ladder

tocThe ladder is a tool that the Editor-in-Chief uses to plan out a yearbook. It contains information on what material is covered on what page and is referenced throughout the year to create assignments for deadlines.

=Content= Content for the ladder is finalized by the editorial staff in the Spring prior to the production calendar. Things to decide include:
 * Coverage for academics, student life, events.
 * How much space to allocate for Student Groups, Greeks, Senior Portraits, Dedications, and Portraits
 * Allocation of opening, closing, and divider pages
 * The order and page allocation (single or double page spreads) for athletics

=Structure= The ladder has columns for deadline, page number, section, event date, comments, template, mug, quote, photographer, layout artist, and copy writer. The functionality of these columns is described below:


 * Deadline || The deadline that the spread belongs to ||
 * Page Number || The page numbers of the spread ||
 * Section || The section the spread belongs to ||
 * Event Date || The date on which the event being covered occurs ||
 * Comments || Comments by the editorial staff ||
 * Template || Which template is used for the spread. Templates should be alternated so that the same template is not used twice for consecutive spreads ||
 * Mug/Quote || Indicates whether a mug shot or quote is needed for the spread. Dependent on template used. ||
 * Photographer/Layout Artist/Copy Writer || The photographer, layout artist, and copy writer assigned to the spread. ||

The ladder may be sorted by column in excel by going to data->sort.

=Things to be careful of=
 * The last deadline will almost always consist of only graduate portraits. Therefore make sure you plan to have all other pages completed before that time.
 * The second to last deadline will consist of mostly athletics and dedications. Coverage for athletics is pushed back as far as possible to provide maximum coverage for Spring sports, while dedications need extra time for parents to respond to our mailer, which is sent out after winter break.
 * Event dates should be used to plan which spreads go on which deadlines.
 * Plan to have 2-3 issues spreads each on deadlines 1-5. This ensures an even distribution of world events throughout the year.
 * Deadlines will be set up by a Taylor Representitive prior to the beginning of the school year. Keep these dates in mind when you're deciding what spreads go on what deadlines