The author:

David Jaenike

|👏4|665

Imagine if your workflow looked like this 👇

Alright, now let’s duplicate that for you in about 45 seconds. Ready? Step 1: Copy the text in this google doc:

Step 2: Type in “notepad” in your program search, open the app up and paste the text.

Step 3: Save to your desktop as “safety.html”

Step 4: Double click the file called "Safety" now on your desktop (should open in your default web browser). Awwwww yea (hopefully)! It should look something like this:

What just happened?

You made an html page. It’s not a “live” website since there’s no server, meaning you can only access this page if you have access to the specific file you just saved. BUT, if your company has a shared drive you could put this file in a location accessible to your employees. Once accessible to everyone, people can actually bookmark it in their browser and treat it like a real website. This means that when you want to update certain aspects of the page (update a training, inspection, etc), all you have to do is edit the html page you just made, and those changes will immediately be seen by everyone. You also probably noticed that the orange links in each container don’t do anything. Right now those are just for show, but you can easily link those to actual documents also saved on your network. Think of all the applications something like this could be used for. Training updates, OSHA regulation updates, employee recognition, the list goes on.

The pros

You can create amazing interfaces and workflows for virtually no money. HTML and css provide far more flexibility than traditional workflow documents such as word, excel, and outlook. There are tons of resources available which facilitate the creation of truly beautiful workflows.

The cons

You have to learn HTML and css. Lucky for you it’s not rocket science. HTML and css are what we in the web-dev world call “markup languages” meaning there’s no complex interfacing with servers and databases required. If you’re looking to learn more I would recommend starting with these two tutorials.

The digital landscape is changing! Make sure you’re on the front end of that cutting edge. Executing on some of these small projects can have a positive impact on your workforce and not cost your company any money. Give it a try!