Open Cloud

Open Cloud - homepage

Website: opencloud.com (site has since been redesigned) - view screenshot

Size: 10 template pages which I then used to create the whole site of approx 80 pages

My professional status: employee at Shift

Website client: Open Cloud

Dates: August 2006

Categories: Front-end developer, Writing for the web, Content-loader, CSS-based layout, Dreamweaver templates, Medium sites

Brief: to build a website for Open Cloud, following a design provided by the company. The website was created using Dreamweaver's template functionality, so that the client (who had some knowledge of basic HTML and CSS) would be able to edit the site.

I partially content-loaded the site for the client before it went live, and handed it over to him to finish, providing technical support throughout this process.

My responsibilities included:

  • Development of Dreamweaver templates in CSS and HTML 4.01 Transitional
  • Liaison with the client in order to achieve all their aims for the site, and to work through a range of technical and implementation issues with them
  • Hand-coding in HTML 4.01 Transitional to a reasonable level of accessibility, following NZ e-government Guidelines
  • Extensive testing of the site at all stages of the development process, ensuring complete consistency across a wide range of browsers and platforms
  • Ensuring that every page and stylesheet had been validated using the W3C Markup Validation Service and that it conformed to HTML 4.01 Transitional requirements
  • Partial content-loading of the site before handing it over to the client to finish
  • Technical support and training for the client while he was completing the content-loading of the site prior to go-live.

It's always interesting building a site that has been designed outside Shift - it gives you a new perspective. There were a number of layout challenges with the design, which I always enjoy. I built the site using Dreamweaver templates so that the client could edit the site later, and worked pretty closely with him on this project. Part of my role was to help him get to grips with the structure and layout of the site so that he could finish off the content-loading.