₦airaland Forum

prodgal, u beat me to this

Yeah, YSlow has been out for a while but based on what I read about Page Speed, it is supposed to be better than YSlow.

Oh well, yet another plug in to bog down my FF

I wonder when we will start seeing similar plugins for IE. I hate it when I can see all my changes happening live in FF but not in IE.

larger,

and what do you propose for starters?

remo,

I would rather it that way than a lawyer turn web developer.  Can you imagine the oral arguments that would take place before a lawyer would put fingers to keyboard.  I can just see one scenario right now, "Sir, there is precedent for why I have the logo the way it is.  In Tompolo vs remoranger in 1965, it was determined that there was no factual basis for it being at the bottom"

God help us all 

oracle,

I will take your word for it and thank you for the *factual* proof. As far as the official site goes, na so basket mouth don make money? c as im fat

I have been following this thread for at least 2 weeks and I really, really want to say something here but I won't. It's just too easy. So I will keep on following

biggjoe,

To answer your question, no and I think it's more than 5 lines

On a serious note, I will partially (I am thinking maybe 20 or so percent) give your argument to you based on impression. Having said that, you can't blame me for going by what I see in the news. I assume that those guys have an editor who verifies any news that they publish. For not doing so, I think they should be alerted and at least someone needs to be queried over it for misleading the public.

Having said that, I still stand by my 2nd post which in effect focuses on "lessons learned". In other words, even if this is false (and no one has been able to *factually* convince me otherwise), this could have still been a hypothetical situation where the question asked is, 'what if?' and possible solutions (like that I have stated above) could apply, with respect to what to do and not do when it comes to developing a website.

sledjama,
I agree with you 100%. I guess you put it better than I could have

Thanks.

I wouldn't say u were offensive to me but that you didn't read *every single line of the post*.  If you did, you would have realized that I was simply pasting a news article. Also, I think you are painting with a broad brush when you say what you say about Nigerian companies and promo sites - is this by some kind of edict? can't a company decide to buck the trend? Are you aware of every single corporation in Nigeria that is running an online promo? I am not saying I am right and you are wrong (or vice versa). I am just throwing these questions out there.

From my posts on here, I am sure you realize that I have pretty tough skin and can defend my own, anytime, anyday

Next time, just read a post in full before posting, that's all 

see as person dey take look for trouble o 

abhosts,

Am I the one who doesn't understand what I am talking about or is it the reporter who put it up at the url quoted above?  did you bother reading the whole thing?  Is it possible that in response to the attacks/violation of the web host's terms and conditions, that the site was pulled down?  Shouldn't you be directing this insult at the person who source (independent newspaper online)?

Even if I am wrong, the lessons learned (which is what you should focus on) still apply. I only posted this so that we could all learn, with respect to how a web project should be properly run to ensure quality work/delivery.

Again, see as person dey look for person trouble this early in the week. Naaaaijjjaaaa: Some of us are always quick to jump the gun 

More than likely, at least 1 of 3 things happened here:

1) The clients went for the cheapest alternative, the cheapest in this case, not necessarily being the best.

2) The clients didn't vet the developers well enough to know their skill sets/know what they would be doing on the site.

3) The developers in question didn't bother doing a complete "sanity" test to check for "leaks". On the other side of the coin, the clients didn't (either by omission or commission) demand for one either.

4) There was little or no overall testing of the site prior to launch. Again, the clients didn't (either by omission or commission) demand for one either.

http://www.independentngonline.com/news/head/article01

Fraudsters have broken into the Glo promo website with the aim of securing details of ATM numbers and PIN of unsuspecting public to clone, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

According to a NAN investigation, following a text message received at dawn on Sunday, it was found that the cyber criminals may have hacked into the Glo website to mislead subscribers into believing that they have won prizes in the promo.

``You have been granted N1 million in the Glo latest promo, visit www.glopromo.net for online verification'', the text message received by a subscriber at 3.39 a.m. on Sunday had read.

NAN reports that as soon as the subscriber tried to visit the promo website, he was migrated to a different web address "gloverif".

From there he was directed to enter his phone number for verification.

A scrolling message that says "promo winners!, enter your mobile phone number below to verify your winning,'' then follows.

The scrolling message exclaims: ``Congratulation!'' It then appears on the screen and the subscriber was told he has won N1 million and a Kia car.

But if the phone number entered was wrong, a message will read: ``Incorrect promo winner phone number'' on the screen.

However, NAN found that any Glo number entered twice in the space provided for verification of winners would be returned as a winning number after the second trial even if no text message was initially received and the subscriber can then go on to complete the "winners' form".

The form to be completed by ``winners`` contain their personal information, names, address, phone number, account name, bank and type of account, savings or current, the type of information needed to transact business using the ATM.

The second part of the form requires them to enter their names, banks, ATM numbers and PIN, requirements that should make the vigilant subscriber suspicious because Glo need not demand for ATM number and PIN before disbursing winnings.

I have noticed a few things like taking out the generator from the gallery. At the very least, please consider:

1) Making your logo clickable to the home page

2) Removing those generic (like in the chat section) icons. Go to getty images for photos of real people if you can't find any of your fellow state's men/women worthy enough to adorn the site.

Once again, I appreciate your maturity in the matter. I probably went overboard for which I apologize. Sometimes, my passion overrides my reason I guess. As mentioned earlier, the invitation to help is still open.

How did the governor take the site? Who is in charge of updating the site? How many stakeholders are there for the site? Questions, questions. Answers, answers.

Thanks and good luck!

abhosts:
Long story but to cut it short, unlike remoranger, some on here misconstrue my honesty for harassment.  If you don't know something, including myself, just be humble and own up to it. No need bragging about other stuff you know. Consequently, based on principle (something I mentioned a few posts up), I decided to lay low.  I am not paid to post here. I do it based on love and passion for web dev.  I visit this board daily but don't post.  I have been following this thread for a while and only felt I had to step in based on the quality of the websites I saw.

It is very frustrating to me at least when you want to help people yet it isn't appreciated.  As someone once told me, some Nigerians don't need help cos when you give it, rather than thank you for it, they turn around and criticize you.  I don't know how to water down criticism. I tell you the truth, even if it means you kill me cos of it.

I consider myself on conditional return.  Will be re-evaluating on a post-by-post basis.  Thanks for the welcome

remoranger:
My profile has my contact info.  You know where to find me if you wanna chat.  I chose to live in Potiskum for the very reason you are afraid of it.  The longer the distance from humans, the lesser the yawa 

I think I have stuck to the points of the debate at all times. If not, I stand corrected. I am all about learning. I can throw down with the ad hominem attacks if and when need be but I choose not to

I am the only yawatide in potiskum. Just get off at the bus stop and ask and u will be directed to my offices. Just beware: I expect nothing but the best from the people I choose to associate with

You sound very interesting. I do like to subscribe to you blog if you have got one.

Thanks for the compliments.  At least you have realized that my thoughts are honest.  I don't have a blog and don't intend to have one either.  Between that and twitting (don't get me started), I think it's a waste of time.

i disagree with googling a tutorial on how to build a bridge. i seriously do. if that where to happen, oxford and havard would go broke.

Maybe with respect to building a bridge but I disagree with other areas (for example, many in the US learn about how to make a bomb by googling and I consider bomb-making engineering, something the average joe doesn't just pick up over night) and that harvard et al would go broke.  By the way, what's with the ivy league references?  Why not UNN or UNICAL or whatever?  

Besides, the number of do-it-yourself people can never outweigh those who are willing to pay to learn it.  Example: I have a neighbor who always fixes his own car whereas I go to a dealer.  he might spend 1 month fixing something but at the end of the day, it costs him 80% less (in labor costs) than what I pay the dealer.  Yet the dealers still strive.

Well i must honestly say i am tired of all this back and forth

What you call back and forth, I call a debate.  You say something I might not know and vice versa. In the end, we all learn from one another.  Just cos I disagree with you doesn't mean I know it all. For all u know, na open eye I dey take argue with you.  Don't chicken out just yet

I bet you that at this very moment, I am more busy than you are. It's called time management. I suggest you check it out

Ya wa tide. jesus!!!!!! what in d name of dickens made you think i was ever referring to you? pls read every single post before you strike back huh?

I didn't say that.  If you read closely you will notice that I have used the word(s), "probably", "maybe" and "I will go out on a limb here ".  You should infer from that that I am not speaking for a fact.

I did not say degree programmes did not exist. i will soon be enrolling in one before you can smoke the next wrap of weed. lets face it high school kids can download ebooks online and learn web design and even do a damn good job at it. but i will be hanged if he can design a refinery without going to school. capiche?

I didn't say you did.  read your/my post again:

Web design and development is not a full blown rigid ivy league academic degree program

I guess I need to back up.  What is "full blown"?  Is this like someone in nigeria who works in a bank as a teller saying he is a "banker"?  Please explain.  Good luck to you in your studies by the way.  Education is good.

lets face it high school kids can download ebooks online and learn web design and even do a damn good job at it.

Very true.  I once worked with someone who has a history degree who is better than me, with a computer science degree.  So, what's your point here?  I could equally argue that I don't need a degree to build a bridge and that I could go to google for a quick tutorial.  Back when I was a kid, I remember we had a TV an antenna (this was when we had the antenna you had to twist on the outside to get signal. Ooops! i Just gave my age) that didn't quite work right.  My Dad wanted to go buy another one and I told him not yet.  I ended up getting a small board, affixing a metal hanger to it and covering both with aluminium foil and voila! the signal came back.  I had no degree at the time in engineering and don't have one now yet I was able to do that.  If I could do that as an 11-year old, what couldn't I do now?

Just do what you feel is necessary to make changes based on your own discretion ( at least you have team members or you had a plan before starting out)

no man is an island.  sometimes, you need to be humble and listen to the discretion of others.  As they say, two *good* heads are better than one.  I am not from Imo state but I take such a site very seriously.  Even if it meant paying someone to do it, I would.  I want all of our states to have excellent websites

Per your guy developing a site for 1m, what's the big deal?  It's not par for the course in this discussion IMHO.  At the end of the day, what benefit does developing a crappy 1m naira site give the developer?  Sure, he might be retiring early but that doesn't take away from the fact that the site sucks.

Please note that I am not saying the site is crap. I haven't seen it yet. Treat my last question as rhetorical.

remoranger,

You see ddonobi's response? I have only one thing to say about it - maturity.  Based on what he just, I don't even mind helping him one-on-one, for free, to make the site better.  If he responded like you, it wouldn't help him much. Of course, actually executing the changes is another thing but at least, he took it well and with no hard feelings.

ddonobi, if you need any help, YIM me.

With me, it is all strictly business and not personal. Chances are that I will never meet most of you in the real world so I have nothing to lose. Even with that though, I still say it as I see it.

I am all for making Nigeria proud online.

about logs and eyes and stuffs like that.

That's not the actual quote but I am familiar with it and can hold my ground anytime, any day.  You can YIM me in private if you want

Web design and development is not a full blown rigid ivy league academic degree program

Is this based on what you know factually or on what you think you know.  There are schools that offer it as a degree program.  I happen to have a minor in it

I think web design/development is a free style thingy whether you use photoshop or the graphics are bogus, or the websites are too green (what the dickens is wrong with green anyway? its the designers choice) or this or that.

I am happy you said, "think".  That's much better and lets the reader know you speak based on opinion.  By the way, I didn't say you can't use green.  I said use the appropriate green, in the case of Imo's site.

Just do you best and dont think you help yourself by trying to pull down the houses others built just to assuage your own frustrated ego.

Again with the assumptions and mind-reading.  I have no ego. What I do have is a passion for web dev. A passion so deep that though I admit that no one, including myself is perfect, I will call crap when I see it.  What you call pulling down is what I call the truth and last time I checked, the truth is bitter, it hurts and it isn't something you can take with panadol.  

Also, in the case of these and related sites, one's "best" doesn't and shouldn't cut it.  Qualified individuals need to handle such jobs, even if they cost too much.  I will go out on a limb here and say you might be alluding to me probably sounding this way cos I haven't gotten any jobs from my state government.  I actually have and such sites stand out from the others (I know this based on what I did and the comments of others, including the governor)

I would rather go hungry, on principle, than develop crap.  Last year, I went for 8 months without a single job partially cos of that.  Currently, there is a site that I could have done last month but cos of this very (Nigerian) issue of arguing and ITK, it hasn't gone off the ground.  Fortunately, one of the guys on the team finally wrote back yesterday and told the guy in question to knock it off and listen to what I have to say, saying that they may not want to hear what I have to say but it's the truth.  As I mentioned earlier, foundation is everything.

Per your listed sites, one thing, at least to me, stands out - simplicity.  Compare those sites with the imo site for instance and tell me you don't notice a big difference, granted they aren't in the same genre.

I have been gone for a while and had sworn never to return for a while either.  I am only coming in cos of the Imo website and the rebranding website and the concerns I have for them and our country as a whole.  After this, I will go back into hibernation mode, maybe returning to this thread only, based on responses after mine.  

There is a lot wrong with the site but I will stop at 10.  Chances are that the governor is going to like it anyways as you have one of the main things that make some nigerian clients go goo-goo-ga-ga with their mouths dripping with saliva: animation/fading photos. because chances are that he doesn't know any better when it comes to web dev/design.  His only concern is that the state has a website that he can go around boasting to his fellow governors.

Imo state site:

1) Full of green and full of sharp corners.  I suggest you take Kobo's advice and visit color lovers site for color combinations.  Mixing green, red and blue doesn't work for me and perhaps others.  If you must use green, may I suggest that you at least use "Nigerian green"?

2) What does imo celebrity have to do with bringing in investments the state?

3) Link to governor's site doesn't work.

4) Home Page too crowded

5) Calendar: if the whole point is to show the date, just print it as a one-liner (May 25, 2009).  That calendar is taking up unnecessary space.

6) You say the site is all original yet looking at one of the fading photos, the one with the guy with a stop sign, it is obvious that it was doctored.

7) You say you want to win an award for this.  I think this is a selfish motive. Rather, I think you should say that you want to put Imo in a positive light and to challenge other states to come up with something similar, if not better.  Such a site has the potential to bring in foreign/local investment, all of which can lead to long-term web jobs for you in the long-run.  Don't just think in terms of "I chop now, clean mouth".  I assume you want to be doing this for a long time.  This is the attitude that is killing us as a country, generally speaking.  we want it now and forget about tomorrow. Next thing, we are blaming air forces for our predicaments in life.

Remember, when God asked Solomon what he wanted, he didn't say he wanted long life and riches.  Rather he said he wanted God to give him the knowledge and wisdom to rule his people.  If you read your Bible regularly, you will know that not only did God give him the wisdom but he added riches to that as well.  Learn to be selfless.

8 ) Why are you using generic icons, mixed with icons of actual people?  For example, look at the "chat" icon.

9) I decided to look at your photo gallery page.  The first thing I saw? A generator.  What does that have to do with the state? (http://imostate.gov.ng/gallery/)

10) I clicked the Imo state logo on the gallery page and found out it isn't even clickable.

My "you might not like what I have to say but it's the truth" verdict":
This site wasn't properly planned from the get-go, hence, the sleepless nights.  If I were your project manager, I would ask that the governor postpone his viewing for at least another week so you can work on, at the very least, the items i have listed above.  

Take a look at the following sites, not to say they are any better, for ideas (I purposely chose these 3, one from each geo region, so as to allay any suspicions that I am a tribalist):
http://www.anambrastateng.org/general/
http://www.riversstatenigeria.net/
http://www.tarabastate.gov.ng/home%20p.html

===========================

Nigeria rebrands site:
I first saw this site about 2 weeks ago on the Nation online newspaper site.  First thing as always, I wanted to post here but as I said earlier, I am on a self-imposed exile.  

Be that as it may and site layout/design aside, the first thing I asked myself when I saw the site was, "Is this site about Nigeria or the minister?".  If the former, then why is her picture and not that of Nigeria in the header? Also, I went to at least 20 pages of the site and found NOTHING that would make me, a skeptical potential investor in some foreign country, to want to drop my pre-conceived notions of Nigeria as a corrupt nation.  Sorry.  When I see sites like this, I want to weep for my country.  We can do better but between cronyism and favoritism, we don't give it to the right people.  Where we do, such people most likely sub-let the job to unqualified folks who get paid 100K (if that) out of a multi-million naira payment.  Next thing, they are flashing around town bragging, never mind that they were given crumbs that even a dog wouldn't eat (or eat it then turn around and bite you).  It's ridiculous!

As I have said before, I don't eat amala but I have seen it on display at many restaurants and can tell the quality of such amala, without tasting it.  I don't have to eat amala to pass judgement on it.  Visual appeal is everything.  There is food that I never ate in my life but based on looks, I at least decided to give it a try. The same concept applies to websites.

My scores for each site:
Imo: 55%
Nigeria rebrands: 35%

By the way, in case you aren't aware, this is the site that is going to replace www.nigeria.gov.ng, if not already:

http://www.fmic.gov.ng/

View it and weep for your country.  By the way, don't get into the habit of loading up a web page, looking at the home page (the part that shows up above the fold anyways), admiring the flash/animation, and then proclaim, "wow! this site is cool".  Learn to scroll from top to bottom, clicking links, filling forms, etc.  That is how you actually test a website.

Wondering why there are no more attempts? is it that ppl are afraid of getting corrected or torn to pieces? heh?

because you are yet to answer

The average Nigerian doesn't lead by example. They want to follow-follow. Hopefully, you will break that trend

We await.

I have used both. I prefer Google analytics. From my experience, analytics offers more details *for free*. With sitemeter, sure, I got some cool stuff (like only limited me to top 100 hits per day) but for more, I had to pay money. With analytics, I get a more interactive interface.

Another benefit,though probably not as important is that I can get to it via my normal google login info. I can't remember how many times I had to click "forgot password?" with sitemeter as I have so many login info to juggle. Could I have used one info for all my accounts? Sure but i don't think that is very smart.

Conclusion: Analytics is bar-none.

no problem webdezzi, any time.

I was basically looking out for dhtml's interests. After all, one would presume that if there is one thing he should know well, it should be the very thing that is in essence, his username - dhtml

I figured it was an oversight but I couldn't resist and had to point it out, for posterity's sake.

Yes, you can write a program based on an algorithm. Note though that writing a program doesn't imply the use of a particular programming language.

IMHO if the language isn't specified, it is safe to say that one could use pseudo code to answer the question.

Yep, its algorithm not language. One can easily do this in pseudocode. I will start, for those who are follow-follow

1) Program should be contained in a loop of some kind. First prompt should obviously be the menu, like so:

Start Loop
Present Menu:
1) Enter Employee Name
2) Enter Hours Worked
3) Calculate Hours
4) Exit Program
Validate Input
End Loop

Each Step would be captured via a say, switch statement and a function would be called based on number entered. For step 3, I envision a couple constants (for regular pay and overtime pay).

I will leave it at that for others to contribute and for poster to hopefully gain motivation to continue.

NOTE:
There are several ways to do this. This is just the way I envision it.

Again, I can't seem to change them. Maybe moderator get levels or the ogogoro I drank earlier is making me see double. I have contacted omnipotens for a tutorial.

As far as coming up with titles are concerned, rather than come up with something potentially off-topic, ask someone for suggestions. Again, not good to mislead the new ones coming behind us. That's all I am saying.

Thanks,

i think only the author of a thread can edit titles. I could be wrong though. I tried to do it but couldn't, though I could change the titles where I made responses to you.

Then remove the "dhtml (without javascript)" part of the title so it isn't misleading to those new to the game.  Webdezzi might understand but not the new borne babe, born into the game.  Next thing he/she is going around proclaiming to the world that one can do dhtml without javascript and get laughed out of town.

Again, show me dhtml without javascript (or any other client-side script) and I will show you a river that doesn't ebb and flow.  Like it or not, the premise is wrong.  Of course you have the right to disagree and the more you do, the more I will post links to show that one can't have dhtml without javascript (or any other client-side scripting languge).

I am wiling to lose my moderatorship, be banned and be reported over this  

Hmm, how can you have dhtml without javascript (or any other client-side scripting language)? Doesn't make sense to me. Even the wiki, which I seldom reference, disagrees with the premise: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhtml .

And by the way, if this is a thread on "strictly server side stuff", then IMHO, the title of this post should be modified to reflect such.

Sure, you can have server side code mixed in with dhtml. Having said that, dhtml doesn't require server side code.

and as Nigerians, why not just join this one instead of doing one specifically for Nigerians? After all, it is a "university" and last I checked, Universities are open to all who can afford it.

Just wondering.

maybe when we form an association of programmers, we can implement something like this.

As a free market capitalist, I would rather we let natural forces dictate price. Chances are that the minute we do such, they will be outsourcing to India and the likes not to mention, I would feel slighted if a newbie earned the same amount as me on a project that is similar in nature.

If there is to be an association, I would hope it would have as a focus, user groups, where we sit together and trade/barter latest dev trends. In other words, not even an exco. We meet, exchange ideas, and leave. My humble opinion anways.

osmaah,

your url isn't working.

1) Through organic SEO
2) Through advertising in the media
3) Through you being a foot soldier (handing out business cards, posting fliers, etc)

Good luck!

1) By default, hitting a submit button will submit your form. If you are to do it my way, you will need to do the following:

a) Have what I call a "processor page" which you put in your form's "action" attribute like so:
<form action="submit_processor.php" (other attributes go in here)>

b) You will need PHP or some other backend language to capture the form field values from the previous page
c) You will need mysql or some other db program to store the values in a database
d) You will need PHP or some other backend language to send say, a "thank you" email to the form filler.

2) You add the effects by following instructions on the page. Most examples put everything for you in a zip file and all you have to do is modify the code where necessary.

Good luck!

I agree with you "talknafree" because a student still learning PHP intro is already assuming himself a pro and has taken over a full-blown portal work.

Hmm, I hate to say it but for such a project, with the inexperience of the developer, it is doomed to fail. If at all I am to look at it positively, the client will get exactly what they want - a N10K piece of software.

How do I know? He is asking about how to "make" a database. If he is asking this then you can rest assured he has no knowledge of database normalization. If he does the job solo, and it sounds like he will, the job is bound to fail. Next thing, the same client will be looking for someone to redo it. Me personally, and I say this from experience, will recommend redoing it from the ground up.

I guess the client could also be blamed for it if the project fails. I mean, there is an onus on the client to verify that the developer does know what they claim to know.