Hi,

 

I am still getting to grips with where content management systems come into play when designing websites for clients.

 

I have a few questions & I would like your opinions.

 

My first question is when designing websites from scratch for clients do you hard code everything or use a CMS?

 

Do you design your own CMS or do you implement a CMS such as Joomla, Wordpress, etc?

 

The reason I want your views is because I am designing a site for a client who wants to be able to amend the content himself & add images, etc.

 

I have coded the layout (CSS) myself & was then thinking of using Joomla to add the content so I would like to hear how you guys go about designing your sites & implementing a CMS.

 

If a CMS gives you all the functionality to develop a fully functional website then why do people need web designers?

 

Lee.

Hi,

 

I am still getting to grips with where content management systems come into play when designing websites for clients.

 

I have a few questions & I would like your opinions.

 

My first question is when designing websites from scratch for clients do you hard code everything or use a CMS?

 

Do you design your own CMS or do you implement a CMS such as Joomla, Wordpress, etc?

 

The reason I want your views is because I am designing a site for a client who wants to be able to amend the content himself & add images, etc.

 

I have coded the layout (CSS) myself & was then thinking of using Joomla to add the content so I would like to hear how you guys go about designing your sites & implementing a CMS.

 

If a CMS gives you all the functionality to develop a fully functional website then why do people need web designers?

 

Lee.

 

Many clients like to be able to edit their websites themselves. Maybe they have regular updates and can't afford to pay to get the designer to update the site or they like to be in control.

 

A CMS allows the client to do this, but its not easy for a non-technical person to implement a CMS system, so that means the designer role is still there.

 

When I'm designing sites, I like to design it in photoshop, then use that to code a html version. For instance with wordpress, you have the header, footer and page.php. So I split the design into three and add in any code to populate the design.

Are Content Management Systems killing the Web Design profession?

No more than piano kills the musician's craft, mate .

No more than piano kills the musician's craft, mate .

 

Can you elaborate a bit more?

 

What does a web designer offer that a CMS cannot?

 

I am not saying it IS killing the web design profession but I just want to understand the CMS more?

What does a web designer offer that a CMS cannot?

A website design.

 

I use Wordpress for all my sites. I design a site and implement the design to WP.

I am not saying it IS killing the web design profession

Yes. You are not saying this exactly. You asked:

Are Content Management Systems killing the Web Design profession?

And I am not saying that are you saying it IS killing the web design profession.

 

What does a web designer offer that a CMS cannot?

 

CMS cannot many thigns really. For instance:

 

1. CMS cannot elaborate web site design conception according to client's brief.
2. CMS cannot create PSD template of web page in Photoshop from scratch (according to elaborated concept)
3. CMS cannot convert PSD template to XHTML/CSS layout
4. CMS cannot process images.
5. CMS cannot draw logo in vector processing software.
6. CMS cannot create Flash animation
7. And so on

As already stated, a CMS is for managing content.

 

It doesn't do the design, installation, configuration, tweaking and modification of the site, or itself (with the exception of the install in some cases).

 

CMS's are powerful tools, and every designer/developer should be proficient in the use of a couple. They are no threat to web devs/designers.

 

The templates that get shipped with some CMS's aren't worth a toss quite frankly, and anyone serious about their website will know this, thus we'll always be needed

Until the people wanting a CMS to manage their site can design and implement it themselves we're safe.

My first question is when designing websites from scratch for clients do you hard code everything or use a CMS?

9/10 sites use some sort of CMS.

 

Do you design your own CMS or do you implement a CMS such as Joomla, Wordpress, etc?

I use 3rd part solutions - which one really depends on the client, their content, ability and budget.

 

...so I would like to hear how you guys go about designing your sites & implementing a CMS.

Start with the content and decide what's the best method of serving it.

 

If a CMS gives you all the functionality to develop a fully functional website then why do people need web designers?

90% of clients wouldn't know where to start, same as the 90% of us that don't know anything about plumbing so we still need a plummer!

Until the people wanting a CMS to manage their site can design and implement it themselves we're safe.

 

In fact, most of the CMS platforms ship with a bunch of free themes and skins. WP allows you to install a theme right from the server, you don't even download anything to your local machine. A great part of the clients, typically small businesses, are perfectly happy with the off-the-shelf themes. Free themes definitely lend an air of cheapness to the site but they don't mind it, content is king.

 

On the other hand, in the pre-CMS era you could also download full static templates (with those ridiculous XHTML and CSS W3C badges in the footer) or even flash templates for that matter, and yet it didn't kill the web design industry. Sites like templatemonster are still thriving and i suppose they are making a big $$$.

 

I think you should focus on clients who actually understand the importance of a unique design that stands out.

I think you should focus on clients who actually understand the importance of a unique design that stands out.

 

Agreed. I have clients who neither know or care that their site is using a CMS under the hood. If they don't want to know, they don't need to. It makes my life easier when they are asking me to 'add this', 'change that'.

 

I also have clients who specifically request a CMS, because they don't want to pay me (or anyone else) everytime they want to 'add this' or 'change that'.

 

I sell both a site design, and a way to easily interact with it.