I came across interesting article discussing 7 tips for designing and maintaining a large site. When it comes to growing web site, maintainability is probably the biggest issue. That’s why it is good to keep straight focus on it right from the beginning. Article nicely discusses various techniques from the development point of view. There are however few interesting facts I would like to share from the web site management point of view.
From this side it is very important to have the right content management system. CMS should allow you to easily add new pages, new content and update it when needed. CMS should handle various types of content e.g. texts, pictures, products etc. But most important is extendibility. It should be easy to add new type of content onto your site. Ability of CMS to manage site’s content should not be limited to type of the content you already have. It should be easy to add another format if needed. (e.g. you want to add new kind of product with completely different features as those you already have). “typevista” for example uses plug-and-play content models, system which makes it is easy to create new model if needed.
Second, design for scalability is important. Even if you have good CMS, pay attention to right information architecture and site structure. It is crucial to know where new pages will go, how they will interact and relate to other pages and what is the role of content on these pages.
There are many more things on my mind, but I will leave them for now so you don’t get overwhelmed. If you feel a bit technician read the above mentioned article ;).
