admin's blog
I get a lot of requests for themes in other CMS and Blog formats, but until today I've turned them all down. Lately I've been learning the theme/template formats for four new CMS systems: Joomla, Wordpress, Blogger and DotnetNuke. I've decided to branch out from my usual Drupal only mindset and start theming for other blogging and content management systems. So beginning today, I'm offering Joomla, Drupal, Blogger, Wordpress and DotnetNuke themes and templates.
This is an article about sites that I love and ones that need a lot of help. Today I'm comparing two similar sites and giving reason's why one is better than another.
This is a great site:
Quest Church in Seattle, WA
A friend of mine gave me the link to a church website that had been redesigned after their previous $20,000 website was reclaimed by the designer. I guess they didn't read the contract. Anyway, the website (using a pdf document... hahaha. Web designer humor) taught churches how to build a website for under $100. I really had to laugh. First of all, it is possible to do. Second, it is not recommended. Here are a few reasons why. Almost all of them extend from inexperience and this guy is acting like an authority.Why does a cheap website not work:
When it comes to Open Source Content Management Systems, there are three out there that are taking the Net by storm:
- Drupal
- Joomla!
- Wordpress
I have conversations with people from time to time who want to argue about whether or not one of these is better than another. I really think that they all are the best for what they do for end users. I like to say that Drupal is more for developers, Joomla is more for novice end users and WordPress is for the average Joe. Each of them has their strengths and weaknesses.
I know what it's like to be on a budget as a church. I was a youth pastor for ten years in two churches that couldn't afford to pay for a web designer. We built our own site. Luckily back then it was OK to have a table based layout and use inline styling. But now the world of the web has changed. It's not the same world wide web that "Al Gore" created. There are a lot of reasons that you should hire a designer/developer to code a website for you: Your website is difficult to update. The high school student that originally built it for you went off to college.
I was thinking today which was better... Freelance or working for The Man. Ok, by the man I mean a 9-5 job that pays well and gives you benefits. To tell you the truth, I like them both (and I hate them both.) So here it is... the pro's and cons of each. I really thing that some of the greatest things about being a freelance designer is that the clientel is always changing. Sure, you get a lot of repeat business from some of the clients, but for the most part, the landscape and style are constantly changing.
