₦airaland Forum

naija_diva,

Letz read the above last paragraph again, shall we?

At least it's not in 419

I think you omitted the "in" part. That sentence (and sorry, if it threw you for a loop) meant that at least, we aren't the happiest when it comes to the art and science of 419.

i guess it depends on what you mean by "templates".

If you mean creating a series of pages that all look the same:
Yes: This is why, at least in my experience, creating the first (usually the home) page takes the most time. Once you have that down, the other pages are then "templates" of that first page and at that point, you are basically copying, pasting and renaming file names. In the end, its the content that changes.

If you mean going out to other sites, seeing what they do and using those (be it by buying them, replicating them, or "borrowing" them)/googling for "templates":

It depends. I won't lie. Before I start a project, I google for sites in the same genre I am about to embark upon. I study what I like/don't like. I then google for similar templates. I then mix these up with the ideas I already had in my head and at the end of the day, hope that the resulting "mashup" so to speak, is something that my clients/my peers appreciate.

The issue I have found with buying a template (not that I have bought one, but I know this would come up eventually) is similar to the issue of going to Mr. Biggs as opposed to cooking it yourself - it is merely a convenience. It may take less time to stand in line to buy it and then eat it but chances are they won't cook it to your taste, perhaps they don't add the same amount of condiments you would have added and perhaps they used processed, as opposed to original "panadol", not to mention you don't know under what conditions the food was prepared. And of course, to top it all up, in the long-term, it costs more (in time and money) and doesn't last as long as it would if you had bought all the ingredients and cooked it yourself.

I hope this helps.

greatdbanj,

you should always learn to draw inspiration/motivation from the things around you. How about:

1) www.tongolodesigns.com
2) www.dcocosolutions.com
3) www.tongolosolutions.com
4) www.whymedevelopment.com

You see where I am going with this?

vigi,

Though I am not saying they are above deceit (after all, humans run the place and we humans are inherently evil), I beg to differ. Google is worth billions and the subject of every lawsuit known to man. I suspect 1 of 2 things:

1) You have knowingly violated a rule or two, and/or
2) You did not read the "fine print" and as such inadvertently are a victim of #1 above.

There is no smoke without a fire. A toad doesn't jump around in the daylight for no reason. If you see an old woman running around in the village, she is either looking for her grand child or her snuff bottle is missing.

Look within. If you are absolutely sure you aren't fault, then contact them. I am sure they won't hesitate to let you know. As I said, you could have a potential lawsuit on your hands and I am sure they don't want that.

As always, my 2 cents.

POINT/onydchic:

Slow down the image: ehhh, maybe a tad, I think it moves as slow as any other sites module.

Visit www.thesun.co.uk and see how "fast" theirs moves. There has got to b a way to slow it down. either:

1) You don't understand the code enough to modify the necessary parameter(s), or
2) It is not possible (which I doubt), based on the script (mootools) used to change the necessary parameter(s). If this is the case, herein lies one of the disadvantages of using ready-made code.

Everything else, LOL, im not changing. I love the "overkill", sort of gives me a feeling like i learnt how to do something,

I had a similar conversation with another Nairaland developer from cameroun, though in his case, it had to do with flash. You don't do stuff for the "overkill" factor. Maybe when prototyping, but definitely not for the finished product. In the end, who are you trying to show off for? Yourself? Your fellow developers? or users? Speaking for myself, when I see such stuff, especially since I know the source, it turns me off and I would argue that overdoing things on a site turns off users.

The user should be able to find the information they need with as few distractions as possible. In my opinion, with respect to the slide show, if the user spends all their time looking at/admiring the cool effects, that takes away from why they visited the site in the first place.

Use effects? Yes, moderately. Overkill? No. I think even the Bible says to do things in moderation and some wise people came up with the proverb, "Too much of everything is a disease". In my opinion, the end result should be, "wow, did you see that? It was so cool. I forget what I did to do it/I wonder what new effect he has introduced on his site now" and not, "Not again! I can't stand (insert effect here). If no b say I wan post something, I no for visit. That thing is getting on my nerves. I mean, is this all he can do? Seriously, I liked it at first but it is overkill now".

As always, my 2 cents. And please, keep your responses to this professional, not personal

expect questions to throw you off balance, to catch you off guard. Expect questions that will tell them how they think you will perform under stress, working with others are by yourself. Expect technical questions to guage where you stand.

I would probably google "interview questions" if I were you. There are many people who tell me they have googled for this only to be asked the exact same questions word-for-word

I hope this helps.

My2cents, these fake sites come-up every day. Name it. Fake government websites, fake Nigeria immigration website, fake bank websites, fake telecom company websites etc.

No argument there. All I am asking for is a solution.

I can assure you though that there are people actively working hard to have such fake sites shut down by their web hosts.

This is indeed a solution.

I am seeing a lot of new posters lately. So my fancy got tickled. How did you find out about Nairaland?

Friend? Online Search? How?

Let's get this started

Yow,

At rates these low, you might as well offer the sites for free. My concern is, someone will see this and not give you the respect you deserve, cos of the low prices. In other words, they might become suspicious.

Some people (including yours truly) still believe in the centuries-old proverb, "you get what you pay for".

As always, my 2 cents.

Looking at both sites independently, based on what I see, in my opinion, the "http://www.immigration.gov.ng/" site is the on that looks fraudulent

Be that as it may, I think the best thing the Immigration service can do is track down all such fraudulent sites and have them shut down. It shouldn't be that hard. With oil at least $80/barrel, we can afford to have an IT fraud department that does nothing but hunt down fraudulent sites, wherever in the world they may be and take the owners of such sites to court. Next thing would be to undergo a big time ad campaign (billboards, tv, radio, newspaper) alerting the public to such sites and flashing the real url so many times that it gets permanently burnt in our subconscious. Finally (and I say this one because I don't think either site is fraudulent), the "portal" site should be marked as such in the header. As it is, both headers say the same thing and it does beg the question of which site is fraudulent and which site isn't.

As always, my 2 cents.

When it comes to sex, that is:

excerpts:

Globally, Nigerians are the busiest bonkers, with a whopping 58 per cent saying they get enough sex and a world-beating 78 per cent reporting that it’s sizzling.

Whole article:
http://thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article321166.ece

At least it's not in 419

Please note: My comments are based on the fact that I use FF

What I like:
1) Your use of Javascript effects (mootools, etc)
2) Your joomla customization
3) Separation of your CSS hacks via external stylesheets, instead of embedding them within the page

what I don't like:
1) "certified naija runs" image is covering the search field
2) Background: In my opinion, too dark, and makes text hard to read.

I hope these help.

I now have PS in front of me and have modified my post above.

Thanks, and sorry for any inconveniences.

I use PS 7:

Open PS.
Click on the "image" menu item
Click on "Image size"

At this point, you should see a modal popup that has the width and height of your photo. Make sure "Constrain proportion" checkbox is checked. To confirm, change either attribute of your image and confirm that when you change one, the other automatically changes as well. If you don't check the "constrain proportions" checkbox, changing one attribute won't change the other which implies your photo will be out-of-wack.

Once done, click "ok" and you photo, complete with updated proportions should be in front of you.

later

web_master:
If within your window.open method you set a fixed width, I would imagine that once you minimize, then maximize, the pop up shdnt open beyond the width you set originally. Visit http://acewebdevelopment.net/ace-general/contact-us.php and click on "this file" to see what I mean. Hopefully, this is what you are asking for.

ruudie:
Either within the js function that calls .submit() or in the page defined by your "action=" attribute of your form, if you are using PHP, I would imagine you could use the unset() function. So, though its 2 lines of code, to the user, it's all one seamless step.

Note: I hope these help.

saintchux,

if that is the case, then you better stop delaying otherwise come tomorrow, you might end up posting on this board confirming the fact that women are indeed more difficult

I was doing some browsing, as I often do when I am bored and stumbled upon this beauty (in my opinion anyways ): http://www.acen.org.ng/

The site is so simple, I had to pinch myself and ask, "was this site actually done in Nigeria? I mean, no flash, no crazy marquees, no gigantic graphics, information easy to find?" Of course, I have (as usual ) a thing or two against the site but those are very minor and not even worth pointing out. In fact, I picked up a thing or two that I am thinking of implementing on my next project(s).

Please, for those who I know will likely say something to counter my statement above, I am fully aware that not all web developers in Nigeria are guilty of the above. So please, don't consider it a blanket statement.

If you know who coded the site, tell am say I say "thank you"

Thanks,

Yep, Afam is right.

Just another catch-phrase like "AJAX" or "Web 2.0". Basically if you know PHP and MySQL, you are good to go.

whether or not the job is boring, in these globalization days, where you job could go to china or india for less money, you need to continuously develop and mature your skills. That way, when something better comes along and/or you are retrenched/sacked, you have marketable skills you can use to sell yourself.

I hope this helps

Smartsoft:
Na wa for you sef. Can't you just stop? We get your point

Webemarald:
Webemarald, I believe all smartsoft wants is an apology. Be a bigger man and apologize. It won't hurt you. Remember my beef with kheme some time last year? I didn't have to, especially considering I am pretty sure I was right and I am older than he is, but guess what? I humbled myself and I apologized for the way I handled the issue. That post, though forgotten by others was still burning in my heart (and every now and then I would go back to read it) until I apologized. Now, I feel better about myself and have, until now, forgotten about it.

biko, just say sorry. We all know you probably won't mean it, but just say it nonetheless.

smartsoft:
Again, we get your point - you believe (and rightly so) that you were falsely accused of being something you know you are not. You have said this over and over and over. To avoid Seun playing the part of a dictator, you too sef, make you stop biko nu. Mu na gi ga Tantalizers or Hunger busters or whatever place of your choosing when I come okay? O small ting. O non-issue. Odikwa unnecessary

In the end, this is the kind of post that chases quality members away. People like zahy, prodgalson, kazey, etc haven't posted in a while. Perhaps they have other reasons for leaving, but I wouldn't be surprised if a post like this is one of them.

This is a non-issue folks. Let's move on to more productive conversations.

By the way, webemarald:
I tend to read a lot into things. The mere fact that you started your post with "good morning" tells me there is still good left in you. Please use your proverbial 1 token well. I think the more you respond, the more people respond back. Just try and stop. Imagine the world class apps (the plurality is on purpose) we could have built with the time and energy spent on this and the other related post. Just think about it folks. Google could have made an offer to us that would make YouTube's offer seem like 1 kobo


Seun:
If you are listening, I vaguely remember a time last year (wow! time moves by so fast on this forum ) when there was some controversial topic on this forum I was trying to get to. When I clicked on the link, I got some message that basically said (paraphrasing), "this thread has been locked from further posting". I believe in free speech and hate to make this request, but could you kindly apply that rule to this and the other related post please?

webmemarald,

It does, but I guess we don't see eye-to-eye (hence my last paragraph, "As always, my 2 cents". Perfectly fine by me.

Regardless, I don't think the name-calling on either side is called for. I don't support smartsoft's post and I don't support your response. This should have remained, as it was until the post, a private matter.

I assume we are here to learn, and not to seek unnecessary arguments that, at the end of the day, doesn't benefit anyone.

by the way, if u scroll down to the bottom of the http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fraudulent page, you will note that under synonyms, "greedy" isn't listed

Again, as always , my 2 cents

DISCLAIMER: I owe allegiance to no one on this forum

Now that I have made my position on the above known:

webemarald:
smartsoft could have charged you N10K if he wanted. Y? because he has the right to. On the other hand, you also have the right to find someone who will either charge you nothing or less than N10K. It's all about capitalism. At the end of the day, neither of you have anything to lose. No need to cry over spilled milk. No need raising your blood pressure thereby increasing your risk of a premature stroke/heart attack (which your family would immediately attribute to "air forces". Here is a parable, if I may:

3 years ago when in naija, I wanted to take a taxi from Calabar to Uyo on xmas eve. The usual rate at the time was N500. Transport was scarce. Finally a taxi showed up but charged N1000. Was the driver fraudulent? I don't think so. Greedy? definitely. He was only taking advantage of the situation. Capitalism at its best. I had some choices: take the taxi, go back home or find another taxi. I really had to go and so I took it.

Scenario 2:
back when you had to pay N500 for a yahoo account, would you call those pple fraudulent? I hope not. Greedy? for sure. Again, they were taking advantage of a situation. Classical capitalism. Again, you had 2 choices: pay N500 or have someone abroad sign up for a free account for you.

Note I used "greedy" instead of "fraudulent". I don't think I would go as far as calling smartsoft fraudulent, at least without knowing the definition (as defined in a dictionary, and not based on how it sounds). Greedy maybe, but not fraudulent. I got my definitions from:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fraudulent

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/greedy

As always, my 2 cents.

tosin is correct my friend,

The time you have probably spent googling and perhaps posting on 100+ forums and waiting for an answer could have been spent writing even the crudest of solutions. Remember, even if you got the script right now, you would still need to go through it, understand it and tailor it to meet Nigeria (or whatever country you are in)'s taste

Considering you have less than 2 days left, I would strongly advise you start burning the midnight oil. You basically need, worse-case, a web form to take in a student ID, a DB with at least 3 tables (table of IDs, a table listing courses/exams and a table mapping scores for each course/exam to each ID), and another web page to display the results. I am thinking off the top of my head here so my answer may not be sufficient, but hopefully, you get my point.

Good luck!

mikky,

Though I am not in Nigeria, I seriously doubt your assertion/claim. Everyone walking around in that city is a potential client: people getting married, the bookshop down the street, the groundnut seller (okay, that's a bit of a stretch but hopefully you get my point ) who walks by your house every day, etc. You don't always have to look for clients amongst senators, representatives, banks or embassies.

Start with "the common man" and work your way up. Hopefully, as you do more and more sites, your clout will rise and you get the clients you probably so desire. Again, I am not there but know one thing for sure - just like in America, they are human-beings just like you and I am sure there are at least 1million people living there, of which I dare say, at least 10,000 need a website but don't even know who to turn to (this is where advertising for www.webmastersofafrica.com comes in, and trust me, it is coming very soon ). Sometimes, you have to aim for the low-lying fruit.

Good luck!

yep, I agree with you kobo,

Quality is better than quantity and is indeed a better yardstick. Unfortunately, and again I say this based on my firm belief that the webmaster section of NL is a decent representation of the web community in naija (If I am wrong, shoot me ), it seems most of us are in a rush to develop the next app that google will buy for $1billion. If I dey lie, how long did it take a nigerian to come up with the equivalent of milliondollarpage.com (the site where you could buy 1px of ad space that pretty much made the owner a millionaire overnight)? How many naija blogs with google ads are there out there? Heck, focusing on NL, how many posts have to do with making money via google ads on the first page of the webmaster section alone? As a result, what we have is a lot of people, and God bless their hearts, googling for the next e-book, and implementing what they have read, without any regards whatsoever to the why, what, where and when of web development.

As far as rules go though, I would add that rather than us coming up with our own rules/regulations, we should borrow a leaf from what's already out there in other countries. The rules and regulations already exist and have for years. What we need to do is apply "Nigeriana" to them and come up with a Nigeria-specific solution.

As always, my 2 cents

tunde,

your point is the whole point of business as a whole - at some point, you should develop your business to a point where, rather than hustle from dusk till dawn, you sit back and make your money via existing clients and referrals from such clients. The caveat of course is that you must have done exceptional jobs to the point where your reputation proceeds you.

If you have nothing to show for yourself, then in my opinion, it will be hard for clients to ask for an RFP, especially in a country like naija, where I am sure everyone looks at everyone as though "419" were their middle name.

I personally stopped the unsolicited proposals long time ago. Now, it is, like in your case, strictly based on referrals and I must confess, it is less stress that way.

Good luck to you man!

Based on what I read on this forum, I will say that the Nigerian web community has come of age. We can not and should not equate lack of infrastructure with coming of age. We have the people, but the government isn't doing anything to support such people.

How do I know? cos I know there are many of us in Naija, who, despite the lack of infrastructure, still figure out a way to crank out code and produce various sites and applications.

In conclusion, I would say, again, we have the people with the hunger and zeal. What we don't have is the necessary infrastructure to support the community.

no problem,

I will check my inbox probably next monday, or over the wknd if i hv time. Let's take up future correspondence via YIM (udotot25) if you don't mind. I am kind of busy presently.

Thanks,

Webjunior,

The sites above "much of a deal" are not mine but sites I developed for my employers. The ones below "much of deal" are kheme's.

My sites are available for viewing at www.acewebdevelopment.net - click on "portfolio".

Thanks,

In Nigeria, it's called "flashing".

Some other countries call it "beeping"

In francophone countries it is called "bipage".

In ethiopia, it is called "miskin" or "pitiful call".

In sudan, it is called (rather simply) "missed call".

Are there any other slangs I am missing out on here? Either way, trust capitalism to figure out a way to make money off of it. Currently, from what I just read (reuters), networks are being swamped by "1 second calls" and this is placing a burden on their respective systems.

Lesson? Do it less or very soon, even a 1-second call will cost you some money

wow!!!

What a reverend, Reverend is.

Not only does he approve of sex, but of "penetrative sex (whatever that is. penetrate where? ). then he goes even further by saying it is "free of charge". Whoa! I am blown off my seat.

Who told you it is free of charge? Even if the woman is your wife, it isn't free. You pay for it either via outright paying for it or "take style" methods - dinner, time spent winding the chick (time is money), gifts, etc.

oga Reverend, even after 10 pple after you, na still u, biko