It all begins with an idea…
If you ever have a client that comes up to you asking for a website, ask him this question:
What is your website going to be about?
If he/she can’t answer that simple question, and you don’t desperately need the money, turn him/her down. You’ll be doing your potential client and yourself a favor. Building a website without a plan is a surefire way to build a website that will fail. It’s an invitation to more problems like scope creep, or what I call the “pin the tail on the donkey” approach to success: blindly trying one thing after another, hoping that something you’re doing will go right. You also don’t want something like that in your portfolio.
So what’s your idea?
Glad you asked. The site I’ll be building is for myself, and I am my own worst client. Since I am my own worst client, I make myself do some work before I get to building. Here are my requirements:
- A community-driven site that relies on user submissions for content.
- The ability for visitors to comment on or otherwise rate content that other users have posted.
- The preservation of anonymity for everybody who posts content (well, except for me obviously).
- An easy interface to add, modify, and remove content as needed.
- The ability to easily add advertising in (hey, the hosting bill’s gotta get paid somehow).
- The ability for moderators/administrators to approve content before it is posted.
- Content that is as search engine friendly as possible.
- A flexible and usable layout.
Think it’s a tall order? Not really. Your average in-house intranet app tends to have more functionality than this. But it’s a good example site to do. It covers design, programming, usability/information architecture, a business model, community building, and even some privacy and legal issues. And I’ve wanted to do this site for quite some time.
What’s the next step?
At this point, you scope out possible competition. I’ve done my homework; there’s really not much competition in the arena I’m gunning for, at least on the scale of what I’m attempting. That’s a good thing for me, but at the same time I also have to keep tight-lipped about some details of the project to everyone else until it’s close to launch time.
Once you’ve scoped out the competition and decided you want to continue, you should find hosting and register a domain to build your site at. At this point, hosting is optional if you want to just build the site on your computer at home and test locally. However, I already have the hosting available so I’m going to work online. Definitely get the domain name though, especially if you’ve chosen one that you really like. You don’t want to come back next week to find that somebody has taken your desired name.
Conclusion
This concludes my little writeup about getting your ideas ready for a new site. Was there anything you’d like to add, or think I should clarify? Post your thoughts in the comments.
{ 22 comments }
LOL…. no prize. Just pleasure at knowing you’re in the know. :)
LOL…. no prize. Just pleasure at knowing you’re in the know. :)
Aren’t we fancy now? Next we’ll hear that you won’t be returning emails and turning off comments…just remember the little people…hehe
And stop trying to get good bloggers to join you! You’re like a cult! Dave is one of the few that includes my link on his blogroll and if he were to go away…what would I do? YOU know me and my blogroll links…
Aren’t we fancy now? Next we’ll hear that you won’t be returning emails and turning off comments…just remember the little people…hehe
And stop trying to get good bloggers to join you! You’re like a cult! Dave is one of the few that includes my link on his blogroll and if he were to go away…what would I do? YOU know me and my blogroll links…
Aaron,
Please allow the “Angry Black Man” to speak first. What do you mean MUD? The only MUD that existed in the lab was the mud you would bring in every morning. It was more of a task for me to keep the place clean. I owe you the cleaning bill for messing up my GATORS. As for my acting goes…don’t hate me bacause I was nominated and I can dance.
But on the real it has been more of an honor for me to work with you because I have learned more from you in the short time I have been here. THE LAB will always be your home whnever you need it. We have built a very unique but strong friendship and I will always be greatful to know that you are my friend.
Always remember to use the loofa and keep your slacks pressed. Many blessings and much success to you brother. I know this isn’t goodbye because I will be seeing you again.
Each one, Teach one
Aaron,
Please allow the “Angry Black Man” to speak first. What do you mean MUD? The only MUD that existed in the lab was the mud you would bring in every morning. It was more of a task for me to keep the place clean. I owe you the cleaning bill for messing up my GATORS. As for my acting goes…don’t hate me bacause I was nominated and I can dance.
But on the real it has been more of an honor for me to work with you because I have learned more from you in the short time I have been here. THE LAB will always be your home whnever you need it. We have built a very unique but strong friendship and I will always be greatful to know that you are my friend.
Always remember to use the loofa and keep your slacks pressed. Many blessings and much success to you brother. I know this isn’t goodbye because I will be seeing you again.
Each one, Teach one
I love Yoda!!!!!! He is the Man!!!!!!
I love Yoda!!!!!! He is the Man!!!!!!
That’s fine with me. I really don’t anticipate any real changes anyway. Repackage what they already have and make a few minor tweaks. That’s been the IE story since 1999 with IE5. Already won the browser war so why try.
I can’t say I am looking at IE7 with an open mind because Microsoft has not given anyone real reason to believe anything they say or that any of their ideas will end up “safe”. Now, I will be pleased to be proven wrong. I just can’t take your word for it, Jeremy. Sorry.
That’s fine with me. I really don’t anticipate any real changes anyway. Repackage what they already have and make a few minor tweaks. That’s been the IE story since 1999 with IE5. Already won the browser war so why try.
I can’t say I am looking at IE7 with an open mind because Microsoft has not given anyone real reason to believe anything they say or that any of their ideas will end up “safe”. Now, I will be pleased to be proven wrong. I just can’t take your word for it, Jeremy. Sorry.
Being a man who is much farther to the right of center than most I would say to some extent that the fringe from both sides are great. In one aspect you have something to laugh at (on both sides) and on the other they give everyone something to talk about. Equally both sides of the fringe have people you’d just as soon see shot in a public square, but without either side we might as well roll up our sidewalks and go back to Europe.
I don’t think being in the center of the political spectrum is a healthy lifestyle. For the most part centrists have no side they fall upon when the going gets rough. Keep in mind that this is my personal opinion. I see alot of things in black and white and that’s half my problem! ;)
So don’t think I attack anyone in this place personally when I say that being a centrist is dangerous. If you have a position be it one side or the other you atleast stand for something rather than sitting on a fence and observing a position so that later you can decide which way the breeze blows.
:) Peace and love to all
Being a man who is much farther to the right of center than most I would say to some extent that the fringe from both sides are great. In one aspect you have something to laugh at (on both sides) and on the other they give everyone something to talk about. Equally both sides of the fringe have people you’d just as soon see shot in a public square, but without either side we might as well roll up our sidewalks and go back to Europe.
I don’t think being in the center of the political spectrum is a healthy lifestyle. For the most part centrists have no side they fall upon when the going gets rough. Keep in mind that this is my personal opinion. I see alot of things in black and white and that’s half my problem! ;)
So don’t think I attack anyone in this place personally when I say that being a centrist is dangerous. If you have a position be it one side or the other you atleast stand for something rather than sitting on a fence and observing a position so that later you can decide which way the breeze blows.
:) Peace and love to all
Bart, that’s the topic of a future piece in this series. :)
Bart, that’s the topic of a future piece in this series. :)
This is a continuation of a lot of work that the government and private psychologists have done on hallucinogens over the past 50 years. MDMA (the active ingredient in Ecstacy) has been used as a weight-loss formula (when Merck first discovered it back in 1913), as a healing/truth serum by psychologists in the 1950s and 60s (like acid was), and lots of other uses. It does little harm in low and infrequent doses, and a lot of the research done on ecstacy that “proves” its harm has been misled (i.e. the “holes in your brain” trials on mice was done with a much higher than average dose, and was done with amphetamines and not MDMA).
Scandal? Why? Hell, if anything it proves that the government has been way too aggresive in putting drugs on Schedule 1 over the last 20 or so years, and that they should do more research into the good and bad aspects of a drug before dismissing it.
This is a continuation of a lot of work that the government and private psychologists have done on hallucinogens over the past 50 years. MDMA (the active ingredient in Ecstacy) has been used as a weight-loss formula (when Merck first discovered it back in 1913), as a healing/truth serum by psychologists in the 1950s and 60s (like acid was), and lots of other uses. It does little harm in low and infrequent doses, and a lot of the research done on ecstacy that “proves” its harm has been misled (i.e. the “holes in your brain” trials on mice was done with a much higher than average dose, and was done with amphetamines and not MDMA).
Scandal? Why? Hell, if anything it proves that the government has been way too aggresive in putting drugs on Schedule 1 over the last 20 or so years, and that they should do more research into the good and bad aspects of a drug before dismissing it.
Don’t put The Loop in the index template. ;)
Don’t put The Loop in the index template. ;)
JustBlogIt
Technosailor ? JustBlogIt with a simple right-click. I saw this on Technosailor. JustBlogIt is a cool plugin: Pretty slick. Right-click on a page or selected text and JustBlogIt will blog it for you. It has built in support for Wordpress,…
JustBlogIt
Technosailor ? JustBlogIt with a simple right-click. I saw this on Technosailor. JustBlogIt is a cool plugin: Pretty slick. Right-click on a page or selected text and JustBlogIt will blog it for you. It has built in support for Wordpress,…
I’m truly trying to grasp this, but I cannot for the life of me understand some peoples’ problem with bloggers, even partisan bloggers.
Correct me if I am wrong, but every time somehing like this happens, the establishment does their absolute best to blame bloggers for “lynch-mob journalism”, and irresponsibility. I want to scream when I hear this because I keep thinking, wait, wasn’t it CBS that OUTRIGHT LIED, and MANUFACTURED a story for PARTISAN gain, in order to help usurp the will of the public be willingly engaging in libelous journalism? And the blogs were right on target when they waived the bullsh*t flag, yet the opponents spend more time attacking blogs than attacking the true problem: CBS!
Eason Jordan quit, because he would rather go away, than release the video tape that would incriminate him and expose the second layer of openly biased MSM. It is commomn knowledge that his ‘alleged’ comments are videotaped, and if he wanted to exonerate himself, all he had to do was release it. Instead, he threw in the towel.
I’m not seeing a problem with blog posting at all. In fact, had we not had them, the elections of this past year, the sacred symbol of our Republic, could have come out very differently because of the yellow aims of CBS and other media outlets.
I’m truly trying to grasp this, but I cannot for the life of me understand some peoples’ problem with bloggers, even partisan bloggers.
Correct me if I am wrong, but every time somehing like this happens, the establishment does their absolute best to blame bloggers for “lynch-mob journalism”, and irresponsibility. I want to scream when I hear this because I keep thinking, wait, wasn’t it CBS that OUTRIGHT LIED, and MANUFACTURED a story for PARTISAN gain, in order to help usurp the will of the public be willingly engaging in libelous journalism? And the blogs were right on target when they waived the bullsh*t flag, yet the opponents spend more time attacking blogs than attacking the true problem: CBS!
Eason Jordan quit, because he would rather go away, than release the video tape that would incriminate him and expose the second layer of openly biased MSM. It is commomn knowledge that his ‘alleged’ comments are videotaped, and if he wanted to exonerate himself, all he had to do was release it. Instead, he threw in the towel.
I’m not seeing a problem with blog posting at all. In fact, had we not had them, the elections of this past year, the sacred symbol of our Republic, could have come out very differently because of the yellow aims of CBS and other media outlets.
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