When huge breaking news happens, don’t expect awesome leaps of multimedia prowess from your Web site. Only that which happens daily becomes possible on the big day.

Newspaper editors like to pull out all the stops when facing large-scale tragedies like hurricanes or acts of terrorism. Their instinct is to tear up Page 1 when the unimaginable happens, and they want the same dramatic effect on the Web. What they want, in most cases, is nothing short of a miracle.

If your site follows the same template every day, then it’s unlikely to change quickly when wildfires are approaching. If your site barely posts one video per week, don’t expect multiple, sharp-looking video packages from the scene of the wildfires. Don’t expect an interactive map of the fire’s territory if you rarely post even a locator map of a car accident.

In the print world, practice makes perfect. The more stories you write, the better they get. The more graphics you make, it goes the same. For the Web site, underneath all that practice is progress in workflow and software.

For example, creating great video packages will probably require smooth coordination with photographers on the scene who are likely to shoot too much or too little or the wrong things entirely. On a more basic level, it requires the software and hardware to edit the footage. There’s a huge learning curve that spans both the print and Web staffs for just about anything you can dream up for the big day.

Does this warning strike a chord? If so, I suggest pulling all those newsroom editors into a room and planning the Web coverage for an imaginary tragedy. Then explain what you’d have to practice on a daily basis to be experienced enough when your worst dreams come true.