Putting together a web site can seem complicated at first. It may help to use an analogy: think of a web site as a building, for example.
Web Sites
To start with, every web site needs some basic things: hosting; a domain name; web pages.
| What is it? | What is it like? | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | The computer that your web site is stored on. | The plot of land for your building. |
| Domain Name | The URL of your web site (e.g. naga.co.za). | The address of your building. |
| Web pages | The individual pages that make up your site (e.g. naga.co.za/contact). | The rooms of your building. |
Web Pages
Every web page (room in your building) is built from: HTML; CSS; and (often) JavaScript.
Continuing our building theme, let’s look at a web page as a room in a building.
| What is it? | What is it like? | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML for Content | HTML is the code that web pages are written in. | The bricks and mortar of your room. |
| CSS for Presentation | CSS controls the formatting of a web page, including layout, colours, and typography. | The paint and wallpaper in your room. |
| JavaScript for Behaviour | JavaScript adds extra functionality to web pages, making them more dynamic. | The extras in your room, the nice-to-haves, like gadgets. |
Content
The content of your web site (the text and images that are displayed via HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) is very important. Ideally, before any coding or design begins, you should a content plan for every page of your site: not just what pages you have and what text will go on them, but also when each item should be updated and who is responsible for it.
Web pages can be coded manually using a text editor (full coding knowledge required), visually using a WYSIWYG editor (a little coding knowledge possibly required for advanced items), automatically using a Content Management System (little to no coding knowledge required). There are many CMS available to choose from: I recommend WordPress and use it on the majority of my projects.
WordPress
You add, edit, and delete text and images to your web site using WordPress’s Dashboard, protected by a user name and password. WordPress has several types of content to help you manage and publish your site.
The coding of each web page is handled by WordPress using Themes. A Theme is a collection of template files that tells WordPress what, where, when, and how to display your text and images. This is mostly what I do: build a Theme from a supplied design.
Although WordPress is quite fully featured out of the box, sometimes additional functionality is needed. This is achieved using Plugins. These are small additional applications that extend the core functionality of WordPress, such as a Contact form. This is another big part of my work: sourcing, extending, or creating plugins as required.
Last updated: January 2012.