Streamlining and structuring workflow (Response)

Reading the article titled “20 ways to streamline your web business ,” at aext.net by mike Smith, was an interesting educational experience which I highly recommend everybody in the business to take a look at, furthermore, the same principles explained in the article may be applied to other businesses. A lot of the points made throughout the article are very helpful, though some I can’t fully recommend for those new to the field. The first point they make in the article, for example is to have premade XHTML, and CSS files. These “templates” are a good idea once one has acquired a certain level of experience, however, in the beginning I always found myself learning new techniques by experimenting with different structures that would make coding a lot easier in the long run of the project. By these structures, I am referring to structures that would allow me to control elements based on their cascading relationships, rather than having to assign classes for my control. The advantages don’t stop there as another advantage of using unique structures for different jobs is semantic code for example. Working with semantics in mind the code will make more sense in relationship to its function. I’m just nitpicking however, for I understand creating templates is a great idea in the case there are different templates for different jobs.

The article also includes some other ideas that had not crossed my mind but which make lots business sense. The best ones I can think of out of them are the file cabinet, and project outsourcing. File cabinets will prevent the chaos one could have, especially if one deals with many clients, while outsourcing parts of a project can provide one with extra time to acquire more clients.

Other points mentioned here, which are also the focus of the article “Putting Architecture Principles into Practice,” at developer.com by Jeff Ryan, include the use of frameworks, and content management systems. The architecture article makes no mention of Frameworks (in the same sense at least), nor Content Management Systems, however it’s all about creating a structured workflow in an IT environment which are the goals of using frameworks and content management systems. It is common knowledge that one way to ensure a great architecture for project development is through the use of libraries to ensure consistency. There is no need to reinvent the wheel for those things that have already been done and work well. With the same idea in mind for most projects, a Content Management System will probably have already built in all of the features one may need to build all sorts of sites, and the same applies for a framework. Using both can cut down work time dramatically.

Streamlining Business is a great idea to get more clients, and to work more efficiently. With that said, here is the link to the article once again. I found it to be very educational…Enjoy!