bpmills2001

It'available at sitepoint.com, but is fairly expensive.

Hi I have a client who wants an asp application to allow users to enter a string value into an input box. This string will then need to be inserted into a PDF document template. The PDF is a certificate and all that needs putting into it is the name of the person who the certificate is for. Has anyone got any idea how to do this (I'm pretty sure they don't have a full installed version of Adobe Acrobat). Thanks in advance.

Cheers guys, I think I'll threaten them with the added interest. If I still have no joy in 3-4 months I'll probably write it off.

Little legal advice required, about 6/7 months ago I did some freelance work for a web design company, invoiced them accordingly and to this dat I have still not been paid. I have sent numerous requests for payment, and at first they kept saying it'll be in the next cheque run. However, they then started to ignore me. The question is do I threaten them with small claims court or do I just write it off, as it was only for £100.00? Although, if they wont pay me £100 whos to say someone else will do a bigger project with them and they'll be screwed over as well.

I had tried UKBF but to be honest it bored the hell out of me, so probably wont use it at all. And as for the person who said that people who come on to forums to just get links should be banned, I hope your not implying thats what I'm doing, I'm kind of new to the world of SEO and am just trying to get ideas on how to improve rankings.

I have signed up to various forums to improve search engine rankings, but every link back to my site contains rel=nofollow. Are there any forums that don't, if not why would you post in forums for rankings?

I consider myself a pretty experienced developer using ASP and ASP.NET, however looking at the marketplace on this forum and many of the freelance site it appears that a lot of clients want to use PHP. Should I attempt to learn (how easy/difficult is it), or should I stick with my what I'm best at. Thanks

I generally find the freelancer bidding sites a pointless excercise. You spend a lot of effort putting together a proposal but then are up against people in different countries offering to do entire websites for 50p (a slight exageration but you get the idea). The only ones I've had any luck with is Freelancers.net and People Per Hour. But I generally go direct or try and get referrals.

Thanks for Welcoming me Dizi. I suppose I should have really expected them to contain nofollow, but as you say if I keep active on here, I'm sure I'll get more visitors to my site anyway. Suppose I had better sort my portfolio page out. Thanks for the advice.

Hi there, I've been in this forum for about a week now and have written a number of posts yet have not got around to introducing myself properly. I'm primarily a .net coder, so looking to help people out in that area, and also get some ideas on the more creative design side. I've also joined to network with fellow designers/coders and to get some links to my own site to increase my search engine rankings. Everyone I've spoken too so far seems nice, and sorry that it took me a good while to introduce myself. Thanks Barry

No problem, glad I could help.

Are you using Visual Studio to build your site. As you can create a new master page, then once you have that you can then create a new web page and it will give you the option to select a master page, make sure this is checked. You then place your page specific code in the content control. You can also nest master pages within another master page, athough I thinkg Visual Studio gets confused and doesn't allow you to edit in designer mode.

Hi, We have a number of Microsoft Certified Developers, please send details to mail@real-itsolutions.com and we'll see if we can get you a quote that meets your needs. Can I ask if there is a specific deadline you have to meet, or is it just as soon as possible.

The majority of the pages can stay as htm/html if there is no dynamic code. Any page that requires anything dynamic, such as the pages for adding details for lost dogs you put your asp code in the <% %> and the page extension should be renamed to asp. ASPX is for .NET based websites, if you are using classic asp the extension should be asp. Hope this helps/

I think if we were to quote for a project like this we would need a lot more information. Plus i am strongly against the use of Flash unless it is absolutely necessary. Some web designers charge by the hour, and some by page (even if they quote per project they are estimating how much time and including a profit margin). As a general rule of thumb hourly rates range from about £10 / £75 per hour, or £50 to £250 per page, this all depends on the level of experience of the designer. If we were to quote based on current info of 20 pages potentially replicated over 12 sites .... about £20k. If the 12 sites were just replicated probably work out about 2k. But then we would have to outsource the flash. Hope this gives you some idea of what you might be expected to pay for a site of this size.

If you set up as a partnership I would fully recommend receiving legal advice, and draw up a contract as to what each persons responsibilites are and what would happen if the event of difference of oppionion and for amicable split. I've known people to have had differences of oppionion and ratehr than affecting productivity they have been able to resolve their differences. Also, as Faisal, mentioned I would look at pursuing a Limited company as if your difference of oppinions affect productivy then if the client decides to sue for loss of earnings then only the businesses finances can be taken from, with sole trader and partnerships all your personal assets are fair game as well.

I completely agree that the best way to get started is not by pursuing a qualification. A lot of the courses/qualifications out there for web design contain nothing that you can't learn from articles on the internet or from reading books. The best way to win new clients is definitely through a portfolio. I got a degree in IT and can say 100% that I learned much more from doing it in the real world. I started out building freebies for friends and family. If you have real world projects in your portfolio, chances are that you have a number of happy customers, and happy customers tell their friends, they then tell their friends. However, in answer to your question, regardless of whether I agree with it or not. An industry recognised qualification: Certified Internet Webmaster programmes