This article explores how you can quickly and efficiently build an intranet or extranet Web site to support your development projects.
Benefits of a central project Web siteA central project Web site can help keep your project on track by serving as both an information repository and a communications tool. Here are some of the benefits offered by a project Web site:
- A central user interface connects project team members to such project information as the requirements and design documents, functional specifications, and other documentation. The site provides a repository that is available to all team members.
- It provides centralised scheduling information.
- A library of project information is available for ready inspection/review by senior management and other selected stakeholders.
A project Web site should include these elements:
- Contact information (e-mail, phone, cell, and pager) for team members
- Meeting schedules
- Project goals and vision
- Statement of work for the project (if applicable)
- Documentation for the project, including approved technical requirements, functional specifications, design documents, user guides, and other documentation
- Test plans
- Project schedule in an electronic format readable by site visitors (If you are standardised on MS Project, and your team members are not MS Project users, then you can convert the project schedule (*.mpp files) to HTML via the Project Tool. Converting the Project files to Adobe Acrobat files will also do the trick.)
Keeping a project Web site simple is always your best bet. Think of it as an index of project information or a portal providing access into the information and content developed through the course of a development project. While the lack of pure Web design talent and resources may stop some from building a project Web site, there are GUI-based tools available that offer a word processor-like interface and templates you can adapt to your particular project Web site needs. Tools that are probably already in your software library can aid you in developing and publishing a simple project Web site. Macromedia Contribute, which offers a simple browser-based interface, includes a number of templates that you can adapt for use in developing a project Web site. The goals of this user interface are simple:
- Links to all the information types on a single page for easy reference
- Simple HTML coding and tool-agnostic design, which means that you can build a simple project Web site as long as you have a tool that can generate HTML and you can create links
