What is involved in building a web site?

To complete a professional web site, a number of steps are required. Familiarity with the parts will make the process more enjoyable. Below is a list of every term I can think of that a web site owner should know.

As your loyal developer, I will shield you from the worst of the techie stuff, but a little effort towards understanding the process will save you time, money, and sanity.

* indicates a requirement common to every web site. Start (and stop?) with the *’s, if you are new to the game.


Hosting

Every web site needs hosting. A host is a company who will rent you space on one of their computers, where your web site will live.

Theoretically, you could host your web site on your laptop but realistically, it would be a pain-in-the-you-know-what. Also, your laptop would have to be on 24/7 and open to the public so people would have access to your site. In addition to managing those requirements, hosting companies take care of a lot of other stuff like updating security, installing necessary software, and keeping backups of your files.

A good host should have an easy-to-read website that details their various plans and lists the services that are included.

Quality hosting can cost as little as $3 per month and scales indefinitely from there. High-traffic web sites can require multiple computers and a dedicated staff just for upkeep of the hosting environment.

Currently, my two favorite hosts are:

  1. HostingRails.com
  2. RimuHosting.com

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Domain Name

Whateveryouwant.com is an example of a domain name. This is the “web address” of your website. You can get any domain name you want but there are restrictions. Characters are limited to letters, numbers and underscores (no spaces), and it must be unique to its suffix (.com, .org, .net, .info, are a few common ones).

Your domain name must be “rented” from a domain registrar. Godaddy.com is one of the most common registrar, but there are many others. Pricing varies from $3 to $30 per year. Some hosting companies include the domain registration service. This is convenient, but should not be a factor in choosing a host.

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HTML / CSS

Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is used to define the structure of a web page. Markup Languages are different from programming languages in that they are neither capable of logic nor memory. Every HTML Tag <opens> and </closes>. The text between the tags is displayed differently, in the browser, depending on the tag.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used to apply and standardize size, color, and position of the page elements defined by the HTML.

Every web page uses HTML and every professional web page uses the combination of HTML / CSS.

Implementation of HTML / CSS is a art form. Production ready code requires a great deal of experience and understanding.

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Graphic Design / Branding

Branding refers to the combination of logo, colors, and fonts that are chosen to represent a company.

For a more detail on the design process, please see the design page.

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Wireframes

Wireframing is used to layout web pages before coding them. It is much easier to change a wireframe (using Visio or Omnigraffle) then it is to change a HTML page or even (gulp!) a finished web site.

Wireframing is not necessary for all sites but it is very helpful in realizing workflows (like a multi-step registration) and can save hours of time in subsequent phases of planning and development.

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Proto-site

A proto-site is a function-only website. It works, but has minimal design, if any. Its purpose is to prove that workflow and code are achieving the intended result.

I find that proto-siting is only necessary in sties that have a significant amount of specific functionality and are uncertain about usability issues.

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Use Cases

Use cases are plain english descriptions of common ways that a web site (or any piece of software) will be used.

They are most often written in the third person and make reference to characters (fictitious example users).

Uses cases are written during a discovery phase and serve as a starting point to define the required functionality.

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Javascript / AJAX

Javascript allows web sites to respond to the user without the need for a full page reload.

AJAX is one of many ways that javascript is commonly used.

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Client-Side / Server-Side

Client-Side: Anything that is visible in the browser

Server-Side: Code that is not exposed to the user (or browser). This is the generally the application code and database(s).

The skills needed for client-side development vs. server-side development are very different. Often times, programmers will specialize in one of the other.

The Ruby On Rails community is a shining exception of this rule. Most Rails programmers are proficient in both server-side and client-side.

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L.A.M.P.

L.A.M.P. stands for:

Linux operating system
Apache web server
MySQL database
PHP scripting language

If you have an web site running on computer and using this common combination of tools, it is referred to as a “LAMP stack”

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Operating System: UNIX, LYNIX, *NIX, Windows, Mac OSX

UNIX, LYNIX, *NIX, Windows, Mac OSX are all examples of common operating systems.

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Databases: MySQL, Sqlite, Postgres, DB2, Oracle, SQLServer, AS 400

Some databases commonly found in web applications are:
MySQL, Sqlite, Postgres, DB2, Oracle

Some not so common but specific to my work with ERP systems are:
SQLServer, AS 400

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Programing languages: PHP, Java, Ruby On Rails, C++, Python, Perl

PHP, Java, Ruby On Rails, C++, Python, and Perl are all examples of programming languages. They are also referred to as server-side languages. Technically, some of the above are considered scripting languages, not programming languages.

The code that makes a web site have function is all written in a programming language of some sort.

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Information Architecture (IA)

Information Architecture describes the process of organizing the content of a web site and the ways it will be accessed. It often crosses into interface design and usability. Information Architecture

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