As you may have noticed from my last post, I'm on a bit of an organizational kick. Today, I'm going to talk a bit about another "trick" that I use often, and that is the To-Do list.

What's so great about the To-Do list? Well, by itself, it's nothing amazing...just a list of what you need to get done. However, proper use of a To-Do list can help you to organize and prioritize your tasks.

Some people use all kinds of applications like Ta-da List or Remember The Milk to manage their lists. Personally, I've never gotten into those applications. Instead, I use a plain pad of paper and a pen. This pad of paper sits on my desk constantly and is a reminder of the things I need or want to do. And using pen is important, because then I can't just remove things that I don't feel like doing.

Now, I don't use this list for everything. If I tried to write down everything I needed or wanted to do, I don't think I'd ever stop writing. I try to keep it to my development tasks, and then I use my wife to remind me about the other stuff. Some tasks are big, and some are small, but they pretty much all fit on a single line on my To-Do list.

Then, when I sit down to work, I can decide which is most important, or what I have time for. Heck, if it's for myself, it may be what I want to finish most or what seems most fun!

Once I complete a task, I do something very simple: I cross out the task I wrote down. This gives me a sense of completion ("yay, it's done") and allows me to keep track of what's already been done and what hasn't.

I know, nothing groundbreaking, but these little notes really help me out, and they might for you. Whether you like pen and paper, like me, or decide to use an application, it's a good way to keep yourself organized.

Forgive me if I sound like I'm stating the obvious here, but I can't stress enough the importance of planning when it comes to web design. It's one thing to be working on your own sites and projects, but whenever you're working with a group of people (other programmers, analysts, or anyone else) or for an organization, you need to have a plan put together for where you're going.

What benefits do you get from having a plan?

• Things Get Put In Writing - This way you don't have to worry about what you thought you heard, or anyone changing their minds along the way (well, they can still change them, but at least you have in writing what you agreed to previously). Everyone end up on the same page then, or at least someplace close.

• You'll Already Have The Solution, You Just Need To Do The Work - Whenever I work on a site, whether it's from scratch or modifying something existing, I always like to go through the code and write down everything that needs changing. That way, if I come across something that doesn't work as I expect ahead of time, I can alter my plan instead of going back and recoding parts I've already done.

• Impact Analysis - On a similar vein, if you put together an execution plan, you can also figure out what other areas may be impacted in advance. If you find that there are a lot of interdependencies in your code, it can also help you prioritize your work.

• Progress Report - If you're reporting to someone, especially someone who's non-technical, you can show them your plan and point out how much of it is done to demonstrate your progress. Trust me, it's a lot easier than just saying "we're still working on it".

Every day, I work with a plan on my projects. It may seem like an extra step to get done before getting to work, but more often then not it will help you keep from wasting time on ill-fated development and keep your code from getting too disorganized. It's well worth your time.

Most of the time here at IJHAW, we spend our time examining how we can make our web sites more effective. However, there are things we can do which, despite all the bells and whistles we can add, can make a church website completely useless. Pardon my tongu-in-cheek humor.

• Don't Post Your Service Times - After all, why would anyone want to know when the service started?
• Don't Post Your Location/Address - This is especially ineffective for churches that do not have their own buildings.
• Don't Post Any Contact Information - If they really want to get a hold of you, they can just use the phone book, right? No chance they'd just move on to the next church website.
• Use A "My First Website" Design - No, this doesn't make it look like we're not even trying, or that we're completely behind the times.
• Write About What Your Church Won't Stand For - Nothing oozes love like singling out all the things your church hates.
• Have Broken Links - Because people can just look at the Status Bar and figure out where the link was supposed to go.
• Have Music Playing In The Background - If they don't like the same music you do, then you don't want them at your church anyway.
• Don't Keep Your Website Content Up-to-Date - Surely, visitors will realize that you just don't have the time to get them information.
• Don't Even Bother Having A Website - We like our members like we like our Senators, over 30!

Remember all the little things that you look for in a website when putting your site together. While the above list was meant to be funny, I have seen real cases of each! Making sure you take care of all the details will help to ensure that your website is a more effective tool for your church.