2. "content management systems (CMS) are the way to go" In response to Reply # 0
i'm actually just getting into them - i used to hand-code sites in Dreamweaver and sit down with the client to give a mini-tutorial on how to update. but, inevitably, they would call me a couple days later with problems. and that's the absolute LAST thing you want - to be considered free 24/7 technical support for someone.
so anyway, i'm starting to use CMS to drive the content of my websites and it's worlds easier - you create different user accounts and each user can login through a web interface and update the site's contents without having to worry about HTML or messing up the design.
depending on the complexity of the site, you could probably get away with using Wordpress. There's also Drupal and Expression Engine.
CMS solutions mos definitely. Learn your way around a good open-source CMS. They'll pay more up front for the site because you'll spend considerable time integrating the CMS. The payoff for the client is they have complete control of what goes onto and off of the site and their costs are flat going forward.
Otherwise, you want to 1) bill them hourly per request; or 2) work out retainer terms (per year, per month, per quarter, whatever) and be on call as they need updates.
----------------------- "I'm so glad I got my own I'm so glad that I can see my life's a natural high the man can't put no thing on me" (c) Curtis Mayfield
joomla/mambo is a pretty full featured and the learning curve ain't all that bad. the message boards usually get enough traffic that you can get support from other users as you learn your way around. It's a search engine friendly CMS too. you'll also find the available templates reasonably attractive and customizable (if you're comfortable with CSS layout designs).
----------------------- "I'm so glad I got my own I'm so glad that I can see my life's a natural high the man can't put no thing on me" (c) Curtis Mayfield
5. "How do you usually go about integration?" In response to Reply # 3
What hurdles do you usually encounter?
>CMS solutions mos definitely. Learn your way around a good >open-source CMS. They'll pay more up front for the site >because you'll spend considerable time integrating the CMS. >The payoff for the client is they have complete control of >what goes onto and off of the site and their costs are flat >going forward. > >Otherwise, you want to >1) bill them hourly per request; >or >2) work out retainer terms (per year, per month, per quarter, >whatever) and be on call as they need updates.