Review the project management process and identify successful and unsuccessful choices made and decisions taken

Looking over the project which I (Mohammed), Sam and Rami undertook did not pan out as how we interpreted it. Looking over our project plans I believe that tasks that we had carried out for the project partially some tasks that were carried out ran over the time span allocated that we set on the project plan. Even though sticking to the dates on all tasks set, I wasn’t able to stick to some of the tasks time span stated on the project plan. This meant that some tasks had to be rushed in order to keep on track or when running over, keeping the overtime to a minimum as possible. The reason why some task took more time to complete was due to the fact that there was a large quantity of work such as the website not being at its best. The main problem that had occurred in the project was that Rami webpages that he create didn’t meet the standard of a website specifically he used lorem ipsum which meant that there was no information on his pages about our site which lead to the user not have a clear message being conveyed to them. Because of this the group had to wait a week because of half term to do presentation to the client which caused a lot of overtime for this task of presentation to client. Due of the fact of time management the webpages created were kept very basic so we could keep to the timing set on the project plan which is one of task that we met. Regarding the successful that went well with the project management part of the project was that the group was able to complete the project on time according to the project plan even though with some tasks we did not completed on time and over ran a bit. Other successful things the well was that we got feedback from our client and peers, because of this it enabled us to be able to get idea of how to improve our webpages. Another successful thing that went well in the project was that the group I (Mohammed, Sam and Rami) all worked as a, there were lots of tasks to be done at specific times and we got them complete such as the interim reviews and designs.

Tools Used

Introduction

There were many tools and techniques available for use that could be used to create a fully functioning website. I however used two main tools in the creation of our website; these consisted of Komodo Edit 7.0 and Paint.Net mainly. By using these tools I was able to create my webpages and make it work and interact with each other.

Komodo Edit

Komodo Edit is a webpage code editor tool what allows for html (in my webpage’s html 5 was used) coding to be written to create a website page or even a website, in addition CSS coding and meta tagging can be written in this tool as well which will help describe and implement the presentation of the web pages or website. As komodo edit allowed me to create my webpages there were series of techniques that enabled me to this, in particular using the tagging text files i.e. HTML, CSS and meta tagging. By using tagged text files in komodo edit I was able to put various elements in to my webpages theses consisted of forms, images, text, paragraphs and lists. In addition I was able to create the layout of my webpages via using special tagging text called “div classes” and div id” which was used in my webpages which could also be used with the layout and declare the various elements properties on the webpages such as images.

Using these div tags I was able to create a header, navigation bar, content container and footer, also can be used if want to edit properties of various elements such as images to a specific size. In doing this I was able to work one parts of the webpage at a time which made it easier to get through the implementation of the website which was made possible by komodo edit as its one big sheet and can start wherever I wanted to do. Also as this special technique is used, it was also used to edit the properties of the element via CSS for instance in my index webpage I have an image and I used the special technique of a div tag to give the image a class which made a its own unique element and with CSS I was able to edit the width, the height and padding of it to make it smaller. Once finishing all these different areas using this technique I could use komodo edit to put it all together on one page to make it work together. In doing this, komodo edit provided me a logical technique in making my webpages in the sense of one after the other and building up to a complete set of webpage’s.

HTML (Hypertext Mark-Up Language) was used in the komodo edit tool as a technique to create what will be on the actual webpage’s. The types of elements that were on the HTML were text, images, forms, lists and tables. For these elements to work on a HTML they must have special text with it to be classed as elements my the html, for example to class a bunch of text I start of with the special text of ‘<p>’ and end it with ‘</p> by doing this I have told the html that the bunch of text is classes as a paragraph which can be further formatted though the CSS.

CSS (cascading style sheet) was used in the komodo edit tool as a technique to control the formatting of my webpage’s. For example I was able and used special text provided to me by komodo edit when coding the CSS to edit various elements of the webpage. For instance by using CSS coding on a header of my webpage’s I was able to make the header much larger then it was originally by using special text such as ‘font-size’ to enlarge the size of the text and also use the special text of ‘font-family’ to make the text of the hear in a particular style which was Veranda. My HTML was linked to my CSS via a meta tag which ensured my webpage would be formatted by the CSS so when preview I could see what my website will look like with my CSS I created formatting it. My CSS code was written in a separate file, this was due to it making formatting much easier as all of it is done in one location making it simpler to portray a house style though out my webpage’s I have created. When making the site in komodo edit I sometimes needed to alter it for instance a change in the sizing of an image or positioning of it, a change would need to b made in the CSS rather than several changes to the HTML which would be hard to locate. 

Paint.Net

Paint.Net is an image creator and editor tool which allowed me to create various image from scratch for my web pages and edit certain images to incorporate into my webpages. In my webpages images were created to make specific buttons for certain areas of each of the webpages I was creating. For instance in the Paint.Net tool I made buttons for the product page specifically I made a ‘Add to Basket’ button for the page, in another page such as the shopping cart page one button I created was a ‘Delete’ button which was used to allow users to get rid of a product if they didn’t want it. Also I had an image of a backscratcher which I got off the internet and I imported it into Paint.Net and edit it to my preferences.  Being able to use this software tool I was able to create images and edit images successfully, also this software tools provided me special techniques that I could use and follow to make and edit images successful and to my liking for the webpage’s.

Testing

As a group we sat down together to test each other’s webpages to make sure they were all working as they should be. I (Mohammed) was testing Sam’s, Rami was testing mine (Mohammed) and Sam was testing Rami’s. From this test we all got back positive feedback with some few points on what we could fix up. After testing Sam’s webpages I noticed certain images specifically the product image wasn’t loading up. This wasn’t a major problem to deal with as Sam had made a mistake in the code for the image, it was a matter of just correcting it by changing the spelling of the code which made the image load up.

Here shows me test and the image isn't loading

I find that the destination foldername is wrong and needs to be changes by Sam

Sam changed the the name to the correct folder name

Because of the change the image now appears due to the mistake I found in the testing of it

Week 18

Week: 30 April 2012 - 6 May 2012

This week we continued in creating our website for them to be completed and tested successfully by the 18/05/2012 (new deadline date, original date was 11/05/2012). However during this week I was told that I had an extension due to the other group being behinds meaning I have more time to complete my website. Because of this it had affected my project plan in the sense that I to change the dates to meet the planning finishing date of the project. Some examples of changes I made was that I changes the Presetation to client to the 25/05/2012. Changing the date of the Presentation to Client also mean that other tasks dates were changed even the the finish date. When the change to the presentation to the client the finished date went over about a month of the original finish date, to get it back to the original date I reduced the time to complete the Evaulation from 11 days to 5 days. THis has been a significant cut which will make it tight to complete this but I have confidence that I can complpete it on time. Progress wise I was on track to meet the original dates which means if I meet this original dates I will have more time to do extra checks on my webpage and complete other tasks.


To see the second changes to my project plan  due to certain circumstances. Click here

Week 17

Week: 23 April 2012 - 29 April 2012

This week we have continued to create our website and I feel that I am making good progress in making the website. I am making good progress as I feel that I have a majority of the site done, this is a good point as the timing of it will work well with my project plan. This is due to as will me finishing it off well before the planned deadline for implementation. Also this week I have received my M6 back and fortunately I have passed this meaning extra time wouldn't be needed to correct which could affect my website production in the scene of not having enough time.

Week 16

Week: 16 April 2012 - 22 April 2012


This week we have returned to college from the Easter holidays. We continued to create the website while at the same time we had submitted the M6 criteria to our teacher for it to be marked and ticked off. Also we were thought how to create forms in our site, i was able to successfully make a log in form which i can use in my website and make choices for the registration part of site. Looking over my project plan I am up to date as I am well before the planned deadline i have set.

Interim Review

Interim Review

To view the actual Interim Review notes where everything was noted down click here

As a group Me (Mohammed) Rami and Sam sat together as a group for about fifteen to twenty minutes for an interim review. By doing this we were able to get up to date of what going on in the project in terms of our progress, meeting deadlines and any problems we have faced. In doing this we have a better understand of where we are up to in the project and stuff that needs to be undertaken as well as understand what is done in correlation with our progress. We first of all went over all of our progress through the duration of the project from the start of the project. The sort of points that we got back from us was that we were generally up to date and haven’t fallen behind with reference to our project plan. In addition by being up to date we had all the design completed on time before the designated time as stated in the interim review bullet points this included our completed 5 initial and 5 final wireframes. However a problem we encountered was that Sam wasn’t in one day which meant we could tell him a feature we wanted to add into out site. On the other hand this worked out not to be such a big problem as it was first though out to be, this because we were able to phone up Sam and let him know what we wanted to add to our site. From this review we all decided that we will have another review session before our presentation to client. If there are any more things we need to work on we will complete it on the second review day so its ready for the presentation.

Week 15

Week: 9 April 2012 - 15 April 2012


This is the second and final week of the Easter holidays and I am still continuing in creating my site and I feel i am making good progress as I haven't fallen behind when looking over my project plan. In addition I have done a write up of the group interim review which too place on 6/04/2012, in doing this I have gained a greater insight of how the group is progressing up to this point in the project and future task that need to be undertaken. I did encounter a small problem which was that i could not put my interim review notes and write up on blogger, this is because blogger wasn't loading up. However this wasn't such a big problem as i waited for a couple of days and then i uploaded the interim review to to my blogger.

Week 14

Week: 2 April 2012 - 8 April 2012

I have started to create my website from scratch. This was made possible as i have the appropiate package in the form of komodo edit to create the actual website. This week I have manged to make the template of the webpages which gives me clear vision of how the web pages look like.

At the same time on the 06/04/2012 we met as a group to have a planned interim review that we needed to do, this is where we checked our progress at the moment to see if we are up to date and where we should be in the future of the project. We also in this interim review set down "goals" that we wanted to achieve so when we do another interim review which is the day before presentation. Because of this I had made changes to my project plan specifically I had taken a day off the planned testing and using that day for a second interim review in order for us to have a chance to review and discuss what has happened. In doing this I have met a deadline stated clearly displayed on the project plan displaying I have a met a deadline that cross referenced my project plan. Which demonstrable me meeting s review date when cross referenced with my project plan. When checking this week to my project plan i can see i am up to date and on track to meet the finish date I have planned for the implementation of the website.In doing this I have met a deadline which I have set. When looking at my project plan I am able to see that i am on track to meet my deadline for the implementation which is a good thing as I haven't fallen behind menaing im not rushing things. 

Week 13

Week: 26 March 2012 - 1 April 2012


The week we finished off completing out practice three column webpage, I was able to come up with a very professional looking website which gave me encouragement that I have  what it takes to make a successful and professional looking website. After this I started straight away in implementing my real website. My progess is again all good and on track to meet dealines that I have set in the project plan.


Click here to see the changes I have made on my project plan.