Hello, I have an idea for a site, but the programming that is going to be involved is beyond me. I was just wondering where to start? I have never outsourced site building or design, as I have just learned myself along the way. But I really dont want to learn the programing that is going to be needed for this site. Where do I look for a good designer/programmer? This forum? Rentacoder? Any advice is appreciated!
For a complex or large project, I'd go to rentacoder.com - that way you're protected by their escrow system.
RentaCoder, Guru etc all provide escrow to protect your interests Before you do any of that what you really need to do is get exactly what the site is to do down in writting (user journey flow diagrams are always very good). All the freelancer sites are flooded with project requests where people really havent thought out their idea yet which leads to a bad experience for both providers and requesters. As to where to really go, it depends on what sort of budget you are going to have to spend. If you are low end then rentacoder etc will give you low cost with some security in terms of escrow but whilst this protects your money initially it doesnt ensure that your timescales or quality requirements are protected. If you have a larger budget then you can look for a development company directly to work with you on the project
Is there a program that creates nice "user journey flow diagrams"? Or is it usually chicken scratch on a piece of paper... Thanks for all you advice!
The best way to find good designers/programmers is through recommendations, you can look for reputable members that offer such services here on DP (check their itrader as well). As for outsourcing, I wouldn't outsource designing... they're generally not the greatest. You can definitely outsource programming however since you can never get it wrong. Get recommendations for programming as well
When we create them we use Microsoft Visio (a rare part of the Office suite) however for a one off it isnt worth paying the cost. Any program where you can draw boxes with text in and lines (eg PowerPoint) is fine, a "proper" flow chart program only helps because it will auto layout the thing if you suddenly realise you want to add a new route in the middle of the chart.
I put the project up on rentacoder. PM me if you are interested in building the site and I will give you the URL of the project on rentacoder.
We can always provide a quote for a site but do not use Rentacoder - being UK based we are simply never going to be as cheap as people from countries with much lower cost of living and for the small amount of "freelance" work we do is all sourced from Guru