mrp8ntball — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 01:38:53 +0000

Thanks for the advice.

Im meeting with the first company this Saturday. Im excited. Any other suggestions you have will come in handy, but everything so far has been great and I have some good guidelines of what to look for now.

demonhale — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 07:46:34 +0000

Looks like megan is on to web2.0 again... LOL!

Well anyway, a firm is mostly good, make sure they approach and see your vision the same way as you would approach it... What matters is they communicate your ideas well and explain to you how such things are done, and how they will do it.

An individual or freelancer isnt necessarily that bad, one suggestion is that you collect for yourselves different individuals who can do different specific tasks for you, may it be the plumbing or the electricals (analogy)... See if they are willing to work together as a team to make your needs come into fruition...

You must also have your personal guidelines as how you want things done, what kind of personality of a person you want to work with you, and how personal are they going to do things for you. All in all a good instinct sums things up...

Megan — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 03:56:45 +0000

I would definitly disgard an individual who says he can do it all himself. That's much too big a project for one person to handle by themselves. There are too many specialties involved, first of all, and it would also take much longer to develop. Unless this person is going to subcontract some of the work to other developers. That often works fine - just make sure they have good relationships with anyone they're hiring and can verify that the quality will be up to par. Think of this as a home renovation situation - you've got your general contractor who does a lot of the work himself, and oversees everything, but brings in other specialists for work he can't do himself.

Either of the two project mangement options would be fine as long as you're working with quality people. Make sure that the people you are working with directly know something about the technical side of your project. Also try to talk to several people on the project (together) to get a feel for how they work together - that's the cohesiveness factor you mentioned.

I can't say too much about what to ask in an interview since I've never been involved in big development projects myself. You might want to ask them about "web 2.0". Ooh, say you've heard about this "web 2.0" stuff but you don't know what it's all about. Ask them what it means. (If they've never heard of it, that's a problem. If they think it's absolute great and wonderful and the way of the future, then that could be a problem too. You're looking for more of a balanced outlook, probably some indication that the term has a very loose meaning that isn't really understood by anyone. At the same time, it does refer to some interesting innovations that could be applied in your project.)

You'll also want to ask a lot about how they would approach the project, how they would break it down, and how they would choose technologies to apply in each stage. They should have some experience with this and have some sort of a process for going through a development cycle.

I hope that helps!

mrp8ntball — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 03:14:00 +0000

I have been getting a lot of resumes from Developers and as I sort through them I have come across several questions.

It seems that a lot of people are work-alone developers and say they can do everything. Then there is project management firms that have experts across all fields and finally there are project management firms that outsource parts of the project.

Of the three models, which do you think is the best and is there any reason I should avoid any model in particular given a reputable company.

It has been my mindset that a team will be better than an individual but then I begin to wonder about the quality of outsourced work and even the lack of cohesiveness that may result from having several people work on a project. what do you all recommend?

Also, I begin interviewing next week. Any suggestions on questions and aspects to keep in consideration. I would like references certainly and I need to interview at least 3 developers/companies to make sure the price range im getting is correct. I AM NOT looking for the cheapest developer I just dont want to get ripped off. Im looking for a professional individual or team who will handle my project diligently.

As always, I appreciate all your input.

ilovefrontpage — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 10:17:16 +0000

yeah the navbar does not work on the top.
also he is not creative so as an additional cost you will have to find one of them.
better to find someone who does both.

demonhale — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 02:30:54 +0000

I guess you need to meet up with him since his from your area, and decide when you talk to him, you can judge his character there, even through the way they communicate.

I visited their site and I noticed that even their own site has some accessibility issues, for example the navigation bar above which I think is in flash is a no no and actually dont work, im using Firefox, so check their capabilities and portfolio to get a fell of what they are capable of.

mrp8ntball — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 01:25:20 +0000

Can anyone tell me how this developers background sounds for my project. It looks like he has the skills I am looking for plus this is someone in my area.

His consulting page: http://synclab.com/

Years of experience: 7-10 years
Highest degree earned: PhD Degree
Profile summary: I am the principal of a technology consulting firm specializing in innovative solutions for the desktop and web. We specialize in using open source solutions to keep your costs down and to maximise the return on your investment. Our expertise is in client-side and server-side Java, SQL databases, PHP, and general software development. We also have the capabilities to do C++ programming for high-performance scientific, statistical, or financial calculations.

I am an expert on relational database design using systems ranging from MySQL to FileMaker 7 for OS X or Windows.

We offer the highest possible service at very competitive rates by intelligently managing you project. This means using the right level of personell for the right tasks. You can benefit greatly by having a PhD engineer as your systems architect and project manager, but you do not want to pay me $100/hr to write code that can be done by a $30/hr employee. We know how to allocate our resources and take care of all this for you.

Recent Projects:
* Numerous dynamic web sites with database back ends.
* Desktop and web-based POS system for yoga studio management.
* Server-side OpenGL rendering of custom wireframe images.
* Web-based layout planner for custom stone flooring installation.
* C++ interface for real-time control of dual PHANToM robots.
* Various custom FileMaker databases and runtime solutions.
* Java finite difference heat transfer model and GUI.

Megan — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 14:40:32 +0000

I don't know that it's illegal to say how much a project would cost - it is illegal for a developer to ask what they should charge for a project.

What you'll want probably do with this is hire one "overseer" type developer who would coordinate the project. This person will do a lot of the base development work but may subcontract some parts of the project if it exceeds his expertise (SEO and front-end design would probably fall into that category). Your developer should have a good overview of the technologies available and strong programming skills.

To clarify what Demonhale said - a web "designer" wouldn't just be making it look pretty. Usability, communication, accessibility etc. are very important parts of this role. With the house analogy they'd be planning out the layout for the rooms, so they work together well. So, say, the bathroom isn't next to the dining room, for example, or the dishwasher is in the kitchen and not in the bedroom.

With the budget you have (mentioned in another thread) you could afford to hire a good serious web development company that would be able to take care of this for you. Ask around with any business contacts you have to see if they know any. Check with a local business organization and see if they have any development companies as members. The yellow pages might even work but then you'd need to go through a little more of a screening process. You should also consider putting out an RFP (request for proposal) which would require interested companies to articulate how they would go about developing the project, what it would cost etc.

You wouldn' t necessarily have to hire someone local - it's a good idea but not absolutely necessary. I know a lot of architectural projects are done from long distances (cross-contentinent even). If it can work for architecture it can work for web development too.

demonhale — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 09:04:48 +0000

Thats a good article to be based on when deciding, thanks for the link. Its a general consensus that could change imediately...

There are also issues (discussed in this forum before) about web professionals and amateurs, there is a confusion with these and some good info came it out of that thread, http://webmaster-forums.net/showthread.php?t=30375&highlight=professional+amateur

The most important thing in having a site done is good scommunication with the company or group you decide to make the project on, also being precise on the onset of the development stages would help a site a lot... A developer and Designer will get you through, even after sales...

mrp8ntball — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 08:49:36 +0000

Yea i got SEO on the lockdown! which is a good thing i think because that can be expensive. My dad has a yahoo guy in his MBA program that does that.

Thanks for your analogy. It was quite helpful.

I did not realize it was illegal to throw out prices. Who would have thought!

I just read an article about good web developers being a shortage. Heres the link: http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/articles/hire_best_web_people.html

Is this the consensus among developers?