Page Update Checklists?

[thedagda]

I have been tasked with creating a formal procedure to handle updates to the website I'm currently working on.

Right now I'm working on an update checklist that would walk me through x number of items that need to be completed before the pages is uploaded to the live site.

The question I have is: does anyone else use something like this? Any suggestions on what to include on the checklist? Any examples?

I would like this to be as detailed as possible so the more the better. I'll be more than willing to share my final checklist with everyone one.

TIA,

Conor

[thedagda]

No thoughts on this? Nobody uses any kind of procedure or checklist prior to uploading documents to the site?

My goal here is to create a comprehensive checklist that can be used by anyone in the business. The more responses from people the more complete the list will be.

Any and all suggestions for this are welcome.

Thanks,

Conor

[lammert]

I think one of the reasons you didn't have any reaction on this post is that the main stream on internet is just going the opposite direction. As I understand you want to catch everything necessary for an update of your site in (written) procedures.

There has been a tendency that people want to leave this fixed way of website development and just concentrate on content. This is why content management systems and blogs become increasingly popular. In essence these are programs/scripts that release the publisher from the problems involved in maintaining proper internal links, dates, updates, archiving etc. You just add your content and the software will put it on the right place in the right context in the site. It will even handle comments from others, trackbacks to other relevant sites etc, if you have setup your system to do this.

IMHO you could better put your effort in studying the possible uses of content management systems, than trying to write down a number of fixed rules for update management. A CMS will take a lot of work out of your hands, so you can concentrate on what site development really goes about: "Content".

[thedagda]

First off, thanks for the response. I had already given up on this thread…

Secondly, I can see your point with people going with a CMS solution to not have to worry about anything but content. However, it seems to me that no matter what you are using to run your site, you are going to need to make changes to both the content and the structure at some point.

I think having a good written checklist, even with a CMS, is a good idea. Depending on the system you use, I believe you will have some certain design standards that need to be checked/enforced after each update. Things like article length, external links, proper image size, font size/weight, etc… Obviously, making changes to the structure/layout is a procedure in its own right.

Unfortunately in my case, a CMS is not a high priority due to budget/time constraints. It looks like I’ll have to work with what I have and refine it as I go along. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

[lammert]

I used some sort of checklist in the past. I found it useful to have written procedures for the following:

• If you are using buttons as a method to navigate, write down with which software you made them, the settings, font types, sizes etc. It is very annoying if after one year you want to add a new section to your site and you cannot make a button in exactly the same way as a year before.
• Make a list of styles to use in your documents and write down which style to use for which purpose.
• Make a list of directories, search engines etc. you submitted your site to. Check every now and then and if your site is not listed. Try to find out why, or resubmit.
• Try to figure out the type of computer visitors have. Is 95% at 1024x768, or is there a large group still using 800x600. In the latter case make your site for these group and make a procedure to check from time to time.
• Check periodically which browser type your visitors use and test your site on the major ones. Remeber that it may be 90% IE today, but can be 40% FireFox tomorrow. Use also a bad browser to test your site. My experience is, that if your site is working with an old version of Konquerer on Linux, it will work with almost any browser...
  
• Test your new pages on [bobby.watchfire.com ] to see if they are accesible by disabled people.