Ask Slashdot: Has the Time Passed For Coding Website from Scratch?

First time accepted submitter thomawack writes As a designer I always do webdesign from scratch and put them into CMSMS. Frameworks are too complicated to work into, their code is usually bloated and adaptable online solutions are/were limited in options. I know my way around html/css, but I am not a programmer. My problem is, always starting from scratch has become too expensive for most customers. I see more and more online adaptive solutions that seem to be more flexible, but I am a bit overwhelmed because there are so many solutions around. Is there something you can recommend?

Comments

Obviously.

[__aaaipu5720]

The technologies are changing quickly. You're going to have to man-up, and keep with the changing market, or else, pay the price. Custom coding websites is all but dead. If you can't build web-applications, you're screwed. Get with the times, or learn what the traditional-media advertising illustrators discovered the hard way.

Re:So, the problem is..

[TechyImmigrant]

I can program and I maintain the web site of our family business with as much static html as possible. The actual places where dynamism is required (E.G. class bookings) is handled with CGI in python. Credit card processing is farmed out to stripe.

Thus the total amount of code that needs to be comprehended is small. A few hundred lines.

The long term savings in terms of enabling staff to go in and edit stuff live has saved a fortune.

What works for one business may not work for another. I tried Django and the sheer volume of stuff I needed to do to get the same functionality up was huge and then the staff couldn't edit it because for all that's claimed for Django, there's a big model you have to get in you head before you can start meddling with it, and that means web professionals who cost a lot of money.

Re:About 7-8 years ago?

[Areyoukiddingme]

Yeah, the time for coding them from scratch probably passed about 7-8 years ago.

Uh huh.

May I suggest a counterpoint?

Re:HTML = programming

[Anonymous Coward]

HTML is a markup language, not a programming language. Creating a web page with HTML is not programming. If you think it is, you're just wrong.

Google Sites

[pr0t0]

If all your client wants is a simple/stupid brochure site that they can maintain, just build it in Google Sites with a Google account they can own. You can do a whole site in 1-3 hours depending on how much custom graphics you have to build. You can reasonably charge $250-1000 depending on your time, and spend an hour training them on how to maintain it so you don't have to in perpetuity.

I've done this just a few times now (twice for free), and every time I'm glad I did. The more you dig into it, the more you realize it actually does allow for *some* customization. If you get into the scripting, you can do even more. I see tech-challenged people starting their small (1-20 people) brick & mortar businesses and being totally lost on things like document sharing, company email, web sites, cloud storage, etc. I just hook them up with the Google Business apps...$50/person/year. It's cheap and works.

Re:Choose a CMS you like

[buchner.johannes]

I know all the php/wordpress snobs on /. will dismiss this and laugh but personally if i'm building a site for someone (usually for no money and limited time) I just install wordpress, 'secure it',

I dismiss this and laugh because you think you can secure WordPress.

If you're using WordPress for clients, you better budget in the time you/they will spend upgrading WordPress to fix its latest security vulnerabilities.

Actually you can upgrade Wordpress with the click of a button on the Admin panel. You can even delegate that to your users. Or have Wordpress.com host you. Yes, there are more secure frameworks (your hand-made one is not among them), but few that receive as much auditing as the widely deployed Wordpress.

Building websites based on Wordpress is super-easy, there are extensions for everything, and you can let other people design and integrate the layout/template. Also, other people can take over what you leave behind.
Your other options are things like Drupal or Joomla!, but they take significantly more effort to adapt and hack.