EvSouL

Seriously, and I know i've been plugging this a lot lately.. but check out www.silverstripe.org
It's my favorite CMS thus far for basic content management. It stomps Modx and wordpress for ease..
 
this is an example of code for a site for a navigation menu:
 

<div id="Navigation"> <% include Navigation %> </div>
 
And in a separate css file from your main stylesheet you define how the menu is to be positioned/designed for the div id=naviation so you specify the design of the ul/li's.
 
It's seriously that easy. then for the content area it's similar:
 

<div id="Layout"> $Layout </div>
 
it goes on from there.. it's VERY easy to learn. What I did was install the silverstripe software on my server then downloaded and played with the default theme. Within minutes if you know css/xhtml at all you will catch on to how it works.
 
There are so many addon modules for it like blog, store, contact form, photo gallery, random widgets and more.
 
This software allowed me to step up my services to CMS sites without the headache of Crapla i mean Joomla and Wordpress.
 
Also check this link:
http://www.mathias-wilhelm.de/silverstripe_tutorial/index.html
Great basic and very QUICK breakdown of how to work with it.
 
You just need to understand the structure to convert your site to it:
 
Root folder of the template will have these directories:
css
images
templates
 
inside of css directory you will find:
form.css (defines all css for forms)
layout.css (defines all css for main site)
typography.css (defines all css for...typography)
 
inside images.. well all your images
 
inside templates dir you will find
Page.ss (the file extension is ss for silverstripe)
it's the main template your site will use.. you can create more if you need a different structure for a specific page. So when you go to create a new page for the site (when you want another link in your navigation menu) you select the template to be used.. so say you want a special template/layout for your portfolio that doesn't follow the main site pages structure you can click "create new:" then select the special template.ss"
 
It's incredible. There's a ton more to go into but that's the basic stuff.. Can you tell I'm excited about this CMS? I'm in the process of converting my site to it, but I'm too busy with client work and studying php to do this.
 
Also because you can't put php code inside of a non *.php file you can put your php code inside a php file and call to that php from within the *.ss file.

http://www.theawesomer.com
 
Such a cool blog displaying some of the most awesome things. Some of it won't be of interest but some will make you say "awesome!"

reputation? Eh? What am I missing - no idea what you guys are on about.

Could not agree more mate!
 
I get random quotes from web design "firms" in my area sometimes for projects I am working on and even the most simple design they'd want over $2,500 US dollars which is about £1500.
 
You people are completely undercharging yourselves! Don't undercut yourself. Seriously, I was doing that for so long making like £100-£200 per site then I realized all the time I invest into a project between meetings, and actual work, my service is worth a lot more.
 
Our work is worth something. Don't let the value of web design die.
This is not to say I don't make exceptions. But for a 5pg site I am charging at least £500-£600. And that's incredibly cheap compared to most design firms!
 
But like said above, don't get greedy.. but make sure you are getting paid what you're worth. (unless the bad economy is forcing lower prices.. sometimes that's the reality of it)

There is going to be an external booking engine added but i wont be building it. if thats all you cost for a 5/6 page website your serioulsy under quoting yourself or else your designs are the greatest! how long would it take u to build from scratch? cos if all you charge if 300 pound for a site u would want to have it designed and built in a couple of days max! i quoted myself €1000 for this site and i know for a fact that if i was to go web design compnay and asked them to quote for a 6 page brochure site they would charge from 1500 onwards! i suppose it all depends on how much you think ur designs are worth