Is it possible to make a living off designing CSS layouts?

[Robert Maxwell]

Agreed with that as well - I tend to do that on the side now compared to when moeny could be made in websites many moons ago.

My only complaint is with one guy... I made a community based website, it grew to ridiculous proportions, made a lot of money and got more attention than the other sites in the market and he *still* needs the whys and hows explained to him every second month.

I'd charge an hourly consulting fee for something like that. That'd put a stop to the calls! Or at least make you some money.

I'm determined to get one CMS to bridge with phpBB. They're in no way shape or form compatible on any level. But.. it's too good a challenge (and it's the easiest thing to teach technophones)

What CMS? phpBB is kind of tricky to bridge, as I have learned, but I managed to glue it to Xataface, which I thought would be next to impossible!

 

[jamestyler]

I'd charge an hourly consulting fee for something like that. That'd put a stop to the calls! Or at least make you some money.

Unfortunately that one's a freebie (of sorts, it's complicated). I put my foot down a month or so ago saying "I own the server, I know what I'm doing, I'll do what I like" then mentioned how much it would cost to run if he hired someone else. No annoying calls since. Yet.

Well, not from him

What CMS? phpBB is kind of tricky to bridge, as I have learned, but I managed to glue it to Xataface, which I thought would be next to impossible!

It's not one thats highly rated; CuteNews. I started using it on one site as it was easier to use that than creating a template/theme in a more popular CMS/blog and I didn't have the time to start from scratch. It was an easily adaptable quick fix that I've used once or twice since then. Including my own site - and I'm too lazy to change that now, heh.

I replaced it at one stage with the site I initially used it on - all the users complained and wanted the easy system back. Turned out to be a good toy to have.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Nice! I don't know if you've ever seen it, but I mentioned Xataface earlier, and it's a really nice framework. It's not exactly a CMS, although you could easily build one with it. It's a database abstraction system that is featureful enough you can have a database-driven site up and running in minutes. I swear by it and use it for custom database jobs all the time.

 

[jamestyler]

Haven't used it before - but downloaded after you first mentioned it. I've got a cue of stuff I've not used before to test out. I constantly keep my eye on websites like hotscrips to see what I can play with next. It's my guilty geeky pleasure.

 

[SeerSGB]

-- Availability of people who can build a website. I don't mean kit-kiddies, I mean folks that can long-hand HTML, PHP, etc. Now a days it seems as everyone has some younger member of the family that is a "web designer".

Thats something that used to really get on my nerves. I had a client drop me (and try to stiff me on the bill) when he decided his 13 year old could build the site for him. Three years of a crappy site later, I was politely asked to come back.

It's also annoying to have people say things like "Can't you do it for £50?" when you're talking about something that'll take weeks to develop.

Over saturation, and in my experience severe bitchiness, from others made me switch off and only do private/specialised projects. Even then it's more for my own amusement as I probably couldn't make the money I used to when I used it to pay my way through uni.

Been there.

-- Grandson tried to take the site apart and rebuild it. Didn't know what the fuck he was doing, completely trashed the site. I got BITCHED big time over it and they tried to stick me with the fault till I dug out the login logs and "surprise" I wasn't into the site at the time, but the IP was bang on identical to the boy mommy's. Finally got the little shit to admit that he had done it and that he was trying to fuck me over.


-- Got offered a contract by a local printing company back in '05. Fucking great money, long term deal. Then when we got into the details before signing on, I said to hell with this.

I'd have to answer to the 16 year old son who was studying web design. His word was the final say on everything. And I had to split the money with him and his friend who was going to "supervise" when the son wasn't around. I picked up my portfolio, said "thanks but no thanks" and walked out the door. Heard not to much later that the mother had made the son the head-manager of the print shop and he basically had bankrupted them within a month, and now his mother was struggling to rebuild her business.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Wow, that is completely ridiculous. I'd have walked away, too. A 16-year-old? Seriously?

They deserved to go bankrupt.

 

[Indegato]

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