FirstTunes 9 - Build Season Week 4 - Team Web Design
I had the awesome opportunity to talk to Alumnist Christ Stolte to discuss everything about making a sucsesfull team website for the web design competition.
We went over topics such as design, layout, content, as well as doing a good job for coding it. It was a good conversation we had that will be a great resource for those putting there final touches on the website for the upcoming due date.
You can check out this episode here!
We are applying for the website award for the second time in the history of our team. I’m using Joomla, as I don’t have enough time to build a website with a GUI backend. I did this so that mentors and students could work on the website after I graduate.
what do you think the judges will think when they see Joomla?
I can speak as one of the lead website judges for the SPBLI Regional;
The judging rubric clearly puts judgement on whether the website is original code or not. This is the reason that often times a simpler looking HTML site beats out complex CMS site, such as Joomla sites. That being said, I encourage you to try to put together as much original coding as you can (though I understand the deadline is just around the corner), but if you are learning something and making a product that you are proud of through Joomla, stick with it. Any website is better than no website, and will proove to be a valuable marketing and communication tool for your team.
More than 50% of all FIRST teams with websites, are made through Content Management Systems such as Joomla or Wordpress. These sites make up probably 10% of Regional Website Winners, but almost all earn the “Website of Excellence” award signifying their achievement of the judging criteria. This is still a huge honor that you can boast as a web/business team.
So finally to answer your question directly…Your idea is a good one for the long term usability of the site and maintainance as a team, but on the short term may limit your ability to win the top website honors.
Ultimately, these numbers are just past trends, and there is no predicting the results that may come out of this years Website winners. The Internet is an ever evolving technology and so judges are constantly looking for different things from year to year. The one thing that is garaunteed is that you ultimatly want to build a site that is perfect for your team, and from the sounds of it, Joomla maybe appropriate until more web students/mentors join the team.
Hope that helps. Feel free to send a pm if you have any other questions. I am also a website mentor for a team in the DC area, and would be glad to help as I can.