My approach to web site design allows for great flexibility. A website is built up of several fundamental components that can be implemented independently.
- What the site looks like
- How the site is structured
- What the site does
What the site looks like
The graphics, colors, text, fonts, and some other appearance considerations are often what people think of when they look at a web site.
These items can be change, all at once, if the site is designed flexibly. An example of how a site can change look quickly is the following site. All three of these images were take within two minutes on the same website by changing an external template. The underlying pages and functions of the site weren’t changed, just the appearance.
How the site is structured
The site’s architecture or structure controls what appears on what page, on what menu item, etc. The optimum structure for a site can change over time and even based on who is using the site. For example, some sites may look different to members of the public, and to registered users.
The following two pictures show the differing looks of a website when a guest and a logged on visitor (member) view the site.
My approach is to separate the structure of the site into an easily maintained set of components with the understanding that it will change over time.
What the site does
By keeping the appearance and structure of a site separate, what the site does can remain exactly the same with little risk of cosmetic changes breaking the function of a web site.
