₦airaland Forum

@slyrox:
Na im do make I post am here now. I know someone from Punch is on here. I tried my luck with Nation and it seems they are on here too

@Brand_new:
Why you think say I no dey too do reviews anymore? I don reach levels wey boiz supposed dey pay me for detailed reports

@will.i.am:
I agree. There is no reason why a high traffic website like this should be in maintenance mode. They should have a development server where they do their stuff. They then test it there and if it passes, move the changes to the main site.

OP:
kudos but I assume you know that you've misspelled your company's url. Not good, especially considering that you don't get a second chance to make a first impression.

good luck!

To whom it may concern:
http://thenationonlineng.net/

You are missing some files and this is throwing a couple of errors at the top of each page. If I weren't a fan of the paper's and probably wouldn't have scrolled down to see the rest of the site and would have left. I am not other people though, and you don't know how many, especially those with smaller screen resolutions, would have seen the errors, assumed the site had been hacked, and would have left.

Please act soonest.

yawa

^^^ LOL

Due to my young kids, I am forced to code late at night or during the wee hours of the morning or when they are in school

1) An interview is very sufficient, IMHO, to determine how good you are. See, if I interview you, I will not ask "standard" questions. I will ask you questions as it relates to my environment, which you have never coded in. If you can "code blind" then that tells me you are good.

2) Why not dump the "programmer" and go str8 to "good programmer"? I mean, I need a job done and don't want a programmer because he knows how to code, "hello world"

^^^ and how do you determine in, say, a 1-hour interview, if someone knows 50% of a language? What if the person knows 89% of a language yet doesn't understand it such that if they were asked something from the remaining 11%, which constitutes what is important about a language, they fail the particular question? Hopefully you are seeing how tangled up this situation can get. Sorry for punishing you with what may see as an unnecessary question but I do so to make a point. It's like asking if someone is actually smart because they made 100% on a JAMB exam. After all, the person could have memorized everything and anticipated certain questions based on a statistical analysis of past year's questions.

Here is how I would define a "good" programmer of any kind:
One who has coded long enough to be familiar with most of the nuances of a particular language and knows how to present their logic in the most efficient way possible.

By the above, this is what I mean, based on 4 examples, using HTML + CSS:
1) Someone submits a site for review and the front end looks are a killer. I mean everything is in place with the latest efizzy. I then (as I normally do) look at the source code and notice that they are using DIVs for paragraphs and their code isn't indented. I could go on and on. This person is a programmer for sure. After all, his code works. But IMHO, this isn't a good programmer.

2) Let's say you have 6 DIVs on a page, each floated left. Let's further say they are not all of the same width. Each differs by 10px. Here is a sample code:

<div id="one">stuff</div>
<div id="two">stuff</div>
<div id="three">stuff</div>
<div id="four">stuff</div>
<div id="five">stuff</div>
<div id="six">stuff</div>

...and here's the CSS:

div#one { float: left; width: 20px; }
div#two { float: left; width: 60px; }
div#three { float: left; width: 80px; }
...

I would say the person again is a programmer but not a good one. Why? Their CSS isn't modular: They could have, knowing that there will be many floats, made a class called, say, "flL" and assigned that to each DIV. This removes the "float clutter" from each declaration in the CSS and allows the person to use the "flL" class multiple times. In addition to being more modular, the CSS file is lighter and on a large site, the added HTML code is made up for by the bandwidth saved from this single class. Besides, should I decide to float right tomorrow for one DIV, all I have to do is remove the class declaration from one DIV and not have to worry about how to deal with it in the CSS. Sometimes, we find ourselves having to add additional unnecessary and specific CSS to override a feature because we are afraid of what touching a particular CSS code block would do, thus leading to CSS code bloat

3) One thing that gets even some experienced front end developers it the concept of the Box Model and simple difference b/w say, visibility: visible vs. display: none and when to use them. A simple failure of this question or how you answer it, if I were to ask you this, tells me your level of experience.

4) Let's take PHP:
You have a page that is making a database call. You write the slickest PHP/MySQL code to get and display data from your tables but you forget to do a db_close() at the end of your code. Sure you are a programmer but are you a good one?

I have more but will stop here as I hope and trust you get where I am going.

I'd say if you are doing everything from front end to back end, from design to code by yourself, N1m per annum, is a good start

soloqy:
Haba! You are pissing me off unnecessarily o! OP says he doesn't know squat about joomla and you are advising him to learn J2.5 on a wamp/xamp server? Do you realize how technical you have gone in that sentence alone?

OP:
This isn't like a baby that has to start with milk before eating meat. To be frank, you should be very happy that you have J2.5. My first joomla site was done in 2007...J1.5, I think. Last year, I did my first joomla site in a long time and they had upgraded to 2.5. Man! you have it made, trust me

Afam:
You haven't answered my question. Look at it again and give an answer better than, "In that case, i'll be looking for a very good php programmer."

Sure, you will be looking for a good php programmer. I mean, you wouldn't go out to look for the worst of the worst, right. But how do you define, "good"? Talk d koko, make we hear, biko.

^^^^ So how would you define one? In other words, if you had the opportunity to run a project or company and wanted to hire top talent, what would you be looking for?

youtube nko? I know bandwidth may be an issue for you but I am sure it's on there. I remember going there for a lesson or 2 last year.

^^^ I concur. However, does this make you a good PHP programmer? Not at all.

To me, a good (fill in the blank here) programmer is one who knows how to reason and code logically in that particular language. In other words, just because you don't know a particular thing in a language doesn't mean to me that you are bad. We are human after all and are supposed to keep learning till we die. Having said that, there are certain, "gotchas" that you should know about a particular language.

For example, I have been coding in PHP for about 7 years now but it's not on all CVs that I put "PHP programmer". I am more of a JSP person but use PHP on my freelance jobs. Depends on the job application. They say be careful what you ask for. You put too much and next thing you, they are expecting you to code facebook all by yourself. Having coded certain sites, all of which pretty much have the same features (where they don't, I try to make the client understand why they need to have their site function a certain way ) over the years, I have learned to templatize my work. Sure, other than design, 1 or 2 features might be different but all in all, I just copy and paste for all my projects.

hv u checked the Joomla official documentation at joomla.org?

OP:
You don't start building a house (website) by thinking of what color to paint the walls (javascript). You start by building a foundation (html). Once the actual structure is complete, you focus on the wiring, etc (css) and then what to do to ensure it doesn't get too hot by, for example, installing an a/c unit (javascript). Make sense?

Good luck!

1) When I see the "beginner excuse", I get sort of turned off because to me it says, "I know it's not good but hey, I am a beginner". Web dev has many components: Front end (html, css, javascript), back end (php, jsp, etc) and design (photoshop, etc). Pick the one you are most comfortable with and for what you don't, be willing to part with a buck or 2 and partner with someone who does.

2) You need to work on the logo and menu item

3) Home page: Bottom left...a button is blocked from view

4) Duration page: Too much spacing b/w data in the upper row

5) Photos page: Don't waste your time with bordered boxes. If you don't have any info on the page, either hide the menu item or put something like, "photos coming soon"

6) Source code:
a) You have 2 body tags
b) Check the "script" tag at the top of the page. "Language" is spelled wrong.
c) Indent your code
d) Code like this is plain wrong. You need to code semantically:

<p>
<div class="style4">Photo14</div>
Mr. John<br />
B.SC

1) Add a border around the content: Right now, looks like the pages are floating in space, in limbo
2) The letters in the logo have jagged edges. Doesn't look too good

^^^ he he, maybe i need to start purposely arriving at posts late. By then, the problem will be resolved

^^^ I feel you bro. Pisses me off too. But again, how we go do now? Over the years, I have grown to get over that stuff and have lived by the code, "if it is meant for you, no one can ever take it from you...and vice versa"

solid:
I will agree with you that I have toned down my criticisms...but it ends there. Though I never say, "never" to anything, I can guarantee you that I have never met or known OP nor am I doing it for possible "contract(s)". Besides, if you want to be honest, you will note that my fairer criticisms cut across the board, and not focused on certain individuals.

If OP is charging 28K per site, that IMHO is WRONG! The only time I have charged twice that amount (my lowest rate) is for someone who was desperately in need of a website for a job and even at that, I used a free template for it. But hey, we live in a capitalistic society. I can't put a gun to his head and have him change his prices. That is his prerogative.

In conclusion, reasons I have toned down is because:
1) No one seems to take what I say and put it into practice. This to me means they don't appreciate what I have to say
2) I think I have reached a stage in my career where I should be charging for the amount of info I am giving out
3) I think I have given out so much of the same comments that I figure anyone should be able to pull my history and know what I normally look for. In other words, D.R.Y.

Come on, Brand_new!

You can't look at what most "webmasters" in Nigeria have done and compare them to these. Are OP's sites, generally speaking, top notch? Not necessarily. But you can't call them "average" either. I would give them an average of 8 out of 10...and if you've been following my posts, you know that there is no tougher critic than myself. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Trust me, compared to the crap I have seen on here, OP's sites are no comparison. Again, this doesn't mean that there is no room for improvement on his sites.

Finally, think about this:
Those "average" sites have, assuming he is telling the truth (and I have no reason to think otherwise), bought him a car and a nice-looking office space. So he must be doing something right.

I think it has all that it needs. I hope and trust that you've done a combo of googling for the competition and doing your own research, before coming up with what you have.

I think what is of more importance at this juncture is who will be doing the maintenance. If you and you will have the time to run maintenance on everything you have there (and it is a lot), and they are willing to pay, then go for it. If it is the Church folks and they don't have people with the necessary know-how, you might want to think about taking certain things off.

I think a link might go a long way in providing us a means to hopefully help you.

Where's the "like" button when you need it? Kudos!

Have you ran this? If so, what are you getting?

Dude...I didn't get a facebook notification. At any rate, HBD...LLNP!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-government-tells-computer-users-010200788.html

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is advising people to temporarily disable the Java software on their computers to avoid potential hacking attacks.

The recommendation came in an advisory issued late Thursday, following up on concerns raised by computer security experts.

Experts believe hackers have found a flaw in Java's coding that creates an opening for criminal activity and other high-tech mischief.

Java is a widely used technical language that allows computer programmers to write a wide variety of Internet applications and other software programs that can run on just about any computer's operating system.

Oracle Corp. bought Java as part of a $7.3 billion acquisition of the software's creator, Sun Microsystems, in 2010.

Oracle, which is based in Redwood Shores, Calif., had no immediate comment late Friday.

You probably want to download the zip of any open source program you want to use and then upload to your server, as opposed to fantastico et al. In addition to you having the latest versions using this method, you also get to know how things work and will know how to tackle problems, should they arise.

If you are a web developer by profession (as opposed to recreation), you should probably leave tools like fantastico to those who are looking to do stuff quickly, without understanding what goes on under the hood.

Good luck!

From experience and observation, I can say that is more likely that the "webmasters" who did the sites are to blame - in an effort to score cheap money, they don't tell the clients that domains will expire in a year. By the time the client realizes it, one year don pass and "webmaster" don vamoose!

What do I do? When dealing with Nigerian clients, I advise them to pay enough for at least 3 years in a row. Where they balk, knowing them for who they are (generally speaking), I will build it into my pricing. I mean, who wants to hound a client every year for renewal fees?

Again, check your username and/or password (this is case sensitive). Check your port number as well (usually 21).

^^^ That's the spirit!

1) Change from 70 to 100. You want it to fill up all screens naturally

2) Again, if you are implementing semantic code, you will rarely use browser-specific code. Also, you need to take advantage of progressive enhancement - it is not a must that a site look exactly the same in every single browser, on every single device. If it's not expected in cars, why should it be expected for websites?