Coding

• Template Development
• Page Development
• Forms & Functions
• Content Management System Integration
• 3rd Party Tool Integration

Template Development

Typically, the first step in coding a site is the development of the template, which includes those elements that are common on all pages of the site:

• navigation menus
• header
• footer
• promotional items
• style sheet

The template takes the initial design and turns it into something usable on the web -- ideally graphically consistent and quick loading.

Page Development

Individual page styling focuses on the unique elements of individual pages that must be implemented within the approved site template.

Each page will have its own unique content layout, which can include additional graphics. 

After getting initial guidelines from you on what you would like on different pages, we prepare all of the pages for your review.  At that time, you can give us comments and revisions on each page.  Individual pages undergo one revision as part of the overall site costs, with additional revisions being charged in an hourly rate.

Forms & Functions

Forms and functions are interactive features that do things such as search, survey, send, or list.  Examples include:

• a contact form
• a newsletter sign up form
• a payment form

Most functions are fairly simple to implement, although there are many more complex functions, such as storing information to a database or making calculations based on user input.

Content Management System Integration

The content management system we work with uses a database that stores all the individual pieces of content: pages, articles, events, links, etc.  Your site can be programmed to display specific records from the database. 

One advantage of the system is that it allows the same content to be distributed in many ways on the site, but it only has to be edited in one place (e.g., an event title may change, but you would only change it once in the database record to have it change on the listing and detail pages.)  Additionally, pages can be programmed so that items can be sorted automatically or distributed depending on your needs.

Using the content management system, content can be added to your site or edited via most common browsers (IE, Netscape, Firefox, etc.) with a username and password.  This system also offers WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editing. Editing the site is much like editing a MS Word document, and no client software is required. 

3rd Party Service Set Up

We often recommend third-party services as the most economically viable option for adding functionality to your site.  Typically, we subscribe to third-party services in the following areas:

• Merchant Account and Internet Gateway
• Shopping Carts
• E-Newsletters and Mailing Lists
• Surveys

In many cases the customer can set these up themselves; however, if you wish to have a set them up for you, please let us know, and we will include it in the price of your project.