"to do" list - Content Developer
lessons: 1 :: 2 :: 3 :: 4 :: 5 :: 6 :: 7 :: 8 :: 9 :: 10 :: 11 :: 12 :: 13 :: 14 :: 15 :: 16 :: 17 :: 18
Week 1 - Introduction
Team roles have not been assigned so you need to refer to the "to do" list included in the introduction lesson.
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Week 2 - holiday
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Although we have no formal class meeting, teams will be assigned at the beginning of the week.
Team Responsibilities
Please coordinate the ice breaker activity assigned to you by your Project Manager.
Week 3 - Teams Assigned
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Team Responsibilities
Get to know each other. Remember everyone is confused, excited, nervous and busy. It takes a while for a group to feel comfortable with each other, so give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
Contribute your ideas to the development of a communication plan. I advise you to err on the side of communicating too much instead of to little. If you have work, family, or school time constraints that make it impossible to meet face to face or check email at certain times, LET YOUR TEAM KNOW. Review the communication plan page for more information on this subject.
Client Responsibilities
The more you know about your client and their needs, the easier it is to design an effective web site. This week we will concentrate on asking the right questions so that you can begin to formulate a strategy for the project.
Your team will need to develop a Web Planning Questionionairre, your PM will send out an email with suggested questions, provide feedback on the questions. Also let the PM know what portion of the meeting you would like to lead.
Website Planning Questionnaire - TLT: PM Jeri Hastava
another resources is
Estimate Request Form - Word File from Professional Business of Web Forms
Please note - be prepared to accept content from the client after the first meeting. Your job for the next few weeks is to keep track of the content as it comes in and to place it onto a shell site.
Complete whatever jobs are assigned to you by the Project Manager. Brush up on your table code, server side includes, and cascading style sheets. The designer and project manager may decide to use these html tools so make sure you know them. Get to know your teammates. If during a team meeting someone uses phrases you don't understand, stop them and ask them to explain. You are not required to understand how to write a "cgi script written in Perl", however you need to know what it does and what your role is in implementing it.
If the client brings content to the meeting, take it from them. Open the files to make sure they work, then try and match up the boxes on the storyboard to the content you have been given. If you are confused, make up a list of questions, and consult with your PM about how these questions can be answered.
If you have the time, you may want to either study for the HTML exam, or research the SEO and social networking lessons. The work load for CDs varies from team to team, if you are waiting for content, or feel you have nothing to do the 3 tasks listed above are always good options.
week 4 - roles defined
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Attend the meeting for Content Developers which will be held from 7-8 pm on the third floor of Maggini Lab. Before attending the meeting review this web page
Roles Defined - Content Developers
Content Developer Pitfalls
Watch the videos:
What does a Content Developer do?
At the meeting you will be asked to give an overview of what the team has done so far, and ask any questions that have come up after your reviewed the Web pages and movie.
Web Proposal Responsibililties
The Content Developer creates the List of Deliverables, Production Standards, Content Status Chart and Shell Site. If the client has asked for a marketing plan they also produce this document. Refer to the Roles Defined - Content Developers and the Web Proposal Lesson to review the requirements for these items. If there are 2 CDs on your team ask your PM to divide up the responsibiliites.
You will not be able to begin working on these items until you have met with the client. After the first meeting you may need to set up additional meetings with the client to pick up content, if you do that, inform your team of what is happening and provide them with an overview of waht was accomplished after the meeting.
Client Responsibilities
After leaving the first client meeting, your team should have the information it needs to make a flow chart or storyboard of the site, and you should have a plan for when and how the content is to come in. The deadline for 50% of the content is week 7 of the class, the deadline for 100% of content is week 10 1/2 since the entire shell site is due by week 11. If you become worried about the client providing the content, contact your PM and if that does not help, contact me.
If you have the time, you may want to either study for the HTML exam, or research the SEO and social networking lessons. The work load for CDs varies from team to team, if you are waiting for content, or feel you have nothing to do the 3 tasks listed above are always good options.
week 5 - guest speakers
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This week we will be joined by two guest speakers:
Michael Slater from Webvanta who will share his development software which makes it easy to incorporate database driven content into Web site development.
Cameron Huff - Security issues in Web Programming, problems and solutions.
Your attendance in class is strongly recommended.
Web Proposal Responsibilities
As soon as you have met with your client and have an idea of what their content will be, begin creating a shell site on student which contains the files and update the Content Status Chart.
The List of deliverables is a document you must produce as a team, you will oversee the project and utilmately be resonsible for it's completion, but you need feedback from the entire team to get this job done. Send out a note once a week asking the other members of your team what they forsee including in the list of deliverables. In some cases they will be able to answer you right away, in other situations, they may not be sure what they are going to deliver. A combvination of persistence and patience is called for here. If you do not have a complete list of deliverable 1 week before the deadline, contact your PM, if the issue is not resolved then just include an explanation of why the deliverables is not complete in the final document.
You will also need to work with the Designer and any other CDs to establish the Production Standards document. Since you will be making most of the pages you will know if there will be sub folders for pages or PDFs, contact your programmer about files they plan to create for the project, also touch base with the Designer and Interactive Media Developer for guidance as to the folder structure of the images, video, and flash elements which are included in the site.
If you have the time, you may want to either study for the HTML exam, or research the SEO and social networking lessons. The work load for CDs varies from team to team, if you are waiting for content, or feel you have nothing to do the 3 tasks listed above are always good options.
week 6 - Holiday / Dreamweaver Q and A
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This week the campus will be closed for the President's Day holiday. I have material and videos which explain how the Content Developers take the template (XHTML, CSS and images) provided by the Designers and use Dreamweaver to insert the content from the shell site into the template.
It is not a class requirement that anyone on your team use Dreamweaver, however I am often asked questions about the process and wanted to provide some instruction in the basics of using Dreamweaver. The Dreamweaver Q and A lesson may prove useful
If you have experience in Dreamweaver, please post your comments at the class forum > "Dreamweaver Support" posting.
Web Proposal Responsibilities
Continue to work on the
List of Deliverables, Production Standards, Content Status Chart and Shell Site. Next week 50% of the content is due. If you think there will be a problem meeting this deadline, contact your PM.
If you have the time, you may want to either study for the HTML exam, or research the SEO and social networking lessons. The work load for CDs varies from team to team, if you are waiting for content, or feel you have nothing to do the 3 tasks listed above are always good options.
week 7 - comps reviewed
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This week I will be meeting with the Designers to look over their ideas for the look of the home page, second level pages, and any third level pages. It would not be appropriate for you to attend these individual designers meetings.
During the class meeting time I will review how to take a Photoshop image of a Web page and convert it to XHTML, CSS and web images. You are welcome to attend the class lecture, however it is not a requirement. If you are interested in this subject, please review the Comps. to Templates Lesson.
If you have the time, you may want to either study for the HTML exam, or research the SEO and social networking lessons. The work load for CDs varies from team to team, if you are waiting for content, or feel you have nothing to do the 3 tasks listed above are always good options.
week 8 - site standards
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This week we will be discussing how to use the Firefox Web Developers toolbar to test for XHTML and CSS2 standards, as well as 508 accessibility standards. We will also discuss the use of color, screen size, and consistency of the design across browsers and platforms.
Your attendance in class is required either face to face or using CCC Confer. I recommend that you review the class materials which are a part of the Standards Lesson before coming to class.
Web Proposal Responsibilities
Provide feedback regarding your schedule, to your PM so they can sign up for the Web Proposal meeting which will be held next week.
Put the finishing touches on the List of Deliverables, Production Standards, Content Status Chart and Shell Site.
Review the Web Proposal Lesson. If you have any questions, send me a note. If you want me to review your portion of the proposal before the actual meeting, send it to me at least 3 days before the proposal meeting.
week 9 - Web Proposal
Attend the Web Proposal Meeting. You are responsible to for 4 items:
1. deliverables
2. production standards
3. shell site
4. content status chart
Please visit this page and revieiw examples of the 4 items listed above.
week 10 - Signed proposal is due
This week your team will present the proposal to the client and have them sign it. Make sure the client has reviewed the shell site and approves the content. If there is missing content, alert your PM and either contact the client or have the PM contact them.
week 11 - 14 - web site production
On week 11 you and the Designer will be meeting with me for a 30 minute appointment where they will give you the template code and the template explanation.
After you make the first page, place it on the web and then send the designer a note so they can look over your work. Ask the designer to review your work after each page is produced. If you have questions the designer can't answer or if you just need help, please send me a note.
You may want to review the videos found on the CD Options page
week 15 - testing begins
Work with your Project Manager and the rest of your team to develop test questions which will be used by your typical users. Contact the classmates that will be testing your site. Ask for feedback from the team regarding the questions which will be asked.
You will want to review this web page which explains more about testing
The test report is due 5/10
week 16 - freelance options
Gather testing results and begin to create the testing report, assist team in interpreting test results. Explore freelance resources found in lesson 16.
If the client has asked for SEO optimization try and provide those services.
week 17 - handoff
Begin planning the handoff process. You will be asking the client if they want you to load the site onto the web, if they will do it with you, or if it will be done by someone else. Help your team compile the client manual.
If the client has asked for training, give it to them at this time.
We will also have a "post mortem meeting" this week where we explore what worked and what didn't work for the project.
week 18 - make final CD
Finish up the client manual, place the manual, the project site, the client site, and all PSD or Flash files on a CD or DVD. Create copies for the client, the instructor and the team.
week 19 - final exam
Come to class, present the site during the final presentation of projects.