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October 29, 2007

10 Things I Know About...

Creating A Web Site

By Paul Kastner
Co-founder of lingro.com, an online language-learning tool,
and recent graduate of WPI.

As told to Cory S. Hopkins, Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer
 

10. BUILD YOUR BACKEND ON OPEN SOURCE



It's not just better value, it's better software.

9. INTERNET EXPLORER v. FIREFOX


    
You need to make sure your site works with both browsers, and it will drive you nuts.

8. CHOOSE A TEXT EDITOR CAREFULLY



You will spend more hours than you can imagine using whichever text editor you pick to write your code in, so choose one you're comfortable with.

7. THINK LIKE A USER, NOT A PROGRAMMER


    
Designing a good user interface is about displaying options people are looking for and performing actions they expect.

6. KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID



If somebody can use Microsoft Word and doesn't understand how your program works, it's either too complex or you're explaining it wrong. Fix it.

5. PLAN FOR A BIG FINISH



The last 20 percent of getting a site ready for launch takes 80 percent of the time.

4. IT'S IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER



Visual design, from web pages to logos, should be done by an artist. If you aren't one, find one.

3. LOOK FOR GOOD VALUE



The $100 per month server we started with took 10 times as much work to set up as the $150 per month server we switched to.

2. USE A BUG TRACKING SYSTEM



Keeping a list of the tasks that need to be completed helps you stay on-track.

1. ASK FOR HELP



For any given topic, there's always someone who knows more about it than you.


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