Website requirements template: what the site must do, in writing

What goes in a website requirements template?

A website requirements template holds the site's goal, its pages, its functional and technical requirements, the content plan, what's out of scope and the sign-off. Each part gets its own heading, so nothing gets lost in a long block of text.

The parts, in order:

1. Summary. The goal of the site and who it serves.
2. Page list. Every page, with a line on its job.
3. Functional requirements. What visitors and staff can do on the site.
4. Technical requirements. The platform, hosting, domain, connections and standards.
5. Content. Who supplies each page's words and images, and by when.
6. Out of scope. What this project won't include.
7. Sign-off. Names, dates and a line saying the client agrees.

Here's how a few lines can look once filled in:

The files and logins behind these lines are a separate list. For collecting files and logins, see the checklist of what your client supplies.

What should the functional requirements say?

Functional requirements should say what a visitor or a staff member can do on the site, one action per line, in words the client understands. Write each one so you can test it with a yes or no.

How to write them:

• Start with who does it: a visitor, a member or a staff member.
• Name the action, such as book, buy, sign up, search or upload.
• Say what happens next, such as an email sent or a record saved.
• Leave out how you'll build it. That goes in the technical part.
• Mark each line as a must-have or a nice-to-have.

A weak line says the site should be easy to use. A testable line says a visitor can reach the booking form straight from the home page.

What goes in the technical requirements?

The technical requirements set the rules the build must follow: the platform, where it's hosted, the domain, the systems it connects to, and the standards it has to meet. They keep surprises out of the build and the launch.

Questions to answer in this part:

• Which platform will the site run on, and who chose it?
• Where will it be hosted, and whose account holds the hosting?
• Who owns the domain, and who can change its settings?
• Which tools must the site connect to, such as a booking system or an email list?
• Which browsers and devices must it work on?
• Which accessibility standard does the client want the site to meet?
• Who keeps the site updated and backed up after launch?

If a question has no answer yet, write it down as open, with a name beside it and a date to settle it.

How do you gather website requirements from a client?

You gather website requirements by turning the client's questionnaire and discovery answers into a draft, then walking through that draft with the client until they sign it. The steps:

1. Read the questionnaire and your discovery notes side by side.
2. Write a first draft in the template, one requirement per line.
3. Flag every line you had to guess, and every line that clashes with another.
4. Walk the client through the draft on a call, and settle each flag.
5. Mark each line as a must-have or a nice-to-have.
6. Send the final version for a written sign-off.
7. Agree how a new request gets added later: in writing, with its effect on dates.

The questions that feed the first draft come from a working session. For the discovery questions, see website discovery questions.