Other web designers

Sometimes you just have to go to another web designer. Sometimes your current web designer just doesn't "get it".

This has happened to Net Magik Pros recently.

It's not that we are mad because we had a client leave us. We are actually happy that our former client found someone that understands what the client wanted better.

What we were unhappy about was the threats that this former client used towards us. We did everything possible to make the transition as easy as possible, and the former client thinks that we are the bad guy.

We were not the bad guy in all of this. Unfortunately the client thought that we were not releasing the domain name and that we did not give them a complete file with their web site on it.

The funny part about this whole story is that the entire web site was turned over to the former client, and the new web designer's name was plugged into the contact information so that the transfer would go as smoothly as possible. Basically, we did everything possible to make sure that this was not a negative experience. Unfortunately, our former client did not do their research when it came to hiring a new web designer. This person had not been in business for that long, they don't come up under the results in a search engine, and we could tell from the emails that were going back and forth that the new web developer was very new at this.

It was so negative, that NMP actually had to call the new web developers registrar to make sure that they had put in for a transfer of the domain name and that they could find all of the files for the web site. They claimed that they couldn't find the files, and said that the files were not there.

We also got emails from our previous client that we were not releasing the domain name.

Unfortunately, this could have all been avoided if our previous client had done some research before hiring a new web developer.

If you are a web developer, and you are reading this, BEWARE! If you have the funny feeling in your gut, and you try to pass off a client on to someone else with the experience that is needed to create a site for the future client, use that "gut feeling" and don't take the job. It doesn't matter how much money the potential client is offering, it won't be worth it.

Use contracts to protect you and the client, and stick to your guns!

Notice that we did not use any names or company names in this. You can't even tell if the other people that we were dealing with were male or female.

This has been a real learning experience.
I hope our former client and their new web developer have a very merry christmas!

Web 2.0

Lately, I have seen a lot of hype over this Web 2.0, and honestly, I don't understand it. I compare Web 2.0 to a hot tub.

Long ago, someone got the idea of putting a motorthat would move the water around in a hot tub, to the point it was almost like getting a massage while you were in the tub.

The thing is, these motors have existed for longer than the hot tub, as well as hot tubs existed before without these motors to move the water around.

Web 2.0 is basically the same thing. Someone discovered a different way of making a website using the same tools that have existed for years, they just put it together differently. Don't get me wrong, nobody else thought of it, but now that someone has, it seems like everyone is talking about it.

Web 2.0 is a good thing as it will make your website more interactive with your visitors, but the bottom line is, you will still have to do all the work that you need to do with a regular website, there will just be more programming involved.

NMP is not against Web 2.0, we just don't understand all the hype behind it. It is a good step in the right direction towards making the web more interactive, but in the end, everything you need to create a Web 2.0 website is already out there. There isn't anything new about it except the way it is all put together.