Hi,
In this session of the Business of Web Design, I go over what you need to have in a typical web design contract.
There are important elements that you must include to avoid problems down the road, things like:
– Payment terms.
– Delivery dates.
– Project specifics: how many pages, functionality etc.
… and a whole lot more.
Check it out: Writing Web Design Contracts.
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com
I recently got a call from someone wanting to know what I thought about various image editing programs in terms of their abilities to make buttons:
“Stef, what program do you think I should use to create buttons for my websites? One buddy tells me he likes Corel Draw and another guy is big on Adobe Fireworks. What do you use?”
My answer to this question is simple:
Web designers should not be making buttons.
I recently got a phone call (wow, actual voice communication!) from a member of the killersites.com forum, where he was anxious to delete his account from the system because he had used a celebrities first name as his user name. Harmless, right? No, wrong!!
Apparently he was contacted by one of this celebrities minions, where this minion-of-celeb, demanded (under threat of legal action!) that the member terminate the account!
… Yes, threats from a looser celebrity because someone was using their name as a user name on a web design related forum!!
I changed the user name because I don’t want to stress out any member of our community here. But I have to tell you, this really pisses me off.
.. Or better yet, I’m a minor nerd-celebrity of sorts, maybe I should go around the Web threatening to sue people who use my first name on a message board!
Yes, it’s official, no one can use the name: Stefan
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com
Hi,
I just released another episode for the ‘Ask a Web Nerd’ show/podcast. This time around I explain what an organic website is, and how to create one.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
I recently got this email:
I have read or watched a few of the items about flash, but still have not gotten an answer to a big question I have.
Here is the question with a little of my background first. I’m a career programmer/developer having gotten my degree in 1972, I have been in the business ever since.
… I have done some web development for the last 4 years. Not full time, just part time. I spend most of my time developing and maintaining MS Access databases, using VBA to control whatever needs to be controlled. With that background, I would like better control over the UI within a web page and have the feeling that Flash is the tool to use, but I have not been able to find a good summary of what is possible with flash, from an interactive standpoint.
The short answer to this question is: YES.
Flash has evolved from being an web animation program to a full fledged application framework. It includes built in drag-and-drop UI components, data binding along with a powerful object oriented language that looks like a cross between Java and Javascript: Flash Actionscript.
Since Flash is a vector based engine, it provides a pixel accurate layout capability … that means you can produce any type of layout / UI you could possibly want for your application.
Adobe has created a framework for Flash called Flex. This extends Flash and provides a very rich set of tools for building applications for both the Web and the desktop. To get you Flash based applications on the desktop, Adobe has created the Air framework.
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
I’m very busy with things (video games, movies etc …) so it is not uncommon for me to outsource some programming work these days.
Side note: I have to tell you, as an old-school web nerd who likes code, it was really hard at first to let go and let others do the work. Fortunately, it’s getting easier with every project!
😉
Anyway, I do have my assistants here at killersites.com, who by the way, are a tremendous help. Nonetheless, sometimes I get outside help for whatever reasons.
Crazy quotes from Java nerds
I decided recently that I wanted to contribute back to an open source project that I have used in the past … by throwing the people involved in that project, some work. I also agreed to release the additions/modifications back to the community.
Anyway …
The modifications I wanted were relatively simple – a couple of filters, some rearranging of the UI etc ..
So I get back the quote for this project. I want to mention that I could do it myself in say two days – and my Java skills are rusty! The point is, this was not a big project.
… And yet in the quote, we had a project manager budgeted in and crazy time devoted to testing. For example:
For a button that took the user to a screen/view that already existed … just a button: 8 hrs of testing!
??
Now we all know that Java guys love to over engineer, but this is crazy! When will Java nerds learn that you don’t need an aircraft carrier to move a rocking chair.
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
Hi,
Over the years, I’ve found that every time that I come across the AOL browser … trouble starts.
Just today, someone was having problems watching Flash FLV based videos, where the videos would just stop half way through for no apparent reasons.
As it turned out, it was the AOL browser (a modified version of IE, so I’m told) that was screwing up. As soon as he switched to Firefox, everything worked fine.
The AOL browser isn’t the only bad actor – many micro-niche browsers are often times the source of strange problems that you don’t get using the major browsers out there. So do yourself a favor, stick to Firefox or IE.
… And keep up to date, they are free after all.
Ciao,
Stefan Mischook
This is the first of a new series of podcast that I am creating called: ‘Ask a web nerd.’
Not the greatest title, but I hope it tells something about this series; I will be answering common questions put to me by people everyday. Questions about anything regarding web design, web programming, getting into the web design game etc …
In this podcast, I will answer a common question put to me every so often:
Do you need to go to web design school, or college, to become a professional web designer?
Check out the podcast in the killersites.com web design magazine:
If you have any comments or any new questions you would like answered, just post a comment here or on the magazine and I will do my best.
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com
Hi,
The following session answers a common question that has been put to me many times:
What hardware and software do you need to run a web design business? Do you need to upgrade to ‘industrial strength’ tools?
I also touch on a few other things that I know many of you will find interesting.
You can listen to the latest Business of Web Design podcast in the killersites.com magazine.
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
Hi,
I just uploaded the very first session of the Business of Web Design course/audio-book.
The first session is the introduction to the course, where I go over some of the specifics of what I’m going to cover … along with a few other things.
Introduction to the Business of Web Design audio book.
Please post comments, questions, criticisms and even praise for what your hear.
–
I have many other session/chapters already recorded and they should be out very soon … I just have to do the final edits.
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
