Process & Timeline
The working process: how content, structure, and live pages come together
Most website projects run on mockups: months of static comps, a big reveal, feedback on pictures, then a build that has to match them. This one is designed and built in the same place. You'll see real, working pages early, watch them improve, and give feedback on the site itself.
The flow
The structure exists first
The information architecture and page outlines define every page on the site: what sections it has, in what order, and what each one needs to say.
You provide the content
Working from the outlines, your team gathers the words, numbers, photos, and quotes each page calls for. The content audit already done on the legacy site feeds directly into this, and the content checklist, writing guidelines, and testimonial guide are there to make it easier.
Where content isn't ready, we draft placeholder copy for you to react to.
We drop it into the structure
As content arrives, it goes into the real site. The page goes live on a private preview link.
You review real pages
Feedback happens against live pages, not PDFs.
Browse the preview site anytime. Feedback goes onto one shared list through one person on your side rather than one-off emails.
Pages get progressively more polished
Spacing tightens, photography lands, copy gets refined, animations come last.
When a page first goes live it may have placeholder images, loose spacing, or copy that's still settling. That's a page at 60%, not the quality bar. Seeing work early is what keeps course corrections small.
In-progress pages are marked as such on the preview site, and at least one page will be fully finished before anyone gets a link.
Timeline
Build & content
July – August 2026
Pages go live on the preview site and fill in as content arrives. Integrations wired up.
Testing & review
September 2026
Accessibility audit, cross-browser testing, final content pass.
Pause
October – December 2026
Year-end giving season: no site changes while donations are at their peak.
Launch
February 2027
Final review, redirects flipped on, go-live.
Year-end is when the legacy site earns the most donations, so the site holds until the season is over. January is the final-review and launch-prep window.
One date to hold onto: content is complete by the end of September. The pause then starts from finished rather than half-done.
What we need from you
- Content, per the outlines. The single biggest driver of the timeline.
- Photography. Real photos of real people. See the photography guide for what works.
- Answers to open questions. Decisions flagged throughout these docs (look for the purple "Open question" boxes, all collected on one page).
- Coalesced feedback. One person on the MOWP side collects and batches feedback from everyone else.
What you'll get back
- Live preview pages, continuously. Pages as they're built, not a staging site at the end.
- Scheduled reviews. Two progress reviews during the build and a final review before launch, on top of anytime access to the preview site. The first happens early, on a small set of pages, so the design direction is settled before it's applied everywhere.
- These docs, kept current. Decisions, structure, and guidelines live here and get updated as the project moves. If something here contradicts what you've heard, say so and we'll fix whichever is stale.