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#13 2007-07-28 10:15:02
- ooz
- Member
- From: Finland
- Registered: 2007-07-27
- Posts: 14
Re: How do you guys develop TXP sites (workflow)? Tips/Tricks welcome!
[Hi Chris!]
Workflow-awareness is of great importance especially when it comes to repeat certain tasks. One doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel (also evolving the DRY’t_repeat_yourself principle) and can learn from past errors. Thank you for opening this topic!
I’m a newbie, but want to contribute:
One essential phase (that seems a little lightweight in your workflow) that I come across constantly when coding for the web is the information architecture in general and that means in regard of the case-specific content (we’re dealing with databases afterall). This matter pops up a little in step 9 (of you WF) but might need both extension and a ranking in a much earlier stage, baybe even something to begin with.
To gain real control over the content, here’s what I do at this stage…
- list functional areas in regard to the content and asign priority values like importance, space needed, visibility and such. Any spreadsheet-software will do
- group functionality (to control both navigational and visual aspects), this has a great impact on how to choose the right sections and reuse forms
- categorize content and try to find realtionships to functionality, this will conclude in a much smarter use of sections and categories, since one is responsible for structure and the other for meanings
- distribute the elements or modules on a timeline and add a buffer for x-factors with at least 25% in size compared to the estimated timeconsumption to get things ready on time
- Do the most important module and structure first and get it going, then proceed
With this method (which I hope will never stop growing up) I admit to do some already-known-to-be-unwise things, for example when extending to the next modules, I get faster results first just copying the main page-template and maybe even duplicate some forms to have a little space for trying things out. Later I fuse them to go with the concept of dry. Well planning ahead should spare one from this kind of duplication circus.
[Hi jpdupont!]
Your extension-link was the answer to what I actually was looking for, thanks, great!
I used to build my own server-environment from scratch, did it multiple times over the years (after every total-backup-format-reinstall-session) and never did it twice the same and usually got more and more fed up with it, so here’s where I ended up:
Quick and dirty: Install wamp.
Edit: notepad++ (and now +the extension mentioned above)
After that you can run your txp test-lab at “there is no place like 127.0.0.1” and even have your personal work-report done as a local txp blog, a really nice playground when nobody is watching :)
“Habit is probably the greatest obstacle of perceiving truth.” R.A. Schwaller de Lubitz
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Re: How do you guys develop TXP sites (workflow)? Tips/Tricks welcome!
Two differences to your design-workflow:
- I am designing without Photoshop (because I always use flexible design).
- I start with articles and then work out to pages, sitestructure, etc. This makes the smallest unit the most important one!
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