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Services

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Tutoring and Training Web Development

Web Development

Who Needs It? | Cost | Technical Considerations | Charitable and Creative Work

Who Needs It?

Artists and Musicians seeking to develop a web-based outlet for displaying their work.
Small businesses interested in establishing a web presence in order to better serve their target audience.
Professionals who want to post their resume in a creative, and possibly interactive way.

Cost

The rate will generally be $40-60 per hour, depending on the size and nature of the project, rates set by specialists that may be sought to help with the project, and current demand. This hourly rate only applies after up to two free consultations to assess your needs, determine if my services are right for you, and to help you brainstorm the beginnings of your web project.

Travel generally incurs the same hourly rate, with the exception of large projects (typically 20-30 hours or more), in which case the cost of travel hours may be reduced or waived altogether. Accomodations and transportation should be arranged by the client and approved by the developer(s) in advance.

Technical Considerations

The most basic requirements for any web site are HTML, CSS and possibly some Javascript (though that is optional). HTML is a layout language, and CSS is a style language. Javascript is a client-side scripting language (i.e. it runs in your browser, and not on the server that is sending the site) that makes it possible to make changes in the browser without loading new pages. These are the most common languages in web development, simply because they are what the user sees when they load a page, regardless of which language was used to communicate with the database, crunch numbers, or run other programs on the central server before creating the page that was sent to your browser.

In addition to client-side languages like HTML, CSS and Javascript, your site may require using a server-side programming language like PHP or Coldfusion in conjunction with some sort of database backend: MySQL is a popular one, although if you have another one planned, that's more than fine. If you have not selected a set of back-end technologies, we will likely recommend an inexpensive open-source LAMP setup, which involves using PHP and MySQL on an Apache server, running on a Linux machine. Server-side technologies are necessary if you plan to store any kind of information (about users, finances, human resources, products, sales, you name it) in a central location and access it via your web site. If you'll be dealing with particularly sensitive information, we may recommend providers that deal specifically with housing, managing, supporting and securing that kind of data.

There are a wide variety of hosting options available. If you are a university organization, chances are your institutions offers several ways to host web sites, including both Linux- and Windows-based servers. If you are an individual or small business, you are probably less likely to have access to existing web space, yet not necessarily eager to purchase and maintain your own server. In this case, you will probably want to arrange a shared hosting service like HostGator. Reliable hosts of this type are still typically inexpensive ($5-20 per month), and offer secure connection options, popular server-side programming support, and database access.

We can discuss your technology needs during the free initial consultation, at which time I can recommend hosting, language and database options based on your needs.

Charitable and Creative Work