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Building the Blueprint
The First step in creating a professional web site is the blueprint. Just as you would not build a house without a blueprint, we don't feel that a professional web site should be built without a blueprint. The blueprint process starts with an interview with our client during which we ask a series of questions that uncover the needs and goals of the web site. Also a content inventory of the existing web site is performed to determine what needs to stay and what needs to go on the site.
At the end of the process, we deliver a detailed document that outlines the framework of the web site, including site map, workflow, module attributes, and other pieces of information that will define the outcome of the website. This is the "road map" that the design team uses to design the site. By creating a blueprint, we are able to identify necessary changes and requirements early on before actual design begins. This saves time and money.
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Design Comp
After the blueprint is finished, the design team then creates a design mockup. The design comp is a set of image files that represent the look and feel of the site. This is typically an image of the home page and interior page of the site and is a full design of what the finished site will look like. This gives our client a chance to review the design before the next step begins so that any necessary changes can be made early on, which again saves time and money.
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Build
Once the design is ready, build-out begins. Using the house analogy, this is where the beams, structure, and walls are put in. During the build-out phase, the design team creates the CSS/XHTML code that will frame the site online. During this phrase, the design team not only writes the code, but also tests the site on all major operating systems (Windows, Mac) and web browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) to ensure that the site displays properly on those platforms.
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Implementation
After the site is built out and tested, it is typically deployed in Freedom, which is the application suite used at Toledo.com. Freedom allows out clients to manage their web site using only a web browser. With a site deployed in Freedom, the web site owner can post news and events, edit content, manage online forms, post photos, send Broadcast Emails, manage products, and more from their own computers. All these updates can be made within minutes by anyonoe in the client's company who is authorized.
As we deploy the site in Freedom, the Toledo.com design team implements and styles each module to ensure that it is integrated properly in the site and that it follows the design guidelines of the site. For example, if the blueprint and site design call for an events calendar on the home page that lists three upcoming events, the events module must be implemented and styles on the home page.
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Review
This is the finish line. Once the site is fully deployed, we hold an "Internal Delivery Review". This is a formal presentation that the lead designer makes to the entire team at Toledo.com. During this review, management (along with others in the company) asks the lead designer to go through the entire site and demonstrate the functions and pieces of the site to ensure that everything works correctly.
Special attention is paid to details like page styling, online form behavior, the structure of notification emails, code elements (such as proper title tags), e-commerce functions, and anything else that is a dynamic component of the site. If anything is found to be incorrect, it is either corrected on the spot or it is captured in a final list of items to correct. The site is only declared finished once this list is closed. Once the site meets Toledo.com's high standards, it is ready for delivery.
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Delivery
The site is now ready to deliver to the client. At this point, we train our client on how to use Freedom and manage site content. During this stage, out client posts and updates content and gets the site ready for launch.
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Launch
This is the moment you've been waiting for! The site is finsihed and is ready for launch. At this point we review it with our client and make any last-minute minor changes that may be requested, and then launch the site. Because of the care and attention given to the process at each stage listed above, Toledo.com sites typically launch very smoothly and successfully.
Hopefully this insight into our web site creation process has been helpful in understanding what is happening at each stage. Though it takes time and attention to reach the end result, we feel that our web sites are so beautiful and successful that they are well worth the wait. To learn more about this process, please feel free to contact us.
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