work work us? please?

November 29, 2005 12:39 PM

I need to hire a web developer type person.

I have installed MT 3.2 on Dreamhost and have some templates of what I want the site to look like and how I want it to behave. The templates are just Photoshop-made art really. I now need someone to build the CSS and make it "work." It's a slightly unorthodox site - two MT weblogs with different rules on a single page. And lots of modification, some of which is taken care of by plugins. So I need someone who knows MT, CSS, etc.

My friends and I can raise a little bit of money to pay someone, but we're not a company of any size, and this is a sort of community / sparetime project. Obviously we will pay someone, but can't afford much. I approached a few small companies locally but they wanted thousands of dollars, and unfortunately that's more than we can possibly afford. I know that you get what you pay for - but I'm still hoping that we can afford someone who can help us. Any ideas on where to start looking?

posted by luriete to computers & internet (15 comments total)

Rent-a-Coder?
posted by greatgefilte at 12:44 PM on November 29, 2005

I would suggest Craigslist before Rent-a-coder. Working with RAC means sacrificing communication skills.

And while it's a decent amount of work and decent quality work for very little money, it's also difficult to chat through the language barrier.

Also, if your heart, mind and soul aren't completely set on your designs, Template Monster has some gorgeous designs with complete HTML and CSS, including some built specifically for blogs, for < $100.br>
If you do go RAC, it might be wise to stipulate that you'd like American or your-country-of-origin coders only, if the language thing and some accountability will be an issue. Truthfully, you can find someone to do it there for less than $50, most likely.
posted by disillusioned at 12:50 PM on November 29, 2005

If it's a cool idea I'll do it for you for a decent price. I do this kind of work for a living and recently launched a blog consultancy company that does nothing but this kind of work. I am more qualified than 95% of the people you'll find by posting a CL ad.
posted by camworld at 1:08 PM on November 29, 2005

You should try the Moveable Type ProNet mailing list. The people on there are some of the best MT developers and coders out there. I don't know if you can post to the mailing list without being a member, but I could post it for you. Email is in my profile.
posted by rhapsodie at 1:13 PM on November 29, 2005

Hand out flyers at a college maybe? Post something up on a billboard at the supermarket? This way you can find people that really want to do the work, and aren't expecting a huge payday.
posted by pwally at 1:26 PM on November 29, 2005

I second trying local colleges. I'm a professional web developer now, but when I was in school, I would and could have gladly done quality work for nothing just to get experience. Using a local college student will give you improved communication over a rent-a-coder and will also make you feel better about yourself for supporting local business.
posted by scottreynen at 1:32 PM on November 29, 2005

I once hired someone freelance who created a blog for me, using graphics I made, for around $75. Click here. The prices are reasonable and she did good work. You may need to pay a bit more for plugins, but since your graphics are already created, ask for a custom quote.
posted by Blue Buddha at 1:37 PM on November 29, 2005

camworld: If you're so professional, howcome your jpg's are way overcompressed?

Jpeg overcompression is the disease eatin' away at the web, and sadly those afflicted often have no idea they have it, until it's too late!

luriete: You might be able to get away with doing two 'sites' in one by using ilayers. If so, it shouldn't be much work, just splitting up your graphics and writing some CSS. Collage campuses would be a good idea (I don't have any experience with CL)

If you don't want to use ilayers, then it might take a bit more programming (but not too much). Basically the difference is between hiring a "programmer" and a "web designer". Either way, it won't be much work, because the graphics are already done.
posted by delmoi at 3:05 PM on November 29, 2005

I might be up for a project...

personal site...
indie music site / my crowning database-driven web achievement
posted by twiggy at 3:16 PM on November 29, 2005

delmoi, your lack of professionalism is showing.
posted by camworld at 4:23 PM on November 29, 2005

Delmoi: "If you're so professional, howcome your jpg's are way overcompressed?"

What a childish snark. I have to agree, that the person showing the lack of professionalism, and maturity would be delmoi. Why don't you submit your site, Mr. "overcompression is a disease" and we'll disect its imprefections.
posted by Dag Maggot at 4:56 PM on November 29, 2005

Second disillusioned's idea of Craigslist - get an aspiring/student/just starting out somebody that you can work with/help/building a relationship with: i.e a win-win situation.
posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup at 4:58 PM on November 29, 2005

luriete:

i work for a small web dev company in sacramento and we've hired fairly competent html-monkeys (as interns) from CSUS, so try a craigslist ad. That said, it may be that what you want done (to do it right) DOES cost thousands of dollars -- we tried doing design for small biz earlier this year and they expected us do basically 1) do stuff for free and then 2) ate up tons of support time when we had to explain to them that web design isn't free, even if students will do it for peanuts to build a portfolio.

depending on the amount of supervision/control/support/communication ability you want, going local may have advantages, otherwise, you might try shopping out your project on some design community and paying like 100 bucks to have some kid in the czech republic to do it.

also if you guys work on classic cars i'll do it for work trade. might as well throw my hat in like everyone else. also let me know exactly what it is! I'm always interested in sacto community stuff.
posted by fishfucker at 5:08 PM on November 29, 2005

I would use Camworld. He's been around forever.

I also thought the college kid idea was really good. You might even get someone to work for free, who knows.
posted by xammerboy at 6:31 PM on November 29, 2005

delmoi, your lack of professionalism is showing.

What a childish snark. … that the person showing the lack of professionalism, and maturity would be delmoi.

Really? Matt must have made a mistake hireing me as a paid poster, I guess...
posted by delmoi at 8:37 PM on November 29, 2005