hameem
Elite Member
- Jul 21, 2011
- 1,914
- 1,010
Look for his/her portfolio obviously. See how many custom coded dynamic (has something to do with database) sites he has done.
Talk to him and see if he understands your requirements clearly.
Ask him to divide the project in multiple sections and then to tell you how much time each of those sections may take to complete.
Ask him if he has a formal education on proramming/web development (not that people without formal education can do any less. It's a question to see his reaction.)
Talk to him and see if he understands your requirements clearly.
Ask him to divide the project in multiple sections and then to tell you how much time each of those sections may take to complete.
Ask him if he has a formal education on proramming/web development (not that people without formal education can do any less. It's a question to see his reaction.)
buckybrendan
Registered Member
- Aug 6, 2013
- 64
- 72
since its a complex site then i would say to ask them can they do ajax, ask to see a portfolio of their ajax sites. if u can do ajax u can make any site
Endire
Elite Member
- Mar 27, 2012
- 1,756
- 1,075
Monty,
I think in your case you should ask for references to speak with. Yes you can ask for the portfolio and see what work they've done but if you are a novice, you won't even know if what they are showing you they actually built. Depending on how sites in their portfolio were built, it may even be impossible to tell if they were the ones that built them (either in whole or in part).
References are the best route and you could even contact them without a developer knowing. For example ask for their portfolio then look for contact information on those sites and call the people they built them for.
Best,
Shawn
I think in your case you should ask for references to speak with. Yes you can ask for the portfolio and see what work they've done but if you are a novice, you won't even know if what they are showing you they actually built. Depending on how sites in their portfolio were built, it may even be impossible to tell if they were the ones that built them (either in whole or in part).
References are the best route and you could even contact them without a developer knowing. For example ask for their portfolio then look for contact information on those sites and call the people they built them for.
Best,
Shawn
methylenebl
Newbie
- Aug 6, 2013
- 22
- 5
One bit of advice would be depending on your project, since you say its a fairy sophisticated website do you think it would be something that would fit inside of Wordpress, joomla, Drupal? or would like something custom if a CMS at all. I find a lot of people look at people's portfolio's and then hire Front end developers/designs and ask them to design custom systems which would be something for a backend developer to focus in. So even though looking asking for a portfolio is good thing to start from, but as someone else has stated if you are a novice, which since you said you do not have knowledge of much programming, you probably are, that would not really help you much. For instance I am a PHP Developer that focus's in MVC System design using PHP frameworks like Yii, Symfony, ETC. Even though I have a portfolio alot of what I do no one really see's and I just buy a HTML theme from themeforest for 20$ that is random bootstrap3/foundation4 based theme, and just make it dynamic. though looking at my portfolio you couldn't really gauge my skills very well, since I have a lot of random shit in git repo's that I show people, which just confuses them. I have had friends who wanted full E-Sports full blown websites with communities and the full 9 get burned because they choose people with portfolios that are all just plug and play wordpress sites with little customization. TL;DR: I would advise you to find someone you can trust to who knows a lot about programming to help you find someone who best fits your needs. If you dont need as custom of a site then the portfolio approach would be good as then its just customizing and theming rather then creating a full MVC (Model View Controller) based system from the ground up.
seocrab
Elite Member
- May 2, 2013
- 1,579
- 1,991
I have built a fairy website - it was for Tinkerbell.
On a serious note: OP, what do you mean by "sophisticated"? Product sales? Booking calendar? User admin? There will be muiltiple solutions for your site, some costing a few hundred dollars, others needing thousands. Decide upon your budget before you go with custom cms or bespoke site
On a serious note: OP, what do you mean by "sophisticated"? Product sales? Booking calendar? User admin? There will be muiltiple solutions for your site, some costing a few hundred dollars, others needing thousands. Decide upon your budget before you go with custom cms or bespoke site
ironmarine
Newbie
- Jul 19, 2011
- 29
- 8
I completely agree with what "seocrab" says.
Something complicated can be easily achievable using plugins or extentions. However, first you need to outline what you are looking for?
2. Collect some samples of websites that you like or has those features.
3. Check your comfortness on how you can handle the site once you have been handed over the completed project.
4. Technology that is being used to create the site.
Each technology or options used for a site can vary on pricing. A magento based site will be very expensive compared to a wordpress site.
Wordpress site is easy to maintain and the learning curve is less. Now what is magento primarily used for? Its for eCommerce sites. Its robust and secure.
So you first float your requirements and then check with your developer to see what technology do they use and why?
Also always remember that you should get the license of the extensions or plugins or any other material that are being used because this may cause issues at later stage if you have not bought it by yourself.
Something complicated can be easily achievable using plugins or extentions. However, first you need to outline what you are looking for?
2. Collect some samples of websites that you like or has those features.
3. Check your comfortness on how you can handle the site once you have been handed over the completed project.
4. Technology that is being used to create the site.
Each technology or options used for a site can vary on pricing. A magento based site will be very expensive compared to a wordpress site.
Wordpress site is easy to maintain and the learning curve is less. Now what is magento primarily used for? Its for eCommerce sites. Its robust and secure.
So you first float your requirements and then check with your developer to see what technology do they use and why?
Also always remember that you should get the license of the extensions or plugins or any other material that are being used because this may cause issues at later stage if you have not bought it by yourself.
deangregor
Junior Member
- Jul 15, 2013
- 173
- 34
You can look locally for web developers, surf the online search engines or post a job description at an online resource like elance.com or odesk.com for regional or national candidates. Also consider your budget, your requirements, and the site management.
Aty
Elite Member
- Jan 27, 2011
- 7,631
- 5,301
You might wanna read The Complete Guide to Starting a Website.
azeds
Junior Member
- Jan 17, 2013
- 155
- 46
Every front end developer I know that wants to be taken seriously has a handful of people they work along side to get certain tasks done that are beyond their skill set.
Link Building
Junior Member
- Mar 21, 2013
- 181
- 38
Search for a decent/affordable web design and development company who listen your requirements, check their portfolio, compare their price with other...
DO To-
Just calculate how many pages website you need.
Note down your all requirements and special functionality if needed.
Desire CMS (content management system), I prefer wordpress.
color scheme & any design reference OR idea you have in your mind..
DO To-
Just calculate how many pages website you need.
Note down your all requirements and special functionality if needed.
Desire CMS (content management system), I prefer wordpress.
color scheme & any design reference OR idea you have in your mind..
Create a detailed document of what you want for the site. Be very clear with directions especially with the features and design you want. Give a lot of example sites to show them what you want. It's better to get it done via elance and choose a provider with a good reputation and the risk of getting scammed is less because of the escrow system. Don't release any payment unless you are happy with the job.