream line this process and it will not work well unless you sign off on required materials, feature request, content, framework and design before moving into development.
Please note that if you finalize all instructions and materials before development and we enter into development and then you make further revisions outside of the initial scope or add additional content we have a fee of $100 just to accept those additional requests on top of the time to fulfill those requests.
3.2 Development
The team will start development and will be in touch once the website is complete on the development server. Development consists of placing the design mockups into the actual website frame work (if custom build), installing and configuring all plugins, uploading the content, and completing any additional features requested. The team should have no reason to be in touch during the time in development because they should have all the information and guidance they need.
3.3 Presentation of the Live Website
Once the development team has completed the website the project coordinator will notify you and ask you to review the website, and get back to them on any revisions needed.. At this point in time the revision request should contain documented errors more than anything else. The goal is that no revision is required, but no one is perfect and “revisions happen”. New features and changes to design should not occur at this point in time. The review of the live website should be primarily for checking functionality, and approving it as a finalized product. Once finalized the design team will move the website to the respective hosting environment. Keep in mind that if the website requires a DNS change for the primary website to show up live, then this can take up to 48 hours for DNS propagation.