Stages ⇒ Timescale ⇒ Website Structure ⇒ Software Features
New Project: Website Structure
While external website design is very subjective
⇒ internal data gathering and reporting of most projects are very similar
They can typically be broken down into five sections (i.e. the internal menu structure)
Daily, monthly, quarterly or annual projections
- this is optional, but critical - as it is used for goal setting and benchmarking
- from experience, this one is always difficult as it involves upper management to do some input ;-)
Web-forms for end users to add information
- includes 'web-forms' to input information
- reports to review those entries / make changes or corrections
- archives to view (but not change) past entries
Reports and mechanisms to insure accuracy:
- this critical step is done by office staff, the purpose is to find errors by end users
- office staff would also be responsible for maintaining secondary databases (see below)
Final reports of work completed
- daily, weekly, quarterly, annually or custom search
- 'pivot tables' for summary reports
- used by middle and upper management
History of work completed
- also known as annual or seasonal totals
- used by office staff, operations, middle / upper management
Several other key parts necessary
- Secondary Databases: many will be typically be needed, i.e. users, clients, contractors, machines, equipment, facility locations, job descriptions, etc.
- they feed into the main database (this is where all those 'drop-down' menus get information from)
- Groups and permission structures: for determining who has rights to view / edit / delete / etc.
- Languages: multiple languages may need be established so each end user can work in the language they are most comfortable with
- Training: help pages, documentation and user guides