What do you want to accomplish?

Do you have a clear idea of what you want your web site to achieve? If you don't know where you're going, how do you expect to get there. Before you do anything else define  just what your web site is for.

Understanding your goal is important. It will also help you keep the project on track. Goals should drive your design, not the other way around. They give you a set of criteria to measure your progress against. Maintaining clarity of focus on your goals is important while the work of producing the site is underway.

It's easy to lose your focus when confronted by all the things you could be doing to the site. The latest browser plugin or HTML tag, a piece of animation, all can add to the distractions along the way. 

You must also keep in mind the following fundamental questions when writing down your goals.

• what technology does your school have? 
  
• Are the computers capable of handling what you are planning to do? 
  
• Is the software at the school able to load your site? 
  
• Does your web site function correctly on your schools available software?