mrmarkus1981 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Good afternoon folks The chap who built our company website and maintained it for us is becoming almost impossible to contact as he is gallivanting all over the world. We looked into having it maintained by a small local firm who couldn't help, it seems it was written in Linux originally. So i suppose my question is, would anyone be interested or know of anyone who could help:- 1.) modernising/converting the site in to a conventional programming language 2.) if (1) not possible re-designing the site completely 3.) ongoing maintenance/tech support, site hosting, email management I realise there are cost implications, this is not important but would obviously rather not get shafted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tian447 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Not entirely sure what you mean by "was written in Linux" but in all fairness, you're probably worth just cutting your losses, and starting again completely. Once the new one is built, you can then simply replace what you've got with the new one. Shoehorning old content into new designs is rarely worth it. Trying to decipher his code, comments, and working practise will take more time than it's worth, and will in all likeliness be completely impossible, especially if that guy was working on his own to build it. He'll use his own coding conventions, have devised his own workaround processes, and his own commenting system (if he's used them at all). Get someone to start from scratch, building to your exact specifications. What do you want it to do, and how should it look? Leave the functionality up to them, as they will likely know how everything will fit together. However, make sure that they build you a website with Responsive Web Design - the amount of websites you see today that do not work with smaller screens (e.g. phones) is mental, and nothing pisses off users more than a shite user experience I recently built a web app using MeteorJS, (https://www.meteor.com), and it was a fantastic experience - left me with a really nice, responsive, fast and secure web application. Sadly, I wouldn't have the skills to help you with yours, as mine was just a personal project instead of a corporate project, but it would be worth seeing if you can get anyone with knowledge in how to build you a new web app using it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Winchester Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 I think you maybe need a bit more detail as you can't write a website "in Linux". Do you mean that the website is hosted on a Linux system and they don't support that maybe? Depending on how it has been delivered as well the code may have been minimised/compiled in such a way that without the original code (which may not necessarily sit on the server) it would be next to impossible for someone else to come in to maintain it. It really depends on the size of the site and what functionality you require implementing. I guess the main question is are you happy with it or is it time for a change anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmarkus1981 Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 6 minutes ago, Dean Winchester said: I think you maybe need a bit more detail as you can't write a website "in Linux". Do you mean that the website is hosted on a Linux system and they don't support that maybe? Depending on how it has been delivered as well the code may have been minimised/compiled in such a way that without the original code (which may not necessarily sit on the server) it would be next to impossible for someone else to come in to maintain it. It really depends on the size of the site and what functionality you require implementing. I guess the main question is are you happy with it or is it time for a change anyway? I wasn't in the meeting with the new company, all i remember was 'linux' was mentioned, so your first sentence is likely to be correct, my apologies for the misunderstanding. I'd prefer an overhall, so i guess i'm looking for a web-designer and contracted tech-support. Is this something people freelance in? Or am i going to a big corporation to get bent over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Gin Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Your site is probably hosted on a linux-based server, however it'll almost certainly be coded in html, possibly along with some javascript. You can definitely get freelance web developers/designers who should be able to take a look at it for you. If it's something you want to be able to login and update bits of information yourself you should get a new CMS-based (Content Management System) site built for you. Something using Wordpress, Drupal or Joomla will be cheaper than having a custom built CMS built from scratch, and should do the job unless you need something really complex. As stated above, you want a responsive design (this means it will scale appropriately to make it work well on mobile and tablet devices). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovecraft Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Have a look at squarespace. https://www.squarespace.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmarkus1981 Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 I'm not looking to design it myself, i'm looking to pay someone to build and maintain (if/when required). Thanks for all the input though, i don't feel so daft about it all now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tian447 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 20 minutes ago, mrmarkus1981 said: I'm not looking to design it myself, i'm looking to pay someone to build and maintain (if/when required). Thanks for all the input though, i don't feel so daft about it all now! Nothing daft about not knowing when you're not clued up on it all! It's incredibly overwhelming. Even though you don't want to design it, you'll need to have an idea of how it should all function. Depending on the process they follow, web developers will likely generate cards, like "The website should do X", "The website should allow the user to do Y", and "The website may do Z" which they can then work toward in their development iterations. You'll want to pass on the things that it must do, the things that it would be nice if it done, and the fundamental interactions between the customer/user and the website. They will then make a product that satisfies the criteria. It's better to have a list of things it must do, a copy of the old website with the things that are crap about it (don't forget to say what is good about it, so things don't change too much) and how you want the end result to function. It's better to have an idea of these ahead of time, as it reduces the amount of time wasted at a later date. If you can't be arsed, delegate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmarkus1981 Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, tian447 said: Nothing daft about not knowing when you're not clued up on it all! It's incredibly overwhelming. Even though you don't want to design it, you'll need to have an idea of how it should all function. Depending on the process they follow, web developers will likely generate cards, like "The website should do X", "The website should allow the user to do Y", and "The website may do Z" which they can then work toward in their development iterations. You'll want to pass on the things that it must do, the things that it would be nice if it done, and the fundamental interactions between the customer/user and the website. They will then make a product that satisfies the criteria. It's better to have a list of things it must do, a copy of the old website with the things that are crap about it (don't forget to say what is good about it, so things don't change too much) and how you want the end result to function. It's better to have an idea of these ahead of time, as it reduces the amount of time wasted at a later date. If you can't be arsed, delegate it I have a website up and running so i know what i want/need. I'll make contact with a local web designed and see how it goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tian447 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, mrmarkus1981 said: I have a website up and running so i know what i want/need. I'll make contact with a local web designed and see how it goes Gie these guys a shout - http://www.arngren.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesJambes Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 47 minutes ago, mrmarkus1981 said: I'm not looking to design it myself, i'm looking to pay someone to build and maintain (if/when required). Thanks for all the input though, i don't feel so daft about it all now! Depending on what you want to do you don't even need experience to make a simple site, Wix has a very good site editor you can build a website without needing to write a single line of HTML. It's well worth signing up free and looking at, even if you can build the majority of the site it will save you money because it's time that you don't have to pay a design company for. If you post the link to your current site, or PM me, I could give you an idea of how easy it would be to build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesJambes Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 19 minutes ago, tian447 said: Gie these guys a shout - http://www.arngren.net/ WTF! Also thanks for my favourite new gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col1874 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Can you pm me the current website address (if you don't want to share it) so that I can see if I could help out? I prefer to build self hosted WordPress websites as they are generally quite easy for non-skilled people to maintain, but it really depends what the website is used for as wordpress doesn't suit some types company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtipsjambo Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 On 4/11/2018 at 12:30, mrmarkus1981 said: Good afternoon folks The chap who built our company website and maintained it for us is becoming almost impossible to contact as he is gallivanting all over the world. We looked into having it maintained by a small local firm who couldn't help, it seems it was written in Linux originally. So i suppose my question is, would anyone be interested or know of anyone who could help:- 1.) modernising/converting the site in to a conventional programming language 2.) if (1) not possible re-designing the site completely 3.) ongoing maintenance/tech support, site hosting, email management I realise there are cost implications, this is not important but would obviously rather not get shafted! Can you pm me mr Markus with contact details etc my mates laddie might be interested Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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