Web Site Cookbook

2.2. Assessing Available Materials for a Site

Problem

You need to compile a list of documents, images, and other source files that you will need in order to build a site.

Solution

Create a content inventory or checklist to determine what text, images, and other assets are available and need to be part of the site. Your list should answer these questions:

• Who has the original materials?

• What formats are the materials in?

• Who will acquire, create, and approve the new material?

• What has to be resized, edited, or optimized for online use?

• How often will content be updated, and by whom?

Discussion

Compiling a content inventory, like writing a functional specification (detailed in Recipe 2.1), is a key step in successfully making your web site concept a reality. But these two tasks can create a "chicken-and-egg" dilemma for a web designer. By that, I mean it's hard to devise a navigational structure for the functional specification without a clear idea of the available content—and you might not know what content you'll need without knowing how the site will be organized.

You might want to integrate the two tasks so one informs the other. That way, a content inventory can help refine the decisions and responsibilities identified by the functional specification. That said, you'll want to be careful not to let the complete opus of available material dictate how to structure a site. Don't feel compelled to shoehorn every company newsletter article and holiday party photo into the site. It's almost always ...