How to choose a web designer

[New Member]

I recently got a quote from a company for a 2 page website, which includes having 6 tabs referring to 1 page, ie. I don't need 1 page for contact details and 1 for pricing so its all put on one page but not shown together obviously. The price is £200 + 50 hosting incl vat. This includes him doing the odd bits like correcting spelling , adding text.

The only concern I have is that he says he writes the code from scratch in notepad as html because its the most flexible and cheapest method, and also its easier to sort out any problems. I've heard of cms where you can have control of your site, but I only want to be able to change wording. I (think) he said if I wanted cms it would be have to be designed differently. The company seemed totally honest and respectable and their portfolio is impressive, but I just want to know if people have any opinions or suggestions for me.

I'm OK with it, but I have said I want a copy of the code on cd so I own the website which he said he was happy to supply.

<<Link removed>>

[Faevilangel]

Converting for a cms, depends on how they coded the site and which cms you want to use. Converting anything to wordpress or Joomla would mean minimal changes, just a few extra css elements, nothing hard core.

For a one page site though, having the cms would be a bit to much IMHO, as it will be all one page, making it work in wordpress could also be a slight pig. If you were to use cushy cms then that would be perfect (you can change the content only, nothing else).

I recommend using cushy cms for your site, all the developer needs to do is code the theme in html, then instead of adding the content, they just need to add a small line of code to grab the content from the cushy cms website.

£50 for hosting does seem a bit steep, as many hosts do it for £30 per annum. I would find out what you will get for your £50.

[MASSEY]

spam spam spam :D

[New Member]

Converting for a cms, depends on how they coded the site and which cms you want to use. Converting anything to wordpress or Joomla would mean minimal changes, just a few extra css elements, nothing hard core.

For a one page site though, having the cms would be a bit to much IMHO, as it will be all one page, making it work in wordpress could also be a slight pig. If you were to use cushy cms then that would be perfect (you can change the content only, nothing else).

I recommend using cushy cms for your site, all the developer needs to do is code the theme in html, then instead of adding the content, they just need to add a small line of code to grab the content from the cushy cms website.

£50 for hosting does seem a bit steep, as many hosts do it for £30 per annum. I would find out what you will get for your £50.

Thanks for that. I don't know much about web site development so I might just print what you wrote above and take it to him. The only editing I will want to make is on the text, nothing else. At first I thought £50 was steep too because I'm paying £20 to host my personal site. But it does include the domain name and making "minimal" changes which sounds reasonable to me. I might have him just host it for the first year.

[New Member]

spam spam spam :D

What is????

[RedEvo]

Just one small thing. HTML isn't code.

d

[wykthorr]

Using a CMS for a two page website might be a bit of overkill. It all comes down to how frequently you want to change the text on the site. If you're regularly changing content then it might be worth going for a CMS even if it's only a 2 page site, but if you're going to change stuff only now and then there's no point in building your site on top of a CMS.

As flexible as a CMS might be there are certain limitations to it, so the developer might have to use certain tricks to do some stuff. Also a CMS would use a lot more server resources than a plain HTML site and pages will inevitably load a bit slower, as the server has to build them every time there's a request.

[New Member]

OK thanks, sounds like I won't need cms.

[Delicious Webdesign]

complete coincidence that the site mentioned has a article that matches the thread title ! clever but not subtle enough and expect this thread to be zapped by the mods

[Zeal]

oooo - I didn't even look that far delicious! :D Good eye ;)

[New Member]

Oh dear, I must be a spammer, dee dums, ban me from the forum, delete the thread.. Grow up. Really, don't you 2 have any thing better to do?

[New Member]

There are a few guidelines which can help create an impression of the designer's skill level:


Very few professional designers use Microsoft FrontPage for web design — this would be a warning sign.
Some web designers work exclusively with plain text editors. In theory this is a good sign — it means they write all their code by hand which shows a thorough understanding of the medium.
Adobe Dream weaver and other similar programs are very good and correspondingly expensive. Although owning one of these programs doesn't mean a designer knows how to use it well, at least it demonstrates good choice and a financial commitment to having the best tools



Thanks for the advice. I was a bit sceptical at first because he didn't use any expensive packages - he specifically said he didn't use dream weaver - can't remember what the reason was. I was convinced later by his portfolio and relatively cheap price, and what you say in your second point.

[Json]

I wouldn't get too hung up with what software the developers use to write your website, I use Eclipse, does anyone care? Why would they? I used to write stuff in notepad but I've grown up and using a good IDE makes me more productive. On another note I mostly do Java development but still have to do HTML and CSS at times.

There is no "easy" way of picking your website developer/supplier I believe and I think you will have to go by your own judgement a lot of the time. Even better is if you actually live/work within reach of this company so you can visit them or the other way around and get a face to face meeting. Of course there are some good advice on these forums as well, just look around in other threads.

Anyway, best of luck on your search.

[New Member]

I wouldn't get too hung up with what software the developers use to write your website, I use Eclipse, does anyone care? Why would they? I used to write stuff in notepad but I've grown up and using a good IDE makes me more productive. On another note I mostly do Java development but still have to do HTML and CSS at times.

There is no "easy" way of picking your website developer/supplier I believe and I think you will have to go by your own judgement a lot of the time. Even better is if you actually live/work within reach of this company so you can visit them or the other way around and get a face to face meeting. Of course there are some good advice on these forums as well, just look around in other threads.

Anyway, best of luck on your search.

Thanks, that's what I did. I visited the company, explained what I want, and he showed lots of examples of his previous and current work, discussed prices what could and couldnt be done etc. I've now prepared the material on paper and will take it to them later this week. His company developed a website for an estate agent which cost them £2000. The website was very impressive though with a lot of database work gone into it I was told.

I've had 2 members here who have emailed me offering a cheaper price which I'm grateful for. But with this being my website I really need face to face meetings. The £250 I mentioned also includes hosting, domain name and minor alterations should I need them.

[RedEvo]

You're getting a website complete with face to face meetings etc for £200? Quality!

d