Once the design phase is complete, and the design frozen, the process moves forward into the development and programming phases. It is important to carefully review and make all necessary changes before signing off and freezing the design because it is difficult and costly to go back once development and programming begin. It is important to communicate during this programming implementation phase to maximize results and minimize scope creep. For reference, scope creep occurs when the scope of a project expands beyond what was originally discussed and agreed upon. As issues arise, we guide you through the decision making process, explain terminology, answer questions, and help with best practices that we have learned through experience. Our strength is our understanding of CFWebstore and the underlying technologies and methodologies enough to know what is possible, and offer value-added suggestions as to the best way to proceed.
The programming phase always begins by installing the default CFWebstore files onto the server under the specified domain. This ensures that we are working with the most current version of CFWebstore and have all of the necessary files to run the system. The next step is to begin slicing up the design templates crated during the design phase and overlaying them on top of the default cfwebstore template files. This maintains the existing functionality while changing the look and feel to what has been specified. Once the default logo, colors, and graphics are adjusted, we move onto the wireframe detail. Certain pages are removed, others are added, and the default navigation with appropriate hyperlinks is developed. If a dynamic header or side menu was specified in the design phase, it is developed and installed at this point in the programming. Once these items are complete, the website and database has been setup on the server, the default cfwebstore system has been loaded onto the domain, the website logo, color palette, and graphics have replaced the CFWebstore defaults, the necessary inner pages have been added and the unnecessary inner pages removed base on the wireframe layout, and finally the dynamic header or side bar menu will have been added if it was called for.
The next part of programming addresses any minor functional changes required by adding or modifying code on the respective template files. We attempt to keep code modifications to a minimum because CFWebstore is continually updating the system and putting out new versions. Modifying the base code makes upgrades more difficult and increases the chance of problems occurring during the upgrade process. However, we are able to plan, quote and execute custom functionality requests for clients who have legitimate and specific business requirements that do not fit the standard CFWebstore functionality and can budget for the cost of that custom programming.
Finally, in order to reduce the need for custom programming by individual clients, we frequently monitor customer requests and make not of those requests that seem to be recurring and have a leigitmate business purpose that can extend across multiple industries. In these situations, we review the need and carefully plan out both the development and implementation of what we term an ‘Add-On Module’ for the CFWebstore system. By standardizing and doing the development work upfront on the ‘Add-On Module’ we are able to share the cost among several customers, reduce implementation time, and manage which modules different websites are utilizing for reference during CFWebstore upgrades. To see a list of our current ‘Add-On Modules’, their respective descriptions click on the links below.
Any time programming is done, we review and analyze the site to determine final adjustments / corrections that need to be made, and test to verify everything is functioning properly.