Releasing website into the wild

[rayanzenner]

Hey guys, I’m pretty new to web design and I just got a job to build a gallery type website. I’m capable to build the site and everything but there are few issues that I’d appreciate some help/tips/advice on:

1) What’s the best option for content management for a gallery type site in which main additions will be images and text descriptions? Doesn’t want to look blog like. The guy isn’t very technical so I think ftp uploads might frustrate him a bit.

2) Any advice on how to auto crop images to certain size? I tried the CSS clip thing but isn’t really what I want.. I’ve seen sites that do it but haven’t been able to figure out how. Maybe some javascript or jquery code that I can just implement in my code will work.

Basically have preview images on home page that link to main gallery and they want to be a certain width and height, showing the best parts of the image. Point is I don’t want the client to have to manually crop images every time he uploads new ones.

Thanks

[Tomasz Lisiecki]

Hello Rayan,

1) You are dealing with a WordPress fan, so yup. WordPress it is. Media library built-in, easy to query media and display on the front-end. Have you considered it?

2) If you used WordPress, you would just add in php add_image_size( 'unique-name', 200, 200, true ) and then every image your client uploads image will nicely get cropped into the dimensions you want :) Otherwise, I made a PEN for someone yesterday. Check it out here :) Just remove width and height on image if you don’t want it to be zoomed. Then use left & top to move it inside a view box.

Let me know your thoughts.

[rayanzenner]

Ho,

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, I’ve seen ppl do loads of cool with stuff with WordPress, and of course I’m a big fan too but my knowledge of it beyond basic blogging platform is almost zero. What do you mean by media library built-in.

I did build an entire WordPress theme before, so I’m not completely new, but I did it following a tutorial, not sure I could just start making up stuff of my own.. Would love to know how to integrate WordPress into the site…

Thanks again

[Tomasz Lisiecki]

Yo,

You should then get your head around it. WordPress is a REALLY powerful platform. I tend to reply to the question

Can WordPress do A,B and C?

with

WordPress can do anything.

Saying “Media library built-in” all I meant was the “Media” tab in the back-end and the entire API that wraps it around.

Tell me, is there anything on that website apart from the gallery? If it is basically a few pages such as “About Me” and “Contact Me” + a gallery page then it may be worth to consider bespoke CMS. Should be fairly easy to build. You can use MVC PHP Framework such as CodeIgniter (my fav). It comes with image manipulation helper so you could automatize cropping process. Have you ever come across CodeIgniter?

Just my 5 cents.. :)

[chrisburton]

I really like Kirby. Very customizable without the bulk code WordPress produces which I find incredibly frustrating and annoying. It does require knowledge of some basic PHP. A little more advanced than WordPress but nothing crazy. The only dislike I have about Kirby is the lack of a commenting system. You would either have to create your own or use something like Disqus. In your case, I think this would be perfect as it also has a backend service for your client.

[Dustin]

Here’s just hint of what’s available that you could most likely get paid well for if you’re not that experienced.

[chrisburton]

Yeah but that’s deceitful unless the client is aware.

[Dustin]

Yeah but that’s deceitful unless the client is aware.

Of course they are aware. Why would you spend $55 on a theme that they might not like? Just inform them that you can cut costs down by using something premade — not to mention that it comes with support and has been tested, also with free updates from an Elite Author. It’s unlikely the client would be able to install WordPress and configure a complex theme like that on his own.

I’m sure he would take a design like that in a heartbeat over something he’s capable of making himself. Website templates, themes and other services are starting to become more common. Especially for those clients who want all the bells and whistles but don’t want to spend a huge amount of money on something coded from scratch.

[rayanzenner]

Yeah, that’s basically it:
Home Gallery About

Really simple site, the client wants it that way…..

I haven’t come across CodeIgniter, but I’ll look into it….

Thanks dude :)

[rayanzenner]

@chrisburton – Thanks dude, I’ll definitely look into that :)

@Dustin – Looks like a great theme but the job is actually something I’m doing for free for a friend to kind of get my foot in the door so to speak. I don’t really have a budget it for it, which sucks a little

Thanks for all the replies :)

[Dustin]

HTML5 Up has some cool templates. One called parallelism.

[chrisburton]

Doing it for free is a mistake.

[Alen]

I don’t think doing it for free is a mistake.

It’s exactly how I got into Wedding Photography by photographing my friends wedding. The key here is to work your ass off and over deliver. This client will be your word-of-mouth for many years down the line. So are you really doing this for free. No. There are many intangibles that you can not quantify.

Now, just because it’s free doesn’t mean you don’t need a contract or some kind of agreement. This will limit the scope of the project, your friend might keep coming back to you time after time for more more more… You need to set limitation and boundaries.

The contract doesn’t need to outline any legal crap. Just a scope something like:

[Client Name] and [Your Name] agree to following terms and conditions.

Then just list, in detail, what needs to be completed. Mention that you are not collecting any funds and that’s it… Simple.

As for the topic of CMS. If you decide to go with WordPress, please don’t build “themes” but rather solutions that your friend requires. For a simple site there’s no need to take out a sledge hammer when all you need is pliers.

Hope that helps. -Alen

[chrisburton]

Sure it is.

I don’t know about you but accepting a friend’s post on Facebook for others to hire you for design/development work as compensation, yeah, that won’t pay your bills. Especially since they are not obligated to do so. You’ll be waiting for quite some time, probably in a box out on the street if you go about it that way. Charity work is a different story. You’re doing work for a cause.

In my experience, individuals just starting out tend to charge little to nothing because they are not educated on how to go about it properly. No one teaches you this.

However, I am not saying word-of-mouth is not valuable because it is. But charging nothing in the process will not allow you to pay your expenses.

[Dustin]

I don’t know about you but accepting a friend’s post on Facebook for others to hire you for design/development work as compensation, yeah, that won’t pay your bills. Especially since they are not obligated to do so. You’ll be waiting for quite some time, probably in a box out on the street if you go about it that way. Charity work is a different story. You’re doing work for a cause.

Where are you getting this from? There are loads of professionals who do this sort of thing to get started. It’s just not in web design.

The points Alen made a valid in my view — set boundaries and let them know why you are doing it. Starting out with a few free projects is a great way to start building relationships and trust. Of course, you’re going to have to know when someone is taking advantage of you, and that part isn’t really hard.

There aren’t many costs involved either, other than your time. I’m sure a guy in a box down the street would love to start a business by doing things for free to get out of that box, eh?

Anyhow, not everyone sees things the same. However, I think belief also plays a major role in success. So do what you believe you can do.

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