shadow81

Thanks for all your replies - does anyone have any actual figures that I can charge? I just have no idea what is a good rate or not..I don't want to be rude and over charge, but I also want it to be worth my while updating the site as it wasn't what I originally agreed. Regarding the PHP - If I change every page to a php extension, will that not interfere with search engine / link entries? The website has had over 1000 visits since I Put the site up 2 weeks ago, so i'm thinking it's a very popular site and I really don't want to have to ruin any links to it! Is there a test I can do, to see if the host support php? My client uses their own hosts and I can't find much info about what their package includes. It is Thorin they use. Many Thanks,

Hi, I recently finished a website for a client that has taken me a long and frustrating 6 months to complete. I wasn't paid for the website as I wanted to learn css and thought it wasn't fair for him. However the client kindly gave me a little something after it was completed. The client said that he wanted to maintain it himself, so I created extensive guides for the client on how to update the website, using html (e.g adding photos, links, text etc). I was so glad to finally finish this and get it out of my life, so I went to show the client on how to update it and he got really angry and said he just couldn't do it, didn't have the time and patience and that it was far too difficult to do!!! I was very annoyed at this, but kept cool (surprisingly!) plus he didn't even seem to have read the guide I spent ages producing! Anyway, I have now been lumbered with maintaining the website and it's going to need updated on a almost weekly basis. He has just also asked me to add 2 new pages again, which means I need to create the buttons for the navigation bar and update every page there is. I will be charging a maintenance fee now, as there is no way I am doing this for free. What are reasonable prices to charge? do people charge an annual fee or just a 'pay as you go fee'? Updates would consist of :- changing text on the 'news' page, almost weekly. Adding new pages and changing navigation bar Uploading new images Bear in mind, I do all this using css and html on notepad - so a very lengthy process! At the start of this, i was all for making websites for people as an extra hobby - this has completely put me off! Sorry for the rant, and thanks for any advice!

Hi, I have newly finished a site for a small business and they now want to update the website themselves - such as add text, pictures, new pages and link buttons etc. I was just going to create a document explaining how to add data via html, but my client knows nothing about html and css and it may become difficult doing this or I worry they may delete important coding etc. I have commented my html files, but for a complete beginner I think it would still be very daunting. I tried cutenews, I have installed it and it runs ok, but I have no idea what to do now! Does anyone have step by step guides on how to integrate it into my website? Do I need to convert all webpages into .php - how do I go about that as I know absolutely nothing about PHP!? I really don't want to have to create the website again, as it was my first big project and I learned css from scratch while doing it and it took quite a few months! Thanks!

I like that idea, I think I will use that. Do you limit how much content there is on a page, as they may try to push their luck and want 200 photos on a page! I will be communicating mostly by email as the client doesn't live near me. I think it's better to get my ideas across that way as I'm not good at expressing myself verbally, plus I am quite shy! Thank You all for your ideas, it certainly a different ball game when there is money involved! Now there is the issue of maintaining the site after it is done, they want to update the site themself, however they don't know html code and probably ftp! I've looked into CMS, but the webhosting doesn't support sql or php. Any ideas on how they can update the site easily? Thanks!

Hi, I was making a website for free for a small business and they passed my details to another business who want to pay me to make them a website. I've never been paid to make a website before and my skills are 'intermediate' I've only just learned CSS and that and my knowledge is still a bit flaky on it, so I'll still be learning parts as I go. The website I just finished had taken me over 3 months, due to my 'perfectionist' streak and my lack of knowledge. I realise that if I'm being paid, I better not take as long to do it, but I still have to be thorough with the website. My questions are: Since I will be paid to make a website, do I need to have a contract, professional invoices, quotes etc? What should I do first? I've talked to the client and asked what they require - site design, colour scheme, content, time scale. They didn't really give me much to go on, doesn't matter what colour, design, they don't have a time scale, I don't know how much content there will be. So it makes it quite difficult! I haven't yet given a price, they just want a basic site to advertise their goods - nothing fancy but it will mainly contain pictures, they also want it as cheap as possible, but I don't know what 'cheap' means to them. I've been scouring the internet for prices, but they vary so much! I prefer to pay by project e.g 5 pages £150 something like that - would that be far too much to charge? Also they don't have a domain name or webspace, I think the best way is to point them in the right direction of web hosting as I don't want to be stuck with a monthly fee for hosting etc - would that be the right thing to do? I don't know how to do it any other way? Any other hints and tips for someone just starting out? I don't know if I'll continue to do this, I'll see how this site goes first! It's quite stressful just now and I haven't even started! Thanks!

Hi, I'm 26 female from Scotland and am interested in doing Web Design as a second job. I offered to do a website for a small business for free and they passed my details on to another small business who are willing to pay for a site. So I've come here armed with questions, which I'm sure to get friendly and precise answers to, from what I've read so far! I'd say I was intermediate in webdesign, I used to do quite a bit as a hobby years ago when HTML 3.0 was all the rage, but I've noticed it's come a long way since then and i've just finished a website using CSS Layouts and that was an experience - frustrating and exciting! I flung myself in the deep end and I now want to fill in all the gaps to understand more aspects of Web Design! I've even signed up at a local college to do a CIW course! I'm probably end up being a permanent resident on these boards, annoying you all with my questions!