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Project Phase out |
The project was phased-out into six phases, as below:
- Phase 1: Observation Time Allotted: 1.5 weeks
To begin with, a total of twenty-three different, local and international, university websites were selected randomly by the Webmaster and the senior year Webteam members. All the members of the GIKI Webteam were then asked to ‘research’, both individually and combined in teams, through the respectively divided websites. The members were to use observation from both- their respective technical perspectives and a general lay-man perspective; and thereby ‘pick up’ the good/bad, pros/cons, must-haves/leave-outs in ample detail.
In the second portion of this phase, the same activity was then asked to be carried out by all members of the Webteam, but this time, on the then-current GIKI Website - v30.3. This was to give all the members a thorough inside-out perspective of the GIKI website itself.
- Phase 2:
Understanding and Requirements Analysis
Time Invested: 15 work-hours
On completion of the observation phase, followed the much important and in-detail- the multiple white-board sessions. The entire team would gather in the Multimedia Lab, FCSE, and all personal observations jotted down in Phase 1 would then be discussed in detail and various results and conclusions derived. Ideas, comments and suggestions were free to flow in. It was only after a good number of work-hours of much discussion, the team realized the need to simplify home page navigation, expand information for key user groups, and improve the visual and functional presentation of information. We were thereby successful in developing the new sitemap of the GIKI website. It seemed cool, and we were confident in it!
In parallel, much requirement analysis was carried on the various required textual and pictorial content was also carried out. We realized the dire need for updating textual information and for including, besides the general-campus pictorial content, three additional segments of coverage:
- Outside-the-campus domain (and hence the mountain-hike plans, dam visits etc)
- On-spot ‘Nature’ shots (and hence the days of having fun outdoors in all weathers etc)
- On-campus crowd & activity coverage (and hence attending various student events etc
- Phase 3: Design Time Invested: 5 work-hours
With the fresh and new sitemap in hand, the design team started sketching & drawing the to-be design of the new website. All members of the Webteam were asked to suggest preferred color schemes for the new website.
After much debate amongst ourselves and a lot of consultation from the previous GIKI Webmasters so as to gain from their experience, we, finally, had our design complete. :)
- Phase 4: Server Plan out Time Invested: 2 weeks
Before implementation could actually kick-off, came the important phase of deploying a new, needed server machine. Based on detailed statistical usage and performance analysis of the previous server and all the requirements of the upcoming website, a full-fledged report, compiled by the GIKI Webteam requesting provision for a new appropriate server machine, was officially presented to the GIKI administration and concerned members of the Faculty of Computer Sciences and Engineering. Upon duly reviewing and without much delay the GIKI administration graciously equipped the Webteam with a powerful and high-performance Quad Core Server machine for the upcoming website.
From all the essential LAMP deployments & RAID configurations on our new powerful and in-house Linux-based server, to performance optimization and security management for the website, work was completed in quick succession. The Webteam was ready to begin work on the upcoming website.
- Phase 5: Implementation Time Invested: ∞ work-hours
The Implementation phase, in the most straightforward of words, was truly a countless number of hours invested by the eight very students of the GIKI Webteam for the implementation of their respective work-domains. <Full stop>
- Phase 6: Testing Time Allotted: 13 days
With the website, in essence, now all complete, the GIKI Webteam has launched the GIKI website v2.4 (Beta) on the 17th March, 2008.
This site is currently in Beta mode. That means that we're still in the process of refining the site, and you can expect to see changes from time to time. We are especially interested in comments that can help guide our decisions about improvements.
If you have questions, comments or suggestions about the site, please either use the form in the Comments & Suggestions section, or email us, or drop a message on #Webteam on the mIRC.
