Well I’m working on a small site for an event -the client needs to update the site themselves so I’m looking at joomla for this one. I wanted to step through the process bit by bit so here goes.
1) In the beginning
the inital website is static html – i’ve take a few screen grabs the code itself is pretty clean but in evaluating what the client needs I’ve made the decision to use a cms (content management system ) heres some key reasons why.
Why use a CMS?
- Client wants to update site themselves
- Investing in structure (long term maintainability and flexibility)
-notice the menus on each page are different -thats because its easy to get inconsistencies in static html..the pages are all separate a cms uses one template to present content and avoids this . - -once a CMS is in place its easy to redesign, tweek add more sections
- Added functionality
-ability to add shops, calendars, social networking hookups etc - More than 10 pages
Theres many more reasons but theses are my key indicators
Which CMS?
Well I dont want to start a war… but i tend towards open source CMS because i find there easy to use, theres lots of documentation and I can change them if i need to ! Essentially it boils down to the three major players:
Theres a really good article about why youd choose one over the other in cartoon form ! wordpress vs drupal vs joomla. This site is a wordpress site and its a very easy platform to use.. I use wordpress for clients who are not tech savey.. joomla for larger clients . Im not going to say one is better than the other I choose on a case by case basis.
2) Design
In this case I used photoshop to convert some artwork supplied by the client into the framework for the site.I wanted
Original artwork by
a consistency with her other media – once the client approves it , I start to slice up the art and code. Making it first as static html. I then used Adobe browser lab to cross test – making sure it works on a variety of different browsers (ie6-9, firefox,chrome safari). Then validate it , that is check the code on the wc3. Having done al the hard work all i then have to do is convert it to a Joomla template , I’ll spare you the gory details of that process.
3) Install
So meanwhile I have had my client putting there basic information into Joomla, Setting up basic pages and catagory’s. I install the finished template and bang we have a pretty website! Not only is it pretty but the client can update it themselves!
We make a few tweeks add a few pluggins , since this site is workshop driven im using one called “event manger” that allows people to book online, sends reminders and catalogues all the participants so when the event happens the client no longer has to manually put all that information into a spreadsheet. Hook up a google map, pop in some video and launch.
“right CMS = happy client”
So heres some screenshots of the finished product or better yet go see the site for yourself.
Detail on workshop pages
