Web Dev 101 for Journalists is aimed at helping people who want to do news and community information projects online understand how to find and work with a coder, think through their site, and launch it.
These slides were originally given at the Knight Digital Media Center Boot Camp. Video of this and other presentations, handouts, and other resources are available at http://bit.ly/KDMCBootcamp .
1. Web Development 101:
Getting Your Site Right From the
Beginning
KDMC Boot Camp for
Knight Information Challenge Winners
March 21 2
- 5
Lisa Williams
lisa@placeblogger.com
placeblogger
2. What this is
• These are slides from a course developed to help winners of the
Knight News & Information Challenge develop, launch, and grow
online community, news, and information projects.
• The original presentation was given as part of a seminar presented
at the Knight Digital Media Center at USC/Annenberg.
• Session handouts, assignments, and resource material are
available FREE on the web at http://bit.ly/KDMC. The sessions were
streamed live the week of March 21, 2010, and video of the
sessions will be archived at the link above.
• If this is of interest to you, you should look into the Knight News
Challenge and the Knight Community Information Challenge, which
fund innovative news and community information projects. You
can find out more at http://knightfoundation.org.
3. Who this is for
• Non-programmers who want to build a new website or
add features to/extend an existing website
• Project leaders who will be working with others on their
team to set up and run a website and web strategy for a
project
• Particularly for people who know they will be hiring or
working with a technical person to help them set up the
site
• If you are a solo practicioner and want to see what you
can do without hiring, see http://bit.ly/webdevbasics for
a list of skills that will help you become more self-
sufficient.
12. Phase 1: Create & Create the items you want to share with a potential tech
Distribute Spec & partner, including a spec and milestones.
Project Plan (Lisa)
Phase 2 Which vendors are worth spending your time with? Which
Assess finalists tech partner do you trust?
Phase 3 Are you satisfied with the deal you’re getting – both in terms
Award Job of money and how you work together?
(Susan, Lisa)
Phase 4 Are you getting the site you want – one you’re really excited
Site Strategy (Susan) about?
Phase 5 Do you feel confident about your launch package – editorial,
Launch & Content features, team, what you’ll do on Day One?
Strategy (Amy)
Phase 6 What are your standards and goals for community building?
Community building How do you get and keep people engaged? How will you
(Kwan, Amy, Susan, utilize social media to extend the impact of your site across
Lisa) the web?
13. Finding, Landing & Working With
Technical Talent for Your Project
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23. Four Basic Approaches Coders
Will Take To Building Your Site &
What They Mean To You
Packaged v. Custom
Open Source v. Commercial
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24. Packaged v. Custom
• Packaged • Custom
• Pros: Get features for • Pros: greater flexibility,
free when they’re ability to build
added, add new something truly new
features without a • Cons: hard to support,
programmer, easier hard to add new
training features
• Less flexible – learning • No documentation
to work within
constraints
25. Reasons to go custom
• If you have a small site, a good developer may be
able to get a site up and running very quickly.
• You have greater flexibility – you can build pretty
much anything.
• It’s generally costlier and harder to maintain and
train new people on.
• If you’re developing something that truly does
not exist elsewhere, custom is the way to go.
• You might be working with the next big thing.
26. Open Source v. Commercial
• Open Source • Commercial
• Pros: No license fees, • Pros: Customer
large developer service, possibly
community adds streamlined.
features for free • Cons: if they go out of
• Cons: Less business, you may be
streamlined, volunteer stranded. Recurring
labor license fees.
27. Ensuring self-sufficiency
First feature after launch
Documented or not?
Where’s the code?
What happens when the site crashes?
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29. Five Things You Should Share With A
Coder (Even if Your Project Isn’t New)
• Wireframes
• One page description of user roles
• One page of “user stories”
• One page list of content types
• List of features
35. Exercise 3 of 3: Simple
Wireframes
Exercises can be found at:
http://bit.ly/webdev101
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36. Get more dangerous
Commit to developing your own skills
so that you can add simple features and
fix basic problems
http://bit.ly/webdevbasics
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37. The Society of Makers
• Show your work to other people who make
things (& bring your coder, it makes them feel
good)
• Pecha Kucha (http://www.pecha-kucha.org/ )
• University entrepreneur groups
• Show your work to students
• Get to know other people in your area who Make
Stuff
38. Thanks!
Lisa Williams
lisa@placeblogger.com
twitter.com/lisawilliams
placeblogger