The Role of the Developer

As the world of Web design moves from simple text and graphics to interactive multimedia, not only does the need for a team-based approach to Web design become obvious, but it also becomes necessary. Very few people can provide all the skills necessary to produce an effective Web site. Those who think that they can tend to have a higher opinion of themselves than they probably should.

The Developer in a collaborative project could be a Mac user accessing the site with Dreamweaver, a programmer accessing the site with a version of Microsoft Visual InterDev, or a technical writer who only feels safe using Microsoft Word. Sure, the Developer might have the same system you do (it sure makes communication and training easier), but it's not always so. Sometimes the Developer might be using a third-party development tool instead. Yes, the development process can get that complicated.

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If you find that working with multiple site development products tend to wreck havoc on elements of your site, see "Other Products Mess Things Up" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of this chapter.


The Developer can use the same tools provided to the Manager to make his daily job a little more productive. As you will see here, the Tasks view and reporting features are as useful to the Developer as they are to the Manager.

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Although Microsoft Visual InterDev and previous versions of FrontPage (including the Macintosh version) can access a FrontPage Web, they will not be capable of making full use of all the features provided by this release of the program. Be aware of exactly which options are available to team members who aren't using FrontPage 2003.


The Tasks View

The most powerful tool for the Developer is the Tasks view. It lets the Developer quickly check the site for a list of any tasks that might be assigned to him and react accordingly. Instead of task meetings or waiting for an email note with the work for the day, a Developer can go directly to the Web to see what is required/expected of him in the project.

Assigned tasks also can be generic in nature, not necessarily assigned to a particular individual. The smaller the team, the more likely a Developer will wear multiple hats. This is provided for in the program.

When the Developer double-clicks the task, the Task Details dialog box opens, giving all the specifics for the task. From there, the Developer can click Start Task to open the document so the work can be performed. When the Developer closes the document, FrontPage automatically asks whether he wants the task to be marked as completed. If the user says yes, the Tasks view will list it as such. If the user says no, the Tasks view will list the task as In Progress. See Figure 32.12 for an example of the Task Details dialog box.

Figure 32.12. The Task Details dialog box shows the Developer exactly what is expected of him in the collaborative process.

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Reporting

The Developer also can use a number of the reports in the Reports view to determine which tasks are expected from him.

If the Developer is in charge of elements of the site specific to a report, he can select the report from the list to determine site requirements and individual action. For example, a developer in charge of making sure that the site loads quickly can select the Slow Pages report to determine which pages require action.

Developers should understand which of the reports apply to their specific tasks and should be trained in how to view the reports and react appropriately. Any Manager can quickly show their Developers how to select the report from the list and guide them in the appropriate action items.

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Site reports are a new concept in Web design. Experienced developers might not immediately recognize their purpose in the development process or the extra power these reports provide. It is the job of the Manager to communicate the benefits of site reporting to everyone involved in the project.


Developers Not Using FrontPage

You might be faced with developers on the team who aren't using FrontPage. Although this provides an additional level of complexity, it is not an impossible problem to solve.

The key to developers working in a FrontPage Web without FrontPage is the program's commitment to 100% HTML preservation. In other words, if a document is edited by a third-party program, FrontPage will not re-edit the HTML to make it work inside the system. A developer could edit a page inside a Web with any program (including Notepad) and expect it to remain as edited.

If development work in a FrontPage Web is going to be done without FrontPage as the proprietary editor, you should use the Recalculate Hyperlinks option on a regular basis by selecting the option from the Tools menu. Recalculating hyperlinks makes FrontPage aware of all the files in the Web so that it can act and report accordingly.

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You do not want to recalculate hyperlinks when any part of the site is being edited by any of the developers because it might not provide a complete view of the 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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