how do you like to deal with huge sites?

[riy]

so im designing a website for a drs office, and they have a huge site. its not crazy, maybe like 400 pages or so. they have it broken into about 7 but each section goes really deep, there are several layers, so that the breadcrumbs become very long.

im redesigning and dont want this to be an issue, so will split the menu bar into 2 parts, giving me about 14 core pages and then separate from there. now i have 1 menu on top, one on the bottom.

what are some other ways to deal with huge pages like this that you guys like?
thanks in advance

 

[ronaldroe]

Post a link, so we can take a look at what you're working with.

 

[Phreaddee]

write own the scope of the job and quote on that.
stipulate that any further work outside of the scope will be done on hourly rate. NO COMPROMISES! otherwise you'll shoot yourself in the foot.
grab a % initial payment. work out your schedule with part payments / final payments.
set a realistic time frame.
write up a comprehensive sitemap and systematically work your way through it.
either top level, 2nd level 3rd level etc or work through sections at a time.
plan for setbacks, stuffups and delays, as particularly with sites of this size it is bound to happen.
another thing I like to do is to go through all the content and dump it into a word doc. all 400 pages of it in one. strip back all but basic markup. it is a process but will be infinitely easier to do this, offer the client a review of the content and change accordingly on the doc. much easier than getting them to sort through 400pages, as they would undoubtedly miss a few here or there. once the content is out of the way, develop the templates and design, keep it really simple, yet flexible. set up your cms. dump the content. review, test, invoice, beer.

 

[leroy30]

like that last comment 'beer' phreaddee - on the money!