Early, early in the process, define every task and responsibility associated with the project. Create comprehensive style guides for content, design, coding and file management. Create policies and procedures for editorial control, evaluation and maintenance.

Style guides and procedure manuals are mandatory for content preparation. You may write web content from scratch, convert existing print publications, or utilize special electronic document formats. This is the time to select which interactive components the site will use. Do you want an Email link? An order form? Visitor registration? If visitors register, what do they get in return?

Implementing the site requires a cooperative integration of design and content with coding. Issues of file size, security, and interactivity must be resolved without compromising the mission of the site.

Finally, avoid implementation pitfalls. Include sufficient time to thoroughly evaluate the site on multiple platforms. Have workflow procedures in place. And don't forget:

• How easy is the site to update?
• Who is responsible for updates?
• How will the site be promoted?

Learn by Browsing

You can learn good ideas from every site you visit — how easy they are to navigate, how well they present their content, what tricks they use. You will also see lots of things NOT to do.

Look for features you may want to implement on your site. Try out multimedia enhancements such as audio streaming, video streaming, and virtual reality modeling.

No one knows what the web will do next. Trust fundamentals and learn as you go.

        Next: Page 3 — Web Resources and Sample Sites