Getting Started
Welcome!
We are very excited to get started on this project. Here is an overview of what we need and some resources to help you along before we begin.
1 ) What I Need to Get Started
WORDPRESS LOGIN CREDENTIALS
An administrator login to your current WordPress site. (if you have one up already)
HOSTING /DOMAIN NAME REGISTRAR LOGIN CREDENTIALS
Your hosting account & domain name registrar logins and/or Cpanel username and password.
YOUR LOGO
PDF, EPS or high res JPEG or PNG if possible
IMAGES & PICTURES
Current and/or new images and pictures you’d like to use on the new site. High res JPEG or PNG if possible
CONTENT / COPY
Page content and any updated verbiage/information for the site.
STYLE GUIDE
Brand style guide, colors or any specific design requirements.
2 ) Base Camp
Basecamp is an awesome online platform for communication and project management. We’ll be using this to send messages, share files and track progress during the process. This will help alleviate content and images being lost in long email threads. Everyone loves email threads…right?! (Don’t worry you can still use your email. The messages will post directly to basecamp!) Once your project is underway, you’ll receive an email to set up your basecamp profile and we’ll be off and running!
3) Google Docs
Google Docs is a great online image/file sharing platform. I will set up a folder for the project and will share a link to the folder with you via email. You can upload all images and files there.
4 ) The Design Process
Designing a website, no matter how big or small, is an extensive process that can be overwhelming. To better help you understand what to expect during the design and development, I’ve outlined my process into 3 steps:
LAYOUT & DESIGN
A large and time consuming part of designing a website is in the planning and layout stage of the process. I’ll create the sitemap (Page/Menu hierarchy) of the website for approval first, then I’ll design the home page and a sub page (or more upon request) for approval.
DEVELOPMENT
Once the site layout and design is approved, I’ll move forward with the designing of the entire site, pages and add all functionality and plugins. We’ll make sure your site looks great and functions nicely across all devices and web browsers before moving to the final step.
EDITS & REVISIONS
Once the site is ready for final review, you’ll be able to review each page and we can make detailed edits until the site is revised completely. We ask that you please review ALL pages to make sure all spelling, grammar, addresses and information are correct before going live.
5) Wrapping Up & Going Live!
Once the site is ready to go live, all unnecessary plugins, pages, images and backend files will be removed. The new site will be backed up and saved locally, should it ever need restored. Once live, it may take between 24-48 hours for the new site to pull up on some devices. Some computers will need to be refreshed in order to see the new site, though most computers will see the new site immediately depending on the wifi connection and where they are in relation to the location of server that the website is on.
Your Website Owners Manual (WOM) will be provided which contains logins and all credentials, essentially, everything you will need in the unlikely event we part company. You can then hand this document over to any other web developer and he/she will have everything needed to pick up where I left off. Though I will save your logins and passwords locally, PLEASE SAVE ALL LOGINS FOR YOUR RECORDS AS WELL. Upon completion, you’ll receive a link to my “moving forward” page where you’ll receive tips and tricks on what to do with your new website and also information on our Website Care Plan which will be included for the duration of our contract.