Project Assessment

The second job of the Manager is assessment of the project. One person needs to understand how the overall project is doing so that workflow can be adjusted accordingly. With a team of developers who are each focused on a specific page, file, or program, it is extremely important to have someone who concentrates on the overall project. Without such focus, a Web can quickly degrade into little more than a collection of individual documents.

FrontPage 2003 provides the tools to make an assessment of a document and the review process. The program also provides a number of reports that can help the Manager understand how various aspects of the project are doing and how they all relate to each other.

The Reports

FrontPage 2003 provides great site-wide reports that can be used to assess the status of the site. Each report provides a different picture of the project's overall health. These reports were enhanced in FrontPage 2003, providing even more assessment capability than before, and are accessible through the Reports view.

The first report, Site Summary, acts as an overview or inventory of all the reports and lists the total number of files, pictures, unlinked files, linked files, slow pages, older files, recently added files, hyperlinks, unverified hyperlinks, broken hyperlinks, external hyperlinks, internal hyperlinks, component errors, uncompleted tasks, unused themes, stylesheet links, and dynamic Web templates. The Site Summary report appears automatically when the Reports view is accessed. Double-clicking any of the lines of the report takes you directly to the specific reports, described in the following. An example of the report can be seen in Figure 32.11.

Figure 32.11. The Site Summary reports gives a great overview of the site and contents.

graphics/32fig11.jpg

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In all reports with elements that can be defined variably (how long does a slow page take anyway), the definitions of each report can be changed when viewing the report by clicking the appropriate variable in the Reports toolbar. Although the default variables for each report often provide a valuable view of the site, consider manipulating the variables for a more specific reading of your site. The default values for some of the reports can be changed in the Reports View tab of the Options dialog box reached by selecting Tools, Options.


All Files shows all the files in the Web site in one long list. As is true with all the reports, selecting any of the column headers in the report enables you to sort by that variable.

Use this report to assess just how big your site has become. A quick glance through all the files at once can give you a powerful overview of the project and can quickly point you in the direction of immediate site needs and requirements.

Pictures obviously states the amount of pictures in your Web site. A constantly updated Web site with a lot of pictures can quickly become a cemetery for them. If your list of pictures seems a bit much, select the report and consider eliminating the ones that aren't currently serving a purpose.

Unlinked Files are files without a link to or from the file. They tend to signify either a forgotten or an incorrect link or a document that should have been deleted from the site. The Manager should take time to verify the purpose of any unlinked file and act as necessary.

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Instead of deleting files from a site, consider creating a Deleted folder in which all documents marked for deletion could be placed. This will allow you to quickly bring back a file if you realize later that you really didn't mean to delete it.


Linked Files reports on files in the Web site that can be linked from the home page. This is always an interesting report when examining site flow.

The Slow Pages report can help the Manager identify potential problem files that should either be reduced in size or be split in to two or more files.

Remember that the default for the Slow Pages report is meant to rate the site in relation to a typical modem connection. If your project is an intranet with typical LAN connectivity, this is hardly an issue.

The Older Files report shows you the oldest files in the site. A Manager might choose to remove older files as a result of the report or use the information to identify which documents need updating or archiving.

Recently Added Files shows you which elements have recently been added to the site. This is an especially powerful option for the Manager who wants to ensure that nothing has been added to the project that shouldn't be there.

If you aren't sure of the purpose or validity of a document, open or view it to get a better idea of what it is. The Modified By column lets you know who placed the item into the Web in the first place should you need to take action.

Hyperlinks reports the total amount of hyperlinks within the Web site. This can be used as an interesting metric of the size and health of your site.

Unverified Hyperlinks is a list of hyperlinks pointing to unverified files (internal or external). This report is used to determine whether you have any broken hyperlinks. Selecting the report provides you with the chance to verify the hyperlinks (if you are connected to the Internet, of course).

Broken Hyperlinks cause user frustration and inhibit site success. They often are the result of a simple typographical error but are hard to trace because the link path doesn't appear in the WYSIWYG FrontPage interface. The Broken Hyperlinks report quickly lists all broken hyperlinks and provides a quick repair option through the Edit Hyperlink dialog box reached by double-clicking the specific broken link.

Where External Hyperlinks report lists links outside your site; Internal Hyperlinks shows links inside your site. These also are a good metric of the size and scope of your site.

The Component Errors report lists problems with any FrontPage components in the site. This report prevents the Manager from having to double-check every component in the site to ensure that they work. Just because a component has been placed in a Web does not mean that it will automatically work. Most components call for additional files and variables that, if not listed, will result in the component not working.

Uncompleted Tasks is a great way to get a quick overview of what needs to be done at your site. It provides a quick reminder of what still needs to be done, whereas the regular Tasks screen lists all tasks (including those completed and those already in progress).

If you use them, the Unused Themes report can be very valuable. Themes installed at your site that aren't used simply take up disk space and slow everything else down. Ideally, the number of unused themes should be 0 as they represent only wasted disk space.

Style Sheet Links (new to FrontPage 2003) shows you all links to stylesheets (internal or external) and lets you quickly sort by the link. Use this report to make sure that all CSS links within your site are valid.

Dynamic Web Templates shows you all files in your site associated with any Dynamic Web Templates installed on your site. Use this report to make sure that no Dynamic Web Template content has been accidentally deleted.

Five other (non-site traffic) reports are available by selecting the dropdown list in the Reports toolbar and selecting the Workflow option. These reports are also useful when assessing the state of your Web site.

The Review Status report lists every file in the site, providing a column for Review Status, if any. The Reviewed By column is marked with the person who assigned the review. Use this report to determine which files still need to be reviewed before project completion.

The Assigned To report, similar to the Review Status report, lists every file in the Web, with a column for whom the document was assigned to and who assigned it.

Use this report to determine the distribution of work in the project. Sometimes a Manager might not realize that he has placed a large amount of work on a single individual, and the report can help identify such trends.

Categories lists all files in the Web, with a column provided for category assignment. You can use the report to ensure that the correct pages were assigned to the correct categories and review the category distribution.

graphics/troubleshooting_icon.jpg

If you find the default category features assigned by FrontPage to be a bit limiting in scope, see "Categories Don't 'Work' for Me" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of this chapter.


Publish lists all files, their review statuses (if any), and their publish statuses. Documents that were excluded from publication are marked as Don't Publish in the report.

It's always a good idea to review the Publish report right before you think a project is completed. A file might still need to be reviewed (or has already been reviewed and needs to be marked accordingly).

The Checkout Status reports on which documents are currently checked in and out of your Web site.



Special Edition Using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
Special Edition Using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
ISBN: 0789729547
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 443

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