Scratch

I have seen many great ideas here on the forums but not many of the projects succeed sadly. Either because the team wasn't organized, or the coding wasn't very flexible. Which is usually because the planning wasn't done very well, if there was any planning. So I'm going to make a little tutorial.

---- Planning Stage ----

First Step
What is your project going to be? A game, website, utility? What features do you want in it? A battle arena, login system, flexibility?

Find out everything you want in the project and make a list of it. For a game, design the plot as well.

Second Step
Design the layout and looks of the project.

You want to make the layout as simple as possible. The looks should be based on the feeling of the project. Make sure the colors blend well.

Third Step
Design the usage.

Decide how the client should control their environment. In a game, will you use the keyboard to control the character, or the mouse? What keys will do what? For a website, what web pages will lead where?

Fourth Step
Design the mechanics.

Figure out how everything internally will work. For a website, will you have a PHP page that loads global content? Like the navigation? For a game, will the character and the weapon be one object or two? Will they alternate between the two? Choose all the variables that may be needed. Remember to add security if needed. (A website needs security!)

Fifth Step
Organize!

Divide everything into pieces and assign priorities to each of them. Make sure the things required by other pieces are set as higher priorities. Like a login system for a website or multiplayer game.

Sixth Step
Check everything to make sure it's correct and fix any mistakes or add stuff that has been left out. Have someone unrelated to the project look over it and encourage them to ask questions. That way you can find all the stuff the user won't understand.

---- Code it! ----
First Step
Templates!

Make template code for things you will use multiple times. Make the code simple. If you have each page unique to another, it will become confusing for the user to navigate. For a website, make sure you have a template page that has all the essentials needed. Technical Section (MySQL), Header Section (Navigation, etc), Content Section, and Footer Section (Copyright, etc).

Second Step
Get priorities pieces done.

Nothing will get done if the priorities aren't done first.    Make sure the coding follows the style set up in Step Four of the Planning stage. If it doesn't, either fix the code or fix the mechanics.

Third Step
Go from higher priorities to lower priorities.

Once again. Make sure it follows the mechanics designed earlier. If anyone on the team doesn't follow the mechanics, that part of the project will fall apart (maybe even the entire project depending on the piece being worked on).

---- Releasing The Project! ----
First Step
Test the project!

Get a bunch of friends and the project team to test the project. If the friends don't ask any questions on how to do something (like "How do I shoot?" for a game) then you are ready to release the project.

Second Step
Advertise.

I am actually a failure advertiser. So I don't know how this would be done. Put a link in your signature? Maybe ask a couple friends to put it in their signature or in one of their projects? Suspense seems to work just as well. Like make a thread for your project which talks about what the project will be and post the status of the project while it's being made. Then when you release it, many people who are following the project will try it out as soon as it's released.

Third Step
Support!

You need to support everyone who tries the project. If they have problems, guide them through then figure out a way to make it simpler to do that part in the coding or make a tutorial on how to do it.

---- Some Useful Tools ----
http://bubbl.us/ is a good place for designing and organizing your project. Here is an example:

Open Mind by Daffy22, is also some software like Bubbl.us, but it was created by a fellow Scratcher! Both have the same idea in mind.

---- End Of Tutorial ----

Well. That's most of it. Any suggestions, thoughts, criticism?

Last edited by Magnie (2012-04-16 16:34:51)