About 10 years ago, I had a friend email me wanting to know what it takes to build a website. I fired off about 15 questions and went about my way because nothing came of that project. But a kernal of an idea was there so I fished that email out of my Sent items. This was the beginning of a questionnaire I could use. I’ve been using and refining it since then.

I can tell from the permalinks that this article appeared last year on Smashing Magazine but it was highlighted recently. It got me thinking about my little questionnaire and how it stacks up against others. Actually, I wouldn’t call it little. It’s four pages.

I found this article endlessly helpful in my quest to write things down. Especially because, as crazy as it seems, given my propensity to write everything down, I DO NOT HAVE A GO-LIVE list. This is crazy when you think about how long I’ve been doing this.

My new Go-Live list will be different than it would have been had I started it earlier. Today it will include a whole section on how to move a WordPress site from a test folder to the live folder. It’s actually pretty easy and well documented in the WP Codex:

1. Backing Up Your Database
2. Moving WordPress

I wasn’t blogging but I was busy installing WordPress as a CMS on every job I’ve done over the past nine months. I continue to refine my technique. The most fun has been creative use of CSS to make the site look like anything I want while still using the WordPress structure.

One thing I’ve started to do on every job is sign the client up for a WordPress.com account so that I can use the API. I had thought to use my API but changed my mind. I’d like to keep that separate. I’d be interested to know how others handle comment spam if not with Akismet (for which an API is required).