Marvel Internet Group blog

The sketches were done and we were itching to get started with the backend HTML mock-ups in stage 4.

Because we have been involved in the ‘setting up the project’ stage so many times, we find it quick and easy. I will leave to more technical details for Paul to cover shortly, but here is what I needed to do:

Step 1 – Buy a domains, certificate and hosting
I headed over to webhostingmarvel.com (shameless plug) and ordered a domain name, secure certificate and some US virtual dedicated hosting. It just so happened I had a 100% discount code I will consider moving the site to a fully dedicated server before launch, in the meantime the VPS will be fine.

Step 2 – Setup email
10mins later the hosting was setup and domain propagated. I headed straight for the Google Apps signup page. I won’t get started on why I love Google Apps in this post, let’s just say it allows me to forget about the dramas associated with standard email accounts and support ticket systems. For now the free addition will do. If we manage to fill a 7.2gig email box with support requests, shelling out $50/y for a Google Apps premium account will be the least of our worries!

Step 3 – Install Live help and mailing list software
I had already made the decision to exclude contact phone numbers from the JustRosters website. This is not because we are a dodgy company, I just think Live Help is faster and offers more accountability (a transcript of every issue) compared to a phone call. We can also monitor the Live Help from home so our support hours become almost 24/7! Our live help system of choice is Livezilla. It takes an hour or so to setup but it is free and has proven very robust.

Our mailing list software of choice is Pommo. Again, free, and very easy to setup. I got Alan to throw a subscribe box on the JustRoster’s homepage in case anyone actually reads this blog and wants a 6months free trial when we launch (hint, hint).

Step 4 – Build a shared doc with usernames / passwords
I created a new Google Doc and pasted in FTP, DB, Google Apps details etc. This doc is then shared with Paul (lead developer) and Alan (lead designer). If we need to add more staff at a later date, I will create separate documents to share with them. While having usernames and passwords pasted in plain text does not sound ideal, it beats using the same password for everything, writing them on a bit of paper or emailing them around. The Google doc can only be accessed via each of our master passwords over a HTTPS connection, so I am happy with the security.

That is the project pretty much setup and ready to get started on. Only about 3hours of my time needed and the cost of a domain, certificate and server. Stay tuned (or subscribed?) for Paul’s technical follow-up post and Alan’s coverage of Part 4 – Building the HTML mock-ups and design.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 5:41 pm and is filed under justrosters.com, marvelig. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.