First before i start, i am not a guru or what so ever but i think i know little about this field that will help alot of us.

The last few weeks on nairaland's webmasters section has shown some lapses on the part of webmasters on nairaland and i think we can all change that and become a better webmasters while making the web a beautiful place.

Truly we have so many serious and good webmasters on nairaland but its so painful most dont know their worth, most are confuse due to intimidations.

We are getting it all wrong and doing it the bad way, you dont have to know all the programming languages before you will be tagged a good webmaster it took me time to realise that also.

i am sure some might have seen CVs of programmers abroad who will call themselves Frontend Developers (HTML/CSS/JS and its libraries), WordPress Developers, PHP developer etc. trust me all this people also know other languages but decided to specialise with one but its so hard to see such in Nigeria because most developers will want to learn all the languages available.

Its actually a good thing if you can know all (i also plan to know alot of the languages) but most people take the wrong approach.

let me use my programming lifestyle as a case study.

I started with WordPress, then when i got on nairaland i saw contests which seun was handling then with python programmers, i will just be seeing codes, i got really intimidated and felt i should learn python, i started with python, whilst learning it i met dhtml and Graphicplus i was intimidated with their skills also which made me start learning HTML/CSS to a point where i was not very good yet but could layout a site, i got to know php from some tutorials here also, also learn javascript, android development and even C++. i did all this for almost a year, sure i could design a site but i am not so good.

The above is exactly how must people are learning it here, this is not a great way, i learnt my lessons and had to pay for the wasted years. this is what i did:

sat down and decided which i will go for:


1. web development?
2. mobile apps?
3. desktop apps?

I later for some reasons went which web development, i then decided to start all over again from XML, XHTML, HTML, CSS, JavaScript then i decided to go with PHP for server scripting and MySQL.

Why Not To Get Intimidated

most of this developers who can code in almost all the languages have being coding for nothing less than 10years, so you can also, just a matter of time.

Why You Need to Specialized

you will have to always learn new things always to stay in trend with latest tech, it will be too hard to stay in trend with all the programming languages

How to Work as a specialized webmaster

1. when you get a job which you know nothing about just tell the client that is not your field, you can recommend to them someone you know can.

2. when you get a job you can do part of, link up with other webmasters and get it done.

3. I know i said you should specialise on one major programming tree, yea but as time goes by and you are becoming very confident you should learn other programming languages that will help you alot as a webmaster

4. you should not just design a website and give to clients, be a solution to the business, suggest SEO to clients, dont let them regret getting a website.

I know we mostly are greedy (i am guilty also), but it pays to work as a team, as you will end up with an awesome work and you all will share the credit, my ever best projects are whose i did with my team.

I am just going to talk about charges a little, their is no standard to how much to charge a client, for example a guy who owns a travel company called me and said he wanted a website, i asked him to buy a domain only, i created a host for him on my VPS and on a good day, i got nothing to do and i designed a site for him, sound funny but really, the guy is still wondering if i was doing a promo . actually i was learning foundation framework and i wanted to test my skill.

guys please drop your own suggestions #peace

I need to add this, i am not advertising myself or what so ever, infact i am busy with studies and no more freelancing this year

thanks

collect one like for ya post

adewasco2k:

their is no standard to how much to charge a client

dats why I dnt comment on threads dat talks abt charging clients. As a web developer u cn charge whatever u like, the most important tin is dat u deliver the project wen and how expected.
Talking about specializing, it best to know ins and outs of a particular language than know many languages on the surface. I only accept jobs I know I can handle thoroughly to my client's satisfaction. am a PHP guy so I stay off Python, .net etc projects for now though have intention of learning those.

maekhel:

dats why I dnt comment on threads dat talks abt charging clients. As a web developer u cn charge whatever u like, the most important tin is dat u deliver the project wen and how expected.
Talking about specializing, it best to know ins and outs of a particular language than know many languages on the surface. I only accept jobs I know I can handle thoroughly to my client's satisfaction. am a PHP guy so I stay off Python, .net etc projects for now though have intention of learning those.

exactly, i also plan on learning those, but i must be comfortable with my web dev skills first.

Technology is changing so fast it's hard to be a "professional" at anything. Ultimately, we're all amateurs.

Good points.

Freelancing is good, however, I want webmasters on Nairaland to think, think and think of a web application service they can offer to their generation, which wil solve needs and make us good money. We can team up. We can make friends here with credible people and start a project.

There was a day I was commenting on a thread and an idea dropped in my mind. I call it www.WhatsHappeni.ng

People can create account and post 1 to 5 minutes video clips of whatever that is happening anywhere they are in Nigeria. People can login, watch the video clip, share to facebook, like it, comment or email it to a friend.

The video could be a police taking bribe, a student riot, a fight in the national assembly, an accident, etc.

CreativeWeb:
Good points.

Freelancing is good, however, I want webmasters on Nairaland to think, think and think of a web application service they can offer to their generation, which wil solve needs and make us good money. We can team up. We can make friends here with credible people and start a project.

There was a day I was commenting on a thread and an idea dropped in my mind. I call it www.WhatsHappeni.ng

People can create account and post 1 to 5 minutes video clips of whatever that is happening anywhere they are in Nigeria. People can login, watch the video clip, share to facebook, like it, comment or email it to a friend.

The video could be a police taking bribe, a student riot, a fight in the national assembly, an accident, etc.

I like the way you think of something to create is a nice idea, but we should always think outside the box and come up with something unique in our vicinity because that was how Mark came up with fb and Seun with NL.
Thinking outside the box takes time but its the best option.
Once again thanks for your creative mind

How is FB and NL outside the box?

emmyvet:

I like the way you think of something to create is a nice idea, but we should always think outside the box and come up with something unique in our vicinity because that was how Mark came up with fb and Seun with NL.
Thinking outside the box takes time but its the best option.
Once again thanks for your creative mind

iamDemigod:
How is FB and NL outside the box?

When Oga seun started NL there was no good general forum in Nigeria(but there are big forums else where) so that's thinking outside the box.
When mark started fb there are other chats but he came up with something unique.