wonky

This is something that I think it down to personal preferences and setup, but for me... I use xero for accountant stuff - it's the same system that my accountant uses so it's easy for everyone involved. It's more advanced than i really need but, as it feeds information directly from my business bank account, it's easy to keep track of who has paid invoices and any business costs i need to add invoices for. Regarding local storage, I use a Synology 2 bay NAS drive with RAID set up. I've got a few of them, one in the office and one at home, and love them! They have an easy to use UI and you can set up auto back ups to dropbox, google drive and easily set up vpns and remote access. I use the drive and then have specific sections (mainly client files) back up automatically to dropbox - this means when im in the office, i use the local drive which is faster than working directly through dropbox. But, when i'm out and about i can connect dropbox to the folders i need and access them that way. Any changes i make are then synced with the office drive, ready for anyone there to access. I'm not sure if Dropbox has made any recent changes, but with the introduction of GDPR I've been warned not to use it for any internal staff related docs or any sensitive data - i haven't had time to properly investigate the reasonings though. hth Matt

Hey all, I'm about to start development on a big build and one of the items on the list is a CMS for adding front end pages. I've used several page builders, like elementor, within wordpress but I was just wondering if there is something similar to plug into a website so that the clients can use a dynamic page builder to edit within a specific div on a website. I know there are CMS systems built into specific PHP framworks, i.e. Laravel, but I was just wondering if there was anything standalone before i start working on creating one from scratch. thanks! Matt

I've been building sites using PHP and MySQL for quite a while and have always struggled with finding the time to properly learn OOP within PHP. I still don't have the time, but it's something i'm determined to push myself into now. Has anyone used any tutorials that they found simple to understand, and reasonably short and concise. I just kind of need guidance on one element, i.e. the best way to implement OOP with something like a register/login script - mainly things like which bits should be blocked up to be re-used and at what stage and how to implement things like form validation. The, I'd be able to take the logic into other areas of the site(s). thanks in advance! Matt

I've never used sceditor in the past, but i've had a lot of good experience with tinyMCE: https://www.tiny.cloud/ Just another one to consider!

This is very simple to do if you know photoshop - maybe look at some online tutorials. Another option is using a website like magicmockups.com - you need to upload a screenshot of your website and then can download the mockup

I'm one step ahead of you...i just hate people! 😂 You should do what I've done - work your butt off and then hire people to manage the clients for you, while you sit in a cupboard with your crayons! 👌

You'll probably also relate to a lot on https://clientsfromhell.net/ My most annoying one is when i quote an amount, but they decide to go with someone cheaper (and less experienced) and then come back to me 3 months later but with half the budget they previously had! 🤯

Haha, been there a few times - normally either "we'll pay you double when the company makes money" or "but my neighbours son said he could do it for £50". Validating potential clients before meeting up, and getting budgets out of them, is a fine art!

Thanks for the explanation, it makes a lot more sense in my mind now. I've never thought it was a bad idea, or wrong - I have been designing brands and logos for years and it just didn't sit right in my head is all, so i was just trying to figure out the logic - sorry for hijacking your thread! I have always found when presenting inital concepts to people, it works best if you show them something that is consistent, but different so they can make direct comparisons, i.e. this is an a4 sheet full of images that we feel represent your brand, this is an a4 sheet full of colours that would match, this is an a4 sheet showing an example brochure cover. OR you go completely random and lay out the tiles completely differently so there won't be any direct comparison and it's all about portraying the feeling. I've worked with various agencies and also on branding concepts for some very well known global companies, all the way down to a local dog walker, but just haven't seen this set approach - I just see your 3 options above as very similar but laid out slightly differently, if that makes sense? You asked for critiques and suggestions so was just trying to help with your processes. Good luck, and keep us posted on the client feedback!

Please don't take offence to what I'm saying, I'm honestly trying to be helpful and to try and figure out what these designs actually are, but I feel like you've got 2 aspects mixed a bit with these. It sounds like these designs are half brand positioning and tone of voice but they also feature final logo options? For me these are very much 2 different aspects when designing 1) Brand positioning and tone of voice (sometimes split into 2-3 stages, depending on the size of the client) This is where i meet, discuss and then present them with at least 3 different options with different colour schemes and abstract imagery to try and nail down how they want to be seen. This can include things like abstract imagery, i.e. a basketball player that can have no relevance to the actual product or company. 2) The actual logo and brand design (again, sometimes split into 2-3 stages) Several options can be presented with logos and supporting materials - similar to how you have done above, but they would generally still be more varied. I would mock up a "page" so they could see the logo being used, but these would be more final implementations - i.e. they would be at the stage where you could show them to anyone and it would, hopefully, be immediately obvious what the company did as it would be relevant to their target audience - this is what @fisicx was trying to do above when you shot them down! I'm honestly trying to help, but kind of struggling with what stage you're at with the designs - could you elaborate a bit more? Hth! Matt

I prefer the middle design too, although the logo of the first. The only real feedback is that if these are 3 different designs, they're all very similar in style. All of them have the same colours, the same logo fonts, the same large solid blocks of colour, very similar fonts throughout and outlines of bulbs across all 3. It might be that they've already agreed on the colour scheme and the logo style and layout but even the layouts of the pages with blocks are all very similar.

Haha, yeah definitely! Sorry, i was more referring to every site in existence! New programming languages on the cards nowadays are definitely moving away from certain things, but PHP seems to be so common place that I can't see it going anywhere anytime soon. I'm a self taught web monkey, I only actually learnt PHP to get a job in design - managed to blag some things early on in my career and kind of learnt on the job. Along the way I've been told to learn other things, Ruby, Perl and even Coldfusion as they were all "the next big thing" but i've stuck with PHP and JavaScript (in various guises). It does seem like PHP is likely to start dying out at some point soonish, but it's never going to die completely, not for a long time anyway.

I'd agree with @fisicx stats say that 30% of websites use wordpress, which is php based. Other popular CMS systems are Joomla and Drupal, both of which are php based. Then you go into e-commerce sites and Magento, woocommerce, prestashop all feature php! Plus, that's excluding standard websites that are hand coded in PHP. If you looked at the most recent websites then this trend may well be changing but if you look at all the sites out there, i'd say that if a programming language is used, PHP would be no.1! But...to go back to the original post, html and css are generally pretty universal so anyone worth their weight could pick up the website and do whatever they needed to pretty quickly. If things like PHP or other languages are involved, then there are lots of different frameworks and ways of coding sites that it can be a lot harder for someone to take over someone else's code!

Without seeing the site and source code in action, it's hard to tell. I'm guessing the container top padding should push everything down, but it's not working? If it's not working, it might be being overwritten by something else so you could add !important onto the end. Or try this? body { margin-top: 120px !important; }

Heya, I'm torn between using freshbooks and xero. I started inputting all historic invoices into freshbooks but I've realised it's very much geared up for US audiences so there are certain things that don't work as expected! They both have similar project management sections but xero has way more features in other areas. I prefer the look and feel of freshbooks but xero is much more of an accounting package too that can deal with payroll etc. which i think will be more beneficial to me longer term.

Thanks very much - that looks the best option so far, albeit a little bit more expensive.

Haha, thanks guys...i think! I've got a whiteboard and marker too, as well as a stick on blackboard planner and a few hundred spreadsheets! 😀 It's always worked fine for me freelancing, but now i have 2 employees, i need to start doing the boring stuff and actually make sure projects are profitable! 🤔

Might as well keep my own private conversation going here but I've now found Harvest and that may well be the winner!

I've just found paydirt which seems to cover most of my needs - anyone used it before? thanks

Hi all, I'm on the hunt for a reasonably priced (or opensource) piece of sofware to use as a general agency management tool. It needs to be able to do the following: Generate quotes, which can then be turned into live projects Project management - set up different stages of a project Project invoicing - staged invoices or deposit/remainder Recurring invoices - hosting and retained clients One off invoices (some systems will only be able to invoice is a project has been set up) Multi user logins Time tracking so staff can allocate time against projects Reporting Customer contact database Ideally it would also have some kind of Staff management built in. i.e. tracking holidays and meetings etc. as well as a studio planner and also the ability to export accounts into xero or quickbooks. I've looked in the past but the systems have always been overkill, missing the recurring invoices bit or are just really badly designed. I started building my own system, but I just don't have the time to add in the time tracking piece for staff, which is really what i need to make sure specific projects are actually profitable! Any suggestions would be greatfully received! I'm currently looking at zoho, wrike and mavenlink thanks Matt

Oh yeah definitely - I've laid out designs in photoshop with multiple versions for desktop, tablet and mobile in the past. I just find it depends on the client and their budget these days - I work with a variety of clients, from a one woman dog walker, through to a large automotive brand. The dog walker didn't need anything fancy so i just designed live in wordpress, whereas the automotive client had a full range of psds worked up for different devices and resolutions before i even touched the source code. I find opening a blank canvas in photoshop can sometimes help to create something a bit more unique, rather than the standard layouts - obviously for most people a standard layout makes the most sense though.

After a quick look, I'd assume it's this puppy in style.css: .container-wrap { max-width: 1170px; margin: 0 auto; }

I'm a bit confused - so you're currently employed full time but want to do a bit of work on the side? If you're employed and being paid PAYE, you don't need to do anything as they'll be paying your tax and ni contributions before you get your salary. If you're looking to do some extra work then you'll need to do a self assesment tax return each year. Basically you're allowed £11,850 per year tax free, then you have to pay tax on anything over that amount (the exact amount is available here: https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates) But, if you're paid more than £12k then your allowance will be taken up by your full time job, so you'll have to pay tax on everything you get freelance. I believe there is a section on the self assesment tax return to list other earnings etc. so your tax would be calculated on the total earned during the financial year. Does that help, and make sense? Definitely keep expense receipts for freelance work though, and kep track of mileage too! There are benefits to going limited if you are doing a lot of work, but you need to be earning enough to make it worth your while - there are more costs and more hassles with being a limited company, but there are financial benefits, although with the recent drops in tax free dividend allowances, you need to be earning more than you would have in recent years to make it worth your while. hope that helps!

I'd second the wordpress approach! If you find the web side of things a hassle, I'd consider hiring a web person that's near to you and explain what you want. I would go for a custom hosted wordpress site with an off the shelf theme (suitable for your needs) and then look into wordpress plugins that meet the needs for the job ads. Once you're st up with the right tools, there shouldn't be any on-going development costs and you should be able to do all the job stuff yourself, reasonably easily. If you'd prefer to give it a go yourself, look for wordpress hosting so you'll get a clean install set up for you and then search for tutorials on "installing themes" and look for job related wordpress plugins. The GDPR side of things isn't really relevant when it comes to your website, apart from having a water tight privacy policy - most of the GDPR rules relate to how you handle your data and what you do with it.

A simple solution would be to have the link element as a block that expands the full height of the white bar, then you can just set the grey triangle to be the background of the div when it has an active class. You could also set the same image to appear :hover. Converting images into working webpages is a great way to learn. Maybe i'm old school but I still quite often work on designs in photoshop, then cut them up!