Rant

[jane p]

sorry just wanted to rant. we are having a free website done and were told 6-8 weeks in November.

Its far longer than that now and there still is no sign. Is this normal?

Why say 6-8 weeks if its not going to be that? So frustrating waiting plus we told everyone.

 

[Business News]

Ah, but which November? Maybe they meant 2009? We have a saying for this round here - it's called Shropshire time. Very flexible.

 

[deniser]

If it's free then you get what you pay for surely?

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I offer free sites for good causes and charities. One of the things I find is that I will speak to them, tell them to speak to everyone involved and get a firm spec for what we are going to do. I explain to them that this stage is THE most important stage, as it affects how the project runs, how the site is formed etc, and as such they MUST force the importance over to those making the spec.

They come back to me, I run through everything and we get going. THIS is where the fun starts.

The problem here is the FREE word, because it is FREE they place no value on the importance of that task, they place no value on the developer, they just treat it as a volunteer coming in to weeep the hall at the end of a busy day.

BUT!!!!!

Once we start building, THEN they take an interest, THEN they do what they SHOULD have done right at the very beginning, in taking an interest in the site, and what they want it to achieve.

By this point we are 75% done and ready to drop content in, and re-speccing a job means that it will be thrown completely to the back of the queue, and they are told this in no uncertain terms the reasons why.

In short, FREE often doesn't hold the same importance to the clients, as to most (not all) it is free, so has cost them nothing.

On the other hand. The complete opposite is true. Some people do stuff for free, and simply can't find the time to do it afterwards, because they need to put paying clients first.

 

[philipjohn]

Why are they doing it for free? Is it to build their portfolio? Is it in the hopes of getting paid work later?

Even though it's free, by not delivering on their commitment they're showing a lack of professionalism which could affect future business for them.

Phil

 

[jane p]

I emailed this morning and have now had an email back i dont understand?

Could you please send me the username and password for your website’s Control Panel and FTP

what does this mean? I dont have that information i just sent all the content to them and pictures and put it in their hands and was waiting for them to start work?

Thanks.

 

[SLF]

have you paid for any hosting yet? that's what they are asking for, your hosting and FTP access so they can, I presume, upload your website.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

If you want a quick-turnaround with professional quality, find a respectable designer and pay him/her.

If you cut costs by getting it done for free then you get what you pay for. Even once the website is done you have no idea what the quality is going to be like.

 

[Donela]

From the email you received it would appear that they are giving you the design of the website free, which is different to giving you a free website, although I may be wrong.

I imagine that they are expecting you to sort the hosting, then they will upload the design they have done onto your hosting. Hopefully you will have some information from them when this was started about what was being supplied to clarify this.

Also I would imagine you would need to buy your own domain name too.

 

[jane p]

thanks all we are on the move. Ive registered the domain name and paid just waiting for the confirmation and then they said they can start work.

At last

 

[SLF]

you didn't need to do that in order for them to start the design though.

 

[jane p]

it seems thats the way they are doing it, they want the details of the hosting etc and for me to register the name before they start?

I am waiting for confirmation so i can send them those details i mentioned does it take long to come through?

 

[OldWelshGuy]

you will need to register the domain name (I recommend 123reg) you get the domain name instantly.

You then need some hosting. be careful here as all hosting is not equal. do NOT use 123 reg for hosting.

 

[jane p]

ive used 4u hosting please tell me it will be ok?
Will i get the info they need soon?

They are waiting for me to email it to them!

 

[OldWelshGuy]

http://www.4uhosting.co.uk/ servers resolve to the Uk so that element is fine

 

[jane p]

phew thanks any idea of how long the email will take to come through with the confirmation?

 

[OldWelshGuy]

it is normally instant! you place the order, you pay, your account goes live. But the domain has to be oprdered and propagate, that will take 4-48 hours (before your domain is working fully)

 

[jane p]

jane will wait then

 

[HostOrca]

it is normally instant! you place the order, you pay, your account goes live. But the domain has to be oprdered and propagate, that will take 4-48 hours (before your domain is working fully)

Not always. The hosting industry get an awful lot of fraudulent orders, and so a lot of the hosting companies do manual screening before they activate the account, this can, depending on the hosting company, take anything up to 24 hours to complete.

 

I offer free sites for good causes and charities. One of the things I find is that I will speak to them, tell them to speak to everyone involved and get a firm spec for what we are going to do. I explain to them that this stage is THE most important stage, as it affects how the project runs, how the site is formed etc, and as such they MUST force the importance over to those making the spec.

They come back to me, I run through everything and we get going. THIS is where the fun starts.

The problem here is the FREE word, because it is FREE they place no value on the importance of that task, they place no value on the developer, they just treat it as a volunteer coming in to weeep the hall at the end of a busy day.

BUT!!!!!

Once we start building, THEN they take an interest, THEN they do what they SHOULD have done right at the very beginning, in taking an interest in the site, and what they want it to achieve.

By this point we are 75% done and ready to drop content in, and re-speccing a job means that it will be thrown completely to the back of the queue, and they are told this in no uncertain terms the reasons why.

In short, FREE often doesn't hold the same importance to the clients, as to most (not all) it is free, so has cost them nothing.

On the other hand. The complete opposite is true. Some people do stuff for free, and simply can't find the time to do it afterwards, because they need to put paying clients first.

Excellent description of the free mentality as alludes to most charities.

Bleeding cheek in my opinion.I wonder if they would take the same attitude with a free heart surgeon.

I did a few animal welfare sites which were OK but the attitude of most charities is sheer ignorance.

Earl

 

[jane p]

The details are through and i have emailed them on.

Hopefully now they will start.

 

[jane p]

If you want a quick-turnaround with professional quality, find a respectable designer and pay him/her.

If you cut costs by getting it done for free then you get what you pay for. Even once the website is done you have no idea what the quality is going to be like.

its not free actually sorry for misunderstanding. Free to us but they get paid. In these tough times if you get something offered free you dont turn it down!

Should be done soon anyway. Really looking forward to finally having a site. Free or not.

 

[jane p]

done at last.