What is a good, well-organized web development workflow from start (planning) to finish (testing and production)? [closed]

Question

I've been a PHP/MySQL developer for a number of years now, but unfortunately have only worked with small projects up until now. I'm starting a new website now that is very complex and I'm starting to get confused with the workflow. I'm not sure which parts to take care of first, as they're all fairly intertwined.

I'd love to know how some of you manage your workflow for a new website. I'm working independently, so it'd be easier to explain without multiple developers involved. Also, I'll be using the CodeIgniter framework, so it'd be great to have the workflow involve the MVC model, which should actually make the workflow easier.

After some searching, I came across this helpful diagram:

However, I'm not too sure what falls into each category. Here is a general rundown of what I understand so far. Please feel free to correct me when I'm wrong or when there is a better option.

Planning

Make sure you have clear goals for the project: What do you offer, and for whom? How will it be helpful for others? Etc

Sitemap

List all the pages and sub-pages that are going to be on the site.

Wireframes

Go through your whole sitemap and make a rough sketch of every single page. (How detailed should you get?) You can use pencil and paper, or programs like Axure or Mockingbird.

The next major category in the workflow chart is content, but I'm not sure what this involves. Is it all the text on the website? Database structure? Something else?

Artwork

The actual design/template of the website. Is this really the right place for this, though? I would think that the coding and functionality is more important, and make the design after that.

Coding

This step seems to all-encompassing, and I'd think it needs to be broken down. Is the database structure made first (or was that done in content, after the wireframes?) Do I make the outline for all the functions for each page in the sitemap? Do I just create all the necessary controllers and make comments of which functions I'm going to put and where? Do the models go after the controller outlines, or vice versa? When do I start filling in all the controllers and models?

Constant testing is involved to make sure your code works properly.

Content Population

Would this include the view files in the MVC framework? In other words, all the data that the controllers and models provided?

Final Testing

Make sure everything works in all browsers. Making tweaks and changes here and there. Go all out with numerous "what if" cases.

Production

Site goes live.

Conclusion

The above is what I understand to be an organized flowchart of the steps in developing a complex website, but my understanding could be greatly improved. What should be changed? I could use all the suggestions possible. Thank you.

EDIT: Someone here mentioned "agile development"--from what I'm reading thus far, it doesn't actually have a structure. Correct me if I'm wrong. As I commented on that answer, is it really possible to develop in such a way for complex sites, such as Amazon or Ebay? The workflow process, in my un-knowledgable opinion, should have a clear plan, or else there would be no focus in the project.

FINAL EDIT: Although this question was closed, I'd like to add some info for those that may find this later. I found the following workflow useful: http://www.webassist.com/free-downloads/tutorials-and-training/web-dev-workflow.php. A PDF of the general workflow: http://assets.webassist.com/how-tos/Short-Dev-Checklist.pdf. Agile development can also be used of course, but this could be a good starting point for those that don't know where to start. I may add additional workflows and examples here as I find them.

Answer 1

The R&D world is moving towards agile development, where you don't do so much planning and write everything down from start to finish, but rather do small iterations and make small changes so that you always have one clear goal in front of you, and you can adjust your direction as your understanding of the requirements improves (real ones, based on user feedback, not estimated guess work based on what you think the customers will want/use)

I suggest you research Agile development, and Lean startup methodologies, it changed the way I build online services, and will make you much more efficient and productive.

I can tell you that my online service went live about 2 days after I started coding. That does not mean that you open it to real users right from the beginning, but you can get immediate feedback from the real world instead of keeping it all on your dev machine until you're "ready to go live".