This document provides an overview and development process of DesignTab, a website intended to provide tutorials and articles about web design. It discusses the initial goals of being friendly, informal, and easy to follow. It then covers choosing WordPress for the blog platform and Invision Power Board for the forum platform. Details are given about customizing the themes and plugins used. The document also describes lessons learned from early tutorial recordings, such as the need for better audio quality and camerawork. Finally, it outlines future plans, such as creating a custom platform, using version control, and conducting post-launch analytics.

1. DESIGNTAB
From Conception to Concreteness

2. So… What was this project
again?
• A website where people could come to learn more about web
design
• Friendly, informal and easy to follow tutorials
• Video Tutorials
• Written Articles
• Forum

3. Development
•
•
•
•
•
•
Platforms
The FEEL
Layout
Blog Theme
Forum Theme
Tutorials

4. Platforms - Blog
• Wordpress
• Popular
• Easy to manage
• Easily extended through
plugins
• Strong templating engine
• Well documented
• Lessons
• Excellent choice for time
management
• Heavily documented
• Strong templating system
• Great plugin system
• Bulky, possible to create a
leaner system from scratch to
achieve a more tailored
platform

5. Platforms - Forum
• Invision Power Board
•
•
•
•
•
•
Powerful
Fast
Lots of features
Personal Portfolio
Personal Blog
Friends System

6. Blog - Before

7. Blog - After

8. Blog - After

9. Forum - Before

10. Forum - After

11. Plugins
• Syntax highlighter Evolved
• http://wordpress.org/plugins/syntaxhighlighterpro
• Wysija Newsletters
• http://wordpress.org/plugins/wysija-newsletters
• Custom
• DesignTab Social Media Plugin
• Custom made to ensure fluid integration with theme

12. Early Tutorials
• Problems
• Bad voice quality
• Text hard to read in video
• Unattractive transitions between windows
• Fixes
• Upgrading to a condenser microphone
• Animated zooms and repositioning of the camera during
important sections
• More focus on pre-recording organisaton

13. The Tutorial Cycle
Re-record
/ Edit if
minor
Planning
2 day trial
for
feedback
PreRecording
Setup
Record

14. For the future
• Create a custom platform in a language like ruby
• More reliance on version control
• Publically viewable and collaborative documentation (e.g.
Google Docs)
• Further the range of feedback to more experienced designers
to get ideas from both the newbie and experienced spectrums
• To-Do Board (priority step by step list)
• Try to spend less time re-creating the wheel
• Post-Launch: Set up an analytics and statistics program over a
certain period and apply changes based on the results
• Set up an automated backup system

15. Thank You