Wanted: Excellent (and VERY cheap) Web Designer!
 

My wife and I are having a baby and need to make some extra money because she won’t be working.

I’ve done a bit of website design in the past but that was about 10 years ago and since then I have been doing computer networking for large businesses. I have a very clear understanding of what I like and dislike.

I don’t like poor web designers who rely on flash or other plug-ins to hide their lack of skill. I believe if a website is designed right, anyone, using any browser, and any screen resolution should be able to use a website and it should load fairly quickly even if they are using a dial-up internet account.

I don’t like busy or cluttered websites. I like clean, crisp, easily navigated, and intuitive websites that provide functionality and get the user the exact information they want in the least amount of time.

I like stylish websites that use mouse-over menus, that have colors that don’t hurt your eyes and aren’t too bright or dark.

I’m looking to open a very small online business to sell homeschool supplies to parents. I’ve got a company working on the logo right now, and when they are done I’ll want to make a matching website.

The key to the website is I’ll have to be able to have one copy of it working on my own url: http://homeschoolsupplyhouse.com with e-commerce, and another nearly identical store on eBay selling the same products but using their e-commerce stuff.

Here are a couple of eBay sites I really like…

http://stores.ebay.com/NOVICA-Store

http://stores.ebay.com/Period-Paper


I especially like the mouseovers in the second one because the descriptions change in the box above when you move your mouse over the category.

I don’t have a lot of money, but I do need to get the highest quality websites possible. If you think you’re the right person for the job, please send me an estimate for doing both of these sites. They will have very nearly identical pages that will have searchable pages for about us, contact us, policies, products, FAQ, etc. Hopefully the non-eBay one will have a way for me to dynamically create pages by adding or removing products with descriptions and prices, and keep track of my inventory.

Right now, I have someone else making a logo so I don’t have a color scheme yet, but that should change in about a week. I’m looking for custom work, not templates.

I'll be sending this to several web developers to see who can do the best job at the lowest price.

Webscalpel. You want webscalpel.

Damn it. Beat me to it, SD.

Check out my site!

Check.

Check!

CHECK!

Doh!

Oh, well.

That looks very interesting, but I was hoping to avoid templates. For $30 it's worth checking out though.

I find mouse-over menus to be rather annoying, and they don't work at all if the user has disabled Javascript. Others may also find such menus to be annoying. It is probably better to have a simple design that does not have these menus. If you must have them, you must also have an alternative method of navigation that doesn't stop working if the user finds it necessary to disable Javascript.

I've been looking into DNN (DotNetNuke) solutions. They are ready-made skins, and background modules for stores, etc.

You used an oxymoron there, Radar...excellent and very cheap. :)

Sometimes you find someone who will do a page for $500 who is right out of art school and needs the money. Excellent doesn't always mean expensive. :)

I would bid, but I've never done the e-commerce end of things; SSL, interfacing with credit card companies, et cetera.

It sounds like you could probably modify a WordPress (or your favorite CMS) template and its database to do what you need.

I'm excellent, and I'm cheap...but I'm no web designer. :p

That was a joke...

ha ha ha Thanks for that, Elspode.

I've been reading through the whole episode. It warms my heart to see you people thrashing someone other than me and my fellow AGers.

Yes, I'm still here, and now you love me. I told you you would. Now you have UT voting me as "most colorful" while at the time you were all covering your eyes and howling in terror, "He's too colorful! We can't handle it!" ha ha ha I rule the internet! ... Don't try to re-write history, just accept it.

It was a joke that cost me $30

It took almost four years, but they finally got some return on their investment!