Maths - Critical Path Analysis of Site Building

Event Description

Twenty-two events will make up the web site building project, they are listed alphabetical in a rough order of the events taking place. Unless otherwise stated, times are found from past experience from site building. To add to the previous statement, one person used to perform the activity as I find that two people, working from the outset, on a certain activity, are often counter productive. People can have differing ideas and methods of doing some activities, this could result in an inconsistent site design.

A
Register suitable domain name – A domain needs to be registered before any files can be uploaded or email accounts set up. This is where people will view the pages from all over the world. It is better if only one person finds the suitable domain name for the web site to be located, this may take up to an hour to find. Details from the server are not always punctual, but it is vital that there is somewhere to upload files when the site is ready.

B Make sketches of design layout – There must be a vague idea of what the site will look like before any detailed designing is started. Working as a pair will prevent inadequate designs getting through and more ideas can be thought-up from two people within an hour.

C
Draw tree diagram of pages – The structure of the site is needed in order to have pages linking to each other, so people will be able to navigate through the site. One person should be capable of laying out a tree diagram showing the content and main section in the site. This will take one hour, from my past experience.

D
Choose fonts and colour scheme – Colours determine the style and mood of the site. Colours will reflect the content and the audience the site is intended for. Fonts can make the different between an amateur and professional site, these also reflect on the content. More ideas can be achieved if two people work together on this activity.

E
Final sketches and page layout – When the colour has been chosen a more detailed design plan can be made. This will decide the page layout and smaller features of the site. A this will be the definitive design for the site, one person has to make the plans on a drawing board. If required, comments and criticism can be made from others working nearby.

F
Draw main site graphics: logos and buttons – The drawing of the site graphics will be done using a graphics program as one large image. These large images are later split up into smaller images so they can be inserted into tables. This reduces download time and improves the appearance of the images. Some images will be animations and photos will have to be formatted.

G
Seek approval of design from clients – It would be pointless to continue with the site design if the clients don’t like the design, the opinions will be noted and adjustments made as a result. The times of this event can vary greatly. The time of two hours presumes the clients are available at the time. This allows for discussion between the clients on the site, the receiving of their comments and any amendments that need to be made. This event needs to take place before the site structure is constructed, otherwise it would take a lot longer than two hours to alter all the pages.

H
Banner advertising – Banner advertising pays money for each visitor that views the page. This will fund the running of the site and bring a return on the clients investment. As banners are quite large, space has to be allowed to fit the banner.

I
Find plug-ins and add to cgi-bin – Plug-ins make the site individual, they add interest as they can do almost anything. They should be added in the early stages of site design to stop errors occurring later.

J
Main page template – The main HTML template defines the layout and all future pages in the site. This page must be checked many times for errors. It is more difficult to change many pages later in the project. The main menus and links are also placed on this page to allow for easy navigation wherever the visitor is in the site.

K
Scripts, copyright and header tags – These give a description of the pages content and contain keywords for the page and site to get a high rating with search engines. Scripts are often small and offer simple graphic and text effects in pages. Copyright information, in the source code, is usually the same throughout the site. It reminds people wanting to take your work, that is it not theirs to take. Copyright information also advertises your site designing to other people without effecting the appearance of the page.

L
Copy template pages throughout site, adjust headers – Before text and images can be added there must be somewhere to place them. The perfected template needs to be copied in directories laid out by the tree diagram. This process can be quite tedious, so it would be practical to have two people on this task.

M
Add text and images to pages – This is the content of the pages. Formatting of text and images will follow colours and fonts laid out in the initial stages of the site design process. From past experience this event takes a long time to complete, as all material needs to be appropriate for the page. It would save much time if two people work together, due to the scale of this event.

N
Set up email accounts for clients – Email allows for correspondence between the clients and their customers (if it is a business site). The time of this event may vary due to the efficiency of the domain host, normally it takes about an hour. Fortunately the accounts do not have to be fully set up during the site building process, but there has to be confirmation of their existence.

O
Add forms and plug-ins – Forms throughout the site will be sent to various email addresses of the clients, permitting feedback, queries and on-line sales from visitors to the site. Plug-ins and forms are quite difficult to test offline. The person inserting these features into the site should be experienced in programming and HTML scripting.

P
Test for navigational and scripting errors – The whole site should be rigorously tested to see if links and scripts are working, images and tables are viewing correctly and to check consistency of design. It would work better if two people perform this task, saving time.

Q
Upload web site onto domain – This does not require much work, other than to select all files and upload to the empty domain. I assume the site will be around 40MB. This will take approximately one hour to upload with one moderate modem link. This has to take place before checking online can take place.

R
Check scripts, forms and download time, online – This will check the viewing quality from the visitors’ point of view and time taken to download pages. Different browsers and screen resolutions will be used in the testing process. It is important to have a site that is compatible with most browsers, allowing a wider range of people to view pages. Amendments will almost certainly be made to the site as a result of this testing as offline testing rarely represents a thorough guide. Two people can be used, one to test the pages online and another to correct errors and re-upload amended pages.

S
Add hit counters to main pages – Hit counter offer statistics on visitors going to a certain page. They can be visible or invisible to the visitor. These are invaluable when judging the success of a page, section or the entire site. Statistics offered by hit counters include: Visitor numbers per period of time, country of origin, operating system, internet provider and browser type. This will aid future developments to the site. One person can register hit counter, whilst another inserts and uploads altered pages.

T
Advertise site with search engines – Advertising of the site is very important. The more visitors to the site the more well known the clients’ company, or person’s work, becomes. It also increases the income from banners on the site, the more viewing of a banner the more money for the client. Other visitors can contact us from visiting site, as there is a reference to the web site designing business in every page. This will provide more clients for us to make web sites. This process can be quite lengthy, a good description of the site can help bring more potential visitors. One person should be responsible for this event.

U
Inform related sites of the new web site – Advertising in related sites, with similar subject matter, can be as valuable as an entry in a well-known search engine. Visitors that come from these sites are more likely to be interested in the site content. Two people should surf the internet to find related sites and send emails requesting a link in their sites.

V
Inform clients of site and account details – The clients want to know how to access their new site. Details such as email address accounts and hit counter passwords need to be sent to them. The site is now in their hands. We will continue to offer a support service; if required new sections and pages to be added at a later date.

A	Register suitable domain name – A domain needs to be registered before any files can be uploaded or email accounts set up. This is where people will view the pages from all over the world. It is better if only one person finds the suitable domain name for the web site to be located, this may take up to an hour to find. Details from the server are not always punctual, but it is vital that there is somewhere to upload files when the site is ready.
B	Make sketches of design layout – There must be a vague idea of what the site will look like before any detailed designing is started. Working as a pair will prevent inadequate designs getting through and more ideas can be thought-up from two people within an hour.
C	Draw tree diagram of pages – The structure of the site is needed in order to have pages linking to each other, so people will be able to navigate through the site. One person should be capable of laying out a tree diagram showing the content and main section in the site. This will take one hour, from my past experience.
D	Choose fonts and colour scheme – Colours determine the style and mood of the site. Colours will reflect the content and the audience the site is intended for. Fonts can make the different between an amateur and professional site, these also reflect on the content. More ideas can be achieved if two people work together on this activity.
E	Final sketches and page layout – When the colour has been chosen a more detailed design plan can be made. This will decide the page layout and smaller features of the site. A this will be the definitive design for the site, one person has to make the plans on a drawing board. If required, comments and criticism can be made from others working nearby.
F	Draw main site graphics: logos and buttons – The drawing of the site graphics will be done using a graphics program as one large image. These large images are later split up into smaller images so they can be inserted into tables. This reduces download time and improves the appearance of the images. Some images will be animations and photos will have to be formatted.
G	Seek approval of design from clients – It would be pointless to continue with the site design if the clients don’t like the design, the opinions will be noted and adjustments made as a result. The times of this event can vary greatly. The time of two hours presumes the clients are available at the time. This allows for discussion between the clients on the site, the receiving of their comments and any amendments that need to be made. This event needs to take place before the site structure is constructed, otherwise it would take a lot longer than two hours to alter all the pages.
H	Banner advertising – Banner advertising pays money for each visitor that views the page. This will fund the running of the site and bring a return on the clients investment. As banners are quite large, space has to be allowed to fit the banner.
I	Find plug-ins and add to cgi-bin – Plug-ins make the site individual, they add interest as they can do almost anything. They should be added in the early stages of site design to stop errors occurring later.
J	Main page template – The main HTML template defines the layout and all future pages in the site. This page must be checked many times for errors. It is more difficult to change many pages later in the project. The main menus and links are also placed on this page to allow for easy navigation wherever the visitor is in the site.
K	Scripts, copyright and header tags – These give a description of the pages content and contain keywords for the page and site to get a high rating with search engines. Scripts are often small and offer simple graphic and text effects in pages. Copyright information, in the source code, is usually the same throughout the site. It reminds people wanting to take your work, that is it not theirs to take. Copyright information also advertises your site designing to other people without effecting the appearance of the page.
L	Copy template pages throughout site, adjust headers – Before text and images can be added there must be somewhere to place them. The perfected template needs to be copied in directories laid out by the tree diagram. This process can be quite tedious, so it would be practical to have two people on this task.
M	Add text and images to pages – This is the content of the pages. Formatting of text and images will follow colours and fonts laid out in the initial stages of the site design process. From past experience this event takes a long time to complete, as all material needs to be appropriate for the page. It would save much time if two people work together, due to the scale of this event.
N	Set up email accounts for clients – Email allows for correspondence between the clients and their customers (if it is a business site). The time of this event may vary due to the efficiency of the domain host, normally it takes about an hour. Fortunately the accounts do not have to be fully set up during the site building process, but there has to be confirmation of their existence.
O	Add forms and plug-ins – Forms throughout the site will be sent to various email addresses of the clients, permitting feedback, queries and on-line sales from visitors to the site. Plug-ins and forms are quite difficult to test offline. The person inserting these features into the site should be experienced in programming and HTML scripting.
P	Test for navigational and scripting errors – The whole site should be rigorously tested to see if links and scripts are working, images and tables are viewing correctly and to check consistency of design. It would work better if two people perform this task, saving time.
Q	Upload web site onto domain – This does not require much work, other than to select all files and upload to the empty domain. I assume the site will be around 40MB. This will take approximately one hour to upload with one moderate modem link. This has to take place before checking online can take place.
R	Check scripts, forms and download time, online – This will check the viewing quality from the visitors’ point of view and time taken to download pages. Different browsers and screen resolutions will be used in the testing process. It is important to have a site that is compatible with most browsers, allowing a wider range of people to view pages. Amendments will almost certainly be made to the site as a result of this testing as offline testing rarely represents a thorough guide. Two people can be used, one to test the pages online and another to correct errors and re-upload amended pages.
S	Add hit counters to main pages – Hit counter offer statistics on visitors going to a certain page. They can be visible or invisible to the visitor. These are invaluable when judging the success of a page, section or the entire site. Statistics offered by hit counters include: Visitor numbers per period of time, country of origin, operating system, internet provider and browser type. This will aid future developments to the site. One person can register hit counter, whilst another inserts and uploads altered pages.
T	Advertise site with search engines – Advertising of the site is very important. The more visitors to the site the more well known the clients’ company, or person’s work, becomes. It also increases the income from banners on the site, the more viewing of a banner the more money for the client. Other visitors can contact us from visiting site, as there is a reference to the web site designing business in every page. This will provide more clients for us to make web sites. This process can be quite lengthy, a good description of the site can help bring more potential visitors. One person should be responsible for this event.
U	Inform related sites of the new web site – Advertising in related sites, with similar subject matter, can be as valuable as an entry in a well-known search engine. Visitors that come from these sites are more likely to be interested in the site content. Two people should surf the internet to find related sites and send emails requesting a link in their sites.
V	Inform clients of site and account details – The clients want to know how to access their new site. Details such as email address accounts and hit counter passwords need to be sent to them. The site is now in their hands. We will continue to offer a support service; if required new sections and pages to be added at a later date.