Content

Related Chapter Sections:

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 9: Develop a Strategy for Your Content

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 9: Develop a Strategy for Your Content.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 11: Model Your Content

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 11: Model Your Content.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 7: Know Your Content

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 7: Know Your Content

• Defining the Content Model

  Chapter 11: Model Your Content

  So, what exactly IS a content model? Before we begin planning a content model, let's take some time to define it.

• Your Content's Purpose

  Chapter 9: Develop a Strategy for Your Content

  Your content needs to do something — to be driven toward a goal, or designed to help someone accomplish a task. It needs a purpose.

• Aggregations

  Chapter 20: Implement the Back-End Functionality

  Content objects don’t exist in a vacuum. They usually have to be organized into larger structures — feeds, directories, listings — in order to provide some value. Here's where we talk about those aggregations.

• The Content Audit

  Chapter 7: Know Your Content

  Beyond just knowing what's on the site, the content audit will help you make strategic decisions about that content.

• The Big Decision: Refresh vs. New … or Just Keep the Old

  Chapter 9: Develop a Strategy for Your Content

  There are many big questions with a web project. One of the biggest is whether you should keep the old content or create new content from scratch.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 24: Maintain and Improve

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 24: Maintain and Improve.

• Implementing the Content Model

  Chapter 11: Model Your Content

  And now, let's make the content model REAL. Let's build it within the structure of the content management system.

• Content Strategy: Creating Usable, Useful Content

  Chapter 9: Develop a Strategy for Your Content

  The practice of creating usable, useful content? That's content strategy, and it's what helps ensure your site is built to serve the needs of your users.

• The Content Inventory

  Chapter 7: Know Your Content

  How do you know what's really on your site? You inventory it. You CONTENT inventory it.

• Templating and Output

  Chapter 20: Implement the Back-End Functionality

  Templating takes static HTML and mixes it with dynamic content. It's what makes a content management system work, and it's what we'll talk about here.

• Other Development Tasks

  Chapter 20: Implement the Back-End Functionality

  Beyond the main back-end development tasks there's quite a few other details to be handled.

• The Content: Maintaining and Creating Content That Works

  Chapter 24: Maintain and Improve

  The steps to maintaining content focus on carving out attention and setting up useful systems of review.

• Defining Migration

  Chapter 21: Migrate and Populate the Content

  “Migration” can be a very dangerous word. When someone says “migration,” do they mean the entire project, or just moving the content?

• The Editorial Question

  Chapter 21: Migrate and Populate the Content

  What content is moving, and how does it need to change on the way over?

• Planning the Content Model

  Chapter 11: Model Your Content

  A content model is all about connecting objects and defining fields. Here, we'll start looking at what that means for you content and your system.

• Your Content's Channels

  Chapter 9: Develop a Strategy for Your Content

  Your content doesn't just land on a site and magically work — it needs to be broadcast, whether through the site itself or via some other external channel.

• Timing and Iterations: A Hypothetical Migration Project

  Chapter 21: Migrate and Populate the Content

  A migration is a process that occurs alongside your development project. The best way to illustrate this is to give a hypothetical timeline of events.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 10: Organize Your Content

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 10: Organize Your Content.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 21: Migrate and Populate the Content

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 21: Migrate and Populate the Content.

• The Procedural Question

  Chapter 21: Migrate and Populate the Content

  How will the actual bytes move from one disk to another, and what does the timing of that look like?

• Inventory and Audit Maintenance: Keeping It Updated … or Not.

  Chapter 7: Know Your Content

  A content inventory or audit is a one-time item — it captures a moment in time. Decisions will need to be made around whether that moment needs to be kept recent, or let go.

• What Is an Integration?

  Chapter 14: Know Your Integrations

  First, let's summarize what we're even talking about — an integration is where the site joins with external systems. It's when two systems have to talk to each other in some way.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 14: Know Your Integrations

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 14: Know Your Integrations.

• Application of Information Architecture

  Chapter 10: Organize Your Content

  The labeling, the navigation, the organization — this is all information architecture, the practice dedicated to finding organization through context and structure.

• The Stack Model

  Chapter 2: Set Your Expectations

  Every website has layers — whether those layers relate to technology or people —and determining which layers will be a part of a project is important. We outline what those layers might be in this section.

• The Functional Question

  Chapter 21: Migrate and Populate the Content

  How will functional or logical aspects of the content work in the new CMS?

• Policy, Standards, and Workflow

  Chapter 23: Plan for Post-Launch Operations

  Rules, policies, and paths for success: a website runs only as smoothly as those who create systems to ensure success.

• Features: What Does It Do?

  Chapter 15: Determine System Requirements

  The first thing to tackle in choosing a content management system is: what specifically does it do? What does it offer that others might not, and how will it fit your needs?

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 12: Write for People and Machines

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 12: Write for People and Machines.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 16: Select a Content Management System

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 16: Select a Content Management System.

• Organizing

  Chapter 10: Organize Your Content

  In order for people to find things on your site, it must be organized for understanding.

• Labeling

  Chapter 10: Organize Your Content

  Labels help people understand context — and the same goes for robots (like search crawlers) that require labels to help better identify content purpose.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 6: Identify Outcomes and Expectations

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 6: Identify Outcomes and Expectations.

• Writing for Machines

  Chapter 12: Write for People and Machines

  Finally, there's one audience you can never please — because they care only for data: search engines and screen readers.

• Post-Launch Stabilization and Testing

  Chapter 22: Test and Launch the Site

  And, now that it's set up, we need to stay vigilant. Between traffic spikes and regression testing, the site's not yet in the clear.

• Model Implementation

  Chapter 20: Implement the Back-End Functionality

  Remember that content model you created? It's time to convert that model into something your CMS can manage.

• Your Content's Messaging

  Chapter 9: Develop a Strategy for Your Content

  More than just "what does your content look and sound like," messaging focuses on "what is your content trying to say."

• Roles and Responsibilities

  Chapter 23: Plan for Post-Launch Operations

  Before we begin hiring and moving people around, there's a need to understand who will do what on the new website.

• The Challenges of Integration

  Chapter 14: Know Your Integrations

  Much like your group project at school, integrations can be fraught with peril. Here, we'll outline the challenges of integrating various systems.

• Elements and Principles of Web Design

  Chapter 13: Develop the Graphic and Interface Design

  Design, regardless of its form, adheres to certain elements and principles. The web throws a few wrenches in these principles, and it's important to understand that for your project.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 13: Develop the Graphic and Interface Design

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 13: Develop the Graphic and Interface Design.

• Writing for Accessibility

  Chapter 12: Write for People and Machines

  Writing for accessibility – much like writing for search engine optimization – boils down to writing clear, scannable, well-structured content.

• What People Want

  Chapter 12: Write for People and Machines

  The first rule of writing content is understanding that the focus isn’t on writing the words. The focus is on your site visitors reading the words.

• Designing for Mobile … and Beyond

  Chapter 13: Develop the Graphic and Interface Design

  Your design will not live within one unique scenario. It will run free, stretched to whatever screen it's been asked to fill, mobile or otherwise. Planning for this is key.

• Writing for Readability: Plain Language and Scannability

  Chapter 12: Write for People and Machines

  Different people possess different levels of reading comprehension, which means for your message and goals to reach the widest range of people, they must be written in a way that's clear to all.

• Navigation

  Chapter 10: Organize Your Content

  Like a well-worn map, site navigation should balance familiarity with discovery.

• Determining if Integration Is Necessary

  Chapter 14: Know Your Integrations

  Of course, even with all of the different factors that go into integrating an external system into your website, there's one major question that comes up every time: does this even need to be integrated?

• Templating and Design Components

  Chapter 19: Implement the Design

  HTML documents don’t normally exist as actual files anywhere — they're just assembled from fragments of HTML. And, there is often a lot of repeat between these fragments. This is where templating and design components come in.

• The Long List

  Chapter 16: Select a Content Management System

  This is the widest end of the funnel. These is where you create a “Long List” of potential vendors and toss them into the mix.

• The People: Training and Improvement Planning

  Chapter 24: Maintain and Improve

  Your site might grow and expand and upgrade over time, but these things don't happen on their own. Keeping your staff and partners up to speed is important.

• The Site Itself: Adjustments to Your Big Investment

  Chapter 24: Maintain and Improve

  Beyond maintaining content, you'll also find yourself maintaining the site itself — the integrations, the next-phase updates, and the content management system in general.

• What is Design?

  Chapter 13: Develop the Graphic and Interface Design

  Design covers a lot of ground. So what do we mean when we talk about design for your web project?

• The Short List and Request for Proposal (RFP)

  Chapter 16: Select a Content Management System

  Once you’ve notified a handful of vendors that you’ve decided not to move forward with them, you need to prepare an RFP for the remaining vendors.

• Does Industry Experience Matter?

  Chapter 18: Select an Integration Partner

  Everyone wants to hire someone who has worked in their industry before. But is this relevant?

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 5: Identify Your Audiences

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 5: Identify Your Audiences.

• The Initial Spark

  Chapter 1: Know the Scope of the Project

  Though the machinations of decision-making might feel like a signal from some far off place, web projects don’t come out of nowhere. They need some kind of initial spark.

• Beyond Google Analytics: Other Ways to Measure

  Chapter 8: Gather Insight From Your Metrics

  It's not all about clicks and views — you may want to better understand how users interact with language, and where specific terms rank within the larger picture.

• What Are You Looking For?

  Chapter 18: Select an Integration Partner

  The first question you need to answer is what, specifically, you need an external firm to help you with.

• Outcomes: The End Point of a User Journey

  Chapter 6: Identify Outcomes and Expectations

  Figuring out user outcomes doesn't just lead to user-focused design — it also helps confirm site functionality and features.

• Visual Design

  Chapter 13: Develop the Graphic and Interface Design

  When people think of “design,” they most often think of graphic design: of how something looks; of colors and typefaces. Web design takes these things into account, but also ties the looks to elements and building blocks for a templated design language.

• Stakeholders

  Chapter 3: Form Your Project Team

  Who are the people who make decisions? They're the stakeholders, and they need your attention.

• Bells and Whistles

  Chapter 17: Plan for Hosting

  What we’ve explained in the rest of the chapter is the bare minimum you need to have a website connected to the internet. But there are some extra things to consider with hosting.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 20: Implement the Back-End Functionality

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 20: Implement the Back-End Functionality.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 22: Test and Launch the Site

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 22: Test and Launch the Site.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 23: Plan for Post-Launch Operations

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 23: Plan for Post-Launch Operations.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 4: Create a Project Plan

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 4: Create a Project Plan.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 8: Gather Insight From Your Metrics

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 8: Gather Insight From Your Metrics.

• Final Launch Checklist

  Chapter 22: Test and Launch the Site

  A final launch checklist helps the project team ensure that all the “i”s are dotted and the “t”s are crossed.

• Transitioning from Project to Product

  Chapter 24: Maintain and Improve

  Your site has launched, and it's yours now! We've officially moved from the project phase into the PRODUCT phase.

• Accountability, Authority, and Change

  Chapter 23: Plan for Post-Launch Operations

  A new website or web project is a clear signal for change: who will be accountable, who will have authority to make changes, and what levels of adoption will be required.

• Knowing Your History

  Chapter 1: Know the Scope of the Project

  Every project comes with baggage, and it's important to know the history of how we got to the point we're at.

• Designing for User Experience

  Chapter 13: Develop the Graphic and Interface Design

  The key tenet of design for the web is to enhance and support the user experience.

• Users and URLs

  Chapter 21: Migrate and Populate the Content

  There are two specific situations that come up in enough migrations to be worth discussing separately: user migration and URL redirection

• Verifying the Decision with a Proof of Concept (POC)

  Chapter 16: Select a Content Management System

  With a proof of concept, the vendor works with the actual customer team to implement some solutions to project requirements. It’s a deeper dive, where the customer can get hands-on with the system and interact with the vendor’s team

• Communication and Documentation

  Chapter 2: Set Your Expectations

  A lot of decisions and expectations are set up during the planning stage of a project. Creating scope is one thing — now you have to communicate it.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 3: Form Your Project Team

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 3: Form Your Project Team.

• Why Data Is Important

  Chapter 8: Gather Insight From Your Metrics

  Despite our best intentions, we can never interview every person who comes in contact with our site. But, through data and analytics, we can get close to understad

• Writing for Understanding: The Right Thing

  Chapter 12: Write for People and Machines

  Beyond just being able to quickly read and scan your content, users should be able to understand your content.

• The Costs of Integration

  Chapter 14: Know Your Integrations

  Integrations can introduce a serious layer of uncertainty, and with that uncertainty comes a cost in time and budget.

• Inputs and Outputs

  Chapter 15: Determine System Requirements

  Inputs and outputs for Chapter 15: Determine System Requirements.

• Governance and Ownership

  Chapter 23: Plan for Post-Launch Operations

  An introduction to the three areas of web and digital governance.

• Testing the Site

  Chapter 22: Test and Launch the Site

  There are three axes that a QA issue can turn on when testing the site: public vs. private, absolute vs. partial, and uncontained vs. contained.

• The Role of the Website

  Chapter 1: Know the Scope of the Project

  Let's decide what we want this website to actually do in the first place. Let's take a step back and understand the landscape before we light everything on fire with our initial spark.

• The Request for Information (RFI)

  Chapter 16: Select a Content Management System

  Now let’s get some more detailed information, which we do through a process creatively called a Request for Information (RFI). This is exactly what the title says – we’re asking the vendor to answer some questions so we can decide whether or not to move them along in the process.

• Front-Ends and Back-Ends

  Chapter 19: Implement the Design

  Before we dive into code, let's touch quickly on the concept of front-end and back-end development.

• Agree on What You’re Trying To Do

  Chapter 2: Set Your Expectations

  We may have identified the initial catalyst, but what does that mean? What exactly are we trying to build with this new site?

• Building the Web Project Team

  Chapter 3: Form Your Project Team

  While the stakeholders drive high-level business decisions, the web project team is tasked with making the web project a reality.

• When the Right People Aren't Right There

  Chapter 3: Form Your Project Team

  Not every organization has access to a full team of web professionals, which means you may need to grab help from outside.

• Researching Expectations: What Are They Looking For?

  Chapter 6: Identify Outcomes and Expectations

  User research is, in essence, a collection of data. What we do with that data is how we determine user expectations.

• Documenting Your Findings: Archetypes, Personas, and Beyond

  Chapter 5: Identify Your Audiences

  What does the work of interviewing and discovery look like when it's put on paper? How are findings communicated, documented, and archived?

• The Strategic Project Plan

  Chapter 4: Create a Project Plan

  The strategic project plan is documentation of expectations and high-level requirements of the site, which may also include elements of the operational plan — how the project will be set up and organized.

• So … What Does Matter?

  Chapter 18: Select an Integration Partner

  What you’re looking for with an implementation partner is broad-based, long-term compatibility.

• The Project Charter

  Chapter 1: Know the Scope of the Project

  What is the reason for the project to move forward? Introducting: the project charter.

• Researching People: Who Are You Looking For?

  Chapter 5: Identify Your Audiences

  Researching and interviewing people is one part finding, one part grilling, and one part knowing when to stop.

• Determining What to Measure

  Chapter 8: Gather Insight From Your Metrics

  It's not enough to just look at the numbers and data — you'll need to make sure you understand why you're looking at them, how you'll use them, and whether they're even relevant.

• Front-End in Action

  Chapter 19: Implement the Design

  So, what does all of this front-end development and server ops look like in action? And why does it matter to the end user? The answer is in compatibility, accessibility, and performance.

• The Request for Proposal

  Chapter 4: Create a Project Plan

  With internal teams formed, we now need to make external selections. This is where the request for proposal (RFP) comes in.

• Understanding Timing

  Chapter 4: Create a Project Plan

  A web project will take as long as it's going to take. We can't get more specific than that — web projects are complicated and include layers of nested timelines — but we CAN talk about timeline management, methodologies, and sprints.

• Pricing: How Much and ... How?

  Chapter 15: Determine System Requirements

  One might think pricing out a software solution is as easy as getting a number, but in reality the cost and how that cost is determined are both pretty complicated.

• The Hosting Account

  Chapter 17: Plan for Hosting

  We’re going to roll up a lot of functionality and discussion into the idea of a hosting account. This is a service you purchase from some provider that allows you to run a website and expose it to the internet.

• Balancing Front-End and Back-End

  Chapter 19: Implement the Design

  Front-end development requires some knowledge of how code is managed. This is called dev-ops.