WEBSITE DESIGN – A CUSTOMER-DRIVEN SOLUTION ?

I was at a customers premises recently and the talk got around to progress on their website. They had contracted a web design company to produce the site, but this was months ago, and as the site is for primarily the marketing tool for the business, it was essential that it was active soon. However the issue seems to be one of decisions being made about what is required, where it is required and what should it look like. The process is similar to the current model employed by many enterprises – they advise the web designer of the changes required etc and an upgrade to the site is done, sooner or later as the case may be.

A rare and fleeting glimpse of clarity saw me suggesting to them that they should look at the big picture – What do they want to do with the website ? How do they see themselves maintaining it ? Who is in control ? Can it be updated quickly and accurately ? And that seems to be the crux of the issue – speedy updating and maintenance. So I suggested a couple of what seemed to me to be obvious decisions.

First of all the website host should be local as much as possible. You can make contact with them face to face, which is very important when chasing up issues. Secondly, this ensures that the money you pay stays within the local community, also very important. Thirdly, the webhost should offer Apache, PHP and MySQL options. Once you have that you can use a CMS such as Joomla! ( www.joomla.org ) to maintain the website and once again put you in control.

CMS stands for Content Management Systems which simply enable websites to be maintained as and when required. A content management system is computer software for organizing and facilitating collaborative creation of documents and other content. A content management system is sometimes a web application used for managing websites and web content, though in many cases, content management systems require special client software for editing and constructing articles. They can also be used for storage and single sourcing of documentation for a firm including but not limited to operators' manuals, technical manuals, sales guides, etc.

SCENARIO: You may be attending a trade show and see a product that you can sell. You can use your CMS to update quickly and efficiently. No waiting around for “the designer” to appear in the office and update your site. Software such as Joomla! is easy to use and can even be hosted on your own webserver, for complete security. There are other CMS available, including MAMBO! Which was the forerunner of Joomla! All of these are worth looking at if you require to break the chain of control over your website.

To paraphrase Richard Branson "Screw it - lets do it!"