Comments on: The Custom WordPress Design Experiment: Part 1 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/ Backpacking around the world on my income from the internet. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:02:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chris Parsons http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-58491 Chris Parsons Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:05:36 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-58491 I stumbled across this looking for a wordpress site redesign for under $500. I don't know who all these people are saying that you overpaid, but I've found it hard to find good people willing to do the job for anything less than that. I stumbled across this looking for a wordpress site redesign for under $500. I don’t know who all these people are saying that you overpaid, but I’ve found it hard to find good people willing to do the job for anything less than that.

]]> By: jeelago http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-35306 jeelago Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:44:38 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-35306 Hi -- long time reader, first time commenter -- just wanted to thank you for this blog and being so open with regard to your experiences, in travel but also and esp w/re to building sites and generating revenue. I really appreciate that, I think it's rare--and helpful--thank you! My first thought here was that you spent too much! WordPress really isn't a difficult bit o' software to configure, and you might considering learning it an investment that will allow you to quickly put up new sites in the future. There are tons of good templates and basic customization is a snap, even without PHP. However, because we don't know your requirements and requests on both back-end features and front-end design, I dont think it's possible to say if it's worth $500 bucks or not... would love if you did post that documentation but, I understand if you chose not to lol. Good luck with this! Regardless of what happens, you will learn something new. All the best. :~j Hi — long time reader, first time commenter — just wanted to thank you for this blog and being so open with regard to your experiences, in travel but also and esp w/re to building sites and generating revenue. I really appreciate that, I think it’s rare–and helpful–thank you!

My first thought here was that you spent too much! WordPress really isn’t a difficult bit o’ software to configure, and you might considering learning it an investment that will allow you to quickly put up new sites in the future. There are tons of good templates and basic customization is a snap, even without PHP.

However, because we don’t know your requirements and requests on both back-end features and front-end design, I dont think it’s possible to say if it’s worth $500 bucks or not… would love if you did post that documentation but, I understand if you chose not to lol.

Good luck with this! Regardless of what happens, you will learn something new. All the best.

:~j

]]> By: Language Dude http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-35002 Language Dude Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:54:05 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-35002 Look guys, maybe she paid too much for the theme, maybe she didn't. This business comes down to productivity. If she saved herself weeks of work for $500 then it may well be worth it. Undoubtedly, she will evaluate whether she overpaid or not. Either way she s gaining experience in outsourcing which is vital if you want to do this for a living and not be chained to the computer 24-7. Not only that, it's the only way she will be able to dominate that niche. Look guys, maybe she paid too much for the theme, maybe she didn’t. This business comes down to productivity. If she saved herself weeks of work for $500 then it may well be worth it. Undoubtedly, she will evaluate whether she overpaid or not. Either way she s gaining experience in outsourcing which is vital if you want to do this for a living and not be chained to the computer 24-7. Not only that, it’s the only way she will be able to dominate that niche.

]]> By: weltreise http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34986 weltreise Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:55:38 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34986 I agree with Matt and Anthony about wasting 500 bucks. Learning PHP is the way to go if you want a more interactive backend. There are heaps of sites out there offering free code snipplets that you can use. All you need to find them is combining the right keywords in a search. Once you get deeper into this, you will pick up speed because you know what to search for. (It can be a bit tough in the beginning.) Learning by example has worked best for me. I agree with Matt and Anthony about wasting 500 bucks. Learning PHP is the way to go if you want a more interactive backend. There are heaps of sites out there offering free code snipplets that you can use. All you need to find them is combining the right keywords in a search. Once you get deeper into this, you will pick up speed because you know what to search for. (It can be a bit tough in the beginning.)

Learning by example has worked best for me.

]]> By: John Britton http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34980 John Britton Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:59:19 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34980 Don't use Wordpress as a CMS, use Drupal (http://drupal.org). Don’t use WordPress as a CMS, use Drupal (http://drupal.org).

]]> By: Working Nomad http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34954 Working Nomad Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:59:14 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34954 I agree with Nomadic Matt and believe you may have wasted 500 bucks. Firstly why is it so expensive? You could have put the project up on rentacoder or elance and I am sure you would have got a lot of interest in the project at competitive rates. Secondly I would rather have spent $500 on a PHP course which might have served you better in the long run. Still thats pretty brave of you to spend that amount, and will be interested to hear how the investment turns out. I agree with Nomadic Matt and believe you may have wasted 500 bucks. Firstly why is it so expensive? You could have put the project up on rentacoder or elance and I am sure you would have got a lot of interest in the project at competitive rates.

Secondly I would rather have spent $500 on a PHP course which might have served you better in the long run.

Still thats pretty brave of you to spend that amount, and will be interested to hear how the investment turns out.

]]> By: Language Dude http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34924 Language Dude Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:33:27 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34924 I think what you've laid out sounds like a good start. I wouldn't worry about the price you've paid. It will be worth it. You NEED to TRAIN YOURSELF to outsource more work. And I mean A LOT of the writing on this site. MOST OF IT. Your time will be better spent in an editorial role and it will still have your personal flavor. Your personal priority should be monetization. When I say monetization, I don't mean annoying ads. I mean keeping your readers happy while you leverage the content to make yourself a viable going concern. It will probably come down to a mix of ads and affiliate marketing, with affiliate products producing most of the revenue for a site like this. I can't stress enough, how someone like you needs to break yourself of the habit of doing it all yourself. I still do way too much myself. If you want to make a living at this then you have to pay other people do a lot of things that you will just not have the time for. I think what you’ve laid out sounds like a good start. I wouldn’t worry about the price you’ve paid. It will be worth it. You NEED to TRAIN YOURSELF to outsource more work. And I mean A LOT of the writing on this site. MOST OF IT. Your time will be better spent in an editorial role and it will still have your personal flavor. Your personal priority should be monetization. When I say monetization, I don’t mean annoying ads. I mean keeping your readers happy while you leverage the content to make yourself a viable going concern. It will probably come down to a mix of ads and affiliate marketing, with affiliate products producing most of the revenue for a site like this. I can’t stress enough, how someone like you needs to break yourself of the habit of doing it all yourself. I still do way too much myself. If you want to make a living at this then you have to pay other people do a lot of things that you will just not have the time for.

]]> By: Goldfish Guy http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34884 Goldfish Guy Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:25:29 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34884 This is going to be interesting to follow :) I have a very good person lined up to do what I call the putting together part of the site this will leave me pretty much free to do nothing but research & fine tunning the cost may jump to over a years income per site but the flexibility & longterm benefits should be worth it...... This is going to be interesting to follow :)

I have a very good person lined up to do what I call the putting together part of the site this will leave me pretty much free to do nothing but research & fine tunning the cost may jump to over a years income per site but the flexibility & longterm benefits should be worth it……

]]> By: 46and47 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34880 46and47 Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:16:38 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34880 I paid a freelancer to design a landing page last year. It was a mixed bag. I got exactly what I asked for visually but it wasn't quite what I really wanted on the backend. The conversion from PSD to HTML left something to be desired. It was a pretty ugly, automatically generated, code/image combination and making changes sucked. I don't own Photoshop and Gimp didn't let me edit the PSD files properly. I was in a hurry to get the landing page up (it was a bit late because of a miscommunication) and the price was reasonable so I let it slide. I'll probably stick to Wordpress themes if I do it again but now I know to ask for HTML and CSS and images (instead of the sliced images and HTML that I got). I paid a freelancer to design a landing page last year. It was a mixed bag. I got exactly what I asked for visually but it wasn’t quite what I really wanted on the backend.

The conversion from PSD to HTML left something to be desired. It was a pretty ugly, automatically generated, code/image combination and making changes sucked.

I don’t own Photoshop and Gimp didn’t let me edit the PSD files properly. I was in a hurry to get the landing page up (it was a bit late because of a miscommunication) and the price was reasonable so I let it slide.

I’ll probably stick to WordPress themes if I do it again but now I know to ask for HTML and CSS and images (instead of the sliced images and HTML that I got).

]]> By: Kirsty http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34874 Kirsty Fri, 07 Aug 2009 03:51:58 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34874 Ya Marty I think I know where you're coming from! It's so hard to have something in your own head and try to have someone else put it into action. No matter how much you explain and give examples, if they don't ge tit, they don't get it. I think he's on the right track now though. My PHP knowledge doesn't go beyond being able to insert a changing date for my copyright. I know virtually no PHP, not sure why you would think I This is all less about the design anyways, it's all that back end stuff I have tried and failed at many, many times and come away without learning a thing. If I was failing and learning stuff it would be ok, but spending so much time on it and then having nothing to show at the end of two days is super frustrating. If I get what I am hoping to get (a site that does what I want and is designed in a way that I can easily update and change the design to fit my picky ways exactly) then I will be completely happy with spending the money on it. If I don't... well, lesson learned and no regrets either. Ya Marty I think I know where you’re coming from! It’s so hard to have something in your own head and try to have someone else put it into action. No matter how much you explain and give examples, if they don’t ge tit, they don’t get it. I think he’s on the right track now though.

My PHP knowledge doesn’t go beyond being able to insert a changing date for my copyright. I know virtually no PHP, not sure why you would think I This is all less about the design anyways, it’s all that back end stuff I have tried and failed at many, many times and come away without learning a thing. If I was failing and learning stuff it would be ok, but spending so much time on it and then having nothing to show at the end of two days is super frustrating.

If I get what I am hoping to get (a site that does what I want and is designed in a way that I can easily update and change the design to fit my picky ways exactly) then I will be completely happy with spending the money on it. If I don’t… well, lesson learned and no regrets either.

]]> By: Nomadic Matt http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34872 Nomadic Matt Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:56:12 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34872 I think this was a waste of 500 dollars. Wordpress is easy to use. You your php knowledge it would take a day to figure out your way around the interface. The coding is easy. now, you'll have a really pretty theme when you are done but i think a premium theme would have done the trick. I think this was a waste of 500 dollars. WordPress is easy to use. You your php knowledge it would take a day to figure out your way around the interface. The coding is easy.

now, you’ll have a really pretty theme when you are done but i think a premium theme would have done the trick.

]]> By: Marty http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34862 Marty Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:40:52 +0000 http://www.nerdynomad.com/2009/08/05/the-custom-wordpress-design-experiment-part-1/#comment-34862 If you find a good designer (or for that matter, a good resource of any type ) treat them like gold. My outsourcing experiences have been a struggle... I think what it comes down to is the same thing you experienced - the requirements and expectations have to be clearly defined in the beginning. And, I think that some people just naturally 'get' your vision better than others. If you find a good designer (or for that matter, a good resource of any type ) treat them like gold. My outsourcing experiences have been a struggle…

I think what it comes down to is the same thing you experienced – the requirements and expectations have to be clearly defined in the beginning. And, I think that some people just naturally ‘get’ your vision better than others.

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