How to Outline Your Web Development Project

Web development is the process of creating, hosting and managing a specific Web site. This can take a lot of work and time. To make the job easier, you can create an outline for your Web development project and put what you'll need for the Web site in one concise plan.

Things You'll Need

• Computer

Instructions

1. Create a project plan. Include what you want to accomplish with the Web site -- its purpose -- how it should look and any ideas you have for the needs of the project.

2. Decide on a project budget. Know how much you want to spend on your Web development project -- and how much you can afford.

3. Write out a project timeline. Show how long you expect the Web development project to take overall and how long each part will take.

4. Search for resources. Depending on your needs, you may be hiring a graphic design company, a content development company and possibly even a professional Web developer for all or part of the site.

5. Make a short list of the Web hosting services that would be a good fit for the developing project. Given your hardware prospects and vision, choose a hosting service that suits these constraints.

6. Define the tone and presentation of your site, commonly referred to as GUI, or Graphical User Interface. Determine what sort of graphical presentation you want, how the user will navigate the site and how much wording or content is necessary.

7. Detail each page that will appear on the site, including its GUI and purpose. This will help you eliminate redundancies and streamline your coding.

8. Sketch out the operating systems and other hardware that will be most compatible with your requirements. Determine which Web development tools are best suited to your site creation. FrontPage and Dreamweaver are examples of user-friendly development tools.

Tips & Warnings

• Try for three to ten hardware and Web hosting options each. You need enough options to make a real choice but not so many options as to be overwhelmed.

• Look at your potential site as an outsider would, by function or task. Use clear, generic labeling, and minimize the use of acronyms or abbreviations. If you do use them, be sure to provide adequate context.

• Don't be afraid to make changes to the outline as progress is made on your Web development project. As you work through the phases of development, new concerns will arise; this requires flexible problem-solving skills.

• Avoid overcomplicating a simple project. You'll spend more time and money cleaning it up in the end.