FAO Web guide: 5.4 Define technical implementation

Web Guide home 1. Introduction 2. Web publishing basics 3. Planning 4. Content collection 5. Design 6. Construction 7. Testing 8. Launch 9. Maintenance 10. Writing for the Web Resources 1.1 FAO and the Internet: What is an FAO Web site? 1.2 Quality criteria of Web sites 1.3 An introduction to Web accessibility at FAO 1.4 Electronic publishing at FAO 2.1 Content quality 2.2 Roles in Web publishing 2.3 Web site quality clearance and continuity 2.4 Policy and legal matters 2.5 Language coverage policy 2.6 Web site traffic monitoring 2.7 Static and dynamic content 2.8 Really Simple Syndication (RSS) 2.9 Social Media Guidelines 2.10 Current server structure at FAO 3.1 What and (who) is the site for and what is it about?3.2 Define the Web site subject scope 3.3 Define your audience 3.4 Identify resources 3.5 How to track and share planning decisions 4.1 Developing a content inventory 4.2 FAO content repositories 4.3 Metadata 5.1 Review user needs 5.2 Defining information architecture 5.3 Prepare interface design 5.4 Define technical implementation 5.5 Tracking design implementation 6.1 Management of files/naming 6.2 HTML and coding 6.3 Use of style sheets 6.4 Graphics 6.5 Conversion of electronic documents 6.6 Language encoding 6.7 Link management 6.8 Printable pages 6.9 Providing access to search 6.10 Domains, URLs and aliases 6.11 Tools 7.1 Testing approaches 7.2 How to use the test environment 8.1 Launch checklist 8.2 Promotion 9.1 Quality assurance and routine checking 9.2 Update procedures for Web sites 9.3 Web usage analysis 9.4 Evaluation of Web sites 10.1 Writing a page of text 10.2 Organizing your text on the page 10.3 How to optimize content for search engines 10.4 How to write feedback, error messages 10.5 Quotations 10.6 Non-discriminatory language Checklists Acronyms Newsletter Guidelines Policies Procedures Web resources Tag cloud Contacts 2.3a Data ownership 2.3b Regulation of access to servers 2.3c Clearance of Web sites by OCP 2.4a Country names, flags and maps 2.4b The fao.org domain, subdomains and root directories 2.4c Use of FAO emblem and logos 2.4d Politically sensitive material 2.6a FAO Web sites: the user perspective 2.6b How to gather user information: user research 2.6c Designing for the user 2.6d Page size and downloading 2.7a Static content 2.7b Dynamic content 2.7c Content Management Systems (CMS) 2.9a FAO and Facebook 2.9b FAO and Flickr 2.9c FAO and Google+2.9d FAO and LinkedIn 2.9e FAO and SlideShare 2.9f FAO and Twitter 2.9g FAO and Wikipedia 2.9h FAO and YouTube 4.3a What is metadata?4.3b Why embed metadata in Web pages?4.3c How to embed basic metadata in the HTML head section 4.3d How to create or improve current metadata 4.3e FAO standards for encoded metadata 4.3f Metadata, search engines and their robots 5.2a Identify Web pages and subject categories 5.2b Define navigation 5.2c Define metadata and search requirements 5.3a Corporate visual identity 5.3b Web site design usability principles 6.1a How to use the FTP server 6.2a HTML and XHTML 6.2b Browser compatibility 6.2c New windows and pop-ups 6.2d JavaScript 6.2e HTML title and metadata tags 6.3a CSS and Web accessibility 6.3b Cascading Style sheets (CSS) and browser compatibility 6.4a Graphic formats 6.4b Use of images on the Web 6.4c Photos 6.5a Converting Word documents into PDF 6.6a Guidelines for language encoding 6.6b Multilingual interfaces 6.7a Linking files across languages 6.7b Links to the FAO home page, FAO copyright and AskFAO 6.7c Absolute and relative links 6.7d Avoid spamming on e-mail addresses 6.8a How to prepare print-safe Web pages using CSS 6.8b Other ways of preparing print-safe Web pages 6.11a Recommended editing tools for Web site construction 6.11b Graphics, document and conversion tools 9.1a Maintaining quality 9.1b Content freshness
	Web Guide > webguide > 5. Design > 5.4 Define technical implementation
	5.4 Define technical implementation Guideline At FAO, there are a number of ways of producing Web sites using different technologies and tools based on approved standards. Obviously, the choice depends on the type of site you are creating (static, dynamic or hybrid) and the kind of information you want to display (text, maps, statistics, photos etc.). See 2.7 Static and dynamic content for the differences between static, dynamic and hybrid sites. Selecting the option most suitable for your requirements and subject matter is the key to successful information management and Web publishing. As a follow-up, this section provides information on the types of technology and tools that can be used to build a Web site (static pages, static pages with dynamic elements, dynamic, document/workflow management systems and customized databases). For a full glossary of additional Web site editing tools, see 6.11 Tools. HTML editing tools Web sites are often built and maintained using HTML editing tools. The most well known commercial HTML editing tools at FAO are Macromedia's DreamWeaver and HomeSite. For example, the Technical Cooperation Department Web sites were built using HTML editing tools. To use these tools, specialized HTML coding knowledge is required. For this reason, consultants are normally contracted to build Web sites using these types of tools. Some companies also provide online CMS or frameworks for building web sites (e.g. Google Site, or many others). We highly discourage their use because of several constraint: adverts may be inserted unless a subscription fee paid, the copyright policy may preclude ownership of the content, and it would be cumbersome to copy such system under the FAO servers. Do you know about... Web Content Management Systems? Content management is normally referred to as the processes and workflows involved in organizing, categorizing and structuring information resources so that they can be stored, published, and reused in multiple ways. A content management system (CMS) is used to collect, manage and publish content. When related to the World Wide Web: Web Content Management (WCM) is the process of creating, categorizing, managing, delivering and storing content for the Web. A good example of this kind of Web Content Management System at FAO is TYPO3, which is the CMS supported by CIO.	See also in the guide 2.7 Static and dynamic content 4.4 Metadata 6.12 Tools