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What Do You Call People Who "Do HTML"?
gilgongo writes "It's more than 10 years since people started making a living writing web page markup, yet the job title (and role) has yet to settle down. Not only that, but there are different types of people who write markup: those that approach the craft as essentially an integration task, and those that see it as part of UI design overall. The situation is further complicated by the existence of other roles in the workplace such as graphic designer and information architect. This is making recruitment for this role a real headache. So, how do you describe people who 'do HTML' (and CSS and maybe a bit of JavaScript and graphics manipulation)? Some job titles I've seen include: Design Technologist, Web Developer, Front-end Developer, HTML/CSS Developer, Client-side Developer and UI Engineer. Do you have any favourite job titles for this role?"
Qualified would be
a) does HTML, is a graphics designer, can write decent text and hase some education in UI design
b) does HTML, programs any server-side-language (according to the current fashion) and knows Javascript very well, and knows UI (and can talk to class a))
c) does HTML, does databases and knows how to efficiently xslt the xml response of the database by heart and can talk to class b)
Seriously, the original job description given would have been appropriate in 1997.
My title is Web Producer. I didn't pick it, and I sometimes introduce the title with a joke about shooting spider webs from my wrists, or making prosthetic webbed feet for ducks who have lost their paddlers in tragic accidents. It's meant to be "web producer" as a role, like "movie producer" or "music producer", but it sounds stupid. Mainly it means I "do HTML" plus a lot of other digital/interactive design stuff (including programming and database work), and I manage other people who do this stuff.
IMO, there is a difference between a "web designer" and a "web developer" -- the former is closer to a graphic designer and focuses on making stuff pretty, while the latter is closer to a programmer and focuses on making stuff work. In big web studios, there are fleets of "web designers" who create interfaces in heavily-layered Photoshop files, and turn them over to "web developers" who convert them into working web interfaces. It lets people focus on a specific aspect of the process. However, I think something is lost in the process... if possible, a web designer ought to understand the power and limitations of HTML/CSS/etc. Maybe I spent too much time in art school, but I liken it to advanced painters who learn how to make their own paint from pigments/oil/etc., or ceramists who can make their own clay from the raw powders. In a similar vein, I think a web designer should know how to mix their raw materials too: pixels, code, etc.
That's my ideal, anyway.
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A webmaster is someone who controls the content of a website.
Adding some ammunition to your statement above, I had a boss that was the "Webmaster" but couldn't have been a dumber blonde. She couldn't write a lick of code, didn't know PHP from HTML from Javascript, yet she was the "Webmaster". She once managed to turn a simple address input into a 9 page form (separate page for first name, last name, address line 1, address line 2, etc). I convinced her bosses that I could do it in 1 page and they agreed.
I'm not sure if she was promoted to a position where she could do less damage, but the website she was responsible for (a California TV station) is now nothing but Google ads. Shortly after I quit I was accused of hacking their website. It turned out that her new developer didn't understand an SQL query and told her I was using it to hack in.
I don't call myself a webmaster, because I think the term is used way too often by people below my level of expertise. I don't want to be associated with those guys. When selling a website project, I call myself a "Web Application Developer", partly because it's more descriptive of what I do and because the lesser beings wouldn't dare use it for fear that they might actually be asked to develop a web application.
"Lame" - Galaxar
For us in the profession "webmaster" is less a content role anymore. A CMS provides the means for content owners to manage content.
As for what role a "webmaster" takes on ... in my org it has moved into more of a technical position since the ground has shifted under the old meaning.
The "web developer" tends to be one who writes code at the backend, writing bridges between data systems, or libraries for front end web folk to do their work.
In my role I need control over the following:
- define the data (structure the content into fields, and define the metadata that binds it altogether)
- manipulate the data (with some type of template system typically, query the data, add/delete/modify -- although this last step is frequently a content owner)
- present the data (this encompasses front end XHTML/CSS/JS, often the visual and behavior layers, and, it means we need to dynamically query the data on various pages to recombine it)
I am a "Web Strategist and Designer". We also have a "Content Producer" on the team who shares tasks.
It all breaks down according to how big a shop you are... Webmaster still works as a catch all but when you have a real CMS strategy, and a team, that traditional role breaks down. You want to start having someone think with foresight about the visual design, UX and UI of the site, the tools that people work with, and the content strategy. You want team members who either are implementing this strategy, or, using the strategy in day to day work...
It's a tricky space. What does this role perform?
Are you recruiting for a catch all?
Will this person lead the development of the overall Design strategy? Note the big D there... it's more than a photoshop template as you know. It's the XHTML/CSS structure that is forward thinking, the behavior layer that builds upon the user experience, that interacts with a content layout or information architecture...
Will this person only code back-end to middleware solutions?
http://www.microsoft.com/canada/learning/QuebecMCSE/default.mspx