Building Blocks: Website Modularity

We know modular buildings when we see them. Houses swaying on the back of semi trailers on the interstate emblazoned with “Wide Load.” Schools may bring in a modular classroom for that extra batch of 3^rd graders. Even Legos are modular – building blocks to make a house or heck, a mansion.

Recently, Wired magazine covered a smart new theater in Dallas made flexible using aluminum siding and adjustable balconies to convert the environment to fit the show. Tell me that’s not both cool and amazing. The dancers can’t leap from the balcony to the stage? Fixed.

With websites, a modular framework lets you at least start from something instead of from scratch. Like having a Betty Crocker mix in hand, instead of praying you have enough flour, eggs and patience to see it through.

So when I first learned about modular content management systems, like our proprietary 02 system here at Upward Brand Interactions, a light bulb came on. It’s time and cost efficient, for us and for clients, to be able to plug in key components to your site without wasting resources on development. We build it once, and it’s done.

The word “module” itself tends to confuse, I’ve found. In general, we get what it is – some sort of compartment that can move around, somehow – but we lose the beauty of it. Modules are just slick. They can be separated and – here’s the key – recombined in almost any configuration we can dream up. That’s powerful.

It’s not exactly like building blocks, because each has to be fit to a site according to how it is to act and be used. It’s more like a puzzle for us to help you figure out and for our developers to make happen. But when you have all the pieces from the start, you know it’s all going to come together eventually.

Now if only I could make my closet modular...