So you decided to go for it? The idea that will bring salvation, Mecca and the million – You have decided to build a unique website. So before you start asking for quotes and meeting with companies that will bombard you with dozens of technical concepts and different work processes; You should read the following article.
Building a web portal was a process consisting of 4 main steps. Characterization, design, programming, quality tests. This process includes dozens of different topics that must be emphasized when building portal sites; And careful and orderly work in this process will ensure the professionalism of the website and increase your chances of success on the Internet.
1. Portal characterization
In the process of building a unique and professional web portal, it is often necessary to build a business plan and develop the initial idea while thinking in the long term. Since your business is based on the website you plan to build, a professional characterization must be performed in coordination with a professional and in accordance with the general business plan of the business (budget, schedule and goals and objectives).
The characterization process includes a visual characterization of the site's structure, planning and registration of the various modules that are required to be performed on the website, writing the included functions and the personal adjustments required in each module, extending the schedule required to carry out the project and estimating the budget required to carry out the project.
Professional characterization is carried out in collaboration with the client through a skilled website construction company or a professional who devotes time and attention to the client's ideas and requirements while recommending and advising how to achieve the maximum results in the optimal way; Both in terms of future thinking and in terms of budget and schedule.
2. Website design
The second step in building a portal site is designing the site . This step was the second in the process and should not be carried out without an orderly characterization conducted in cooperation with the customer. First, the designer will work in front of the structure that was defined in cooperation with the client and through the branding and colors that the client defined in advance during the characterization and information gathering phase.
The design of the portal was a crucial step in the general marketing and branding concept of the website and it may even spell the fate of the website if it is not carried out as required. Beyond the graphic concept created through the inspiration of the project designer in collaboration with the client; Convenient graphic elements that integrate side by side with the user experience on the site should be taken into account. The user interface implemented on the site requires in-depth knowledge and experience in the field of UI – User Interface.
3. Programming and website development
After the completion of the design phase and the client's approval of the final sketch, the programming and website development phase will begin. The schedule for this phase is measured according to the complexity of the site and the content management system required in the project, and usually the time required to develop the site can be measured already in the characterization phase and in the initial phase of defining the functionality.
Developing an internet portal requires in-depth thinking for the long term, therefore it is important to choose a suitable and appropriate technological infrastructure that will serve the website owner even when the number of hits and the volume of traffic increase. DigitalST provides development and programming services for portals in PHP in combination with innovative technologies based on AJAX and JQUERY.
4. QA quality tests
The final step before launching the portal was the quality tests. Since the development of a portal is no small thing and requires longer development and design time than an average website, it must be taken into account that the quality testing phase also lasts for some time and requires careful attention to the details of the website.
When building a portal, custom functions are usually performed according to the customer's requirement and the essence of the project, therefore unexpected faults often occur in the various functions that must be located, recorded and corrected. alsoDuring the QA - Quality Assurance testing phase, new ideas will come up for the portal and ways to optimize work processes / user processes.
After we passed the quality tests and performed the four steps; Your web portal can finally go live – It must be remembered, developing and building portals on the Internet is not a simple process and requires the dedication of a lot of time and the guidance of a professional in order to achieve success.