Planning stage is, by far, the most important because everything that’s decided and mapped at this point sets the course for the entire project. This stage requires interaction with client because we want to make sure that every decision for upcoming stages suits the client we work for. This stage includes:

- Requirements analysis – client goals, target audience, feature requests, other info necessary for thorough planning of the project
- Project charter – summing up the information from requirements analysis. Notes are concise and precise
- Site map – necessary for organization
- Contracts that define roles, copyright, and financial points – necessary details regarding the contract
- Gaining access to servers and building folder structure – FTP host, username and password, control panel login information, database configuration
- Determining software and resources needed to start with project.